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This time it could be considered a triumph, and as there was another tough battle to fight, Li Niu took all his own ships and followed the flagship back to Luoling Island.
He has made the greatest contribution this time, but Yan Yuan didn't even get a chance to make a move. He has to show off a lot, right?
When he finally saw the person, he couldn't smile anymore. He saw Yan Yuan waiting at the dock. As soon as he saw him, he bowed respectfully and said, "Boss, you're back. Did everything go well on shore this time?"
"The bank has been opened, and the salt fields have been properly arranged. With Tian Danhui watching over it, there shouldn't be any major problems." Cheng Xi said a few words and then asked, "What's the situation on the island?"
Yan Yuan said, "I sent out troops to lure the enemy, but the Qian family didn't fall for it. I then ordered the soldiers to hold their ground, without losing a single soldier."
Li Niu's face turned black. He went into battle to kill the enemy, so of course there would be casualties. But the enemy, on the other hand, could claim credit by saying "not losing a single soldier" even without fighting.
But then again, there doesn't seem to be anything to blame. After all, the Qian family later made peace with them. If they had fought with them in advance and it turned into a life-and-death situation, maybe even the garrison would have been involved, and things would have been troublesome.
Yan Yuan is so cautious and can suppress his subordinates' desire for credit. His ability is still quite good.
Of course, Li Niu would never admit defeat.
Cheng Xi was not surprised by this answer. If he couldn't even judge the situation, he would not be worthy of being her deputy and taking on the important task of guarding the household.
Nodding slightly, Cheng Xi said, "We can put the matter of the salt fields aside for now. The most important task now is to stop Lu's ocean-going fleet. Let's go to the meeting room first."
Seeing that Cheng Xi had no intention of going back to rest, Yan Yuan did not try to persuade him and led everyone towards the village.
With the gang leader around, everyone else behaved well and didn't dare to act rashly. However, Li Niu opened his eyes wide and looked around curiously. When he actually entered the village, his movements became more and more exaggerated, and could be described as making a lot of noise.
Such an artificial performance made Cheng Xi glance at him and asked, "Why, do you feel fresh?"
Li Niu exclaimed loudly, "It's only been a short time since we left, and the island has already changed so much! Look at this camp, it's much better than the camp on the shore. The craftsmanship is truly impressive!"
His words were three parts flattery and seven parts genuine shock.
If the camp on the shore is developing towards the direction of a town, then the island is a complete military barrier. The trench in front of the village gate alone is amazing. Once you enter the village, the rows of neatly arranged houses are unprecedented. Even the streets have been adjusted. It is obvious that they are prepared for street fighting. The truth is in the details!
Although someone had mentioned these things to him before, seeing them with one's own eyes was different after all, and it benefited Li Niu, who had some construction experience, a lot.
Not satisfied with just one compliment, Li Niu couldn't help but add, "I heard that the newly built hospital is also very impressive, and the number of casualties has been greatly reduced. I must take a closer look at it when I get back!"
Cheng Xi smiled slightly: "These are nothing. Once the village is built, the layout of the island will be complete. You can take a good look around later. If you have any opinions, just let me know."
Li Niu's heart trembled and he immediately came to his senses.
This wasn't asking him to make suggestions; it was clearly a hint that he would have to stay on the island for a while! Also, the Sun family had previously been reclaiming wasteland on the island, while the Lin family had moved their fishing village here. Only the Li family stayed in the main camp. It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to seize power and let his family run the main camp alone. It was simply that the Li family had more people who were good at business, and they could help a lot in the early stages of the business.
But it’s hard to say in the future. Sun Erlang has already returned to Dongning, and with Tian Yu, the cripple, in charge, the Li family is bound to be suppressed.
If he is transferred to the island, the Sun family and the Lin family will no longer be able to dominate. In the future, it will definitely be a situation of "you have me and I have you". Only by advancing and retreating together can there be a possibility of growing stronger.
Fortunately, he was alert this time and brought the boat with him. This is a critical time and we cannot slack off.
By the way, he would have to think about how to reclaim and divide the land on the island. The Li family already had many sons and daughters on board, so wouldn't it be natural for them to move some of their families here? Only with a family, land, and soldiers could one truly gain a foothold on the island.
With so much on his mind, Li Niu didn't dare to say anything more and just nodded obediently.
After this knock, Cheng Xi said no more, and everyone quickly arrived at the conference room and took their seats.
"The Lu family has already taken several ruthless actions for Luoling Island. Now that the Ling family has been expelled and the Qian family has yielded, no matter how quickly the news spreads, they won't be able to reach them for a while. The only thing we have to be wary of now is that the Lu family will send ships to meet our fleet, but the sea is vast and they may not be able to reach them." Cheng Xi looked around and said, "Even so, we are not completely confident of defeating that ocean-going fleet. How we fight this battle is the key."
Yan Yuan immediately said, "According to what Master Lu said, the Lu family's ocean-going fleet has a thousand-ton ship, at least five large two-masted ships, and an unknown number of small boats accompanying them. Just these figures on paper are a tough nut to crack."
This is the absolute truth. Even though the Red Flag Gang has fought so many battles and undergone several rounds of expansion, it now only has four brigs. Another one followed Lin Meng to Hepu to transport goods and was used as a lure to the enemy.
