Regarding Sima Chu's idea of a sneak attack, Wu Mo smiled bitterly and said: "Yidao City has changed its owner. The lurking military intelligence agency has already informed Jiangling City, so there is no chance of a sneak attack."
Sima Chuzhi asked: "General Wu, what kind of person is the new Governor Xiao?"
Wu Mo said: "When Governor Xiao took office, I met him once in Jiangling. I didn't have a chance to talk about him in detail. I felt that Governor Xiao behaved like a well-educated Confucian scholar."
"Did Governor Xiao issue any orders after he took office?" Sima Chuzhi asked.
"It's been less than a month since Xiao Prefect took office," Wu Mo said, "More than ten days ago, I went to Yidao to reward the army. I just told him to guard the city strictly and not to be careless. He didn't say much else."
Wu Mo felt bitter in his heart. In fact, Xiao Yuanzhi warned him that Yong's army was gathering in Dangyang City to be careful of Yong's army sneak attack on Yidao City, and asked him to send a scout ship to patrol along the river. However, he thought that Yong's army would attack Jiangling City with all its strength, so he did not Take Xiao Yuanzhi's words to heart.
The patrolmen on the river only gave orders and did not seriously ask. The Feng Han navy masters on the river responded to the story falsely, and Sima Chuzhi crossed the river and used a trick to seize Yidao City. They suffered for themselves and had nothing to say.
Sima Chuzhi did not give up his mind because of Wu Mo's words, and said: "General Wu, tomorrow I will lead my army to board the ship with you and go to Jiangling for a try."
What Wu Mo could say was all he could do.
In Jiangling City, Xiao Yuanzhi received the news that Yidao City was lost, and immediately sent someone to invite the naval general Meng Chu to tell him the news that Yidao City was lost.
After learning that more than 200 warships of the Yidao Navy had fallen into the hands of Yong's army, Meng Chu said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Governor Xiao. Yu Hui will order people to step up vigilance and prevent Yong's army from attacking Jiangling City from the waterway."
Xiao Mu said: "Sima Chu has been trying to capture Jiangling for a long time. Wu Mo surrendered the enemy's Yidao navy and all fell into the hands of Yong's army. It is foolish to estimate that Sima Chu will lead his troops to attack in the near future. Rather than passively respond to the battle, it is better to do it early. prevention."
Meng Chu glanced at the gentle and gentle Governor Xiao, but he didn't expect that this Commander Xiao was more courageous and courageous than Governor Liu.
Xiao Mu ordered people to lay out the map on the table and said, "I want General Meng to lead a fleet and hide in the Juzhang River. When the Yong army attacks Jiangling, they can fight out from behind and defeat the enemy."
The Juzhang River is located in the north of the Yangtze River, only six miles away from Jiangling Mausoleum. The Song Army set up a water fort where the river enters the river, and 600 navy troops were stationed here.
Xiao Mu said: "There are more than 200 warships in Yidao City, all of which were captured by the Yong Army. The Yong Army will go down the river to attack Jiangling City and pass through the Juzhang River Water Village. It might as well be briefly blocked and then let them advance eastward. Fight with them on the Jiangling River."
"There are ramming platforms on both sides of Jiangling, with ballistas on them, which can help the navy defeat the enemy." Xiao Muzhi said calmly: "When the battle is fierce, General Meng will first send fire ships to set fire, and then lead the navy to attack Yu. We can defeat the enemy."
Meng Chu smiled and said: "Great plan, Yu will go and arrange it now."
The two discussed the details and contingency strategies, and Xiao Mu said: "The sooner the lurking is done, the better. If Yong's army comes, Yu Hui will personally lead the navy to intercept Yong's army on the river."
At the end of the next day, Sima Chuzhi and Wu Mo led 200 warships down the river, under the banner of the Song Army. When passing the stronghold at the mouth of the Juzhang River, ships were dispatched from the stronghold to intercept them. Sima Chuzhi signaled Wu Mo to come forward to answer and see if he could deceive the Song army.
Wu Mo stood on the bow of the ship and shouted loudly, and fired cold arrows from the opposite ship. Sima Chuzhi knew that a sneak attack was impossible and ordered an attack. Soon, Juzhang Navy abandoned the stronghold and fled, and Sima Chuzhi led his army to pursue him.
The Liuli Waterway went down the river, and it arrived in a blink of an eye. The river was covered with Song warships, and they were obviously well prepared.
The strings of the crossbows on the ramming platform on the shore rang, and crossbow arrows were fired at the ships in the river. The soldiers on both sides began to shoot arrows at each other. The arrows were like dark clouds covering the sun, and the cabins and decks of the ship were densely filled with arrows, like ears of wheat.
