Sweep Yuan

Chapter 228 The Navy's First Battle of the New Year

Although it was already January, the Yangtze River at the Taiping Road section in Fanchang was still swept by a biting wind that stung people's faces. The clear river water flowed eastward, propelled by the northwest wind.

A Yuan Dynasty fleet consisting of 28 large warships was sailing with the current toward Wuhu. The ships were propelled by the wind and the water, and their speed was extremely fast. However, for large ships, speed is not always the best.

The captain of the lead boat in the convoy was about forty years old. His face was etched with wrinkles from the river winds, and his hands were rough but strong, showing the marks of years of battling the wind and waves. He was standing at the bow, squinting at the scenery on both banks, estimating the channel the convoy was about to pass through, and adjusting the speed accordingly.

"Swish, lower the mainsail to three notches to reduce wind pressure."

There is an island in the river six miles ahead. The hydrology there is quite complex, and large ships should be especially careful of the underwater reefs and shoals.

The sailors had already been driven to the deck to await orders, and upon hearing the command, they immediately began to furl the sails.

The mainsail was lowered to three notches, significantly reducing the wind and slowing the ship considerably. As the lead ship adjusted its sails, the other ships behind it followed suit.

Ahead lies Jiangxin Island, where the waterway is complex and the sails and rudder must be adjusted at any time to control speed and course. After lowering the sails, the crew dared not leave the deck for the time being.

One of the tall, thin men wrapped his hands tightly around his clothes and couldn't help but complain:

"The wind blows on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, and the rain doesn't stop for the rest of March! On the Lantern Festival, we can't even see any lanterns, and we still have to sail in the cold wind. When will this miserable life, where there's a battle every month, ever end!"

"It should be soon."

Standing beside him was an older shaman with a simple smile on his face, comforting the tall, thin man:

“At the beginning of last year, the Red Turban rebels were fierce and caused trouble everywhere. In just a few months, the imperial army has driven back from Hangzhou to Jiangxi Province. I think the Red Turban rebels’ morale has been dampened and they probably won’t last long.”

Old Liaoshou has been making a living on the river for nearly twenty years and has seen too many storms. Although the Great Yuan Dynasty has been quite turbulent in the past two years, with war raging all over the south and north of the river, in his view, it is just a slightly bigger storm, and it will pass if he just endures it.

"That bandit leader surnamed Peng gathered more than 20,000 men in the winter month to besiege Nanchang. If it were before, the entire Longxing Road would probably have been taken over by Monk Peng. But he was defeated by the combined efforts of Lords Zhang Boyan and Puyanbuhua!"

Speaking of this, the tall, thin man with the slender hands got angry and leaned closer to the older man with the slender hands, adding:
"Brother Qin, you said the government troops are fighting well in Jiangxi. There are waterways everywhere there, and the government troops need warships for transporting troops and supplies in many places. Why do they still need to transfer us to Wuhu?"

Although this man was talkative, he was meticulous in his work. As he spoke, his eyes frequently glanced at the river, vigilantly observing any unusual activity. After all, sailing is not like driving a car; if a boat hits a reef or capsizes, the entire crew will suffer, and a moment's carelessness could lead to the destruction of the boat and the loss of life.

The older man glanced subconsciously towards Wuwei Prefecture to the north of the river and lowered his voice, saying:
"It's all because of the Red Flag bandits here."

His eyes held a hint of worry, clearly showing his considerable apprehension towards the Red Flag Battalion on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

The Red Flag Battalion has a navy!

Although no one has ever seen the Red Flag Battalion's navy mobilize in a large-scale operation and does not know its exact size, the Red Flag Battalion controls the vast Chaohu Lake, and its territory is connected to the Yangtze River. Everyone understands that the Red Flag Battalion must have formed a navy.

The complete annihilation of a small fleet that attacked Hezhou in Huainan Province in the latter half of last year further confirms this speculation.

The Yuan court did not dare to relax its vigilance. In addition to strictly ordering the Huainan Province to either suppress or appease the enemy, it was determined to control Shishan. It also established a navy in Wuhu and ordered Zuo Danashili, the Left Vice Minister of the Jiangzhe Province, to be stationed there to prevent the Red Flag Battalion from crossing the river and causing harm to Jiangnan.

"Red Flag Thieves?"

