Chapter 202 I have to fight (please vote, please subscribe)
The sky is slightly bright, and the East Lake is covered with fog, like a landscape painting, with some vague human figures visible.
On the fairly vast lake, a small boat and about ten people came up. They wandered through the fog and saw the real scene of East Lake.
I saw hundreds of warships, like huge monsters, with huge collision angles that were extremely ferocious, and the flags they erected were blown by the cold wind, making a sound like the roar of wild beasts.
They are constantly piled up on the lake surface, lined up side by side, looking extremely shocking.
Soldiers were constantly walking up and down, like ants, looking extremely small.
There were also many smaller ships, and people were boarding them one after another. The soldiers were full of interest and kept looking around.
"chilly!"
Standing on the boat, You Shiwei rubbed his hands. Even though he had a beard, it couldn't give him more warmth.
"The ships are all on board?"
"General, everything is here." Deputy General Wang Shiguo couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, a white mist rose, and he stamped his feet and said:
"Thirty thousand people from Xiangyang started boarding the ship three days ago. The total army is 50,000, including thousands of fishermen and sailors."
"Where's the food?"
Hou Shiwei continued to ask.
"One hundred thousand stones have arrived at Xinkai Town, and the other one hundred thousand stones are stored in Qizhou, Huangzhou Prefecture. It can be reached in half a day."
Wang Shiguo said solemnly: "With these two hundred thousand shi of food, we can squander it for half a year. We will win this battle before it is fought."
"No, in addition to food, there are also these warships."
In Yulin Town, which he personally led, many generals were divided and dispersed. His younger brother You Shigong and others also went to other camps to become deputy generals.
You Shiwei docked and boarded the warship. Looking at the Fran cannons, he couldn't help but sigh: "Even if we are just fantasizing, we don't dare!"
"With sufficient food, sharp soldiers, and sharp weapons, it is really overqualified to defeat Zuo Liangyu."
Coming from a background in the border army, You Shiwei particularly looked down upon people like Zuo Liangyu, who were greedy for life and fearful of death, and were timid before fighting. The imperial court should send all military pay to the border town.
"You Tongzhi!"
After boarding the ship, I saw Liu Tingjie, Wang Guangen, Bai Wang, Hui Deng and other generals bowing their hands in respectful attitude.
You Shiwei, who was in charge of Huangzhou Prefecture, was worshiped by His Highness King Hanyang as the President of the Suppressor System, and temporarily commanded tens of thousands of soldiers to attack Jiujiang.
Facing the respectful welcome from the generals, You Shiwei was quite grateful: "You Shiwei is very grateful that you can come to help."
Offering the offering hand is considered a return gift.
After the Battle of Sichuan, each battalion began to expand again, from 5,000 to 8,000 men, with a significant increase in military strength.
The Sichuan soldiers and the prisoners of the Western Army were already selected from the best, and now they have been trained in the new army camp for two months, and they have already begun to show their talents.
You Shiwei was quite confident: "Everyone, although our military strength is only half of that, we are not short of money and food, and we are elite. We can easily capture Zuo Liangyu."
"That's right!" The scar on Hui Deng's face moved. He took out his feather fan in the cold winter and couldn't help but flap it: "In this battle, I, Ming Huiying, will definitely come out on top."
Although it was a bit difficult to defeat the Western Army, Huiden looked down upon Zuo Liangyu, who was seriously injured.
"Bah, how can it be your turn?"
Liu Tingjie was unconvinced and said: "We will book Zuo Liangyu's dog head directly."
"Hey, Commander Liu, you are trying to steal the credit!"
"General Hui, you are not willing to lag behind."
For a while, there was a real quarrel, everyone wanted to get the first credit.
You Shiwei didn't take it seriously and said: "According to His Highness's instructions, this battle is only to completely annihilate Zuozhen and occupy Jiujiang. The purpose is to shock the Nanjing court."
"It doesn't matter if Zuo Liangyu ran away alone, what we care about is his soldiers and horses."
"You Tongzhi, I wonder what your first success will be in this battle?" Wang Guangen asked uncontrollably, feeling itchy.
"This battle cannot be compared to the one in Sichuan."
Seeing everyone's expectant faces, You Shiwei said, "The first merit is five points, the second merit is four points, and the final merit is three points."
"Not bad."
"It's okay, it's okay."
The generals expressed their satisfaction.
The previous month, they marched to suppress bandits south of Dongting Lake and wiped out tens of thousands of bandits, but they only achieved three points of merit.
After more than a month of busy work, there is no comparison at all.
"Start at three o'clock in the morning, there must be no mistake."
You Shiwei gave orders with a solemn expression.
"Yes!" the generals responded.
As the fog began to lift, hundreds of ships, carrying tens of thousands of soldiers, left the East Lake and entered the Yangtze River.
Immediately, with the northwest wind and smooth current, it didn't take half a day to reach Qizhou in Huangzhou Prefecture.
Vast and boundless, the battleships almost filled the entire Yangtze River.
The ships along the way, no matter how big or small, were captured and temporarily locked up to prevent the news from leaking out.
When they arrived in Qizhou, Jiujiang was still calm due to water barriers and blockades.
You Shiwei was overjoyed and wrote an order requiring ships in Xinkai Town not to be allowed to go eastward to prevent the news from leaking.
After half a day's work of replenishing food, grass and baggage, before dawn, this huge navy headed directly towards Jiujiang.
Along the way, all the Zuo army ships collecting taxes were captured and carried away together.
Only a few dozen miles away from Jiujiang, Zuo Liangyu finally gained military intelligence.
"How dare you?"
Zuo Liangyu said angrily: "Does Zhu Yixi really not take the imperial court seriously?"
Ma Jinzhong, the general of the outer camp, had a firm face: "Commander Zuo, I sigh to report that the Qin army is extremely large. It must have been planned for a long time, and now the only option is to retreat."
"Where to retreat?" Zuo Liangyu sighed: "If we take a boat, we will be chased soon."
"Run to the interior of Jiangxi and never fight lightly." Ma Jinzhong gritted his teeth and said:
"We suffered such a big loss last time, and it's time to make up for it."
Zuo Liangyu finally understood its meaning, which was nothing more than robbing the people and holding them hostage.
At this time, Huang Shu, the censor of the army, couldn't help but said: "Lü Daqi, the governor of Jiangxi, is already dissatisfied with the commander-in-chief. If he collapses without a fight and flees to the interior, I am afraid he will be even more dissatisfied."
"When the time comes, with the Qin army in front and the imperial court forcing us behind, it will be even more difficult."
"What about that?"
Zuo Liangyu was quite irritable and filled with anger.
"We should still fight. He, Zhu Yixi, doesn't have three heads and six arms, and I haven't heard of many sailors."
Huang Shu said seriously: "Our navy has been practicing for more than a year, and we are still afraid that we can't defeat him?"
"It makes sense."
Zuo Liangyu fell into thinking.
"Master Marquis, the previous army was defeated, the young master was captured, and the Qin army defeated the Western bandits again. The army is terrified and really can't fight!"
Ma Jinzhong tried his best to persuade.
Zuo Liangyu thought for a long time and said, "Jinzhong, I understand what you mean."
"But, this battle must be fought!"
"The army has been afraid of Qin for a long time. If we don't overcome it, even if we escape to the interior, we will be nothing more than grasshoppers in the autumn, lingering on."
"Even if the army is defeated, the court will not ignore us if we defend the city for several days."