At dawn, it was not yet dawn, and only the vague shadow of the northern shoreline could be seen. Thousands of boats race to the current, all of them do not hold the lamp, as if the dark and dull dark clouds slowly unfold on the gray Huai water, go to the north shore, the sword rattling, against the water directly pointed to the Feixia Rock ten miles west of the Siyang ferry.

Ge Cunxiong stood on the aft deck, looking at the Feixia Rock on the north bank, the lights were dim, like fireflies, outlining the dark shadows of Feixia Rock and the Jitou camp in the twilight morning.

The coastline west of Huaisi stretches for more than 100 miles, and nearly 10,000 displaced troops have gathered in Siyang in the past few days, but they cannot guard the coastline of more than 100 miles. However, there are only a few places suitable for large-scale landing, and in these places, the displaced army has set up camp and stationed elite soldiers to focus on defense.

There are more than 1,000 wandering troops stationed in the Feixiaji camp, and the number is not large, but the boat and the north shore, after the landing intention of Feixiaji is exposed, the nearby wandering troops will flock to help, and the scale of the landing battle will expand rapidly.

If this side can't gain a foothold in Feixiaji in one fell swoop, and drive the displaced army into the water before nightfall, the losses will be unimaginable.

Although there are more than 14,000 people in the Duhuai army, there are only 4,500 soldiers who can fight. They could not land on the shore in one fell swoop, and those who suffered heavy losses were driven down the river, and it was almost impossible to organize another crossing operation in a short period of time.

Lin Jian climbed the escalator to the aft deck, and Ge Cunxiong saluted him: "Your Excellency, ......"

Lin Jian waved his hand, asking Ge Cunxiong not to be formal, and said with a smile: "It's inconvenient for me to show my face in public, so that Liu Tingzhou knows that I'm not good here......" He only came to Shanyang secretly yesterday, and even Zhang Yubo didn't know that he was here.

Lin Jian did not wear armor, wore a green shirt, stood in the wind, held the thick wooden parapet in his hand, and looked at the ferry fleet in the west silently, and did not say anything.

Lin Jian didn't say anything, and Ge Cunxiong also knew that he would not be satisfied with what he saw in front of him.

After all, if you want to gain a foothold on the north shore in one fell swoop, you don't need the elite to go first, and there is no chance of a successful landing.

Compared with other township troops, the soldiers of Shanyang County have the support of Huaidong salt merchants such as horse clothes, and compared with other township troops, the food and salary are sufficient, the soldiers are good, and the soldiers recruited are also brave and brave.

Liu An'er rose up in Hongzepu, and the cities of Hao, Si, and Shiliang on the west bank all fell. When Chen Hansan rebelled, the situation in Huai'an was extremely bad, but under the leadership of Liu Tingzhou and others, who were still serving as general judges at that time, Shanyang County survived the catastrophe of breaking the city.

The soldiers of Shanyang County fought against the Huai bandits and Hukou for a long time, and were quite adapted to water warfare, and before the Jiangdong Left Army came to Huai'an, it could be said to be the pillar of the Huaidong defense line.

Liu Tingzhou recruited veteran boatmen of the Huai River who were familiar with the water conditions for this crossing, but it was only two or three days, and the preparation was very inadequate, far from being comparable to the familiar water camp.

At this time, the sky was dark, and as soon as he got out of Shanyangdu, he saw that there were boats colliding together, and many armor-piercing soldiers fell into the water, and the boats on the left and right were busy coming to catch people, all hands and feet, and there was chaos - no wonder Qin Chengzu frowned slightly when he saw the situation in front of him.

Liu Tingzhou was on another ship, a Jiyun-class warship borrowed from here.

Liu Tingzhou changed into armor, wore a crimson official robe, hung a straight spine knife around his waist, and personally went to the bow deck, as if he was not moved by the chaos around him, and unswervingly beat the war drums, urging the ships to continue to cross the Huai.

"Liu Tingzhou, this is a desperate bet!" Ge Cunxiong sighed slightly.

Lin Jian was looking at Feixia Rock on the north shore at this time, and when he heard Ge Cunxiong say this, he withdrew his gaze to look at Liu Tingzhou, who was more than a dozen ships away.

The sky was dark, and I only saw Liu Tingzhou wearing a crimson official robe, like a glow in the morning light.

What Ge Cunxiong said, Lin Jian also felt it, and sighed: "This donkey is really unbearable, scolded, hated, and resented. For his own thoughts, he dragged tens of thousands of people to follow him to death, and he could only do it. But if I want to seek Huai'an, I can only send this donkey and the soldiers of Shanyang County to the north bank, otherwise how can we have the opportunity to occupy the magpie's nest? ”

At this time, the lights on the north shore soon increased, and it was obvious that he was aware of the movement on the south bank and became alert. I saw that in the dim morning, there were countless black shadows on the north shore with torches, rushing to the shore and beach, waiting for this side to land on the beach.

Almost every place on the north shore that was easy to land was filled with additional troops.

Since the whereabouts have been leaked and discovered by the other side, there is no need to continue to turn off the lights and hide here.

