The mighty water flows north and flows into the Yangtze River, and the city is located on the Jinpu where the water and the Yangtze River meet, connecting water and land, and the trade is very developed. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

However, because of the westward advance of Li Qin's army, the trade route of the Yangtze River waterway was blocked, and the channel above the turbulent water was also nailed to the banks of the turbulent water because of Zhang Shan'an's defense of Li Qin, and it was impassable.

The two sides confronted each other in the area of Huangpu, and it looked like a big fight.

But just when everyone thought that Zhang Shan'an planned to fight Li Qin on this basis. The news suddenly changed, and Zhang Shan'an actually removed the chains on the afternoon of Li Qin's arrival in Huangshui.

"What's going on?" A lot of people don't understand this.

However, after seeing the people on Li Qin's fleet come down from the fleet and set up a small battalion, and carry down the Chinese army's big tent and some supplies, people remembered Zhang Shan'an's actions and had a guess about it: "Zhang Shan'an must have decided to surrender because he was afraid of Li Qin's prestige." ”

You must know that Li Qinke fought Jiangdu in the first battle, defeated the 100,000 Xiaoguo army of Yuwen Valve, and defeated the 30,000 horses of Jianghuai Du Fuwei. 130,000 people in the first battle, who in the world is not afraid of this record.

It is understandable that villains such as Zhang Shan'an and others at both ends of the snake and mouse would be afraid of this. After all, he only relied on sneak attacks on Lin Shihong and Xiao Mo to occupy the two counties of Jiujiang and Yuzhang, and Yuzhang was completely disabled. How could he rely on Jiujiang alone to compete with Li Qin.

Defecting to Li Qin is undoubtedly the most correct choice for Zhang Shan'an.

The subsequent news from the Li Qin military camp and the city of Huangkou also seems to prove this:

Zhang Shan'an lifted the blockade of Huangkou City, and at that moment some merchants came to Li Qin's small camp by the river to sell Li Qin some fresh vegetables and fruits. Li Qinjun's people actually traded cash or grain to buy supplies at market prices, which seemed to others to be a bit uneasy.

"Is it so rich under Li Qin's rule?" Everyone couldn't help but widen their eyes when they heard this.

According to this news, they thought of three points:

First, Li Qinjun's rules are very good, it can be said that he loves the people like a son, and he has the style of a king;

Second, Li Qinjun's treatment was very good, and the army was rich in materials and money, so that he could get a glimpse of the leopard and estimate the living conditions of the people under Li Qin's rule.

Third, the battle between Zhang Shan'an and Li Qin is estimated to be unfought. Jiujiang and Yuzhang are going down overnight, and it is estimated that the trade route between the Yangtze River and the Huangshui will soon be opened.

"Perhaps, we just have to wait a little longer." Most people think so in their hearts.

However, some discerning people see a bigger picture: "Li Qin is so magnanimous that he seems to be able to associate with him and invest in him, whether he is really like this or not." ”

After all, the troubled times have not been settled, and it is not so clear who can determine the world. Those who want to invest in troubled times naturally look at it in many ways.

In any case, with this performance between Li Qin and Zhang Shan'an, the tense war clouds that permeated the Yangtze River finally dimmed a little.

Time, in the blink of an eye, is evening.

The moon is bright and the stars are bright, and the stars like pearls hang on the dark blue sky curtain, showing the coolness of summer.

This day is not a full moon, it is the time when the tide of the river is low, and the calm flow of the river brings people a sense of tranquility but mighty power.

Li Qin's fleet anchored along the river, surrounded 200 merchant ships with 40 gunboats as the city wall, and set up a phalanx on the river north of the city.

This is a very orthodox water camp formation, and no one can see what it means.

Living in the cabin on the top floor of the warship, listening to the sound of bangzi from the barracks on the ground, the expression on Li Qin's face was still faint.

At this time, it was already the fourth watch, and it was already halfway through the night, and only he and Shen Luoyan were in the cabin. The two sat separately without sleep, Li Qin covered the book and read the text under the bright lantern, and Shen Luoyan was on the other side of the desk and read. As a staff officer under Li Qin, she always seems to have unfinished official business in her hands.

Suddenly, Li Qin put down the scroll and stood up. He walked to the window of the cabin and peered into the distance.

"What's wrong?" Shen Luoyan saw his actions and raised his head to ask puzzled.

"They're coming!" Li Qin said lightly.

