Hearing this, all the ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty present changed color, and the general with the fish-patterned leather belt around the left waist hurriedly said: "The Song people's sailors are not good, and the lord of the country should return to Jinling as soon as possible, so that Xun should lead the navy warship to die." The general who sat down under him also responded: "The last general should follow Zhu Jiedu and swear to die." ”

Hearing that the Song army was coming, the ministers on the right were all uneasy, and the generals on the left had solemn faces. Cai Yu was frightened and didn't know how to deal with it, so he had to say: "I don't know what Song Jun wants? ”

After the general of the naval division, Zhu Lingyun, thanked the lord of the country for his trust, he went out of the cabin to command the battle, and before long, everyone in the cabin only felt that the ship suddenly accelerated, when it was the Southern Tang Dynasty sailor who was speeding up to get rid of the Song army, suddenly the ship tilted and shook, as if a rolling stone hit the boat, everyone did not know why, only listened to the loud shouts of the officers and soldiers outside the cabin.

Hu Ze couldn't hold back at first, and stepped forward to Cai Yu and said: "The last general has also learned water warfare in the Qinghuai army, and he is willing to go out to fight with the Song soldiers!" Cai Yuqiang smiled and said: "Hu Qing is really brave, but the nobles in the army are single-minded, Qing is a guest general here, no soldiers and no bravery, it is better to wait for Zhu Jiedu to break the enemy." Hu had no choice but to step back.

Everyone looked at each other, and after a while, Zhu Lingyun, the envoy of Zhennan Jiedu, stumbled into the cabin, knelt on the ground and said: "My lord, the three ships that have been sent to escort the escort will be broken and delayed the warships of the Song Kingdom, but the Song people are still in hot pursuit." The last general is brave and asks the lord to change to the sailor to go first, and the last general will wait for the ship to be broken. ”

Cai Yu's face changed greatly when he heard this, he looked at Wu Qiao, and saw that Wu Qiao was also expressionless, so he had to reply: "There is such a Lao Zhuqing family." After speaking, he wanted to lead his ministers to move the fast boat, and Hu Ze, the commander of Jiangzhou, stood up and said: "The safety of the lord of the country is a matter of national Zuo, and I also ask Zhu Jiedu to escort His Majesty back to Jinling by fast boat. ”

Cai Yu saw that someone was willing to stand up at this moment, and couldn't help but be moved in his heart, and said: "Since this is the case, after the command of Hu is broken, Zhu Qing's family will protect Gu and all the ministers and princes to return to Jinling." After speaking, he wanted to lead the ministers to change into a fast boat and flee to Jinling.

Zhang Li, the superintendent of the imperial history, said: "If the Song army expects that there are important people in my fast ship, regardless of the big ship, and chases the fast boat, will we not fall into danger for Your Majesty." As soon as these words came out, the ministers who were about to surround Cai Yu to board the clipper and escape for their lives all hesitated again. While everyone was in chaos, another general came in to report that the Song army had left four warships to fight with the warships after the Southern Tang Dynasty, and two other warships were in hot pursuit.

Lu Jiang, the inspector of the lawsuit, made his debut again: "The enemy ship is far smaller than our ship, and the minister is willing to wait for a battle with the Song army to protect Your Majesty." All the generals bowed down together and said, "I am willing to fight with the Song army." "It's generous. As an envoy of the Han State, Wu Yingying was unwilling to go into battle to fight with the Song army, not to mention that he was deeply influenced by the orthodox concept of the Song dynasty in China, although he agreed to Wei Wei as the envoy of the Northern Han Dynasty, he subconsciously wanted to avoid conflict with the Song army. But when all the generals standing beside him bowed down together, Wu Yingying's figure standing in the middle of the cabin was too prominent, and Cai Yu was also sick and rushed to the hospital, thinking that Wu Yingying was also a tiger general, and the more one who could fight, the more safe it would be, so he asked: "The Song army is menacing, and General Wu is willing to retreat alone." ”

Everyone's eyes were focused on Wu Yingying, and there seemed to be a trace of disdain in the eyes of several military generals, Wu Yingying had to bow down and say: "The last general is willing to board the ship and fight with the Song army." So Cai Yu no longer hesitated, and ordered all the generals to listen to the command of Zhu Lingyun, the envoy of Zhennan Jiedu, and board the board of the ship to fight with the Song army sailors who caught up, and at the same time sent clippers to ask for help from the Hongzhou sailors battalion.

Zhu Lingyun led the generals to board the shipbuilding, at this time the east wind on the river is strong, blowing the flag hunting sound, the front and rear three boats are fast across the water, Cai Yu this boat hull is huge, there is a five-fold shipbuilding, correspondingly slower than the Song army's warships, the two warships of the Song army are the same size as ordinary merchant ships, only two floors of shipbuilding, but the bow is almost full of soldiers holding short knives and round shields, ready to jump on the board of the Southern Tang Dynasty ship once pasted.

