In the evening, when the weather got cooler, the officers and soldiers camp took action, but it was not to mobilize troops to prepare for an attack, but to start logging and building rafts on a larger scale. According to Yuan Sanzhong's observation, the officers and soldiers placed at least three or four rafts on the bank of Pingtian Lake. Hundreds of rafts, large and small, and it is unknown how many more are under the shade and being built.
Hundreds of rafts can already launch a medium-sized water battle. Officers and soldiers dare not go deep into the lake at night. Will they launch an attack before dark?
Yuan Sanzhong did not dare to let anyone wake up Bai Wang who was sleeping.
Bai Wang was also surprised when he heard that hundreds of rafts of officers and soldiers had entered the lake and were waiting. Apparently he and Yuan Sanzhong had the same idea. He hurried up to the high platform and looked through the telescope for a while. He saw that most of the rafts of officers and soldiers were on the east bank of the lake. On the other side of the Yangtze River, no rafts were seen stopping.
At this point, Bai Wang was sure that even if the officers and soldiers attacked from the waterway, they would only attack from Pingtian Lake and not the Yangtze River waterway. The reason is very simple. The officers and soldiers live in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. At this time, it is the flood season and the river is strong, so the ships go upstream. It’s all very difficult, relying on a raft?
Obviously not, it's just a waste of money.
Chang Yu would not do such stupid things. In order to attack, in addition to bravely rushing through the rapids gap, he would have to use a raft to have a water battle with the bandits in the lake!
The raft is heavy and heavy, and its speed and maneuverability are far inferior to that of the fishing boat. If the battle starts at night, it is likely to fall into a trap and be chased and intercepted. However, it will be a different scene during the day.
During the day, the lake surface is clear and no one can try to plot against anyone. The only thing that counts is fighting with real swords and guns. At this time, speed and maneuverability are not important. As long as you have a place to stay and don’t fall into the water, just keep pushing forward bravely. Relatively speaking, It turns out that the fishing boat has become extremely unstable. After all, it is not a professional navy ship.
What's more, the officers and soldiers' long-range firepower advantage is far greater than that of the rebels, such as artillery and bows and arrows. You must know that the rebels had abandoned their helmets and armor in the previous battle and almost all their combat preparations. At this time, not to mention bows and arrows, they even lacked swords, guns and clubs.
In terms of military strength and weapons, the officers and soldiers have an advantage, and the fleet advantage that the pirates were originally proud of now seems useless. If the officers and soldiers launch a full-scale water war, then...
It's no wonder that Bai Wang and Yuan Sanzhong frowned at this time, but they immediately sneered. As the defenders, how could they not be prepared for what the officers and soldiers could think of.
You have rafts, so do I, not only rafts but also hundreds of fishing boats. As for bows and arrows, although there are few, there are more than a hundred foot-operated crossbows. These old-fashioned things have much higher range and lethality than bows and arrows. As long as the ambush is On the shore, no matter how brave the officers and soldiers are, as long as they are within shooting range, they can be shot at the hedgehog, and there is no way to land.
These more than a hundred pedal crossbows were originally accumulated in De'an Mountain in the past few years. They were brought out when I went out to the mountain a few months ago to prepare for emergencies. Unexpectedly, they were of no use at all after they came out because they were cumbersome to carry. It's inconvenient that he was left in Chizhou a few days ago, but unexpectedly he became Bai Wang's last resort.
While the two were watching, the officers and soldiers were still transporting rafts into the lake, and the officers and soldiers on the other side of the river had begun to line up. Bai Wang raised his telescope and saw that it was the Shenji Camp.
"It's only the second day that we are eager to attack. It seems that the dog eunuch can't hold it anymore." Bai Wang sneered, while Yuan Sanzhong next to him looked slightly nervous: "Commander, are the officers and soldiers about to attack?"
"Look at this posture. We will be suppressed with artillery fire from the front, and then a strong attack and side attack from the water. Didn't you see hundreds of rafts thrown over there, ranging from a thousand to two to three thousand sailors?" Bai Wang was holding He used his telescope to look at the current across the river, and then at the east bank of the lake: "It will definitely launch an attack before dark, so don't just sit there dumbfounded. Hurry down and prepare to fight."
Yuan Sanzhong went down from the high platform to summon his leaders to prepare for battle, and the officers and soldiers on the opposite side also began to gather. More than two thousand officers and soldiers lined up to sharpen their knives before cutting off the river. More than a hundred artillery pieces from the Shenji Battalion were lined up, pouring artillery shells on the other side at any time.
On the east bank of Pingtian Lake, officers and soldiers have dropped nearly 500 large and small rafts within a few miles. On average, there will be 2,500 people participating in the battle with five people per raft. This is definitely a large-scale water battle.
Facing such a large formation of officers and soldiers, the bandit army will not underestimate them and are fully prepared to deal with it. Behind the earthen wall on Duanliu's side are hundreds of archers, trebuchets and dozens of pedal crossbows.
