Imperial Capital, Tai Chi Hall.
After Li Bing dispersed the dynasty, he specially kept several important ministers to discuss the recent development of the frontline war.
"Murong Xue's memorial is very clear," Li Bing said calmly: "According to various intelligence sources, he has reason to suspect that the rebels secretly gathered to raid the Jichun defense line and then destroy the main supply camp in Luotian. , leaving more than 200,000 soldiers of the two legions of Qinglong and Zhuque to survive the winter without food. My dear friends, what do you think?"
Yin Cheng resolutely said: "Now that we have guessed the enemy's intentions, we only need to mobilize our troops and take precautions."
Li Bing shook his head: "Of course I know this truth. However, Murong Xue seemed to have a bigger heart and wanted to take this opportunity to severely injure the invading enemy. Therefore, he sent a request for assistance to Yiling, hoping that the Navy could send a team of A fleet rushed to the lower reaches to cooperate with the Azure Dragon Army in combat."
Li Maoxun, the king of Hejian County, frowned and said: "From Yiling to Jichun, there are many rebel water strongholds along the way. Can Yang Li go there?"
"Don't worry about that," Ruan Yu, the Minister of War, responded: "The imperial navy just defeated Bao Xinyan's fleet a while ago. The enemy has already withdrawn to the Yueyang area. There happens to be a tributary river in the middle that can lead from the main river to the Han River. Arrive at Jichun via Wuchang County. The Han River is in the north of the Yangtze River and is controlled by our army. It is safe and convenient."
After hearing this, Li Maoxun nodded and said nothing more.
Yin Chengyi said: "Your Majesty, dispatching the Yiling fleet to participate in the war has advantages and disadvantages, which should be carefully considered. Although Murong Xue's idea is good, if the rebels have other plans and the navy is dispatched easily, I am afraid that it will suffer loss."
Li Bing nodded: "I have the same worries, so I want to hear your opinions."
"I think this plan is feasible." Mi Pei, the general of the town army, said in a loud voice: "Let Murong Xue and Ma Hongjie join forces, plus the Yiling fleet, and use the combined force of water and land to defeat the invading rebels in one fell swoop. If this battle can be successful, It is enough to ensure that the enemy will not dare to move again within half a year! It can also take revenge on Taizhou."
As soon as he expressed his stance, several military generals also nodded in favor of allowing the navy to participate. This can not only reduce the pressure on the land defense line, but also use the power of previous victories to once again attack the enemy's navy's momentum and strive for greater initiative.
Li Bing thought for a while, looked at Wei Zixuan and asked, "Wei Qing, why haven't you spoken today?"
When Wei Zixuan heard this, he quickly raised his hands and said, "Report to Your Majesty. I am not as accurate as the generals about war matters, so I dare not make random decisions."
"Where is Yin Aiqing? You are a military commander, please tell me." Li Bing let Wei Zixuan go and turned to Yin Chengyi on the other side.
Yin Chengyi had been reminded by Wei Zixuan in advance: At present, the situation of the war is unclear, and it is better to hide one's shame than to show one's embarrassment, lest he make a mistake and affect his future plan to appoint the commander in chief.
So, he coughed lightly and responded: "I still have the same opinion as before. It is better to be still than to move. It is enough to be able to defend the river firmly. Don't be too greedy for merit."
This opinion was relatively conservative and could not make any big mistakes, so Li Bing did not react much. He thought for a moment and looked at Mi Pei: "Is the enemy planning any conspiracy?"
Mi Peiliang said loudly: "Actually, you are not afraid of tricks. Your Majesty, please think that our army has already noticed that the other party is ready to make a move, so whether it is the army or the navy, it will definitely take more precautions. As long as the two sides cooperate closely and do not attack across the river easily, it should not be possible What went wrong?"
Wei Zixuan was hoping that someone would insist on this opinion, so he quickly said: "What the old general said seems to make sense. Although I am not good at military affairs, all the generals are experts. Maybe it is as Murong Xue imagined, and there is a chance to gain greater rewards." Result."
He kept himself clean, but once again emphasized that this was Murong Xue's idea, so that after the navy was dealt with by Uncle and Nephew Bao Yuchun, the fault of greedy for merit and rashness would be placed on the head of the military, especially Murong Xue. On the head.
Li Bing saw that the civil and military ministers all agreed with the idea of the Green Dragon Army, so he also agreed in his heart. He nodded slightly and ordered: "In that case, let the Yiling Navy join the battle. Act as soon as possible to avoid being taken advantage of by the rebels."
After hearing this, Ruan Yu responded: "I will inform Governor Yang immediately when I return. In fact, they also mean the same thing, and they have made full preparations and can set off at any time."
The court officially set the tone, and Yiling immediately took action. Seven hundred warships, fully loaded with soldiers and equipment, sailed out of the water village and headed downstream.
Almost at the same time, scout information was sent to Bao Yuchun's camp: the imperial fleet has set off!
As soon as the news came, the rebels immediately mobilized. The mixed army of 60,000 infantry and cavalry deliberately advanced slowly towards the river bank, giving Murong Xuema Hongjie on the opposite side the illusion that he was about to launch a surprise attack. While the navy fleet was gathering back and forth on the river, it secretly separated out the real ambush warships. Run around to the upper reaches, then turn around and head back towards Ce Lake.
