Chen Fen, a veteran of Yuan Shujun's naval division, and Zhang Ying, the general of the Qu'a naval division who surrendered from Liu Xuan's side, had no doubts about the various breaking tactics of the little Yuan Sanbu Dynasty, and they also agreed very much with this tactic to reduce the combat pressure of the naval division, but Chen Fen and Zhang Ying had another concern.

"My lord, the water is not as narrow as the Yangtze River, and the fleet of our army's naval division cannot be fully deployed." Chen Fen reported to Xiao Yuan Sangongyu: "The fleet of the Sailor Division cannot be deployed, and it will not be able to give full play to our advantage in the number of troops and ships, so it is definitely not difficult for us to defeat the Pottery Thief Chaohu Sailor in this battle, but it is very difficult to completely annihilate the Pottery Thief Chaohu Sailor." ”

"Yes, my lord, the water is not a good place for water warfare." Zhang Ying also said: "Unless our army forces the pottery thief sailor back to Chaohu Lake and starts a decisive battle on the surface of Chaohu Lake, it is impossible for our army to completely annihilate the enemy." However, if it is chased into Chaohu, it is impossible to estimate and predict how much time it will take to end the war. ”

Xiao Yuan Sangong discussed with Yan Xiang, Shu Shao and other think tanks for a while, and then Xiao Yuan Sangong asked: "Two Aiqing, within three days, can the two Aiqing be sure to force the pottery thief sailor into Chaohu Lake to annihilate it?" ”

Chen Fen and Zhang Ying also discussed in a low voice, and after confirming the current location of the Xuzhou Chaohu Water Division on the map, Chen Fen came forward to reply: "My lord, if you want to completely annihilate the Chaohu Lake Water Division within three days, there must be two prerequisites, the first is that all the ships of our army's water division must be dispatched to form an absolute advantage over the enemy; The second is that our army's naval division must drive the pottery thief naval division back to Chaohu Lake within one day and one night, so that our army's naval division can be fifty or sixty percent sure that the enemy's naval division will be completely annihilated in the south of Chaohu Lake, and will return to the Spring Valley camp within three days. ”

"The key is that the water is narrow." Zhang Ying added: "If the Pottery Thief Sailor Division is fortified horizontally and insists on not retreating, then our army can only inflict heavy damage on the Pottery Thief Sailor Division at most, and there is not much hope of total annihilation." ”

"Lord, even if it is a heavy blow to the pottery thief Chaohu Water Master, it will also be." Yan Xiang said quickly: "It will take two days for the Poyang Lake Water Division to reach the mouth of the pottery thief at the earliest, and if you sink one more pottery thief warship here, our army will be able to bear less pressure at the beginning of the decisive battle." ”

After all, it is the only advantageous class of troops in his hand to take risks, and Xiao Yuan Sangong, whose courage and courage are far inferior to Cao Boss and Deputy Director Tao, are still a little hesitant, but considering that this battle will be fought sooner or later, it is far better to fight now than to wait for the Xuzhou Navy Division to meet the division, so Xiao Yuan Sangong finally slapped the case in front of him and shouted: "Okay! Lone is allowed to dispatch the whole army of the water division, and within three days, it is necessary to destroy the whole army of Lone or severely damage the water division of the pottery thief Chaohu Lake, and return to the Spring Valley Ferry! ”

Chen Fen and Zhang Ying clasped their fists together and sang a promise, Yan Xiang was worried and told Chen Fen and Zhang Ying to send ships every three hours to report the battle situation, and asked Chen Fen and Zhang Ying to immediately withdraw to Chungu after two days and six hours of battle, unless they received an order to continue fighting, whether they received an order to retreat or not, Chen Fen and Zhang Ying also remembered with their hearts. Only Xue Li, who was appointed as a sailor to join the army by Xiao Yuan Sangong, was very arrogant, and said with a smile: "Why is Yan Gong worried? Whether it is Chaohu Lake or Poyang Lake, the pottery thief's sailor army is a landlubber who has never been on the battlefield of water warfare, how can it be my opponent of the Jiangdong sailor who has experienced a hundred battles? As a result, although no one took care of the notoriously narrow-minded Mr. Xue Li, he also secretly agreed with Xue Li's opinion.

