The instant attack caught the rebel forward fleet by surprise. The rebel soldiers on the dozens of warships that were burned into fireships jumped into the water one after another. Those who stayed on the ship became a living person; the unmanned ship suddenly He paused and spun across the narrow waterway. ¡û Summit Novel, The ships were originally far apart, but something happened suddenly. The unexpected situation ahead caught the warships following behind a little unprepared. The officer on board quickly ordered the sails to be lowered and stopped, and ordered the oarsmen to row backwards. In this way, more than a dozen warships were still unable to recover and rushed directly into the sea of ????fire and hell, and instantly became a bundle of firewood in the sea of ????fire. The leading commander of the rebel vanguard army was Xu Qin, who was named the mighty general. It was he who led the rebel army to capture Nankang, Jiujiang and Anqing with unstoppable force. He was also the vanguard of the rebel army this time to return to aid. These more than 300 The warship was commanded by him. When the fire broke out ahead, Xu Qin's command ship was still on the lake seven or eight miles away. Seeing an ambush ahead, Xu Qin immediately ordered the warships to shrink their formation and assume a fighting posture to protect the people who were rushing from behind. Zhu Chenhao's dragon boat flagship. "Report to the general, there are officers and soldiers setting up an ambush in the reed swamp waterway. The specific enemy situation is still unclear, but based on the scale of the rockets launched by the enemy, it is estimated that there should be as many as ten thousand people." His deputy, Zhao Xian, stretched out from a warship in front. He jumped off the springboard and reported anxiously. Xu Qin took a breath. More than ten thousand people were ambushing in the reed swamp. This was Wang Shouren's main force. This guy was really courageous. The news they got earlier was that they had captured Fuzhou. I didn't expect to arrive in Poyang so soon. An ambush was set up at the lake, as they were sure that the army would return to Nanchang Prefecture from here. Xu Qin did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so he ordered all the warships to take a defensive posture and return to the lake. At the same time, he ordered his ships to turn their bows and get closer to Zhu Chenhao's flagship in the rear to report the situation here. On the lake more than 20 miles away, Zhu Chenhao also received a report. The fire in the reed marsh caused by the burning warships ahead was clearly visible at night. Zhu Chenhao immediately ordered a stop and sent a small boat to the front to spy on the situation. Not long after, Xu Qin's warship sailed nearby. After boarding the dragon boat, he reported the situation ahead in detail and suggested: "Your Majesty, Wang Shouren set up an ambush ahead. Now the reed marsh has been burned into a sea of ??fire. We want to go upstream from the river to Nanchang." I'm afraid it won't work. The enemy is in the dark and I'm in the open. I don't know what Wang Shouren's plot is. I suggested changing the route to the west, landing directly from Changyi, and returning to Nanchang Mansion via land reinforcements. " Zhu Chenhao said angrily: " Why did Wang Shouren move so fast? Yesterday he said he had just captured Fuzhou and he showed up here today. So why did the news from Nanchang say that Wang Shouren's troops were attacking Nanchang? ?¡± Liu Yangzheng cupped his hands and said: ¡°Your Majesty, calm down, this is clearly Wang Shouren¡¯s plan to divide the troops. The ambush in front is one part, and the troops outside Nanchang Mansion are another part. Since the troops are divided, the number of troops in the two places will not be large. According to my opinion, we should sweep across and annihilate the enemy troops in front, rather than diverting to the land route, which would delay at least one day. Wang Shouren's troops attacking the city must have hoped that we would delay the attack so that he could take it calmly. Nanchang Mansion." Zhu Chenhao frowned, but Xu Qin shouted: "Commander, what bad idea did you come up with? Didn't you see that the reeds ahead are on fire? Did you ask my boat to send them up for firewood? "Liu Yangzheng waved his hand and said: "Although this fire blocks our way, it is also a threat to the other side. The fire spreads in the reeds, how can the ambush be hidden? They can only be forced to retreat to the shore; the fire on the river. The captain of the ship can order the water ghost to scuttle it or order the iron-headed ship to move aside and get out of the river. After a while, the reeds will be extinguished and our army will be able to move forward unimpeded. "Zhu Chenhao nodded and said. You're right, Wang Shouren doesn't have many troops, but it's just a bluff. We don't need to pay attention to him. Although dozens of ships were burned and some men were lost, the top priority is to rescue Nanchang. Once Nanchang Mansion is lost, our hometown will be destroyed. Come on, your parents, wives, and children are still in Nanchang. That is not what I want to see." Everyone nodded, and this time their opinions were rarely unified. Xu Qin had nothing to say and just turned around and stepped onto the springboard. When I got back to the ship, I heard the sound of wings breaking through the wind in the sky. I turned around and saw two small black dots in the dark sky coming quickly and landing on a wooden cage on the deck, making a cooing sound. . Those are two military pigeons that deliver messages. Zhu Chenhao specially trained hundreds of these military pigeons to facilitate the scouts to deliver messages and find out the military situation. Even when he went to the capital, he used carrier pigeons to deliver messages, which was extremely convenient. Now