There are more than 20 boats near the riverbank. The reason why He Zhen was surprised was that several of these ships should not have appeared here at all. The largest one should be the main ship of the nine**, called the fighting ship.

The fighter, about 40 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide, is equipped with a battle tent, which occupies about three-quarters of the entire hull; There is also a women's wall on the war shed and deck, which can be concealed, and there are arrow holes in the wall; In addition, there is a two-meter-high command platform and helm tower, on which the tooth flag is displayed, and the golden drum used to command the soldiers to attack and defend the advance and retreat.

"Unbelievable, unbelievable." He Zhen shook his head and sighed.

"He Jun is also surprised by this ship?" Suddenly.

He Zhen laughed twice and said: "This ship is called 'Fighting Ship', and it is a native of Yangzhou below, so naturally I have seen it." In the land of Jingxiang and Jiangdong, this ship is also common. It is strange that there is such a ship in the nine-**. ”

Pulling Zhao understood what He Zhen meant, he took his eyes off the fighting ships and landed on some small boats with red hulls and light as a shuttle. Asked He Zhen: "He Jun, what kind of ships are those?" ”

He Zhen followed the gaze of Zhao Zhao and replied: "It is a red horse boat, also known as 'walking boat', which is like walking on the river when the wind is down, and it is as fast as a fast horse. ”

After listening to it, he suddenly said as if he was facing a great enemy: "The nine ** ships are excellent, I'm afraid it's not good, I'd better go back to the county house as soon as possible." ”

The group then quietly left and quickly returned the same way. When he arrived at the county house, the sky was already light, Xu Chu got up when he heard the news, and came to the lobby to meet Zhao and He Zhen.

When the two of them told what they saw, Xu Chu was quite surprised.

Xu Chu didn't know much about the Eastern Han Dynasty warships, but he also knew that the 'fighting ships' and 'red horses' in He Zhen's mouth should be military ships. That is to say, the warships used by the nine ** led by Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were actually used by officials.

Bought? Robbed? Hardly. But Xu Chu understands that the appearance of the fighting ship shows that Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin are actually not two words that can be described, and the nine ** led by them may be a military force that cannot be ignored. It is no wonder that the two of them were able to cross the Yangtze River, which made the officials and soldiers sigh with admiration.

"Yuan Gan, you are from Lujiang, according to your observation, how many people did Jiu** bring over this time?" Xu Chu asked.

He Zhen had already made a rough calculation based on the number of ships, and blurted out: "About five hundred." ”

It was said before that the so-called conformity of nine ** is nearly 1,000, which is actually debatable. It never matter whether the official army is a thief army or a thief army, how many soldiers are and how many soldiers can fight are two concepts. In the nine** mile, when Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin recruited the light heroes from all over the country as the main force, this part of the people, there should be almost five hundred, and the rest of the people, or can be described by the word vassal, the combat strength is not very strong. In some cases, these vassals can even become a liability.

Obviously, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin set the level of the county this time very high, so they only brought the elite over. Xu Chu couldn't help but smile bitterly, the tree was very popular.

Xu Chu then summoned the Yangquan County Commander and the county lieutenant to ask whether there were any warships available in Yangquan County, and whether the county officials were proficient in water warfare, all of which were clear in advance.

When the two arrived, the answer was an unusually affirmative – no.

In this way, the attack of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, even if they may not win, the probability of defeat is extremely small. If the offensive is frustrated, as long as the two of them restrain their subordinates to return to Jiangzhong, what can Xu Chu do? Moreover, in the face of two famous generals of Eastern Wu, on land, who wins and who loses is still between the two.

Xu Chu couldn't help but say in his heart: The contest with Zhou Xin is related to my prestige in this county, this battle is not unimportant, and Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin are far from being comparable to the opponents I have encountered before, so it seems that I should be more cautious.

Then he looked around, but found that there was no one around him who could discuss the military situation. Whether it was known from the previous life or seen in the current world, the four scholars who accompanied him, Li Xinbi, were good at scheming and neglecting military strategy; Ho Zhen's mind turns quickly, but he is good at the direction of governance; Although later generations have the reputation of anti-Hungarian ministers, they are still a little immature at this time; Not to mention Shi Lu.

I can't say it, Xu Chu has to rely on himself this time. The case was unfolded, and Xu Chu pointed out the two ferries in Yangquan County.

"Tell me, which ferry will the nine ** land at?"

