The generals of the Navy were very moved to get the full support of the Northern Expeditionary Army in such a smooth way, and after thanking them, they returned to their camp.

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In the direction of Wuhu Ferry, because Yao Gezhong's army did not send soldiers to stay here when they attacked Jiankang City, when Yao Xiang led 3,000 men and horses to the ferry again, the ferry had been occupied by the Jin army.

However, the Jin army is not much, there are only more than 800 people stationed at the ferry, in addition, there are more than 1,000 defenders in Wuhu City, who can reinforce the direction of the ferry at any time.

Of course, the defenders of the ferry understood that their strength was very weak and simply not enough to resist Yao Gezhong's main army, so they deliberately dragged all the hundreds of large ships at the ferry ashore and hid them in a hidden bush, leaving only a dozen small boats at the ferry to facilitate the communication between the two sides of the ferry.

After Yao Xiang led 3,000 men and horses to Wuhu Ferry, he immediately launched an attack on the Jin army stationed at the ferry, the garrison of the ferry was insufficient, and it was even more powerless to resist in a hurry, so when Yao Xiang's men and horses attacked the ferry, the defenders of the ferry quickly withdrew under the leadership of their main general, and gave up the ferry to Yao Xiang.

Yao Xiang was very proud of occupying the ferry so easily, but when he entered the shore of the ferry, he was taken aback.

There are only a dozen small boats in a huge ferry, where are the hundred big boats that should have been, Yao Xiang is very puzzled.

"Little general, all the big boats at the ferry have disappeared, will they all be on the other side?" A ministry general said.

Yao Xiang shook his head and frowned: "No, it shouldn't be, the main forces of my Great Zhao are all in Jiangbei, and the Jin army can only sail the ships from Jiangbei to Jiangnan, but will never sail the ships from Jiangnan to Jiangbei." ”

"Yes! The little general is right, but where did all these big ships go? Could it be that they were all scuttled by the Jin army. The general frowned.

Yao Xiang smiled slightly and quipped: "There are so many ships, let you scuttle, are you willing to do it?" ”

"It's a pity, the last general is really reluctant." The ministry will reply.

Yao Xiang looked around and said softly: "You can't be reluctant, and the generals of the Jin army must be reluctant, so there are two places for these warships, the first is to be transferred to other places, and the second is that they were dragged ashore and hidden." ”

"Little general, if the Jin army transfers all the big ships to other places, what should our army do?" The general asked.

Yao Xiang snorted lightly, and said: "Then it depends on the will of heaven, if the father can break the Jin army at the Wujiang ferry, the main army of the king can cross the river and go south, our army naturally does not need to cross the river to the north, and there is no need for these big ships, but if the father will return, the Wujiang ferry will not move, and the main force of the Jin army will kill the Wuhu ferry, our army will consider retreating, these big ships are very important to our army, our army should make every effort to find the whereabouts of these big ships, if it is really transferred by the Jin army, then, Our army has no choice but to build ships on the spot, but this will delay for several days, if the main force of the Jin army is killed, our army will be under a lot of pressure! ”

When the general heard this, he was nervous for a moment, and hurriedly said: "Little general, just in case, the last general will arrange for the soldiers to cut down trees and prepare to build a big ship." ”

"There's no need to be in such a hurry." Yao Xiang hurriedly stopped, paused, and said: "It is extremely unlikely that the Jin army's big ship will be transferred to other places, but it is very likely that it will be hidden nearby, you first send hundreds of soldiers to check nearby to see if you can find the whereabouts of the Jin army's big ship." ”

"Yes, little general, the last general will do it." The general received the order.

Soon, the three hundred soldiers under the command of Yao Xiang were divided into dozens of action groups, scattered to explore around the ferry, and the soldiers of the Zhao army probed very carefully, not even letting go of a small mountain pass, but they explored for more than an hour, but there was no whereabouts of the Jin army's big ship.

Just when the three hundred Zhao soldiers returned to the ferry to report the situation to Yao Xiang, Yao Gezhong led an army of eight thousand to arrive at the ferry.

Seeing Yao Gezhong's unhappy face, Yao Xiang hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Father, what's wrong, the surprise attack on the Wujiang ferry failed?" ”

Yao Gezhong sighed and said regretfully: "Our army's surprise attack was extremely smooth, and the king's main army also came from the north bank of the river to reinforce, seeing that the Jin army at the Wujiang ferry was about to be unable to hold on, at this moment, the seven or eight thousand cavalry of the Jin army suddenly came, and my father did not dare to lead the army to evacuate, what a failure!" ”

"Father don't have to be sad, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, our army attacked Wuhu Ferry, and the lone army went deep into the hinterland of the Jin Kingdom, which was a taboo for soldiers, it was a dangerous flag, and it was lucky to win, and there was no need to be sad if it was defeated, it was a big deal to start all over again." Yao Xiang comforted his father.

Listening to his son's comfort, Yao Gezhong's mood eased slightly, paused, and said softly: "Xiang'er, our army still has more than 10,000 troops, if it occupies a city, it is enough to defend itself, is it just to withdraw to Jiangbei?" ”

From his father's words, Yao Xiang heard that he was unwilling, but at this time, near Jiankang City, the Jin army had already occupied an absolute advantage, and this advantage had a tendency to expand, with more than 10,000 people, it was already difficult to ensure its own safety, and only by retreating to Jiangbei could it be foolproof.

