After Lin Haotian returned to the barracks, he immediately found Shao Lin and asked him to send someone to the backwater bay to carefully investigate and see whether there were fortifications on the opposite side and whether there were ambushes.

According to the simple sketch drawn by Lin Haotian, Shao Lin led his subordinates to find the backwater bay easily. They had been lurking here for a whole day and night, and through a long day of observation, they could confirm that there was indeed no defense on the opposite side, except for the occasional patrol of soldiers passing by during the day.

As for whether there was an ambush, because there were mountains and forests on the other side, they couldn't really see it, and if they wanted to find out, they had to send people to swim to the other side. But the problem is that the water here is too fast, and whirlpools can be seen on the surface of the river from time to time.

At this time, Shao Lin thought of a good way, let the falcon to the opposite bank, and look down from top to bottom, if there were indeed a large number of soldiers in the forest ambush, they would definitely not be able to hide the falcon's eyes.

The falcon is useless in the hands of others, but it is too useful in the hands of those who have lived with falcons since childhood and can even understand the language of eagles.

Through the observation of the falcon, the Jin army scouts could confirm that there were no ambushes in the mountains and forests opposite.

After a day and a night of patient observation, Shao Lin returned to the coalition camp and relayed the information of the investigation to Lin Haotian.

Lin Haotian was overjoyed when he heard this, this was really a pie falling from the sky, allowing himself to find such a place where the enemy army was unguarded.

He gathered the generals of the Jin Army and the New Red Army and showed everyone the place of Huishuiwan on the map.

The generals of the Jin Army and the New Red Army were also overjoyed after hearing this, and avoided water battles and secretly crossed the river, so that they could not only fight land battles that they were good at, but also take them by surprise and attack them unprepared. If you are caught off guard by killing the Red Army, then the Red Capital will be like a cyst on your side.

All the generals believed that the soldiers were swift and that they should immediately take advantage of the backwater bay to cross the river as soon as possible.

Only Bai He frowned and said coldly: "Don't you think it's too easy for General Lin to grasp this information? Moreover, the Red Army on the other side of the river has extended the defense line of the upper and lower reaches of Jiankang to a hundred miles away. In the following opinion, this matter should be carefully investigated, and we must not act hastily, otherwise if we fall into the trap of the enemy, it will be too late to regret it. ”

After everyone heard this, they all scoffed, and Shao Lin was even more indignant, strode out of the ranks, and said in a deep voice: "We have also investigated and understood." There is no defense on the other side of the strait, and there is no ambush, where did the trap come from? General Bai does not trust the report of our Jin army?"

Bai He waved his hand again and again and said, "Of course I don't mean that, I just think that this matter is strange, and it should be considered in the long run." ”

Seeing that Shao Lin was still arguing, Lin Haotian waved his hand to him, signaling Shao Lin Shao'an not to be impatient. Subsequently, he asked Bai Daodao: "How does General Bai think we should think about it in the long run?"

Bai He's face was straight. said: "General Huilin, the last general thinks that now we should immediately arrest the mayor of Yingjiang Town and all his family members, torture him to extract confessions, and ask him whether he has colluded with the Red Army on the other side of the river to deliberately set up this trap. ”

Lin Haotian listened carefully and was silent thoughtfully for a moment. He nodded, then shook his head. He first affirmed: "General Bai is right to be cautious. After a pause, he changed his words and said: "But according to Ben Shuai, it is unlikely that the town mayor and the Red Army will collude. Ben Shuai went to Yingjiang Town on a temporary basis, he could not know in advance, and it was impossible for him to arrange in advance to lead Ben Shuai to take the bait. General Bai, your concerns are a little redundant. ”

How dare Bai He argue with Lin Haotian, and people are reasonable, he naturally has nothing to say.

In fact, the reason why he proposed not to cross the river immediately was selfish.

With the current morale of the Jin army and the new red alliance army, once the river is crossed, it is likely to break through the red capital within three or five days, and now the new red king Song Hao is still on the way over, in the absence of his own monarch to break the enemy capital, only afraid that his own country will lose many practical interests that can be fought for, this is what Bai He is most afraid of, as for what he is afraid of the trap of the Chinese Red Army, it is just his excuse.

