Henan, in the territory of Dujian Road, is already a busy preparation situation, and there are constantly teams with various flags gathered in Heyang Bridge Pass; There were also chariots and horses loaded with armor and heavy baggage, constantly coming and going to the various fortresses and strongholds of the Liang army.

In the still dilapidated and rather cold Luodu City, the location of the governor's mansion of the four towns in the Northland is a treacherous and silent atmosphere.

"Duanshuai, now things are completely unavoidable"

In front of Wang Duanchen, Yan Xiang was sitting with the latest secret envoy from Guangfu, still persuading hard and soft.

"For the sake of today, please go on the road as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty's earnest heart is already as anxious as fire, and it really can't be delayed."

"Otherwise, I won't be able to explain, even if the gentleman has a decent place, I can't go."

"Even if there are difficulties and dangers along the way, my generation will do our best to protect the handsome."

However, do you really want to leave behind more than 20,000 people and more than 100,000 local residents who have gathered and return to the south alone? Now it was finally time for him to make a decision, Wang Duanchen sighed more and more, but still shook his head and didn't speak.

The secret envoy of the imperial court who was responsible for persuading him became more and more anxious and urgent, couldn't he sit down and make a decision at this time, this was still the one who turned the tide in the Northern Expedition and led a group of remnants of the defeated army to fight the mainstay of the south, "Wang Duanshuai"; How can you be so slow and depressed and a woman in this kind of thing.

You must know that he has the privilege of acting unusually cheaply because of the mission of the imperial court, but he does not dare to hold anything in front of this person, because the net worth and life and future he represents in this mission have been maintained on this person;

If he could not persuade this person to return to the court with him, even if he could return safely, it would be regarded as a felony to escape, and his death would be unredeemable and the tragic consequences of his family.

However, although there were secret commanders and subordinates with unique skills, and there were even more internal responses echoed by the army, he did not even dare to adopt more drastic harsh words or more radical expedient measures, but could only use the water mill kung fu that knew how to use the benefits and disadvantages to deal with it.

On the one hand, he is in the army of the Northland, and if he is not careful, he will be destroyed; On the other hand, Wang Duanchen, who participated in and presided over the two Northern Expeditions, had too high prestige and appeal among those old Northern Expeditions, and he was almost unshakable. So that once he leaves, there will be no suitable candidate, and he will be able to compete with the lord of Huai Town, who has risen strongly.

Therefore, the rapidly deteriorating situation ahead was a good thing and a potential help for the envoy; Compared to the situation in the Northland, which is already on the edge of an irretrievable cliff and on the road to collapse, it is obvious that his life is more important.

However, he continued to think about the other party's perspective and position, and kept bitterly stating and analyzing:

"Do you think that if you stay here, you can still do something good?"

"Among the court and the newly formed army in the south, it is where you can regroup and make a big move."

"Instead of being stuck in this corner of the gains and losses, advance and retreat."

"Since the court has repeatedly recruited each other, how can those who are ministers not obey it"

Wang Duanchen finally sighed, as if he was moved by him and made a decision.

"Just allow me to prepare a little more."

"That's right, I'll go and prepare for the rest."

The envoy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Please also go up and down the big tent, continue to keep a good tone"

As far as Wang Duanchen is relieved here, the rest of the rest of the army will be much easier, and I believe that those who are willing to let go of the current situation that is already difficult to do anything, temporarily stay away from the danger and return to the dynasty, and regain fame and fortune still occupy the majority.

In this way, the more generals and commanders he brought back, the greater the preservation merit recognized by the imperial court in the future, and as for the possible encounters and results of those ordinary soldiers and local people, they were no longer in his consideration; After all, the dynasty is rich and dominates most of the world, and even if there is something missing here, it is just a small sacrifice that is forced to take into account the overall situation.

After a series of confessions and arrangements in name and private, Wang Duanchen finally called his most trusted confidants; And the task of this old soldier is to find out the representatives and messengers hidden in Huaizhen's army in the shortest possible time, and then bring them to himself for a final negotiation of power and personnel.

Although in law and righteousness, traitors are more hateful than enemies, but in any case, it is the source of friendly forces that they have cooperated with in the past, and it is always more worth trying and working hard than those Western armies who are not of our race, or the remnants of the Northern Dynasty.

Although doing so is likely to leave a faint stain and potential handle on his career and military career; But if he left easily without doing anything, he would not be able to forgive and let go of himself at all.

Although he has already put on the golden and purple crown belt that represents the envoy and the cardinal, he still has that "Wang Duanchen" in his heart, and he never easily refuses to give up his subordinates.

。。。。。。。

meanwhile

On the sea southeast of Yizhou, a large area of waves was rolling and the sky was gloomy, and the sails of the whistling sea breeze and the clothes on people's bodies all made the sound of hunting.

"Turn left at two or three o'clock."

"Four inches up."

"Hit more seawater."

"Clean up the cabin and continue draining."

"The twenty-third sector on the port side needs to be filled, carpentry, where is the carpenter."

"Come on, clean up the wounded."

The deck was buzzing and busy, filled with the smell of sweat, fireworks, and the mixed smell of blood and burning.

The spherical iron bullets that burned red on the stove were set up by special pliers and put into the barrel of the padded wet mud plank, and suddenly a large cloud of gray smoke was steamed; Then it flew out of the barrel of the firing rope, dragging out a thin white trail of smoke, and on the side of the enemy ship swaying in the distance, a large splash of water fell headlong.