It would be best if we could return safely before the ocean-going fleet arrives, but if the worst happens, the combat power of these ten or so ships cannot be counted.
However, the difference in the number of schooners was not a big deal. The real difficulty was the thousand-ton ship.
Li Niu touched his chin and said, "Although the thousand-ton ship is large, we have many small boats. If all else fails, we can just set it on fire! As long as we can move as much cargo as possible before it sinks, this battle will be worth it."
Unexpectedly, Yan Yuan shook his head and said, "A thousand-ton ship will often have its bow clad in iron, its hull covered in glue, and it will also have fire-proof wooden barriers. Even if there are more than a dozen fire ships, they may not be able to get close."
This is all routine operation. The sea is different from the inland river. What does it matter if such a large ship is covered with copper and iron and equipped with some huge wood to prevent collision? Even such a low-level tactic as fire attack has been prepared in advance.
Li Niu hissed softly, "Then can we climb up and grab the deck?"
The height of the boats was different, so it was impossible to use a springboard. The only option was to climb onto the boat.
Unexpectedly, Yan Yuan sighed, "Any large ship that goes out to sea has nets hung on its hull, which are filled with spikes and are difficult to climb. Besides, a ship that big would have plenty of bows and crossbows, and maybe even cannons. Climbing it would be like attacking a city."
He had experienced large-scale naval battles and knew how difficult these huge ships on the sea were to deal with.
As long as the money is spent, a thousand-ton ship can be easily turned into a movable fortress. How can it be easily dealt with?
Now Li Niu had nothing to say. Although he had been sailing for a long time, he had never seen such a large ocean-going ship. He never expected that the defense would be so strong.
Li Lai on the side suddenly said: "What about catching the small one and magnifying it? We can't deal with the treasure ship, but we can still fight the two-masted Fuzhou ship!"
Li Niu snorted, "The goods must be on the big ships. Maybe those schooners are supply ships carrying water and food?"
This statement is a bit exaggerated, but the truth is right. The real treasures must be on the largest ship. If you don't keep this ship, all your efforts will be in vain.
Li Lai smacked his lips. "Then we can only follow him and take the opportunity to attack him. We have more people, so we can outlast him!"
Yan Yuan disagreed. "With a thousand-ton ship array and several schooners working together, it would take a lot of effort for us to break their formation, let alone follow them. Besides, after Luoling Island, we're in Panyu. We might not be able to stop them in a few days."
Li Niu immediately said, "We can't defeat them, and we can't catch up with them. Isn't this like a dog biting a hedgehog, with nowhere to bite? We can't trick them all onto the island, can we?"
Luoling Island is now in their hands, so it is not impossible to pretend that it has not been lost. However, without Lu An, the second-in-command, to show up, the people on the ocean-going ship would be foolish to go directly ashore.
Even if they sent people to negotiate, it would not be the largest treasure ship. Most of the time, they would just send two small boats to confirm the situation first. They would also have to personally see a few of the bosses to make sure that everything was safe before arranging a landing on the island.
Seeing that there was no good solution, everyone's eyes fell back on the gang leader. Cheng Xi said without further ado, "Brute force won't work. We have to outsmart them."
At sea, a ship's tonnage is everything.
Large ships can carry troops and possess firepower that smaller ships can't match. Consequently, the navy has always held a "bigger ships, more guns, more justice" mentality, rarely challenging vessels of significantly larger tonnage. A head-on confrontation wouldn't guarantee stopping this fleet, and the hard-earned troops they'd trained would likely be wiped out. The Red Flag Gang couldn't afford such a loss at the moment.
After saying this, everyone became curious. It was definitely impossible to win by fighting, but how could they "outsmart" the enemy?
Cheng Xi turned to Yan Yuan and asked, "How likely is it that the fleet learned about the change of ownership of Luoling Island?"
Yan Yuan thought for a moment and said, "It's basically impossible. Even if the Lu family sends people to help, the sea is so vast, how can they easily encounter them? Besides, the route is fixed. If they want to encounter our ship, they can only go through the waters near Luoling Island. As long as we send more patrols, it won't be too difficult to stop them."
This also involves the issue of wind direction. Nowadays, most ships are returning from the South Seas. If you want to go to the South Seas, you must at least wait until the wind season is over. Otherwise, if you encounter a typhoon halfway, you will die without knowing how you died.
"Do they care about the ownership of Luoling Island?" Cheng Xi asked again.
"Since the Lu family has invested so much effort in turning Luoling Island into a supply port, the fleet probably still cares about it." Yan Yuan seemed to understand something. "Boss, are you planning to take advantage of this?"
"That's right." Cheng Xi said bluntly, "Our only chance of winning now is that we have more information than they do. We might as well design a trap based on this and use their psychological advantage and blind spots to snipe them."
This was a bit difficult to understand, but everyone understood it as soon as they heard it. They all became excited and looked over with bright eyes.
"The previously cleared Wuyuan Island needs to be reused. We need to send more ships to keep an eye on the fleets. Our goal this time is to win by a margin of time..."
The nautical chart was spread out with a sand table beside it, and Cheng Xi began to explain in detail.
She has a preliminary idea, but to realize it, she needs to work together and find and fill in the gaps.
The goal of this battle is to exchange the smallest loss for the greatest victory. If that doesn't work, we have to hurt the Lu family.
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