Tiger Guards

Chapter 467 Ordered to Assist
Ju Shou stood on the platform of the Sparrow Room, gazing into the distance for a long time.

He held a long, narrow whisk woven from pheasant feathers in his right hand and gently patted his left shoulder, weighing the gains and losses.

The ship-handling skills and teamwork displayed by the Jin navy not only broadened Ju Shou's horizons but also extinguished his desire to launch an offensive.

The sky had become completely bright, and Wen Chou on the north bank had lost his chance to launch a night raid; he had also lost his chance to attack the south bank.

All that's left is the opportunity for a combined land and water attack. Judging from the naval combat skills of the Jin army upstream, the outlook for this battle is really not optimistic.

However, if a ceasefire is to be reached, a more fitting reason is needed.

Even if the reason is slightly flawed, it's acceptable as long as it works; we can't just withdraw the troops directly.

Given the current situation, withdrawing troops directly would only provoke the enemy's naval forces to act aggressively.

At that time, not only their own fleet and the troops being transported, but also Wen Chou's various armies on the north bank will be affected by a chain of negative consequences.

After a moment's thought, Ju Shou said to those around him, "Prepare a fast boat and head towards Ao Cang to present my letter to the Grand Marshal in person."

The people around him looked natural, and most of the officials and soldiers secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Especially the soldiers transported in the fleet, who were originally land soldiers, were just traveling by boat.

If a naval battle were to take place, the ship would rock violently, rendering many people unable to fight.

If the ship sinks, these people will be helpless and drown.

In fact, mastering water skills is a rather rare and costly skill.

Just because you can play in a pond doesn't mean you can play in the Yellow River or the Yangtze River.

Gan Ning kept the fleet stationary, and the larger Hebei fleet dared not move either.

In fact, Gan Ning did not want to fight. These transport ships were not very handy and lacked many naval warfare equipment.

Most importantly, the opposing ships were also thin-skinned and heavily armed, which meant that their holds were crammed with armored infantry.

Given the fierce resistance of the Hebei soldiers, the cost of attempting to storm the ship's cabin, capture, or kill them through the cabin entrance alone was too high.

Gan Ning was unaware that many of the Hebei soldiers in the cabins had vomited from the rocking of the boat, leaving the cabins in a mess.

The Hebei soldiers only came by boat to pursue and wait for an opportunity to join the battle. Apart from the Liyang garrison, who were familiar with boats and knew a certain level of swimming skills, the vast majority of the Hebei soldiers were not used to such a long and bumpy journey.

As the standoff continued, the Yellow River rippled and surged, and the Hebei soldiers endured constant torment and hardship.

It wasn't that Gan Ning lacked experience. In his understanding, the fact that Hebei dared to organize such a large-scale shipping operation meant that the other party was adapted to and immune to the damage from turbulence.

Thus, without receiving Zhao Ji's order to start the war, Gan Ning arrogantly held off four or five times the number of enemy ships.

During the standoff, a new fleet of ships has been prepared on the south bank.

This fleet used various types of small boats and rafts, and had only a little over two thousand men, mainly pirates under the command of the four commanders of Qingzhou.

They abandoned heavy armor and wore light, easy-to-remove clothes, at most hanging some bamboo or wooden armor on their chests.

To facilitate the fighting, the vast majority of people boarded the ship barefoot and with their heads wrapped in black cloths.

Zhao Ji has two forces that excel in naval warfare: one is Gan Ning's, and the other is the pirates under Guan Cheng's command.

Although Guan Cheng was nominally a remnant of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, his primary profession was a maritime merchant.

In a place like Qingzhou, if you're a local strongman and don't fit in, it's not surprising that you become a Yellow Turban rebel.

As Guan Cheng eagerly awaited the order to attack, a fast ship with a bright yellow flag sailed in full force.

Under the watchful eyes of the garrison at Aocang Wharf, the fast boat docked, and Ju Shou's messenger disembarked, holding up a silk scroll and shouting: "By order, I pay my respects to the Grand Marshal and present Governor Ju's letter!"

After a brief body search, the envoy led several attendants to see Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji was having breakfast at the time, and he looked at the messenger: "What brings Ju Shou here?"

"I have heard that the Grand Marshal has captured a large number of bandits, and I fear that the Grand Marshal may not have enough ships to transport them."

The messenger bowed towards the northeast of Liyang, where Yuan Shao was located: "My lord has specially ordered the commander-in-chief to lead the ships and naval forces to Xingyang to assist the Grand Marshal in transporting the prisoners. In this way, we can proceed directly to Mengjin."

"It seems I misunderstood General Right's good intentions."

