As a typical inland empire, the Daming Empire did not attach as much importance to the navy as it did to the nine border armies.
The Daming Navy was at its peak from the war with Zhang Shicheng to the Yongle Expedition.
After Yongle, the navy became more and more deserted, and a large number of ships slowly rotted. It was not until the Jiajing period when the Japanese pirates caused chaos that the navy picked up a little. The war in Korea was once again glorious with the help of Xiao Ruxun. After that, no one cared about it anymore.
Before Xiao Ruxun raised his troops, other than the Burmese navy, the Daming Navy only had one navy in Guangdong, which was useless. The navy in Xiao Ruxun's hands not only far surpassed the Guangdong navy, but also swallowed up the Guangdong navy and became stronger. In the whole of the Daming coast, there was no longer a rival.
As a military commander, Li Hualong was very familiar with land and cavalry battles, but he had never thought about fighting on the water or even on the sea. Of course, he should not think about it.
Chen Lin, who was the only one who could compete with Xiao Ruxun's navy, had also sided with him under Xiao Ruxun's coordination. Li Hualong naturally could not do anything to this navy. Facing the Zhennan Army navy's repeated attacks, he could only passively defend and be beaten, and try his best to hold on until he had some warships in his hands.
He finally understood that without warships, it was impossible to compete with the Zhennan Army navy. On land, other than staying far away, he could only fight with all his might. But under the Zhennan Army's superior firepower, it was indeed very difficult for him to hold on.
He felt that he had indeed fallen into a sinister trap. There was no way to cross the river to fight, but he had to constantly deal with the Zhennan Army navy that might invade the north. In order to deal with their invasion, he was already very tired, and could not think of his own offensive strategy.
Thinking of this, Li Hualong deeply hated Xiao Daheng's shortsightedness and Shen Yicheng's ignorance! Giving up on land to fight the enemy on water was an extremely stupid thing to do!
But he had no choice but to do this. Otherwise, once Yangzhou was gone, the entire canal route would be exposed to the attack range of the Zhennan Army's navy. If they followed the canal north, they could directly attack the capital. This was an outcome that Li Hualong could not accept.
Even if the grain routes were opened, what meaning would there be if the capital was gone?
As such, they could only continue to tangle with the Zhennan Army's navy along the canal, causing their superior forces to be unable to extricate themselves as if they were trapped in a swamp. They were exhausted from defending and could not even attack.
The Zhennan Army's navy could fire cannons on the water and could also have soldiers disembark from the shore to engage in land battles. They could come and go as they pleased, but Li Hualong had no good way to restrain them. He wanted to use cavalry to do so, but no matter how fast and powerful the cavalry were, the Zhennan Army would not disembark from the ships and could only use firearms and crossbows to attack them.
Over the next four days, the Imperial Court's army had not suffered many losses, but its morale had plummeted. It was completely helpless against those warships and basically didn't want to continue fighting with them. His officers were also full of complaints, placing a great deal of pressure on Li Hualong. "This won't do.
Passively taking a beating isn't a solution. We have to go on the offensive and restrain the arrogance of the bandits! Even if it's just one attack, we'll at least let the bandits know our power! "
Li Hualong slammed his fist on the table as he spoke to his subordinates.
The subordinates glanced at each other in dismay.
We also know this, but what method should we use?
If you keep saying this and expect us to think of something, we're in a very difficult position!
"Supervisor, if we don't have warships, it's impossible for us to cross the river. The rebel navy will stop us."
One of the subordinates tried to sound him out.
"Of course I know that! But the reconstruction of the warships requires time. If we allow the bandits to come and go as they please in our defensive zone, the army will collapse before the reconstruction of the warships is complete! How will I have the face to face His Majesty? "
Li Hualong's voice was as loud as ever, causing his subordinates to feel even more uneasy.
Especially Chai Guozhu. At this moment, he could smell the strong scent of a scapegoat.
Most of those who died were my subordinates!
They were the elite soldiers of Ji Town that I trained, alright? You can't face His Majesty, but I can?
Li Hualong had always been a domineering man. In a war, he only required the generals to be willing to sacrifice their lives. They had to follow his strategy, and no objections were allowed.
Chai Guozhu had long heard of his domineering attitude, but he didn't expect Li Hualong to be this domineering. When he came here to fight, he didn't discuss anything with Chai Guozhu. He just coldly ordered the troops to be deployed.
At this moment, another civil official tried to sound Li Hualong out, "Supervisor, I heard that there's a sorcerer in Yangzhou City. His magic power is strong, and he can communicate with the Dragon King. Why don't we ask the sorcerer to discuss with the Dragon King in the river, offer sacrifices, and ask the Dragon King to cast a spell to swallow all the rebel navy into the bottom of the river? Wouldn't that be good?"
As soon as he said this, a few other civil officials immediately echoed him. The rest of the officials also began to discuss in low voices. Even some of the generals were whispering to each other, as if they had some hope for this method.
Then, Li Hualong slammed the table hard.
"Bastard! Don't speak of strange powers and gods! How can there be any spells in this world? What Dragon King? They're all just swindlers and swindlers! Have all the books you've read gone to dogs' bellies?! "
Li Hualong's anger frightened the officials, and they hurriedly apologized.
Li Hualong snorted heavily, then pondered for a while, and looked at Chai Guozhu, who hadn't said a word.
"Commander Chai, what do you think?"
Li Hualong's sudden question made Chai Guozhu feel inexplicably frightened. He raised his head and looked at Li Hualong.
"This general … This general thinks that what the supervisor said is right!"
Chai Guozhu didn't dare to say anything more. He knew that Li Hualong didn't like generals to talk too much. If he asked, you would answer. If he didn't ask, you would shut up. For such a domineering commander, even one more word from someone who didn't like him was impudent.
"Oh? What do you mean? Then, Commander Chai, are you willing to take the initiative to attack once? "
Ah?
Chai Guozhu looked at Li Hualong in shock.
Li Hualong's face was serious, his eyes were solemn and cold, as if he wasn't joking.
This …
The other generals seemed to be a little uneasy, and the civil officials also seemed to be a little surprised.
Although he was a general, he was still the commander. He didn't let the other deputy generals and deputy generals bring people, but let the commander personally go. If something happened, would the morale and morale of the army still be there?
Li Hualong had his own ideas.
Before the expedition, Liu Huangchang came to Li Hualong on Shen Yicheng's orders and told him about Chai Guozhu. He said that Chai Guozhu had made great achievements under Xiao Ruxun and was appreciated by Xiao Ruxun. He should have received a lot of help from Xiao Ruxun, so he might have some questions in his heart.
Liu Huangchang suspected that the reason why Xiao Ruxun's progress was so frightening wasn't because he had more troops, but because he had found someone to coordinate with him. It was possible that the generals of Yunnan and Guangxi had been instigated by Xiao Ruxun, and were directly helping him in his rebellion. That was why Xiao Ruxun's progress was so fast.
This was very scary. Xiao Ruxun's old subordinates were all over the world, and Chai Guozhu was one of them. Li Rusong didn't come at all. Although Chai Guozhu came now, he still had to be a little wary of him. He sent people to keep an eye on him and didn't give him a chance to make a move.
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