Three days later, the two armies arrived in Shanxi safely. After some discussion, Xu Da decided to surround Wang Baobao's Taiyuan, and the troops were still divided into two groups. The generals of the southern army, such as Tang He, was Chang Yuchun, led a 100,000 army south to Baoding and attacked Shanxi from the northern route.

Xu Da led an army of 200,000 to march into Zhangde and attacked from the southern route. According to the original plan, he joined forces with Taiyuan to attack Wang Baobao and annihilated him in one fell swoop. Since Chang Yuchun became the supreme commander of the northern route army, Xu Da's first vanguard general was Tang He.

From the 27th year of Zhizheng, Tang He was appointed as the General of the Southern Expedition by Zhu Yuanzhang. He and his deputy general Wu Zhen led the troops from Changzhou, Changxing and Jiangyin to attack Fang Guozhen. He crossed the Cao'e River, captured Yuyao, Shangyu, and captured Qingyuan.

After Fang Guozhen fled into the sea, Tang He led his army to pursue him, defeated him, captured two enemy generals, twenty-five sea ships, beheaded countless people, and then returned to his army to pacify the cities of each subordinate.

After that, Tang He sent envoys to surrender Fang Guozhen. Fang Guozhen surrendered to the army gate. Tang He obtained 24,000 soldiers and more than 400 sea ships. All the eastern Zhejiang regions were pacified and made many military achievements. In the past two years, he had been attacking Chen Youding with Deputy General Liao Yongzhong. He led his troops into the city with the next two years, and then divided his troops to inspect Xinghua, Zhang, Quan and Funing prestige. He quickly evaluated Chen Youding. His prestige became increasingly strong in the army and approached Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, Deng Yuyu and others. This time he was ordered to fight the Northern Expedition. In addition to making another contribution, he also wanted to capture Wang Baobao alive.

Xu Da was ordered to be the vanguard army of the northern army, and he was very proud. In his opinion, losing the Tartars in Dadu was not worth worrying. Although there was a 100,000 army of Wang Baobao here, it was nothing in his opinion. Otherwise, he would not see Wang Baobao's resistance during the journey. If he hadn't been afraid that they would not be able to escape, how could he allow the Northern Expedition Army to successfully enter the realm of Shanxi?

"General, look at Xiao Liuzi's return-?" Deputy General Tang Xin pointed his finger in front and said with joy.

Tang He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked in the direction Tang Xin pointed out. As expected, he saw dust flying and galloping towards him.

"What's the situation?" Tang He asked after he didn't wait for Xiao Liuzi to get off the horse, and his voice trembled slightly.

Xiao Liuzi wiped the sweat beads on his forehead and said anxiously: "Report to the general, there are not many Tartars in Zezhou, and there are only more than 10,000 people in total, and there are no cavalry?"

"More than 10,000 people?" Tang He's heart beat.

"General - is this an opportunity?" Deputy General Tang Xin said carefully. "The general's talent is no less than General Fu and General Liao. He has made fewer military achievements for His Majesty in recent years. In Chuzhou, Hezhou (now He County, Anhui), Taiping (now Dangtu (now Dangtu), Zhenjiang, Pingjiang (now Suzhou, Jiangsu), eastern Zhejiang, Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other battles, they were not defeated by the general. Not to mention the two years ago, the general conquered Yanping (now Nanping, Fujian), captured Chen Youding. He entered Tongguan, besieged Qingyang (now Shaanxi), and captured Yuan general Zhang Liangchen. These military achievements are not comparable to General Fu and General Liao. Why are their rewards above the general!"

Tang He did not say anything. He made many military achievements, but no matter whether it was his reputation, he was not as good as Liao Yongzhong and Fu Youde, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. But he was also a sensible person. His official reward was not more than the two. It was not that his talent was not as good as the two, but that he made a big mistake that aroused Zhu Yuanzhang's dissatisfaction?"

He likes to drink, and always likes to drink some to cheer up when marching or fighting.

But sometimes he couldn't stand the drunkenness and made mistakes. When he was ordered to station in Changzhou, he asked Zhu Yuanzhang for advice. He did not get a satisfactory reply. He complained after getting drunk: "I guard this city, like sitting on the ridge, and was in a dilemma." After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang held a grudge in his heart. After pacifying the Central Plains, when he was rewarded with merits, Zhu Yuanzhang released Chen Youding's remnants on Tang He's conquest of Fujian, causing the eight counties to be harassed. On the way back to the army, he was attacked by the bandits of Xiulan Mountain and lost two commanders, and did not give up. After returning to the attack on Shu, Zhu Yuanzhang criticized his crime of staying in person. He paused his head to apologize, and the matter was only given up. However, he had been suppressed by Fu Youde and Liao Yongzhong over the years, so he naturally couldn't swallow his anger. This battle is his opportunity, and he dared not give up easily.

"General, there are not many Tartars in Zezhou, and Wang Baobao is not here. Those Tartars, after hearing the general's reputation, did not surrender obediently. At that time, the general made military achievements. Your Majesty can still see the general!" Tang Xin continued to persuade.

Tang He took advantage of his face and still said nothing. His intuition from many years told him that this battle was a bit dangerous.

"General, I have heard that Guo Ying and Zhang Huan, who went on the expedition this time, have always been coveting Zezhou. If they take the lead, it would be difficult for the general to find such an opportunity?"

"But Marshal Xu is not here. If I send troops, wouldn't it be a violation of military discipline?" Tang He said with some heart.

When Tang Xin saw him talking, he looked happy and said in a low voice: "Marson Xu and the general have always been brothers, and have been friends with the general for many years. He has always taken good care of the general. This time he asked the general to be the first general to the vanguard of the Northern Expedition, which shows his importance to the general. If the general takes down Zezhou in one fell swoop, even if Marshal Xu doesn't know about it, he will not blame the general for his humble position!"

Tang He nodded hesitantly and said, "You are right. Zezhou is indeed my chance for me, Tang He, and you cannot miss it!" After saying this, he gritted his teeth, looked at the place of Zezhou, and said in a deep voice: "Just gather the army quickly and attack Zezhou!"

"Yes!" Tang Xin was overjoyed and responded quickly.

Zezhou is located at the southern end of the Taihang Mountains and is an important gateway to the Central Plains of Shanxi. It is known in history as "Hedong Pinghan" and "Xiong Town in southern Jilin". It is connected to Lingchuan County in the east, Yangcheng and Qinshui County in the west, Gaoping City in the north, and Henan Province's Jiyuan, Boai, Qinyang, Jiaozuo and other counties in the south. The county surrounds hundreds of small cities. Therefore, the geographical location is extremely important. It is no problem to capture this place and take down Shanxi.

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