"Commander!" Cai Liang, the soldier's soldiers with quick hands and quick eyes, stepped forward and hugged Cai Renyuan's waist tightly.
"Commander, Marshal——"
"It's not good, the commander vomited blood——"
…
The surrounding officers and soldiers were all panicked and rushed forward in a hurry, supporting their shoulders and arms to prevent Cai Renyuan from falling directly into the sea.
"It's okay, don't panic, I accidentally bit my tongue just now!" Cai Renyuan is also a ruthless person. After taking a breath, he immediately smiled and waved his hands. As he spoke, his mouth was full of scarlet.
"The commander is fine, the commander said he just bit his tongue -" Cai Liang understood and immediately announced loudly at the top of his voice.
"Commander, are you okay? Commander, are you okay?"
"The commander accidentally bit his tongue——"
…
There were shouts and shouts, and the generals on the flagship also knew that at this juncture, the morale of the military must not be disturbed, so they all opened their voices to help explain.
"Transmit the commander's order to have the warships withdrawn from the forward battalion move closer to the Chinese army."
"Commander's order came, and the rearguard squadron changed course and went to Daxie garrison!" (Note: Daxie garrison, now known as Changdao. It is about ten miles away from Dengzhou.)
"Pass this commander's order, and the Chinese army is on alert, beware of the Song thieves taking advantage of the situation to come out and take advantage."
"According to the commander's order, the left and right squadrons will first send warships to rescue Paoze who retreated on the sampan, and then follow the rearguard squadron and anchor near the Great Siege!"
…
After all, he was a veteran general who had experienced hundreds of battles. After Cai Renyuan spit out a mouthful of old blood, his mind became much clearer. He issued a series of orders in rapid succession.
The spirit has been lost, and there are reefs and hidden piles everywhere in Dengzhou Port. It is meaningless to continue digging. Therefore, it is wise to gather the team first to prevent the fleet's losses from continuing to expand.
As for revenge, there is no rush. Anyway, the Song Dynasty has a long coastline. Even if it cannot capture Dengzhou Port, it can still go all the way south along the coast and find breakthroughs in Jiaoxi (Jiaozhou Bay), Haizhou (Lianyungang) and other places.
"Woooooo, wooooo, wooooo..." The sound of conch shells quickly spread Cai Renyuan's order throughout the army.
Everyone in the Goryeo Navy breathed a sigh of relief. No longer caring about their own troops who were blocked by fire walls and iron ropes in Dengzhou Port, they gathered up their formations in accordance with the order, rescued the few lucky ones who had retreated to the open sea, and then
Turn around and stay away from the battlefield.
Frankly speaking, although the defeat in this battle was extremely depressing, the losses suffered by the Koryo Navy were not huge.
Of the fifty warships in the front line, twenty-three were successfully evacuated in the end. This was equivalent to saving half of the combat force. The left, right, and rear three squadrons and the central army were almost unscathed.
When sailing on the sea, the wave resistance requirements of ships are much higher than those on inland rivers. Therefore, the largest sea ships of this era are about 130 materials, while ordinary warships are only about 80 to 100 materials.
The average number of soldiers and sailors on each battleship was also about a hundred. Twenty-seven battleships were burned, and the maximum number of casualties was only 3,000 people. For the entire Goryeo Navy, it was far from a serious injury.
However, this battle had a very heavy blow to the morale of the Koryo Navy.
After years of hard training, all the Korean generals in the navy thought that they would be able to show off their skills during the Western Expedition. No one thought in advance that the cunning General Song would not engage in a water war with them, but concentrated on creating traps!
The Song army refused to go to sea, and the Goryeo soldiers had no chance to show their abilities. The port was so dense with traps that the warships could not send the Goryeo soldiers to land.
If the war becomes stalemate, the Song army will have no worries about eating and drinking on land. The soldiers of the Goryeo Navy are floating on the sea, but sooner or later they will run out of water and rice. Even before they can run out of water and rice, they will be swept away by a sudden storm, including both men and ships.
Sent to the bottom of the sea!
"Everyone, cheer up. There is a spring on the Great Siege garrison. And around the Great Siege garrison, there are many places for warships to take shelter from the wind and waves. As soon as everyone has finished repairing, I will lead you to fight against the weak Song Dynasty again! By then, no matter whether it is broken through
In any port, you are allowed to plunder for five days, and we will never break our promise!" Keenly aware of the low morale of the brothers around him, Cai Ren was willing to mobilize in time, and asked his trusted followers to take the sentinel ship to spread his words throughout the entire fleet.
What he said was not completely bragging.
Through years of secret operations, Goryeo's expert had a clear picture of the situation around Dengzhou Port, and sent detailed charts back to Goryeo's mainland.
Today, such a chart hangs on the wall of Cai Renyuan's flagship cabin.
The many islands and small anchorages near Dengzhou Port are all very complete on the chart. Anyone who knows water warfare will know from just a few glances that even if they do not enter Dengzhou Port, the Koryo Navy will not worry about finding them.
There is no suitable place to take shelter from the wind and waves.
The reason why Cai Renyuan chose Da Xieshu for temporary anchorage was because the island was close enough to Dengzhou Port and he could turn around and fight back at any time.
In addition, there is a long list of named and unnamed islands in the southeast of Daxiesu. One or two small havens can be found near each island.
"Ohh Ohh ohh……"
The sound of conch shells came and went, conveying the gratitude of each fleet back to the flagship.
Although they suffered a heavy blow, every Korean soldier who ventured across the Yellow Sea did not want to admit defeat now and go home empty-handed.