Yang Quanling finally waited for the opportunity to perform, and hurriedly said: "As usual, the thieves have landed in Dongdu. ”

Yang Quanwei also added: "Dongdu is not only closer, but also larger, and there are many thieves in the crowd, so it is convenient for boats to dock here. ”

Xu Chu nodded, silent in thought. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of wanting to talk and stopped, so he smiled and said, "What is the high opinion of Zijing?" But it doesn't hurt to say that. ”

He has something to say, but after all, he is young, and it is the first time he has participated in the military discussion, so he lacks self-confidence. If he is wrong and the people in the county are destroyed by thieves, then he will not become a sinner? But seeing Xu Chu staring at him with encouraging eyes, he couldn't get around the inner movement after all, and said: "In my humble opinion, I feel that it doesn't matter which ferry Jiu** goes ashore from. ”

"Oh?"

"Yangquan is at most a central county, the land is wide and the people are sparse, the people near the east and north ferries are evacuated, and the other is not much, so you can immediately send someone to notify the mayor and the elders near the ferry, so that the people can temporarily retreat in the direction of the county; If this method is successful, we will have more time to prepare, and we will be able to know the whereabouts of Jiu** more accurately. ”

It is true that as Zhao said, the big county has an order, and the small county has a chief, although Yangquan has a county order, its population is not as large as the large county in the Central Plains, but the area is larger, and it can be called a middle county at most. It can be inferred from this that the number of people in the vicinity of the two ferries should be small, and sending people to mobilize the people to evacuate now is equivalent to fighting for a buffer zone.

Xu Chu looked at Yang Quanling and Yang Quanwei, and when he saw the two nodding, he immediately gave an order and acted according to what he said.

In the middle of the Yangtze River, above the fighting ships.

Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin stood side by side on the bow of the boat, overlooking the riverbank.

Both of them are warriors, on this cold winter, when the river wind is cold, they are only wearing single clothes, the muscles on their chests and arms are bulging, and their eyes are very different. Zhou Tai was a little taller than Jiang Qin, Jiang Qin raised his head slightly, and said to Zhou Tai: "Youping, yesterday I went to explore the horse and report back, and there seems to be a noble person in Yangquan County." Do you think it will be Xu Chu? ”

Zhou Tai didn't like to talk very much, and even a little wooden, after listening to Jiang Qin's words, he just nodded, and a few stiff characters popped out of his mouth: "Maybe...... bar. ”

Jiang Qin said again: "If it is really Xu Chu, what should I do?" ”

Zhou Tai curled the corners of his mouth, "Fight!" ”

As he was talking, the fighting ship was only more than 100 meters away from the ferry. Jiang Qin looked at it and said curiously: "The official army doesn't even fortify at the ferry? ”

Zhou Taidao: "It's too late. ”

Jiang Qin thought for a moment and accepted Zhou Tai's opinion. They came very suddenly, and if it weren't for the bad luck of the heavy rain, they would have gone ashore last night. Now it's been delayed overnight, but Yangquan County is a big place, and the efficiency of the county officials has never been very high, even if they learn about the military situation, the first thing they think of is to do a good job of defending the surrounding ten miles with the county government as the center. After a night's hard work, and it was raining heavily, it was already good to be able to arrange the garrison of the county, but the ferry side should not be taken care of.

"Stop landing!"

Jiang Qin raised his arms and shouted, and the sound of the golden drum of the march rumbled. Fighting boats, red horses, and various fishing boats swarmed up, and the mountains rushed to the shore like a tsunami.

About half an hour, Xu Chu received a military report from the scout. Nine ** really landed at the east ferry, after the scouts dictated, the thieves went ashore and saw that there were no people in the river, and they were a little at a loss for a while, so they stayed in place now, and only sent a small number of elites to investigate the situation.

Xu Chu relieved his mind a little, and the suggestion of the lead still received some results, and he won a little time.

Captain Yang Quan has already mobilized a number of more than 200 county guards and young and strong people to form a guard, and he should also know the situation at this moment, on the way to the east ferry.

Xu Chu looked at Dian Wei and thought excitedly: Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, I don't know who is better than my 'evil come'.

"Dian Wei! Count the number of people and join me in the battle! ”

Dian Wei commanded, "Oh! ”

"Zijing, George, you two sit in the county; Yangquan Ling and Yuan Gan were responsible for going to the county to recruit some more warlike townships and young people, and prepare to rush to the front line. ”

The crowd was commanded.

Xu Chu immediately left the county house, turned over and got on the horse, and when Dian Wei gathered the tiger guard, he waved his knife and pointed, "Let's go!" ”