Why did Zhu Yuanzhang defeat Chen Youliang?

Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang fought against Poyang Lake? On the west bank of Poyang Lake, more than 20 miles south of Xingzi County, there is a village called Yanglan. On the other side of the lake is the boundary of Zuoli in Duchang County. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang launched a fierce battle in this lake area, with both sides investing 800,000 troops. ?

The old people in this area always like to talk about this story after dinner. They said: Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang fought against Poyang Lake for 18 years, and countless people died. There were so many fish in the lake that you could hit several with a stick... ?

In fact, the decisive battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake, It took just over a month to decide the outcome. It started on August 29, the twenty-third year of Yuan Zhizheng (AD 1363), and ended in early October. Although this battle did not last for 18 years, the length of time, the scale of this water battle, the number of troops and ships invested, and the intensity of the battle were unprecedented in the history of ancient Chinese water wars, and set the precedent for the military affairs of all subsequent dynasties. Attention to the family. ?

In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, society was corrupt and peasant uprisings were raging in various places. After defeating the main force of the Yuan army, the rebel armies separated themselves in southern China, each dominating one side and launching a fierce battle to gain political power. The team led by Zhu Yuanzhang, a wandering monk, and the team led by Chen Youliang, the son of a fisherman, were two of the most important rebel armies. Chen Youliang controlled the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, while Zhu Yuanzhang's power was in southern Jiangxi, southern Anhui, and central and southern Jiangxi. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to dominate China, and Chen Youliang was the main obstacle to his ambition. The war between them was a strategic decisive battle for southern China. ?

After a series of small-scale outpost battles, in the spring of 1363, Chen Youliang led an army of 600,000 from Jiujiang to launch a siege on Nanchang controlled by Zhu Yuanzhang. After Zhu Yuanzhang heard the news, he was forced to lead 200,000 naval troops to return from Nanjing thousands of miles away for rescue. At the end of August, the two sides launched a brutal and life-or-death battle on Poyang Lake. ?

The entire battle is divided into three stages: the first stage lasts for 5 days, and the battlefield is near Kangshan in South Poyang Lake, with both sides having a victory or defeat; the second stage lasts for 31 days, and lasts for both armies. The confrontation stage; and finally the decisive battle at Hukou, Chen Youliang was defeated and died, and the entire army was wiped out. ?

Chen’s soldiers are numerous and powerful, and their battleships are like clouds. The giant battleship is several feet high, has three layers, is fast, and is covered with iron sheets, but it is not very maneuverable. Zhu's army was small and his warships were small, but the small ships had the advantage of maneuverability and the morale of Zhu's army was high. ?

On August 29, the two armies came into contact in Kangshan Waters (in today's Yugan County), and the first battle began. Chen Youliang's huge ships are connected together. The buildings and ships are more than ten feet high. The fleet is in formation, spread out for dozens of miles, and the momentum is overwhelming. In view of the situation between the enemy and ourselves, Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of Chen Jun's weakness of "the giant ship is connected end to end, making it difficult to advance and retreat" and decided to use fire to attack. ?

The next day, Zhu Yuanzhang's general Xu Da led his ships to attack Chen Jun and defeated Chen Jun's forward. Immediately afterwards, Zhu Jun took advantage of the wind and fired artillery. Chen Jun suffered many casualties, but Zhu Jun's casualties were also not small. Just at this time, Xu Da's ship was hit by the opponent's artillery. Chen Jun took advantage of the situation to counterattack. Chen Meng's general Zhang Dingbian rushed towards Zhu Yuanzhang's ship. The Zhu ship turned around and fled. In a panic, the warship ran aground on the beach. Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was about to become a prisoner, at this critical moment, Zhu General Chang Yuchun shot Zhang Dingbian with an arrow. Zhu Jun then risked his life to save him. Zhu Yuanzhang Only by chance did he escape. By this time it was getting dark and both sides withdrew their troops. ?

On the third day, Zhu personally led the fleet to attack. Because Chen's warships were tall and Zhu's ships were small, Zhu's army was defeated and the right wing began to retreat. Even though Zhu Yuanzhang killed more than ten captains, he could not prevent the retreat. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the northeast wind picked up, and Zhu Jun took advantage of the wind to set fire. Chen's warships were unable to move in a row and fell into the fire formation. Suddenly, the sky was filled with smoke and flames on Poyang Lake, and the fire burned the sky and water red. Zhu Jun turned defeat into attack and attacked across the board. Chen Jun suffered heavy losses. The two sides fought again on the fourth day. There is no winner or loser for 24 hours. On the fifth day, Chen Jun destroyed Zhu Yuanzhang's ship, and Zhu fled to other ships. Chen's morale was boosted. However, in the afternoon, Chen Jun could not hold on anymore and began to retreat. He retreated to Zhuxi on the west bank of Poyang Lake (just a few meters away from Yanglan). Several miles away); Zhu Jun then marched towards Zuoli on the east bank of the lake, cutting off Chen Jun's retreat. ?

During the stalemate between the two armies at Zuoli of Zhuxi River, Chen's army had besieged Nanchang for more than two months and had been out for too long. The soldiers were tired and their morale was shaken. Zhu Yuanzhang continued to induce surrender, and Chen and other generals surrendered to the enemy. Chen Youliang became angry because he lacked political acumen and resorted to killing prisoners to vent his anger. Zhu Yuanzhang returned the prisoners of war, treated their wounds, and paid homage to the fallen soldiers, in order to win people's hearts. In this way, the morale of Chen's army was even lower. Thirty-one days later, on October 3, Chen's army ran out of food and grass. He led his army to risk his life to break out of the encirclement. However, they rushed left and right, but were repulsed by Zhu's army who had prepared in advance. Chen was helpless and led his troops to escape towards Hukou. Zhu Jun attacked with fire boats and rafts. After more than ten hours of bloody fighting, Chen Jun still could not escape. Soon Chen Youliang was shot to death by an arrow. The huge fleet was destroyed and Zhu Yuanzhang achieved a complete victory. The Battle of Poyang Lake laid the foundation for his unification of China. ?

Later, folklore said that the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang won the first and decisive stage of the water battle was because Chen Youliang did not choose the battlefield well. Defeat and die. "Pigs (Zhu) are overjoyed when they see chaff (Kang)." No wonder that in the Battle of Kangshan, Zhu Yuanzhang saved the day several times, and the soldiers became more courageous as they fought, all because of Kangshan (Chen) Mountain.

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More than 600 years have passed, and the Battle of Poyang Lake has become history, but on the small hillock named Yanglan, there is still a stone platform several meters high made of granite. Legend has it that it was the general station where Zhu Yuanzhang commanded the army to besiege Chen Youliang. Outside the town of Wucheng (belonging to Yongxiu County), which is dozens of miles away from Zhuxi River, there is also an ancient pavilion near the water. Legend has it that it was the "Wangfu Pavilion" where Chen Youliang's wife came to watch the battle between Zhu and Chen. In fact, this pavilion was originally named Wanghu Pavilion and was first built in the Jin Dynasty. After the war between Zhu and Chen, folk artists turned to legends and called "Wanghu Pavilion" into "Wangfu Pavilion".