Bang!

The first bamboo raft to be detonated by the fire exploded in front of one of the rebel warships, and the flying sparks directly ignited the bow and sails, creating a lot of chaos.

The most troublesome thing was that there was not just one, but hundreds of bamboo rafts on fire, and they had already approached the entire fleet, and some even broke into the ranks.

The continuous huge explosions completely blinded the rebels, and the people shouted desperately in the deafening explosions, telling the ships behind to stop quickly.

However, the chaos drastically slowed down the rebels' reaction speed. More than a dozen boats in front had been blown up and burned, but the boats behind were still squeezing forward, and the river soon appeared to be congested and collided.

Bao Xinyan's flagship was located in the middle of the fleet, and he stood on the platform, looking at the sudden sky-high fire in front of him, although he didn't know what was going on, he also knew that this was a sudden attack by the enemy in the vanguard.

In a hurry, Bao Xinyan hurriedly ordered his subordinates to sound the drum and instructed the fleet to move closer to both sides of the river bank and give way to the middle waterway, so that his warships could advance and retreat smoothly.

Although Bao Xinyan's decision was already considered fast, and the rebel fleet was well trained to make a quick move, due to the large number of stray boats and the sudden attack, it still caused a lot of casualties to the rebels.

At this time, more than 30 large ships were completely caught in flames, and it was impossible to escape the fate of destruction. In addition, nearly 100 ships were on fire to varying degrees, and the sailors on board were busy extinguishing the fire and saving people, making a mess.

A third of the bamboo raft on fire remained, and it continued to drift downstream.

Bao Xinyan couldn't help but feel nervous.

In order to avoid the attack of the rafts, and at the same time to keep the fleet from crowding together, and even more implicated, hundreds of warships were ordered to lean towards the river bank, abandoning the original offensive and defensive formation. If the imperial fleet launched an attack at this time, it would be difficult for its own side to organize an effective defense.

Sure enough, Wang Wenlie and Yang Li are both elites in water warfare, how could they let go of such a rare opportunity. The two cooperated tacitly, and at the same time commanded their warships to rush towards the enemy.

However, the two of them were not carried away by the advantageous situation, and only the top three of the six clusters were responsible for the attack, and the remaining three remained in place to help defend Jiangxin Island.

Three-way clusters, a total of more than 200 warships, went straight down the river to the rebel fleet.

The bamboo raft drifted farther and farther, the explosion continued, and the imperial navy had already followed the fire boat and slaughtered into the heart of the rebels.

The sailors on board aimed at their targets and fired desperately set fire arrows that had been set on fire, and countless rockets pierced the dark night sky, crossed the vast river, and in the blink of an eye, severely damaged more than a dozen rebel ships.

Seeing this, Bao Xinyan issued another order, asking the warships that had been separated from each other to gather in the middle of the waterway again, and strive to trap the invading enemy ships.

Nearly 1,000 warships fought in the downstream waterway three miles away from Jiangxin Island.

On the side of the imperial court sailors, although they did not have an advantage in the number of ships, they were well prepared and in a complete formation, and it was easier for them to exert their joint forces; On the rebel side, because the command system was suddenly disrupted by the stray fire, they had an advantage in troops, but they were fighting on their own.

The two sides come and go on the river, and they don't give in to each other, and it is difficult to solve and inseparable.

However, as Bao Xinyan gradually stabilized the position of the fleet, and the rebels' combat power was slowly brought into play, Wang Wenlie saw that the other party was fighting more and more methodically, and knew that the time should not be delayed for a long time, so he hurriedly sent a signal to Yang Li.

After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, the three-way assault group broke away from the battle one after another and retreated in the direction of the upstream.

The entire battlefield returned to the way it was at the beginning, with six clusters lined up in echelons, adjacent to Jiangxin Island to block the river horizontally.

At this time, the eastern sky was white, and although the fog was thick on the river, it was no longer as dark as before, and the view was completely blocked.

As the sky brightened, both sides were able to see each other clearly.

Bao Xinyan arranged the fleet in formation, and while towing the damaged ships back to the rear, he carefully guarded against the recurrence of the kind of burning bamboo raft he had done last night, and he climbed to the lookout at the top of the mast to observe the enemy from a distance.

On Jiangxin Island in the distance, the fortress loomed in the morning mist, and the camp flags were vaguely changed, and it was conceivable that the 2,000 soldiers and horses guarding the island had been completely finished.

Bao Xinyan's eyes were resolute, and he said to himself: "Li Jiangyao, you are really amazing, you gave me such a big gift as soon as we met." Okay, let's have a good fight! ”

Six days earlier, he had received an urgent military message from his uncle Bao Yuchun, saying that the imperial court had appointed Li Jiangyao as the new naval governor, and that he might have been stationed in Yiling at this time and had taken over the command of the entire fleet.

Bao Yuchun especially told his nephew not to take the enemy lightly, so as not to fall for the other party's tricks.

To tell the truth, the rebel sailors were indeed frightened by Li Jiangyao before, and they were nervous about it.

