Danyang County.

The main tent camp of the imperial army.

Li Yu walked in, holding an edict from the imperial court in his hand, and said, "Husband, the emperor has sent Cai He and the great eunuch to urge again, asking when we will send troops to attack the Wujiang camp in Jiangbei?" How's the preparation for this battle? ”

"Hmmm! It's pretty much it! ”

Chu Tianxiu calculated the time and nodded.

It has been almost two months since the rebellion of the princes. Three months at most, this was the last patience of the emperor and the imperial court, and this rebellion had to be swept away.

The grain in the fields is growing, and the harvest season is approaching.

Otherwise, it will drag on until autumn, and the princes of the Ten Roads in Jiangbei will harvest the autumn grain and half a year's money and taxes in various counties and counties in the north, and there will be enough grain and money, and their strength will definitely skyrocket.

And the imperial court lost the autumn grain of the entire north, half of the grain, grass and taxes of the country, and it was bound to be a big loss of vitality within a year.

The loss was devastating.

It is necessary to rush before the autumn grain harvest to break through the Wujiang camp, the army of the princes and kings of the Ten Roads.

Day.

Chu Tianxiu ordered that the 100,000 imperial army stationed in the city began to set off as a whole army and went to Shuizhai to prepare to cross the river and go north.

Inside Danyang Water Village.

There are 50 large gunboats, 250 large warships, and thousands of small warships, passenger and cargo ships.

The huge army was endless, with 80,000 elite heavy infantry, 20,000 elite gunpowder lancers, and 30,000 sailors. Numerous wagons carrying gunpowder and cannon pellets, as well as grain and grass baggage, will also be transported to the other side with the army.

The soldiers pushed the heavy wagons and got into the boats.

It took a full day for the soldiers to load all their baggage, grain and grass onto the ship.

...

Next.

Morning.

The surface of the river is clear, there is no strong wind, and there is no unobstructed view.

"Let's go, the army crosses north!"

Thousands of ships of the imperial army left the water village and began to blow the horn of crossing the river, crossing the ten-mile river.

There were no ships of the princes' coalition in the river, so there was no need to worry about being harassed.

Chu Tianxiu, Li Yu, Zhou Lu, Li Gannian and other dozens of generals of the battalion stood on the platform of the gunboat and commanded the battle of crossing the river.

"The most important thing to cross the river to the north this time is to establish a beachhead."

Chu Tianxiu said in a deep voice to everyone.

He pointed to the boundary of the Wujiang River, a raised place, "Here, as the landing place of my imperial army!" First, 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers and horses landed, and in front of the Wujiang camp, a position of about three to five miles was established. ”

Zhou Lu hesitated for a moment and said, "My lord... This is the core of our assault on the Wujiang camp of the princes? Why don't you land fifty miles upstream, or fifty miles downstream, to avoid its edge... In this way, we can also avoid the strong camp of the Wujiang camp and start from the weak point on the periphery of the Wujiang camp. ”

"No!"

Chu Tianxiu said coldly: "Avoid its edge and land somewhere else, these princes still think that I am afraid of them."

Only by landing directly in the center of the Wujiang camp and defeating their Wujiang camp can our confidence be completely destroyed!

After this battle is over, I will order Jiangbei, and no prince will dare to fight with me again. ”

Attacking the middle is of course the most difficult and the most difficult to play.

But it's momentum and confidence.

Take the Chinese army directly, and a battle can knock out all the confidence of the princes and kings.

"Yes, General!"

The generals nodded their heads.

A few months ago, they would never have dared to do that.

In the close encirclement of the 500,000 troops of the princes' coalition, it was simply unimaginable to establish a small beachhead on the north bank of the river, where there was no natural danger.

Purely to send to death.

Even if Taizu Xiang Yu is reborn and the boat is broken, he can't win.

But now, they have been fighting with Xiao Duhou for so long, and they have quite strong confidence in the power of the naval guns of 50 gunboats.

...

Wujiang Daying.

The sentinels who watched the river from the arrow tower saw a huge ship appear on the river in the distance, and immediately blew the horn.

"Not good! The imperial army crossed the river to the north, and it was about to come! ”

"Quickly report to the kings, the imperial army has poured out, and thousands of ships are coming to the north of the river."

"Quick, gather equipment and fight immediately!"

The alliance of princes suddenly became in turmoil.