Three days later, a fleet flying the flag of the Yiling Navy entered the Cehu River from the Dajiang River. After the Qinglong Army sentry along the coast discovered them, they quickly verified their identity and purpose through the flag language. The other party followed the rules and sent back a signal in time, indicating that it was a court warship under Yang Li's command, and was ordered to come for reinforcements and to assemble at Ce Lake and be on standby.
The officers and soldiers of Qinglong knew that the navy was coming to join the battle. Seeing that the opponent's flag was clear and he was calm and generous, he did not have any doubts and watched the fleet disappear into Ce Lake.
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"Inform the Commander-in-Chief, our navy is here."
When he heard his subordinates report that the navy had arrived, Murong Xue, who was studying the defense map, immediately turned around and asked excitedly: "When did it happen? Where are they?"
His subordinates quickly replied: "This afternoon, the archery tower on the Cehu River sent back a report, saying that Governor Yang's vanguard fleet has arrived there and has entered Cehu to stand by."
"How many troops are there?" Murong Xue asked.
"About four to five hundred ships," his subordinates responded: "They told the sentry that there is a fleet behind them, and it is estimated that it will arrive two or three days late. It seems that this time the main force of the navy has come over, and they are going to beat the rebels hard. military."
Murong Xue couldn't help but sneer and thought to herself: Bullshit! Yang Li followed Jiang Yao's order and didn't come here at all. The fleet hiding in Ce Lake must be Bao Yuchun's people!
However, this matter was a top-secret plan, and he could not reveal it to his men, so he said calmly: "Okay, I know. You go and inform the arrow tower over there to keep an eye on the river. In addition, send an elite scout. Enter Ce Lake for close investigation. Remember, don’t let Yang Li’s people discover you.”
Keep an eye on the river and detect friendly forces? When the subordinates heard Murong Xue's instructions, they couldn't help but be slightly startled. But he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he quickly agreed and ran to make arrangements.
Murong Xue turned to look at the map again and murmured: "The stage is in Jichun, but the real drama is upstream."
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The protagonist of the big drama upstream that Murong Xue mentioned was naturally Yang Li's navy.
After the seven hundred main warships set off from Yiling, they didn't seem too anxious. Under the close surveillance of the rebel scouts, the battleship always maintained a slow and leisurely speed, heading eastward.
However, when the entire fleet was about to arrive at the mouth of the Juzhang River, they suddenly went out of character and suddenly increased their speed without warning, directly crossing the mouth of the river and rushing downstream quickly!
The rebel scout responsible for surveillance was immediately startled.
The order they had received earlier was that the imperial navy would turn into the Juzhang River and bypass the Han River to reach Wuchang. There were also many groups of rebel scouts hidden along the banks of the Juzhang River and Han River, waiting to track and conduct investigations along the way. .
But the actual situation now is that Yang Li and the others did not take the Juzhang River road at all, but planned to advance directly downstream along the river.
This means that they will face the rebel river bank towns ahead!
The scouts finally realized at this time that this huge fleet might have been heading towards those important towns from the beginning. Their real goal was to attack the rebel navy everywhere!
The situation suddenly took a turn for the worse. The rebel scouts were so startled that they ran wildly downstream, trying to notify friendly forces and their coach Bao Yuchun in time before the imperial fleet launched an attack!
Unfortunately, the scouts hurriedly hurried and took their time, but in the end they were still a step too late. In other words, even if they were not late, the rebel naval forces along the river had no time to react.
Yang Li commanded the fleet and took the lead in launching a fierce attack on Jiangling, destroying and sinking forty-seven enemy ships on the spot, and burning a water fortress and two military fortresses outside the city;
Immediately afterwards, without stopping, the imperial navy attacked Shishou again, successfully destroying twenty-five rebel warships, capturing sixteen, and also burned the enemy's grain and grass camp;
After succeeding, the army continued to advance, and happened to bump into the rebel fourth flagship team coming to reinforce Shishou on the way. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides in the river. The rebels were weak in strength, prepared in a hurry, and were at a disadvantage against the current. After losing thirty-six battleships in a row, they could only turn around in a panic and flee downstream in confusion.
Yang Li immediately ordered the pursuit. The sky-blocking warships followed the rebels and broke into the Minghezhou Water Village. Twenty-one rebel warships were sunk, and eighty-four transport vessels of various types were burned to the ground.
The morale of the entire imperial fleet was so high that they didn't even bother to clean up the battlefield. They left Minghezhou directly and continued to attack.
Going further, there is another strategic location of Bao Yuchun, Yueyang, the home port of Bao Xinyan's fleet!
Here, Yang Li and the others finally encountered real resistance.
The two hundred and ten warships responsible for staying in Yueyang, led by Bao Xinyan's deputy Zhu Hailin, stood across the river and were ready.
They were the main force under Bao Yuchun's command, and they had enough time to prepare, so they no longer collapsed at the first sign of defeat like the previously deceived rebels.
On the contrary, the Kuohai Navy, which was in desperate situation, also broke out with amazing combat effectiveness. Although the number of ships was less than half of the imperial navy, Zhu Hailin still commanded his men to charge.
In two hours of fierce fighting on the water, both sides lost nearly a hundred ships, but there was no winner.
Yang Li originally planned to concentrate his strength again, break up the rebel army in one go, and end the battle completely. But at this moment, the scouts suddenly reported that a large number of enemy reinforcements had been discovered in the downstream direction and were rushing towards Yueyang.
He thought for a moment, and finally ordered his troops to withdraw: he had taken enough advantage, and it was a wise choice to retreat as soon as possible.
