A day later, the Great Song warship that went to inspect and monitor the vicinity of the enemy camp reported that the enemy army was stepping up to clean up the wreck of the estuary, and it should be able to clear the river within a day.

Upon hearing the news, Yang Congyi decided to immediately send a warship to block the river again before the enemy dredged it.

That night, get ready overnight.

Early the next morning, two warships and a vehicle and ship in charge of receiving them sailed from the shore and went up the river to the southernmost point of the island where they had been ambushed.

The three boats stopped for a while, landed on the island to observe, and saw that there was nothing unusual at the mouth of the river where the enemy was located, so they went around the island, went down the river, and went straight to the mouth of the river.

The two warships rushed into the mouth of the river one after the other, and under the stunned gaze of the sentry on the shore, they occupied the river that had not yet been cleared.

A moment later, before the enemy soldiers on both sides of the strait could react, the vehicle and ship in charge of receiving it had already approached the warship that was about to be sunk, picked up many soldiers who had rushed out of the cabin, and as soon as the bow of the ship turned, it drifted into the river.

In a few moments, the car and boat went down the river and disappeared into the eyes of the enemy troops who had rushed to the shore from the barracks.

"What's going on?" The enemy generals who rushed to hear the news roared.

"Just now, the Song people drove three boats down from above, and they didn't know what was going on, so they rushed directly into the river, two of them broke and couldn't move, and the other turned around and ran." The sentry hurriedly replied.

"Harassment again?" The general muttered to himself, but no one answered.

Seeing that the two warships blocking the river were sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye, the general's heart moved, and he immediately ordered to board the ship to inspect.

"General, the ship is leaking, what's there to see?" The soldiers who were ordered looked at the warship, which had already sunk most of it, and hesitated.

"Let you go!" The general frowned.

The soldier did not dare to hesitate any longer, walked into the river, used his hands and feet, and climbed onto the battlefield deck that was about to be silent.

"Go to the cabin and have a look!" The general on the bank of the river commanded.

The soldier answered, and walked cautiously in the direction of the cabin.

After a short breath, he returned to the deck and shouted: "General, the cabin is full of water, and it is almost flooded." ”

"What's in the cabin?"

"There seem to be a lot of stones."

When the general heard this, he panicked in his heart, and ordered him from above to empty the river within a day, how could this be possible?

The sinking of the Song people at the mouth of the river must have been premeditated, they just wanted to block the river!

After a short period of thought, the general immediately ordered: "The order is to go down, all of them are in the water, and these sunken ships must be towed away before the sun sets today!" ”

"General, it's not good to be in the water on such a cold day!" There are soldiers.

"It's not good in the water, but it's good to be whipped? Offal! Dare to disobey the order, kill! The general's face was solemn.

Seeing this, the soldiers did not dare to say anything more.

As soon as he said hello, the soldiers gathered on the shore threw away their weapons and walked slowly towards the river.

The Yangtze River is cool and cold, and for them, this is destined to be a difficult day.

Seeing that the soldier was busy in the water, the general hurriedly returned to the camp to report the sudden military situation to his superiors, hoping that the time limit for cleaning up the river would be graced by two days, otherwise he would be killed, and it would be impossible to remove the sunken ship within a day.

When the superiors learned the news, they did not dare to make decisions on their own, and reported to the authorities again.

As a result, an hour later, I received a reply that the time for the army to cross the river had been set and could not be changed, and the river must be cleaned up within the specified time.

After receiving the reply, his face was like ashes.

What else can they do? The emperor has already set an auspicious day for crossing the river, who dares to propose a change, unless he is killed.

"Give you another 3,000 people, if the river can't be cleaned up as scheduled, your life, my life, I'm afraid I won't be able to save it!"

"The last general understands!" The general had no choice but to take the order.

Since the military order cannot be changed, he can only pile people into the river!

Just when the Jin people were desperately piling up people and cleaning up the sunken ships in the river, the Song army in Taipingdu was not idle.

After Yu Yunwen stabilized the situation in Taiping Prefecture, the state and county governments gradually resumed normal operation, and the people's hearts stabilized a little.

But before Taipingdu is not lost, they still hope to help, do their part, and do their part.

So under the call of Yu Yunwen, a member of the imperial court, the squires and people who came from various states and counties to support gathered on the bank of the Taiping River, and the squires with money and grain brought condolences and food and pigs and sheep to the soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, and the ordinary people who had nothing brought their strength and tools, and the fishermen and merchants in the river brought their boats.

The number of supporters reached more than 4,000 in one day, the total amount of grain and grass donated by squires from all walks of life was more than 5,000 quintals, and more than 100 large and small ships gathered from all over the country.

Facing the ordinary people who came to reinforce him, Yang Congyi felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.

There were 500,000 enemy troops on the opposite side, and the total strength of Taipingdu was less than 8,000 people.

The enthusiasm of the people far exceeded Yang Congyi's imagination, but after he ordered more than 100 ships to be organized into the Taiping Loyal and Righteous Naval Army, the number of ships that rushed to the vicinity after hearing the news increased rapidly, and in less than a day, it increased to more than 300.