The tall, thin man, who frequently traveled the Yangtze River, naturally knew the Red Flag Battalion, which bordered the river, well. He had also heard rumors that the Red Flag Battalion had a navy, but he didn't think it was a big deal. Somewhat puzzled, he said:

"They've been quiet for months now, haven't caused any trouble for a long time. Otherwise, how could our Jiangzhe troops feel safe marching into Jiangxi? I ​​heard that Shishan is about to be recruited by the imperial court and given a high-ranking official position. Murder and arson bring wealth and power, sigh, what a world!"

The elder Liaoshou had also heard the rumors that Shishan would accept the imperial pardon, and shook his head and sighed:
"How could we possibly know such a secret?"

Seeing the watchful eyes on him, and worried that his words might reach the ears of the officers and soldiers on the ship and bring him trouble, he quickly laughed it off and said:
"We're just lowly people, at the mercy of our superiors. We raise the sails and lower them as they please. Why bother with all this? Besides, if the Red Flag bandits really accept the amnesty and disappear completely, we'll be safe in Wuhu and won't have to worry about fighting. Wouldn't that be better?"

"Hehe. That's true—"

The tall, thin man, having just been persuaded and a smile had appeared on his face, suddenly opened his mouth wide and exclaimed:

"What is that?" His voice became shrill with fear, and his finger trembled as he pointed to the northwest bank of the Yangtze River.

Suddenly, a large number of small boats appeared on the river near the northwest, densely packed together, probably numbering one or two hundred. These small boats had already raised their sails and, taking advantage of the wind, were heading straight for the Yuan army fleet like arrows released from a bow.

The red flag on the boat fluttered in the wind, standing out against the gray river surface.

The captain was watching the helmsman's actions in the cabin when he and the boatman saw the strange change on the northwest shore almost at the same time. Their expressions changed drastically, and they knew something was wrong.

Although there were officers and soldiers escorting the ship, their numbers were too few. If they were entangled by so many small boats, the consequences would be unimaginable. The captain didn't hesitate for a moment and quickly gave the order:

"Enemy attack! Quick, raise the sails to full capacity!"

His palms were sweating, but he remained calm and didn't issue orders rashly. Although both sides of the river island were dangerous, being entangled by the enemy fleet was even more dangerous. The priority was to get through this section of the river as quickly as possible and escape the enemy's pursuit.

The force that attacked the Yuan fleet was the Red Flag Battalion Navy, which had been lying in wait for a long time.

At this moment, Xu Da stood at the bow of a warship, his eyes fixed intently on the chaotic Yuan fleet.

The Red Flag Battalion's navy actually had many "warships," but most of them were converted from small fishing boats. They were barely adequate for short-distance troop transport, but to use them as warships to fight the enemy on large rivers and lakes would be to treat the lives of the Red Flag Battalion soldiers as a joke.

Having witnessed the power of artillery, Xu Da became even more determined to develop a navy based on the concept of "huge cannons on ships".

However, the manufacturing cycle of warships is too long and requires a great deal of technological accumulation. The Red Flag Battalion lacked timber and craftsmen. Even if they disregarded people's livelihood and devoted all their efforts to shipbuilding, they could only build a few ships a year. Moreover, due to insufficient technological accumulation, they dared not build too large ships.

Before the outbreak of the great war, seizing the Yuan army's existing "giant ships" was a strategy that Ishiyama had already decided on.

To formulate this surprise attack plan, the Red Flag Battalion mobilized a great deal of resources for intelligence gathering alone, and the navy conducted specialized combat simulations and training, which lasted for several months. Xu Da was still not at ease, so he used beacon towers along the coast to transmit signals in advance to prepare for the ambush.

He was determined to acquire these giant warships of the Yuan army!
"Put the signal!"

Three enormous fireworks were lit at the bow of Xu Da's flagship. The fireworks that shot into the sky were not to celebrate the Lantern Festival, but to signal the start of the battle. With the flags waved and the signals given, a hundred ships set sail in unison, taking advantage of their small size and shallow waters to encircle the Yuan fleet.

Since Liujiagang was burned down by Fang Guozhen, the Yuan army has no organized navy.

For example, the so-called 20,000-strong Mongol-Han naval force commanded by Xingji, the Pingzhang of Jiangxi Province, actually consisted of a few simply modified warships and a large number of fishing boats. The fleet could indeed transport 20,000 people at a time, but that did not mean that all 20,000 people could fight on the ships.