It was the second watch of the night, the well-prepared Yuan Shujun sailors suddenly set out, set sail and anchored to the north shore, Xiao Yuan Sangong personally went to the dock to see him off, and cut off the first class sacrifice flag of Sun Ben and Wu Jing, nearly 1,000 large and small warships, divided into three groups to set sail out of the port, by the cold southeast wind of early summer, the mighty sailed to the mouth of the wet beard, and opened the way with the elite ship, and directly killed into the wet water.

Let's give a general introduction to the situation of the wet water, from the outlet of Chaohu Lake to the mouth of the river, the length of the water is about one hundred and thirty miles, the width of the river is different, the widest point is nearly a thousand meters, the narrowest Qibao Mountain area of the river width is only about half a mile, the second narrow section of the river is in the area of Xiaomating, the last time Chaisang smuggling war, the strength of the rather weak Xuzhou Chaohu water division is to retreat to the vicinity of the small horse pavilion to wait, so that at that time did not absorb Liu Xuan's water division Yuan Shujun water division did not dare to force the attack.

Lessons learned, this time to send troops, although Yuan Shujun Shui Division no longer has the worries of Liu Xuan's Shui Division, but he is also very worried that the Xuzhou Chaohu Naval Division will hold the danger in the area of Xiaomating, so Yuan Shujun Chen Fen also gave a death order to the forward Chen Wu, asking Chen Wu to seize the Xiaomating Waterway at any cost and open the way forward for the main army.

What made Chen Fen and Zhang Ying and others ecstatic was that at half an hour of the fifth watch, Chen Wu sent a message to the clipper, saying that the army had successfully seized the water surface of Xiaomating, during which they only encountered two Chaohu sailor boats, Chen Fen and Zhang Ying were overjoyed, and hurriedly urged the army to rush forward with the oars, and rushed to Xiaomating for reinforcements at full speed.

Halfway through the hour, the main force of the Yuan Army's sailors who had taken advantage of the southeast wind to go against the current arrived at Xiaomating, and Chen Wu, the forward stationed here, reported to the boat, saying that the self-army scout ships had already explored the location of the Chaohu Sailor Division in Xuzhou in the Cangtouwei area ten miles upstream, and at the same time had begun to retreat in an all-round way, Chen Fen was even more ecstatic when he heard the news, and said in a loud voice: "Do you confirm that the pottery thief sailor is retreating?" No confirmation message? ”

"I confirmed it again." Chen Wu replied excitedly: "The last general is worried that the enemy has ambushed soldiers, and he is also worried that the Xuzhou thief army will induce the last general's fleet to leave the water surface of Xiaomating, so he did not dare to pursue, and I ask the governor to forgive me." ”

"What is Zilie's crime? You are cautious in your use of soldiers, and do not give the pottery thief a chance to fight back, and you are not guilty. Chen Fen laughed, patted Chen Wu on the shoulder and said, "Go back to the boat and lead the soldiers to chase, so that you can use the soldiers, and after you break the enemy, we will ask the lord for credit together." ”

Chen Wu was overjoyed, and hurriedly returned to the ship to lead the army in pursuit, and Chen Fen also quickly ordered: "Order the rear army of the Chinese army, take turns rocking the oars and advance at full speed, be sure to catch up with the thief army before the pottery thief sailor retreats to Qibao Mountain, and do not give the enemy a chance to line up and defend on the surface of Qibao Mountain!" The flagship general agreed, and quickly let the flag bearer play the flag, and at the same time sent a clipper to inform the rear army, ordering the rear army to also advance at full speed.

Yuan Shujun veteran Chen Fen issued this order is of course not without a target, the area of Qibao Mountain is not only narrow, but also the famous Whisker Dock and Dongxing Embankment in later generations, in history, Sun Biyan in order to resist the disturbance of Cao Laoda's surname, mobilized tens of thousands of people, built two strong military fortresses in the area of Qibao Mountain, and built the Dongxing Dike that narrowed the waterway, with which to repel the salty and wet claws stretched out by Cao Laoda, so that later the Jin State destroyed Wu, they could only send troops from the Han River and did not dare to provoke the Xukou, and the terrain was the most dangerous. Of course, there were no such fortifications at this time.

