The place where the fleet is now is in the territory of Quang Binh Prefecture.
There are few rivers in Guangping Prefecture, so when the drought starts, it will be especially serious. Because of this, even if the people here fall into the grass and become bandits, they are generally bandits, not water bandits.
After all... the people here are not water-stable.
Therefore, Zheng Yi felt that he should be safe, but they were in danger.
The first to spot the water bandits was the boat in front. After they found the water bandits, they blew a special whistle.
It was a bit harsh, with a shrill voice piercing the night sky, resounding above the canal, and suddenly woke up all the people who were asleep on the boat.
Jiang Zhen rolled over and got up from the bed. He had heard the whistle before, knew what the whistle meant, and knew that they were in danger.
"Brother Jin, hurry up and get dressed and go to the deck." Jiang Zhen said to Brother Zhao Jin, then dressed in the shortest time and went outside the cabin where Zheng Yi lived.
"Master Zheng." Jiang Zhen called out, and as soon as he finished speaking, the cabin door was opened.
It was Zheng Yi's servant who opened the door, but Zheng Yi was still scrambling to get dressed. When he saw Jiang Zhen, he immediately asked, "How's it going outside?"
"The specific situation is not clear. It should be that the boat in front found the water bandits." Jiang Zhen opened the window of Zheng Yi's cabin. This cabin is located above the big ship and can clearly see the outside situation.
Under the bright moonlight, Jiang Zhen clearly saw a lot of sparks moving towards this side.
"The number of water bandits is a bit large, and we are surrounded." Jiang Zhen said again.
Some shouts came from several other ships and floated into the cabins, but they couldn't be heard because of the wind.
Communication was inconvenient in ancient times, and now it was night, and it was even more inconvenient to transmit the news from a few ships before.
Zheng Yi was agitated for a while, but Jiang Zhen was very calm: "Master Zheng, I'm here to ask for my life, can you let me move freely later?"
"Freedom of movement?" Zheng Yi asked in confusion.
"I'm leaving this ship." Jiang Zhen explained.
He has no experience in commanding water battles, but he is used to taking a few people to sneak attacks.
The moonlight tonight is very good. Zheng Yi saw Jiang Zhen's expression through the moonlight and said subconsciously, "Yes."
"I'll make arrangements right away," Jiang Zhen said, and went straight out of the window.
Zheng Yi quickly came to the window, and saw that Jiang Zhen had already landed on the deck with some help.
On the deck, Jiang Zhen's people had gathered about thirty people, and they were neatly arranged, but Jiang Zhen kicked over a few latecomers as soon as he stepped off.
Zheng Yi watched and sorted, and finally got dressed. At this time, Lu Dacai hurried over, and when he came, he became dissatisfied: "Then Jiang Zhen lives much closer than me, why didn't you come to protect the young master?"
The servant next to Zheng Yi gave Lu Da a complicated look: "Master Lu, steward Jiang has already come and gone."
Lu Da's expression froze.
At this time, Zheng Yi also turned back from the window: "Jiang Zhen and his people have all gathered on the deck."
Lu Da was immediately embarrassed. He walked quickly to the window, and sure enough, he saw Jiang Zhen's people had gathered on the deck.
It's his people... Those people who hurried out carrying clothes, aren't they his people
In fact, the people under Lu Da's team have experience and have performed very well. They soon came to their respective positions, but they were inevitably messy, and it seemed that they were not as neat as those under Jiang Zhen's team.
At this moment, compared to his own, Jiang Zhen actually wanted Lu Da's people more. After all, none of his men had ever experienced a water battle.
But that's all, it's time to try.
Fortunately... a large part of the people he gathered were thugs, and they dared to do it anyway.
Jiang Zhen named a few names, and quickly called out seven or eight people, all of whom were good in water: "You go into the water with me, and the others stay behind, under the command of Zhao Jinge!"
"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison. If they didn't listen to Jiang Zhen's words, there would be serious consequences. They were used to listening to Jiang Zhen's words.
"Brother Zhao Jin, protect Young Master Zheng!" Jiang Zhen glanced at Brother Zhao Jin, and asking Brother Zhao Jin to protect Young Master Zheng was to keep Brother Zhao closer to Zheng Yi, where it was the safest.
"Yes!" Zhao Jinge replied, he actually wanted to follow Jiang Zhen, but at this time, if he didn't listen to Jiang Zhen's words, he would only cause trouble for Jiang Zhen.
Jiang Zhen glanced at Brother Zhao Jin, and then at Brother He. Before many people could react, and before those water bandits approached, he led his subordinates into the water quietly.
