With no east wind blowing and no war drums beating, two thousand soldiers boarded the ship and set off.
"Only five people are left on the awning, which is piled high with kerosene. Remember to tie the dry gourds on."
Dried gourds, several in a circle, were lifebuoys in ancient times.
"General Xu, if this happens, whether it is a river boat or a merchant ship, if there are too many people, there will be a danger of capsizing the ship."
"As I said, this is not a side-to-side battle. Although the river wind is adverse, it is not too strong."
Since the wind was not favorable and he was standing on top of the merchant ship, Xu Mu wished he could install a steam device to make the merchant ship travel faster.
"Reef the sails, paddle—"
Seeing that the headwind on the river was getting stronger and stronger, I had no choice but to paddle instead.
"General Xu, there are river bandits sailing."
Listen, Xu Mu is not surprised. In the water village, there must be a place to look out onto the river. No matter how dark the night is, you will eventually be discovered when you get close.
"Several ships."
"The six ships are all river boats."
Xu Mu frowned. On the river not far away, there were indeed a few scattered river boats, rushing forward.
Nearly a hundred gangsters were banging on the partitions with the backs of their swords, cursing and shouting.
"What's going on?" Si Hu stood up angrily.
"I'm used to talking too much. I just think that I am the ancestor of Jiang Shang." Xu Mu sneered.
"Longbow, lead a group of people and shoot with kerosene arrows."
To avoid errors in accuracy, Xu Mu specially ordered a more stable merchant ship and asked the bow dog to take nearly a hundred mountain hunting archers to shoot at any time.
Listening to Xu Mu's words, he waited for the Jiang bandit's boat to get closer. The bow dog suddenly raised his bow and lit the kerosene arrows on the boat's lantern. Then, along with the actions of nearly a hundred other people -
call.
On the dark river surface, it was like a small rain of fire, falling towards the six approaching river boats.
Except for the fire arrows that fell into the river, at least most of them pierced into the ship's planks and raised up fire snakes.
Not long after, three boats were burned on the spot, and the frightened bandits in their 20s and 30s jumped into the river one after another. The other three boats extinguished the fire and hurriedly turned back.
Bang.
After shooting the drowned bandit with one arrow, Xu Mu withdrew his bow and looked calm.
"General Xu, if these people escape, the Jiang bandit's Dashui stronghold will definitely know about it."
"I couldn't hide it in the first place."
Next, it is more likely that nearly 10,000 river bandits will come out of these two water villages.
"General Xu is really going to kill him!"
Hearing the sound of killing in the distance, Xu Mu remained calm and motionless.
"The Jiang bandits are following the wind, and we are facing the headwind. We will definitely not be able to distance ourselves. General Xu, I'm afraid we are really going to have to engage in a boarding battle."
The method of the river bandits is to approach the ship and then board the ship to kill and rob.
Xu Mu's face was expressionless. He dared to fight this battle because he considered all factors. Even the wind direction that put them at a disadvantage.
He waved his hand calmly. Wei Xiaowu, who was on the merchant ship, immediately waved the Xu flag.
Nearly twenty boats of awnings slowly formed a wall formation in the fleet.
…
"Boys, fill up the sails for me -" a bandit leader wearing a flower helmet shouted loudly as he stood on the bow of the ship, pointing forward with his sword raised.
Scenes like this are common in the Jiang bandit fleet.
The mighty warships roared out of the dock, all with full sails. Rows of river bandits stood in the arrow cabins with their bows raised, shouting abuses.
"General Xu, rushing over!"
Xu Mu did not answer, and faced forward coldly. More than twenty boats with awnings had already sailed out from the gaps left by the boats.
"Move forward!"
On the awning, the only five people in each boat roared and rowed the oars, pushing forward for less than half a mile.
The river bandits who rushed in thought that Xu Mu had nothing to do, so they used their black awnings to lead the charge, one or two, and kept laughing.
"Light the fire!" Xu Mu sneered.
These river bandits and bitches are really used to being on the river.