But in any case, if the Xuzhou Sailor resolutely guards the Qibao Mountain Surface, the Yuan Shujun Sailor who wants to fight quickly will not be so easy to quickly annihilate or severely damage the Xuzhou Sailor, so just after passing the Xiaoma Pavilion, Chen Fen, who is very familiar with the terrain in this area, also decisively ordered a full-speed pursuit, in order not to give the Xuzhou Sailor a chance to defend.

The experienced veteran General Chen Fen pursued at full speed, marched all the way north, and soon crossed the Cangtouwei area where the Xuzhou Navy Division was stationed before, and went north, but unfortunately the old General Chen Fen, who had never read the biography of the chairman, probably never dreamed that in the woods near the shore of Cangtouwei, there were countless Xuzhou soldiers lurking, and countless hungry wolf-like eyes flashed with fierce green light, with a fierce smile, staring at his fleet. He was also patiently waiting for the passage of his naval fleet............ By the way, in the surrounding woods, there are not only a large number of Xuzhou soldiers lurking, but also a large number of ropes, iron chains and sharpened wooden stakes, as well as dozens of small boats, which are very well prepared. In addition, a large number of Xuzhou cavalry are also rapidly attacking this area............ Old General Chen Fen definitely has a chance to make Deputy Director Tao's wishful thinking come to naught, but unfortunately the tactics of each breakthrough have blinded General Chen's eyes, and the strong strength of the naval division and the retreating Chaohu naval division also made General Chen see that victory was just around the corner, so General Chen only urged the whole army to speed up, and he didn't think that this might be the Xuzhou Naval Division to lure the enemy, and no one reminded him of this possibility - with the strength of the Xuzhou Naval Division, there was no strength to ambush the main force of the Yuan Shujun Naval Division.

After more than half a day's pursuit, the Xuzhou Navy Division retreated to the area of Qibao Mountain, because Yuan Shujun's sailor chased too closely, so he didn't dare to organize a formation on the water near Qibao Mountain to intercept it, and he rushed directly through the water surface between Qibao Mountain and Weixu Mountain, and gave up this dangerous place of water warfare to Yuan Shujun's sailor!

It was also at this time that Zhang Ying, the general of Liu Xuan's army, finally calmed down a little and suggested to Chen Fen: "Governor, for the sake of prudence, it is better to let the rear army hold this place to ensure the return of our army, and the front army and the Chinese army are responsible for the pursuit." ”

At the moment of controlling fate, Chen Fen only hesitated slightly, and Xue Li, who hated the Tao family's father and son to the bone, jumped out and objected: "Dadu Governor, you can't leave the rear army, you must pursue it with all your might." Thirty miles further upstream, is the open and spacious Chaohu Lake, if our army's water division wants to completely annihilate the pottery thief water division, it must concentrate all its forces in Chaohu Lake to fight the victory, and must not commit the taboo of dividing troops in water warfare! ”

When Chen Fen hesitated slightly, there was good news from the front, it turned out that as he got closer and closer to Chaohu Lake, the water surface of the water was getting wider and wider, and the forward Chen Wu team, who was pursuing with all his might, had caught up with the rear team of the Xuzhou Water Division, and started a fierce battle with the rear team of the Xuzhou Water Division, and at the same time, the herald also said with a flying eyebrow: "The Tao Thief Sailor is not our opponent at all, after our fast boat surrounded them with a warship, none of the Pottery Thief Sailor Commander's warships dared to come back to the rescue, but they just fled to Chaohu Lake upstream. ”

"Chase with all your might!" Chen Fen finally made up her mind, and when Zhang Ying persuaded again, Chen Fen replied with a cruel smile: "What retreat do you need to ensure?" What does the pottery thief do to cut off our back road? Besides, the river in this area of Qibao Mountain flows so fast, we can't break through with a charge? As soon as Zhang Ying thought about it, he no longer persuaded him, but continued to chase and kill Chen Fen with all his might.