Strictly speaking, the Yuan navy was more like a mounted infantry force. Its so-called warships were primarily used as troop transports rather than as combat platforms.

Even naval warfare resembled land forces battling it out on warships using various tactics.

The Yuan army's fleet was also a qualified troop transport vehicle, but this time its return to Wuhu was neither for transporting troops nor for combat.

Rather, it was because the Yuan court's campaign to recruit Shishan was about to enter its final stage, and in order to prevent Shishan from rebelling again if the negotiations broke down, a batch of warships were transferred back from the Jiangzhou front to support the defense and assist Zuo Danashili, the Left Vice Minister of the Jiangzhe Province stationed in Wuhu, in controlling the Yangtze River waterway.

To ensure the safety of the fleet, Bu Yan Temur, the Pingzhang Zhengshi of Jiangzhe Province, also arranged for more than 700 officers and soldiers to escort the ships. With these men, it was more than enough to prevent and fight against river bandits who would rob and plunder the river, but they were not enough to deal with an attack by such a large fleet as the Red Flag Battalion.

Commander Song Youji, the captain of the escort ship, was standing on the deck, his face pale. Despite the obvious advantages of the large ship, such as its higher deck and the more stable position for archers to shoot, his first instinct was to flee as quickly as possible, and he dared not linger with the Red Flag Battalion's small boats.

"Full speed ahead, charge through!"

The captain had already ordered the sails to be raised and the ship to sail at full speed; Song Qianhu's seemingly pointless remark was more like an attempt to embolden himself.

His idea was good. Since his side was short-handed, it was not advisable to get entangled with the enemy. As long as they could break away from this battle, successfully advance to Wuhu, and join forces with Zuo Danashili's army, it would be a piece of cake to deal with these dilapidated boats.

But Xu Da had meticulously planned this ship-seizing operation, so how could he let these fish that had been caught in the net escape again?

The Red Flag Battalion's small boats had already raised their sails and were sailing smoothly with the wind. The soldiers on board could also operate oars at the same time, making them much more agile than the relatively cumbersome Yuan army ships. The oarsmen shouted slogans and rowed rhythmically, quickly approaching the Yuan army's large ships.

However, the Yuan army still had a chance to escape. The oarsmen on the small boats of the Red Flag Battalion had limited stamina. If they could not catch up with and control the large ships in a short distance, they could only watch helplessly as the warships with their sails fully raised sailed away.

Song Youji's flagship had already raised its sails and accelerated. As long as it didn't run aground, it would surely shake off these wolf-like small boats. Seeing that the Red Flag Battalion fleet pursuing from the flank was still some distance away, he had just relaxed a little when suddenly a sailor on the bow cried out in alarm:

"A pirate ship! A pirate's big ship!"

In the direction of Jiangxinzhou, more than ten large ships had already raised their sails, seemingly trying to seize the waterway, which was clearly ill intent.

These so-called "large ships" were actually far smaller than the Yuan warships, but Song Youji dared not engage them in close combat. Insufficient manpower was only one factor; more importantly, alongside these "large ships" of the Red Flag Battalion were countless smaller vessels. Clearly, the enemy had assembled such a large force to overwhelm his fleet. Song Youji, both alarmed and frightened, gave a shrill order:
"Run it over, run it over now!" His voice became shrill with fear, losing its usual authority.

Song Youji's flagship was large and made of thick materials, which could indeed capsize or even destroy the Red Flag Battalion's warships. However, its own speed would inevitably be affected, and it might even be damaged and surrounded by the Red Flag Battalion's small boats.

More importantly, the commander of the Red Flag Battalion was not stupid. Why would he use warships with hulls much smaller than the Yuan army's to intercept them across the river?
The captain dared not let Song Youji, who knew nothing about the ship's capabilities, tinker around recklessly, and whispered to the helmsman:

"Turn three needle positions to the left to avoid the oncoming ship!"

Although his voice was low, it seemed to suppress Song Youji's scream and calm the helmsman's somewhat flustered mind. He immediately turned the rudder, and the ship slowly turned to the left to avoid the Red Flag Battalion's intercepting fleet in advance.

