Cheng Dayou gently sniffed the water vapor with a slight river smell. The mouth of Shanjiang River in late autumn was wider and deeper than ever at this time. Nothing seemed to be able to block the way of the mighty river flowing eastward. The turbulent waves rush into the sea with great force, seeming to tell people not to easily cross their bodies.
In the telescope, everything on the other side of the river was in view. Everything looked very calm. Cheng Dayou said with satisfaction on his chapped lips, "Shanjiang is a natural moat. It is very risky to cross Shanjiang at this time." , especially in late autumn, the river water has swelled, and the river surface has expanded by almost one-third compared to the original dry season. Many crops along the river bank have been involved in edema and have become reed belts. This place near the mouth of the sea, no one noticed that this place will become a glorious point in history and will be written into the history of Tang River forever.
Ever since he accepted the Northern Expedition mission, Cheng Dayou has been planning how to fight a beautiful Northern Expedition. As one of the top three wealthy counties and provinces in the empire, the importance of Donghai is obvious. Cheng Dayou certainly knows that His Royal Highness the King of Thailand is now His idea is to take the East China Sea into his hands completely and completely, which is most in line with the intention of His Royal Highness the King of Thailand. Of course, this may not be possible, but Cheng Dayou is still ready to make some plans to see how he can seize the East China Sea with the minimum loss. .
The center of the East China Sea is naturally Jinling, but the Shanjiang River has become a natural moat guarding most of the East China Sea. In order to attack the East China Sea from the land, the newly established 15th Army in the Luyang and Pengcheng areas concentrated the strength of four divisions. These four divisions Most of these divisions evolved from the newly established independent divisions in Yanyun and Donghai in the later period. Although Cheng Dayou did not take it seriously, once the battle started in the Luyang and Pengcheng areas, the war would inevitably bring to this area bring losses. Especially if the enemy defends two cities. The Northern Expedition evolved into a fortified battle, which would bring even greater losses, so Cheng Dayou had always hoped to resolve this battle in a more effective and thorough way. Crossing the river unexpectedly should be the best option, but this option has many fatal flaws and overcomings.
When Situ Tai gave up Jiangnan, he had already realized the danger of Jiangnan losing the East China Sea, so when he withdrew from Jiangnan, he had confiscated all the ships along the Shanjiang River and escorted them all to the north of the Yangtze River. The entire Shanjiang River was almost never found again. There were a few decent boats available for crossing the river, and Situ Tai also realized that with such a long river, he could not prevent a small group of troops from Western Xinjiang from crossing the river, so he built a beacon tower almost every five miles along the river. If something changes, you can receive alerts as soon as possible. Moreover, he specially mobilized almost all seven cavalry regiments of the Northern Army and stationed them dispersedly along the river for hundreds of miles. Maintaining the advantage of mobility, he could arrive at the end of the warning signal in the shortest possible time and kill the small group of Xijiang troops crossing the river in one fell swoop. military. It should be said that Situ Tai worked very hard for this Sanfan River defense line, but he forgot that the entire Jiang defense alone was not enough to stop the Western Xinjiang Army Beishan. And to the east of the entire Donghai County is the endless sea. Can the coastline of thousands of miles be defended?
Cheng Dayou proposed the plan of using navy and navy ships to gather in Yuhang and move northward at the mouth of Shanjiang River, so that a main division of the Eighth Army could board the ship and go straight north to land in the hinterland of the East China Sea and enter the East China Sea, while the other four divisions Then he launched a feint attack in Luyang and Pengcheng to attract the attention of the enemy's 15th Army Corps. This plan immediately won Liang Chongxin's praise, and he immediately contacted the Yuhang and Songjiang prefectures that were already in working order. Of course, this action still remains With a certain degree of secrecy, it was not really settled until the scheduled gathering time.
More than a hundred civilian ships collected from the coasts of Yuhang and Songjiang began to dock one after another. This was originally a high embankment, which was temporarily reinforced and used as a boarding vessel for the fleet after it docked. One after another, they lined up. Orderly soldiers began to board the ship. Within three hours, all soldiers must board the ship. Then the fleet will follow the river current and enter the sea first, then turn north.
Although the entire boarding formation seemed a bit messy, it should be said that the whole process was quite smooth. Except for a few soldiers who accidentally fell into the water when boarding, there were no other troubles. It was just that there was a little more delay when the war horses were put on board, in order to strengthen the attack power of the assault troops after they landed in the hinterland of the East China Sea. Cheng Dayou decided to keep two brigades of cavalry as much as possible, which also meant that more than 2,000 war horses had to be shipped on nearly 60 ships, which also greatly increased the difficulty of transportation. Fortunately, both Yuhang and Songjiang took this into consideration. There may be some gaps in the required ships, so some extra ships were specially recruited, which allowed the entire meteorite project to be barely completed.
