Chapter 566

Chapter 566: Night Attack on the Navy

In the year 3,867 of the Xia calendar, Spring

"The writers from these five noble families are really good."

Lin Jiang had a stack of documents in his hands, all of them condemning King Tai. The main focus was on discussing the illegitimacy of King Tai declaring himself Emperor. They traced back from the founding ancestor of Chen Kingdom to the previous Emperor, understanding their relationships even better than the royal family of Chen Kingdom.

As for other claims about King Tai being foolish, cruel, incompetent, those were just embellishments. In any case, it was argued from various aspects that this self-proclaimed Emperor King Tai was illegitimate and his rule needed to be overthrown.

"Sir, the five noble families of Chen Kingdom’s top family, generation after generation, have been outstanding individuals just like a prolific carp crossing a river…"

"Strategist, I know what you want to say, I didn’t expect you, a rebel leader, to also hold them in such high regard."

"It’s different, sir, it’s not the same…"

"Alright, I understand what you mean now, we can’t underestimate them."

Lin Jiang waved his hand, Xie Yunfeng and his four companions had joined him two months ago. Lin Jiang had personally met with them and after some conversation, these five individuals had indeed demonstrated the abilities of a noble family. They were on a much higher level than Lin Jiang’s current group, far superior.

After all, their heritage spans hundreds of years, something these commoner-born people cannot compare to.

And behind them, they nearly represented the interests of all the nobles in the north and even most of the south. Just by looking at the respect the strategist showed them, it was evident. It’s worth noting that the strategist was the first one to incite the commoners to rebel, and their charisma is undeniable.

But Lin Jiang didn’t initially trust them. The aura of a centuries-old noble family held no importance to Lin Jiang; in fact, he was worried about being overshadowed by them because their power behind them was too strong.

However, now it was becoming apparent that their skills were exceptional. In just two months, even if Lin Jiang had placed them at the lowest level, their talents were shining through. If Lin Jiang didn’t promote them soon, it wouldn’t be justifiable.

"Strategist, send out these messages, try to spread them to every province. Next month, on the second of February, we march towards Taizhou State."

"Yes, sir, with such a big movement, Taizhou State might be on guard."

"No worries, let them be on guard. If we can succeed, that would be the best."

Lin Jiang didn’t care, he actually wanted King Tai to gather all the troops, so he could defeat them all at once, instead of attacking city by city later on.

········

In the year 3867 of the Xia calendar, on the second day of the second month, Lin Jiang held a ceremony outside of Fengzhou City to worship the heavens and the earth, followed by declaring war on King Tai in the name of King Dai.

After the ceremony, Lin Jiang immediately mobilized his army, gathering eighty thousand soldiers and an additional one hundred twenty thousand auxiliary troops, totaling two hundred thousand men, but claiming five hundred thousand. They marched eastward directly towards Taizhou City.

In this war, Lin Jiang didn’t plan any surprise attacks, he had prepared in advance. King Tai, upon learning of Lin Jiang’s advance, made various preparations, publicly portraying Lin Jiang’s actions as rebellion, while secretly intensifying their defenses and sending messengers to persuade Lin Jiang to negotiate.

Lin Jiang ignored them, leaving King Tai with no choice but to resist stubbornly. They stationed a large number of soldiers and horses in Hecheng City, west of Taizhou State. Hecheng City was the gateway to Taizhou City, with a tributary of the Yun River serving as a natural barrier, in hopes of stopping Lin Jiang.

When Lin Jiang’s army reached the west side of Hecheng City, the people of Taizhou State had already taken away all the boats on the river. Lin Jiang ordered his army to stop and started searching for boats, building wooden rafts in preparation to cross the river.

"General, this is Pinghe River, originating from Yun River, it is 3,600 miles long. The widest part of the river is 18 miles and the narrowest part is 3 miles. Our section of the river is about 6 miles wide. To the north, King Tai has a naval force of over 8,000 people with more than 100 warships. To take Taizhou State, they must first capture Hecheng City. And to capture Hecheng City, they must first destroy their navy."

Xie Yunfeng stood in front of Lin Jiang and explained the intelligence. This river is the first challenge that the soldiers of Feng State must overcome. If they can’t cross the river, they won’t be able to proceed.

"Remember this, send a message back to Feng State. Ask Tian Xiong to send people to expand the shipyard. Give him three years. I want a strong navy."