Under Lin Haotian's statement, Bai He didn't dare to stand up and sing the opposite tune again, and seeing that no one objected, Lin Haotian clapped his hands and said: "That's good, our army will use the backwater bay to cross the river." ”

At this time, Chu Chen stood up and reminded: "My lord, if you want to cross the river in the backwater bay, our army's naval warships must not be used, as long as our ships move, the other side will be aware of it, and when they follow it, they will find out that our army wants to use the backwater bay to smuggle in." ”

The generals nodded one after another, indicating that what Chu Chen said was extremely true, and Lin Haotian also secretly said that it was reasonable.

Chu Chen continued: "Didn't you see the raft in the backwater bay? Our army can use this time to make a raft and then use the raft to quietly cross the river. ”

"What General Chu said is very true!" Ding Feng said: "As long as our army first builds a raft that is enough for 50,000 people to cross the river, as long as the 50,000 soldiers of our army can go up to the other side safely, the next crossing of the river will be easy." ”

Lin Haotian nodded while listening, and when the two of them finished speaking, he was already smiling on his back, he raised his head and said to everyone: "According to the opinion of the two, the generals will do this, and after they go back, supervise their subordinates and immediately build a raft." ”

As soon as he gave the order, the Jin army and the new red army moved up and down, and the whole army rushed to build a raft.

As long as the wood is sufficient, it is still very easy to make rafts, and it is not difficult to build thousands of rafts with nearly one million people in the Jin Army and the New Red Alliance.

In just three days, the Jin Army and the New Red Coalition Army quietly produced more than 3,000 rafts, which were enough to transport 50,000 people across the river at once.

That night, the dark clouds made up, and it was dark and I couldn't see my fingers.

Under Lin Haotian's instructions, the main forces of the Jin Army and the Xinchi Coalition Army almost poured out, leaving only a small part of the Jin State Navy and the Seventh Army and 100,000 garrison soldiers who were not suitable for smuggling, and other soldiers, resisting rafts and baggage, quietly left the camp and went straight back to Shuiwan.

The 60 or 70 miles of the journey took more than two hours for the rapid march army to arrive, and the spies of the Jin Army, who had gone to investigate first, continuously transmitted back a steady stream of information on the other side of the backwater bay, and all the information was almost the same, calm and unharmed.

After Lin Haotian led the army to Huishui Bay, he left a large number of soldiers in the mountains and forests to hide, and sent the Iron Lion Army to take the lead. Let 50,000 Iron Lion soldiers cross the river first.

Chu Chen was not ambiguous and took the order.

You is not a landlocked country, and it is also close to the Xiangjiang River to the east, so there are not a few people who are familiar with water among you.

Chu Chen selected five corps and ordered them to cross the river on a raft first.

Soon. Under Chu Chen's methodical command, the soldiers of the Iron Lion Army dragged the raft into the water one after another, and then, a large number of soldiers quickly boarded the raft.

I don't know if Lu Dao Chuchen had the foresight to have a hunch that his Iron Lion Army would take the lead, in short, many people in the Iron Lion Army were wearing skins.

These skins were made of pigskins, horses, and cowhides, and they were inflated and bulging, and they were tied around people's waists. Although it is not big, once they drown, those soldiers who do not know the nature of water will not sink to the bottom of the water all at once.

You are notoriously reluctant to fight in battle, but in normal times, they are really careful to avoid casualties in non-combat situations.

It can also be seen from the skins carried by people that Chu Chen cares for the soldiers under his command from the bottom of his heart, as long as it is the rescue measures he can think of, even if it is a little troublesome. He will also try his best to do it.

At this point, Chu Chen is afraid that he will be better than many commanders. He can be supported by the soldiers, and naturally he also has his advantages.

When all the people of one regiment got on the raft, Chu Chen immediately ordered to row to the opposite bank as fast as possible, and then he arranged for the soldiers of the second regiment to sit on the raft.

The Iron Lion soldiers boarded the raft one by one. The rafts also rowed towards the opposite shore in waves.