Due to the small number of men and many boats, and the elite army and the Yangwu army were not good at fighting in small boats, the young and strong people who rushed to reinforce and build river fortifications were incorporated into the loyal and righteous naval army according to the principle of voluntariness, and were appropriately distributed according to the size of the ships, and then they were distributed with bows, crossbows, knives, guns and other weapons one by one, so that they could fight back when the enemy attacked.

According to the reports of spies on the other side of the river, the enemy forces are intensifying the collection and construction of ships, and it is estimated that the total number of enemy ships has exceeded 1,000, and judging from the recent movements of the enemy's troops, they will soon cross the river.

Wan Yan Liang commanded an army of 500,000 troops, and he had been preparing in Hezhou for so long, it was impossible not to cross the river, even if the time to cross the river was not ripe, he would give it a fight, and the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for them.

The Song army can send sentinels to the other side, they will also send people to Taipingdu, Wan Yanliang must know that the Taipingdu Song army now only has dozens of ships, even if dozens of ships are big and powerful, it is impossible to block the entire Yangtze River, so the next time they cross the river, their ships will definitely pour out of the nest, with the purpose of crossing the river, not to entangle with the Great Song warships in the river.

More than ten years ago, Yang Congyi's contact with Wan Yanliang was not a short time, he was not a brainless person, once he learned about the situation of the Taipingdu defensive forces, there would inevitably be this kind of countermeasure.

If it was put before there were no people to come to support, Wanyan Liang stretched the battle line to cross the river and crossed the river in a big way, Yang Congyi did not have any confidence in holding the Taipingdu, because there were only dozens of his boats, and thousands of enemy ships were scattered across the river, how many could they stop?

But now the situation is slightly different, there are more than 300 merchant ships, cargo ships, fishing boats reinforcements, they are an effective force to resist the enemy, no one can be more familiar with the Yangtze River than them, no one can be more comfortable and stable than them in the river, 300 ships are enough to break up the formation of 1,000 enemy ships crossing the river, once the formation in the river is scattered, it is impossible to gather again.

After the Zhongyi Navy gathered in Taipingdu, it was divided into three armies under the command of Yang Congyi, the first army went upriver under the leadership of five warships and ambushed in Dangtu County, 20 miles away, the first army went down the river under the leadership of five warships and ambushed near the Cihu River, and the other army guarded Taipingdu together with the Jingwu Army and the Yangwu Army.

When the Taipingdu armies and ships were actively preparing for war, the spies sent to the other side of the river continued to send back military information, and one of the military information was very clear: the Jin people will cross the river at three o'clock in the ninth day of the first month of winter!

Yang Congyi, who learned the news, immediately convened the generals to discuss and arrange combat tasks.

"Surely the news is that the enemy will cross the river in large numbers early tomorrow morning, and their ships will cover the entire surface of the river. Our battle plan remained unchanged, and our troops were divided into four routes, Dangtu, the southern and northern ends of the island, and the Cihu River, and the main battlefield was still around the island between Taipingdu and the enemy camp. Su Zhong and Xue Wang each brought ten warships and thirty loyal ships, and ambushed them at the southern end of the island before Shen Shi. Pan Cheng and I each took 10 warships and 40 loyal ships to intercept the enemy ships at the northern end of the island. Yuan Hua led the Yangwu army and the remaining warships and loyal ships to support at Taipingdu at any time, if any enemy ships broke through the defense line in the middle of the river, be sure to destroy them in the river, and try not to let them land. Ma Hong led the Taiping defenders to strictly defend the river defense, and if any enemy ship that slipped through the net docked, immediately kill the enemy troops who landed on the shore, and not let them cross the river defense! Tomorrow's battle is about Taipingdu, about Taipingzhou, and about the entire Jiangnan Great Song Dynasty, we can only win, not lose! If anyone retreats without permission, there will be no mercy! Do you have any questions about tomorrow's battle arrangement? ”

After Yang Congyi finished speaking, he glanced at the generals in the camp.

"Lord Yang, why don't you let me fight the enemy head-on?" Mahon doesn't seem to be very happy with this arrangement.

"Commander Ma is a little restless, fighting in the river is very different from on land, there is basically no chance of frontal combat in the river, more than ten zhang outside the use of bows and crossbows to kill and wound enemy soldiers, at close range is directly hit by boats, the swords and guns in the hands of the soldiers can not be used, and when we defeat the enemy's naval army and cross the river to fight, absolutely let the commander of the horse be the vanguard!" Yang Congyi explained.

"Okay, the last general thanked you in advance! When that happens, don't forget your promise today. Mahon clenched his fists.

Yang Congyi nodded slightly, and then asked, "What other questions?" "If not, then go and prepare.

"My lord, what if I can't stop the enemy in the river tomorrow?" An adjutant general asked.

"If you can't stop it, you have to block it, this is a battle of life and death in the Great Song Dynasty, even if the whole army is annihilated, you can't let the enemy cross the river! Once again, I emphasize that no ship is allowed to flee the battlefield, and those who flee without permission will be killed! Yang Congyi's expression was serious.

"If we are completely annihilated in the river, Ma Hong will be responsible for the defense of the Taiping River, and we must block the enemy army on the river bank and hold Taipingdu!"

"Yes, sir!"

The generals should be in unison.