Because of the downstream flow, Sima Chuzhi ordered the ships to take advantage of the water's force to ram the Song warships. There was a loud "peng" sound. The Song warships' hulls cracked and they were knocked back with great force. Waves arose on the river.
When the hull of the ship was close, the soldiers of both sides were stabbing with guns and knives. The ship on which Sima Chuzhi and others were riding lined up with the Song Dynasty ship and jumped towards the enemy ship. The guards behind him jumped over the ship one after another.
The Yong troops on the ship used hooks to hold the enemy ship firmly, and more and more Yong troops rushed onto the enemy ship.
The sound of the waves in the river was covered by the sound of killing, the Yong army was so powerful, and the Song army's navy retreated backwards.
The sound of "rumbling" drums came from behind Song Jun. On the three-story building, Xiao Muzhi beat the drums himself, and his green shirt was blown violently by the river wind.
The soldiers of the Song Army saw their morale greatly increased when they saw that the governor was not afraid of danger and personally supervised the beating of drums. General Dangbo Lei Chong shouted loudly: "Lu Xun's 100,000-strong army has perished in our hands, how can we be afraid of these thousands of Yong's troops? Brothers, follow the fool and move forward."
The oarsmen swung the oars together, and the ship rushed upstream as fast as flying, heading towards Yong's army. Lei Chong stood at the bow of the boat, asked his bodyguard to hand him the spear, and threw it forward with all his strength.
The spears flew more than ten steps away and knocked down Yong Jun on the opposite ship. Lei Chong threw more than twenty spears in one breath. Yong Jun was captured by them, and the ships moved to both sides to avoid them.
Sima Chuzhi noticed that a Song ship was charging rampantly more than thirty steps away, disrupting his own formation. He saw a Song general standing on the bow of the ship, throwing spears to the left and right, showing great bravery.
"Here comes the bow." The personal guard presented his bow. Sima Chu was on the northwest side of Leichong, with his bow pointed at Leichong. When there was a gap between the two, an arrow flew out and hit Lei Chong.
Lei Chong's attention was focused in front of him, and he did not notice the cold arrows at the side. When he heard the urgent reminder from his bodyguard, he hurriedly waved the spear in his hand to block it.
The cold arrow pierced his chest. Lei Chong took two steps back, pierced the spear in his hand into the ship's plank to support his body, and shouted through gritted teeth: "We will never retreat until we fight to the death."
Lei Chong's bravery aroused the blood of the Song army. One by one, they shot arrows, stabbed guns and brandished knives at the Yong army crazily. They refused to retreat but advanced to the sound of "rumbling" drums.
Sima Chuzhi noticed that there were more than 300 Song ships facing the enemy. This was wrong with the 600 Song ships Wu Mo said in Jiangling. He immediately felt an ominous feeling in his heart. Could it be that the Song army had left an ambush.
"Retreat," Sima Chuzhi shouted loudly, "retreat to the south bank."
The trumpet sounded to convey military orders. It's just that the Yong army ships fought with the Song ships and retreated against the current. They couldn't stop the momentum for a while and became a mess.
At the mouth of Juzhang Water, Meng Mu led a hundred warships to slide into the river. The shouts of killing were faintly heard, indicating that the war was intensifying.
Twenty small boats prepared in advance were lined up, loaded with reeds, and red fire sprinkled on them. The boat was light and fast, moving along the current like an arrow. Within a few dozen breaths, the battleship in front was visible.
The soldiers on the boat lit the fire and jumped into the water. The twenty fire boats rushed towards the ship with great momentum.
On the surface of the river, Yong ships and Song ships were entangled together. The fire ships did not care about anything and were set on fire whenever they got close. The ships on both sides fled in panic, but more than ten warships were ignited by the fire and turned into blazing torches on the river.
When Sima Chuzhi saw the arson ship, he knew that the Song army was setting up an ambush in the rear. While avoiding the fire ship, he moved toward the south bank, hoping to escape from the south while the Song ship was also avoiding the fire ship.
The ships led by Meng Chu had already arrived and formed an arc on the river, blocking the Yong ship's retreat route.
Sima Chuzhi led his ships to form a long line on the south bank, trying his best to break out of the Song army's siege. Taking advantage of the water's momentum, Meng Chu's ships quickly blocked their retreat and fought with Yong's ships.
Behind him, Xiao Muzhi had reorganized his fleet and was outflanking Yong's army from behind. Yong's ship was already trapped in a tight siege.
