Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 373 You Win, I Won't Lose

On the first day of the tenth month, after the letter was delivered to the shore, it was obtained by the Kunshan Prefecture officials who took turns stationed there and immediately sent it to the prefectural government.

Dozens of boats flooded into the harbor, mostly of the crane-whistle type, each carrying more than ten people, coming and going incessantly, extremely arrogant.

Fang Guozhen stood on the foredeck of a large ocean-going ship, quietly observing the world-famous Six Kingdoms Wharf.

To be honest, he was a little disappointed.

It's not that Liujiagang isn't wealthy, but rather that the port itself is quite ordinary. The main problem is that the port is too open and unobstructed. There's neither a headland extending out to block the seawater and form a natural breakwater, nor a high mountain overlooking the entire dock and controlling the overall situation.

Of course, the above are all considered from the perspective of military warfare.

After looking at the port, Fang Guozhen's gaze shifted to the shore.

A long river embankment stretches from east to west, with warehouses densely packed inside, and houses far more numerous than those in the most bustling streets of Taizhou city—and this is just one street.

Further away, the entire port area is divided into many sections by crisscrossing streets and alleys, with inns, restaurants, teahouses, theaters, warehouses and even residential houses standing side by side, stretching as far as the eye can see.

This is Liujiagang, a place where wealthy merchants from all directions gather. It is indeed incomparable to places like Wenzhou and Taizhou, and even far inferior to Qingyuan Port, where the main body of the Maritime Trade Office is located. Liujiagang is merely the location of a branch office under the Qingyuan Maritime Trade Office.

As his gaze swept around, Fang Guozhen also spotted several flags.

The easternmost one is marked "Guangping Thousand-Household Office," and to the west are, in order, "Daming Thousand-Household Office" and the Jinan New Army...

The old army of Hejian consisted of four thousand-household units, which were deployed in different areas. The number of soldiers was not yet known.

The westernmost one is the water village.

Only two or three small fishing boats were moored at the berths inside the village, and there was no one there at the moment.

The area in front of the village was deserted; occasionally someone would peek out, only to disappear again shortly after.

There seemed to be people inside the village, but it was hard to tell how many there were, and there were no flags or banners, which was quite surprising—other streets were all guarded, but the water village was empty? That didn't make sense.

However, when faced with the suggestion from some clever men to seize the water fortress first as a means of advance or retreat, he did not object. After scanning the area, his gaze fell on Liu Rong, the leader of the pirates, and he laughed, "Sea monkey, you've reaped the least along the way. Now that you've volunteered, I'll grant your wish. Don't say I didn't take care of you."

Upon hearing the news, Liu Rong was overjoyed and said, "Sanlang, just wait and see the show."

The first one to make it ashore will reap many benefits. Liujiagang is so wealthy, it's unimaginable how much they can make this round.

His subordinates, who were standing beside him, were also overjoyed and said all at once, "Sanlang, you've finally been fair to us."

"

"Fang Sanlang, I misunderstood you before. I will definitely give you a big gift when I get back."

"Damn it, stop restricting this and that. We're men of the sea, why all this trouble? It's so annoying!"

"Let's go quickly. If people realize what's happening and send reinforcements, it will be troublesome."

A noisy group of people surrounded Liu Rong, ready to set off.

Liu Rong took a couple of steps, then seemed to remember something. He chuckled and walked back, giving an awkward military salute, and said, "Marshal, Liu Rong obeys."

Having said that, he turned and strode away.

A short while later, the group boarded a small boat and returned to their own ship.

It was a ten-zhang-long knife-fish warship, probably a spoil of war from the Battle of the Five Tiger Gates. It carried over a hundred people, all of whom were standing on the deck, looking at the water fortress with excitement and curiosity.

Among them were elderly people with white hair and beards, teenagers as young as fourteen or fifteen, some with weathered faces, some still childish, some cruel and cunning, some honest and dull—in short, all sorts of people.

There were twenty men at the bow and twenty at the stern, standing silently, awaiting orders.

They were all captured officers and soldiers, whose main task was to operate the ballistae on the Knifefish warships—each ballista required at least a dozen people to operate, and the process was extremely tedious.

Liu Rong, full of vigor, waved his hand, and a skinny, monkey-like sailor nimbly climbed a long section of the mast and waved the flag behind him.

A moment later, several boats belonging to Liu Rong set off one after another, heading towards the water village.

The smile on Fang Guozhen's face had long since faded.

At this moment, he stood with his hands behind his back on one side of the ship's railing, quietly watching the battle that was about to break out.

After Liu Rong's troops set off, two fishmongers from Wenzhou, Huang Wan and Huang Chong, requested to join the attack. Fang Guozhen rejected Huang Wan's request and ordered Huang Chong to lead his troops to attack, following behind "Sea Monkey" Liu Rong as the second wave of offensive.

Before leaving, Huang Chong mocked his cousin Huang Wan, seemingly implying that Huang Wan was too cowardly. He secretly gave Fang Sanlang several hundred bolts of silk—things he had earned through his own efforts. What was the point of giving them to Fang Sanlang? Since he hadn't asked for them, he pretended not to know.

Huang Wan was somewhat annoyed at this moment, and he kept a long face while standing next to Fang Guozhen.

Fang Guozhen saw it all but said nothing.

There are some things that Huang Wan will eventually understand, so there's no rush to explain them to him now.

Liu Rong and Huang Chong, accustomed to a free and undisciplined lifestyle, repeatedly disobeyed military orders and were extremely arrogant. They might not be the most arrogant of all, but they were definitely the most foolish. This time, let them try going ashore.