on the water, this way of delivering messages is even faster. One wing of the two pigeons is painted with white paint, and the other is painted with red paint. They are used to distinguish the scope of the survey. The red one was released by the scouts near Jiangxi. The red color also means warning of urgency. The closer you are, the more urgent it becomes, which is not unreasonable.?The homing pigeons painted with white paint were scouts on the periphery. In order to grasp the dynamics of the officers and soldiers, Zhu Chenhao sent hundreds of scouts deep into the surrounding states, some as far away as Henan, hundreds of miles away, just to Information in time until the arrival of officers and soldiers. The guards caught the pigeons, took off the small bamboo tubes under their feet and handed them to the military advisor Liu Yangzheng. Liu Yangzheng didn't look at them. When he saw them, his expression suddenly changed and he exclaimed in surprise. "Military advisor, what's wrong?" Zhu Chenhao asked with a frown. "This is something serious. Your Majesty, please take a look at it personally." Liu Yangzheng handed the two notes to Zhu Chenhao. With the help of the red lantern on the dragon boat, Zhu Chenhao could clearly see the handwriting on the note. Although the scouts were all rough and the handwriting was crooked and unreadable, he knew the handwriting. One note read: "The enemy's five thousand elite cavalry entered Kaifeng Prefecture from Daming Prefecture and are now attacking day and night ninety miles south of Kaifeng Prefecture." Another note read: "The enemy's army is passing through Shandong and crossing Henan to attack When they came, the enemy's scouts were on tight guard. The exact number of soldiers and horses was unknown, but the force was huge. They were suspected to be the main force of the soldiers. "Zhu Chenhao stumbled and almost fell down. He held his hands and feet on the pillars on the side. Then he stood firm and silently handed the note to the 'ministers' for circulation. For a moment, the whole ship was silent, except for the sound of the water of Poyang Lake lapping gently, the sound of crackling and burning reeds on fire in the distance, and the faint sound of the soldiers who fell into the water screaming for help. "Five thousand cavalry have arrived ninety miles south of Kaifeng Mansion. At this speed, they can reach Jiujiang in one day and one night. With five thousand elite cavalry, Jiujiang cannot be defended unless we divide our troops to defend Jiujiang; Jiujiang cannot be lost. It is lost. His pockets were pierced," Wang Lun, Minister of War, said worriedly. Li Shishi also said: "Master Wang is right, Your Majesty, Jiujiang is the gateway from Jiangxi to the Yangtze River. With Jiujiang, even if the land route is blocked, our army can still flow unimpeded by the waterway. If it is lost, it will really become a trap The one in the urn Ahem." Li Shishi quickly stopped talking when he thought that the metaphor of the turtle in the urn was not appropriate. Liu Yangzheng suddenly sneered and said: "The implication of the two adults is that we will divide our troops to defend Jiujiang. Don't forget that the enemy's main force has already rushed straight from Shandong. How can Jiujiang withstand it? Even if we divide our troops to defend, how many of us will we have?" Can the soldiers and horses stop the main force of the imperial court? This time, at least more than 100,000 troops are coming. If the imperial court still sticks to defending Jiujiang and besieged in Nanchang, it will really become a turtle in the jar. The current situation requires a decision, or defend Jiujiang and Nanchang. , fight to the death with the imperial army, the chance of doing so is less than one in a hundred, or" Liu Yangzheng hesitated for a moment, frowned and said nothing. Zhu Chenhao said in a trembling voice: "What else? You don't want me to surrender, do you?" Liu Yangzheng said hurriedly: "How can I make such a suggestion? I just want to say that either the fish will die and the net will be broken, we will turn the ship around immediately. Attack Nanjing down the river. As long as you capture Nanjing City, the situation will be reversed immediately. Your Majesty, don't stick to Nanchang. Although this is the place where you made your fortune, it is not something that cannot be discarded. Today's mission is to achieve great things. A great cause. After occupying Nanjing, expand the army and pacify Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and then pacify the south of the Yangtze River. If Nanchang remains in the emperor's pocket, once the main force of the imperial court arrives, Nankang and Nanjing will be captured. Jiujiang, we will be forced to fight to the death. There is no foothold in the southeast, southwest, east, and west, and there is no way to retreat. It is best to take advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the imperial court to attack Jiangxi to attack Nanjing. " Zhu Chen Hao Dou. He started rubbing the beard on his chin. Giving up Nanchang was like cutting off the flesh in his heart. This was his old nest. He had been running it for several years. No matter where his connections and property were, he was the emperor in Nanchang. If he left Nanchang, he would be gone. Confidence; but what Liu Yangzheng said is indeed very reasonable. Under the current situation, staying here is waiting for death. Although the army expanded rapidly and has grown to more than 90,000 soldiers and horses after the uprising, compared with the imperial army, its strength is still Quite a difference. Coupled with the gathering of soldiers and horses from sporadic guard posts in surrounding state capitals, it is definitely a dead end to be trapped in Nanchang. This decision is not easy to make, it requires the determination of a strong man to cut off his wrist.