The water battle in Echeng ended with the fall of night, and both sides had to pay for their troops and withdraw their troops.
As soon as Chen returned to Shuizhai, Zhang Xi went there in person and praised Chen all the time.
"General Chen is truly worthy of being a famous general in Jingzhou. He commanded well this time and repelled the invading enemies from Jiangdong. After the army retreats from Jiangdong one day, I will personally write to the prefect to ask for credit for General Chen!"
What Zhang Xi said was a bit half-truth and half-false.
Zhang Xi knew how Chen Jiu won.
In addition to the fact that the defense system left by Huang Zu could still play a part, Chen Jiu's command today was indeed flawless, and he steadily blocked the Jiangdong navy's offensive.
At this point, Zhang Xi's praise of Chen Ji was really not a compliment.
Another thing, now Zhang Xi has sent out the city defenders in E County and Zhu County to take over the defense of the city along the river. To resist the invasion from Jiangdong, we must rely on the navy commanded by Chen Ju. At this time, I can say a few good words to praise them. Praising Chen Jiu will avoid causing any trouble.
But Chen Jiu's expression was not very good.
"Zhang Duyou has received the award!" Chen said to Zhang Xi with a serious look on his face, "This is just a fluke. The Jiangdong Navy will definitely come again tomorrow. Duyou needs to make preparations early and explain the reason to Governor Liu. , it’s up to us to send reinforcements quickly for rescue!”
Zhang Xi was surprised at the time.
There is something about this Chen.
Zhang Xi originally thought that actors like Chen Ju, who were unknown in history and had no chance to appear in novels, were probably arrogant fools like Xing Daorong.
But I didn't expect that this Chen Jiu could see the situation clearly, be very calm-minded, and command the navy in a decent manner. Could he really be an outstanding navy general who unfortunately died young? !
Chen Jiu actually didn't want to say such soft words to Zhang Xi. It was because during the day, the Jiangxia navy suffered a lot.
In a half-day battle, more than 300 people were killed and nearly a thousand were injured. The total number of naval forces was less than 20,000. If this happens again, God knows how long the navy can sustain it.
Although Chen just repelled the frontal attack of Jiangdong's army, as an old subordinate of Huang Zu, Chen certainly knew what he relied on to repel his opponents.
Although the Jiangxia navy suffered many defeats in previous battles against Jiangdong, relying on the defense line along the river and its familiarity with the local hydrology, the Jiangxia navy never suffered any injuries.
But today, Chen used Shuangmeng to charge the warships to form a defensive formation, and he also had support from the defense line along the river, but he still fought extremely hard.
As the commander of the navy, Chen Ju knew the reason very well. The Jiangxia navy had not practiced for a long time, and its combat effectiveness was much weaker than before.
Chen was the commander of the navy during the Huang Zu period. It was not easy to talk about this kind of thing in front of Zhang Xi, an official appointed by Liu Qi. If Chen was the first to be held accountable, he would not be able to escape.
But he can't boast that the Jiangxia navy is powerful. After all, after today's losses, Chen knew in his heart that if Jiangdong really continues to attack like this, he will not be able to hold on due to too many casualties in the navy.
Chen didn't want to die, and he had no place to escape while fighting on the river, so he could only tell Zhang Xi tactfully that the situation was not optimistic now, and asked Xiling County to send reinforcements quickly.
It's not that Zhang Xi doesn't want to send reinforcements, but it's been more than ten days since he sent out his first letter asking for help, and it's been three days since he sent out his second letter asking for help plus the battle report of Jiangdong's invasion, and there's still no response.
Based on the distance from Xiling to E County, if reinforcements come by waterway, it will arrive in five days, and if they come by land, it will only take about ten days. Zhang Xi doesn’t know what the situation is in Xiling County now, and why there have been no reinforcements. come over.
Before getting a clear reply from Xiling County, Zhang Xi really couldn't leave E County. First of all, it was his duty. As a postal supervisor, he had to command and resist the enemy on the spot when encountering an enemy attack.
Otherwise, even if he escapes back to Xiling County, he will lose his head according to military law.
Secondly, the Jiangxia navy is in E County. Zhang Xi cannot retreat. Once he retreats, God knows whether these navy troops will directly surrender to the enemy.
Once the navy surrenders to the enemy, Jiangdong can follow the Yangtze River and invade the abdomen of Jiangxia County. The next place is Xiling County where Liu Qi is located.
It would be better if Liu Qi escaped, but if he was killed by Jiangdong like Huang Zu in history, the chess game planned by Zhang Xi, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu and others would have been completely wasted.
Therefore, Zhang Xi could only comfort Chen Ji and promised him that the reinforcements were on the way and would arrive in three to five days. In fact, Zhang Xi had no idea when the reinforcements would arrive, it was just a comforting statement.
Chen Jiu is not a fool, but now he can only believe that what Zhang Xi said is true. Chen Jiu will not have the thought of surrendering so easily before the end of the road is reached.
In order to reassure Chen Ju, Zhang Xi specially called Wei Yan and asked Wei Yan to lead three soldiers as Chen Ju's guards and obey Chen Ju's command.
Look, I've even sent you my personal bodyguards. You should be more attentive to me no matter what, and work together to defeat the enemy, right? !
What can Chen say about this? Just say thank you.
