A dozen miles downstream of Yiling Water Village, there is an unknown island in the middle of the river.
The island follows the flow of the river and has a long and narrow shape, wide in the west and narrow in the east. The vegetation above is very lush, and from a distance, there is a lush scene everywhere.
The island in the center of the river is closer to the south bank, and the narrowest point is only a hundred paces away. Therefore, ships on the river often go around the northern part of the island. The waterway to the south is usually only used by fishing boats and small boats.
Because of the dangerous location, Bao Xinyan sent troops to the island early in the morning, built an archery tower, and firmly controlled it in his own hands. And this unsinkable "giant ship" finally lived up to his expectations. It played an important role in previous water battles and helped the rebels win victories on the river many times.
Li Jiangyao's first target to boost the morale of the navy was this small island in the middle of the river.
"Capturing this place will not only boost the morale of the army, but also block the rebel fleet here, reduce the pressure on Yiling Water Village, and cut off the enemy's supply line upstream. Kill three birds with one stone!"
Li Jiangyao waved his hand and shouted: "Before the enemy attacks next time, we must seize Jiangxin Island!"
According to his arrangement, the scouts still went first. In one day and one night, the White Robe Army spies basically figured out the situation on the island.
The enemies were mainly concentrated at the western end of the island, where the terrain was relatively open. Bao Xinyan set up a solid fortress with a wood and stone structure here, as well as three large arrow towers, two on the north and one on the south.
There are more than two thousand rebels on the island. It seems that they are the old foundation of the Xuanjia Army. They are well-defended and extremely vigilant.
In addition, the rebels also arranged more than 20 warships here to patrol around the island all day long to guard against the approach of the imperial navy.
All in all, Bao Xinyan obviously attaches great importance to the strategic significance of Jiangxin Island, so he guards it very carefully.
It is not easy to capture this place.
Li Jiangyao studied the information obtained by the scouts carefully all night. The next day, he found Wang Wenlie and Yang Li and told him his plan.
The two subordinates were stunned after hearing this. Yang Li couldn't help but ask: "Grand Governor, how much price are you prepared to pay for this island?"
Li Jiangyao didn't answer but asked: "Based on the value of Jiangxin Island, how much price do you think it should cost me?"
Faced with the question of the coach, Yang Li was silent, and Wang Wenlie said: "As you said, taking Jiangxin Island will kill three birds with one stone and even directly reverse the unfavorable situation at hand. So I feel that no matter how much it costs, worth!"
After hearing what he said, Yang Li nodded gently.
Li Jiangyao looked at them with a smile and asked, "How about it? Is my strategy feasible?"
Yang Li met his eyes: "Since the Governor has made the determination to fight, there is nothing to say about humble positions. The martial arts students of the Yanwu Hall are willing to be the vanguard of the entire army!"
"I asked you two to come here, not to be the vanguard," Li Jiangyao said with a smile: "I want you to help me judge how long it will take in the shortest time from when our army launches the attack to when Bao Xinyan leads his troops to come to the rescue. ?”
Wang Wenlie and Yang Li were both trained in the navy, with a first-class martial arts course and a navy instructor. They were experts in both military theory and practical experience. Seeing that the governor was asking for advice humbly, the two of them did not dare to neglect and began to think seriously at the same time.
"As soon as an hour."
"About an hour."
In no particular order, the two men gave similar answers.
Li Jiangyao nodded and pondered: "In other words, we must completely capture Jiangxin Island within an hour, and be able to withstand the rebels' counterattack."
"This is really too difficult." Yang Li frowned and muttered.
Wang Wenlie seemed more confident than him: "Dadu protector, let me go, and I will ensure that the mission is completed!"
Li Jiangyao shook his head: "It's still my previous idea. The White Robes will be responsible for the landing operations. It is also their task to defend Jiangxin Island. And you have to bear the pressure on the river."
Yang Li was silent for a while and said: "Captain Wang and I, the two flags have a total of 400 warships, which should be enough. The worst case... we will die together with the enemy!"
Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "It is worthy of recognition to be determined to fight to the death; but it is not advisable to die with the rebels. What I want is for you to fight skillfully and win the battle."
Wang Wenlie nodded slightly and responded: "Protector, I understand what you mean. Professor Yang and I will go back and study the battle strategy carefully to ensure victory in the first battle!"
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The river at night was quiet with gentle breeze.
Five hundred battleships slowly sailed out from Yiling Water Village in the dark night, divided into two columns, north and south, and headed downstream at the same time.
After walking for a while, when they were getting closer to the island in the center of the river, the two columns gradually merged again, forming an echelon formation that almost ran across the river.
Soon, the rebel warships patrolling and sentrying on the river discovered them. They sounded the gong urgently and lit the soaring cannon to warn their companions.
Wang Wenlie and Yang Li issued orders at the same time, and their respective fleets suddenly accelerated, encircling the island, and started a fierce battle with the enemy ships guarding the island.
