After Qin Zitan joined She Feihu with the reinforcements coming from Daishan Island, he waited for the middle of the night on Wenqin Island in the west of Daishan, waiting for the southwest wind to blow, and then rushed to Daheng Island when the twilight rose from the east---
-The boat division of Jiangdong Zuojun has retreated. The mouth of the bay at the northwest foot of Jinji Mountain is in a mess. Several burned-out ships sunk on the shoal with only their charred hulls left. The air is still filled with the smell of kerosene and burning ship wood.
Only the ruins of the fort on the promontory island in the port were left. All the stone walls on the southeast side of the fort collapsed, and the corpses were cleared away. However, the rocks, broken walls and broken stone walls were covered with splashes.
Dark brown blood stains.
Due to the severe destruction of the camp and fortress, there was almost no foothold on the promontory island, and the remaining defenders after the war camped on the south bank.
There was a sea falcon ship in the shoal between the camp and the south bank. The cabin was completely burnt, and a big hole was exposed on the bow. Only a corner of the battle flags inserted on the side were left, and the original structure could not be seen.
It looks like it, but there is no sea falcon ship on Daheng Island. This should be a warship sunk by Jiangdong Zuojun - there are also several broken masts lying on the beach.
Qin Zitan followed She Feihu to the south bank of the outer harbor and walked to the shoal to reach the promontory island. Only then did he see that the situation in the inner harbor was much worse and several times more miserable - a warship of the Jiangdong Left Army sank in the shoal.
The wreckage, more of which are the wreckage of warships that were burned and sunk on Daheng Island, the water surface of the inner harbor is full of broken masts, ship planks, battle flags, armor, fragments of swords, guns, shields and crossbows.
A large part of the simple pier built with filled earth also collapsed and was completely ruined. There were still dozens of corpses floating in the water at the shoal. The inner harbor was only a few dozen steps wide and was washed out by the upstream stream.
In addition to the relatively clear water surface, the shoals on both sides of the river were covered with stains of red blood and large amounts of oil, making it difficult to see how many people had died in the battle last night.
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At the end of September, Qin Zitan finally went to sea with She Feihu, leaving Du Cheli to assist Xu Zhong in guarding Hecheng Fortress. He wanted to wait for the situation in eastern Zhejiang to become clear before plotting against Chongzhou. He definitely did not expect that Lin Fu would then launch a forceful attack with all his boat divisions.
Daheng Island.
Although Su Tingzhan finally defended Daheng Island, looking at the tragic situation in front of him, it seems that it cannot be called a victory. There are still more than a dozen corpses in the shoal that have not been collected in time. It seems that they are all Daheng Island defenders——Since
The Jiangdong Left Army was able to calmly collect the bodies of the soldiers who died in the battle when they left, which shows that the Jiangdong Left Army had completely controlled the inner harbor before withdrawing from the siege, but failed to capture the fortress on the shore.
Su Tingzhan came over, bowed his hands to She Feihu, and said in a hoarse voice: "Second Young Master..." His left arm and right shoulder were wrapped in white cloth, with dark red blood seeping out, and his face was pale due to blood loss. All the soldiers around him
There were also many injuries. In the battle to defend the island, Su Tingzhan, the leader of Daheng Island, and his personal guards fought in person to repel the invading Jiangdong Left Army. This shows the intensity of this battle.
"The general underestimated the enemy," Su Tingzhan said in a hoarse voice. Recalling the battle that lasted from dusk to dawn today, he felt blood dripping from his heart. He resisted the dizziness caused by the trauma and blood loss, and moved Daheng Island
The details of the battle were told to She Feihu and others, "The Jiangdong left army first seized the outer port, equipped the ship with catapults, and nearly twenty catapults, and together they stormed the promontory fortress. We were caught off guard and were left behind.
The crossbows on the top of the Yujiao camp had almost no effect and were completely destroyed. The warships hidden in the inner harbor were forced to rush into battle..."
In the battle last night, although the Jiangdong Left Army was finally repulsed, all the warships stationed on Daheng Island were destroyed except for a few sentry ships that did not withdraw into the inner harbor. Not a single one was left. How about She Feihu?
Can you look good?
Although Qin Zitan didn't know how Jiangdong Zuojun managed to place the heavy sling crossbow on the deck of the warship to fire stone projectiles, but listening to Su Tingzhan's description, it was not difficult to imagine the brutality of last night's battle.
The area around the mouth of the bay is rugged and rocky, and the terrain is extremely rugged. There is only a winding trail on the southeast side that leads to the other side of the headland. Therefore, when building a fort on the headland at the mouth of the bay, we did not consider that it would be attacked by sling crossbows.
Although local materials are used to build stone walls, the walls of the forts are much thinner than those of regular cities. For example, Chongzhou New City is based on strips of stone, with green bricks on the outside and three-layer soil on the inside, which is compacted layer by layer and is as thick as 30 meters.
Such a strong city wall may collapse if dozens of large catapults pound it all night long for more than ten or twenty days. What's more, the stone wall of Cape Island Camp is only three or four feet thick.
In order to limit the intrusion of enemy ships, the fort was built four feet high. While increasing the height, it also increased the surface area for receiving bullets. On top of the fort, there were only crenel walls, and no trenches were built to block the projectile attack of arrow stones.
Once the bed crossbow on the top of the camp is destroyed and unable to fight back, the camp becomes a living target for the slinging crossbow----
Once the barracks blocking the mouth of the inner harbor were unable to function under the pressure of the sling crossbows, and the stone wall on the east side of the barracks collapsed within less than two hours, it is not difficult to imagine what the next water battle would be like.
A tragic situation.
