Chapter 25 Attack on Tang Soldiers

Cao Shixiong decided to adopt Gai Hong's plan and informed Xu Tangju and Fei Chuangu not to fight against the Tang army in the inner city of Runzhou, attracting Yang Fuguang and Liu Ye to lead troops to reinforce.

Liu Ye led 20,000 horses. After leaving Yangzhou, he went straight to Runzhou and walked halfway. When he learned that Guazhou Shuizhai had been attacked, Liu Ye quickly ordered the Tang army to stop moving forward and summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures.

Vice General Wang Ning said, "Now that the Guazhou water village has been burned by the bandits, the Runzhou navy has almost been destroyed, and the Jiangbei ferry must have been robbed by the bandits. For a while, where did 20,000 of us go to find the ferry? Therefore, I suggest that on the one hand, we garrison in Jiangbei to find a ferry, and on the other hand, observe the changes in the war in Runzhou.

The generals talked about it one after another, and some generals shouted back to Yangzhou. Liu Ye sighed and said, "Huang Chao's thief is really very powerful. It seems that the thief must take Huainan this time. They are looking at our granary in Huainan. If they capture Runzhou and then cross the river to fight Yangzhou, we will be all finished!"

Wang Ning said, "I estimate that Yang Fuguang's army has sent a leading force. This time, Cao Quanqi was the vanguard officer, Duan Yanmo was the deputy general, and Zhu Jingmei was the supervisor, and 30,000 elite soldiers were allocated to reinforce Runzhou from the east of the waterway. I think they will arrive at the Runzhou River in ten days and a half months. At that time, they will launch an attack on the bandits and the water army. They will definitely be able to defeat the bandits, and we can cross the river.

Wang Ning nodded: "It seems that we can only wait here for Cao Quanyu's fleet to come to Runzhou. Let's camp here. Once the thief sneaks attack Yangzhou, we can go back to rescue."

Wang Ning said, "You can send dozens of clever soldiers to form an advance team, find a way to get some ferries in Jiangbei, quietly cross the river, and try to get in touch with An Renyi and ask them to wait for help."

Liu Ye agreed to Wang Ning's suggestion and sent dozens of soldiers to form an advance team to find the ferry.

Cao Quanyu, Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei led 30,000 Tang troops from the east of the waterway and soon arrived at the river north of Jiangzhou. Duan Yanmo was scared by the rebels on the river last time and said to Cao Quanyu, "General Cao, let me send some boats to patrol around first to see if the thieves have ambushed?"

"Ambush? Hahaha, our army boat is blocked by the river, and the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong. Are you afraid of how many thieves? General Duan, I think you are afraid of being beaten by the thieves and become timid. After saying that, Cao Quanyu said to Cao Yi, "Yi'er, I will order the fleet to advance at full speed and rush across the Jiangzhou River. If it is stopped by bandits, it will be resolutely destroyed!"

Cao Yi said, "Please rest assured, Yi'er will break through the Jiangzhou River of the thief in one fell swoop!" After saying that, Cao Yi ordered the big ship to open the road, and the small boat followed and sailed straight to the east.

Qiu Tao and Qiu Hong are leading the Jiangzhou water army to ambush in the reeds in the east of Jiangzhou. Qiu Tao said to Qiu Hong, "Hongmei, this is the first battle after we joined the Daqi Rebel Army. We will resolutely prevent the Tang army from reinforcements Runzhou from the waterway. We must fight the prestige of our Daqi water army!"

Qiu Hong flashed her eyes and said firmly, "Brother Tao, don't worry, Hongmei must beat the Tang army this time. We have 8,000 sailors this time, are you afraid that they won't do it?"

When Qiu Tao saw Qiu Hong's firm tone and high fighting spirit, he nodded with satisfaction, then turned to look west, pondered for a while, and ordered the volunteers to prepare for battle.

Cao Yi was satisfied with sufficient troops and ordered the fleet to speed up and gradually entered the ambush circle preset by the Qiu brothers and sisters. Qiu Hong said to Qiu Tao, "Brother Tao, the enemy has entered our attack range. Order the attack!"

Qiu Tao waved his hand and said, "Hongmei, now is not the time to attack!"

When Qiu Hong heard this, she was really anxious and said, "If you don't fight now, will you let them go like this?" The godfather and mother told us to attack the enemy's navy fiercely. How can you disobey the order? If you don't attack, I'm going to attack!"

Qiu Tao's face sank: "Red girl, don't mess with me! If I don't fight now, it doesn't mean I won't fight behind. I conclude that the enemy's leading forces must be very strong. If we start fighting now, the two sides must be in a stalemate. If the fleet behind the enemy comes to attack, we will be at a disadvantage and it will be difficult to win. Therefore, I decided to release the enemy's leading troops and wait for the enemy's rear fleet to come, and we suddenly attacked. Chasing the enemy, so that we can take the initiative of this water war!"

After hearing this, Qiu Hong understood Qiu Hong's deployment and said, "Brother Tao, you still have a lot of ideas. I have to learn from you."

Qiu Tao smiled cheerfully: "Hongmei, I'm older than you and eat more than you. Of course, there are more ways than you, hehe!"

Cao Yi commanded the leading fleet all the way, which was very smooth, but seeing that the sky was high and the water was far away, not even a small boat on the river could be seen. Cao Yi couldn't help but be proud and said to his own soldiers, "It seems that Jiangzhou thieves are afraid of us and dare not come out to intercept them. In this way, we can reach Runzhou in about half a month, hahaha!"

