The sounds of fighting and explosions at the harbor where the navy was docked lasted until midnight.
The fire was not extinguished until late at night.
The next morning, Jin Hufu led his army to the docking place of the Jiangnan Navy.
Looking at the wreckage of naval warships still scattered on the water and the numerous corpses, he nodded in satisfaction and asked his general Hu Weilian:
What was the outcome of yesterday's battle?
Upon hearing Jin Hufu's words, Hu Weilian immediately replied:
"Last night, I personally led the army and, together with General Lin Qinquan, we defeated Gan Hui's navy."
They almost destroyed and burned most of their large and medium-sized warships.
Only Gan Hui escaped with the remaining large and medium-sized warships and some small boats.
But it no longer poses any threat.
After listening to Hu Weilian's words, Jin Hufu nodded repeatedly in satisfaction and said:
"Good, very good. I will definitely remember your contributions and reward you handsomely when the time comes."
"Thank you, Commander."
Upon hearing Jin Hufu's words, Hu Weilian immediately knelt down to pay his respects.
After helping him up, Jin Hufu looked at the water surface in front of him, which was littered with warships and corpses, and said:
"You must immediately find someone to issue a notice saying that my Jin Hu Prefecture has led the counties and prefectures of Jiangxi to abandon darkness and embrace the light."
Prince Li has submitted to the imperial court in the capital.
With a single order from the Golden Tiger Prefecture, countless notices were distributed to various regions.
The most shocking of all was the Yan Yingyuan troops in Jiujiang City, who were responsible for resisting Li Xuanshang's army.
Yan Yingyuan looked at the news that Jin Hufu had surrendered and submitted to Li Qin.
He almost spat out a mouthful of blood and nearly collapsed to the ground, swaying unsteadily.
It was only thanks to the support of the surrounding generals that he was prevented from falling to the ground.
After taking a few breaths, Yan Yingyuan addressed the crowd before him:
"Jin Hufu in Nanchang has surrendered to the traitor Li."
Upon hearing the news, everyone present exchanged shocked glances.
"Then, General, we are here in Jiujiang, aren't we?"
At this moment, a general stepped forward and asked Yan Yingyuan in front of him with an anxious expression.
Yan Yingyuan nodded weakly and said:
"With the surrender of Jinhu Prefecture, the prefectures and counties of Jiangxi will soon surrender to the traitor Li. We have become an isolated city and an isolated army."
"Shouldn't we quickly send someone to contact General Gan Hui of the navy and ask him to send the navy to help us evacuate from Jiujiang?"
After Yan Yingyuan finished speaking, another general stepped forward and spoke.
Yan Yingyuan shook his head and said:
"There won't be any more of Gan Hui's navy. Jin Hu Prefecture has already stated in its proclamation that they launched a surprise attack on General Gan Hui's navy before surrendering to the traitor Li."
General Gan Hui's navy has suffered heavy losses and it is impossible for him to lead our army away.
And we can't contact them anymore.
After Yan Yingyuan finished speaking, he stood up and continued:
"According to intelligence, Li's army is now very close. If we don't take the waterway and instead take the land route..."
It's highly likely we'll be overtaken by Li's army in the wilderness, and then we'll be facing hundreds of thousands of Li's troops in the open.
After Yan Yingyuan finished speaking, all the generals present lowered their heads completely.
But Yan Yingyuan suddenly changed the subject and said:
"Therefore, our only way to survive now is to continue to hold Jiujiang and resist Li's army that continues to advance eastward."
Jiujiang is an important town. As long as Jiujiang is not lost, Li Zicheng's army will not be able to confidently send a large army down the Yangtze River to attack Jiangnan.
As long as we hold our ground, the imperial court will surely send reinforcements to support us again.
At this time, there was still a powerful navy in Jiangnan, personally led by Lord Zhu Chenggong.
Even if they can't support us, they can still safely evacuate us to Jiangnan.
Moreover, the wives, parents, and other family members of our soldiers are all in the imperial court.
We absolutely cannot desert our posts.
After Yan Yingyuan finished speaking, the eyes of the generals present gradually shifted from despair to hope.
Especially after Yan Yingyuan mentioned their families in Jiangnan, their determination to persevere was further strengthened.
They then knelt down and bowed to Yan Yingyuan, promising to stay in Jiujiang and fight to the death against Li the traitor.
After seeing the reactions of the generals in front of him, Yan Yingyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that the best approach is to first give them despair, then hope, and finally mention their families to keep them calm.
The next step is to hold Jiujiang and resist the approaching army of Li Xuanshang, the nephew of the traitor Li.
He still had to be confident in the defense of Jiujiang, because in the plan, Jiujiang, where he was located, was the first town to resist Li's army.
Therefore, while he was stationed in Jiujiang, he was constantly making preparations, stockpiling supplies, and organizing the useful residents in the city to fight against Li the bandit together with his army.
He was still quite confident in resisting the attack of Li's army.
Xuzhou.
After a barrage of artillery fire, the city walls of Xuzhou collapsed once again.
After the city walls collapsed, countless Shandong soldiers stormed into Xuzhou.
This time, unlike their previous attack on Xuzhou, they did not encounter fierce resistance from a large army.
Because the main force in Xuzhou had already been transferred to Huainan by Hu Zongxian.
The city of Xuzhou is now completely empty, as the army storms into the city through the collapsed city walls.
The city's sparse troop strength was simply no match for their massive army's attack.
The defense line was quickly and completely broken.
As more and more soldiers rushed in, Xuzhou was completely captured.
While Zhang Hengshuo and Qin Chenyao were attacking Xuzhou, Li Qin led a large army and stationed it in the distance.
Li Qin stood on a high place, looking through a telescope at the scene of Xuzhou being captured in the distance.
At his feet, his two sons, Li Ruwen and Li Ruwu, each held a telescope, watching the battle in Xuzhou in the distance.
After witnessing the scene of people wielding knives and hacking at each other on the distant battlefield, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.
The two children, Li Ruwen and Li Ruwu, who grew up in the deep courtyard of their mother's house, both experienced some discomfort.
However, the two children's reactions were indeed completely different.
Li Ruwu immediately put down his binoculars, while Li Ruwen bit his lip and endured the discomfort, continuing to watch the bloody siege scene in the distance.
Li Qin put down his binoculars and watched his two sons' reactions below.
Li Qin tapped Li Ruwu on the head as he put down his binoculars, signaling him to continue watching.
This is war, this is the army.
As the princes he would raise in the future, he planned to have them help him stabilize the realm.
They had to come into contact with the military, so they had to familiarize themselves with and adapt to it as quickly as possible.
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