"Why doesn't the drum sound stop? Champion Hou Xiaorui is too domineering. Do you want to scare us with the drum sound all the time?" Xu Datong listened to the annoying drum sound and cursed angrily, "Send the order to invite the champion Hou again. Come out and see me."
So the neat chant came out again: Please come forward and see the champion!
…
Xiao Rui stood on the deck of the captured ship, counting the time in his mind. At this moment, Yiai should have met the people on the island in the middle of the lake.
It's not good to avoid him like this. It's getting daylight and the other party has already become suspicious, so he can't delay it for too long.
So Xiao Rui ordered the big ship to move towards the opponent's main ship and meet the naval commander for a while.
"Where is Commander Xu of the Jingxiang Navy? Xiao Rui is here!" shouted an energetic voice. The two sides were only fifty meters apart. On the lake with visibility less than thirty meters, no one doubted that the opponent was not the champion. I'm afraid no one in this world dares to pretend to be a champion.
See it clearly, see it clearly, it's a big ship, a big ship like us...
The men of Jingxiang Navy vaguely saw the shadow of a large ship. Although they couldn't see it clearly, it was definitely a large ship.
So he quickly reported it to Xu Datong. Now he had no doubts. It seemed that the champion Hou Xiaorui really came with a powerful navy.
"Master Marquis, we are under orders to suppress bandits. I don't know that Master Marquis suddenly arrived here and interfered with our withdrawal. What is the purpose of this?" Xu Datong asked with a serious look.
Xiao Rui snorted coldly and scolded: "Commander Xu, I heard that in order to suppress bandits this time, you openly cut off all boats on the river and blocked the Yangtze River for more than a month. How brave are you? Who gave you the right? ?”
Xu Datong suddenly had a thought in his mind. Could it be that the imperial court sent the champion to issue an order to hold the matter accountable?
"Master Marquis, we are all acting on the orders of the Imperial Envoy, Prime Minister Wei. Prime Minister Wei is also helpless. The Dongting water bandits are huge and intricate. If they are not careful, they will be entrusted by them and they will reappear in the future. So Prime Minister Wei ordered a direct blockade. On the river, only in this way can we catch all the Dongting water bandits!"
Xiao Rui asked: "Acting on orders? Okay, where is the imperial envoy Wei? I came here on the emperor's order. You ignored the court's laws and blocked the river without authorization, which greatly damaged the national economy and people's livelihood. Now I order you to evacuate Dongting immediately. Lake, return to the navy camp. The imperial envoy Wei Zheng and the navy commander Xu Datong have temporarily suspended their duties for self-reflection until I find out everything and make another decision!"
What? ? ?
Xu Datong panicked and suspended himself from work to reflect? Is this okay? Once he is suspended for self-reflection, wouldn't that mean he has given his life to Xiao Rui? I am running rampant in this land of Jingxiang, relying solely on the soldiers and generals at my disposal. How can I hand over power?
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Datong gritted his teeth and said: "Master Marquis, I am not going to accept your order! At this time, we are fighting fiercely with the Dongting water bandits. We are about to accomplish something in one fell swoop. The fighting opportunity is fleeting. Please forgive me for not being able to accept the order." . This is the time to seal the river for one month. Wait for the general to destroy the Dongting water bandits. After the war, I will plead guilty to the Marquis. When the time comes, I will fight or kill you. I will let you do whatever you want!"
"Send the order, all the warships of the Jingxiang Navy, all head towards the island in the middle of the lake, land on the island and destroy this group of water bandits!"
After hearing this, Xiao Rui stomped his feet angrily, "How outrageous! How dare you, Xu Datong, disobey orders in front of me? Come on, beat the drum. If there is anything unusual in the Jingxiang Navy, they will be treated as traitors immediately. I will bring them all to justice." .”
hiss……
Xiao Rui's words were full of momentum, and he used his inner power to spread across the lake. Everyone in Jingxiang Navy was frightened. If it was an unknown person's imperial envoy, everyone would definitely not take it seriously. After all, we only follow the orders of the superior officer. But this person is the champion, and his words are too weighty.