But of the dozen or so red-burning balls that continued to be fired, at least four or five were missing the target, and I saw that on the opposite boat, on the bulwark, and between the piled sail cables, the fragments that burst open the canopy and the large sparks that burst out were scattered;

Then, in the midst of these bullet impact points and gaps, a large canopy of flames and smoke erupted from the city, and a moment later, in the background of the large sails that were burned all over the place, the other ship was like ants scattered, and it was already full of figures who began to jump ship to escape.

Genjiuro, who was already the deputy capital supervisor of the Nanyang Naval Division, couldn't help but touch the sweat running across his forehead, only to feel that the wound on his face that was injured by the broken sawdust was not so stinging.

Their first group of old retainers who followed the young lady now have their own opportunities and unlimited futures; Because of his many years of career and seniority by sea, he eventually became the third person in the rebuilt Nanyang Naval Division after the capital and deputy managers.

For example, Yuwen Badu, a retainer and distant relative, has become the commander of the Yuwen Domain's vassal army and the deputy envoy of Yizhou's aftermath disposal.

Another general, the leader of the family, Hei Jiangmen, now also led a vassal army armed with firearms, and in the identity and name of Huaishang Yoshiko, he joined the Northern and Southern Dynasties between the feudal domains of the Fuso Islands to help the disadvantaged Southern and Eastern Dynasties.

All this because of the rebellion that took place in Yizhou.

Just before Huaibei Province launched a large army to attack Pinglu Dao, several local princes located east of Zhuoshui Creek in the south of Yizhou, who did not know what medicine they had taken wrong or what support and guarantee they had received, suddenly raised their banners against the rebellion, claiming to drive out the traitors who stole Yizhou and restore their homeland for the imperial court, and gathered 20,000 or 30,000 people in the land of Nanping to march north, known as the "50,000 army".

All of a sudden, the whole continent was shaken, and the people were panicked, and there were countless people watching and watching, and even in the many resettlement places that were originally directly under the control of Huaizhen, there were incidents of escape and commotion of varying scales.

But then these arrogatory rebels were defeated by the 8,000 feudal army led by Yuwen Batu, the current commander of the Yuwen Domain, on the north bank of the Muddy Water River, with an easy ambush in Bandu, and lost almost all the armor and baggage, and fled back to the main domain under the leadership of their respective families.

But compared to these remnants of the rebellious feudal clans scattered around the island of Yizhou, what is more tricky is these reinforcements from the return road; Not only did they have large enough ships to provide the capacity to cross the East China Sea, but they even had the remnants of the Southern Dynasty local sailors to escort them.

But fortunately, the ships and equipment of these subordinate naval divisions are already old, and even the guns on the loading ships are old-fashioned breech-loading iron cannons, and a few small-caliber sub-cannons used to deal with personnel;

Even if they were outnumbered by more than a dozen warships with several patrol squadrons at sea at one time, they were no match for the marine shaft gun mounts and rear-mounted long-barreled rifled guns equipped with Huaizhen, let alone in the sturdiness and maneuverability of the ships.

In just a few shots, there were several more burning fires on the sea, but the remaining ships did not give up, but continued to adjust their course with the sails and currents, and once again rammed towards Genkuro's ship; It turned out to be a posture of dying together or jumping into a gang.

But Genjiuro breathed a sigh of relief, if the other party took advantage of the situation and fled in defeat, it would be really difficult for him to pursue, but if he was entangled in the other way, it would be in his arms.

At least according to the short-term strategy of the Nanyang Naval Division, while ensuring the shipping route, it is necessary to eliminate and weaken as much as possible the power of the Southern Dynasty on the sea. Although it is unlikely that the long coastline from Koto to Lingwai will be blocked, it is still easy to cut off a few fixed routes to the north.

And as long as these forces transported by sea are not interrupted or disabled, the scourge of rebellion and turmoil in the land of Yizhou will always exist and be repeatedly banned.

"Steady. Be sure to hold steady. ”

"Come closer, let it get closer."

"Prepare to load the shells and explosives."

"The number is limited, so it must be close enough to fight."

Some cylindrical shells were lifted up, the sealed and moisture-proof top cover was carefully unsealed, and the ignition of the delayed firing tube was covered and pressed into the bore plug and filled, and then it was directed at the enemy ship approaching with a slowly staggered hull.

After a moment of delay and waiting, countless fragments and limbs exploded in an instant, and only a big gap was left in the original position.

After losing the diversion of the tail rudder, this large warship also seemed to have completely lost control of the direction, and began to follow the inertia on the surface of the sea.

However, the other slightly smaller enemy ship that followed had already broken through the large splash of the waves and was quite close to Genjiuro's ship, and the small projectiles fired by the sub-cannons on it also crashed one after another on the side and deck, blowing up a puff of debris and wood chips, and sweeping down many figures who could not dodge during the run.

"Prepare to attack."

"Do a good job of preventing collisions."

Amid the shouts of the ship, the sailors with crossbows and firearms, the boatmen with machetes and axes, and the sailors on the opposite side were already clearly visible as the smoke dissipated.

At this time, many long and short gun doors located under the side of the ship had not had time to turn sideways slightly, and could only rely on a few open gun emplacements on the deck to meet the enemy.

I could only hear the light guns that had been prepared for a long time on the stern and the bow at last, first with a wave of scattered bullets bursting out in a cone above the opponent's head, knocking everything on deck to pieces; Then came several flowering shells that broke through the underbay baffle and cover, spraying blood-stained fragments and bloody corpse parts in the gun doors and portholes.

In the end, it turned into an enemy ship and was suddenly torn apart in the middle. Beneath the flying deck, there were huge clouds of fire and smoke that erupted like small volcanoes, as well as waves and debris of air that were thrown high and scattered.