OBS Chapter 1157 We still have to burn the ships.
Chapter 1157 We still have to burn the ships.
The city of Funing Prefecture is surrounded by four county towns: Guang'an County to the north, Bukou County to the south, Jiliu County on the east bank of the Jiliu River to the west, and Yingjianxia County to the east.
These four county towns are all garrisoned by pirates, with nearly 30,000 pirates surrounding the central Fuzhou prefecture city.
Jinjiang has two tributaries: the Jiliu River, which runs north to south and blocked the retreat of the Zhenxi Army, and the Mi River, which is south of the city, where countless pirate ships are moored.
Intelligence indicates that the Zhenxi Army's warships, the Zhenxi and Zhenxi II, have been blocked south of Guang'an County.
Because the pirates had too many warships, the Zhenxi, despite its formidable strength, was unable to continue its advance and was caught in a stalemate.
Progress is proceeding unusually slowly.
In a short period of time, it was impossible to break through the blockade of the ships, and support supplies could not be delivered.
Currently, only the vast plains and open fields south of the prefectural city are available for their march.
However, once the Zhenxi Army enters the open field, without the protection of the city walls, they will die even faster.
Hu Jincai scratched his head, feeling itchy all over.
"Damn it, these sea monkeys are so difficult to deal with, they're not giving me a way to survive."
The two lieutenants looked grave; the situation was indeed dire. Since they couldn't retreat, they had no choice but to die in battle within the city.
With ammunition and food supplies exhausted and everyone worn out, they knew that even if they fought to the death, they could not hold out for more than a few days.
The army's commanders were at a loss, and they were filled with despair.
"Let's fight to the death. Killing one is enough, killing two is a bonus. In short, we can't bring shame to the Zhenxi Army."
One of the lieutenants stood up, visibly agitated.
"Yes, those damn pirates! As long as I live, I won't let them set foot in the city."
Another lieutenant slammed his fist on the table and shouted loudly.
Hu Jincai quickly waved his hand: "What are you shouting for? Go patrol the city and let me think things over. Don't you dare show me any emotion."
The two lieutenants could only nod and turn to leave the room.
Hu Jincai went out himself. It was already late at night, and it was dark all around. He wandered around the alley alone.
The guards followed at a distance, not daring to disturb his thoughts.
Lin Feng's 285 cavalrymen of the Zhenfeng Battalion traveled for a day and then sensed that the road was not quite right.
This was a vast open field with few obvious landmarks, making it difficult for them to determine their orientation.
Since there was nothing unusual, Wei Bao's scouts hadn't been seen for half a day. They only sent a report a day earlier, saying that Fuzhou City was surrounded by pirates and there was no way to retreat except to fight to the death.
Lin Feng felt that this marching method was not reliable, as it would lead them astray and waste a lot of time.
"map."
Pei Qiyin quickly took out a map from her bag, and the two of them dismounted and spread it on the ground.
Their map for this area was very rudimentary, with only a few lines, and the villages and towns that were originally marked were hardly seen along the way.
Even if villages and towns exist, their names cannot be determined.
The area is so large that it's easy to get lost.
Lin Feng observed for a long time but still couldn't find the right route, so he could only sigh and shake his head.
"No, marching like this will only make us lose our way in this wilderness."
Pei Qiyin got up and looked around.
"We've been walking for days and haven't seen a single living person. We can't even find a guide."
Lin Feng pointed to a thick line on the map.
"This is a tributary of the Jinjiang River called the Jiliu River. It's about a hundred miles away from us. We need to turn right, find this river, and go south along it. That should be much faster."
"Well, that's the only way. It's better than getting lost."
Lin Feng waved his hand: "That's right, let's go to the right."
The two mounted their horses, waved, and led the Zhenfeng Battalion soldiers to the right and galloped away.
The journey of a hundred miles or so was completed in no more than half a day by galloping warhorses. Finally, the sound of waves could be heard in the distance, and the air was filled with moisture.
Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed his judgment was correct.
He waved from his horse, signaling the horsemen behind him to keep up, and galloped downstream along the river.
As the sun sets, the distant water reflects a dazzling light, and many boats can be seen shuttling back and forth in the river.
Lin Feng suddenly raised his hand, signaling to slow the horse down. He then reached out and tightened the reins, bringing the warhorse to a slow stop.
He discovered that the boats on these waterways, judging from their design, were all seagoing vessels.
This indicates that these ships belonged to pirates.
This situation is similar to that on the river near Los Angeles, where pirate ships have occupied the entire southeastern part of the river basin.
Not to mention Taisho's ships, even his Zhenxi's ships could not survive here.
Previously, the Zhenxi Army's warships dominated the entire Jinjiang River, and no one could shake their hegemonic position.
Lin Feng stood on the open field, staring blankly at the river in the distance.
Pei Qiyin leaned closer: "Boss, what's wrong?"
Lin Feng took a deep breath, stroked his short beard with his hand, and after a long while said softly.
"This won't do, we have to burn it."
"Boss, what are we burning?"
Lin Feng didn't speak, he just raised his chin.
Pei Qiyin turned to look into the distance, and after a moment she understood.
"There are too many pirate ships, and they have taken over our waterways. We must burn them all down."
"Hmm, what's the fastest way to burn the ships?"
"It's simple. Just prepare plenty of cotton and kerosene, light the fire upwind, and burn the boat downwind."
"Alright, let's follow the river to find the nearest dock and burn it down."
With a shout, Lin Feng spurred his horse forward.
The group of over two hundred riders immediately spurred their horses to follow, galloping forward with a thunderous roar.
They arrived at the first county town dock, which was Guang'an County. The dock was about 20 miles away from the county town, and dozens of seagoing ships were moored on the dock.
The cavalrymen who went to scout returned and reported that there were about three hundred pirates and fifty-seven ships on both sides of the river at the dock.
Because the dock was small, the ships were moored close together, making it easy to set them on fire and burn them all together.
Based on the information gathered from the reconnaissance, Lin Feng drew a diagram of the terrain and ship mooring at the dock. Night fell, and a gentle breeze blew.
Based on the wind direction, mark several ignition points on the map.
What we lack now is kerosene and porcelain jars.
To make arson easier, Lin Feng suggested filling a porcelain jar with kerosene, plugging it with cotton, setting it on fire, and then throwing it onto the boat.
This kind of arson is both quick and difficult to extinguish.
It's a pity I can't go back to Shanglin Mansion to research and make hand grenades, otherwise I could just make a big hole in the bottom of each of their ships, instead of going through so much trouble.
As they approached Guang'an County, Wei Bao's scouts appeared and delivered intelligence about the county to Lin Feng.
There were over 700 pirates in the city, plus the pirates stationed at the dock, totaling about 1,000.
Lin Feng believed that he could replicate his first act of arson, setting fire to the ships and besieging the enemy's reinforcements to deliver a devastating blow to the pirates.
The Zhenfeng Battalion consisted of 285 riders, divided into three groups.
A group of fifty riders abandoned their warhorses, dived into the river, and set fire to the boats.
Another group of 150 cavalrymen ambushed the pirate rescue team along the 20-mile stretch from the dock to the county town.
Another group of 85 riders was responsible for storming the pirates on the dock at night to stop or delay them from putting out fires.
Lin Feng led a team to ambush the enemy, Qiao Jushan led a team to storm the dock, and Ye Liangcai led fifty men to burn the boats.