Early morning.

At Chizhou Wharf, Zhu Tai was already waiting early in the morning.

According to the time calculation, the red-coated cannon can arrive today, and once this happens, it also means that he has something to rely on, which is why he is so active.

At this moment, a large group of soldiers stood solemnly.

Zhu Tai looked into the distance, with a little eagerness in his expression, but he covered it up well.

On the side, Han Wenqing's eyes were full of coldness.

After waiting for a while, there was no movement, Zhu Tai was a little impatient, and asked, "Why hasn't it arrived yet?" ”

Fan Renli also twisted his eyebrows slightly, faintly having a bad premonition.

According to the previous calculation, the fleet transporting the redcoat cannons should have arrived at this time, but the result was ......

The guards weren't very clear, and guessed: "Maybe there was a delay on the road?" ”

He didn't believe it himself, after all, the stakes were very high, and His Royal Highness had explained it several times, and he didn't dare to slack off at all, but the facts in front of him ......

A general said, "It's better to send someone to take a look." ”

Zhu Tai was a little impatient, and said, "Arrange the warship, and this prince will go and see it in person." ”

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding generals were suddenly a little embarrassed, and said: "Back to Your Highness, after the defeat of the sailor battalion, the only few small warships on the Chizhou side have rushed to Jiangnan to support, and there are only some ordinary ships at the moment. ”

Chizhou is the first wharf where the Wangjiang River enters the south of the Yangtze River, and it is also a necessary place to go down from Kyoto.

Zhu Tai and his entourage rested here precisely because they were waiting for the red-clothed cannon.

But because of the defeat of the Jiangnan Navy Division, the nearby warships have long been gone.

In fact, the number of large warships in Lichao was already scarce, because there was no need for that before, and they were all in the sailor battalion, and after the defeat of the sailor battalion, these warships all fell into the hands of the Lotus sailor.

The rest are some small warships, as well as ordinary patrol ships, such ships are not much different from ordinary merchant ships, of course, it is not a big problem to sail on the Wangjiang River, and it is unlikely to go to sea.

Zhu Tai snorted when he heard this, quite unhappy.

But there's nothing to be done.

Fortunately, the soldiers still requisitioned some ships at the Chizhou wharf, although they were not warships, they were barely usable.

The group boarded the boat and was preparing to take a look along the way.

However, at this moment, a ship rushed down, and several soldiers on the deck were shouting loudly.

Seeing this situation, Fan Renli couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, and the bad premonition was even stronger.

Sure enough!

After a while, the ship approached, and several soldiers on the deck said loudly: "Your Royal Highness, it's not good!" There was an attack on the front......"

What!

As soon as these words came out, the faces of all the generals changed.

Zhu Tai was no exception, and hurriedly asked, "What's going on?" ”

Several soldiers didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly told the matter again, it turned out that these soldiers were all responsible for transporting the red-coated cannons, and they had a smooth journey without encountering any trouble, but on the eve of dawn today, seeing that they were about to arrive at their destination, the nerves that the soldiers might have tense relaxed and squinted for a while.

However, when they woke up, they found that the cabin had been flooded, and it turned out that several ships had been scuttled through the bottom of the ship at some point.

"What did you say?"

Zhu Tai's face changed greatly, and he scolded angrily: "Rice buckets, all rice buckets, such a trivial thing can't be done......"

He was furious, and it was no wonder that this was a major event related to his future.

Fan Renli's face was also pale, and he immediately hurriedly asked, "What is the specific situation, can you know who did it?" The most important thing is the redcoat cannon, have you ever lost it? ”

Several soldiers hurriedly said: "It's a nearby bandit, mistakenly thinking that we are transporting goods from the southwest, and are about to block the road and rob, but now we have beaten them away." ”

"The redcoat cannon is not lost, it is still on board."

"It's just that most of the ships have sunk, and we desperately transferred the red-coated cannons to the only two remaining ships, but because the ships were overwhelmed and could not continue sailing, we could only choose to dock nearby and come to inform for help."

Hearing this, Zhu Tai was also relieved, as long as the red-clothed cannon was still there, everything else was easy to say.

Ships sink and sink, although there are not many warships, but there are many cargo ships, which is harmless.

Fan Renli couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhu Tai glanced at a few soldiers and scolded: "A group of things that are not enough to achieve and more than to fail, they have been scuttled through the bottom of the boat by water bandits, and they don't know it, it's just a waste......"

Naturally, several soldiers did not dare to speak, so they only promised.

Fan Renli said: "The top priority is to meet the red-clothed cannon, and let's talk about the rest later!" ”

Zhu Tai nodded, this is undoubtedly the top priority.

He immediately ordered that he would personally lead part of his army to meet him, while the others waited in place.

Because there are not enough ships, and it can only be so.

Fan Renli seemed a little uneasy, and said: "The Wangjiang water system has always been safe, how can there be water bandits?" And so rampant, dare to scuttle through the cargo ship escorted by the soldiers? ”

The Wangjiang River is the most developed water system in Lichao, and the cargo ships are busy, so it is relatively safe.

Although it is not said that there are no bandits at all, the number is really small, and they are all small groups of crimes, one shot for one cannon, it stands to reason that it will not be so bold, not to mention that it is the imperial court soldiers who escort the ships.

When Han Wenqing heard this, he said seemingly casually: "I heard that after the defeat of the Sailor Battalion, the number of bandits in the Wangjiang area increased significantly, especially the disaster in Hedong and northern Shaanxi, which led to more bandits flowing to Wangjiang. ”

"Not bad! The last general also heard that the sailor battalion had failed, and these sailors were like wild horses on the loose, robbing passing merchant ships and cargo ships. ”

"Eighty percent of them use cargo ships as disaster relief materials in the southwest, and these displaced people are extremely hungry, how can they manage so much."

“……”

The crowd was gossiping.

Fan Renli also felt that there was some truth.

If it weren't for the ordinary water bandits, but for the red-clothed cannon, then it would definitely not be so simple.

Moreover, this is the hinterland of the Lichao, the Yingzhou army has not yet attacked here, and the information of the Lichao is not given in vain, if there is a large army attacking here, it is impossible to be completely unaware.

Knowing this, he was relieved, but despite this, he decided to go with the army to meet him.

On the mighty river, there were suddenly countless boats heading upstream.

Others stayed where they were.

Han Wenqing stayed where he was, looking at the fleet, and the sneer on the corner of his mouth became stronger.

However, Zhu Tai didn't know anything about this, and he was still looking forward to doing something great and making contributions after taking over the red-clothed cannon.

Finally, the ship didn't have long to go.

In the distance, two huge cargo ships appeared in sight, close to the shore.

There was no figure to be seen on the ship, and it was quiet, which seemed a little weird.

……