In fact, Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin had to thank Empress Dowager Su Wan'er for her decision to stay overnight at the naval camp.
Otherwise, the Longcheng naval fleet, which is currently accelerating upstream towards Jiangyin, would be coming up empty-handed.
Isn't it said that everything is predetermined by fate?
It's hard to defy fate!
After sailing against the current all night, the 26 warships of the Longcheng naval fleet finally appeared in the waters of Jiangyin at dawn the next day.
On the deck of the lead ship, the "Destroy the Japanese", Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, wearing golden armor and with a Longquan sword at his waist, looked solemnly at the outline of the Daxin Navy camp building that was already faintly visible at the end of the thin mist on the river in the early morning.
I couldn't help but wonder: judging from the complete architectural outline of the Daxin Naval Camp, it didn't look like it had been ravaged by war.
Could it be that the Tiger-like naval fleet led by Wu Sanjia did not head south to Jiangyin as scheduled, as the intelligence previously gathered by the Longcheng Inner Guard had indicated?
However, this doubt only lingered in Chen Huai'an's mind for a moment before it vanished.
The Longcheng naval fleet is now at the gates of the Daxin naval camp, and it is already time to fire. Even if it fails to take advantage of the situation when Wu Sanjia and Fang Tianyao are both exhausted, as previously planned, it will not be able to do so.
It also requires the Dragon City Navy fleet to conquer Fang Tianyao's naval camp, capture the young Lingwu Emperor and Empress Dowager Su Wan'er alive, and obtain the Imperial Seal that Chen Huai'an has been dreaming of!
It was just past 5 a.m.
The 26 warships of the Longcheng naval fleet, with all the officers and soldiers ready, and the hundreds of cannons on the fleet's warships with their dark muzzles.
They were all aimed at the wooden city walls of the naval camp and the densely packed warships moored in the waters outside the naval dock.
Chen Huai'an stood proudly on the deck of the "Destroy the Japanese" warship, holding a monocular telescope and looking at the warships in the waters ahead.
Suddenly, Chen Huai'an noticed the "Wu" (武) flags hanging from the masts of the warships moored in the waters outside the Daxin Naval Camp.
It's the Tiger-like naval fleet of Wu Sanjia!
In a daze, Chen Huai'an even heard the sound of war drums beating and horns blaring.
Looking through his monoculars again, he was astonished to see the commotion coming from the warships flying the "Wu" flag in the waters ahead of the fleet.
The Dragon City naval fleet has been discovered!
"Report—"
"Your Highness Prince Jin, the enemy's warships anchored on the river have entered the artillery range of our Longcheng naval fleet. Should we open fire immediately? Please give your instructions, Your Highness!"
At this moment, Qi Jiguang, the naval commander of Longcheng, rushed to Chen Huai'an's side to report the latest situation.
Without hesitation, Chen Huai'an decisively ordered: "By my order, all cannons of the Longcheng naval fleet shall attack the enemy's naval camp and ships. Open fire!"
"fire!"
With a command from Prince Chen Huai'an, hundreds of cannons mounted on the warships of the Longcheng naval fleet opened fire simultaneously, launching exploding shells at the wooden walls of the Daxin naval camp and the Tiger-like naval warships anchored in the waters outside the dock.
call out!
call out!
call out!
——
Rewind to an hour before the burning of an incense stick, to the Tiger-like naval warships anchored in the waters outside the Daxin Naval Camp.
After the thin mist on the river was continuously dispersed by the advancing Dragon City naval fleet, the Tiger Warriors on duty finally discovered the source of the splashing sound coming from the silent river.
It turned out to be a naval fleet moving in formation!
Through the thin mist over the river, the Tiger Fleet soldiers on duty could only vaguely see that on the mast of the huge ship, there seemed to be a four-clawed yellow dragon flag with a large "Jin" character on it.
The officers and soldiers of the Tiger Fleet on duty dared not be careless. While beating drums to prepare for battle, they hurriedly reported this urgent military situation to General Wu Sanjia.
"What?"
Wu Sanjia, who had only managed to doze off for a short while in the middle of the night, was woken up by his naval deputy general, He Kang.
When Wu Sanjia learned from his deputy that the unidentified ship that had suddenly appeared in the waters behind the Tiger Fleet was flying the "Prince of Jin's flag," he immediately jumped up from the simple bed in the cabin.
He instantly snapped to his senses, grabbed the collar of his deputy general He Kang, stared at him intently with sharp eyes, and asked, word by word, "Did you see clearly?"
"Are the ships appearing in the waters behind my Tiger Fleet truly flying the Prince of Jin's flag?"