Following Xu Mu's order, Wei Xiaowu waved the Xu-character flag, and soon, more than twenty black tents lined up in a long wall formation, with the help of kerosene, suddenly started a large fire.
The Xu Jiajun on the awning took the opportunity to jump into the river one after another, relying on the buoyancy of the dry gourds to go upstream to the nearest river boat.
"Back two miles." Xu Mu continued to order. Compared with the headwind, the speed of retreating the boat was obviously much faster.
More than twenty awnings, burning with pieces of fire, lined up at least half of the river. The river bandit warships rushing towards them with full sails, how could they have thought of this.
"Lower, lower the sail——"
Everything was too late. Under the huge wind, the first river bandit's warship quickly hit the awning and was set on fire.
Bang, bang.
Then, more and more river bandit warships collided head-on. Countless figures jumped into the river in fear.
Half of the river seemed to be on fire.
…
Sitting on the bank of the river, Li Zhiqiu's eyes flickered, staring blankly at the firelight halfway across the river.
"I'm waiting. Is this considered watching the fire from the other side?"
Li Zhiqiu's face looked a little bitter, "I expected Xiaodong's family to win, but I didn't expect it to win so much."
"Captain, what about now?"
"What else can I do?" Li Zhiqiu sighed, "When I have time, I will talk to him again."
"This little boss seems to be unable to win over. Even the regular number one scholar in the inner city can't succeed."
"It's not about wooing, it's about cooperation." Li Zhiqiu turned his head and said in a deep voice, "He must also know that sooner or later, Muyunzhou will be attacked by a large army."
"That blind Marquis of Dingnan is very evil. Sometimes, I really want to kill him and exchange my life with him."
Many knights nearby hurriedly tried to persuade him.
"Just thinking about it." Li Zhiqiu held his sword, his voice filled with reluctance.
…
On the river, the fire was still blazing into the sky.
Finally, a pirate ship escaped the fire and headed towards Xu Mu's merchant ship.
The leader of the Jiang bandits, regardless of his twisted helmet and his smoky face, urged his men, shouting angrily and raising their swords.
"Starting stick!"
Boom.
The racket stick with a stone hammer attached to it came close to a river boat and clapped it down heavily.
Jiang Zhou was shattered into pieces.
At least half of the Xu Jiajun, who were in their 20s and 30s, were killed. The remaining ones fell into the water and swam hard to the nearest ships.
"This madman!"
"Raise the bow——"
The merchant ships and river boats did not have shooting poles attached to the side, so they had to raise their bows and arrows and shoot at the approaching river bandits.
The bow dog on the other side led more than a hundred mountain hunters, and they were even more accurate in their archery skills. They nailed the kerosene arrows one by one to the pirate ship.
The several pirate boats that rushed over gradually started a fire. Many people on the pirate boats were so shocked that they jumped into the river one after another.
The clamoring leader of the river bandits could not stop the morale of the defeated bandits at all. He only shouted two or three times before his head was shot open by an arrow from a bow dog, and his body rolled into the river.
"General Xu, those Jiang bandits ran back."
"The other bank is too far away. These river bandits are scared out of their wits and are afraid that if we attack the water village, they will definitely run to the river bank."
After all, these river bandits are nothing more than a mob, they are just relying on their warships and large number of people to exercise power and prosperity. After being defeated like a mountain, don't expect this group of river bandits to have any ambition to sacrifice their lives.
"General Xu, the cavalry on General Yu's side have been waiting for you for a long time."
Not only on Yu Wen's side, but also in the direction of the river beach, Xu Mu had arranged people.
"Shoot signal arrows."
"General Xu has an order to shoot signal arrows——"
A signal arrow whizzed up and exploded in the sky instantly, lighting up every determined face around it.?
"Listen to my general's order. The courage of the river bandits is shattered. This is the time for us to fight! Everyone, listen to my order and help me snatch all the river boats back!"
River ships and warships are the river armaments that the Xu family's army will need in the future.
Jia Zhou was right when he said that cavalry resisted foreign enemies, while warships resisted enemies on the water.