"Them?" Shen Luoyan was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Li Qin was talking about Zhang Shan'an.

"How do you know?" Shen Luoyan raised her eyebrows.

There was no movement outside, which meant that the lookouts on the mast had not noticed any sign of the enemy—not only on Li Chin's side, but also on the outlying patrol ships.

Everything was as smooth as before, and in such a stability, Li Qin actually said that the enemy was coming, which was a bit strange in Shen Luoyan's opinion.

"The surging of the river is a little abnormal!" Li Qin said calmly.

"What ......" Shen Luoyan was even more surprised.

She was about to persuade Li Qin to something, when suddenly a dense gong sound came from the southeast: "Enemy attack, enemy attack......"

Zhang Shan'an is really here.

"The whole fleet is at anchor! Let's catch up! Li Qin yelled. He rushed out of the cabin as soon as possible and found Nangong Haizhu, who was commanding the battle at the top of the ship.

"My lord! I am the commander of the fleet, and your orders are a bit redundant. Nangong Haizhu, who had a weak face, protested softly to Li Qin.

"I'm sorry!" Li Qin apologized to Nangong Haizhu, and then asked, "How is the situation now?" ”

"According to the news from the sentinel ship ten miles away, there is a large fleet of ships flowing down the river in the upper reaches of the turbulent water, and the first ones are small boats, and there are building ships behind them." Nangong Haizhu informed Li Qin of the situation.

"Do you see the flag clearly?" Li Qin asked again.

"Nope! But the one who can swim from the turbulent water must be Zhang Shan'an's people. Nangong Haizhu shook his head at first, and then said in a very affirmative tone.

"That's just as well!" Li Qin bowed his head, and immediately asked with concern: "How are the brothers who went out of the outpost ship?" ”

"I don't know! They sent the news back and there was no news. Nangong Haizhu lowered her head gloomily.

Judging from the current situation, the situation of the outpost ship is definitely not good.

"Kill your enemies and avenge them!" Li Qin patted him on the shoulder and commanded in a deep voice.

"Yes!" Nangong Haizhu shouted solemnly and assured.

It's just that he looks too delicate, and even if he makes a straight face like this, he has a bit of a sissy taste.

The flotilla lifted anchor, and all the ships moved.

The gunboats were divided into four columns, rotating clockwise from south to west, west to north, north to east, east to south.

The gunboats went first, and the merchant ships followed. They passed through the gap between the clearance of several columns of battleships and sailed as far north as they could, away from this stretch of the river.

At the beginning of the year, the two fleets of Li Qin's fleet to the east and north had already caught fire with Zhang Shan'an's fleet. The rumbling of artillery rang out in the dark night. The guns placed on the side of the ship constantly fired at the dinghy approaching them.

After two battles on the Yangtze River, the officers of Li Qinshui's battalion summed up the relevant experience and found that the greatest threat to them in this era was not the large warships with tall ships, but the small boats that were specially used for fire attacks.

These boats were fast and small, making it difficult to be hit by solid shells from artillery. Once they had formed a scale in the dark of night to make a surprise attack, it would have been easy for them to approach the gunboats. And once the gunboat is approached and encounters the burning of the fireship, it is also quite a dangerous thing.

In order to counter the threat posed to him by small boats, Li Qin focused on installing a large number of large-caliber lifting robbers on the forty newly renovated warships—these are large guys with barrels as long as five zhang and capable of shooting projectiles the size of a baby's fist. It's more like a cannon than a gun. It's just that the structure of this cannon is similar to the big gun customized by Li Qin, and the volume is much larger.

The caliber represents the power, and the length of the barrel represents the range, so the large gun is supported and fixed on the side of the ship, and dozens of guns are densely installed on both sides of the ship and the ship. Its first task was to ensure that the ships were not approached by enemy fireships.

This is true for looting, and the same is true for artillery. Solid bullets are difficult to deal with dinghys, so let grape bombs do the talking.

Li Qin's gunners stuffed dozens of large bullets into the chamber of the cannon with nets, and fired them as soon as the enemy appeared, forming a staggered network of fire that enveloped all the enemies in a sector area.

The small boat that set fire to the fire was small in size, and the bed board was thin and did not have enough defense power at all, and it had no protection against the rain of bullets and bullets of the Li Qin gunboat.

In the interval of one mile to a hundred paces, one small boat after another was hit. The scorching bullets lit the ignition on the dinghy, gouging through the bottom of the dinghy and beating the soldiers on board like a sieve.

