On the Huaihe River, the water battle is still fierce.
After Shen Yi's Western Front reinforcements arrived, they immediately spread out on the river bank and assisted the former Eastern Front soldiers in setting up defenses.
Five thousand people may sound inconspicuous, but in fact the number of people is already very large. Even if it is spread across the entire Eastern Front, it is still a considerable force.
With the addition of these five thousand-household battalions, the morale of the soldiers on the Eastern Front has become even more boosted.
Because there are currently 20,000 defenders on the eastern front, and although the Qi people have a large number of people, it is impossible to send all the troops to the south bank of the Huaihe River. Facing the Huaihe River, no matter how hard the Qi people try, they will still be willing to die. , to send people to the south bank.
And there is a certain proportion of casualties.
There are 20,000 defenders on the eastern front. In other words, the Qi people must prepare at least 50,000 troops to be able to send enough troops to the south bank to break through the 20,000 defense line and move the battle line from the Huaihe River bank. Keep pushing south.
This is called geographical advantage.
If there was no Huaihe River and the Qi people could march straight in, Shen Yi would not even think about it and would directly retreat to Huai'an City and defend the city.
It is precisely because forcibly crossing the river to challenge the main force of the Huai'an garrison may result in huge casualties, so Qi people will think of ways to mobilize Shen Yi's main force to break through the relatively weak areas of Huai'an.
If we just rely on the numerical advantage, no matter how many people we have, it won't be enough.
At noon on February 20th, the water battle on the Huaihe River was still continuing. However, at this time, the artillery fire on both sides had basically stopped. Firstly, it was because of the huge consumption of ammunition, and secondly, there was no need to use artillery anymore. .
Now, the two sides are more about ramming their boats against each other, and then shooting with bows and arrows at close range.
Xue Wei has not disembarked for three consecutive days.
Every time Su Ding went up to replace him, he would just get back into the cabin and fall asleep without getting off the boat and going ashore.
At noon that day, Xue Wei ordered to use his own warship to ram and sink an enemy's medium-sized ship. He stood on the deck and looked at the retreating Hu people in front of him, frowning slightly and thinking.
After a while, he called one of his Qianhu men and asked: "Ask the other ships, did the Qi people continue to go south?"
This Qianhu first went down to flag and inquire, then came back quickly, clasped his fists at Xue Wei and said: "Xue Shuai, most of the Qi people's ships seem to be retreating, and they seem to have no intention of moving closer to the south bank. !”
General Xue's frown deepened. After thinking for a while, he waved and said, "Find a small boat and take me ashore. I want to go back to Xiangshui Camp!"
"I'll leave this ship to you to command, keep an eye on Qi Ren!"
The thousands of households clasped their fists respectfully: "Yes!"
Soon, a small boat came over, and Xue Wei jumped directly from the deck. He was strong and heavy, and almost overturned the small boat. The boat swayed left and right, but Xue Wei didn't care. He said in a deep voice: "Hurry to the shore!"
The boat did not dare to neglect and quickly docked near the shore.
Xue Wei jumped off the boat and saw no figures of Su Ding and Shen Yi on the shore, so he called a horse, got on his horse, and ran back to the Xiangshui Camp.
In the main hall of the camp, he saw Shen Yi who was talking to the firearms craftsman. General Su Dingsu was also present.
Xue Wei spent a long time with Shen Yi and knew that Shen Yi valued these craftsmen, so he stood aside honestly and said nothing.
Finally, after Shen Yi saw off these old craftsmen, he stepped forward, raised his hands to Shen Yi and said, "Mr. Shen!"
Shen Yi glanced at him and said with a smile: "I heard from General Su that you had a great time fighting those Qi people on the ship. Why did you come back?"
Xue Wei lowered his head and said: "Mr. Shen, my subordinates feel that something is not right. Those Qi people fought very fiercely on the first day, showing their teeth and claws. They also tried to seize our ship and tried to land on the south bank, but yesterday and today , seems to have softened."
Xue Wei frowned and said, "In three days, the total number of casualties on both sides will probably be around 500."
"My subordinates suspect that these Qi people have some conspiracy?"