"Uh, sir, this…"

Xie Yunfeng was a bit surprised. They were in a war and now they were starting to build a shipyard, was it too late?

Lin Jiang didn’t explain much. They weren’t going to use it immediately, so they could build the navy first and figure out the rest later when they needed it.

Five days later, the Zhenguo Army gathered more than a hundred large and small ships, and also made thousands of rafts. Lin Jiang then selected five hundred elite soldiers, prepared with oil and other supplies, and headed upstream to burn the enemy’s ships.

"We only have one chance. Watch closely. I will lead the way, open a gap in their defense, and you all charge through the gap into the harbor. Don’t get entangled with the enemy, just set everything on fire."

After dark, Lin Jiang and his men arrived at the riverbank. He spoke to the five hundred soldiers, then he alone boarded a small boat filled with dried wood and straw soaked in oil.

Lin Jiang picked up the oar and started rowing, showing everyone what a human engine was. With a swift movement of his arms, the boat shot forward like an arrow. This was not a dragon boat race, otherwise he would surely win.

"There are people on the river."

"It’s an enemy attack."

"Quick, release the arrows!"

As Lin Jiang approached the navy port on the opposite bank, he was spotted. The people on the warship started shouting, but by the time they shot the first round of arrows, Lin Jiang was already upon them.

Lin Jiang lit a match and set the boat on fire. He picked up two burning pieces of wood and threw them directly at the sail.

"Attack!"

A skilled navy soldier approached, but Lin Jiang dealt with him swiftly.

"It’s Wolong."

"Warrior Saint Wolong"

As they approached, someone finally caught sight of Lin Jiang’s iconic mask and screamed in fear instantly.

In the rear, five hundred people were already in action, approaching rapidly on small boats and rafts. They were all skilled warriors, known for their great strength.

While Lin Jiang continued to fight, the others arrived. It was no longer just a few ships on fire, the entire port was ablaze, with countless ships set alight.

Besides the warships of Taizhou State, there were also regular fishing boats gathered there, all now engulfed in towering flames.

The raging fire alerted the defense forces of Hecheng City. They could not afford to ignore it, as without the navy, they would struggle to hold back the Zhenguo Army crossing the river. A large number of troops appeared from Hecheng City to provide aid.

"General, General!"

"The plan has succeeded, there’s no way to save this fire now."

"Understood. Gather the equipment, delay the enemy’s forces, and prepare our troops to start crossing the river."

Lin Jiang said that the enemy’s big fire was a signal. When the signal was given, Qin Yong would arrange to cross the river, and Lin Jiang and his 500 men would try their best to hold back the enemy.

At first, the 500 men only had short blades. Now they started picking up the enemy’s equipment, then lined up and waited for the enemy’s charge.

The enemy quickly arrived and saw the 500 men waiting in the firelight. They swiftly surrounded them and began to attack.

The war was very cruel, with many more enemy soldiers attacking the Zhenguo Army. On the Zhenguo Army side, soldiers kept dying. Lin Jiang went mad and repeatedly charged into the enemy ranks, breaking through each time.

"Our general is fighting desperately with the enemy. Can we just watch? Come on, all officers board the ship, officers lead the charge!"

Over at the Zhenguo Army camp, Qin Yong led the way and jumped onto a boat. Following his lead, many officers boarded the ship first, acting as the vanguard to charge bravely.

The first wave of soldiers started to cross the river. They were quickly spotted by the enemy defenders on the other side, who had many archers. Arrows started flying, and many people were shot and fell into the swift river, disappearing.

Unable to stop the crossing, the defenders sent a request for reinforcements to Hecheng City. However, Hecheng City dared not send out more soldiers, as their mobile forces had already been dispatched to the navy.

"Kill!"

Qin Yong finally landed and led his troops to charge back and forth along the riverbank. The smaller boats and rafts returned to the other side to bring back more people.

Xie Yunfeng organized his troops to cross the river at the camp. He kept watching the movement on the opposite side. When he saw no more reinforcements coming, he knew they were winning this battle.

"The power of the Martial Saint is truly terrifying."

Xie Yunfeng took a deep breath. Based on his military knowledge, this should have been a tough and bitter battle. But just because of a Martial Saint, the fight had become much simpler.

Without much strategy or tactics, the commander led five hundred men to the river while the rest of the army crossed over recklessly. By the time they reached the other side, King Tai had no chance left.