"The soldier is fast". After taking Pengshan City, the Perak fleet did not stop, but continued to Meizhou. Pengshan is less than 50 miles away from Meizhou by water, and it can be reached in one day down the river. At a distance of twenty miles from Meizhou City, the fleet suddenly split into two parts, and most of the warships returned upstream under the leadership of Le Quan'an. Ouyang Xuan continued to Meizhou with his staff headquarters, accompanied by ten heavy artillery ships, five light artillery ships, ten escort ships, and a large number of transport ships for infantry.

The reason why the fleet changed its plans was because of the arrival of reinforcements from the Mongol army. First of all, a large group of Mongolian cavalry appeared on the other side of the Pengshan City River, they crossed the river without a boat, and saw the two big characters "thunderbolt" on the banner at the head of the city, so they rode their horses along the river bank to the direction of Meizhou. Soon after, most of the infantry of the newly annexed army arrived on the other side of Pengshan City, and their reaction was similar to that of the Mongol cavalry, and they also went downstream along the riverbank. If it was just these Mongolian reinforcements, Ouyang Xuan wouldn't care at all. Most of the Perak ships were returned to the home by the Mongol navy that had sailed down the Jin River from Chengdu.

Liu Heima of Panlai Chengdu knew very well that in order to take root in the dense river network of western Sichuan, it was obviously not enough to rely on infantry cavalry, so he attached great importance to the naval army, not only reusing the surrendered Song army, but also spending a lot of money to build a lot of ships, which made the strength of the Mongolian naval army in western Sichuan swell sharply, and performed well in the battle of Jiading. Pengshan City was extremely important to the Mongol navy, and if it fell into the hands of the Perak army, not only would the passage south to the Minjiang River be locked, but also the city of Chengdu would be under the threat of the Perak army's heavy artillery ships. Therefore, after receiving the warning that Pengshan City was attacked, Liu Heima mobilized elite infantry cavalry to reinforce on the one hand, and on the other hand, he used all the ships of the navy to prepare to compete with the Thunderbolt army for the right to control the water. His plan was to ensure that the infantry crossed the river undisturbed, even if he could not defeat the Thunderbolt navy.

Liu Heima's confidence comes from the strength of the current Mongolian army. This time, he sent more than 300 ships of all sizes. Although many of these ships were converted from civilian ships and were only used to fight in gangs, there were also more than 50 newly built warships. Not only were these new ships light and nimble, but they were also armed with ballistas, trebuchets, and even a dozen ships of fire and a few ships equipped with guns. The navy is a very expensive type of army, and the cost of shipbuilding alone is a huge expense. Of course, compared to the cost of ships, the cost of weapons is the big one. Even the Thunderbolt Army, which is mainly based on industry and commerce, has a large number of salt, iron and other minerals in its territory, and it is extremely difficult to raise a naval army, which is also the reason why the Thunderbolt Army's warships and artillery have never reached full strength. It is not easy for Liu Heima to save so many warships in the past few months.

Ouyang Xuan was also a little surprised to learn that the Mongolian navy that came to Chengdu's aid had so many ships. At the moment, he discussed countermeasures with Le Quanan, Huang Dagen and others - Cao Ergou and Yu Zhu, who accompanied him, did not speak because they did not fight well. Everyone reached a consensus on the meaning and tactical arrangements of this battle. Everyone unanimously agreed that the duel between the two naval armies was not only related to the belonging of Pengshan and Meizhou, but also to the future situation in western Sichuan, and even affected the life and death of the Thunderbolt army, so it could only be won and not defeated.

In terms of tactical arrangement, the Thunderbolt Navy will do its best to meet the battle with light equipment. Troop carriers, heavy artillery ships, ammunition, grain and grass and other baggage ships will continue to Meizhou under the protection of a small number of escort ships, while the rest of the warships will rush upstream at full speed to seize the advantageous terrain at the point where the Jinjiang River joins the Minjiang River. The reason why Le Quanan did not enter the Jinjiang River and chose the battlefield at the confluence of the two rivers was because the Perak military ships were large and few, while the Mongolian military ships were small and numerous. The water here is wide, which is more conducive to taking advantage of the advantages of large ships.