Although Bao Xinyan was not afraid of Li Jiangyao, he could not ignore his uncle's orders, so he also postponed a new round of offensive operations and prepared to wait until he found out the situation before making plans.

However, he never expected that he would not take the initiative to provoke Li Jiangyao, but Li Jiangyao did not want to let him go.

The imperial navy, which had been sparsely pulling its crotch before, suddenly stood up, and actually dared to launch a provocation in turn. Overnight, Jiangxin Island was lost, the reinforcement fleet was ambushed, and in just two hours, its own side lost nearly 80 main warships.

Is it tolerable, which is unbearable?!

Bao Xinyan was furious in his heart, and decided to teach the imperial court navy a good lesson, and also let Li Jiangyao see what the real invincible fleet was.

He got down from the mast and immediately made new arrangements: three hundred building ships were responsible for a frontal attack to contain the five imperial court clusters on the north side of Jiangxin Island; A hundred warships went round the south side of the island and drove a cluster there away from the waterway; At the same time, mobilize 3,000 elite light armor, land on the narrow tidal flats east of the island, and attack the fortress, and be sure to regain control of Jiangxin Island!

"Before noon, end the battle!"

Bao Xinyan commanded confidently.

The men received the order and went their separate ways. For a time, the drums on the surface of the river rumbled, the sails that covered the sky and the sun shifted rapidly, and the three-way warships were approaching in the direction of Jiangxin Island.

"Send a signal to Dadu! We will give them the landing force and resist the enemy fleet with all our might! ”

Wang Wenlie slowly pulled out his short knife and shouted, "Brothers, the real test is coming!" If you are afraid of death, all of them should be rolled back to the cabin of Lao Tzu, don't be embarrassed! It's a hero, kill the thief with me! Kill! ”

"Kill! Kill! The officers and soldiers on the ship were so excited by his words that they all raised their arms and shouted!

As the order was given, the six clusters suddenly dispersed, and at the same time the sails were put away, the anchors were pulled, and the battleships were allowed to follow the river towards the enemy.

The sails are retracted, firstly, it will not slow down due to the southeast wind, and secondly, it can avoid being ignited by the opponent's rockets.

The next tactic they will adopt is the most fierce and straightforward way among the sailors - boarding the ship! Melee!

Everyone is an expert in water warfare, so no one's actions can be hidden. As soon as Wang Wenlie lowered the sails and raised their shields on the deck, the rebels on the opposite side guessed what the imperial navy was going to do and began to make corresponding preparations.

However, there was one thing that was completely unexpected.

After the six clusters of the imperial navy dispersed, a strange scene appeared in front of everyone: their warships, two ships in a group, were connected to each other by several iron chains the thickness of bowls. As the ships moved, the speeds were almost synchronized, and the chains in the middle swayed back and forth.

The rebels had never seen such a situation before, let alone understood what it was for, and could not help but be dumbfounded.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Wenlie and the others collided with the enemy fleet. Due to the protection of the baffles and shields, the warriors on the ship did not receive much damage from the archers on the opposite side. However, the chains in the middle of their ships had a magical effect.

All the enemy ships located between the two ships were violently blocked by iron chains, and the huge force either tore the bow of the ship, or pulled the other side involuntarily to turn around, and huddled with the ships in the rear.

More than 300 imperial warships, divided into more than 150 groups, lined up across the river, like a moving dam, instantly jamming the same number of rebel ships in front of them.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Li led the Yanwutang sailors to take the lead in the charge.

The ships of both sides were now crowded together, and with the help of the bridge, they could step into the rebel ships in a few steps and launch a fierce attack.

Wang Wenlie was even more ruthless, he ordered his subordinates to raise the lit oil jar and throw it directly at the enemy ship next to him, which could plunge the opponent's ship into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye. As soon as they succeeded, they quickly unfastened the chains on the side of the ship, separated themselves from their comrades' ships, and retreated backwards.

In less than half an hour, thick smoke billowed from the entire river. Nearly 100 rebel warships were either seriously damaged by iron chains, or violently burned by fire oil, or were boarded and attacked by imperial sailors, and they jumped into the water to escape.

The surprisingly strange tactics completely disrupted the rhythm of the rebels' attack and defense, making them fall behind.

At the same time, the 3,000 rebel light armor who rushed to land on Jiangxin Island also suffered a catastrophe.

As soon as they stepped onto the beachhead, before they could form a line and advance towards the fortress, the battle cry of "Long live our emperor" sounded in their ears.

Hundreds of ghost-faced white-robed troops suddenly came out of the dense forest and swept in like a raging storm. In their eyes, it was as if it was not an enemy on the beach, but a flock of panicked lambs waiting to be slaughtered!

Of course, the Lamb also has the right to struggle, but it is of little use.

The attacking side became the defensive side in the blink of an eye, and then the fleeing side.

Three thousand light armor, which didn't even hold up for half an hour, were all driven into the river by the powerful white-robed army.