Lin Haotian and the others, who were standing on the shore and watching, had already raised their hearts to their throats, and their eyes did not blink, staring directly at their own soldiers who had already entered the river.

The further you go to the center of the river, the more turbulent the river becomes, and the more undercurrents and whirlpools there are. The rafts were not as easy to control as the boats, and the Iron Lion soldiers on it were desperately rowing the planks in their hands to control the direction, but even so, many rafts were washed off the rails.

The first batch of Iron Lion soldiers began to cross Jiankang on a simple raft.

No matter how strong the current was, at the beginning, it went smoothly.

There were no ambushes or fortifications on the opposite side, and the Iron Lion Army did not encounter any attack during the crossing of the river, and soon crossed the center of the river smoothly and quickly approached the opposite bank.

Until this time, there were no enemy troops on the opposite side, and there was no counterattack, Lin Haotian and the others who were watching were relieved, it seemed that the investigation of the spies on the other side was correct, and the Red Army was indeed defenseless in Backwater Bay.

But then the wind and clouds suddenly changed, and on the originally calm river, I don't know how the raft first made a muffled sound, and then, screams arose, and the sound of soldiers falling into the water came and went.

Then, the muffled sound of banging continued, and the raft on the river was also in chaos, and the soldiers of the Iron Lion Army on it continued to scream and fall into the water like dumplings, but what was even more strange was that there was no Red Army on the other side from beginning to end, and no attack was seen.

Lin Haotian, who was watching, suddenly changed his face, he rushed to the shore, his eyes flashed with a ghostly light, and he looked at the other side with a full purpose, and he didn't see the shadow of the Red Army.

The Red Army obviously did not appear, but how was their own raft attacked?

Not to mention that Lin Haotian was puzzled, the other generals were also monks who were confused, they were on the shore, and they felt a little worse, and the soldiers of the Iron Lion Army who were on the river at this time were already miserable.

As the raft was moving forward, it was suddenly struck, and before anyone could figure out what was going on, the bottom of the raft was pierced by a thick wooden stake with a sharp tip.

The stakes are cleverly designed to be anchored deep into the bottom of the river, and the sharpened tops are hidden beneath the surface of the river.

The raft built by the Jin army is very simple, just a few logs side by side tied together by hemp rope, and after being pierced by the stake at once, it is not as simple as leakage, but the hemp rope will be squeezed and broken, so that all the logs that make up the raft are scattered, so that the soldiers who originally stood on it can be imagined.

As more and more rafts hit the wooden stakes hidden under the river, more and more Jin soldiers fell into the water, even if they had air bags on their bodies, most of the soldiers who fell into the water were still swept away by the torrent, and what was even worse was that the scattered logs became deadly weapons under the impact of the torrent. Many soldiers who had fallen into the water struggled to float out of the river, and their heads were hit by logs floating down the river, knocking out the light ones on the spot, and the skulls of the heavy ones being directly shattered.

For a while, the Jin army on the river was as if it had exploded, screams, screams, and cries for help.

Chu Chen secretly screamed badly. Hurriedly said to Lin Haotian: "My lord, there is an ambush on the river, and we must withdraw our troops immediately!"

Lin Haotian looked around at the chaos on the river, clenched his fists fiercely, muttered for a moment, and said, "Order, collect the troops!"

"When, when, when—"

The gong sounded on the shore, striking loudly, and the iron lion sergeants on the river heard the sound of gold. Without even hesitating, the rear team immediately changed to the front team, and all of them retreated back.

In the process of retreating, the officers and soldiers of the Iron Lion Army also tried their best to rescue their comrades who fell into the water, but only a small part of them were rescued, and most of the soldiers who fell into the water were no longer visible.

After the rafts docked one after another, the number of people was counted, and the 50,000 Iron Lion soldiers were reduced by one-tenth. More than 5,000 people were swallowed up in the river.

I didn't even see the shadow of the enemy, and the more than 5,000 brothers who were jumping around were gone. This made everyone present have a fire in their hearts.