As the drums sounded again, it was like a giant hammer hitting the Jingxiang Navy's heart. Finally, someone couldn't bear it anymore and tried to persuade them: "Commander, why don't we listen to the Marquis and withdraw first... "
"We are the regular navy of the imperial court. If we are really labeled as rebellious, we will die as young people. What about the children and elders in our family? Everyone will be classified as a sinner..."
Xu Datong said angrily: "Bastard, now that things have happened, do you and I still have a way to go back? If Xiao Rui knew that we imprisoned Wei Zheng and pretended to pass the command arrow, I'm afraid he would kill you and me with a knife as soon as we returned to the camp. "
At this moment, there was movement on the island in the middle of the lake, and a trumpet shouted: "Quick, blow the trumpet to report, the Dongting water bandits are going to escape..."
An urgent trumpet sounded, and the herald came to report: "Commander, there is movement in the direction of the island in the middle of the lake. It seems that the group of water bandits are taking the opportunity to escape!"
escape?
I understand, they all say that the water bandit Lai brothers have a close relationship with Xiao Rui. Now it seems that this statement is true. Where did Xiao Rui come to punish him? He was obviously here to save people. He deliberately held us back so that he could help the Dongting water bandits escape!
"Send the order, surround me and annihilate them, don't let anyone go!"
Xu Datong has thought everything clearly. He just wants to finish this battle and then take advantage of the chaos to kill Wei Zheng. Even if Xiao Rui really comes down with the emperor's orders to hold him accountable, he still has something to say and can blame everything on the imperial envoy Wei Zheng. , anyway, everyone is dead without any evidence.
"Commander, what about the Champion Hou?? If we make a move, they will come up to stop us!"
Xu Datong said angrily: "Suppressing bandits is the most important thing at this time. Anyone who dares to stop is an accomplice of the water bandits. Even if we go to the court, we are not afraid of him. Tell Xiao Rui that we will do our best to suppress bandits. If he dares to come up and stop him, don't blame us." Don't show mercy, the crossbowmen will shoot, don't let them get close!"
The distance was very close, Xiao Rui naturally heard the movement, so he scolded again: "Don't make the mistake of yourselves..."
Xu Datong shouted: "Master Marquis, I'm sorry, the battlefield is ruthless, and suppressing bandits is the duty of our Jingxiang Navy. You'd better not come close, our bows and crossbows don't recognize people! Here's the order, anyone who dares to come close to us Use your bows and crossbows to stop all those in the big ships!"
Xiao Rui smiled bitterly, thinking that he was bluffing and had no chance to play anymore. He could only borrow arrows from a straw boat and reluctantly helped the bandits to hold off the crossbowmen of the Jingxiang navy. I hope the warships trained by the Lai brothers will be useful. .
"Bang the drum! Press on!"
…
"Get rid of them and march all the way to Jiangbei. There will be people there to help you!" Lai Ji, the leader, ordered loudly. But the strength of the Jingxiang Navy was about the same as theirs, how could it be so easy to get rid of?
Fang Er, who was escaping on the boat with the Lai brothers, looked up at the sky. Taiyuan was rising slowly, and the thick fog was gradually receding.
"It's not good. The fog has cleared, and Brother Xiao is in danger of being exposed at any time!"
Sure enough, at this moment, Jingxiang Navy also discovered that something was wrong, "They are small boats, they don't have big boats, they are all small boats..."
"It looks like a straw man. There are straw men all over the boat..."
"Quick, report to the commander!"
…
Not long after, Xu Datong brought his people back and saw the truth about Xiao Rui's straw boat borrowing arrows. Instead of stamping his feet and getting angry, he burst into laughter.
"So that's it, Xiao Rui? You're so brave, you actually dared to use a small boat and a straw man to lie to me and say it was the imperial army's arrival? You almost fooled me!"
"Come here, surround me. Today, Japan will not only destroy the water bandits, but also capture alive the leader of the water bandits' comrades."
"The champions are famous all over the world. Three thousand dare to fight against a hundred thousand, but on this water? It has to be our battlefield!"
Xu Datong's heart was so excited that he almost jumped out of his chest. Everyone knew that the champion Hou Xiaorui supported the prince Li Chengqian, and their Jingxiang navy was a supporter of the fourth prince Li Tai. If Xiao Rui was killed in Dongting today while taking advantage of the chaos, lake……
