Wanli 1592

Chapter 827
Like Chai Guozhu, Li Hualong was naturally in a bad mood.

He walked all the way and saw the masterpieces left by the Zhennan Army on both sides of the canal. When he arrived at the edge of the Yangtze River to observe the Zhennan Army Navy on the opposite bank, he couldn't help being surprised by the size of this navy.

The scale of this navy is really too big. He has never seen such a large-scale navy. With this navy on the river, it is almost impossible for him to cross the river from the front.

Unless this navy is defeated by warships, it is impossible for him to survive even if he can gather small wooden boats to transport troops across the river, as long as this navy is still capable of fighting.

Combat power is naturally beyond doubt.

"Master, if this navy is on the river, how can we rush over?"

All the cronies around Li Hualong were surprised and disturbed by this navy, and felt annoyed and worried.

Do you want to start building a new navy now?

If you think too much, it is financially impossible. It takes a long time to build a navy, and now reliable shipyards are all in the south, but the south is controlled by the navy of the Zhennan Army, and there is nothing you can do.

Transform a temporary navy with water transport ships?
Not to mention the quantity issue, can it be said that the temporarily restructured fleet can really beat professional sailors?

Li Hualong couldn't help but began to worry about the follow-up of this war.

At least he has understood the fact that if this navy is not wiped out, the waterway of the canal cannot be opened. If this navy is not eliminated, let him continue to cruise on the river. It will also attack the grain road at any time, and the grain road will never be stable.

If there is no food to eat, the court will be anxious.

"Let's go back!"

Li Hualong directly brought people back to Yangzhou City, and then summoned Yangzhou officials of all sizes.

"How many ships can you come up with? If you collect ships along the entire canal, can you come up with [-] ships?"

Li Hualong asked directly.

The magistrate of Yangzhou looked at several water transportation officials under his command. These officials added up and reported a vague number of "eight hundred". Small fishing boats and the like are added together.

"A large number of ships are in the south of the Yangtze River. There are not many ships we can use here, but if we send people to search north and requisition all the ships along the canal, there should be more."

A shipping official said so.

"Master, are you planning to use the water transport ship to fight against the naval warship?"

The magistrate of Yangzhou looked embarrassed.

"Let's not talk about the battle, even if you want to transport troops across the river, you need ships. The original plan of the governor was to send a team to help you defend Yangzhou. The governor himself led the troops to detour across the river and then directly attacked Nanjing to fight against the rebels. Come on! But the imperial court insists on defending Yangzhou to the death, and this is the end!"

As soon as this matter was mentioned, Li Hualong became even more angry, and scolded the magistrate of Yangzhou so much that he couldn't lift his head.

"Go to collect the ships first, and then we will..."

"Master! The rebel navy has invaded!!"

On the afternoon of September [-]th, a part of the Zhennan Army Navy swaggered into the northern waterway of the Canal and drove directly to Yangzhou Prefecture. Some imperial troops came after hearing the news, and the navy of the Zhennan Army went back all the way.

Going back all the way and bombarding the shore all the way, the soldiers of the imperial army who were too late to escape the range were bombarded. They suffered a lot of losses. After the navy entered the Yangtze River channel again, they continued to follow the northern coast Swaggeringly cruising, the imperial army on the north bank pushed the artillery and was about to fight the navy in a decisive battle.

The Zhennan Army navy decisively retreated back to the south bank.

When Li Hualong learned that the Zhennan Army navy raided and destroyed the coastal outposts and defense facilities that he had managed to arrange, and caused 300 casualties, he was so angry that he blew his beard and stared.

At this moment, Li Hualong directly ordered the long-range strike weapons in the Frang machine firecrackers, big fat guns, catapults, and bed crossbows that could be collected by the generals of the army to be placed along the coast, so that the soldiers from the Jingying Shenji battalion Use it to let them intensively bombard the Zhennan Army Navy coming over, and not allow the Zhennan Army Navy to enter the channel again.

After finally waiting for the imperial army on the north bank to arrange defensive facilities, the next morning, the Zhennan Army navy attacked again. The North Shore imperial army was full of confidence and prepared to fire artillery. As a result, the Zhennan Army navy was far away. Just fired.

As soon as their naval guns were fired accurately, before the artillery of the imperial army on the north bank fired, the Zhennan army's naval guns fired in unison, and countless iron balls hit the imperial army's heads fiercely. The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion Trying to fight back against the iron eggs flying all over the sky, it turned out that he finally fired a cannon but couldn't hit the navy's ship at all.

They didn't have time to struggle or think, and they were maimed by the next round of artillery bombardment.

The Shenji Battalion hardly had the chance to fire the second or third fire, and even if they did, they were in a hurry, and there was no time to fire.

After all, what they are facing is the Zhennan Army Navy who is proficient in artillery tactics and their high-quality artillery.

After several rounds of firefights, the navy successfully silenced the firepower of the imperial army.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a marine team landed on the north bank, and easily defeated the imperial army participating in the battle on the bank, beheaded five or six hundred people, seized more than 30 Francophone guns and a large number of gunpowder shells, and then swaggered back to the on board.

When Li Hualong rushed over with his army in desperation, the navy of the Zhennan Army was cruising on the river again.

That leisurely look seemed to be mocking them, and Li Hualong's entire face flushed red with anger.

Not only that, when Li Hualong led his troops to the north bank, the navy of the Zhennan Army seemed to have discovered something. More than a dozen ships kept attacking the north bank, and then another round of bombardment scared Li Hualong's cronies to immediately protect them. Li Hualong left the North Shore.

His side couldn't fight back, but the Zhennan Army's navy fought so smoothly, they suffered a lot of losses several times in a row, and now they lost a lot of firearms. Li Hualong had to send more firearms to the surrounding state capitals to support him in Yangzhou.

At the same time, it was decided to adopt a more conservative approach, that is, blockade the mouth of the river, and then extend the coastal defense back, so that the navy of the Zhennan Army could not enter the waterway, and at the same time, it could not attack the imperial army on the north bank, so as to gain time for rebuilding water transport ships. .

If they were beaten like this every day, their morale would be wiped out within a few days, and the soldiers would become frightened and uncontrollable without the Zhennan Army fighting on their own. Li Hualong knew this very well.

So Li Hualong and his subordinates discussed how to block the mouth of the river, such as sinking a ship or blocking the river with iron cables, but the premise is that the canal cannot be completely damaged, because the canal must be used to transport food, and irreversible damage is not possible. OK.

The magistrate of Yangzhou told him with a bitter face that they had tried all these methods, but none of them worked.

The sunken ship was salvaged after the Zhennan Army seized control of the coast, and the iron chain was dismantled after the Zhennan Army repelled the troops on the shore, which did not hinder them.

Moreover, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal cannot be completely destroyed, otherwise the meaning of their fight here will not exist.

Faced with such a situation, Li Hualong fell into a deep entanglement.

He never imagined that a navy would cause him so much trouble.

(End of this chapter)