Especially the lower-level sailors and soldiers, unlike Cai Renyuan who had an sworn hatred against the Song Dynasty, and unlike the aristocratic children like Cui Rong, who expected to gain credit and family glory by attacking the Song Dynasty.
The reason why they followed Cai Renyuan's battle flag without any complaints was simply because they heard that the Song Dynasty was far wealthier than Goryeo, and they wanted to take the opportunity to come over and grab a vote.
They will not be willing to give up until their wishes are fulfilled.
After the morale recovered slightly, the movement speed of the Goryeo fleet increased significantly. Not long after, the entire fleet arrived near the Great Siege.
Learning from the lessons of the previous battle, this time Cai Renyuan did not rush ahead for glory. Instead, he spent a lot of money to recruit warriors and drove a sampan to explore a large circle along the Great Siege. It was to be determined that there were no hidden reefs in the area near the island.
and hidden piles, and the depth was suitable for berthing warships, so he ordered the main fleet to sail into the safe harbor on the west side of the island facing the mainland of the Song Dynasty.
The natural haven has not been artificially developed and organized, and it is crowded with only more than 30 warships. Cai Ren is not willing to be in a hurry, split the main fleet into two, and goes to the Shamen Island next to the Great Siege to find a safe haven for his heart.
.Immediately, he ordered the left, right, rearguard and forward, three and a half squadrons, to adjust accordingly.
The commanders of each squadron, after responding with the sound of conch shells, acted in accordance with the order. Along a series of islands, they each looked for suitable places to anchor and take shelter. After more than two hours of busy work, they all successfully settled down.
Come down.
There were originally springs on the Daxie garrison. The nearby Shamen Island, Tuoji Island, Qin Island, and several small islands also have natural fresh water resources. There are even water supply on these islands.
The wooden house where the fishermen took shelter temporarily. Although it was dilapidated and the injured lived in it, it was far more comfortable than living on the boat.
With a safe haven, fresh water, and wooden houses for the wounded to recuperate, the morale of the Koryo fleet was greatly improved again.
Coach Cai Renyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. That night, at the request of his cronies, he set up a temporary Chinese army camp on the Great Xie garrison. He also requisitioned the largest wooden house on the island as his sleeping tent.
.
After crossing the Yellow Sea, he had been busy for a whole day. Even his iron-clad body was a little overwhelmed. Therefore, after dinner, Cai Renyuan sent his confidants to drive sentry boats to various islands to boost morale, and then got in directly.
He went to the wooden house that the soldiers had cleaned for him to recharge his batteries.
However, before he could close his eyelids, there was a loud voice from the soldiers outside the door asking for instructions, "Commander, Cui Rong, Commander of the Forward Squadron, wants to see you!"
"Cui Rong, he still has the nerve to come see me?" Cai Renyuan was exhausted and frowned and ordered, "Let him go back to appease his soldiers. I will summon him in the central military tent early tomorrow morning!"
In my memory, Cui Rong, the commander of the forward squadron, was the first to abandon the battleship and escape from the port on a sampan. Therefore, this guy was lucky enough to be rescued by Che Li, the commander of the left squadron.
Thinking that this person is from the wealthy Cui family, Cai Ren is willing to immediately pursue his crime of abandoning the army, which is already a noble act. How can he still be in the mood to listen to this person explain to himself the reasons for abandoning the entire forward squadron in the first place?!
"Yes!" Cai Liang, the commander of the soldiers, agreed loudly and quickly retreated. After a while, he trotted back and asked for instructions loudly again, "Hold on, Commander, not only Cui Rong, but also the two squadrons on the left and right.
All the commanders also came, and they all said they had something urgent to ask for a meeting with!"
"Well, the three of them came together?" Cai Renyuan frowned and struggled to get up, "Take them to the Zhongjun tent and wait for me. I will arrive soon."
This is the disadvantage of living under someone else's roof.
Although he was the commander-in-chief of the Goryeo Navy, because he was a foreigner who had fled to Goryeo from the Southern Tang Dynasty, Cai Renyuan could not afford to offend the commander-in-chief of the three squadrons at the same time.
In particular, behind the commanders of these three squadrons were the Cai family, the Che family and the Huangfu family respectively.
Holding back the waves of headaches and chest discomfort, Cai Renyuan stood up, called the soldiers to come in and serve him, put on his clothes and combat boots, then cheered up and walked quickly towards the temporary Chinese military tent.
I thought that after joining the Chinese Army, Che Li, the commander of the left squadron, and Huangfu Gong, the commander of the right squadron, would join forces to intercede for Cui Rong. And they were prepared.
Give them face.
Unexpectedly, before he could ask the purpose of the three men's visit, Cui Rong, the commander of the forward squadron, solemnly stepped forward and handed over his hand, "Commander, the Song army in Dengzhou Port is well prepared. It is really inappropriate for us to continue to entangle with them. I'm humble.
I think the best strategy is to quickly go south along the coast and find another wealthy city to capture!"
"Commander, the Liao Kingdom wants to dispatch its navy to cooperate with me, Goryeo. It does not require our Goryeo Navy to capture Denglai Prefecture. After all, it is to contain the Song Army. It is better to find another suitable city to make contributions!"
"Commander, the population of Goryeo is sparse, and the 30,000-strong navy is already being supported by the people of the country who are scrimping on food and clothing. It is really not appropriate to fight head-on with the Song army. If you want to give an explanation to the Liao Kingdom, there is no need to keep an eye on Denglai!"
Che Li and Huangfu Gong also stepped forward one after another and remonstrated loudly. Although their opinions were slightly different from Cui Rong's, the final direction was exactly the same!