Zhao Ji then picked up Ju Shou's letter and casually read it: "Since you came to help me transfer prisoners, why didn't you say so earlier? It has caused such a big misunderstanding. If it causes trouble and our officials and soldiers die in vain, how can I explain it to the court and the emperor?"

The messenger looked surprised, then said, "When the governor set out, he had already sent a messenger ahead by fast boat. It seems that the wind and waves were too strong last night, the boat capsized and everyone perished, and the official document was not delivered to the Grand Marshal." "In that case, let's just consider it a misunderstanding."

Zhao Ji raised Ju Shou's letter: "Are you really going to transfer prisoners to me?"

"How could it be false?"

The envoy bowed and flattered, "With the weather turning autumnal, we urge the Grand Marshal to withdraw his troops as soon as possible so that our army can focus all its efforts on dealing with other matters."

“That makes sense… but I won’t trouble you, General Right. Go back and tell Ju Shou to immediately retreat along the same route. If he refuses to leave, don’t blame me for punishing him according to the laws of the court.”

"Yes, I understand. I will certainly persuade the governor to evacuate as soon as possible."

"Ah."

Zhao Ji nodded; he didn't want to force Ju Shou to help him transport prisoners.

If we create an opportunity for long-term cooperation between the two sides, who knows what the other side might be up to?

Simply stay away from people like Ju Shou.

As they talked, Pei Xiu casually took notes and drafted a reply in Zhao Ji's voice. He then presented it to Zhao Ji, saying, "Grand Marshal, please take a look."

"Yes, I will reply to Ju Shou with this book."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he took out his personal seal, first took the pen to write his name, and then stamped it with the seal.

Whether Ju Shou dares to retreat immediately is his own business.

Anyway, Zhao Ji didn't want to get entangled with the other party anymore. These guys would seize any opportunity to attack, so there was no need to give them a friendly look.

After dealing with the matter of the envoy, Zhao Ji continued his meal.

Considering the long-term impact of this conflict, it's clear that Ju Shou came looking for an opportunity to fight.

However, naval operations require a lot of skill and coordination; if you're not good at it, you're not good at it. Even something as simple as arranging the ships in formation left the people of Hebei completely stumped.

This means that Hebei Province may conduct targeted naval force construction in the future.

When Yuan Shao had a relatively reliable naval force, Lü Bu was in for a tough time.

A reliable naval force could directly use the Honggou waterway to quickly transport soldiers, food, and equipment from Hebei to the front lines.

A naval force requires long-term training to become a fully-fledged force and also needs many warships.

Even if Yuan Shao brought in shipbuilding craftsmen from Liu Biao, it would still take time to fell large trees, dry them in the shade, and then build warships.

In other words, the construction of the navy will attract resources from Hebei in the next two or three years; three years later, Yuan Shao's Yellow River navy will become a key force in attacking Lü Bu and Sun Ce.

There's even Gongsun Zan. Once Yuan Shao's Yellow River naval fleet enters the Bohai Sea, Yuan Shao's army can be deployed into Gongsun Zan's territory, making it difficult for Gongsun Zan to defend both ends.

In short, if Yuan Shao had realized this in advance and started training his naval forces, it would have forced Gongsun Zan, Lü Bu, and Liu Bei to start a naval arms race.

After the meal, Zhao Ji returned to the dock and gazed at the opposing fleets on the north bank.

Pei Xiu, Ximen Jian, and others followed Zhao Ji, standing on either side of him to observe the north bank. They were too far apart to see anything, nor could they realize the enormous advantage that Gan Ning's troops had in naval warfare.

Pei Xiu stood watching for a long time, and when he vaguely noticed that the Hebei soldiers downstream had begun to set sail and drift downstream away from the battlefield, he was astonished: "Ju Shou actually dares not start a war?"

"I didn't initiate any attack, so why should he gather his troops to fight me?"

Zhao Ji understood Yuan Shao's thoughts even better than many of the loyal officials in Hebei, so he concluded that Ju Shou really wanted to fight, otherwise he wouldn't have made the crazy decision to travel by night boat.

If he doesn't initiate the war, Ju Shou has no reason to fight back.

Otherwise, if the war goes poorly, Yuan Shao would never have let Ju Shou off lightly.

Upon hearing this, Pei Xiu gazed at the outlines of various fleets near the north bank and was speechless for a moment. He could not understand Ju Shou's strong motivation for war.

In other words, there was no proper opportunity; otherwise, how could Ju Shou have easily withdrawn his troops?

Even if we withdraw our troops now, we will still be punished by Yuan Shao.

Pei Xiu thought that Ju Shou should at least launch a probing attack.

Since being punished by Yuan Shao is inevitable, and their military power may be dismantled... Under these circumstances, why not fight?
(End of this chapter)