Except for the time when he was chased by the official army and fled in the mountains earlier, Song Jin was defeated so embarrassed for the first time in more than a year. And when he was a bandit, he only had a few hundred subordinates, but now he has as many as 50,000 troops. With Song Jin's ability to command so many troops, it was actually a bit reluctant, so when the army was defeated, he didn't know how to collect the army at all, and the army under his command, whether it was a naval army or an infantry army, was panicked and couldn't stop as soon as he fled.

It wasn't until dark that he stopped in shock, and when Song Jin looked around again, there were only more than 100 warships left, and all the soldiers added up to less than 10,000 people.

Reluctantly set up camp on the bank of the river, preparing to rest for the night and gather the troops and horses the next day. Who knew that the next day, Yuan Chonghuan led the army to arrive.

"Meet the ...... of the Pavilion," Song Jin knelt down in shame and saluted.

"Why is it so miserable, how many people are there on the other side?" Yuan Chonghuan asked.

"There were only about 20 warships, but they were all sea-like ships, and they were equipped with hundreds of guns, and the guns were too sharp to be defeated." Song Jin briefly introduced the battle, emphasizing how tall the opponent's warships were and how powerful the artillery was.

"It seems that the emperor has transferred the Fujian Navy Division to the Yangtze River." Yuan Chonghuan said lightly.

"Yes, yes, it must be the Fujian Navy, you didn't see it, the ship is really big, its deck is as high as the city wall, the last general will send ships to besiege it, but the brothers can't climb their deck at all, they can't engage in hand-to-hand combat, and they have equipment on board with many 10,000 enemies, and the ships I sent were blown up and sunk 100 ships, so they can only retreat." Song Jin nodded repeatedly.

"You can't blame General Song. After all, it was the Fujian Naval Division that the emperor single-handedly built, and you have never fought a water war before, so it is normal to lose a battle. Yuan Chonghuan said comfortingly.

"Thank you for your understanding......," Song Jin said very gratefully, he didn't expect to be blamed for the defeat.

Since the Janissary Naval Division had arrived, Yuan Chonghuan did not continue to march, and ordered him to camp on the spot, set up a large camp on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and sent people to collect the defeated troops of the Song Jin Army, and at the same time sent a fast boat to Wuhu along the land and water to investigate the enemy's situation.

The clipper ship soon returned, and the Praetorian Guard sailors were cruising on the Wuhu River, and the city of Wuhu was also occupied by the Praetorian Guards, who were driving the people of Wuhu to build the city wall that had been blasted by the red-coated cannons.

"Very good, this is to rely on Wuhu City to stop my 200,000 army!" Yuan Chonghuan sneered.

According to intelligence, the Praetorian Guard had more than 20 sea ships and at most 5,000 or 6,000 soldiers, and they tried in vain to stop the 200,000 army. This clearly looks down on me Yuan!

"Have you found out the name of the enemy general?" Yuan Chonghuan asked coldly.

"The banner of the warship on the river is Li of Fujian, and it should be Li Yanzhi who personally led the sailors. There are no generals in Wuhu City. The sentinel replied.

"Li Yanzhi ......," Yuan Chonghuan muttered, not having much impression of this person. When he was the governor of Ningyuan, Li Yanzhi had not yet joined the army.

"The cabinet department doesn't know, this Li Yanzhi was born in the first year of Chongzhen's martial arts, and after passing the martial arts examination, he joined the Xiyuan Guards established by the emperor, and was the emperor's confidant, and was later sent to Fujian as a general soldier to open up maritime trade for the emperor. This man was extremely fierce, and once led the army to defeat the Dutch red-haired and snatched three western splint ships from the Dutch red-haired ghost, so as to establish a huge naval division and dominate the southeast sea. Huang Li, a staff member of the army, introduced.

"Oh, I forgot, Mr. Huang is from Fujian, it seems that he has suffered Li Yanzhi's losses before." Yuan Chonghuan said.

Huang Li gritted his teeth and said: "Cabinet Department, you know that I am from Quanzhou, the Huang family in Quanzhou has been operating maritime business for more than 100 years, Li Yanzhi slandered the Huang family and the red-haired ghost in collusion in order to rob the maritime business, and brazenly bombarded Quanzhou, killing my cousin and the head of the Huang family in front of the people of the city, and occupying the Huang family. ”

"Sure enough, there is lawlessness, and everything in this world will be bad in the hands of these people!" Yuan Chonghuan patted the case.

For a martial artist like Li Yanzhi, it is only because of the emperor's support that he has his current status, Yuan Chonghuan naturally looks down on him, and there are not many people in the world who can afford him.

However, in the end, he has seen a big battle, and he has also led troops to fight a decisive battle with 100,000 Jiannu, although he looks down on Li Yanzhi, but Yuan Chonghuan still has the caution that he should have. After sending a sentinel to find out the details of the other party, Yuan Chonghuan formulated a battle plan.

