In the tent on the shore of Hongze Lake, Zhu Guobi and his servant Shan sat opposite each other.

As night fell, the chirping of crickets could be heard all around.

"Brother, what do you think...is this guy Lu Daqi trying to harm us on purpose?" Zhu Guobi asked.

The servant Shan looked up at Zhu Guobi's face for a while and asked, "Brother Zhu, why do you say that?"

"Look," Zhu Guobi dipped his right index finger in the tea, and then drew the layout of Hongze Lake, Xuhong River and the place where they camped on the table.

"We are stationed in a place surrounded by water on three sides. If the bandits block the only land route to the north, we will have no way to retreat!"

"You know, Liu Zongmin has 30,000 troops!" Zhu Guobi's eyes widened as he spoke, "30,000! Do you know what 30,000 means?"

The servant Shan looked Zhu Guobi in the eye and asked, "Do you mean 30,000 steamed buns?"

Zhu Guobi straightened his neck and said, "Well... our combined forces are only 10,000. He has the advantage! If we can't win, and can't escape, we will have no choice but to surrender and die for our country."

"you say..."

"Report!" Without waiting for Zhu Guobi to finish his words, the scout rushed into the tent panting, "My lords, the bandits suddenly appeared in the area of Jieji Town, ten miles to the north, and blocked our army's retreat route."

Zhu Guobi was so shocked that he stood up immediately.

"It's over, it's all over! That old bastard Lu Daqi has caused me so much trouble. Next time I see him, I'm going to beat him to death!"

The servant Shan was not much better off, cold sweat began to drip down his temples.

But he was at least a deputy governor, and he had the most basic military ability and psychological qualities. He immediately said, "Order all troops to defend the camp strictly to prevent the bandits from attacking the camp at night."

Zhu Guobi reacted immediately and ordered: "Yes, yes, order all the troops to guard strictly tonight to prevent the bandits from attacking at night."

"Lu Daqi, oh Lu Daqi, you will die a miserable death! When I get back to Beijing, I will definitely kill you in front of His Majesty!"

Just as the servant Shan was about to start scolding, a scout rushed into the tent again and said, "My lords, the governor-general Lu has sent someone to deliver a message."

"Where's the person?" Zhu Guobi asked with his fists clenched, eyes wide open, and teeth gritted, "I'm going to kill him today."

"Um...landing." The scout answered cautiously.

"Landing? Coming by boat?" Zhu Guobi was suddenly not so angry anymore. He suppressed his anger and quickly walked out of the tent.

......

On the Huai River, Lu Daqi was resting in the boat.

Li Shiyuan personally poured a cup of hot tea for Lu Daqi and asked worriedly: "Sir, although Zhu Guobi did not sign the military order, he still followed the contents of the military order and joined forces with his servant Shan to march south."

"Yeah," Lu Daqi nodded, then stared at the map in front of him and thought seriously.

This time we use our troops differently from before, because we cannot afford to lose this time.

If he was defeated, not only would Nanjing be lost, but he himself would also be killed and disgraced.

"But Zhu Guobi and Pu Congshan are both notoriously mediocre. Can they defeat Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongsan's 30,000-strong army?" Li Shiyuan became more and more worried.

"Unless something unexpected happens, they definitely can't."

"Ah?" Li Shiyuan was shocked by Lu Daqi's words, "Then why did you let them lead the troops south?"

"What is the purpose of the inferior horse against the superior horse?" Lu Daqi asked, raising his head.

Although Li Shiyuan was a military general, he had read some books and had some understanding of the story of Tian Ji's horse racing.

After a brief thought, Li Shiyuan replied: "The weakest against the strongest, canceling out their advantages."

"Yes, I used the weakest Zhu Guobi and Servant Shan to successfully contain the strongest Liu Zongmin. My goal has been achieved."

"But..." Li Shiyuan hesitated again and again, "But if you do this, it will kill them."

"No, I used another inferior horse to rescue them."

Who is the other inferior horse?

Li Shiyuan thought about it carefully and suddenly realized: "Admiral Caojiang Liu Kongzhao?"

Lu Daqi looked at Li Shiyuan with some satisfaction and said, "You are a teachable boy. If you win this battle, I will recommend you to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Huguang and Nanzhili naval divisions."

Li Shiyuan was overjoyed and bowed deeply to Lu Daqi: "Thank you for your support, sir."

......

The night of April 16th.

Dozens of small boats sailed from the canal into Hongze Lake to scout for the enemy.

Then the Jiang navy followed with countless empty ships.

Although Liu Kongzhao's navy's combat effectiveness was average, his opponents were even weaker than him.

If Liu Kongzhao's navy is a weakling, then the combat effectiveness of Dashun's navy is negative.

That's right.

After many days of training, not only did they fail to develop combat effectiveness, but some people fell into the water and drowned during training.

It can be said that he died before achieving success.

They were beaten up by Li Shiyuan the day before, causing them all to retreat to the mouth of the Huai River and dare not go out to fight.

After entering Hongze Lake, the Ming army warships headed straight to the northwest where there was fire.

That was the camp of Zhu Guobi and his servant Shan.

Zhu Guobi and his servant Shan could no longer wait and paced back and forth on the shore.

Seeing Liu Kongzhao coming, he was immediately overjoyed: "Brother Liu, you are finally here."

"At the beginning of the Wu hour on April 16, the Caojiang navy arrived at the Longji Town wharf of Hongze Lake on time." Liu Kongzhao said as he walked.

"Yes, yes, yes," Zhu Guobi stepped forward and grabbed Liu Kongzhao's hands. "Brother Liu has completed the contents of the military order. Let your ship dock quickly."

"Well," Liu Kongzhao raised the torch and waved it in the air, and countless ships began to dock.

At the same time, the infantry under Zhu Guobi and his servant Shanming began to board the ship.

The river commanding officers still have the basic skills to load up a ship and send it away, and then an empty ship will come to the location of the previous ship to continue transporting troops.

In a tense and exciting atmosphere, it took nearly two hours for all 10,000 soldiers to board the ship.

They took away everything they could, and put everything they couldn't take away together, and the last soldier to leave set it on fire.

As soon as the fire started, it was discovered by the Shun army several miles away.

Liu Zongmin was stunned at first, then he was shocked: "It's bad, chase them quickly, don't let them run away."

When the army got close, they were forced to stop.

Zhu Guobi and his servants are not good at attacking, but they are good at defense.

Not only did they dig deep and wide trenches on the periphery, they also diverted water from Hongze Lake to form a temporary moat.

There is no way to rush in directly.

After building a simple floating bridge and removing various obstacles such as chevaux de frise and antlers beside the "moat", the Ming army camp was already empty and even the fire was out of control.

Liu Zongmin looked at the looming boat on the lake in the distance and sighed: "Ah!"

After sighing, he suddenly realized a problem.

"Oh no, we've been tricked by Lu Daqi!"

Yuan Zongdi asked hurriedly: "What do you mean?"

"Lu Daqi used a mob of 10,000 to tie down our 30,000 soldiers. They wanted to use this time difference to attack the emperor outside Fengyang City."

"Order all the troops to rush to Fengyang overnight to rescue the emperor."