The Nameless of the Common Clans

"Quick, send someone to inform the lord!" Danyang, He Qi's camp, the news that a large number of Ming troops suddenly appeared in Kuaiji came quickly enough, but caught off guard, He Qi now didn't know whether to continue to defend Danyang or lead his troops to rescue Kuaiji. He felt that no matter which choice was wrong.

Since the Ming army could bypass Wujun and land directly in Kuaiji, they must have the ability to cross the river directly. If he led his army to rescue Kuaiji at this time, He Qi was sure that the Ming army in Jiujiang would definitely take the opportunity to cross the river.

"Yes!"

"Tell all counties in Wujun to close the city gates immediately and don't let the enemy army take advantage of it!" After the messenger left, He Qi thought about it and sent someone to warn the cities. Now he didn't even know how many enemy troops suddenly landed, so He Qi could only let the counties guard their own cities.

How did the Ming army send a large number of troops across the sea to Kuaiji? You know, even for the Jiangdong navy, a cross-sea attack would be very risky, as the waves on the sea are far from comparable to the big river.

I hope we can make it in time!

He Qi can only pray that the enemy's troops are insufficient and cannot swallow Wujun in one gulp. Otherwise, even if he defends Danyang, the loss of Wujun and Kuaiji will definitely be a heavy blow to Jiangdong.

At the moment, He Qi put aside these distractions and began to arrange the soldiers to prepare for the enemy. Although he didn't know where the enemy was, he had a hunch that these enemies would appear soon.

Martial law was imposed at various ferry crossings along the river, and Yu Sheng naturally got the news.

"He Qi and Quan Cong are really vigilant. Why don't they come back to help in this situation?" Yu Sheng looked at Liu Yi and said, "Bo Yuan miscalculated this time."

"I have only read a few military books, and this is the first time I have marched and fought. What are your plans for the next step, general?" Liu Yi smiled.

"Since they won't move, we will sail the fleet into the river. It is said that the Jiangdong navy is unrivaled in the world. Today, I want to see if it is true." Yu Sheng stood up and said with a smile, "Sir, are you willing to go with me?"

"Of course." Liu Yi stood up and said.

Following He Qi's order, thousands of keel warships carrying 100,000 Ming navy soldiers set out from Guangling in a mighty manner. In less than a day, they arrived at the estuary and headed towards Qu'a.

The Jiangdong navy, which was responsible for intercepting possible enemy troops at the estuary along the way, was stunned when they saw the mighty and huge warships entering the river one by one.

The Jiangdong building ships were definitely large, but in front of this fleet, they were just the size of ordinary ships, especially when the giant ship that was 20 feet long appeared on the river and moved towards this side like a city. Many Jiangdong soldiers were scared out of their wits before the battle started.

The Jiangdong navy blocking the river was useless in front of this huge fleet. They didn't even see the giant ships clearly, and the ships were completely destroyed by the crossbows placed on the large ships around them. Occasionally, there were fish that slipped through the net and rushed towards this side, but they were easily smashed by the large ships here. Ordinary flat-bottomed warships were far inferior to keel warships in terms of stability and sturdiness. Moreover, the Jiangdong navy blocking the river had only more than ten warships, so how could they stop such a huge fleet.

The ships continued to move forward and approached Qu'a. When Quan Cong, who was stationed in Qu'a, saw the mighty fleet coming, his reaction was not much stronger than others. After a moment of stunned, he finally reacted and shouted: "Prepare for war, prepare for war!"

For a while, near the ferry, more than a dozen catapults began to attack the fleet on the river.

Yu Sheng here did cautiously send out fifty medium-sized (about three meters) warships to adjust the crossbows and launch a counterattack. At the same time, a fleet of fast ships (two meters) quickly cruised along the river, constantly shooting at the river bank with crossbows.

The two sides exchanged fire for half a day, and the Ming Navy sank three medium-sized warships and more than ten fast ships, while the price paid by the Jiangdong Army was the destruction of more than a dozen catapults and the casualties of nearly a thousand soldiers. Quan Cong had no choice but to retreat to the water fort and try to lure the other side off the ship to fight.

Although the Ming Navy appeared in the Central Plains for the first time, before that, it had crossed the East China Sea and defeated the three Han countries one after another. There were countless pirates on the sea, and the rich experience in naval warfare was no worse than that of the Jiangdong Navy. After realizing the other party's intention, Yu Sheng directly ordered to drop fire bombs into the water fort, forcing Quan Cong to abandon the water fort.

Yu Sheng took the opportunity to order his men to go ashore, but Quan Cong naturally refused. The two sides fought desperately on the shore. The East China Sea Navy attacked the ferry several times, but was driven down by Quan Cong with his troops. However, the price paid each time was that hundreds of soldiers were shot and killed by archers on the warships in the rear.

After repelling the Ming army three times, Quan Cong finally realized that something was wrong. He found that these Ming soldiers who landed were not very determined. Once they encountered resistance, they immediately withdrew, and the other side suffered few casualties. Although the Jiangdong Navy temporarily drove the other side back, it paid the price of hundreds of people. If it happened a few more times, his troops would probably collapse.