Although the ships of the Janissaries were strong and artillery, they had one of the biggest shortcomings, that is, they were inconvenient to turn in, and they could only rely on sails as power, and they could not exert their due strength in the Yangtze River at all. Therefore, it is not difficult to break the opponent's fleet, you only need to choose the right time to attack with fire to break the enemy! As for the opponent's army stationed in Wuhu City, there are only 3,000 soldiers and horses, and they can also break Wuhu City with human lives!

Yuan Chonghuan immediately allocated 50,000 infantry troops, still led by Song Jin, marched along the south bank of the Yangtze River and killed Wuhu City.

"General Song, it has been found that the defenders of Wuhu are only 3,000 people, and after you lead the army to Wuhu, you will immediately attack from all sides, and I will order the sailors to contain the opponent's fleet." Yuan Chonghuan ordered.

"Don't worry, I will definitely break through Wuhu and avenge the defeat of the army!" Song Jin gritted his teeth and said.

"Be careful, the Praetorian Guard was created by the Emperor at great expense, and is equipped with too many guns and artillery. After you arrive in Wuhu, you are not in a hurry to attack the city, set up camp to build siege equipment, and build more vehicles to block the opponent's firearms. Yuan Chonghuan instructed.

Song Jin led the army to Wuhu, arrived in Wuhu in the afternoon of that year, set up a large camp ten miles away from the city, and began to build siege equipment.

Yuan Chonghuan was not idle, and while sending sentinel ships to observe the situation of the opponent's sailors, he ordered the dispatch of 100 fast boats, which were filled with dry firewood and poured with fire oil, and the bow of the ship was loaded with sharpened head hitting wood, and twenty sailors on each boat were responsible for rowing, and a small boat was tied to the tail of the fire boat, forming a fire attack fleet.

However, the battalion did not move forward and remained here, because the opponent's sailors were too powerful, and Yuan Chonghuan did not dare to get too close to Wuhu, because he knew that most of his subordinates were composed of former thief troops, not to mention the rabble, but it was not too much worse, and it could not be compared with the Praetorian Guard that the emperor spent a lot of money to build.

Since ancient times, it is not the case that the more armies the better, otherwise there would not be so many examples of winning more with less. Yuan Chonghuan is familiar with military books, so he naturally knows that fighting a war is not child's play, and he can't be careless.

"Report, Cabinet Department, General Song's headquarters has reached ten miles west of Wuhu City, and has been attacked by the artillery of the enemy's fleet, and General Song has ordered the army to stay away from the river bank and is camping."

"Give General Song an order to prevent the enemy from sneaking attacks!" Yuan Chonghuan ordered.

"Cabinet Department, the total number of enemy troops is only a few thousand soldiers and horses, do you dare to go out of the city and sneak attack?" Huang Lihu said suspiciously.

Yuan Chonghuan said: "I can't say, during the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Liao dared to sneak attack Sun Zhongmou's 100,000 army with 800 people, and the number of Wuhu City Guards was more than 3,000, so what did it do if he went out of the city to steal the camp?" But I really hope that they will go out of the city and sneak attack, so that Song Jin will not have to storm Wuhu. ”

However, to Yuan Chonghuan's disappointment, the army in Wuhu City did not leave the city, and the Janissary Guards in the river were also very honest and had no intention of attacking his camp.

Until three days later.

"Cabinet Department, General Song sent someone to deliver a letter, and he is ready to attack the city, ready to start attacking the city early tomorrow morning!"

"Okay, pass the order, tomorrow the third watch will make dinner, and the fourth watch fleet will set off!" Yuan Chonghuan ordered.

The next day, the sky was dark, and Yuan Chonghuan personally led a fleet of 500 ships towards Wuhu. Going down the river, an hour later, he traveled more than 30 miles, arrived outside Wuhu City, and saw 20 big ships cruising on the river in the distance.

"Cabinet Department, I would like to lead the fireboat fleet as the vanguard!" Through the clairvoyant mirror, seeing the military flag with the character "Li" fluttering on the mast of the enemy's sea ship several miles away, Huang Li's eyes were red, and he took the initiative to ask for help.

Yuan Chonghuan raised his head, looked in the direction of the flag fluttering on the mast, and shook his head slightly: "The wind direction is not right, wait first." ”

The Yangtze River flows from west to east, but in this section of Wuhu, it turns north, and when it reaches Nanjing, it turns around and goes east again. At this time, the Praetorian Guard fleet was in the north, and Yuan Chonghuan's fleet was in the south, and the northwest wind was blowing at this time. The Janissary sailors had a tailwind, and the Jingnan army fleet went downstream, with each side having an advantage. Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan decided to wait for a while, wait for the wind direction to change or become smaller, and the opponent's sail loses momentum, and then attack.

On the shore in the distance, the Jingnan Army's infantry army had launched an attack on Wuhu under the leadership of Song Jin, and the shouts of killing were faintly heard, but Yuan Chonghuan calmed down and did not move.

.......

"Commander-in-chief, now with a good wind, let's kill it!" Looking at the anti-thief fleet in the distance, Zhang Huang said.

