At dawn, a thick fog gradually rose between the heavens and the earth, and a white mist shrouded Qianli Taihu Lake.

The wind and waves on Taihu Lake are calm. After destroying the water ghosts of the Giant Whale Gang, the coalition fleet continued to rush across the Taihu Lake, and hundreds of large and small ships broke through the fog and moved forward.

Suddenly, in front of the coalition fleet, the longing ghosts of three large warships appeared, and the huge warships broke through the fog like fierce beasts descending from the mountain, and the murderous atmosphere was soaring.

"There are several large warships in front that seem to be imperial courts. Could it be that the imperial court has sent another navy and soldiers over, why don't we know?"

When the gang leaders saw the three naval warships, they were immediately puzzled.

The distance between the two sides quickly narrowed, and when it was about a hundred feet, it was already possible to see the figure on the opposite side clearly.

I saw that on the masts of the three large warships opposite, there were black battle flags of the giant whale gang.

They were followed by the Whale Gang, three or four hundred of the most common clippers. These clippers are long and narrow, with flat bottoms, and can only accommodate more than a dozen people, but they have a light draft and fast speed in the water, which is the most conducive to water warfare.

Like wolves, these clippers often haunt the canals of Taihu Lake and Wu County, and quickly besiege and bite their prey when they encounter cargo ships. When encountering the large warships of the officers and men of the navy, they quickly retreated, so that the officers and soldiers could not catch up, and they were helpless.

I saw that on a large warship in front, a handsome and handsome Confucian man in cloth holding an iron folding fan stood on the bow with a proud sneer, and looked at the leaders and gang leaders of the coalition warship opposite.

On his left was a rather sturdy deputy gang leader, on his right were several fierce branch masters, and behind him were many water bandit leaders.

On these three large warships, there are thousands of water bandit archers and pikemen.

"No, it's not a warship of the Imperial Court, it's a ship of the Whale Gang. The cloth-clothed Confucian man holding an iron folding fan is none other than Liu Hong, a white-faced scholar who is the leader of the Giant Whale Gang!"

"The sturdy man behind him is Li Biao, the deputy leader of the Giant Whale Gang!"

Some of the gang leaders had seen this cloth-clothed Confucian man, and some people immediately recognized him.

"But, where did the Giant Whale Gang get the three large warships? These are not the ships of the officers and soldiers of the navy!"

"It must be that the officers and soldiers failed to suppress the bandits in the first few times, lost their armor, and were robbed of several large warships and swords, guns and armor by the bandits, and cheapened these bandits for nothing. ”

Many gang leaders said angrily.

Hanshan Zhenren stood on the coalition warship, and raised his voice: "Liu Hong, my Wu County coalition army is coming in a big way, you don't surrender quickly!"

"I didn't expect Hanshan Zhenren to personally lead the officers and soldiers and the army of the rivers and lakes to visit the territory of my giant whale gang, and I missed the distance and neglected! However, if you want to surrender below, you can't just rely on your mouth, at least you have to capture the rudder of my Ethereal Peak. ”

The cloth-clothed Confucian swayed the iron folding fan in his hand, with a gesture of pointing at the country, and said with a light smile: "I am a white-faced talent Liu Hong, who has always been better than others, and I am considered to be successful, but I didn't expect the first battle of the Water Ghost Hall to be destroyed, and you took the lead, which is considered my mistake." This gang leader is now at the helm of the Ethereal Peak, waiting for the three grandmasters of Zhenren, Medicine King, Brother Li Shuo, Brother Han and all the gang leaders to come!"

As he spoke, he retreated into the crowd of bandits, and left on a fast boat with the deputy gang leader Li Biao and others, and disappeared.

The three warships of the Whale Gang continued to move forward, covering many clippers and attacking the coalition's huge fleet from the flanks.

Of course, Hanshan Zhenren didn't expect a sentence or two to make the white-faced scholar surrender, and this water war still had to be fought.

The 3,000 elite officers and soldiers of the imperial navy on the seven warships, and the main warships of the Giant Whale Gang, suddenly broke out on the water.

Hanshan Zhenren and all the big and small gang leaders sat on the bow of the battleship and commanded the battle.

This kind of water warfare cannot be tricked, and the officers and soldiers and the water bandits fight each other with arrows and knives and guns in close combat.

The officers and men possessed seven large warships in terms of numbers and strength, and overwhelmed the bandits. But the whale gang bandits had the upper hand on the clipper.

It's just that the sailors of the Giant Whale Gang don't dare to send people into the water to scuttle boats, and they can't create chaos, so they can't help this coalition fleet.

The soldiers and horses of both sides fought the lake for half an hour, but found that they could not take advantage.