First, Su Tingzhan did not prepare for the water battle at the beginning. He sent soldiers ashore to defend, and the number of warships prepared for the battle was seriously insufficient. Second, the outlet of the inner harbor was more than 200 paces wide, and seventy or eighty warships rushed out to fight.
, with the outer port already occupied by the Jiangdong Left Army, the advantages of small and flexible ships could not be used at all. Instead, the large warships of the Jiangdong Left Army cooperated with the small and medium-sized warships to attack.
When the defense line at the mouth of the inner harbor was finally broken through, a large number of warships suppressed the inner harbor and could not move, giving the Jiangdong left army the opportunity to attack with fire...
"I didn't expect the Jiangdong Left Army to have such sharp tactics," Qin Zitan sighed inwardly, and had to admit his previous miscalculation in front of the Second Young Master. They divided their troops from Hecheng and asked Lin Fu to mobilize the boat division to attack Daheng Island.
At that time, there were still surplus troops left behind in Chongzhou. He frowned and said, "Lin Fu's move is probably to destroy all our army's simple ports on Shengsi, Daishan, and Tushan Islands, and to destroy our warships."
Deport them all back to Changguo's main island...The situation in Hecheng is not optimistic. Should we concentrate our forces to take Xu Zhong and Cheli out of Hecheng?"
She Feihu's original intention of leaving Jiangning and going to sea was not to compete with his brother for control of the situation in the East China Sea - he couldn't compete - he wanted to occupy Hecheng and use Hecheng as a stronghold to develop northern power.
Contain the expansion of the Jiangdong Left Army, attack the salt policy of the Huaihe River, threaten Huaikou, attack the grain-carrying ships that go out from Huaikou to Jiaozhou Bay, and destroy the Tianjin-Haihai grain route that the Dai Viet Dynasty relied on to save its lives at this time.
She Feihu wanted to achieve the strategic goal he envisioned, and the Jiangdong Left Army's defensive capabilities in Chongzhou were extremely strong. Apart from the salt warehouses, there was almost nothing else to rob in the Huainan Salt District - at least in Hecheng.
After forming a force, it must be backed by the Shengsi Islands. The initial supply of soldiers, supplies, food, grass, armor, etc. must be obtained from the Shengsi Islands, Changguo's main island, and even Jin'an, which is thousands of miles away.
Although there is no worry that Hecheng will fall in the short term, last night's battle showed that under the threat of the powerful naval force of the Jiangdong Left Army, it is very unsafe for warships to dock at the Shengsi Islands, let alone the warships crossing the Shengsi Islands and heading north from the river mouth.
matter.
Even if Hecheng is barely defended, it is still an isolated and dead place, with no potential to develop its power, and is in danger of being conquered and destroyed by the Jiangdong Left Army at any time.
At this time, it is no longer wise to forcefully defend Hecheng. Taking advantage of the Jiangdong left army's need to rest and recuperate, the top priority is to concentrate forces to take out the Hecheng garrison.
She Feihu clenched his fists. He knew that Qin Zitan's suggestion was wise. There will be defeats and victories in the war. This is nothing. The key is not to lose all the wealth at once. But how can he withdraw his troops from Hecheng like this?
Willing?
Seeing She Feihu's lips bitten and bleeding, Qin Zitan also knew how difficult it was for him to make such a decision. He winked at Su Tingzhan and asked him to show him the battlefield elsewhere.
, leave She Feihu behind and let him calm down and think about it.
The battle at Bayang last night was fierce, but the Jiangdong left army's offensive was very reluctant after landing. They bravely attacked a few times and then gave up. After all, in a hurry, they attacked the dangerous enemy's stronghold on unfamiliar terrain.
, a wise man would not do anything - but with thousands of casualties and the destruction of more than 70 loach boats, anyone would be heartbroken. If She Feihu hadn't led his troops to rescue, Su Tingzhan would have been trapped in the big city.
On Hengdao, even a single step is not enough. On the sea, boats are the only feet!
Qin Zitan and Su Tingzhan returned to the south bank of the headland. She Feihu was anxious to send someone to find them: "I consider that we do not have to give up Hecheng - Hecheng is not worried for the time being, but the situation in eastern Zhejiang will also be different in the future."
It will be further clear that in terms of the long-term situation, it is impossible for the Jiangdong Zuojun forces to compete with our army for supremacy on the sea. At the moment, our army's large number of warships are unable to escape and go north. What we are worried about is that Hecheng is relatively isolated and alone.
Hanging to the north, it is also surrounded by Chongzhou, and the sea route from Shengsi to Hecheng has to pass through the Jiangkou where Jiangdong Zuojun is stationed, so it is inconvenient to provide relief. However, Hecheng must be truly managed into a northern line stronghold conducive to development to achieve the strategy we expect.
The goal is to find another strategic location near Crane City that can be used as a cornerstone, and the situation in the early stage of Crane City can be reversed..."
Qin Zitan didn't expect the second young master to have such a serious dispute. He frowned and considered his thoughts carefully. Su Tingzhan had a flash of thought and said: "This strategic location mentioned by the second young master, I can think of one thing..."
"Where?" She Feihu asked.
"Changshan Island," Su Tingzhan said, "is almost due north and east of Daheng Island, and due east of Hecheng. It is about 1,780 miles away from Hecheng and about 260 miles away from Shengsi Island.
There, it is occupied by a force called Donghai Fox. There are about five to six hundred people who make a living by robbing salt ships. They seem to be in collusion with the Lianghuai salt lords and have always refused to join the gang. Although the terrain of Changshan Island is good, but due to
Changshan Island is located to the east, and it is an isolated island, and I have not made any effort to collect it..."
She Feihu and Qin Zitan knew about the existence of Changshan Island, but their understanding of the situation was not as detailed as that of Su Tingzhan.