Um!
Lieutenant General He Kang nodded emphatically and replied with certainty, "Reporting to the General, it is absolutely true. I personally confirmed it on the deck."
"The masts of those unidentified ships all bore the flags of the Prince of Jin, bearing four-clawed yellow dragons!"
Upon receiving the deputy general's affirmative reply, Wu Sanjia's heart skipped a beat, and an unprecedented sense of fear suddenly overwhelmed him.
At this moment, he no longer cared about verifying when Chen Huai'an had built a naval fleet that could appear behind the Tiger Fleet without anyone noticing.
He just wanted to find out how big Chen Huai'an's fleet was and how many troops it had.
Wu Sanjia immediately pressed on, "Did you see clearly? How many warships are flying the Jin King's flag?"
Lieutenant He Kang replied, "Reporting to the General, the fog on the river is quite thick, so we can't see very clearly, but there should be at least several dozen warships!"
call--
Upon hearing that Chen Huai'an only had a few dozen warships, Wu Sanjia finally breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that there was still room for maneuver in the battle.
In Wu Sanjia's memory, taking the current ships of the Great Xin Dynasty as an example, the largest warship could only carry about five hundred naval officers and soldiers.
Most warships could only carry two or three hundred naval officers and soldiers.
Based on the size of the warships flying the Jin King's flag, the naval fleet under Chen Huai'an's command probably only had about 10,000 officers and soldiers.
Right now, he has 10,000 elite Tiger Warriors in his navy.
Inside the naval camp, there were still more than 30,000 naval officers and soldiers under Fang Tianyao.
Whether it's troop strength or the number of warships, the advantage lies with Wu Sanjia.
The only concern was that the safety of the Emperor and Empress Dowager would not be endangered during the war.
What Wu Sanjia didn't know was that even the most ordinary warships of the Longcheng naval fleet were comparable to the largest warships of the Daxin naval fleet.
Apart from the super warship "Destroy the Japanese Pirates," all the ships accompanying Prince Chen Huai'an on his expedition to Jiangyin were medium-sized warships, capable of carrying more than a thousand naval officers and soldiers.
Not to mention, these warships were also equipped with hundreds of cannons, enough to deliver a devastating blow to the Daxin and Huben navies.
Just as Wu Sanjia was calmly directing the battle, he said, "Deputy General He, convey my orders..."
Suddenly, Wu Sanjia felt as if he had been struck by lightning or thunder.
boom!
Immediately afterwards, the entire ship began to shake violently and uncontrollably.
boom!
Boom!
Rumble!
More and more "thunderclaps" resounded in the ears of Wu Sanjia and a group of officers and soldiers of the Daxin Navy.
When Wu Sanjia stumbled out of the crew cabin and onto the deck of the warship, he was almost paralyzed with fear by what he saw.
As far as his eyes could see, everything was ablaze with fire.
Small, dark balls, about the size of a bowl, continued to rain down on the Tiger Fleet's warships from the sky.
The moment the black ball hit the ground, it immediately exploded and burst into flames.
It was only then that Wu Sanjia realized that the sound he had just heard was not thunder at all, but a weapon he had never seen before.
Some of them resembled boulders thrown by catapults, doused with flaming oil, but their power far exceeded that of catapults.
Upon landing, it exploded and caught fire!
Wu Sanjia suppressed the urge to vomit blood and finally rushed onto the deck of the warship. He steadied himself by holding onto the bow while looking around to observe the naval battle.
When he spotted the Dragon City naval fleet so close by and saw the enemy's warships clearly, he was filled with despair.
As reported by Vice Admiral He Kang, the enemy fleet consisted of only twenty or thirty ships, but the size of each ship far surpassed that of any of the current naval warships of the Great Xin Dynasty.
Wu Sanjia even felt that these warships did not belong to this era!
From Wu Sanjia's perspective, the warships of the Longcheng Navy fleet, especially the lead ship "Destroy the Japanese", looked like a giant dragon churning on the river.
Its sturdy hull, towering prow, and even the iron hooks and spearheads used for decoration on the deck far surpassed all the warships of Wu Sanjia's Tiger Warrior Navy.
Not to mention the countless dark cannon muzzles protruding from the bows and sides of the Dragon City Navy warships.
Wu Sanjia could clearly see that the exploding black ball was being fired from those rows of dark cannon muzzles.
Its power and range far surpass any catapult or ballista ever built by the artisans of the Great Xin Dynasty!
In contrast, the Tiger Warriors' warships, which were only equipped with ballistae and bows, were on the defensive from the very beginning of the naval battle.
