Night is gradually falling, and the river surface that has been fiercely fought during the day is slowly beginning to calm down.

Zhang Xi came to Shuizhai early, found Chen Qi, who was still in shock, and wanted to discuss with the commander of the Jiangxia Navy what to do next.

Zhang Xi, the commander of the navy, didn't know anything, so during the day, he was just worried about the battle situation from the tower of Echeng City.

Although he doesn't understand the tactics of the navy, he can still see who has the upper hand, not to mention that Chen Zhuo's navy even lost a Mengchong warship, even if it stubbornly held the defense line in the end, but this can't be said to be a victory.

Therefore, as soon as Zhang Xi, who was worried, saw the Jiangdong fleet retreating, he hurried to Shuizhai to ask Chen about the specific situation

And Chen didn't hide it, because he couldn't hide it, Wei Yan was on his flagship during the battle, even if he didn't say it, Wei Yan would say it.

At that moment, Chen reported his loss to Zhang Xi.

"The navy lost one Mengchong warship, more than 40 large and small warships, more than 1,300 people were killed, and nearly 3,000 people were injured and unable to fight.

Zhang Xi was suddenly silent.

Although he was passive when he saw Chen on the city tower, Zhang Xi really didn't expect that the loss would be so big.

"How so?!" Zhang Xi frowned and asked anxiously, "A few days ago, Jiangdong marched, but there were more than 1,000 casualties, how can there be so many casualties today?!" ”

Chen was really hard to explain to Zhang Xi for a while.

In water warfare, bows and crossbows are used as the main means of attack, so the casualty rate is not necessarily high, but the number of wounded is generally higher than when fighting on land.

But there is a premise, that is, the ship was still attacked by Jiangdong today, and the Mengchong battleships were all snatched by Jiangdong, and the large and small warships responsible for protecting the Mengchong battleships around were either dispersed by Jiangdong, or were destroyed or overturned by Jiangdong.

The ship is gone, where can the soldiers on the ship go?!

This is the Yangtze River, not a swimming pool, no matter how good the water nature of the water army is, there are few people who have the physical strength to swim from the water to the shore, not to mention that there are battlefields all around, who will care if there is someone to rescue the enemy sergeant after falling into the water.

At the end of the day, it is reasonable that the number of dead has reached more than 1,300.

As for this casualty figure, Chen immediately abandoned the Mengchong warship and let the other small ships move closer to him. Although I am very sorry for the brothers on the Mengchong warship, it is better than everyone dying together.

By the way, if the soldiers on the Mengchong warship were captured or surrendered, they would also be counted as killed in battle in Chen's place. After all, it is impossible for these people to flee back and continue to fight.

Chen explained a little, and after Zhang Xi probably understood why the loss was so big, he began to calculate.

There were more than 20,000 sailors in total, but not all of them were stationed in Echeng.

Echeng is the base of the Jiangxia Naval Army, but Jiangxia is not the only such a base, there is also a naval base in Shaxian.

This is because when Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu, Huang Zu was beaten and retreated to Shaxian to resist the enemy, and also set up a water village there.

The water village is very costly, and later after Sun Quan retired from the army, Huang Zu did not dismantle the water village in Shaxian, leaving a part of the water army to garrison there, about 3,000 people, and also left a part of the warship as a backup.

It can be said that Echeng is the main force of the Jiangxia Naval Army, and on the Shaxian side, there is also a partial division base.

But now, the main force of the Echeng Naval Army has suffered more than 5,000 casualties in the only ten days of the Jiangdong offensive, which is close to one-third of the casualty rate.

In these years, more than one-third of the army's casualty rate has not mutinied, and Chen is already considered to be in command, so Zhang Xi can't be harsh on Chen, which is a common problem of this era.

But also because of the high casualty rate, now the morale of the Jiangxia Navy is low, and the fear of defeat is permeated in the army. Chen didn't have anything to do about this.

"The Mengchong ship was captured, the non-commissioned officers were too badly damaged, and the morale of the army was low." Chen hesitated to glance at Zhang Xi, who didn't speak, and then looked at Wei Yan, who was staring at him, gritted his teeth, and still said what he wanted to say, "Superintendent, why don't you temporarily retreat from Shaxian and reorganize your armament to fight in order to get a good strategy?!" ”

As soon as Zhang Xi heard this, he stood up at that time and objected, "No! If so, what should we do with Echeng and Yixian?! How should the county rule Xiling behind him deal with himself?! Son-in-law Liu Qi is in Xiling! ”

Gongzi Liu Qi plays a very important role in the planning of Zhang Xi, Zhuge Liang and others, and Liu Qi must not be allowed to make any mistakes.

And for Chen, there is no problem with Gongzi Liu Qi.

Chen and Zhang Shuo were both commanders of the naval army appointed during the Huang Zu period, and they were also Huang Zu's people.

But now that Huang Zu has lost power, Jiangxia Taishou has been replaced by Liu Qi, if Liu Qi has a mistake, Chen can fully imagine how the angry Liu Biao will react.