The boat captain cursed inwardly. The imperial court had no professional navy, and those who fought didn't know how to handle a boat; they just gave orders as soon as they got on board. Song Youji was relatively good; he just shouted nonsense and didn't really interfere with how the boat was sailed. But if you encountered a stupid, stubborn soldier who liked to give orders haphazardly, you were truly doomed.

Unfortunately, not every captain of a warship could be as calm as him. Some blindly followed the incompetent orders of the escorting officers, while others were inexperienced and feared that a collision with the ship in front would affect their own, so they changed course in advance to compete for a new channel.

Jiangxinzhou divides the river into two, with relatively narrow channels on both sides, and is full of reefs and shoals. The Yuan army fleet was originally lined up in two rows, but soon it became so disordered that its original formation could not be seen.

In such treacherous waterways, the price of deviating from the course is unknown risks.

"Boom! Crunch!"

The first to suffer damage were not the Red Flag Battalion's rammed warships. In fact, Zhang Desheng and Yu Tingyu, who were respectively in command of the fleets on the left and right sides of Jiangxinzhou, had anticipated that the Yuan army might rely on the size of their ships to ram them recklessly. Therefore, they directed their respective fleets to maneuver flexibly, giving the enemy no chance at all.

A loud crash was heard as the second Yuan warship on the left side, in its hasty turn, struck a reef.

The ship shook violently, and the crew lost their footing and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the reefs at the bottom of the river were not large, so the large ship did not immediately take on water and sink. However, the subsequent tilting of the ship disrupted the fleet behind it, and the Yuan soldiers on board were thrown into a panic.

"Get out of the way!"

"Quickly check if the bottom of the boat is taking on water!"

"Who told you to slow down? Keep going, keep going, don't stop!"

The officers escorting the ship shouted meaningless orders in vain, only increasing the chaos on board. The warships behind, trying to avoid the out-of-control vessels ahead, also veered sharply in the panic, resulting in even greater chaos.

The river was filled with shouts, curses, and the sounds of ships hitting reefs and colliding with each other.

Taking advantage of the Yuan fleet's disarray and slowing down, Zhang Desheng, Yu Tingyu, Liao Yongzhong, and others directed their small boats to quickly approach. They had waited too long for this opportunity, and excitement gleamed in everyone's eyes.

The advantages of small boats—their shallow draft and maneuverability—were fully demonstrated at this moment. The hundreds of small boats of the Red Flag Battalion Navy, like a pack of wolves devouring an elephant, were unafraid of the shallows and reefs, and surrounded the enemy from all directions.

The Yuan officer knew that he would be finished once the small boat got close, and he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The bandits are attacking! Fire your arrows!"

The Yuan army's warships, some large enough to carry nearly a thousand men and others small enough to carry around two hundred, served as battle platforms, with two to three hundred archers standing on their decks. If these twenty-eight warships were to carry six to seven thousand brave soldiers, they could slaughter the Red Flag Battalion's navy with just their bows and crossbows, leaving corpses strewn across the battlefield.

Unfortunately, they only had seven hundred men, less than thirty on each warship, yet they had to deal with more than ten small boats surrounding them from all sides. Their limited number of bows and crossbows, once separated, were hardly effective in killing any enemy.

The arrows fired in the chaos either fell into the water or were deflected by the Red Flag Battalion's naval soldiers with their weapons; only a very few unlucky ones were hit by stray arrows.

Under the orders of the officers on each ship, the Yuan soldiers hurriedly drew their bows and fired arrows, but their resistance seemed so futile in the face of the surging small boats.

Amidst this chaos, the two sides are finally about to clash.

Seeing that the enemy's first large ship was about to break through the encirclement, Zhang Desheng decisively gave the order:
"Fire rockets! Shoot the sails!"

In naval warfare using cold weapons, fire attacks were an essential tactic. The ship had made the necessary preparations in advance, and the naval soldiers on several small boats around it quickly drew their bows and launched the lit rockets.

Because of the headwind and the fact that the enemy warships were quite tall, the projectiles were not very effective. Most of the arrows either missed their mark or hit the sides and decks of the Yuan warships.

However, with the advantage of having more ships and more people, a few rockets still managed to hit the enemy's sails and quickly set them on fire, causing the large ships to slow down.

At this point, the Yuan soldiers on the ship were praying that the fire could be brought under control and that the large ship would not sink.

At least with the ship still there, they still had hope of surrendering and surviving; without the ship, there would only be destruction and death.

