Li Wanjiang followed Xiao Chen's suggestion and sent someone to Yizhou to deliver a decree to Xiao Xinghan, ordering him to immediately prepare a fleet on standby and go north to fight the Ross fleet within three months to regain China's Shunfeng Port!
He also wrote a couplet in his own handwriting and gave it to him: The four towns have many different intentions, and Yidao is stationed with troops, and they dare to fight for half of the southeast; the kings have no land, and they are willing to fight in one corner, only to know that there is a lonely loyalist overseas!
When Xiao Xinghan saw this, he was really dumbfounded.
No, Li Wanjiang, are you serious?
Or are you kidding me?
But then I realized that Li Wanjiang was serious.
Because the imperial edict in black letters on yellow paper was written very clearly, and it was also stamped with Li Wanjiang's jade seal.
This is equivalent to handing the evidence into his hands. If Li Wanjiang is engaging in any conspiracy, his prestige will be completely lost and he will be despised by the world!
This really means that Xiao Xinghan's army was defeated.
He was so hesitant that he stood at the port looking at the other side for a whole day without thinking about food or food.
Finally, we made a difficult decision to send troops!
Two reasons, one clear and one dark.
For obvious reasons, Shunfeng Port is an inseparable part of our Chinese territory. As descendants of Yan and Huang, especially the Han royal family, we must not watch it fall into the hands of foreigners!
The relationship with Li Wanjiang is a family feud, but the relationship with the Russians is a national hatred!
Therefore, we must first avenge our country and then our family.
The hidden reason is to compete with Li Wanjiang.
If you, Li Wanjiang, have such a big heart, don't I, Xiao Xinghan, have the same mind?
I even fought with you so that the heroes of the world would know that I, Xiao Xinghan, also have the spirit of an emperor.
Of course, sending troops is sending out troops, how to send them out, how much to send out, how to go, how to return, how to take advantage of as much as possible and suffer as little loss as possible in this cooperation...
It also needs to be discussed in detail.
Therefore, the joint fleet planned by Xiao Chen could include the Yizhou Navy. Xiao Xinghan promised to send at least ten warships, three of which were large warships, and the number of sailors should be about 3,000.
The Great Zhou Navy can dispatch almost five large warships, ten medium-sized warships, and dozens of other small warships. The number of sailors is about six to seven thousand, which is almost the entire wealth of the Great Zhou Navy.
Li Wanjiang really went all out this time.
Xiao Chen also risked his life. When he was about to set off to go back, he received news from Yanyun County that Wilson's merchant ship had arrived at Shunfeng Port. He wanted to meet Xiao Chen and asked when Xiao Chen would go back?
Xiao Chen immediately sent someone to rush back to deliver a message, asking Wilson to come directly to Fengyang City to find him. He decided to go south in person to negotiate with the pirates!
This move is also a bit reckless.
Not only Fu Yan and Xu Haiming were firmly opposed to it, but even Li Wanjiang felt it was inappropriate.
But Xiao Chen had made up his mind, because he felt that he could only talk about this matter himself, otherwise who would he send?
It's not suitable for anyone to go.
Besides, you have to interview them for this kind of thing. Wilson said those guys all speak English. Which of you can speak English?
It is not appropriate to find a translator. First of all, there are not many people in Dazhou who can speak English, and those who can speak are not very proficient. Once there is an error in the translation of this kind of negotiation, even a very small error, it may miss the big deal.
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Li Wanjiang thought about it for several days before finally agreeing, but he repeatedly warned Xiao Chen to pay attention to safety. Those pirates were all desperadoes. It would be best if they could reach an agreement. If the negotiation failed, there was no need to force it.
But Fu Yan and others still strongly opposed it because they felt that this risk was unnecessary.
"The battle to regain Shunfeng Port is extremely important. If we fail, it will be difficult to have this opportunity again in the future, so we are making a desperate move. We can only succeed, but we must not fail." Xiao Chen knew the importance of this battle very well.
Although victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists, in this battle, we can only win, not lose!
It can even be said that the future life and death of Yanyun County depends on this.
Therefore, it is necessary to unite all forces that can be united, and the strength of the pirates cannot be underestimated. With their participation, the odds of this victory will be greatly increased.
"Then let's at least transfer two large warships from the navy to come over?" Seeing that he had made up his mind, Fu Yan stopped trying to persuade him in vain and began to plan the itinerary.
"We don't want to take a boat. The boat is too slow. We will go directly to the land." As soon as Xiao Chen said this, everyone thought they had heard wrongly.
We are looking for pirates, right? We are not looking for bandits. How can we find them by land instead of by sea?
Xiao Chen ordered someone to take out a map, put his finger on Fengyang City first, and then kept going south, crossing Jiuxi and entering Burma, and then going south...
The final destination is Baddeley Port in Myanmar.
"The pirates we are looking for are operating in this ocean. We can borrow a few warships from Myanmar to go to sea to find them. I heard Liu Ruyun say that Myanmar also has a navy. Although it is not large, there are dozens of them.
I want to go here and talk to the King of Burma to see if it is possible to borrow ten or eight more warships from them."
This idea is also feasible.
If Li Wanjiang were to issue an order to the King of Burma and order him to send a fleet to support the battle, the King of Burma would probably have more than a hundred reasons to refuse. Just say that there are no ships or the ships are damaged, what can you do to him?
But it would be different if Xiao Chen went there in person. He could personally see the condition of the Burmese warships, and the Burmese king would not be able to hide it. Moreover, Xiao Chen's friendship with the Burmese king was extraordinary, and he had saved his life in the first place.
do not forget.
So if he made this request and offered some benefits to compensate the King of Burma, the King of Burma would probably agree.
Besides, there is Liu Ruyun. Xiao Chen has already told her about this and asked her to write a personal letter to King Burma.
"I promised to carry it on my back, but now I have to go south. The journey I'm going to take is thousands of miles away. It's not convenient for my fat body. Otherwise, I will go to Yanyun County first and wait for you."
Shangguan Qiji said that he would no longer accompany him.
"We all have to go, especially you Shangguan. If there is a fight, someone will be injured. How can you not go?" Fu Yan said.
"Isn't this a negotiation? Why did you start fighting again?" Shangguan Qiji grinned, and suddenly thought of a good reason, "We have to ride a horse, right? I can't ride a horse.
!”
"If we can't get there, we have to ride a horse. We have to work hard, day and night, changing horses without changing people. Shangguan, if you don't know how to ride a horse..." Xiao Chen looked at Shangguan Qiji with understanding in his eyes.
"It's true that I can't. I've been afraid of superiority since I was a child." Shangguan Qiji said that he really couldn't do it. I'm lying.
"That's okay, just tie you to the horse's back with a rope. It's safer this way. No matter how fast you run, you won't fall off, but it may be a little bumpy." Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"You know how to ride! I'm just making a little joke with you... The one who can't ride is my son!" Shangguan Qiji was shocked and quickly changed his tune.