******

Song Tong climbed onto the river embankment and observed carefully.

The boats moored nearby were densely packed and stretched as far as the eye could see; a rough count suggested there were over two hundred, of all sizes.

"There must be six or seven thousand people," Song Tong secretly guessed.

Among the bandits' ranks, some of the tallest warships were the most eye-catching. Needless to say, these were originally ships of the government navy, but now they were all used by the bandits.

The pirate ships attacking the western water fortress were divided into groups.

The first group, carrying the banner with the character "Huang" on it, was led by four sea crane patrol boats, followed by one knife fish boat, plus seven or eight other small boats of various kinds, with a total number of people probably close to three hundred.

The second group was even more terrifying, not in terms of the number of people, but in terms of their intimidating banner: Chongtian Duyuanshi.

Song Tong felt a mixture of amusement and sorrow.

The Yuan Dynasty's well-equipped navy was defeated by these clueless bandits? But on second thought, it doesn't seem so funny. Such is the state of the world, and it's not just the navy that's incapable of fighting these days. The two hundred soldiers he led in Guangping were already considered among the more capable fighters in the Crossroads Army, but they still weren't confident they could win against the sea pirates.

After calming himself down, Song Tong continued to observe.

Some scattered enemy ships slowly sailed toward the shore, some even heading straight for his defense zone, causing great commotion among the soldiers stationed on the shore.

Song Tong summoned one hundred households and ordered them to lead a patrol. Anyone who made a loud noise would be executed without mercy.

The centurion accepted the order and left.

Song Tong then turned his gaze to the west—he knew very well that what was coming from the front was a harassment, not a real attack, and more likely an attempt to probe the strength of this side.

The battle in the west had already begun, but it was one-sided: a large chisel-headed arrow was fired from the knife-fish warship, and with a huge whooshing sound, it crashed into the stockade wall with tremendous force.

Large patches of dust covered the wall, and there was a faint gasp of surprise.

The four patrol boats leading the way erupted in cheers, and dozens of people rowed vigorously, quickly reaching the pier.

They leaped up nimbly, their movements swift and skillful, their faces contorted with ferocity.

After getting ashore, they instinctively tried to rush forward, but they were stopped after only a few steps and turned back in a noisy commotion, creating a chaotic scene.

Fortunately, the gates of the water fortress were tightly closed, and no one attacked.

Liu Rong's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down, followed by overwhelming joy.

He had been genuinely worried that the government troops might suddenly attack and sweep the dozens of men who had landed earlier into the Yangtze River, causing unnecessary losses. Now it seemed the government troops didn't have that guts, so the battle ahead would be much easier.

In war, what matters most is courage and bravery.

The Battle of Wuhu Gate, in which his men charged fiercely and routed the government troops, proved everything.

Now, Liu Rong looked back—

Almost all the boats came ashore, and the young men went ashore one after another, their steel knives, iron swords, and great axes gleaming coldly in the scorching sun.

That's it, that's it, haha, the feeling is back, the feeling of defeating the enemy is back.

"Form ranks!" Liu Rong shouted.

Fang Sanlang told them they couldn't act recklessly like bandits; they needed to learn how to fight. He also instructed them to humbly learn from the defeated prisoners and to treat them with respect. Although Liu Rong didn't take it seriously, he did learn a few tricks, such as "formation."

However, his formation was somewhat different.

The more than 280 people who landed were divided into five groups, each forming its own entity, huddled together. In other words, they had banded together based on their hometown, region, or some other form of community, and then combined their groups together.

The varying numbers of people in each group resulted in some groups being long and others short, which was quite comical. This flaw was not obvious at sea, but it became quite noticeable once they were on land.

Liu Rong couldn't care less about that.

Training troops is too troublesome; let's wait until after this battle. Just as he was about to urge his men to speed things up, he heard the sound of the gate of the water fortress ahead opening wide.

Almost simultaneously, the stirring sound of war drums rang out.

Groups of soldiers filed out of the village gate and lined up in the open space.

First to emerge were the swordsmen and shield bearers, their steel blades gleaming and their iron armor clanging. Once they stood firm, they drew their swords and shields in unison, shouting, "Kill!"

Four rows of spearmen followed closely behind, jogging quickly, and lined up behind the swordsmen and shieldmen, shouting "Kill!"

Next came soldiers wielding long axes, maces, and hook-and-sickle spears, while archers were scattered on both sides of the formation. The heavily armored warriors, carrying a variety of weapons, held their heads high and looked at the still noisy enemy in formation with disdain.

"Dong dong————" The rhythm of the drums in the village suddenly changed.

Gao Daqiang, who was temporarily appointed as the commander-in-chief of the front, raised the command flag and swung it down sharply.

More than a hundred armored soldiers roared in unison, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The roar was like thunder, and the momentum was like a rainbow.

Liu Rong's troops, who were in formation, were momentarily dumbfounded. What kind of tactic was this?

Before they could react, a faint drumbeat rang out from within the hundred-man formation.

"Clatter—" The second rank of riflemen all lowered their rifles, stared straight ahead, and held their breath.

The third and fourth rows held their guns diagonally forward.

Then came the rustling sound of footsteps.

More than a hundred people moved forward as one, neither too fast nor too slow, rushing straight toward them.

Zhan Feng, who was at the forefront, cursed the most offensive words and kept mentioning his mother, as he charged towards them like a whirlwind.