It was not the first time for Cheng Dayou to take a boat, but it was the first time to take a boat to the sea. In the past, he had only taken a boat on the inland, but this time he had to enter the vast sea. The somewhat light river water gradually When it turned blue, Cheng Dayou knew that he was already traveling in the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline gradually disappeared from people's sight. Although the wind and waves were not big, quite a few soldiers still showed discomfort. Seasickness seemed to be contagious, and a large number of people were pulled down one after another. It looked like a big boat. Although he was worried, Cheng Dayou was somewhat reassured by the comfort from the captain of the ship. As soon as these soldiers landed, it wouldn't take long for them to return to their splendid appearance.
According to the plan, the fleet will sail north for two days and two nights. Due to the influence of waves and wind direction, the entire landing time may have some errors, but the location has not changed. It is determined to be near Rizhao Town, which borders Jinling Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture.
The dizzy Cheng Dayou didn't know how long he had been sleeping since there was a storm on the sea. He couldn't hold on any longer. The feeling of swinging back and forth was something Cheng Dayou had never experienced before. Although he tried his best to show that he was different in front of the officers and soldiers, this seasickness could not be overcome by willpower alone. The suffocation and discomfort in his chest soon showed up through vomiting. At this time, Cheng Dayou Only then did he realize that he was no different from the other soldiers. Looking at the boatmen who were talking and laughing freely in the wind and waves, Cheng Dayou had to admit that the sentence "specialization in the industry" was the best interpretation at this time. He didn't know that the navy and their operations would be based on a kind of What kind of method to carry out, but the requirements for soldiers to fight under such circumstances are indeed a bit high.
"When is it? How long have I been sleeping?" Resisting the boredom in his heart, Cheng Dayou propped himself up and looked outside the cabin. Due to the shortage of ships, the entire fleet had to forcefully load more soldiers into each ship. Even Cheng Dayou, as the commander of the entire Northern Expedition assault group, could only be assigned a cabin that was too small, while the others were From the division commander to the ordinary soldiers, everyone can only huddle together and make do for these two days.
"Back to General, you have slept for eight hours and it is already dawn." The soldier standing aside replied.
"Oh? Isn't it close to the coastline?" With his spirits up, Cheng Dayou suddenly felt that his depressed mood had subsided a bit, and he looked towards the west.
"Well, it seems that the fleet is already moving westward, but the wind direction seems to be a little inappropriate now. The speed of moving westward is very slow, and the fleet seems to be turning around. I heard from the boatman that the time may be delayed." The soldiers quickly helped up the coach, who was still a little uncomfortable with it.
"It doesn't matter, we have come this far. Even if the Northern Army knew it, it would be too late. As soon as we land, we will be in the mountains." He took a deep breath, threw away the hand of his own soldier, and Cheng Dayou He shook off his clothes and wiped his face. "Ask the boatman how long it will take to get ashore. The time can be delayed, but the docking location cannot be wrong. Otherwise, who will we look for when we get ashore?"
The boatman soon responded, and he estimated that he would be able to see the coastline in three hours, which meant that the fleet would be able to dock one after another in four hours.
Huang Yuanchang looked at the sea anxiously. It had already been two hours beyond the scheduled time, but there was still no sign of the fleet on the sea. Although it was very remote, Huang Yuanchang knew that once the fleet arrived, this place would immediately become the focus of public attention. The focus is that from the time the fleet docks to the time the entire force disembarks, it will take less than three to five hours. Huang Yuanchang is not worried about anything else. The strength of the Northern Army in this area has been weakened to the extreme. Whether it is Jinling in the south or Dengzhou in the north, there is almost no decent army. There is also a division of the 15th Army in Jinling City. , but Dengzhou only has an incomplete garrison in the name of a garrison division, and the actual establishment is less than two regiments. In this case, no one can stop the landing of the troops on the fleet.
What Huang Yuanchang is afraid of is the impact of climate change at sea on the fleet. Although the fleet employs experienced shipwrights, the changes on the sea are too drastic. Storms and waves suddenly rise, causing the entire fleet to collapse. There are many things that were destroyed in the storm. As an official of the intelligence department stationed in Dengzhou, Huang Yuanchang had to think more deeply.
"Master Huang, look!" A cry of excitement and surprise woke Huang Yuanchang out of his trance, "There seems to be a fleet. Can you see if it is our fleet?"
Taking the telescope passed by his subordinate, Huang Yuanchang immediately fixed his gaze on the horizon. A dense black spot appeared in the lens of the telescope.