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Although speed is of the essence in war, it still takes some effort for a group of salt merchants to gather the troops they have.
It took a whole day just to equip the 26 boats, large and small, with water.
Finally, Ling Yue couldn't help it and announced that the wealthy people in Dongning could supply food nearby and there was no need to prepare too much on the ship. Only then did the fleet leave the shore with a grumble.
Standing on the Ling family's brig, looking at the dense sails behind, Ling Yue also breathed a sigh of relief.
They had already found out the location of the Red Flag Gang's camp, and they could reach them in half a day by hoisting full sails!
Although some time was wasted, we have more people after all, so as long as we can surround the enemy camp, it will be fine!
Of course, there were some unsatisfactory aspects, like the Zhao family, who only came with a small boat and a dozen people, and it was obvious that they didn't want to contribute.
However, Zhao Pu was a capable man, and Ling Yue didn't want to ruin morale before the battle, so he turned a blind eye and didn't say anything in front of outsiders.
But just for this reason, forget about eating meat and drinking soup, just follow behind and eat dust!
As for those few companies whose shipping routes didn't pass through Luoling Island, they didn't even bother sending people to make up the numbers. After he finished dealing with the Red Flag Gang, he would definitely find a reason to take them down! These illegal salt fields in Dongmen were still too scattered. The Ling family didn't have the strength to swallow them all in one go before, but after this great victory, things would definitely be different.
Seeing the huge fleet passing by and the official ships of the garrison turning a blind eye to it, Ling Yue felt more and more contented.
The Red Flag Gang could only bribe a county magistrate, but they had the support of the government troops behind them.
This battle is absolutely safe!
With the confidence of victory, Ling Yue was not in a hurry anymore. He deliberately reduced the speed to prevent the fleet from being in chaos and losing momentum.
Besides, if they go too fast and the other side doesn't have time to mobilize troops, wouldn't all their painstakingly planned strategies be wasted?
Therefore, when the fleet actually arrived in Dongning, it was already evening that day.
The narrow pier next to the cliff was completely deserted; not even a small fishing boat was visible. Ling Yue's brows lit up with joy as she laughed heartily, "See? We've scared the bandits away! How can such a small camp withstand such a large army?"
The Red Flag Gang’s camp was actually quite large, and the wall on the seaside was quite high, but in Ling Yue’s eyes, it was still not worth mentioning.
This camp is not even as good as the forts built by the powerful. As long as there are enough people, it can be conquered.
There are nearly two thousand of them. We don’t even need a boat. We can just pile them up and kill them!
If that's the case, should we try to fight directly? Ling Yue thought for a moment and gave the order: "Send people ashore first and occupy the dock. Tomorrow, each family will send half of their troops, and we will fight first!"
The nephew beside him was surprised and said, "Uncle, didn't you say you were going to join the Qian family to ambush the Red Flag Gang's fleet? Why are you suddenly attacking the camp?"
Ling Yue snorted, "If we capture the camp first, can't we divide the contents however we want? The enemy's reinforcements haven't arrived yet anyway. If we just sit there and wait, their morale will collapse. We should stretch our muscles first."
There is some truth in this. Besides, Ling Yue is the leader of the coalition forces, and everyone has to obey his orders.
The subordinates did not dare to delay and immediately sent out a small boat to notify each family, and also promised a generous reward.
Who among those who could follow Ling Yue into battle wasn't after the money? This was the Red Flag Gang's main camp on the shore. It was said that all the goods shipped from the sea were stored here. If nothing else, it would be a good opportunity to rob them after breaking into the camp! Therefore, upon hearing the order, each clan immediately began to select their men.
They are all salt merchants who hang their heads on their waists. They all have a group of desperate criminals. As long as there is a reward, there are many people who are willing to fight for their lives.
After an hour of tossing and turning, the fleet finally delivered the people to the shore before it was completely dark. But after a busy day, who would have the energy to set up camp? The group huddled together in a mess, lit a campfire, had a meal, and then lay down to rest.
