Early Ming Northern Expeditions Against the Northern Yuan

Timeline

1. 1370Yingchang and the region south of the Gobi · South of the GobiHongwu Emperor: In 1370 the Ming court attacked the Mongols on two routes. Xu Da set out from Xi'an against Köke Temür, defeating him in early May; Köke Temür fled to Karakorum and the Ming captured over 80,000 of his followers. Li Wenzhong advanced to Shangdu, forcing the Yuan emperor to flee north to Yingchang, where he died that month; in June Li's army took Yingchang, Ayushiridara escaped, and the Ming captured his consorts and son Bolud Temür among more than 50,000 captives. Chang Yuchun had died the previous year and was not in this campaign.
2. 1372Northern steppe and the Hetao frontier · Northern ChinaIn 1372 Zhu Yuanzhang dispatched a large army again: Xu Da led about 150,000 out of Shanxi across the Gobi toward Karakorum; Feng Sheng took the Hexi Corridor with cavalry; Li Wenzhong attacked eastern Mongolia and the Liaodong area. Feng Sheng completed his mission, but the forces of Xu Da and Li Wenzhong were defeated by the Mongol army. After this campaign the Ming court reduced deep incursions into the northern steppe.
3. 1373–1382Along the Great Wall and the Liaodong frontier · Northern ChinaIn the middle and later Hongwu period, the Ming army maintained northern defenses and struck when opportunities arose, gradually pushing Northern Yuan activity space toward the far northern steppe. Lan Yu's northern expedition to Buir Nor in 1388 falls outside the main scope of this 1370s entry and is noted only as later background, not pinned as a campaign of this decade.