Chu Chen was patient and asked the soldiers who went out to fight what happened, and some soldiers who fell into the water and were rescued explained to Chu Chen that there were a large number of wooden stakes arranged under the river, like rejecting horses, whether it was a boat or a raft. As long as you drive past, you will inevitably be hit by the sharp edge of the wooden stake, so it is impossible to cross the river in this place at all, and if you force the river to cross. It will only cause the ship to be destroyed and people killed.

After listening to the explanations of the soldiers, Chu Chen truthfully conveyed the situation to Lin Haotian and the generals.

It is only now that people can figure out why the Red Army on the other side of the shore is so tightly armed, but the fact that the Red Army has missed the backwater bay is not negligent, but that they have already done a thorough defense here, and there is no need to send people to garrison it.

At this time, Bai He Ke came to the spirit, at first he was the only one who had an objection to crossing the river in the backwater bay, but now it turns out that it really does not work, and he has taken the lives of 5,000 soldiers in vain, how can he let go of this opportunity to show himself.

He coughed lowly and said to the generals around him: "How about it? At the beginning, I said that this may be a trap deliberately set by the Red Army, and we should strictly interrogate the mayor of Yingjiang Town, but you didn't listen, and now that this is happening, it's too late to regret it!"

It was not only the generals who insisted on using the backwater bay to cross the river, but also Lin Haotian, and now the more he shows himself, the more he mocks Lin Haotian for his incompetence.

Hearing his words, Lin Haotian's eyes were about to erupt with fire, and he stared at him directly, his body tense.

Even if Bai He would no longer be able to observe words and looks, he could still feel the powerful pressure emanating from Lin Haotian. He shivered, and suddenly realized that he had brought General Lin in while mocking the generals, he hurriedly stepped forward, waved his hand and said, "General Lin, the last general has no intention of laughing at the general, but ...... I just feel sorry for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives......"

"I should feel sorry for those brothers, but I can't pick you up for it!"

In the first battle of Jiankang, the Jin army and the Xin-Chi coalition army suffered a big defeat. Not only did the 5,000 officers and soldiers of the Iron Lion Army die in an unknown manner, but even more than half of the ships that were finally transported from the Jin country were also damaged, which was like a blow to the morale of the Jin Army and the New Red Alliance Army.

Later, Lin Haotian also summed up this matter in a letter to the Jin court: If a country has no water army, it is like a missing limb and a broken arm, and in front of the enemy's strong sailors, it will never dare to fight, so it can only avoid its edge, sneak out of the way, and do some indiscriminate deeds, shame! This is a great shame!

He blamed this defeat on the fact that the Jin court did not take precautions, did not pay attention to the navy, and did not cultivate the navy, so that he did not dare to confront the Chiguo navy on the battlefield of Jiankang, so he was exploited by the enemy, causing a series of undue losses on his side.

Lin Haotian's reply to the imperial court, especially the end of the most disgraceful ending, also spurred the civil and military ministers in the court to a large extent, and it was not until the defeat in the first battle of the Jiankang Water War that the Jin State really paid attention to the water army.

Of course, this is also an afterthought, after all, the city of Rome was not built in a day, and distant water cannot quench the thirst of the near. At present, the combat effectiveness of the Jin State Navy has been greatly reduced, and it can no longer pose a threat to the Red State Navy on the south bank, and it has completely lost the strength to compete head-on with the Red State Navy Army.

At this time, the war was already very unfavorable to the Jin army and the New Red Coalition Army, and Jiankang seemed to have really become an insurmountable barrier, but if the war continued to drag on, the Jin Army and the New Red Coalition Army would not only consume a huge amount of grain and grass, but also the best fighters.

In the case that his own navy was not passively used, he was still attacked by the Chiguo navy and lost so many ships, of course Lin Haotian had to hold He Yi, the commander of the Jin navy, accountable.

He Yi's reply to Lin Haotian was that he thought that his main army was going to cross Jiankang through the backwater bay, so he was also negligent in taking precautions. When he heard the alarm, he hurried out of the camp and returned to the ship, many of the ships had already been attacked by the opponent's rockets and caught fire.

The implication is that the main responsibility is not on him, not only is he not guilty, but he also has merit. (To be continued......)