On the Zhao family's boat, Zhao Liang frowned and felt a little worried.
He hadn't expected the Red Flag Gang to be so completely unprepared. Hadn't they sent several letters before? Not only did they reveal the number of ships and troops they were sending, but they also got a good idea of Ling Yue's plans.
Logically speaking, the Red Flag Gang should have sent some ships to fight. Now that their camp is surrounded, how can they break the deadlock?
The uncle standing by frowned and whispered, "Aliang, Ling didn't even invite us to attack the camp. I'm afraid he wants to exclude us. What should we do now?"
Zhao Liang came back to his senses and coughed, "It's okay, as long as no manpower is lost."
He was just here to make up the numbers. All he had to do was to save the ship and the Zhao family. Everything else depended on his brother's arrangements.
I just hope the messenger has arrived safely.
…
Standing on the high wall of the village, Cheng Xi looked at the chaotic enemy soldiers below and raised his eyebrows and said, "If we send troops now against such a mob, we will probably be able to defeat them in one fell swoop."
Sitting on a two-person rattan chair, Tian Yu's face looked unhappy. He snorted, "Don't underestimate the enemy. These are brave salt smugglers who are not afraid of death. They are not petty thieves."
After looking at Tian Yu, Cheng Xi smiled without saying anything.
His bad mood was understandable. Although there was a horse path on the outer wall of the camp, which allowed soldiers to move quickly, the path was not only narrow but also very steep. Wheelchairs could go up but not down, so they had to use a rattan chair carried by people.
A gentleman like Tian Yu certainly does not like to "treat people as animals", but in order to better survey the enemy situation, he cannot refuse, and it is inevitable that he feels uncomfortable.
Although his words were harsh, his logic was sound. Compared to ordinary pirates, these salt merchants were definitely more powerful on land. They had just arrived and were at their peak fighting spirit. Even a night attack would be better than attacking now.
Of course, Cheng Xi didn't plan to attack at night.
The most important thing for the camp now is to lure the enemy, it is far from the time to start fighting.
She smiled and said, "That's probably all for tonight. Go back and rest. There's more to see tomorrow."
Tian Yu glanced at her and saw that she was neither anxious nor impatient, and there was no fear on her face. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Although she is a woman, she looks so much like General Qiu when she is on the battlefield. It is obvious that she has inherited the true skills.
With such talent at such a young age, it's no wonder that General Qiu would teach him everything he knows.
At this point, it is meaningless to worry about whether she is a man or a woman. It still depends on whether the plan can succeed.
After taking another look at the messy camp in the distance, Tian Yu's face darkened as he asked someone to carry him down with Cheng Xi to rest.
The night passed peacefully. At dawn, Ling Yue stood in front of the makeshift tent and laughed heartily: "It seems the enemy is cowardly. There is nothing to fear!"
Although he had not learned much about military tactics, he had experienced more than one fierce battle.
The most difficult to guard against is to attack them halfway across the river when they fail to occupy the dock, or to launch a surprise attack at night when they are exhausted after traveling a long distance.
In response to these two possibilities, Ling Yue also made a lot of preparations and had the ships close to the dock so that reinforcements could be provided at any time.
Of course, this wasn't intentional on his part to expose his flaws. It was just that his men came from such diverse backgrounds that it was impossible to enforce strict discipline, so he could only take some risks and be more vigilant.
In the end, the Red Flag Gang didn't even open the gates of their camp. If that wasn't cowardice, what else could it be? This made him even more confident!
After gazing at the camp for a moment, Ling Yue raised his voice, "The Red Flag Gang's forces are all at sea, so their camp must be empty. Now that we're ahead, it's time to test the waters. Please send out your best troops to attack the city together!"
We are all salt merchants, who hasn't experienced battle? The crowd below cheered loudly and each sent people to form a line.