When Cao Quanyu saw that Cao Yi's fleet successfully passed through the water surface of Jiangzhou, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and said to Yao Qing, "Yi'er is brave. The Jiangzhou thief army dares not come out to intercept it. It is said that the army will pass through the Jiujiang River quickly!"

Yao Qing narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "General Cao, the thief is extremely cunning. Huang Chao's soldiers have always been unpredictable. Our army can't be careless!"

"Yellow Nest? Hey hey, in Qingzhou, didn't he finally spread the army? This time I reinforced Runzhou to find the decisive battle of Huang Chao! Only by accelerating forward can we lift the siege of Runzhou as soon as possible. Yang Jianjun quickly led the army to rush to Runzhou by land, and General Zeng Yuanyu would also lead elite troops to Runzhou to command. This time, our army will definitely be able to annihilate the yellow nest thieves under Runzhou!"

Yao Qing had no choice but to keep silent. Cao Quanhai ordered the Tang army fleet to speed up. Duan Yanmo was defeated on the river last time. This time, he was very cautious and ordered his subordinates to slow down the forward speed and gradually distance himself from Cao Quanyu's fleet and fell behind. He has long thought that if the main fleet is attacked and the war is unfavorable, he will lead his troops to camp in the Jiangling area to keep his people.

Zhu Jingmei, like Duan Yanmo, is also greedy and afraid of death, so she chose to sit in a big boat with Duan Yanmo. Once Cao Quanhai's main force is defeated, he also considers fleeing to a safe area. Before the war, his retreat has been arranged.

Cao Quanyu's main fleet finally entered the ambush circle of the Rebels. Qiu Tao shouted as soon as the fighter plane had arrived: "Brothers, it's time to kill the enemy and make contributions. Follow me to the enemy fleet!"

The Rebels had already made full preparations. They saw dozens of small boats loaded with hay and so on, such as arrows, rushed to Cao Quanyu's fleet. Qiu Tao and Qiu Hong ordered the righteous archers to shoot intensively at the Tang army. On the river, the Rebel warships sailed out of the hidden places one after another. For a moment, the sound of drums and the sound of killing shocked the sky.

The Tang army was caught off guard and was attacked by the rebels. He was stunned and killed and injured a large area. Many ships were squeezed into a mess. The hay on the Rebel boat was hit by the rocket of the Rebels, which ignited a blazing fire and rushed into the Tang army's fleet, causing the Tang army's warships to catch fire one after another, and there was a sea of fire on the river. The volunteers who rushed into the Tang army's fleet in a small boat treated each other as if they were dead, and fought bravely with the Tang soldiers until all the heroic sacrifices.

Cao Quanyu was shocked and quickly ordered the warship to drive to the north shore, away from the fire area. Many Tang soldiers did not practice water warfare. At this time, they saw that the warships were full of fire, panicked, dived one after another, drowned countless people, and surrendered to the rebels. Seeing that the main fleet was attacked, Cao Yi quickly led his fleet to come to reinforce. He happened to meet Qiu Tao's fleet, and the two sides had a scuffle.

In the fierce battle, Qiu Hong drove a boat over and saw Cao Yi waving Fang Tianhua halberd and turning over several volunteers in a row. Qiu Hong quickly picked up his bow and arrows. He looked at Cao Yi with an arrow. Cao Yi was hit by an arrow in his right thigh and fell on the boat. He was rescued by his own soldiers and retreated to the north bank in confusion.

Qiu Tao held a duck-billed gun, Qiu Hong waved the willow leaves and silk knife, and commanded the volunteers to chase and kill the Tang soldiers. The Tang soldiers had no fighting spirit and surrendered. The river was full of floating corpses. The river was red, the Tang army threw away their helmets and armor, and countless heavy grain and grass were lost.

Duan Yanmo looked at the fire in front of him, thick smoke rolling and killing. He knew that Cao Quanyu's father and son's fleet was attacked by Jiangzhou's "thief" and was defeated. He looked at Zhu Jingmei and said, "Zhu Jianjun, you also saw the previous scene. You are our supervisor. What do you think we should do now?"

Zhu Jingmei still had a lingering mind when she remembered the scene of running for her life on the river last time. At this time, she thought about how to escape from the battlefield as soon as possible. How could she manage the life or death of Cao Quanqi's father and son's fleet? He hurriedly said to Duan Yanmo, "General Duan, you have rich combat experience. You decide to retreat as soon as possible. As for how to withdraw, you order it. I will listen to you. After that, I will explain the situation to Yang Jianjun to ensure your life safety!"

"Well, Zhu Jianjun, I heard what you just said, and my subordinates also heard it to ensure my life safety, that's what you said. Then I ordered that for the safety of 5,000 people under my subordinates, I now order my fleet to turn around and drive west. If there is another attack by the thief army, they will run to the north shore and not be allowed to fight. Our only purpose is to spread to the safe area as soon as possible.

Cao Quanyu and Cao Yi finally led the remaining warships to rush to the north shore. After landing, they abandoned their boats and landed. They ran more than ten miles before they stopped and counted the people and horses. The father and son were 25,000 people, leaving only more than 3,000 people left. Many of them were already hanging up and moaning. After a while, Cao Quanhui sent his own soldiers to contact Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei's fleet and reported to Cao Quanyu that he had not seen the 5,000 people Duan Yanmo and Zhu Jingmei at all.

Cao Quanyu's beard trembled angrily: "Duan Yanmo, Zhu Jingmei, you bastards! Rats! The greedy and afraid of death have already made a hiding hole for themselves! Next time we meet our father and son, we must kill you!"