By this time, almost three months had passed since the lull period on the Great River Front.

During this period of turbulence, both the North and the South were desperately preparing for war and accumulating offensive strength. In contrast, the North is more engaged in the manufacture of warships, while the South is stepping up conscription training.

To put it bluntly, they each make up for their own shortcomings.

The Zhenjiang Navy Army, located at the secret base of Hongze Lake, ushered in the last batch of 25 new warships today, and with the addition of the previous building ships, fighting ships and troop carriers, the total number of ships of the Kunpeng Tenth Army reached 302.

And this is already their limit.

"It's too expensive to build a ship!" Li Jiangyao held the account book and sighed: "If we continue like this, we will go bankrupt and close down!" ”

His words are not exaggerated at all.

Although the family background of the Zhenjiang Military Mansion is thick, it can't withstand the toss of death. Before building three hoplite legions and supporting hundreds of thousands of troops to expedition to the eastern soil, the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang was already under tremendous economic pressure. Now, in just three months, 300 warships of various types have been built day and night, almost directly emptying the treasury of the Zhenjiang army.

Xie Tanzhi, Situ Wushou, and Ma Mu jointly reported to Li Jiangyao, requesting that the new large-scale military spending be postponed so that the rear could take a breath first.

Li Jiangyao agreed with the opinion of the Zhenjiang Military Government, and at the same time called Xu Youchang over, and said solemnly: "Three hundred, there will be no more." The rest can only be snatched from Bao Yuchun's hands! ”

Xu Youchang nodded when he heard this: "We are also ready to act at any time!" ”

He spread out the map, pointed to it and said, "Nie Xianzeng suggested that the target of the first battle be placed in Jingkou. Since ancient times, it has been an important town for sailors, with both wharves and docks, and several tributaries of the river converge here, which is of great strategic value. ”

Li Jiangyao was a little puzzled: "Since it is a strategic location, then the enemy's strength here must be very strong, why should it be easy to choose the difficult?" ”

Xu Youchang responded: "I have also raised similar questions. However, Nie Xianzeng's opinion is that it is precisely because the main force of the enemy's naval army is concentrated here that it is easier for the other party to take it lightly, and he will not believe that we will dare to attack Jingkou directly as soon as we come up. In addition, he also said that the strategy of grabbing ships by the majority of the capital guards can only work two or three times at most, and once the enemy is on guard and has precautions, it will be difficult to succeed again. Therefore, simply choose the fat and eat it, and grab the big one if you want to. ”

Li Jiangyao was very happy when he heard this, and nodded again and again: "This Nie Xianzeng is very angry with me." What is the deployment of the enemy's forces in Kyoguchi? Got it figured? ”

Xu Youchang replied: "I figured it out." The Intelligence Division and the Scout Battalion of the Second Army carried out reconnaissance from land, while the Tenth Army sent several small fishing boats to conduct reconnaissance from the water, and basically got to know the enemy's reality and reality. At the Jingkou Wharf, there were stationed the fourth and fifth banners of the rebel naval division and a patrol battalion, with a total of more than 400 large and small warships. ”

After a pause, he continued, "In addition, there is a large dock downstream of the dock, and there are sixty-six ships under repair and maintenance. The enemy's defenses were indeed a little lax, and only two or three warships were arranged to guard the estuaries of the various tributaries near Jingkou, and it was easy to break through. ”

Li Jiangyao carefully looked at the combat map drawn by the navy army and asked, "What is the opinion of the other two people?" Do they also agree with Nie Xianzeng's idea? ”

"Yes, Luo Yuan and Wang Wenlie are both in favor of raiding Jingkou." Xu Youchang responded: "Wang Wenlie also pointed out that the southeast wind is blowing right now, and it will be more convenient to move north after grabbing the boat, which is worth a try." ”

Li Jiangyao bowed slightly: "How are you going to fight?" ”

Xu Youchang said: "I want the army to participate, cooperate with the operation, and advance by land and water. The giant crossbow battalion of Du Jian's Second Army was deployed near the Guazhou Ferry in advance, while Luo Yuan led thirty warships to appear from the Guazhou Ferry, pretending to carry a large army to cross the river with arms, attracting the attention of the enemy in Jingkou to the upstream side. At the same time, Nie Xianzeng commanded the main force to attack from the mouth of the canal, directly to the Jingkou wharf, and raided the fleet moored there. Wang Wenlie took another way, and after leaving the estuary, he went downstream, so he could snatch back more than 60 warships on the dock side first, and save his capital. ”

Li Jiangyao muttered: "Since it is a surprise battle, you must pay attention to a surprise, and it is not until you get close to the enemy's side that the other party suddenly understands." So I have two suggestions, and you should work a little harder. The first is to dispatch strong martial arts masters in advance to seize the enemy warships guarding at the mouth of the river, so as to prevent them from having the opportunity to warn them in the direction of the dock; The second is to make some modifications and dress up as a rebel sailor. ”

"Understood, I'll do the decoration when I get back." Xu Youchang promised: "The time of the attack should also be chosen at night, it is easier to succeed." ”

"Is the date set? Consider the weather conditions. ”

Xu Youchang nodded: "I have planned three times, the twenty-seventh of this month, the second day of the next month and the fifth day of the next month, and you will have to make a decision on the specific date." ”

Li Jiangyao pondered for a moment and said: "The day after tomorrow is the twenty-seventh, the time is a little tight, and the fifth day of the next month is a little too long, I think, set the second day of the new year." ”

Hearing this, Xu Youchang simply replied neatly: "Okay, then in seven days, raid Jingkou!" ”

-

"General, the other side doesn't seem to have stopped much these days."