Seeing that there were not many Song ships blocking the enemy, Sima Chuzhi immediately ordered them to break out of the encirclement. If they could not retreat from the river, they could abandon the ship and go ashore and return to Yidao City from the land.
The Yong army ships suddenly dispersed, catching the Song division off guard. For a moment, Sima Chuzhi rushed out of Meng Chu's encirclement with more than fifty warships.
Behind him, the drums were rumbling. Meng Chu did not pursue the escaping Yong ships, but instead commanded the ships to gradually narrow the encirclement, trapping the remaining more than a hundred Yong ships.
Seeing that most of the ship was trapped, Sima Chuzhi waved his long spear and said: "Pao Ze is trapped, how can we escape for our own lives. Brothers, follow Fuzhao back."
"Kill back and save Paoze." Yong Jun blew his horn, shook the oars in the rapids, and slammed into the formation of Song boats.
"Creaking" sounds were heard one after another, wooden boards fell, sawdust flew, and the ship's hull swayed left and right in the rapids. Many Song soldiers were shaken off the ship by the violent collision and fell into the river.
Seeing that the enclosing net was torn open again by Yong's army, and the fish caught in the net were about to escape through the gap, Meng Chu shouted sternly: "Follow the fool and kill the enemy."
The ships headed towards Yong's ship. Meng Chu took the lead, jumped onto the Yong's ship, and began to seize control of the ship.
The drums were still rumbling, and the person beating the drums had long been replaced by a strong man. Xiao Yuanzhi stood at the highest point with his hands behind his hands, overlooking the battle on the river, with his personal guards holding shields to protect him.
The river wind ruffled Xiao Yuanzhi's beard. Xiao Yuanzhi was calm on the surface, but his heart was like weeds. This is the first time he has commanded a battle. It is impossible to say that he is not nervous. Moreover, he is the new governor of Jingzhou. This battle is related to his position in Song Gong's heart. Although he is Liu Yu's uncle, he is not as good as Zhao Lunzhi.
If the ships of Yong's army are allowed to escape, there will be no peace on Jiangling West Road. Xiao Yuanzhi must stabilize the situation and support it until reinforcements arrive. Yong's army gathers in Dangyang City and will attack Jiangling soon. The barbarian road has been lost. If the water battle fails again, the morale of the army will be depressed. I wonder if they can survive until reinforcements arrive.
The soldiers on both sides fought desperately, and the shouts of killing were earth-shattering. The blood was quickly diluted by the river. There were corpses and cracked shipboards floating on the river. They saw the Yong army opening the gap, and the trapped Yong ship began to sail out of the gap.
A sharp light flashed in Xiao Yuanzhi's eyes, and he ordered in a cold voice: "Order Meng Chu to set fire to his ship and block the gap."
The signal soldiers beside him waved flags and sounded military orders at the same time. After Meng Chu confirmed it, he ordered the ship to be burned.
Burning the ship was originally a contingency plan discussed by Xiao Yuanzhi and Meng Chu, and Meng Chu had already prepared it. There were many torches in the ship. The Song army lit the torches and threw them towards the Yong army ship. The wind raised the fire and set the ships on fire regardless of each other.
The burning sails scattered fire flakes in the wind, and the ships crowded together caught fire. Seeing that the situation was not good, Sima Chuzhi took the unburned ships and fled away. Many Yong army ships moved towards the south bank. The soldiers on the burning ships jumped into the water and swam towards the shore.
The ship Wu Mo was riding on was also on fire. In an instant, the sails were reduced to ashes in the fire, and sparks fell on the hull, igniting the ship. The fire gradually became uncontrollable.
The guards urged Wu Mo to abandon the ship and jump into the water. Wu Mo sighed: "I have been fighting for half my life, and I have changed my master several times. I have no intention of escaping anymore. You go and run for your own lives, so I just resign myself to fate on the boat."
The fire was getting bigger and bigger. When the guards saw Wu Mo turning around and entering the cabin, they had to flee for their lives. The fire soon enveloped the ship, and Wu Mo died sitting cross-legged in the cabin.
Sima Chuzhi led his remaining troops back to Yidao City, and counted only eighty-seven ships, most of which had not escaped. In the evening, soldiers who had landed and escaped gradually returned. 2,800 soldiers went out to fight, but nearly a thousand did not return.
At the government office of Jiangling City, Xiao Yuanzhi listened to Meng Chu's report on the battle situation. He captured 22 Yong ships, damaged 193 ships, captured 245 Yong soldiers, and suffered 1,300 casualties. Sixty-six people.
In this battle, both sides suffer losses.