Li Yan said straightly: "Don't be in a hurry, anyway, our purpose is to delay time, and they just want to delay." ”

"But we can't just watch, or let's get closer and bombard them with artillery?" Zhang Huangyan suggested. Now the two sides were about four miles apart, beyond the range of artillery.

"Okay, let's get closer." Li Yan nodded straightly.

The flags swayed, all the ships pulled up their anchors, and the half-lowered sails were quickly raised, slowly heading towards the enemy fleet to the south.

......

"Cabinet, they're here!"

"The back team becomes the front team, and slowly retreats west." Yuan Chonghuan ordered.

"Ahh Why do I want to return? Huang Li was puzzled.

"They want to get close to opening fire, but I don't give them a chance! Let's retreat first, lure them to chase after us, Huang Li, you are responsible for commanding the fireboats, once their fleet is out of touch, look at my flag, and immediately attack! Yuan Chonghuan said coldly.

"Yes, under the command!" Huang Li hugged his fists and agreed, and got off Yuan Chonghuan's boat.

"Commander-in-chief, they're retreating, let's catch up!" Seeing the retreat of the thief fleet, Zhang Huang was overjoyed and hurriedly said.

Li Yanzhi frowned: "Why did they retreat?" ”

"I guess I know that our artillery is sharp......"

"The infantry army is attacking the city, but the sailors are retreating, there must be deception in it!" Li Yanzhi shook his head slowly, "Although we are now in a tailwind, the speed is still not as fast as theirs, and we can't catch up." ”

"But they're in chaos right now, and it's a great opportunity!" Zhang Huang said. Since ancient times, unless there are elite soldiers, there will be a certain amount of chaos in the retreat of any army, which is a good opportunity to chase and kill, but anyone who knows the art of war knows it.

As soon as Zhang Huangyan said this, and then looked at the somewhat chaotic anti-thief sailor in the distance, Li Yanzhi was also a little moved: "Then chase after it, don't chase too close, just get close and bombard it with artillery." ”

With Li Yanzhi's order, twenty sea ships continued to pursue, and the first few sea ships quickly approached to a distance of three miles.

The bow guns of the "Boom Boom" began to roar, smashing several shells into the anti-thief fleet, splashing several times. However, most of the guns on the warship were mounted on both sides of the ship, and there was only one gun in the bow, so this firepower naturally did not cause much damage to the opponent.

"Commander-in-chief, we should drive on the north bank of the river and bombard them with artillery on the port side." Zhang Huangyan suggested.

Li Yanzhi was silent for a moment: "Order, stop the pursuit!" ”

"Why?" Zhang Huang said incomprehensibly.

Li Yanzhi shook his head and said: "This is the Yangtze River, not the sea, if you attack them with port guns, the fleet will inevitably form a long column, what if the local fleet takes the opportunity to launch a fierce attack?" Our ship didn't have time to turn around. ”

The sea is vast, if you don't want to engage in a broadside battle with the other party, you can turn it at will, it is very difficult for the enemy to get close, and it is reliable to sink the opponent with strong firepower. But now it is the Yangtze River, and the river here is less than two miles wide, and there is not much room for sea ships to toss and turn, so it is difficult to give full play to the advantages of artillery.

The anti-thief fleet retreated without a fight, and there must be a conspiracy in it, and Li Yanzhi didn't want to fall into the trap without knowing it.

Following Li Yanzhi's order, the fleet slowly stopped, began to turn the bow of the ship, and aimed one side of the ship at the south. If the opponent dares to counterattack reactionarily, he can fire a hundred guns in unison and give the opponent a fierce color.

"Mr. Huang, can we attack or not?" The subordinate asked.

Huang Li didn't say anything, but looked at Yuan Chonghuan in the rear, waiting for the flag order to attack.

"What a prudence!" Further south on the river, looking at the stopped Praetorian Guard fleet, Yuan Chonghuan slowly shook his head, ordered to stop the retreat, gathered the warships and rearranged the array.

"Cabinet Department, General Song's attack was frustrated and he retreated!" A speedboat sailed over from the shore and brought unfavorable news of Song's attack on the city.

Yuan Chonghuan stared at the official fleet in the distance and pondered. The opponent was clearly on the defensive, and its ships were equipped with too many guns, and if they attacked directly, they would inevitably be subjected to heavy bombardment.

In Ningyuan for several years, Yuan Chonghuan single-handedly built the Ningyuan defense line, and in the battle of Ningjin, he relied on the red-coated cannon to wound Nurhachi, and he knew the power of the red-coated cannon very well. Your ship is too small, and if you are hit by a cannon, it will be a shipwreck. When Song Jin attacked the opponent a few days ago, more than 50 warships were sunk.

Raising his eyes and looking at the fluttering military flag, the wind was still a little strong, Yuan Chonghuan slowly ordered: "That's it today, fight again tomorrow." ”

said that he would fight again tomorrow, but Yuan Chonghuan had already made up his mind and was ready to attack at night!