Huang Zu has now let go of the control of Jiangxia, and has the Jingzhou Huang family as a guarantor, he Liu Biao must provide for Huang Zu in order to show generosity, but he will definitely not have any "cherishing talent" for a Chen.

If the son Liu Qi has a mistake, he Chen will have to pay for his head.

But the problem is that Chen's suggestion is really not out of selfishness for fear of death.

After hesitating again and again, Chen still led Zhang Xi to the Jiangxia defense map and explained it carefully.

"Inspector, please see." Chen pointed to the deployment situation on the map and explained to Zhang Xi, "The Jiangxia counties, except for the three northern counties, basically built the Jiangxia Naval Army by water, which is an important support for the defense of Jiangxia counties. If we and the navy are defeated here, or even the whole army is annihilated, then the Jiangdong navy can go up the river, force Xiling, according to Shaxian, occupy Xiakou, and enter the Han River. ”

Zhang Xi looked over with Chen Just's instructions and was stunned to find that what Chen said was actually true.

Exian is in the southeast of Jiangxia, and Yi County faces each other across the river in the north of Exian County, and the two county towns are like a pair of pincers to lock the mouth of the Yangtze River, so Huang Zu will arrange the main force of the Jiangxia Navy in Exian County, the purpose is to lock up any invading enemy here.

And in order to prevent possible accidents, for example, when Sun Quan was on an expedition, Huang Zu also left a spare base in Shaxian, leaving some soldiers and warships as a reserve force, once Exian could not withstand it, the navy could retreat to Shaxian to rest, and then fight again.

But the premise is that the navy must be mostly preserved.

If the navy is defeated in Exian, then the 3,000 navy army of Shaxian alone will not be able to stop the attack of the Jiangdong navy, and the counties of Yixian, Xiling, and Shaxian along the river will directly face the army of Jiangdong.

And the most important thing is that the Jiangdong army can also enter the Han River from the Yangtze River after occupying Xiakou, and attack the counties in the northwest of Jiangxia along the Han River.

When the time comes, it will really be free to advance and retreat, if you want to attack the city, you will attack the city, and if you want to grab money, you will grab money, and Jiangxia without a naval army will not be able to pose a substantial threat to the Jiangdong Group.

Even if your infantry holds the city, you can't pursue the Jiangdong Army, right, people retreat to the ship, don't you have no navy and can only stare dryly?!

Didn't that person fight if he wanted to, and leave if he wanted?!

And the most terrible thing is that Zhang Xi's letter for help has been sent out for more than ten days, and there is no reaction from Xiling, Zhang Xi even suspects that with this efficiency, if there is no Jiangxia Navy and Jiangdong troops are coming to the city, it is not possible that the other counties in Jiangxia will still look like the world is peaceful.

Therefore, whether it is from theory or from practice, the Jiangxia Navy must be preserved, so that the Jiangdong Army will not dare to be too presumptuous and go straight in.

The navy is here, Jiangxia has the strength to fight, and without the navy, Jiangxia is a lamb to be slaughtered.

But the problem is that if the navy is allowed to retreat to Shaxian now, what will happen to Echeng, what will happen to Yixian, what will happen to Jiangxia County behind Echeng Yixian, and what should Xiling do.

In fact, in the final analysis, it is a question - what to do with Liu Qi, the son-in-law.

For Zhang Xi's worries, Chen didn't have any good solutions.

"Why don't you revise the book again and inform the son of the situation, and then I will abandon the city of Echeng, so I can have an explanation." Chen whispered a bad move to Zhang Xi.

That's what Chen meant, in fact, he asked Zhang Xi to write a letter to Liu Qi to inform Liu Qi of the reason why they retreated to Shaxian, and then there was no need to wait for Liu Qi's reply, just retreat directly from Echeng.

This letter is not to obtain Liu Qi's consent, but to have an excuse to rip off when it is to be liquidated in the future - I said it in advance, but the military situation on the front line is changeable, and we have no choice but to withdraw first before waiting for the military order.

Back then, Huang Zu didn't use this trick to fool Liu Biao, and Liu Biao had no way to take Huang Zu.

But Zhang Xi is not Huang Zu, and he can't watch Liu Qi in danger, this kind of damage trick is useless for Zhang Xi.

Chen saw that Zhang Xi did not accept this suggestion, and he also sighed, shut up and stopped talking.

As a commander of the navy with independent command, he is not familiar with Zhang Xi, and it is already benevolent and righteous to help Zhang Xi take these into account.

Chen didn't speak, Zhang Xi could only think for himself, and Zhang Xi found that he was in a dilemma now.

If you want to protect Jiangxia, you must agree to Chen Qi's suggestion, and retreat to Shaxian, but in this way, if Exian County is not protected, Liu Qi, the son of Xiling County, will also be in big trouble.

If you want to protect your son Liu Qi, you must delay time in Echeng, but in this way, the Jiangxia Navy will inevitably suffer heavy losses, if the son Liu Qi does not send reinforcements to rescue Echeng, then Zhang Xi and Chen will be finished together, and Jiangxia without the Navy will fall into passivity, and may even be annexed by Jiangdong.

So. It's a question of whether to keep it big or small.

(End of chapter)