Moreover, they could only defend themselves, with no power to retaliate at all.
On the warship flying the flag of the Prince of Jin, the black balls fired from the dark muzzles of the cannons had a range of over a thousand paces, while the crossbows equipped on the warships of Wu Sanjia's Tiger Warrior Navy had a range of only about six hundred paces.
The range of human-drawn crossbows and rockets was less than two hundred paces, not even enough to touch the enemy's warships.
How can this battle be fought?
This is a complete one-sided massacre!
Overwhelmed with grief, Wu Sanjia looked up to the sky and sighed, "Heavens! What kind of new weapons are these Dragon City rebel navy's warships equipped with?!"
"Our brave soldiers of the Tiger Fleet sacrificed their lives for their country without even seeing a shadow of the rebel naval officers and soldiers of Dragon City!"
"I refuse to accept this! I'm not reconciled!"
Amidst the chaos and explosions on the river, the mighty General Wu Sanjia of the Great Xin Dynasty, roaring to the sky, appeared so insignificant.
Since ancient times, war has been governed by ironclad laws that never change based on the pity of the weaker party.
Otherwise, the famous saying "Truth lies only within the range of cannon fire" would not have been born.
On the river, the Tiger Fleet under Wu Sanjia was in dire straits, while the officers and soldiers of the Daxin Dynasty's naval camp, which was only a few hundred meters away, were also having a hard time guarding the city walls.
The Longcheng naval fleet launched indiscriminate artillery attacks on the Tiger Fleet warships on the river and the Daxin naval camp at the dock.
The walls of the naval camp, which were originally made of wood, were as vulnerable as rotten wood under the bombardment of exploding shells fired by the cannons of the Longcheng naval warships.
After the first round of shelling, the wooden walls of the naval camp caught fire everywhere. The naval officers and soldiers on duty panicked, and everywhere there were people carrying buckets of water to put out the fire, but they were all turned into mutilated corpses under the cover of the cannon fire.
The decisive battle of the Longcheng naval fleet at Jiangyin was one-sided from the very beginning. Under the overwhelming firepower of artillery, neither the Tiger Fleet of the Wu Sanjia nor Fang Tianyao's Daxin Fleet could withstand the onslaught.
They didn't even see the enemy, only warships flying the "King of Jin" flag floating on the river, before inexplicably perishing in a massive explosion for the crumbling Xin Dynasty.
The continuous and fierce cannon fire outside the naval camp naturally alerted Fang Tianyao, the King of the Four Seas, who was inside the camp.
Where is the thunder?
This was the first sentence shouted by Fang Tianyao, the King of the Four Seas, who was awakened from his sleep during the first round of shelling.
Then, when the continuous shelling sounded, he suddenly woke up and realized that the thunderous noise was not thunder, but the sound of some kind of massive explosion.
As he rushed out of the main hall and looked towards the camp gate, where thick smoke was already billowing, an ominous premonition instantly gripped his heart.
This feeling was even more intense and powerful than when Wu Sanjia led his troops to attack the naval camp yesterday and burned the naval warships anchored on the river outside the camp.
"Guards! Follow me and protect me!"
The more critical the moment, the clearer Fang Tianyao, the King of the Four Seas, became.
At this point, the only way to save their lives is to control Emperor Lingwu and Empress Dowager Su.
Afterwards, Fang Tianyao ignored the battle outside the naval camp and led a group of personal guards straight to the palace of Emperor Lingwu and Empress Dowager Su.
Since General Wu Sanjia led his troops to rescue the emperor yesterday, Empress Dowager Su Wan'er, who had been in exile for several months, finally had a chance to vent her frustration.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long!
Just one night later, the situation took another dramatic turn.
When Su Wan'er was awakened from her sleep by the continuous explosions and learned from He Changdong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, that the war had reignited outside the naval camp, Su Wan'er almost regretted it to the core.
He regretted not heeding Wu Sanjia's advice and taking a boat northward back to Jinling City overnight.
Now, even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't!
"Your Highness, what are you trying to do? You mustn't disturb His Majesty's presence—"
"Your Highness!!!"
Suddenly, a heated argument broke out outside the side hall where Emperor Lingwu and Empress Dowager Su resided.
The next moment, the door to the side hall was violently kicked open from the outside.
The Imperial Guards guarding the side hall had long been controlled by the officers and soldiers of the Daxin Navy, who outnumbered them several times over.
Surrounded by his personal guards, Fang Tianyao, the Prince of the Four Seas, stormed in with a knife in hand, shouting fiercely, "Protect the Emperor and the Empress Dowager!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
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