It was still dark at this time, but it was dawn. Although the fleet now sailed, it relied on the rich experience of the boat master and the guidance of the lantern to keep the formation in line and not be easily discovered by the enemy.
But the moment of dawn has arrived, maybe just by turning around, the sky will brighten up, and there is no way to hide it at that time.
The messengers held lanterns in their hands and shook specific movements to convey orders. With a command, the entire army was on alert and preparing for war.
When the two sides got closer, Jiang Hai roughly judged that what he saw was a fleet of Jin Guobing's ships, with only eight ships.
This Jin fleet often plundered everywhere. Whenever they saw a fishing boat from the Song Dynasty, they would stop the boat and steal the fish, and even kill people.
Of course, if they encounter the Jin Kingdom's own fishing boats, they will sometimes rob them.
It just so happened that a soldier from the Jin Kingdom fleet got up and went to the hut. He saw many lanterns shining on the river in the distance. He subconsciously thought it was a fleet of fishermen, and without taking a closer look, he reported it to the superiors.
When they learned that there was a fishing fleet from the Song Dynasty, they were all very happy. They thought they were fishermen and had a good harvest, so they traveled together in the dark, but they did not expect that this was a ship belonging to the Song Army.
This is not surprising. Who would have thought that the Song Army would dare to take the initiative to attack the Jin Kingdom?
As they got closer, the sky became brighter, and the trebuchets on Song Jun's ships could be clearly seen, and the Jin soldiers were surprised.
But after being surprised, they were not too afraid, because the Song people gave them the impression of weakness, and they were not afraid of the Song people in their bones.
The Jin soldiers roared angrily, waved their flags, and ordered the Song army's ships to stop. They wanted to board the ships for inspection, but Jiang Hai was too lazy to pay attention. Since they encountered an encounter and could not avoid it, they would strike first.
"beat."
Jiang Hai gave an order, and the trebuchets on the ship threw iron artillery and thunder cannons over it. Suddenly, the Jin Dynasty ship was shaken by the ground.
"Boom boom boom,,,"
The iron artillery exploded one by one on the Jin Dynasty's ships. Immediately, the Jin soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Some panicked and fell into the water, and most of them drowned.
The thunderbolt cannon is a protective weapon. It is wrapped in paper with lime and sulfur inside. If it falls into the water, the sulfur will catch fire when it meets the water, causing the paper scraps and lime to rise into fog, blocking the enemy's sight. In this way, you can take the initiative on the battlefield.
.
The thunderbolt cannon fell into the water, and a burst of smoke suddenly rose, blocking the sight of the Jin soldiers. Before they could see clearly what was going on with the Song army, they were attacked by dozens of iron artillery cannons.
This was just the beginning. When the Song fleet got closer, Jiang Hai ordered rockets to fire.
Thousands of arrows were wrapped in oilcloth, lit on fire, and flew densely toward the Jin fleet.
Soon, the Jin's ships began to catch fire, and the fire became more and more intense. Many Jin soldiers jumped directly into the water in panic. There was chaos and there was no resistance to the Song army.
Seeing such a one-sided victory, Jiang Wanzai was surprised. He said to Jiang Hai: "Uncle, why are the golden soldiers who are rumored to be as fierce as tigers so vulnerable?"
Jiang Haidao: "The naval ships of the Jin Kingdom are not very powerful. Otherwise, how could we have been stable for a hundred years after the Song Dynasty crossed south? Moreover, our army had no precautions against this surprise attack. So what if we don't lose?"
Jiang Wanzai nodded and looked seriously at the sea of fire ahead. However, Jiang Wanzai was not careless. The shield in his hand was always ready to protect Jiang Hai's safety.
After packing up the Jin Dynasty ships, the Song army fleet continued to move forward. Soon, the fleet docked and prepared to disembark.
"Follow the future."
Meng Gong took hundreds of people off the ship first, and then led them to separate outwards in a fan shape to protect the Song army soldiers behind them from landing smoothly.
At this time, many people along the coast had seen the Song army landing. They were frightened and ran home, closing the windows and doors tightly. Some ran to the county government to report the news, while others tentatively approached, wanting to surrender to the Song army. However,
There are very few such people.
All the army came ashore, all the food, grass and baggage were carried down, and the ship left.
From now on, every five days, sea ships will deliver a batch of grain, grass and baggage, so Xixian County, the closest place to the shore, will be the life supply base for the 15,000 Song army.
"Father, have you seen it? The child has finally set foot on his homeland."
Meng Gong knelt on the ground, grabbed a handful of loess, rubbed it against his face, and with tears in his eyes said to his deceased father, Meng Zongzheng.
His father Meng Zongzheng died of illness two years ago. After that, Meng Gong stayed at home to observe filial piety. During this period, the Jinghu Zhiji Department called him up many times to leave home and take up posts, but Meng Gong declined all of them on the grounds of keeping filial piety.
However, this time Meng Gong heard that he was crossing the river to attack the Kingdom of Jin. In order to fulfill the wish of his father and ancestors, Meng Gong chose to go to war while observing filial piety.
Meng Gong's great-grandfather Meng An and grandfather Meng Lin were both Yue Fei's generals. They followed Yue Fei in the north and south in order to regain their homeland, a wish the Meng family had been fighting for for hundreds of years.
The troops were very fast, and after a short rest, Jiang Hai ordered Du Gao, Meng Gong, and Cao Youwen to lead their own troops and capture the city according to the established plan, forming an overwhelming and multi-pronged attack, forcing the Jin Kingdom to surrender.
Du Gao led four thousand elite troops to Xixian County first. Seeing that the gate of Xixian County was tightly closed, Du Gao knew that they had received the news in advance and were prepared.
However, Du Gao was not surprised. Just when he was about to order someone to shout, he saw a hanging basket hanging from the city wall, and a man who looked like a scribe came timidly in front of Du Gao's army and asked to see the general of the Song army.
Du Gao ordered someone to bring him, and the scribe said to Du Gao: "In order to let the general know, our county magistrate is willing to ransom the city for ten thousand gold. Please also ask the general to spare the lives of the people in our county."
"Hmph, how can we pay ten thousand gold to redeem the city in a mere county? The real Daoxian County is Yangzhou?" Du Gao sneered.
The clerk thought that Du Gao was greedy for money, so he was relieved and overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, general, as long as you give us the county magistrate three days, we can collect ten thousand yuan. In these three days, we will first send a hundred women to the general.
There are also cattle and sheep working for the army to show their sincerity."
Du Gao saw through his trick at a glance. He wanted to delay time and wait for reinforcements. Who did he think was a fool?
Du Gao drew his sword and said solemnly: "Xixian County is originally the land of the Song Dynasty. Today, our Song army returns to its hometown. How can we redeem it? Now that a hundred years have passed, I'm afraid you have forgotten your ancestors.
"
After saying this, Du Gao slashed the clerk to death with his sword, and then ordered the soldiers to come forward and shout.
A dozen soldiers shouted loudly to the city: "We are the king of the Song Dynasty. Today we are crossing the river to go north to punish the people. You are all Han people. Why bother to sacrifice your lives for the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom instead of your ancestors? Only you can sacrifice your life for the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom."
If the city surrenders and acts righteously, then they are all good men of the Song Dynasty. Not only are they not guilty, but they have made meritorious deeds, and the court will definitely reward them greatly."