Those water bandits are getting closer and closer! It was so densely packed that everyone could actually see hundreds of ships!
Most of these ships are not large, and their speed is very fast. They approached quickly, not only surrounded the Zheng family's fleet, but also divided the five large ships of the Zheng family.
"Which brother is here?" Lu Da stood up and shouted loudly.
Many water bandits and bandits will not kill all the caravans. As long as you say hello to them and pay the toll, they will let them go. After all, if you really want to kill all the merchants, they will have no "business" in the future. .
Therefore, Lu Da and Zheng Yi's first plan after encountering this situation was to discuss with others.
After Lu Da made a sound, someone shouted from a relatively large ship not far away: "You don't have to befriend us anymore. Our boss said, if you know each other, you can take care of the ship and the cargo. If you stay, we will let you live, otherwise... don't blame us if you die without a place to be buried."
Lu Da was shocked, and said again: "I count to ten, and we will start!"
Count to ten and start... The other party has no intention of discussing with them at all. This is because he has made up his mind to snatch it!
Zheng Yi also encountered danger when he went out for business, but now... Seeing more and more boats around him, he couldn't help but turn dark.
"Master?" Lu Da looked at Zheng Yi.
"Alert! Prepare to fight!" Zheng Yi said.
In his fleet, other ships are mainly loaded with food and fabrics, and if they are lost, they will be lost. The cards on this main ship, but the treasures he wants to use to make a fortune, must not be lost.
Moreover, in the current situation, even if he doesn't want anything, those water bandits may not let them go.
I don't know why these water bandits are doing this this time...
Zheng Yi wondered why these water bandits were unwilling to negotiate peacefully, but Jiang Zhen already knew the reason.
When he brought people into the water, the water bandits hadn't approached, and no one found him into the water. It was because of this that he was able to bring people to the boats of those water bandits quietly.
Of course, this was also due to the fact that it was too dark and he was well prepared.
In the more than 20 days that Jiang Zhen wandered around Hecheng County before, he took many people into the water, and he made a lot of preparations before coming out this time.
At this moment, everyone who goes into the water has a thin bamboo pole that allows them to breathe underwater, and everyone has a thin thread tied to their hands, and he leads them to ensure that they will not go the wrong way...
Jiang Zhen slowly emerged from the water next to the hull, just as he heard those water bandits discussing this action.
"Those five ships look really good."
"That's why the boss will look at it."
"With such five ships, we will be able to do bigger business in the future!"
"These ships are said to be full of food, and everyone doesn't have to go hungry."
…
It turns out that these water bandits have been entrenched in the waters for a long time. Their number is increasing and their strength is getting stronger and stronger. They want to get a few big ships, so they disagree with Zheng Yi's request for a toll fee for them. , intends to wipe out Zheng Yi's fleet.
They also knew that it was impossible for such a caravan to agree to give them all the ships and goods and then leave, so there was no intention of negotiating at all, and they had already made up their minds to start.
"One, two, three... Eight, nine, ten!" The people who counted in the water bandits quickly counted to ten, and before he had finished counting, the water bandits actually started to do it.
These water bandits spoke in dialects, and while shouting words that the people in the Zheng family's fleet could not understand, they began to shoot arrows at the big boat, and then climbed onto the boat.
Their bows and arrows are actually of poor quality, and their archery skills are poor, but even so, the people on the boat still need to avoid.
"Continue sailing and strive to break through!" Zheng Yi said.
"Young master, we can't break out of the siege, they moved their hands and feet in the river." Lu Dao, the river in front was filled in a section, as for the back... There are too many boats behind them.
Zheng Yi's face was ashen.
By the moonlight, Zheng Yi could see that the small boat near the big boat was full of people, those people looked at them greedily, their eyes twinkling in the dark night.
"Can we escape?" Zheng Yi asked.
Lu Da paused for a while before saying, "Don't worry, young master, we will definitely protect you to break through!"
Is this just to protect yourself and break through? Zheng Yi's face was a little ugly, but looking at the large number of water bandits outside, he had to admit that his ship and cargo might really have to be explained here.
"Go grab the food!"
"Kill those profiteers!"
"Kill a person for ten taels of silver, rush!"
…
The water bandits shouted that someone had already climbed onto the boat.
It is true that most of the people in Guangping Prefecture are not fluent in water, but water can be practiced.
After the drought in Guangping Prefecture last year, some people came here to become water bandits. At first, they only grabbed some boats. Later, a very capable person came out and gathered all the water bandits in this area. The boat is big, and the water of the big guy is getting better and better.