The bandit ships ceased to fight and quickly retreated.

"Don't chase the poor, avoid ambush!"

Hanshan Zhenren ordered all the warships not to chase those clippers, and the army waved its troops to continue to attack the West Dongting Mountain, the helm of the Giant Whale Gang.

...

The huge fleet of the coalition forces arrived at the island of West Dongting Mountain, and landed in a tidal flat known as "North Ludang".

This "North Ludang", as its name suggests, is a vast grassland covered by dense reeds for more than ten miles.

When the water rises in the spring rains, the low-lying land will be flooded and become a lake. After the lake recedes, it is exposed again, and in autumn and winter, it becomes dry land.

Therefore, there are large and dense reeds growing here, like a green gauze tent, a land labyrinth.

There are some water bandits in the reeds who often pass by, and they can pass through the sheep intestine path that they trample out.

This is one of the roads that must be passed to the main peak of the West Dongting Mountain Island, "Ethereal Peak".

Of course, there are other places where you can land on the island, but the terrain is just as treacherous, with quagmire swamps and dense valleys, which are no easier to pass through than this northern Ludang.

The 3,000 officers and soldiers of the coalition army and tens of thousands of Jianghu disciples went ashore from Beiludang, and the ships remained on the shore.

Hanshan Zhenren glanced back at these large and small ships, and asked the gang leaders, "What do you think of these ships?"

The gang leaders soon disagreed.

Some gang leaders asked to leave a few thousand troops to guard these ships, so as not to be destroyed by the whale gang and cut off the way to retreat.

Some gang leaders felt that this would disperse their forces and give the Giant Whale Gang a chance to break through. He advocated abandoning it, concentrating his forces to capture the helm of the Giant Whale Gang, and destroying the grain and grass of the Giant Whale Gang.

This is a very important issue, and it is a matter of victory or defeat, life and death, and retreat in this battle. The two sides felt justified in this dispute and began to quarrel.

After Hanshan Zhenren asked, he didn't say anything more, just waiting for the gang leaders to discuss a result.

Seeing that the gang leaders were arguing fiercely, Sun Baihong, the medicine king, couldn't help but persuade, "Don't fight, it's better for the old man to take three thousand Jianghu disciples to stay and guard the ship! Attacking the Ethereal Peak, the three great masters of Zhenren, Brother Han and Brother Li shot together, which was enough to destroy the white-faced scholar. The mountains in front of us are too treacherous, in case we can't attack them, with these ships here, we also have a way out!"

In fact, in addition to their several great grandmasters, the Lord of the Aquila Sect, Jackdaw, will definitely also participate in the battle. It's just that Jackdaw is the number one assassin in the Grandmaster Realm, and every time he goes out in battle, he must go on the road alone, never walking with others.

So, they don't know where the jackdaw is now.

"Medicine King, no!"

Li Shuo categorically objected, categorically, and said in a deep voice: "My army is killed in Taihu Lake, it is a battle against the water, morale is like a rainbow, our army is united, and the Giant Whale Gang can't resist it at all." How can we divide our troops at this time and give the Giant Whale Gang every chance to break through?!"

A gang leader asked, "Gang Leader Li, the Ethereal Peak is extremely steep, in case the attack fails, and the ship is scuttled by the Giant Whale Gang's bandits. Our tens of thousands of soldiers and horses did not have much food and grass, and they were all trapped and died on this island. Do you bear the responsibility for the annihilation of the army?"

Li Shuo snorted coldly: "If our army divides its troops, the people who remain will be completely wiped out by the Giant Whale Gang, and our army will be broken by each one. You will take this responsibility?"

The gang leader was speechless and didn't dare to say any more.

The Medicine King stayed behind, in case he was attacked by the Whale Gang and killed a grandmaster, he couldn't afford to take this responsibility. In fact, no matter which plan it is, it is also facing the same risks, and in case of defeat, it will bear great responsibility.

Han Pingshan groaned for a moment and said, "Brother Li's words are good. Our army rushed to the Ethereal Peak with all its might, destroyed the lair of the Giant Whale Gang, and won the battle.

This West Dongting Mountain is full of trees. Even if these ships are completely destroyed by the bandits, it will not matter, and our coalition forces can also cut down wood into rafts. Between this island and Xukou Town, it is only a few dozen miles of Taihu Lake, and you can pass it by ordinary raft, so you don't need to worry too much about the back road being cut off!"

"Feel free to do it, the ships will leave them alone! The Whale Gang has been alert and prepared, and there is a hard battle ahead. ”

Hanshan Zhenren said lightly, no longer speaking, staring at the reed green gauze tent in the north in front of him, which was silent for more than ten miles.