Ling Yue was also fully prepared. He even brought battering rams for attacking the village gate, as well as many large shields covered with cowhide. As long as he could get the soldiers close to the village gate, he could knock it open!
As the horn sounded, a group of salt smugglers armed with long weapons and short blades rushed towards the camp gate.
Tian Yu stood on the wall, his brows furrowed. "Not setting a trap, isn't that a bit too arrogant?"
The most important thing in an offensive and defensive battle is to have layers of defense and not let the enemy rush to the city in one breath.
It was bad enough that they couldn't build a moat because of the terrain, but they didn't even dig a pit, which was really underestimating the enemy.
If these bandits had a few ladders, it would be difficult for them to attack the city wall.
Cheng Xi said, "If the arrangement is too strict, won't the other party see through it? If you are a bait, you have to make people feel that you can be deceived."
Tian Yu glanced at her and said, "Your archery skills don't look like you can be bullied!"
Cheng Xi smiled. Seeing the enemy rushing into the shooting range, he raised his hand and waved it lightly. Immediately, someone shouted loudly: "Shoot!"
A hundred or so archers flashed out from behind the parapet, each of them pulling their longbows to full strings, and a rain of arrows rained down.
This distance is at least three times farther than the small bow used by hunters. Even the ox horn bows used in the army cannot have such a range.
In addition, the longbow has stronger penetrating power, and even wooden shields can hardly withstand it. Just one volley caused screams to be heard from below.
"The enemy has a bow! Don't stop, rush over!"
There was a small leader who shouted Huan, but the next moment, a heavy arrow seemed to have eyes and pierced his unarmored neck directly.
Looking at the little leader who fell to the ground, Cheng Xi smiled slightly and raised his voice: "Don't stop, fire three more rounds."
This time, she had selected a few archers with excellent accuracy from Yan Yuan's staff, specifically to use as snipers for targeted attacks. For the others, she didn't care about lethality, as long as their arm strength and firing rate were sufficient.
As soon as this command was given, the longbow's shooting speed exploded. Arrows rained down like rain, which was frightening.
They were hit head-on right from the start, and even blowing the horn was of no use. In addition, those small leaders who were jumping around were inexplicably hit by arrows and lost their command. How could the group of salt smugglers dare to charge? They retreated in a mess.
"Manager Ling, there are too many archers in this village and we can't charge in!" a salt merchant cried.
They sent in their elite troops all at once, but several of them were injured, and even the commanding nephews were killed. How could they continue to fight?
Ling Yue's expression was not good either. However, after glancing at the empty ground in front of the camp, he managed to say, "Their aim wasn't good either. Didn't they have many casualties?"
Indeed, although they were defeated miserably, not many people died. Even if they were shot, it was not fatal. It was just that the screaming and shouting were annoying.
Taking a deep breath, Ling Yue said loudly, "Since they have bows, we should prepare more wooden shields and use the spare planks on each ship. With only a hundred people on the city wall, how many rounds of arrows can they fire? As long as we rush to the bottom of the city and break down the gate, things will be easy."
This is true, but it's not your Ling family who died! Someone muttered, "Didn't we agree to join the Qian family in ambush the Red Flag Gang's fleet? Otherwise, we should not fight for now. Losing soldiers for nothing is not a big deal."
Ling Yue refused to admit his mistake and immediately put on a serious face: "This camp will have to be attacked sooner or later. Let's prepare first and test it out. Don't worry, my family will be at the forefront this time!"
This is a matter of morale. After hearing what he said, the others felt relieved and began to move supplies and prepare for war again.
Looking at the wall in the distance, Ling Yue gritted his teeth. Fortunately, he tried it this time, otherwise he would not have known that the Red Flag Gang actually had such a powerful archer. If his accuracy was better, it would be really difficult to deal with him.
We should have more shields. With so many archers in the hastily prepared village, wouldn't there be fewer on the rescue ships? It's always a good idea to be prepared first.
He really underestimated the enemy, but even if it was a tough nut to crack, he would have to break it into pieces!
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