The retreat of the rebel fleet was not slow, but because the back roads were mixed, and there were also Zhenjiang warships on both sides to break through and intercept, many warships either fought and fled very hard, or simply fought with the other side completely.

The retreat route became more and more crowded and gradually became congested.

At this time, there was no queue formation to speak of, and it was lucky to be able to escape from this water.

In the upstream direction, Luo Yuan's main army is also approaching at full speed, and dozens of the fastest flywheel warships have already broken into this waterway and launched a charge!

Guo Qifeng felt that the fierce war drums of Zhenjiang were getting closer and closer, and they were almost ringing in his ears. He looked around blankly, and at some point, the flags of the Kunpeng Tenth Army were already all around the flagship, and the whistling arrows and violent impacts made it seem like he was in the last days.

With a loud bang, the flagship was once again rushed by the Zhenjiang warship, and more than a dozen black shadows flew over along the bridge and rushed straight to Guo Qifeng's command platform, the first person was Luo Yuan, the fierce general of the Tenth Army!

Seeing this, the rebel guards hurriedly stepped forward to block, but no one could withstand Luo Yuan's long knife sweep. In the blink of an eye, nearly 100 light armor of the Zhenjiang Navy successfully boarded the ship, and the flagship was full of tragic hand-to-hand combat.

Luo Yuan swung his knife and slashed down the last guard, facing Guo Qifeng, who was trembling slightly with a long sword in his hand. He raised his knife and pointed it at the other party, revealing a sneer under the blood stain on his face: "Damn, what about my brother Zhao Shuo?" ”

Guo Qifeng turned his heart sideways and shouted viciously: "Zhao Shuo? Before he left, I cut off his head and sacrificed the flag! ”

Hearing this, Luo Yuan's eyes showed a cold light, and he said three good words in a row, and then he shouted violently, stood up, and slashed towards Guo Qifeng.

He made a move with hatred, and his martial arts were far above the other party, and after only five or six faces, he kicked Guo Qifeng in the chest and kicked him several feet away. Luo Yuan's movements did not stop at all, followed closely in front of the other party, raised the knife in his hand, and directly cut off Guo Qifeng's head.

Without the commander-in-chief, the rebel fleet was even more panicked. Under their own fighting, they could only be surrounded and beaten by the Tenth Army. The upper and lower rivers were full of flaming warships, and the water was crowded with rebels who had jumped ship to escape.

The fierce battle continued for more than two hours, until the sun rose in the middle of the sky and the fog on the river surface dissipated.

Except for a dozen or so ships that escaped by chance, the entire rebel fleet was completely annihilated.

-

Bao Yuchun received the news of the defeat of the two armies in the fortress of Jiuzi, and almost vomited blood and fainted on the spot.

In one day and one night, all 800 main warships were destroyed, and the waterway of the great river from Chizhou to Xuanzhou, nearly 400 miles, was completely out of control.

No matter who it is, I'm afraid I can't bear it.

Bao Yuchun, who came back to his senses, was very panicked. This runaway waterway, which happens to face Luzhou and Chuzhou on the north bank, is also the jurisdiction of the 300,000 Zhenjiang army. If Li Jiangyao launched a battle to cross the river at this time, the Xuanzhou base camp would be devastated, and then the entire Dajiang defense line would be crumbling.

There is no time to regret and grieve!

Bao Yuchun forced himself to calm down, and while urgently transferring all the troops near Xuancheng to the river bank to build a defensive line, he also notified Bao Xinyan upstream and Yao Mingjie and Han Lin downstream to send a fleet to rush to help.

The rest of the area will be left alone for the time being, and we will talk about it for now.

As long as the newly replenished fleet can arrive here within 10 days, Li Jiangyao will not dare to make rash moves and cross the river for fear that the supply line will be cut off.

Things turned out to be as Bao Yuchun expected. The rebels' land forces were fully dispatched, and the upstream and downstream naval forces responded quickly and rushed to help, which did not allow the Zhenjiang army to further expand the results of the battle.

However, this is not because of how their precautions were in place in time, but because Li Jiangyao did not think about crossing the river from the beginning.

"We can crush the rebels' water forces in a single battle, but that doesn't mean we have complete control of the river. Until then, I'm not going to take radical risks. ”

In the Wuwei Water Village camp, Li Jiangyao presided over a meeting of the entire Zhenjiang Army's top level to prepare for war. Principal officials from the General Headquarters, the Zhenjiang Military Government, the main army corps, the Intelligence Department, the War Medical Bureau, and other institutions all participated.