At the same time, more than 200 boats and more than 100 rafts were deployed on the lake, and dozens of pedal crossbows were deployed on the shore for fire support. More importantly, Bai Wang also deployed nearly a hundred fishing boats on the river. Once the war started, these The fishing boat can carry more than a thousand people, go straight down the river, go around behind the officers and soldiers, and kill them.
That's right, this trick was used by officers and soldiers to deal with them before. Learn it now and use it now!
Both sides are preparing hard and seriously for the battle. The undercurrent of murderous aura is sharpening and even affects the weather. The sunset hides in the dark clouds early, dusk ends hastily, and night is about to fall in the blink of an eye.
However, the officers and soldiers have not yet launched an attack!
This made Bai Wang and Yuan Sanzhong puzzled. Once it gets dark, the offensive advantages of the officers and soldiers will be greatly reduced. What do they want to do?
Do you want to take advantage of the darkness and beat him up?
Of course, attacking during the day has the advantage of daytime, and attacking at night has the advantage of night. However, from the perspective of Bai Wang and Yuan Sanzhong, the officers and soldiers have greater advantages in attacking during the day. At night...not to mention how to conduct a frontal attack, there are hundreds of rafts on the waterway. As long as he dares to enter the lake, Bai Wang is confident that there are dozens of ways to annihilate his entire army!
This is what he has always wondered about. Why did the officers and soldiers take the risk of waiting until dark to attack, or were they just preparing today and not going to attack?
The two of them were worried about gains and losses. They didn't know what the officers and soldiers were thinking, but they could only bite the bullet. Anyway, they were fully prepared for the battle. When the water came, the earth would cover it, and the soldiers came to stop it!
The sky is getting darker and the night is getting deeper and deeper. The officers and soldiers have no intention of retreating back to the camp. They even set up bonfires by the lake. There are piles of bonfires every 100 meters and the length of the bonfires is nearly ten miles long, illuminating the lakeside for more than 100 meters. This move made Bai Wang even more uneasy, so he had to observe patiently, wondering what other tricks the little eunuch opposite was going to play.
There were several loud booms, which startled Bai Wang. The Shenji Battalion opposite Duanliu began to bombard. From a few doors at the beginning to dozens of doors, the rebel army's position was bombarded in a mess. Many leaders shouted : "The officers and soldiers are about to attack, brothers, hold on..."
Hold on, hold on... Then the sound of artillery stopped, and the officers and soldiers did not attack!
This... what the hell is he going to do? Bai Wang was so disturbed that he pulled his hair wildly. If you want to beat the naughty little eunuch, go back to sleep. If this continues, my heartstrings will be stretched and I can't bear it.
As the night gets darker, the confrontation between the two armies in the north of Chizhou City becomes tense, but elsewhere there is silence. Chizhou City has almost become an empty city. The young men and women in the city, even the old and the weak, are forced to build fortifications in the east of the city or serve as cannon fodder to defend the enemy, leaving behind Most of them are sick children.
There was almost no light visible in the houses in the city. Only a few torches were lit on the top of the city, reflecting the figures of the patrolling bandits swaying back and forth.
Chizhou City is surrounded by water, with Qingxi River and Pingtian Lake to the east, Baiyang River and Qingxi River crossing it to the south, Qiupu River and Baiyang River to the west, and the Yangtze River to the north.
If the terrain is such that there is enough food and food for war, if the city is defended, ordinary people will really not be able to attack, and even if they attack by force, they will suffer heavy losses.
It's a pity that Bai Wang's previous defeat was too tragic and too sudden. His troops lost their helmets and armor and suffered heavy damage, which greatly weakened their vitality. As a result, he needed troops but didn't have enough. He needed food but didn't have enough food. He even didn't have enough food to fight. Nothing was complete, so he didn't dare hide in the city to resist the enemy, as he could easily be trapped to death.
Only then did the whole city devote its efforts to building a fortification in the east of the city using the Pingtian River and the Yangtze River to defend against the enemy. At this time, the Chizhou City behind it was almost empty, with only a few thieves serving as regular guards.
In addition, there were overt and covert sentries by the rebels in the west and north of the city along the river and even on the river center island. They were originally intended to prevent officers and soldiers from coming up the river and outflanking them from behind.
However, it seems from the past two days that the officers and soldiers do not have the strength at all. First of all, they have no boats. It is impossible to go upstream with only rafts, let alone sending troops to outflank them from behind.
As a result, these light and dark sentries became lazy, or they focused more on the defense line in the east of the city. When night fell, the secret sentry at the southernmost tip of Jiangxinzhou suddenly discovered a fishing boat sailing down the river from the upper reaches of the river into the southern tributary of Jiangxinzhou. The sentinel immediately became alarmed and gave a secret signal, and then more than ten thieves came out with their bows and sights. He looked at the fishing boat and shouted: "Who is it? Give me the number!"