"Master, you hide behind." Lu Dao, after he let Zheng Yi dodge, was about to command the battle, and found that someone had already fought against those water bandits.
Zhao Jinge took Jiang Zhen's men, each holding a bamboo pole, and stood on the side of the boat. As soon as those water bandits emerged, they would stab them down with bamboo poles.
The sharpened bamboo pole was even easier to use than a large knife.
As for the bows and arrows shot by the water bandits... Those people didn't know where they got some wooden boards for tables and chairs, but they could cover their heads, faces and chests.
They were in groups of three, two with bamboo poles and one with a shield, and they actually poked many water bandits down.
The bandits who fell down let out bursts of screams, and after they fell, they suppressed their own people. For a while, no one dared to climb up from there.
"Lu Da, learn!" Zheng Yi said.
Lu Da responded with a sigh, and looked over with a bit of humiliation, and suddenly found that the person in command over there was Zhao Jinge, but Jiang Zhen didn't know where he went.
He was a little confused, but at this time, he had no time to think about Jiang Zhen's problem.
The two sides officially handed over.
For those who have seen modern warfare, some aspects of this ancient warfare are very funny, such as... Sometimes if you are not careful, you may cut down your comrades because you don't recognize your own people.
But the war at this time was also very cruel.
It didn't take long for the two sides to fight, and there were casualties. The main ship that Zheng Yi was on had not yet come up with water bandits, but the other boats had already had water bandits on board.
Several crew members on the boat next to them wanted to run away, but they were cut over by the water bandits.
In this age of medical backwardness, even being slashed in the arm may be fatal.
The screams were endless, and Jiang Zhen's brows became more and more frowning. He pulled the rope on his hand and continued to move forward with those who followed him.
At this time, the battle situation has become more and more fierce on several large ships.
There are many water bandits, and they are all people who can't make a living. They don't take their own lives seriously, and they are just filling it with human lives.
Although there were many guards on the main ship, one accidental incident caused the water bandits to climb up.
Seeing this, Brother Zhao Jin clenched the bamboo pole tightly, and rushed up with the He brothers.
It didn't feel real when I used bamboo poles to poke down those water bandits by the side of the boat, but now...
Zhao Jinge pulled out the bamboo pole in his hand from a water bandit, smelled the strong bloody smell, and suddenly felt sick.
he killed...
Zhao Jinge never thought that he would kill someone before, he was stunned for a while, but soon, he came to his senses.
Jiang Zhen didn't know where he went, he still had to wait for Jiang Zhen to come back, and... At this time, either you died or I died.
Zhao Jinge glanced around and found that many people were as stunned as himself, and immediately said: "All cheer me up and kill these people!"
"Kill!" The big guys responded together.
By this time, they had no time to think about anything else, they just wanted to kill all these people in front of them.
But there were too many water bandits, and dozens of people had even climbed on the main ship.
Zheng Yi looked at the water bandits, and finally decided to break the strong man's wrist: "Lu Da, release the boat and send me away."
"Yes, young master!" Lu Da responded and hurriedly made arrangements.
Zheng Yi was guarded, and soon came to the deck, and saw Brother Zhao Jin: "Brother Zhao Jin, let's retreat!"
Zheng Yi didn't know where Jiang Zhen went, but he just saw the bravery of Zhao Jinge and the people he brought with him, and Zhao Jinge was a twin, so he wanted them to retreat with him.
Zhao Jinge was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Zheng Shao, I will break up."
"Come on!" Zheng Yi frowned.
"Master Zheng, I want to wait for Jiang Zhen." Brother Zhao Jin said, he didn't know where Jiang Zhen went, but Jiang Zhen definitely didn't run away. In this case, he would wait here.
A bamboo pole knocked over a water bandit, and Zhao Jinge's face was full of determination.
Zheng Yi was startled, suddenly envious of Jiang Zhen. His wife can never be like Zhao Jinge.
At this time, there was not much time delay. Zheng Yi was about to ignore Zhao Jinge and lead people to retreat, when suddenly the exclamations of the water bandits sounded in the distance.
At the same time, the largest ship for the water bandits suddenly caught fire, and the shouts of the water bandits became more and more shrill.
That was the boat where the leader of the water bandits was. Before, someone on that boat had been driving the water bandits to attack the Zheng family's fleet, but now... the boat was in chaos, and some people shouted at the leader.
What's going on here
Zheng Yi stopped running away, and at the same time, Jiang Zhen tied up the leader of the water bandit.
Shoot people first, shoot horses, capture thieves first capture kings!