Hearing his words, Shen Yi turned his head and glanced at Su Ding. Su Ding lowered his head and wanted to laugh, but he didn't dare to laugh, and his expression was quite strange.
Mr. Shen also patted Xue Wei on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Yes, General Xue can finally think about the problem, but his reaction speed is a little slower."
Xue Wei looked at Shen Yi with wide eyes.
"Mr. Shen, what do you mean?"
Shen Yi nodded lightly and said: "The Qi people attacked the Xiangshui camp on the first day. It was obvious that it was a real attack. Even I was sweating. But after the Qi people found it difficult to attack, what they thought in their hearts was It’s no longer the Xiangshui Camp on the Eastern Front.”
"All their ships are obviously on the Eastern Front, but some ships are hidden. The Eastern Front is a bit difficult to deal with, so they will naturally focus on other places."
Shen Yi sat back in his seat, knocked on the table, looked to the west, and said calmly: "If nothing happens, either today or tomorrow, there will be a fight on the Western Front, maybe..."
"Ling Su's messenger is already on his way."
Although Xue Wei was not particularly smart, he was definitely not stupid. He figured it out immediately and said immediately: "Mr. Shen, that matter should not be delayed. The general will personally lead people to support General Ling, so as not to be taken advantage of by those barbarians. !”
Shen Yi shook his head slightly: "If you are like you, being led by Qi Ren, and you are already exhausted before the fight starts, then why fight?"
Xue Wei first looked at Shen Yi, then turned to look at Su Ding. He did not speak immediately, but walked to Su Ding, touched Su Ding with his elbow, and whispered: "Old Su, what is Mr. Shen?" How come I don’t understand the regulations at all?”
Su Ding shook his head slightly and said with a wry smile: "Not to mention the general, my subordinates don't understand much. I came to Duke Shen early this morning to ask for advice."
Mr. Shen sat on the main seat, pointed to a few chairs in his handsome tent, motioned for the two of them to sit down, and then said lightly.
"You don't have to worry about matters on the Western Front. I have made arrangements in advance, which are enough to block Qi Ren's attack. There will be no problems."
"Now, we need to wait for news from the Western Front."
"I won't be able to arrange things for you until everyone is sure to go fight on the Western Front."
Having said this, Shen Yi glanced at the two people, yawned and said: "Okay, you two probably haven't slept much these days. If you have time now, you can go back and sleep for a while, and wait for news. Yes, I will inform you immediately."
Xue Wei and Su Ding looked at each other and said to Shen Yi, "I obey."
…………
That night.
When it was close to midnight, the lights in Master Shen's tent were still not extinguished.
Jiang Sheng ran all the way to Shen Yi's tent, took out the letter from his arms, handed it to Shen Yi, lowered his head and said: "Sir, the information on the Western Front came from the Di Reporting Department!"
Without saying a word, Shen Yi put down his writing brush and took in the information.
After he opened it, he took a brief look, and then slowly said: "What did Ling Su say?"
"General Ling has probably asked the young master for help, but his letter is slower, while Di's letter is faster..."
Master Shen nodded silently and narrowed his eyes.
"Go and call Xue Wei and Su Ding."
"yes!"
Soon, the two of them trotted into Shen Yi's military tent, bowing their heads respectfully and clasping their fists in salute to Shen Yi.
"I've met Mr. Shen!"
Shen Yi nodded, glanced at the two people, and said slowly: "The fighting on the Western Front...has begun."
"The number of Qi people is only much greater than that here at Xiangshui Camp."
Xue Wei immediately said: "Please tell Mr. Shen that my subordinates can lead the cavalry to help General Ling!"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly: "I have arrangements there, so you don't need to go."
He looked outside the tent and towards the Huaihe River.
"However, we can't do nothing here."
"Send my order to all warships and ships to assemble immediately!"
The two lowered their heads in response. Xue Wei looked up at Shen Yi and blinked: "Mr. Shen, we are not going to the Western Front..."
"Where to go?"
Master Shen looked towards the north.
"Let's go give it a try..."
"Qi Ren's quality."
(End of chapter)