Wu Yingying secretly said that the generals of the Southern Tang Navy Division were confused, if the smaller warships just now were allowed to engage in a broadside battle with the Song Navy Division, and use the five-fold building of the ship to condescendingly send stones and arrows, I am afraid that the Song Army would not be able to get any bargains. At present, there are no other ships to prevent the Song army from boarding the ship, as long as the Song army has the determination to pay a certain number of casualties, then once the two sides fight a broadside battle, the advantage of the large ship of the Southern Tang side in throwing weapons will be negated.

At this moment, the ship's tower was full of archers from the navy, the side of the stone thrower was full of cobblestones, oil drums, etc., and some soldiers were on guard on the side of the ship with spears and swords and shields.

Zhu Lingyun frowned tightly and watched the Song army approaching little by little, and first saluted Huangfu Jixun, the commander of the Shenwei Commander Army, who was larger than him, before he spoke: "Although the Song army is not accustomed to water warfare, it is not afraid of death, and will be prepared to avoid close combat with it as much as possible later, once the enemy ship approaches, it will be driven away with bows and arrows and fire oil, I don't know what doubts the generals have?"

Seeing that everyone did not question it, Zhu Lingyun continued: "Originally, our ship building was higher than the other party, and the corresponding bow and arrow were also farther than the Song people, but now the east wind is blowing, and the Song people are sending arrows with the wind, and the range is about the same as ours, and the fierce fire oil is difficult and far, so two generals need to stay in the front stern of the ship later, blocking the Song army who is trying to board the ship, so as not to disturb Your Majesty." He looked around at the generals around him and asked, "I wonder which general is willing to lead the army into battle?"

Obviously, the generals of the Southern Tang Dynasty were deeply afraid of the bravery of the Song army, and except for Hu Ze, the commander of Jiangzhou, who took the initiative to ask to go to the stern, the other generals were silent. Huangfu Jixun saw Wu Yingying looking into the distance as if nothing had happened, and said with a smile: "Wu Yuhou is a fierce general, he must not be afraid of the Song army, why don't you go to guard the stern?"

Zhu Lingyun was about to be born to stop him when he heard this, but he was suffocated by Huangfu Jixun's fierce gaze. Wu Yingying turned his head and saw that Huangfu Jixun was looking at him with a smile, and the other Southern Tang generals were silent, I don't know why he offended this high-ranking and powerful Southern Tang military general, he couldn't help but be angry, and sneered: "The last general will go down, just ask Zhu Jiedu to issue a general order, first, order the hundreds of sergeants on the stern to obey my orders, if you don't obey the military order, I should immediately behead those who escape." Second, my three retinues are warriors, please release them immediately, distribute them with armor, and I will retreat from the enemy side by side with them. ”

In Zhu Lingyun's view, going to the deck and fighting with the Song army is a life-and-death move, although he met Wu Yingying for the first time this time, but this person's conversation just now was very extraordinary, and he also had a heart of acceptance, but in the blink of an eye, he couldn't stop Huangfu Jixun from sending this person into danger, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty in his heart. Wu Yingying's request sounded natural to him, no general was willing to command an army that did not obey orders, and no general was willing to go to the battlefield without a personal soldier, after all, in this era, except for the personal soldiers, ordinary soldiers did not have the consciousness to protect their generals at all. If he doesn't agree to these two requests, I'm afraid that the fool will see that this is deliberately sending him to death. So Zhu Lingyun ignored Huangfu Jixun's stopping eyes and readily agreed to Wu Yingying's request.

As soon as Wu Yingying put on the leather chest and back plate in the cabin below, he saw Xin Gu, Xiao Jiu, and Cai Shun being brought up from the bilge by the Southern Tang soldiers. Wu Yingying motioned for the three of them to put on their armor, and said: "Later, we will fight with the Song army at the stern, I will divide the sailors on the stern into three teams, I will lead the first team to receive the Song people on the side of the ship, when the soldiers are weak, Xin Gutong will take the second team of soldiers to replace the first team, the first and second teams of soldiers will take turns to fight with the Song army, Xiao Jiu will lead the third team to protect the cabin, but if the first and second teams can not support it, they will also support to kill the enemy." Xiao Cai followed Xiao Jiu. He made a gesture to signal Xin Gu and Xiao Jiu to approach, and said in a low voice: "If you still can't resist the Song army, follow my opportunity, and don't fight to the death." ”

Xiao Jiu and Xin Gu nodded meaningfully, at this moment, the herald recently reported that more than 100 soldiers at the stern of the ship had stood in accordance with Wu Yingying's orders, and the four of them immediately put on their helmets and walked out of the cabin. Wu Yingying walked into the first team of more than 30 soldiers, feeling that although the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were short, and most of them did not have the fierce and belligerent expression of the elite soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty led by Wei Wei, they did not panic in the face of the great enemy, because of the reason of living on the water for many years, most of the soldiers had dark and rough skin due to the wind and sun, and their limbs were very strong, and they were not affected by the shaking of the ship and stood firmly on the plank.