"Move closer and seize the ship!"

On the other side of the river island, Yu Tingyu's second battalion had also completed the encirclement. He deflected an arrow with his small shield in his left hand and decisively gave the order.

"Throw the hook!"

More than thirty grappling hooks were thrown out, most of them getting caught on the ship's side.

Yu Tingyu shouted:
"pull!"

The grappling hooks were used to hold the large ship, but the navy's ships were lighter. As the soldiers seemed to be rooted to the ground, they pulled their small boats closer and closer to the large ship.

During the battle, a few soldiers were hit by arrows from the Yuan army, but the others showed no intention of letting go. The wounded soldiers gritted their teeth, letting their blood stain their battle robes, and still held on tightly to the ropes.

The two ships are already close; if we charge in, we can take control of this large ship.

Beside almost every besieged Yuan warship, several small boats were doing the same thing: Red Flag Battalion soldiers clung to the Yuan warships like ants, slowly surrounding them.

The Yuan army on the large ship tried to concentrate their forces and kill the Red Flag Battalion soldiers on a small boat, but they couldn't. The Red Flag Battalion's small boat also had archers. Although the effect of shooting from below was not good, they could not withstand the dense rain of arrows from the large number of people.

The Yuan soldiers hid behind the ship's side, not daring to peek out, and could only fire arrows haphazardly, most of which fell into the river.

Seeing that resistance had become futile, many of the more resourceful Yuan soldiers, fearing that they would be brutally punished by the Red Flag Battalion after being captured for killing too many people, simply stopped putting in any effort. They not only refused to stick their heads out and shoot arrows anymore, but also dragged their feet on the officers' orders to cut the grappling hooks.

Some cunning veterans even began to secretly take off their uniforms, waiting for the Red Flag Battalion to board the warships so they could disguise themselves as sailors and surrender.

A few Red Flag Battalion soldiers had their grappling hooks cut by the Yuan army during the climb and fell into the icy river. They were quickly pulled out by their comrades, but most of them managed to board the large ships. They pounced on the Yuan soldiers like wolves and tigers, their battle cries shaking the heavens and the earth.

If the two sides are evenly matched, the battle after boarding will be the bloodiest and most brutal.

However, today's battle was fought with superior numbers, and the Yuan army's will to resist was very weak. As more and more Red Flag Battalion soldiers boarded the warships, many Yuan soldiers began to slowly retreat, not daring to fight them head-on.

Some Yuan soldiers even laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Yu Tingyu and his soldiers jumped onto the bow of a warship. Just as they killed a Yuan army leader, they heard a "drip" sound, followed by a foul stench. It turned out that a Yuan soldier had wet himself in fear, his short sword trembling uncontrollably, but he dared not drop it.

The young Yuan soldier was deathly pale, his eyes wide open, clearly terrified by the battle before him.

"hey-hey!"

Yu Tingyu glanced contemptuously at the soldier, then looked at the other Yuan soldiers, knowing the battle was over, and shouted, "Disarm and you will not be killed!"

"We surrender! We surrender! Grandpa Red Flag Battalion, please don't kill us anymore!"

"We can sail big ships. Spare my life and I'm willing to serve Grandpa Red Flag Battalion!"

The Yuan soldiers and sailors felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and they all dropped their weapons and knelt down to beg for surrender.

Similar scenes played out repeatedly on the warships. The Yuan army's resistance quickly crumbled, and some officers who tried to put up a stubborn resistance were soon beheaded or subdued. The remaining soldiers, seeing that the situation was hopeless, all gave up resistance.

In this battle, the Red Flag Battalion's navy ambushed the enemy at the western island of Fanchang on the Yangtze River. After two hours of fierce fighting, they burned one enemy ship, and the remaining twenty-seven large ships fell into the navy's hands, capturing more than a thousand Yuan soldiers and sailors.

After the war, two more warships were severely damaged and sank before they could be towed to the Hezhou dock on the northwest shore, which saddened Xu Da greatly.

However, the remaining twenty-five large ships are still a huge asset, which will not only greatly enhance the strength of the navy, which is in dire need of large ships, but will also completely change the navy's combat mode.

With this, the Red Flag Battalion's navy could finally bid farewell to its history of relying on small fishing boats as its main force to fight against the Yuan army.

(End of this chapter)