There was some controversy over whether Ouyang Xuan participated in this water war. Ouyang Xuan believed that this was a key battle, and he should take the lead, rather than be with troop carriers and baggage ships. Even if you don't interfere in command, you should be on the front line to boost morale. Yu Zhu, Huang Dagen and the others expressed different views on this, they believed that Ouyang Xuan should not put his life in danger, and that his presence on the battlefield would allow Le Quan'an to send heavy troops to protect his ship, thus shackling his command. Regarding the statement of the two, Le Quanan and Huang Dagen were silent, and Ouyang Xuan knew that they were actually against his participation in the war, so he had to agree to continue to Meizhou City.

Because it was against the water, it took the Thunderbolt warship half a day to return to the waters of Pengshan City, and it was getting late at this time. Le Quanan also ordered people to sail at night with a lantern, and sailed directly to the three miles upstream of the Jinjiang River into the Minjiang River, and then ordered the fleet to anchor at the shore. At this time, the Mongolian fleet had also docked, and it was still more than ten miles away from the confluence of the two rivers. If you want to say that the Mongolian army is going down the river, it should go to the waters of Pengshan before the Thunderbolt army sailing against the current, but the Thunderbolt army's clippers harassed all the way, and the boats are many and the Jinjiang waterway is narrow, so the commander of the Mongolian army is extremely cautious, so the speed of travel is not fast, but Le Quan'an robbed the favorable terrain.

At three poles on the second day, the vanguard fleet of the Mongolian navy entered the waters of the Minjiang River. Prior to this, the reconnaissance clippers of the two sides had met dozens of times. Judging by the results of the battle, the Thunderbolts lost three small ships, while the Mongols lost eleven ships. The Thunderbolt ships were sunk by trebuchets and ballistas, while the Mongols were lost to grenades. However, as the two rivers got closer to the confluence of the two rivers, the water surface of the Jinjiang River became wider and wider, and the advancing array of the Mongolian fleet became wider and the firepower became stronger, which made it difficult for the Perak reconnaissance clippers to get closer.

With the speed of the current, about 30 ships of the vanguard fleet of the Mongol army appeared on the surface of the river estuary, and in a scattered formation, they quickly pounced on the thunderbolt ships one mile upstream. These boats don't just have sails, but they also have oarsmen rowing desperately, so they move extremely fast. However, the Thunderbolts had been waiting here for a long time, and they saw a salvo from the light artillery boats, and these Mongolian ships were enveloped in artillery fire. When the smoke cleared, there were still more than 20 Mongolian ships advancing, which made Le Quanan puzzled. Historically, these caravans have to be covered by artillery fire, and even if they are not sinkable, they will be incapacitated by human damage.

Seeing that the Mongolian ships were getting closer and closer, Le Quanan waved the command flag and ordered the escort ship to meet him. The Thunderbolt fleet consisted of light gunboats in the center, frigates in front and on both sides, and special vessels at the rear. The bow of the escort ship lined up in front was equipped with ramming angles, and it directly collided with the ships rushing towards the Mongolian army, and the Mongolian ships disintegrated one after another where they plowed over. Seeing the rapid sinking of the Mongolian ships, Le Quanan realized this time why the light gunboats were so lethal to these ships just now. It turned out that in order to prevent the shotguns of light gunboats, the Mongols not only increased the thickness of the wooden planks in the vital parts, but even used thin iron plates as armor at the expense of blood. It seems that the Mongolian army's ability to learn war in the war is indeed worthy of its name.

Dealing with this kind of armored clipper is the shortcoming of the Thunderbolt artillery warship. It can't be pierced with shotguns, and the hit rate is too low with solid bullets, and it will soon be close to the body. At this point, the role of the escort ship is revealed. Under the impact, the Mongolian warships of the first wave of assault basically disintegrated, and the remaining few rushed to the front, but they were also stopped by other escort ships, and the Mongolian troops on board were also solved in the gang jumping operation. It is said that grenades and muskets can be sharp weapons for gang fighting.