"Father, Xizuo has sent back the news that the cavalry of the Jin Army that suddenly killed the night before yesterday is the main cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army, that is to say, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army has returned to Jiankang City, and what our army has encountered is only the cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army, if its main infantry arrives near Jiankang City, our army will be even more powerless to resist! For the sake of today, it is better to temporarily withdraw to Jiangbei. Yao Xiang persuaded him.

"The more than 10,000 cavalry turned out to be the Northern Expeditionary Army, isn't the Northern Expeditionary Army still far away in Jiaozhou? How did you return to Jiankang City so quickly? Yao Gezhong obviously couldn't believe it in his heart.

"This, the child can't quite understand, but it is an indisputable fact that more than 10,000 cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army returned to Jiankang City, the cavalry can return so quickly, when will the follow-up infantry arrive, it is really difficult to say, our army has to prepare for the worst, at this time, only by returning to Jiangbei can we ensure that the remaining half of the army is foolproof, and I Qiang people are scarce, and we can't lose people in vain for things that are already hopeless." Yao Xiang replied.

"Alright! Tonight, our army will return to Jiangbei, which is good. Yao Gezhong finally gave up and continued to stay in Jiangnan.

"Father, there are only a dozen small boats left at the ferry, and we must wait until the officers and men of our army find the original hundreds of large boats at the ferry, and then we can calmly cross the river." Yao Xiang said helplessly.

"What, there are only a dozen small boats left at the ferry?" Yao Gezhong was immediately furious.

Seeing that his father was angry, Yao Xiang hurriedly replied: "Father, don't worry, most of the Jin army has hidden the warship, the child must try his best to find the big ship, and the father can wait for good news." ”

Yao Gezhong looked up at the sky and said softly: "It's already evening, it's going to be dark, you can do it quickly!" ”

"Yes, father." Yao Xiang received the order and decided to go to find the whereabouts of the big ship in person.

Walking to the river, Yao Xiang looked at the more than a dozen small boats at the ferry, on top of the small boat, there were a few soldiers, compared to the soldiers, the small boat seemed very large, it was a big guy, and what about those big boats? Aren't they much bigger than small boats? How can such a huge ship be hidden?

If these big ships are towed ashore, how much manpower and material resources will have to be wasted, and even if they are towed to the shore, how to hide them is a big problem.

And the soldiers under their command, along the ferry near the search for so long can not be found, is the Jin army really transferred the big ship away, but the upstream and downstream of the Wuhu ferry are very far away, the transfer is really inconvenient, at the same time, the Wuhu ferry is also a place in need of boats, the people on both sides of the strait, the Jin army's own north and south transfer of troops and transport grain and grass need big ships, the transfer of big ships, the transfer of big ships, is also very unfavorable to the Jin army.

The big boat must be hiding near the ferry, but it is relatively hidden, Yao Xiang secretly told himself.

"Little general, the soldiers looked for it again, there was no clue at all, and a few fishermen were caught on the way, and they also said that they didn't know, could it be, the Jin army really transferred all the big boats." The general hurriedly reported.

When Yao Xiang heard this, he frowned, and said loudly: "Order the soldiers, continue to search, look along the river, go quickly." ”

"Yes, little general." Seeing that Yao Xiang was a little angry, the general hurriedly continued to look for it nearby.

Yao Xiang stepped on his war horse and led more than a dozen personal soldiers to slowly walk west along the riverside. In his heart, as long as the Jin army hid the big ship, it must be hidden near the river, otherwise it would become extremely inconvenient to use it, and the manpower consumed would be too great.

In the evening, the reeds by the river, illuminated by the setting sun, look spectacular, and now in winter, the reeds are beige, and from a distance it looks like an open-minded feeling.

"The scenery of Jiangnan is beautiful! Ha ha! Yao Xiang sighed softly, staring at it carefully, the large reeds in front of him did not grow in the same height, and the reeds in many positions were obviously one head taller, which seemed very abrupt.

"Look, why are the reeds a few feet higher?" Yao Xiang looked at the pro-soldier beside him and asked in a low voice.

A pro-soldier immediately replied: "Little general, this is not strange, the ground there must be a piece higher than other places, and the reeds on it are naturally higher than the surrounding reeds, which is also common in Jiangbei." ”

"Oh, the ground there is one piece higher, but why is it so coincidental that there are hundreds of ground that are one piece higher, which is very close to the number of big ships that have disappeared from the ferry!" Yao Xiang said indifferently.

"Little general, you mean, there is a big ship of the Jin army hidden there."

"Little General, it's obviously a reed there! I can't tell it's a ship! ”

"Little General, do you want to go over and check it out?"

Several pro-soldiers hurriedly replied.

Yao Xiang looked at the muddy water in the reed field, frowned, and said, "You guys, go over and have a look, go and come back quickly." ”

"Yes, little general." The five soldiers jumped off their horses, dripping muddy water, and slowly walked towards the depths of the reed field.