On the sea only a few dozen miles away from the mainland coastline, a naval force consisting of 300 warships was cutting through the waves. This was an 8,000-strong naval force that set out from Quanzhou and was personally led by Yao He.
The three hundred warships are all large ships of the three thousand stone level. Each large ship can accommodate at least three hundred people and can carry 90,000 people at a time. Of course, they also need to carry food and fresh water, but there is no problem in actually carrying 50,000 people.
Although the large ships were dispatched partly to transport Zhu Si's troops, their real purpose was to transport back more of the population of Dengzhou and Laizhou at once.
Since the army set off from Quanzhou Port, they have been cut off from the mainland, and they no longer know everything that happened on the mainland. At the same time, all kinds of intelligence obtained by Quanzhou were also selectively sent to them by Lin Yaozu, so that
They believed that Zhu Si's army was fighting fiercely with Li Na's army on the front lines of Yunzhou and Jeju. Dengzhou, Laizhou and Mizhou were completely empty, and hundreds of thousands of people were waiting for them to be transported away.
The monarchs and ministers of Quanzhou are all dreaming of population migration, and are eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the first batch of tens of thousands of immigrants.
That morning, the fleet arrived at the outskirts of Haizhou. The leading ship suddenly discovered that two thousand-stone warships appeared in front of them. The Quanzhou warships immediately sounded their alarms, and the fleet quickly slowed down.
Yao He walked to the bow of the ship with his sword in hand and watched the ship getting closer and closer in front of him. At this time, the sentry looked out and shouted: "The warship ahead has raised the double black dragon flag!"
Yao He immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This was the flag agreed upon in advance. The intelligence details sent by Lin Yaozu stated that when arriving at Haizhou, Zhu Si's warships would come out to greet him and fly the double black dragon flag.
"Cancel alert, it's a friendly warship!"
Yao He issued the order and waved the flag to indicate that the ship coming from the opposite side was one of his own and to cancel the alert.
The opponent's ship slowly approached, brushing against the edge of the flagship. A general wearing Zhu Hanjun's armor clasped his fists and said, "Is this Cao Guang? Deputy Commander of the Luoyang Navy? On the order of my general, I came here to welcome the arrival of the Quanzhou Navy!"
Yao He didn't know whether there was a navy in Luoyang? He nodded and asked with a smile: "Who is your general?"
"My general is Li Weibing, the deputy commander-in-chief of Zhengdong? He is appointed as the general of Zuowei, and he is also the left guard in Henan."
Yao He was a military general? Living in a sea area isolated from the Central Plains, how could he know who Li Weibing was? He heard what the other party said was serious? He also believed it.
"Where is the general?"
"The general led his army to Xuzhou? We are now on the way back to Haizhou. We have a military camp at the seaport. Please ask the brothers who came from Quanzhou to go ashore and rest for two days. Waiting for the general to come back? We will leave for the north immediately."
"Is there no army in Haizhou?" Yao He asked in surprise.
"Currently we only have two warships? Three hundred brothers. Because the governor of Xuzhou rebelled, the general was ordered to lead his army to suppress it. The rebellion has been put down. The general and 20,000 brothers will return to Haizhou soon."
Yao He nodded. They really needed to replenish food and fresh water, and the soldiers went ashore for a while to rest. He then said: "Please lead the way, General Cao, as our fleet enters Haizhou!"
Cao Guang ordered the warship to turn around and led the Quanzhou fleet to Haizhou port...
Haizhou Port in the Tang Dynasty was different from Lianyungang today. There was an island covering hundreds of hectares? It was called Yuzhou Island? Donghai County was on the island? There was a strait several miles wide between Yuzhou Island and the mainland.
, as the sediments of the Yellow River and Huaihe River continued to accumulate, and large areas of land appeared along the coast, the strait gradually disappeared, and Yuzhou Island and the mainland were finally connected.
Three hundred warships were anchored in the strait, and the soldiers went to the mainland and rested in the military camp outside Qushan County, waiting for the opposing army to return from Xuzhou.
The three thousand boatmen driving the warships arranged to rest in Donghai County, where there happened to be a slightly smaller military camp vacant. The more important reason was that the warehouses of various supplies were located in Donghai County, and the boatmen needed to replenish the warships with fresh water.
and food.
As soon as it got dark, the magistrate of Qushan County led the people to bring hundreds of fat pigs and hundreds of jars of good wine to the military camp. The soldiers who had been sailing for ten days drank and ate meat. Many soldiers were so drunk that they did not even have time to wait for the pork.
When it was cooked, he fell to the ground and fell asleep.
Yao He started to feel a little dizzy after drinking two bowls of wine. He usually has a good alcohol capacity and can drink three or four kilograms of wine without getting drunk, but this wine seems to have a little more stamina and is different from the wine in Quanzhou.
.
"This wine...what's going on?"
Yao He said vaguely: "The wine is too strong!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he could no longer hold the wine bowl in his hand. "Clang!" fell to the ground. He fell on the chair and began to fall into a drowsy sleep.