After realizing Yu Sheng's intention, Quan Cong secretly cursed the other side for being treacherous, and immediately led his troops to retreat to Qu'a City, and waited for the other side to land and fight with the Ming army on land.

The Jiangdong Army, which was the best in the world in terms of navy, never thought that one day they would beg the other side to go ashore and fight with them.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng smiled. If they couldn't win on the water, then the Ming army would have the final say on land.

Warships began to dock at the ferry, and the soldiers on the ships carried various siege equipment down to assemble them. The ships quickly left, and the soldiers who landed were not in a hurry to attack the city, but began to gather and line up outside Qu'a City.

Quan Cong's face turned pale when he saw this scene. He knew that the other party's action just now was to force him to give up the ferry and fight with them on land.

But even if he knew, what could he do? If he didn't retreat, the whole army might be exhausted to death at the ferry by the other party in that way. Now at least there is a strong city to defend.

But then, the attack of the Ming army made Quan Cong despair. As a port city, Qu'a was naturally not a strong city. Seeing the enemy's catapults and city-breaking crossbows lined up outside the city, the enemy army had not yet assembled. The overwhelming artillery stones made the Jiangdong army defending the city huddle in the corner of the wall in embarrassment, followed by an increasingly dense rain of arrows. Many soldiers could not find a place to hide and were nailed to death on the city wall.

Quan Cong was also considered a Jiangdong general, but he had never fought such a frustrating battle. Even until the enemy attacked the top of the city, the Jiangdong army counterattacked very few times.

In terms of siege warfare, land warfare and street fighting, the Jiangdong Army was obviously far superior to the Ming Army. When the Ming Army's vanguard rushed to the top of the city, although the resistance continued, the war was actually over at this moment. Quan Cong finally fled to Jianye with only more than a thousand remnants.

After capturing the Qu'a ferry, Yu Sheng did not rush to go deep, but left 10,000 elite soldiers to garrison there. The army continued to move forward, conquering several ferry crossings in succession, and sent people to notify Jiujiang to send troops to cross the river. The Jiujiang garrison was responsible for the capture of Danyang and Wujun. The task of the East China Sea Navy was to break through all these riverside ferry crossings and force the Jiangdong Army to fight a land battle with them.

When Yu Sheng led the navy to arrive near Jianye, He Qi had already prepared for battle and was ready to fight a decisive battle with the Ming Army here.

"Is this the Ming navy?!" He Qi looked at the mighty navy that almost filled up the more than 30-mile wide river. Even though Quan Cong had already said how terrible the Ming navy was, when he really saw it, He Qi still couldn't hide his shock.

"That's right!" Quan Cong gritted his teeth.

He Qi looked at the mighty ship and exhaled fiercely. I don't know how the Ming army built such a big ship?

He simply gave up the idea of ​​blocking the other side from landing, but quickly withdrew to Jianye, organized the army to dig trenches, and prepared to defend Jianye. This is the capital of Jiangdong. Emperor Liu Ji and the court are both located here. If Jianye is lost, it will definitely be a heavy blow to Jiangdong.

Yu Sheng naturally understood this. He led his army into the Yangtze River for Jianye. Seeing that the other side had no intention of stopping him from landing, Yu Sheng began to arrange for the soldiers to land, and used small boats to transport siege equipment and supplies along the river toward Jianye. At the same time, he ordered the Jiujiang army to move toward Jianye, preparing to join forces with the Jiujiang army to encircle Jianye and break the city.

He Qi wanted to send people to burn the enemy's supplies while the enemy's position was not stable, but Yu Sheng was the most stable general under Chen Mo. How could he not be prepared for this? On those small boats, half of them were Ming army soldiers holding two-stone crossbows. With the rapid support of the army, the two sides fought fiercely on the riverside, and finally the Jiangdong army was defeated and retreated.

He Qi had no choice but to build an earthen fort outside Jianye City to deal with the Ming army, and hoped that Sun Quan would send reinforcements as soon as possible.

Yu Sheng did not go ashore, but arranged a large number of fast boats to cruise around to guard against the reinforcements from Jiangdong on the water. He also built a fort at the ferry and prepared for the rear. Then he went to the front line with Liu Yi to launch a fierce attack on Jianye.

In the chaotic world, arrows rained down like rain. The fierceness of the battle in Jianye far exceeded any war in Jingzhou. Yu Sheng and Liu Yi tried their best and failed to break the city after five consecutive days of attack. The Jiangdong defenders on He Qi's side also suffered heavy casualties. The Ming army's crossbows were so powerful that they had the potential to overwhelm Jiangdong's equipment. If it were not for the advantage of the strong city, it would be hard to say whether they could hold out for five days if they met in the wild.

Yu Sheng's side was not easy either. In order to capture Jianye as soon as possible, Yu Sheng chose the toughest way to attack the city. The price was that the East China Sea Navy suffered serious casualties, so Yu Sheng chose to postpone the siege and wait for the Jiujiang troops to arrive before joining forces to attack the city. This also gave the Jianye defenders some breathing room, but there had been no reinforcements for five consecutive days, which was also a huge blow to the morale of the defenders.