At this time, the rebels on the island were also awakened. The military forts and archery towers fired giant crossbows and arrows at the imperial warships on the river.
One hundred ships carrying White Robe Army commandos bypassed the waterway where the fierce battle was taking place, turned to the southern area, and carried out landing operations from the middle section of Jiangxin Island.
In the blink of an eye, four thousand ghost-faced white-robed troops jumped off the warship, waded through the river, rushed to the beach, and launched an attack on the Arrow Tower Fortress. Upon seeing this, the rebels stationed on the island quickly formed a formation to block the white robe army from the fortress defense line.
In today's world, the combat power of the Zhenjiang Army is definitely at the top of the army of the same era, and the White Robe Army is the well-deserved pinnacle of the Zhenjiang Army. Thousands of white-robed warriors, even without horses to gallop on, are still extremely powerful.
Under the dark night, they set off a gust of white wind, and were directly involved in the rebel group, fighting left and right, as if they were in an uninhabited land.
This is not a fair fight, but a one-sided massacre!
Li Jiangyao jumped onto the beach and shouted loudly: "Brothers, we only have one hour to mop up the remaining enemies outside as soon as possible and knock down the military fort!"
The ghost-faced white-robed army, which already had an absolute advantage, became even more violent after hearing the order. They attacked the rebel defense line several times and stormed directly to the fortress.
When Bao Xinyan set up this military fort, he never expected that with such a strong fortification and two thousand elite soldiers, he could not even survive a meal before being slapped in the face by his opponent.
A group of white-robed soldiers armed with powerful crossbows broke into the fortress gate and climbed up the stone stairs, shooting at everyone they encountered without missing a beat. When they ran out of arrows, they drew out the long knives from their backs and frantically killed the remaining enemies in the fort. In less than a quarter of an hour, the Jin army's flag on the top of the military fort was kicked off. Immediately afterwards, the eagle flag of the Zhenjiang Army was flying high.
Similarly, the three tall archery towers in the north and south were quickly captured by the White Robes. The huge crossbows turned around and started shooting at the rebel warships.
At this time, almost 20 enemy ships outside the island had been sunk or damaged by Wang Wenlie and others. The entire river was densely covered with sails of the imperial navy.
While Li Jiangyao ordered his men to re-build the defense line of Jiangxin Island, he also had people use light signals to convey instructions to the navy: quickly adjust the formation and prepare to meet the enemy's counterattack!
Nearly four hundred warships moved upon hearing the order, relying on the small island to form six clusters on the north and south sides. At the same time, they anchored the ships and stabilized the hulls. Each cluster is composed of dozens of warships, arranged at random according to certain rules. They look neat and orderly and follow the art of war.
Not long after, the sound of war drums came from the lower reaches of the river. In the blink of an eye, heavy sails appeared from the darkness. Looking around, there were as many as five or six hundred ships!
Obviously, after Bao Xinyan learned that Jiangxin Island was attacked, he became really angry and dispatched his main fleet to fight, intending to make the imperial navy pay a heavy price.
Wang Wenlie stood on the flagship platform and looked downstream calmly without saying a word. The general next to him reminded: "Captain, the Governor sent a signal to ask us, when will we start taking action?"
"Don't panic." Wang Wenlie stared straight ahead and said in a deep voice, "Let the enemy come closer!"
Following his words, the rebel warships on the river in the distance moved forward a lot. At the same time, the entire fleet began to speed up and change formations, moving upstream and spreading horizontally, gradually covering the entire waterway.
Seeing that the rebel ship was finally less than a mile away from his own side, Wang Wenlie suddenly waved his hand: "Give me the order to release the raft!"
The horn suddenly sounded, and the six groups moved together. Several bamboo rafts were put down on each warship, and they drifted downstream along the river.
More than a thousand square rafts, all piled with hay, kerosene jars and a large number of fireworks, were floating in the dark river, drifting closer and closer to the oncoming rebels.
Suddenly, white smoke and flames appeared in a bamboo raft, as if it had been specially lit. Immediately afterwards, the second, third, fourth... more and more bamboo rafts lit up on their own, burning large and small open flames.
It turns out that these are the secret weapons invented by Wang Wenlie-"Fire Boat".
The bottom of the square bamboo raft is padded with a layer of water-proof cowhide or felt, and various flammable objects are piled on top. The most critical thing is to place a small paper bag of white phosphorus in the haystack soaked with kerosene. When the bamboo raft is released, use a knife to cut the paper bag open to expose the white phosphorus to the air.
As long as the time is calculated correctly, the white phosphorus will spontaneously ignite and ignite the hay next to it at the same time.
Because the river was dark at night, it was difficult to spot the bamboo raft unless you got close enough.
Moreover, the entire rebel fleet was swimming upstream, which was equivalent to heading towards those flaming boats. When the bamboo rafts burned automatically one by one, they were already close to the enemy ships!