Soon, Chen Fen's fleet rushed to the previous water battle battlefield, to Chen Fen, Zhang Ying, Xue Li and others were proud, Chen Wu's team had captured a Xuzhou Lou ship and several small boats, Chen Fen ordered the prisoners to be escorted to the warship, the Xuzhou prisoners honestly confessed: "It was Lu Dudu who ordered us to retreat with all our strength, and also explained in advance that if our fleet was scattered by the general's fleet, we would immediately withdraw to the naval battalion at the north end of Chaohu Lake, and we should not fight alone." ””

Hearing such a confession, Chen Fen laughed, in addition to sending a fast boat back to Spring Valley to report the battle situation to Xiao Yuan Sangong, and then ordered the whole army to continue to accelerate, and be sure to catch up with the Xuzhou Navy Division at the southern end of Chaohu Lake to launch a decisive battle. After seeing the flag, the ships of the Yuan Army's sailors, who were in sight, also rushed to the top of the water to sway and paddle, and quickly killed the upper reaches of the water, and continued to narrow the distance with the gradually opening water, and launched the fleet to give full play to the advantages of troops and the number of ships.

……………… By the way, let's introduce the situation of Chen Fenjun's messenger ship, in order to make Xiao Yuan Sangong feel at ease in the rear, Chen Fen sent a clipper boat south to report that everything was going well, and with the benefit of the water, this messenger messenger was moving very fast, almost at a speed of twenty miles per hour, and Shen Shi had just arrived near the Cangtouwei we mentioned earlier, but it was also at this time that the sailors and messengers on this clipper ship were stunned together, and opened their mouths one by one to fit three eggs, My jaw almost fell on the deck............ On the water surface of Cangtouwei, which is not very narrow but definitely not wide, I don't know when four pontoon bridges have been built, and a full ten huge iron cables have been pulled, and in the upstream of each pontoon bridge, there are a large number of Xuzhou soldiers, who are nailing sharp wooden piles with thick bowls into the bottom of the slow-flowing river in this area, and nailing iron chains to the wooden piles to build a solid water fence. On both sides of Cangtouwei, I don't know when a large number of Xuzhou soldiers appeared, including a large number of war horses and cavalry rarely seen in the south of the Yangtze River!!

"Hit the mark! Turn around and report the news! ”

Without waiting for the messenger to finish shouting, and not waiting for the clipper to turn around, the drums of war were beating, and countless rockets and more than a dozen huge stone bullets suddenly rose on both sides of the water, whistling to cover the messenger clipper of Yuan Shujun, one of the stone bullets just hit the deck of the clipper, and in the terrible sound of wood breaking, the stone bullets weighing more than 300 pounds directly smashed through the deck and the bottom of the boat, and the river water was surging into the cabin, and the poor Yuan Jun messenger clipper suddenly lost its ability to move, and gradually sank to the bottom of the river while turning.

"Don't release rockets, let the thief ship sink by itself, mosquitoes are also meat, let this thief ship make some contribution to our Xiaolangdi interception project!"

"Lord, this place is called Cangtouwei, not Xiaolangdi."

……………… At the same time, on the side of Chen Fen's naval fleet, after more than seven hours of hard work, the main force of Yuan Shujun's naval division finally achieved its tactical goal more than four hours ahead of schedule - to force the Xuzhou Chaohu naval division back to the surface of Chaohu Lake, which was conducive to water warfare, and at the same time, the main force of Yuan Shujun's naval division also entered Chaohu Lake on all fronts. Seeing the scene of the Xuzhou Sailor fleeing for his life in embarrassment on the open water from a distance, Chen Fen looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, and then roared angrily: "Raise the flag, chase at full speed, and be sure to surround and annihilate the Pottery Thief Sailor before the Pottery Thief Sailor retreats to the camp!" ”

The flag was played, the war drums were beaten, and the experienced Yuan Shujun sailors gradually unfolded their formations, chasing the Xuzhou sailors at a gallop, but the poor Xuzhou sailors were confused, and fled for their lives towards the depths of Chaohu Lake with open water.