The princes rushed out of the main tent and came to the bank of the river, looking at the countless ships on the opposite side, and their faces could not help but change greatly.

They waited in Jiangbei for nearly a month, desperately building camps and various fortifications, and finally waited for the imperial army to go north.

"The imperial army is heading north!"

"Little Dusk Hou is finally here!"

"Order all battalions to assemble in the village and prepare for battle!"

Xiang Wu, the king of Chu, roared loudly.

Ten princes rushed to the center of the Wujiang camp, a five-story command tower. This location is in the center of the camp, the highest, and you can clearly observe the situation on the river for more than ten miles, which is convenient for commanding the battle.

"The direction of the imperial court's ships should be towards our Wujiang camp! Immediately order the soldiers of the 100,000-strong battalion on both sides to assemble in our Wujiang camp! ”

Xiang Wu, the king of Chu, shouted.

"Yes!"

The herald immediately galloped away.

....

Soon.

In the Wujiang camp in the north of the river, in more than 50 strong 10,000-person camps five miles away from the riverside, 500,000 soldiers have already lined up.

All kinds of horses, trebuchets, fire oil arrows, etc., are all prepared.

Although these 10,000-strong camps are all independently enclosed by a strong one-zhang high wooden wall, they are connected to each other very closely, no more than a hundred steps apart, which is convenient for each other to support.

The imperial army marched north, and it was obviously not so easy to break through the camp of the allied forces of their princes.

An hour later.

The imperial army, spearheaded by 50 gunboats, arrived along the coast of Jiangbei.

The bronze main gun of the gunboat can shoot up to 3 miles, the secondary gun is about 2 miles, and the small steel gun is 1 li.

The 50 warships were moored along the coast, and the dense array of naval guns was lined up and aimed at the shore.

On the north bank of the river, there are no princes and soldiers.

The princes and soldiers were all in a daze, armed with swords, bows and arrows, and they were all nervously waiting in the camp five miles away. They know the range and power of artillery, and of course they will not wait by the river to be shelled.

Chu Tianxiu took the telescope and looked at the alliance of princes.

The coalition of princes did not take the initiative to attack the gunboats and warships, apparently waiting for the army to come ashore.

Then he said: "Ships, artillery and musketeers are covering. 10,000 hoplites disembarked, set up a circle of horses on the shore, and set up a beachhead! ”

Soon, 10,000 hoplites jumped out of the boat and into the shallow water by the river.

They carried a large amount of wood, and quickly set up a repulsion horse to defend against the onslaught of the princes' army on the shore.

...

The princes and kings watched as the 10,000 heavy armored infantry of the imperial court landed in Jiangbei and set up a position to resist horses on the shore, but they were all surprisingly silent.

What can they do?

Is there any way to stop it?

No!

This 10,000 hoplites were protected by 50 gunboats.

Fifty large gunboats were moored on the banks of the river, and five or six hundred cannons covered an area of one or two miles.

On the gunboats, there were also dense gunpowder gunners, who were aiming. There were 400 gunpowder gunners standing on one gunboat, and there were tens of thousands of musketeers in total.

No matter how many soldiers and horses they rush over, they will be wiped out.

How many soldiers does the alliance of princes need to pay to drive these 10,000 heavy infantry down the river?

"Step by step!"

"Damn, it's brute force again, it's a violent advance!"

"Xiao Duhou is relying on his tens of thousands of powder guns and five or six hundred artillery pieces, taking root in Jiangbei little by little and advancing forward!"

Xiang Wu, the king of Chu, took a deep breath, and the blue tendons on his forehead burst out.

In the battle of Xiao Duhou crossing the river, he was still using his usual tactic - brute force warfare.

"King Chu, how should this be? ... Do you want to attack and forcibly pull out their beachhead? ”

Zhao Wang Xiang then asked.

"No, hold back!"

Xiang Wu, the king of Chu, shook his head and said, "Even if this beachhead is forcibly pulled out, Xiao Duhou will re-establish a beachhead in other places.

Even if they build a beachhead, it will be useless, they must take the initiative to attack ... As long as they pushed forward, three miles away, there would be no support from the mighty naval guns!

Three to five miles, this distance is when they lack naval artillery support and are most vulnerable.

The camp of our princes' allied army happened to be five miles away, blocking their way. Right here, fight them! ”