The turbulent water burned completely, and the small boats that were on fire reflected the river red.

As one arson boat after another was hit, the darkness gradually dissipated, and in the place where light and darkness intertwined, Li Qin clearly saw that behind those small boats, Zhang Shan'an's main force, fighting ships and large building ships all revealed their bodies one by one.

Although these big ships were a little hazy in the flickering light and shadow, judging from the size of the fleet that had already appeared, it seemed that Zhang Shan'an had sent out all the warships he had mastered.

"Is he trying to finish the battle?" Li Qin whispered.

What kind of plan Zhang Shan'an is doing, Li Qin now understands a little more.

Obviously, Zhang Shanan is going to work hard.

It's just that Li Qin is not afraid of his hard work at all.

"How long is dawn left?" Li Qin asked Shen Luoyan, who was already standing beside him.

"It's already the fifth watch, and it's going to be dawn in more than half an hour." Shen Luoyan looked at the inky sky and said.

"More than half an hour?" Li Qin pondered for a moment and asked Nangong Haizhu: "Can you defeat the naval army on the river in a short time?" If not, we'll wait until dawn. Zhang Shan'an wants to raid me, so I naturally have to teach him an unforgettable lesson. I think it might be a good choice to wipe out his water army this time. ”

"Don't worry! My lord, I have arranged this matter myself. Nangong Haizhu assured Li Qin.

"That's good!" Li Qin nodded.

It was, and there was a dense volley of gunfire on the southern shore.

"Huh? Zhang Shan'an actually had the idea of advancing by land and water? Li Qin was slightly taken aback, and then relaxed again: "Zhang Shan'an's idea is good, but I have been prepared for a long time. Although the small battalion on the shore looks simple, there are all kinds of defense facilities, even if Zhang Shan'an sends cavalry, just the people and horses of the town on the shore can make him suffer. ”

"However......" Compared with Li Qin's ease, Shen Luoyan was still a little worried. She looked at the torches that Zhang Shan'an used to attack Lu Ying, and whispered to Li Qin: "Lord, Zhang Shan'an is afraid that he still has a backhand." You see that the troops he besieged the land battalion, judging by their torches, it seems that there were only more than 10,000 men. Zhang Shan'an's troops in Huangkou City are 30,000, and the land camp only shoots 10,000, do you think he will have any conspiracy? ”

"Conspiracy? What conspiracy will he have? Li Qin was puzzled.

"I don't know about this either!" Shen Luoyan's good-looking brows furrowed tightly, she thought about it for a while, and finally made a decision: "Give me a small boat and send me to the shore to have a look." ”

"Ashore? At this time......" Li Qin felt that it was a little too dangerous, he thought about it and decided to act with Shen Luoyan: "Let's go ashore together!" It's just you, I'm not at ease. ”

"This ......" Shen Luoyan hesitated for a moment, and was about to refuse. After all, there is no need for the lord to accompany the courtiers on adventures. But after she saw the resoluteness in Li Qin's eyes, she couldn't say anything about refusal.

Nangong Haizhu quickly put down the dinghy and sent the best sailors to row Li Qin and Shen Luoyan to the shore, and at the same time, he also sent people to convey Li Qin's latest order to the merchant fleet that had not yet completely sailed to the shore: "Temporarily stop and must re-dock, and be ready to support the land camp at any time." ”

"What exactly does the lord want to do?" Bu Tianzhi, who was born in the Giant Kun Gang and is now responsible for commanding the merchant fleet, does not understand this.

Shen Junshi found that Zhang Shan'an did not shoot all the soldiers and horses, and she was worried that Zhang Shan'an had a conspiracy, so she decided to go to the land camp to command the battle. The lord also followed. The herald briefly explained the situation.

"Lord Gong and Shen Junshi?" Bu Tianzhi was slightly stunned, with worry in his eyes.

It's just that he is not worried about the safety of the two, but another question: "If Shen Junshi is allowed to take the lead on the master's side, what should my family helper do?" "-Thinking about these things on the battlefield, Bu Tianzhi is a little out of tune.

However, he still remembered that as a subordinate of others, he should follow orders.

He quickly ordered his men to hang lanterns at the stern and bow of the ship to convey the latest orders.

After a while, the merchant ship, which had been preparing to go north from the shore, suddenly stopped its northward movement and began to turn its bow and slowly move south.