The few soldiers who had not drank looked at each other. Their general's drinking capacity was one of the best in Quanzhou. Sometimes he could drink a jar of wine. Why did he fall down after only two bowls of wine?
At this time, a captain stumbled into the camp and shouted vaguely: "This wine...there is something wrong with the wine, you can't drink it!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he fell to the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
The soldiers were shocked and quickly poured the remaining wine into the bowl and put it under the lamp to take a closer look. There was no abnormality in the taste. The wine taste was a bit stronger, but if you looked closely, you could indeed find wisps of white threads in the wine.
There must be something there that has not completely dissolved, but you have to look carefully under the lamp to find it. It cannot be seen in dim light, let alone in the dark. No wonder the other party only brought wine and meat when it was almost dark.
The soldiers were horrified. They set up Yao He and rushed out of the tent. They saw dozens of bonfires in the camp surrounded by sleeping soldiers. Most of them had been attacked.
At this time, countless black shadows appeared outside the camp, tens of thousands of people, surrounding the camp. A dozen soldiers carried Yao He and just ran out of the camp. Suddenly, a burst of arrows came towards him like a storm. The soldiers
They all fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. Even Yao He was hit by three arrows in a row. One of the arrows hit his chest and penetrated his heart. Yao He died tragically under the arrow before he woke up.
Countless soldiers surrounded them from all directions, and the remaining two soldiers were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy...
Ten thousand soldiers held torches, and the general camp was brightly lit. Li Bing walked quickly into the camp surrounded by the generals. The Quanzhou soldiers in the camp had been awakened by cold water. Most of them were sitting back to back, and many soldiers were still
I was confused and didn't fully wake up.
"Where is their general?" Li Bing asked.
A general came forward and said: "General Qi, their leader and more than a dozen people wanted to escape from the military camp, but they were shot and killed by brothers who were ambushing outside."
When Li Bing heard that Yao He was dead, he didn't pay much attention. Yao He had no value. Li Bing valued 8,000 naval troops and 300 warships more.
"Where are their weapons?" Li Bing asked again.
"All their weapons have been confiscated."
Li Bing nodded, "Take them all under temporary custody and register them early tomorrow morning!"
The Quanzhou soldiers were ordered to stand up. They didn't know whether they could survive. They stood up tremblingly one by one and were taken to the big tent by the soldiers to wait for treatment.
At the same time, 7,000 navy soldiers, led by General Zhang Kecheng, boarded the warships and took control of 300 warships.
The sky finally dawned, and eight thousand Quanzhou soldiers were escorted to a grassland. Everyone sat on the ground. The Jin army had no intention of killing them, so the soldiers quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, Li Bing walked up to a high platform and said loudly to the soldiers sitting on the ground: "Brothers, I am Li Bing, the general under the command of the King of Jin. The imperial court has named me General Zuowei, Duke of Lu. From now on, you will be governed by
I'm here to take over. Although brothers are in the Quanzhou Navy, the Quanzhou Navy belongs to the imperial court. You are not a private army of the Yao family. You should be loyal to the imperial court. From now on, you can choose. If you are willing to continue to join the army, then you will
Become a member of the imperial army and enjoy the generous treatment from the imperial court. If you are unwilling to join the army, I will not force you to do so. You will be released after the war and return to your hometown to farm. In a word, your destiny is yours to choose."
There was a buzz of discussion on the grass. A group of generals were sitting at the front of the grass. Several high-ranking generals loyal to the Yao family had been taken away, and the rest were middle- and low-level generals.
At this time, a general in his forties stood up and said: "General Li, we are actually willing to submit to the imperial court, but we are just worried about what will happen to our family members in Quanzhou?"
Li Bing smiled and said: "Don't worry, the 50,000 imperial troops from Guangzhou will arrive in Quanzhou soon. There are only 10,000 troops left in Quanzhou City. The Yao family will soon be destroyed. Your family members will all be in the imperial court."
under the protection of.”
The generals looked at each other, of course they knew that without the navy in Quanzhou, it would be like a tiger without its claws. If the imperial army came to Quanzhou at this time, the Yao family would really be doomed.
"We are willing to serve the imperial court!" More than two dozen middle- and low-level generals stood up and saluted.
The former general turned around and shouted to the soldiers: "Brothers, the Yao family is going to be finished. We no longer have to work hard for him. The right way is to surrender to the imperial court. We are the navy of the Tang Dynasty!"
It can be seen that this general is very prestigious. Under his encouragement, the soldiers raised their arms and shouted, "I am willing to submit to the imperial court!"
Li Bing was a little surprised and asked in a low voice, Zhang Chaoyuan, Sima Zhang Chaoyuan, who was accompanying the Quanzhou Army next to him: "Who is this person?"
Zhang Chaoyuan said quickly: "Report to the general, this man's name is Mei Hongqing. He has been in the Quanzhou Navy for almost twenty years. He has a high prestige in the Navy. However, he is too upright. Both the Yao family and his son do not like him. He has always been in trouble.
If he didn't get re-employed, everyone would call him Mr. Mei, and he had been a general for ten years."
Li Bing nodded, thinking to himself, this person can be reused!