Li Jiangyao continued to preach to everyone: "It is not difficult to cross the river, and it is not difficult to fight after crossing the river, but the difficulty lies in the connection between the control of the river and the follow-up support. We must not only get by, but also be able to get back; It is not only necessary for people to pass, but also for materials to pass sustainably. In a word, the entire river must be completely decided by us before we can let go of the southern expedition! ”

Xie Tanzhi bowed slightly: "My lord is right." For example, Dajiang is another form of Zijin Pass and Shengyu Pass, as long as Bao Yuchun's army still occupies an advantageous position, then it can cut off the back road of the troops crossing the river at any time. We shouldn't be the second Ashina Jin. ”

Li Jiangyao agreed, and continued: "The situation between the enemy and us on the great river has always been developing and changing. At the beginning, Bao Yuchun returned to Shengtang from the open sea, just in time for the north to fully resist the Turkic invasion, so their warships galloped across the river, almost invincible and without opponents. Later, we joined the Central Plains battlefield, first drove out the Jiangnan rebels, and then eliminated Li Kui, the king of Huaiyang, so that the Jiangbei army reached its peak, and the defensive pressure completely fell on Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun. ”

"That's right!" Du Jian replied loudly: "The current situation is that we can wave our troops south, but Bao Yuchun does not dare to send troops north." The rebels dare to land in Jiangbei, no matter which defense area they are in, they will only be beaten! ”

Li Jiangyao smiled and nodded: "That's true." Therefore, Lao Bao can only try his best to consolidate the defense of the river and buy time for Lao Jianhua in the south, so that he can recruit and train more soldiers and horses to offset our threat. However, the river stretched for several thousand miles, and it was impossible to completely blockade it, so they could only fortify it in sections and guard key areas, and only when we really wanted to cross the river did they gather their fleet forces and come to intercept them. ”

Xu Youchang continued: "In this situation, as long as we do not organize large-scale river crossings for the time being, the enemy will become more and more passive. Because our fleet can move and fight freely, while the rebel fleet can only stay in the fixed defense area, waiting for us to come to the door. ”

"This is also the key to winning this water war," Nie Xianzeng said with a smile: "We concentrate our forces, if we want to fight Jiuzi, we will fight Jiuzi, and if we want to fight Chizhou, we will fight Chizhou, and the other party must make corresponding adjustments according to our actions." If there is a lack of information or a mistake in judgment in the middle, the rebels will be defeated! ”

Li Jiangyao said to everyone: "What I will talk about first is exactly what the Command wants to tell you. We must be patient now, concentrate our superior forces, and eat Bao Yuchun's water army bite by bite, until Dajiang completely becomes our world! By that time, the Jiangnan rebels would have only one way to die! ”

Jigriz replied loudly: "Please rest assured, Dadu Hu, we will go back and explain the reason clearly to the brothers." Although everyone is homesick, as long as you say a word, it will be no problem to return to Western Xinjiang a few years later! ”

Xiong Yunjie smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "In my opinion, you think about your daughter-in-law, right?" ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone couldn't help laughing.

Li Jiangyao scolded Xiong Yunjie with a smile, raised his hand to calm everyone down, and said affectionately: "Most of our Zhenjiang army are children of Western Xinjiang. I have worked hard to eliminate the Turkic ghosts, and now I have to put down the rebellion for the country, and I have been away from my homeland for so long, and I have indeed suffered my brothers. It is human nature to miss my hometown and relatives, and I, the leader, can't help but take it to heart. So, I discussed a plan with Tomotomi Tanyuki and them. Friends, tell us about it. ”

Xu Youchang agreed and introduced: "Most of the guards sympathize with the soldiers and decide to take advantage of the period of fighting for control of the river to implement troop rotation. There are two ways to rotate, and I invite you to come here today because I want to sum it up together and see which one is better. ”

"The first plan is the rotation of the corps. the third army of the county lord, which succeeded the fifth army in the opposite position; Shenhua Fourth Army, counter-opposed to replace the Ninth Army; The Seventh Army was a heavy corps, which succeeded the Sixth Army. Those three corps were transferred from the western frontier, and the three corps here returned to their hometowns. ”

As soon as these words came out, the three army commanders who were replaced immediately looked at each other. Xiong Yunjie, Ji Griz, and Duan Jun wanted to speak and stopped, obviously having some ideas about this plan. However, Zhenjiang has always had strict military discipline, and it is okay to joke in peacetime, but when it comes to the transfer of military orders, the boss did not ask for advice, and no one dared to speak up easily.

Xu Youchang glanced at the three of them lightly and continued, "The second plan was proposed by Lord Xie. He advocated that the holidays should be given in batches, so that the officers and soldiers who have made great contributions to each army or the only son in the family should return to the western Xinjiang first, and then be summoned to return to the team according to the situation after a period of time. ”

"I think ......" Du Jian first looked at Li Jiangyao's face, and then tried to say: "This method is not bad, the rain and dew are all wet." ”

Listening to his nondescript words, several generals couldn't help but cover their mouths and steal fun, Xu Youchang shook his head angrily and funny, and ordered: "Okay, let's talk about it, talk freely." ”

Seeing him speak, Xiong Yunjie stood up first: "Dadu Hu, Xu Shuai, Lord Xie, our Fifth Army is unwilling to return to Western Xinjiang as a whole, so let's follow the second plan." ”

"The same is true of the Sixth Army," Jigriz continued, "we are the commander-in-chief's own troops, the main force of the attack. Where most of them are protected, the Sixth Army of the Angry Waves is there. Hey, don't look at me like that, my daughter-in-law wrote to me, so that I don't have to worry about my family, and I can put down the rebellion. ”

Duan Jun stood up and arched his hand, "My lords, the Ninth Army does not need to be replaced. When will it enter Hangzhou, and the Ninth Army will return to its hometown in triumph! ”

Seeing this, Xu Youchang turned his head and shrugged his shoulders towards Li Jiangyao: "Look, Lao Xie and I guessed right, these guys don't want to go back at all." ”