Yao Mingjie, the deputy governor of the Jin Army's naval division, heard his subordinate general Xue Meng say this, and couldn't help but smile faintly: "Why don't you stop the law?" ”

Xue Meng said: "The Second Army of Zhenjiang is marching towards Guazhou one after another, could it be coming at us?" ”

"Haha, a bunch of landlubbers, are you still afraid that he will bite us?" Yao Mingjie looked disdainful, and snorted coldly: "I don't dare to brag on land, I want to cross the river?" Du Jian didn't even have a door! ”

Xue Mengwu shook his head: "But I heard that the imperial court has been building warships, will it be ......?"

Yao Mingjie waved his hand and said, "Brother Xue, you put your heart in your stomach." It's true that Murong Xue is building ships, but their shipyard is in Suizhou, far away from us! If you want to drive here to transport troops, at least you have to pass the level of Bao Shuai first. ”

"That's right." Xue Meng smiled self-deprecatingly: "Maybe I'm too worried." When it comes to the Zhenjiang Army, my heart is not steady. ”

Yao Mingjie glanced at him and said with a smile: "I think you are stunned because of Xiao Jing's matter, right?" Don't worry, as long as we stay on the ship, there is nothing in the world that can do anything about it. Li Jiangyao can't either! ”

Xue Meng was stunned for a moment, and then said: "General, my eyelids have been jumping for the past few days, I'm afraid it's not a good sign." Or, near a few estuaries of the river, send some more vigilant forces? Two or three warships may not be enough. ”

Yao Mingjie laughed when he heard this: "Send more warships? How many more ships do you send, and who are you going to guard against? Guarding against the Zhenjiang Army? Can he fly into the water and fight us? You're just too suspicious! There are fireworks and cannons on the alert ship, once the enemy situation is discovered, you can notify the dock here as soon as possible, and you can go to reinforcements at any time, what are you panicking about? ”

Seeing the lord's attitude, Xue Meng didn't want to say anything more, so he could only mutter, "Be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years." The way of the world today ......"

Who knows, before he finished his words, an officer hurriedly ran into the house and said loudly: "Yao Shuai, General Xue, there is a military situation!" ”

Xue Meng was startled and hurriedly asked what was going on.

The officer replied that half an hour ago, the scouts on the surface found that thirty large warships had appeared at the Guazhou Ferry, all under the banner of the Zhenjiang Army. In addition, five unliquidated troop carriers are being loaded.

"Where did the warship come from?!" Yao Mingjie suddenly couldn't sit still when he heard this, and stood up suddenly and said, "How can you cross the upstream defense line?" ”

Xue Meng thought for a while and analyzed: "Needless to say, it must have come from Gaoyou Lake, and most of them were boats secretly built by Li Jiangyao. ”

Yao Mingjie felt that he was reasonable, sank slightly, and sneered: "It's only thirty ships, not even a fraction of Lao Tzu, and if you come, you will be sent to death!" Now that it's getting dark, it seems that they plan to cross the river at night. ”

Xue Meng agreed: "Well, the general's analysis is correct. Five troop transports, one trip can probably send a thousand people over, and three or four battalions of troops can be transferred in one night, perhaps trying to sneak attack the Jingkou dock by land. ”

"Grandma! Can I get them to cross the river? Yao Mingjie scolded: "Sink him in the water halfway, and feed Wang Ba!" Pass the military order and assemble for battle! ”

Xue Meng stood up: "Let's go, a hundred fighting ships, it should be enough." ”

Yao Mingjie nodded: "Enough!" A hundred of them are all worthy of the Zhenjiang Army! Landlubbers boats, it's ridiculous. You go and play tricks so that they can see what it means to be a water overlord! ”

Xue Meng agreed, turned around and walked out of the command post, all the way to the dock trestle. He quickly boarded his flagship, the Wyvern, and ordered the drumming to mobilize his navy to prepare for departure.

After a short time, one hundred and five building boats and fighting ships sailed out of the wharf one after another, quickly formed a three-way column attack formation on the wide river, and then headed in the direction of the Guazhou ferry port upstream.

From Jingkou to Guazhou, the straight-line distance is no more than 20 miles, and counting the curved river waterway, it is about 25 miles away. With the help of the wind, Xue Meng's fleet went upstream, and arrived at the combat position in less than half an hour.

However, what the rebels did not expect was that the landlubber in their eyes actually took the lead in attacking.

What's even more exaggerated is that the other side does not have the clumsiness of the army fighting water warfare at all, but the extremely standardized naval combat drill!

Turbulence with the current, lightning interspersed!

In the blink of an eye, the twenty flywheel fighting ships were like galloping horses, cutting directly into Xue Meng's fleet.

On the sides of the Zhenjiang warships, rockets shot out of the sky, like dense red meteors, constantly enveloping the rebel ships close at hand, and at the same time, the giant crossbows placed in the cabin were also continuously fired, causing the enemy ships to splash wood chips.

The rebel sailors were blinded at once.

They didn't even have time to make adjustments to their formation, and they scrapped a dozen warships on the spot. Flames burned on the river, and countless sailors abandoned ship to escape.

Twenty flywheels were extremely fast, and almost without damage, they went straight through the entire fleet and ran behind the enemy.

Seeing this, Xue Meng hurriedly ordered all ships to turn around, intending to completely suppress the warships of the Zhenjiang Army by virtue of their numerical superiority.

However, he forgot one thing, upstream there, there are also ten flywheel battleships!