In the end, the Xuzhou Navy Division is a recruit who has never undergone actual combat training, and the experience in water warfare is far inferior to the Yuan Shujun Naval Division, and was soon defeated by the Yuan Army's Naval Division, and the diamond-shaped ship formation was almost scattered by the fleet led by the Yuan Army's fierce general Chen Wu, and the formation quickly collapsed, and the Yuan Shujun Naval Division took the opportunity to break each other, or hit or raise fire to burn, or after the encirclement, jumped into close combat, captured the captured Xuzhou Navy Division's warship, and the Xuzhou fleet that had no intention of fighting scattered and fled, and even the flagship that Lu Su rode took the initiative to lower the handsome flag, Giving up command and fleeing alone, Chen Fen's sailors took the opportunity to cover up and kill, and captured countless ships.

After the sky was completely dark, gradually, Chen Fen finally found that something was wrong, because Chen Fen found that after the Xuzhou warships, especially the large warships, broke away from the battlefield, they did not flee to the sailor camp due north, but to the open area on the left and right.

After repeatedly discovering this strange phenomenon, Chen Fen became suspicious, and quickly ordered someone to bring the Xuzhou sailor generals who were captured on the battlefield to interrogate the reason, especially to torture those Xuzhou sailor generals who served as captains, and these Xuzhou generals were not all iron bones who would rather die than give in, and soon a Xuzhou Tun general explained: "After our army withdrew to Chaohu, the governor of the capital sent people to order boats by boat, saying that once the flag of the flagship is lowered, all the ships of our army must retreat to the road from the water, all the way down the river, until they meet with the main team, Then he was under the direct command of the lord. ”

"The pottery thief himself is downstream of the water?" Chen Fen's face changed drastically.

"The villain doesn't know, but it should be there." The traitor in Xuzhou replied blankly: "In short, the governor of Dadu gave an order, and after the water went down the river, after encountering the main prince's team, he directly accepted the command of the lord." ”

Chen Fen's little face began to turn pale, and Xue Li next to him also began to tremble, at this time, Zhang Ying, the deputy governor of the Yuan Army's naval division, also rushed over, and yelled from afar: "Governor Chen, we may have been tricked!" The last general went to check on the captured enemy ship, and found that there were thick iron chains hidden in the hold of the enemy ship, and asked what the prisoners were for, but the prisoners said that they did not know, only that they were loaded on the ship when they set off, but no one knew what they were used for! ”

Bang, Chen Fen sat on the deck with his buttocks, sweating all over his body, and when the soldiers on the left and right stepped forward to help, Chen Fen jumped up by himself, pulled out a knife and slashed the Xuzhou traitor general in front of him, and then roared hysterically, "God kill your pottery thief!" You're so ruthless! used a whole Chaohu sailor to lure me into the scheme, took the opportunity to block my retreat with iron cables, and trapped our army in Chaohu Lake! You're fucking ruthless! You're so fucking ruthless! ”

"Governor, retreat." Zhang Ying said anxiously: "If the pottery thief blocks the Sushui channel, we will be finished!" ”

"Flag! Remove! Withdraw it for me right away! Withdraw! Roaring wildly, Chen Fen's voice was already filled with crying............ Remove? It's too late, not only will the four water gates of the Xuzhou army have been basically completed, and have entered the stage of full reinforcement, but also more than 40 large warships of the Xuzhou Navy Division have sailed into the water and are going down the river at full speed. Let the Xuzhou Xiangyang artillery arranged on both sides of the Xushui River open fire and slaughter the Yuan Shujun fleet on the river at will!

It doesn't matter how big the sacrifice is, even if it loses all the Chaohu Water Division, as long as it can kill the main force of Yuan Shu's water division, the Poyang Lake Water Division of the Xuzhou army can also poop horizontally and pee vertically in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Not to mention that a fleet is not so easy to build, it is a warship, and with the productivity and technology of this era, it will take at least a month or two to complete and launch, right?

(To be continued)