Zhang Xi asked Wei Yan to follow Chen Jiu, not without the intention of keeping a close eye on him, but his original intention was indeed to protect Chen Jiu's safety.
Chen Jiu also somewhat understood Zhang Xi's intention, but firstly he had not thought about surrendering, and secondly he had many personal guards of his own, so he was not afraid of the surveillance of the thirty or so Zhang Xi guards.
If Chen really wanted to surrender to the enemy, how could a group of landlubbers who didn't understand water warfare fight on the river stop a naval commander and his soldiers? !
The only injured person was Wei Yan.
It's not that Wei Yan doesn't obey orders, the key is that Wei Yan is a landlubber.
Wei Yan is from Yiyang, located in Nanyang County. Although it belongs to Jingzhou in terms of administrative division, Wei Yan, a "Jingzhou" person, really doesn't know how to swim, let alone sail a boat.
Yiyang is closer to the Central Plains, and unlike Jingnan, where the water network is not as developed, Wei Yan has no chance to learn any swimming skills.
The ships of this era are not too big. If it were not for a super large warship like a building ship, it would be shaking terribly on the water. Although Wei Yan was better, he followed Chen and stayed on Mengchong, but he was still shaken to the point of gallbladder. Spit it out.
In this state, Chen couldn't even tell who was protecting whom.
Fortunately, the guards led by Wei Yan were originally civilians recruited by Kou Feng in Xinye. Some of them were still good at water. At least they didn't seem as uncomfortable as Wei Yan, which gave Wei Yan some comfort.
Wei Yan has his own ideas, which are different from Zhang Xi's.
Although Zhang Xi ordered Wei Yan to protect Chen Jiu, he didn't say anything else.
But in Wei Yan's view, being sent by Zhang Xi to protect Chen Jiu was just an excuse. The real purpose was, on the one hand, to monitor Chen Jiu, and on the other hand, to prepare for a rainy day.
Wei Yan saw the lazy state of Jiangxia's naval forces from the beginning, and had no hope from the beginning of relying on these naval forces to retreat from the enemy.
Wei Yan also knew Zhang Xi's current predicament. The biggest problem in Echeng and Zhu County now was the shortage of army troops, so they could only rely on the navy.
Therefore, when Wei Yan boarded the ship, he was prepared with both hands.
If Chen Jiu wanted to surrender to the enemy, then Wei Yan would of course control Chen Jiu as soon as possible, seize military power, and continue to command the navy in combat.
If unfortunately the Jiangxia Navy was defeated, Wei Yan could gather some of his remaining troops and retreat to E County to increase the number of troops defending the city in E County.
In this era, the army may not be able to serve as the navy, but there is no problem at all for the navy to come ashore and serve as the army.
But Wei Yan didn't expect that his preparations hadn't found a chance to work yet. He did the "nominal job" assigned to him by Zhang Xi first.
This was early the next morning. The Jiangdong navy launched an offensive at dawn, and Chen Jiu was not willing to be outdone and led the navy out of the stronghold. According to the old method yesterday, two Mengchong ships took a group of small boats. They formed a hedgehog formation to fight, and the defensive walls on the cliffs along the river also began to shoot arrows and throw rocks.
The two sides fought again for a while, from dawn to noon.
Jiangxia navy still suffered heavy losses, so heavy that Chen Jiu's heart was bleeding.
But no matter what, after a whole morning of fierce fighting, Jiangxia navy still held on to the defense line, leaving no gap for Jiangdong to take advantage of.
Seeing that the Jiangdong Navy was unable to attack for a long time, the frequency and rhythm of attacks were declining, and there were even signs of retreating near noon, Chen Jiu slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen originally thought that Jiangdong's attack would end here. After all, Jiangdong's army had begun to retreat slowly. But no one expected that at this moment, two small boats rushed out of Jiangdong's army.
The targets of these two small boats were not big, and they were quite far apart and very fast. They came directly towards the two Mengchong battleships commanded by Chen Ju.
And I don’t know what happened to these two small boats. They were very lucky. From the city walls on the cliffs along the river, no matter whether they were arrows or stones, they could not accurately hit these two small boats. The two boats were stunned. He rushed through the blocking net along the riverside city with almost no damage, and rushed directly in front of the Jiangxia navy.
If that's the case, it doesn't matter. After all, the Jiangxia Navy has two Mengchong warships as the core, and there are forty or fifty small warships on the periphery. What use can two small ships do.
But Chen really didn't expect that the Jiangdong soldiers on these two boats would be so brave and ruthless.
They came directly towards the Mengchong ship, almost regardless of damage, and all the Jiangxia naval forces who stepped forward to intercept them were killed and dispersed by the Jiangdong soldiers in the two small boats.
Looking at the Jiangdong boat rushing towards him, Chen Jiu was also shocked. He just stared at it blankly and did not give orders immediately.
As for the other ships of the Jiangxia Navy, you're kidding. The commander didn't issue an order. How could they easily change the formation of the navy to rescue them? What if the Jiangdong Navy took this opportunity to launch a massive attack? !
One more thing. Didn't you see what happened to the Jiangxia navy that was intercepted before? How many of those who dared to charge into battle in front of the army were easy to mess with? !
Without the commander's military orders and not wanting to die, the Jiangdong navy actually approached Chen Jiu's ship without any hindrance after breaking through the first level of navy interception.
(End of chapter)
