With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

At this point, the entire battle had essentially come to an end.

All the pirates' ships were captured by the army. The decks of every ship were filled with a strong smell of blood. Knife marks, arrow holes, and dents from impacts were everywhere. In many places, there were still dried bloodstains and scattered weapons.

The ship was packed with prisoners of war, some sitting, some squatting, their hands bound, their expressions numb or terrified, some sobbing softly, others with resentment in their eyes.

Some of the bandits, seeing that defeat was inevitable, jumped into the water to escape.

However, an ambush was already set in the water, with several crocodile-armored guards and blue carp swimming in the water.

The moment the bandits entered the water, they were spotted by the Taoist soldiers and dragged into the deep water. Only a few bubbles rose to the surface before silence fell; the bandits quickly sank and never resurfaced.

Wounded soldiers were constantly being helped or carried to two separate ships, where medics provided emergency treatment.

Minor wounded prisoners were taken in batches to the cabins or corners of the decks of various ships and guarded by soldiers in shifts.

As for the seriously wounded prisoners, they were thrown into the river on the spot and left to fend for themselves.

The people had long lost all pity for this group of bandits who had slaughtered an entire town.

As lords, Lin Ye and Chen Cheng hated bandits the most. Not only did they not pay taxes to their territory, but they also killed and plundered at will, making the local people miserable, tax revenue plummeted, and governance much more difficult.

Han Feng was escorted to Lin Ye and Chen Cheng by several martial artists.

The county magistrate and several martial artists from the county stepped forward to identify him. After confirming his identity, they took him away.

At this moment, Han Feng had been shot twice in the left leg and two times in the left shoulder. The wounds were so deep that the bone was visible, and blood was constantly seeping out from his clothes, staining half of his clothes red.

He had lost too much blood and was in a coma, his face as pale as paper.

The accompanying physician immediately rushed to his aid, not out of mercy, but because even after he was saved, he would still face severe torture and interrogation, and in the end, he would not escape being beheaded.

As darkness fell, considering the large number of wounded and the fact that the monsters in the river were more active at night, the fleet decided to dock nearby and rest for the night if they were to turn back rashly, as this could lead to further casualties.

That night, the doctors' tents were brightly lit, with stretchers constantly coming and going, and the sounds of activity continued until late into the night.

The army counted the number of people, registered the captured ships and equipment, repaired the damaged ships and equipment, and arranged for sentry posts to be guarded in shifts.

Fortunately, nothing happened overnight.

However, in the middle of the night, a few foolish monsters were attracted by the campfire and quietly crept out from the forest or the water's edge.

The sentries spotted them in time, and gongs and shouts immediately rang out. The soldiers on night duty grabbed their weapons and rushed out, firing torches and arrows at the same time, quickly killing the monsters on the outskirts of the camp.

Early in the morning, Lin Ye and Chen Cheng sat at a makeshift table, eating breakfast while listening to the casualty reports from the military clerk and judge.

In this battle, the Lin and Chen armies together deployed more than 1,200 men, along with more than 200 boatmen and more than 100 martial artists from Qinghe County.

After this battle, Lin Biao and Chen Biao's armies suffered approximately two hundred casualties, with over a thousand remaining unharmed.

The boatmen suffered relatively minor casualties, with only about thirty injured or killed; the martial artists from Qinghe County suffered greater casualties, with more than forty killed.

Two third-rate martial artists were killed. One was killed on the spot by Han Feng's underwater attack using the Azure Carp of Cangyan; the other, eager for revenge, was surrounded by enemy forces while boarding the ship and died from exhaustion.

The shipwrights' casualties were mainly concentrated during the long-range firefights between the two sides. After all, they were protected at the rear of the deck during the barrage of crossbow fire, so their numbers were small.

When boarding action begins, it is usually the fighters on our side who charge onto the enemy ship, and the shipwrights do not directly participate in close combat.

The Qinghe County warriors suffered heavy casualties, mainly due to their eagerness for revenge, which led them to charge too far forward. During the first boarding maneuver, they rushed onto the enemy ship and were met with a barrage of arrows and crossbow bolts.

Even martial artists are not immune to injury under the dense rain of arrows, and many lose their fighting ability as a result.

Although the casualties were heavy, the gains were also significant.

There are very few martial artists in Blood Lake Bay; there are only four third-rate martial artists in total.

In this battle, nearly 1,200 bandits were killed, severely wounded, or went missing after falling into the water, and more than 600 were captured. All four third-rate martial artists were killed.

Lin Ye listened to these figures; the casualty counts pained him, but he was still satisfied with the overall battle loss ratio.

After all, their side was not good at naval warfare, and their army lacked systematic training. It was already remarkable that they could achieve such an exchange ratio under such conditions.

He knew in his heart that the key to victory this time was the numerical advantage of the martial artists, with more than forty third-rate martial artists alone.

If he were truly willing to send them out alone to fight, they might be able to crush the bandits, but the casualties would inevitably be greater, and he was unwilling to use them that way.

During the last raid on Bawangtan, four third-rate martial artists were lost in a single battle, which saddened him and Chen Cheng for several days.

Including this time, six third-rate martial artists have now died.

Fortunately, three of the six people were from Qinghe County, and only one was from the Lin family.

After everyone had lunch, the fleet set sail, preparing to return to the county town for rest.

This time, the army did not plan to go to the area where Blackwater Village was located.

Firstly, the ship was carrying a large number of captured pirates, which made movement difficult.

Secondly, the men of Blackwater Village, like the bandits of Blood Lake Bay, have likely already gone into hiding and are difficult to find in a short time.

If the entire army were to be mobilized for the search, the target would be too large. If only a small group of warriors were sent to investigate on the back of the Daoist soldiers, they would be vulnerable to attacks from monsters in the river, which would only increase casualties.

After weighing the options, Lin Ye and Chen Cheng decided to return to the county town to reorganize things, and put the matter of Blackwater Village on hold for the time being.

However, the two groups of bandits from Bawangtan and Xuehuwan have already been wiped out, which is enough to report back to the government.

Moreover, both the Lin and Chen families suffered heavy losses this time, so the results were acceptable.

Compared to previous purges organized by the government, this time the results were much greater.

The fleet slowly sailed away from the Snake Hollow, and the river gradually widened.

When you reach a fork in the road, the main stream is in front of you, and a tributary branches off on the left and right sides.

Sunlight slanted across the water, creating dappled golden spots, while the reeds on both banks swayed gently in the breeze.

Suddenly, the sentry on the high vantage point rang out a gong, the urgent sound breaking the tranquility of the river.

"Boats are rapidly approaching from both sides! About twenty of them, they belong to the Blackwater Village, and they're flying the Flood Dragon Flag!"

Upon hearing the sound, Lin Ye and Chen Cheng immediately left the cabin and quickly walked to the ship's side, looking at the two tributaries on the left and right.

Sure enough, the two fleets were rapidly emerging from the tributaries on either side, their bows cleaving through the water as they headed straight for the main channel.

At this moment, their own fleet was arranged in a long snake shape on the main channel, while the two fleets from Blackwater Village attacked from the left and right sides, intending to cut them off in the middle of the river.

Even more critically, Lin Ye, Chen Cheng, and the main force's command ship, which were originally positioned in the middle of the fleet for safety, are now being forced into a corner by enemy ships on both sides.

It's too late to speed up and escape; a hasty turn or acceleration will only disrupt the formation and make it easier to be divided and surrounded.