At the end of July, the northwest wind arrived as expected, and countless small boats were sent out from the naval camp.
Reconnaissance ships are an important tool in maritime warfare. A ship and a small team, coupled with a flying magician, can master information on a large area of the sea.
There is a complete coding system between ships. Flags and lights can be used to transmit information, which is more effective than a beacon tower on land.
Sending out a thousand reconnaissance ships is equivalent to a division. In the event of a particularly major military operation, thousands of ships can be sent out.
Normally, the reconnaissance ship is just a small fishing boat. When there is no war, it can go out to sea to fish and solve the naval base's food problem. Most of the time, it is rented to coastal people to cover the maintenance expenses of the ship.
A few days later, the mighty fleet sailed out of the camp.
Not counting the peripheral reconnaissance ships, more than two thousand large and small warships were overwhelming, occupying the sea within sight.
Ding Kui stayed at the headquarters to check the intelligence and did not sail with the fleet. He just asked Ao Yu to follow him so that he could have the opportunity to go deep into the West Sea to fight the tooth ceremony.
With an adult green dragon following him, even if he can't take action, nothing serious will happen, and he can also quickly deliver the news back to the camp.
Ao Yu could complete the one-day voyage in just one hour.
There is another important reason: Ding Kui wanted to wait for Yangfeng to come and die.
If Yang Feng dared to represent Yang Feng in a sneak attack on the navy camp, he was confident that he would command the remaining troops to capture Yang Feng alive.
Tomorrow, the main force of the crusade will reach the waters of Silver Sand Island. If Yangfeng wants to lure them back, they must launch an attack before dawn.
As Ding Kui expected, there were many dark shadows on the sea after nightfall, and dozens of large transport ships sailed into a bay.
Bang! A magic light bullet rose high.
"What's going on?" Yang Feng quickly called someone to ask.
"A small group of city defense troops and a magician were found in the town ahead. The magician fired a light bomb as he ran away."
Two thousand troops disembarked from the transport ship and easily captured a town by the sea.
"Why are there city defense troops and magicians?" Yang Feng was surprised and unsure.
He was not like this before. He probably betrayed more people and became more suspicious.
A staff officer with the army replied: "The main force has just left, and the nearby cities have raised the alert level. After the liberation, the new city lord has increased the alert level, focusing on guarding the coastline. Is that normal?"
"Abnormal." Yang Feng was thinking rapidly, "If Xuanyuan Xiong was prepared to guard against a sneak attack by our army, what would he tell nearby towns? How would his men arrange security?
If it were me, I would lure the enemy ashore to attack the city. With the magic communication array, the city defense army can hold out for a few hours. Even if the city is lost, the reinforcements can take it back in a short time."
"That might be to scare us away." The staff officer changed his mind.
"Why do you want to scare us away? That's right!" Yang Feng slapped his thigh, "The other side wants us to think this way, so that we can attack more boldly."
"But what is the enemy's back-up plan? No, no, no, someone is obviously plotting against me. No matter what the back-up plan is, they are already prepared."
The more Yang Feng thought about it, the more wrong he became.
"Is that person here? A team dares to bring a magician. It's very targeted. No way! Give me the order and everyone retreats to the ship."
"..."
Yang Feng's men couldn't figure it out, and Ding Kui couldn't figure it out either.
"Why did you withdraw?"
He stared at the sand table and held a few small flags in his hands.
"Most of the usable ships have been dispatched, and only transport ships are left. We have no advantage in fighting at sea." He was hesitating whether to send a ship out to find Yang Feng.
It was not advisable to sail after dark, and he had no guarantee of winning a naval battle.
On the contrary, he had more worries when commanding other people's troops. It was easy to say that he had won a battle, but hard to explain when he had lost a battle.
After repeated consideration, he decided to wait until daybreak before sending out the scout ship.
Passive defense lacks initiative, and he is not familiar with naval warfare. He would rather miss opportunities than perform in unfamiliar areas.
After reviewing relevant military information, we found out that the small coastal town of Xi Pucheng was worried that it could not be defended, so they specially sent magicians to the seaside town, asking them to return to the city if they found the enemy, and at the same time, they cast magic light bombs as a warning.
Yangfeng's staff guessed correctly that the new city lord had strengthened his vigilance measures, and it was not something Ding Kui had arranged in advance.
Sometimes things are often very simple and not as complicated as people think.
However, Yang Feng's over-sensitivity inadvertently saved his own life. After recalling his subordinates, he immediately returned to the ship without any sloppiness.
The sneak attack on the navy camp failed and they could not lure back Xuanyuan Xiong's main fleet. The northeast side of Yinsha Island will soon be blocked. Yang Feng and the others must take a detour to the southeast and return to the island as soon as possible.
There is a time difference here, which is about one daylight time.
When it was daylight, Xuanyuan Xiong led the main fleet into the waters of Silver Sand Island, and soon encountered a small fleet that was harassing him.
When the ballistae fired, the Yinsha Island warships immediately scattered and fled.
Dozens of warships were timid in the face of thousands of large troops. Coupled with the ultra-long-range destructive attack, the morale of the Silver Sand Island bandits suddenly dropped to zero.
However, when the main fleet began to land, it was violently blocked by the bandits.
Countless arrows, large and small stones, and even fire bulls were attacked. The bandits gathered tens of thousands of people on this beach position.
The battle was extremely difficult. The magicians on the ship were too far away to provide help, and they had no troops to cover them if they wanted to fly close to the shore.
Fan Yu looked anxious and said: "Please invite the masters to fight."
"I'm afraid it's inappropriate." Gong Wei on the side objected, "The enemy's situation is unknown, so it's not appropriate to tamper with the last trump card."
"It is indeed difficult to fight a landing battle. I suggest you divide your troops and go to other deep-water beaches to quickly establish a landing position and then slowly expand your troops." Fan Dong Temple stands out among the crowd.
Although the position of the leader of the Second Special Operations Regiment is not high, his unit is the treasure of the top brass of the Crusade Army and is regarded as the most elite unit. His remarks are particularly valued.
"Well, divide the troops!" Xuanyuan Xiong made up his mind.
The bandit fleet only has a few dozen ships, while his fleet has more than 2,000 warships and more than 1,000 reconnaissance ships monitoring the sea. There is no need to attack a beach desperately.
There is also the problem of troop deployment on the landing battlefield. There are only a few dozen warships that can attack the beach. Naturally, they cannot suppress the long-range firepower of tens of thousands of people.
Faced with high-level commanders who were obsessed with making meritorious deeds, only Ding Kui's subordinates dared to offer opinions. It's not that the navy commanders didn't understand.
If they fight hard on a position, the imperial army can still win in the end, but the battle damage is not very good.
The main fleet separated two groups of warships from the left and right and sailed to the beach in the distance.
Sure enough, once the imperial army divided its forces, the bandit army could not stop them.
There were also bandit troops on other beaches, but the number was much smaller, and there were not enough defensive facilities. They were completely suppressed by the firepower of the ships near the shore.
One of the divisions was commanded by Fan Dongci, who directly sent a warship with the strongest deck to the beach and used the hull to build a landing position.