Ge Cunxiong ordered the boats to light up the lights, and before the daylight, he began to send a message with an open flame, and then summoned the junior colonel to send a message to Liu Tingzhou: "You take a small boat to see Governor Liu, and tell him that I will lead the fleet of water battalions to go upstream to help him disperse the defensive center of gravity of the Liumin army on the north bank......"

At this time, it was a southeast wind, and the sail was very fast against the current, and in just a moment, the Shuiying fleet distanced itself from the ferry fleet and went upstream against the current.

The ship crossed the middle stream, and the battle on the north shore broke out in Baitan, ten miles west of Feixia Rock.

White Beach is another place on the north shore that is suitable for large-scale landings, and the terrain is more open than Feixia Rock, which is conducive to rapid development after landing.

Two days ago, the Wandering People's Army had just built a beach guard camp there, with six or seven hundred troops stationed.

Time was in a hurry, and the beach fortifications were too simple, mainly wooden fences, and no trenches were dug. The wandering army stared intently at the ferry on the Huai River, not expecting that there would be soldiers on this side who would sneak over the shore in advance and lurk, approach from behind, and launch a surprise attack on them.

Although the number of soldiers who launched the raid was small, only 100 people, they were all selected elites and dead soldiers, taking advantage of the dim sky and the time when the homeless army went out of the camp to defend the beach, launched a surprise attack and seized the gate of the northeast corner of the camp.

The wandering army was caught off guard at once, and in the confusion it was impossible to figure out how many people had come to attack the camp, and the fire first burned from the gate fence wall in the northeast corner, and the fire spread along the shore to the inside of the camp, and countless camp tents were lit, as bright as day.

Standing on the deck, Lin Jian could clearly see the raiding soldiers rushing in from the northeast corner of the walled gate, stirring the Baitan camp of the Wandering Army into a pot of rotten porridge, boiling and chaotic.

"If there are more people, maybe we can snatch the Baitan camp at once." Ge Cunxiong said.

"The terrain of Baitan is too open," Lin Jian said, "and the Duhuai army does not have the ability to deploy quickly after landing, and without adjustment, it will not be able to launch an offensive in Siyang Village." For Liu Tingzhou, it is even more important to gain a foothold after landing. The terrain of Feixiaji was conducive to suppressing the counteroffensive of the Liumin army after Liu Tingzhou landed. Even if Feixiaji fails to land, White Beach is not a good alternative location......"

Ge Cunxiong raised his eyebrows slightly, and had to admit that Lin Jian was right, after all, the Duhuai Army was not the elite of the Jiangdong Left Army.

In the case of the Jiangdong Left Army, the natural first priority should be to land from Baitan, and after landing, it will spread out along the Baitan embankment to the east and north, and defeat the displaced army that has come to counterattack, and then you can point your troops directly at Siyang Village......

However, the Duhuai Army was not the Jiangdong Left Army, and there were more than 14,000 Duhuai Army, and only one-third of the soldiers who could fight. It is these one-third of the soldiers who can fight, compared with the elite of the exile army, there is no absolute advantage, it is difficult to fight so heartily and without dragging the mud and water.

The practical way is to seize Feixiaji, take advantage of the favorable terrain of Feixiaji, and push back the rebel army that has counterattacked, and only after gaining a firm foothold on the north bank can we consider the question of attacking Siyangzhai or bypassing Siyangzhai and advancing directly north.

The strength of the Liumin army in the Siyang area exceeded 10,000, and Suyu still had more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and they rushed over very quickly.

The terrain of White Beach is not conducive to defense, and even if it succeeds in landing ashore, it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the next counterattack. If the counteroffensive is driven into the water, it cannot be regarded as a success.

Relatively speaking, the most dangerous part of landing on the shore is that you can't withstand the counterattack and drive you into the water.

Tens of thousands of people hurriedly swarmed ashore, and the crowd was dense and scattered. The front line could not bear the pressure of the counterattack, collapsed and retreated, and no matter how many soldiers and horses there were in the rear, they could not exert their strength, so they could only retreat. There will certainly be no chance to calmly board the boat and escape, and more people will be squeezed into the river and drowned.

This is also the reason why since ancient times, generals like to attack half-crossing, and there are often cases of driving several times or even dozens of times the enemy into the water and drowning.

Lin Jian stood on the deck to observe the situation on the north shore, and the wandering army in Baitan also came to their senses at this time, and began to organize a reactionary force, to drive the sneak attack soldiers out of the camp, and the soldiers and horses on the left and right beaches also quickly returned to help, frowning slightly and said: "I can't see any movement on Feixiaji, I think it is Ma Lantou himself in Siyang." We have to work harder to help Liu Tingzhou snatch the Baitan camp......"

"Okay, I'll personally lead the team a......shore," Mr. Ge said.

"Let someone else go," Lin Jian said, "but there is no one to command the water camp for you!" ”

Lin Jian and Ge Cunxiong also led the water camp fleet to Baitan directly, just to confuse the exile army at the key head, attract attention to Baitan, and cover up Liu Tingzhou's intention to lead the main force of the Huai army to land at Feixiaji.

***********

Siyang Village was not built on the north bank of the Huai River, and it was eleven or twelve miles away from the Siyang Ferry, but it was next to the west bank of Surabaya. The waterway from Surabaya to Huai runs diagonally from northwest to southeast, and the direction of Siyang Village should be due north of Feixiaji.

Since the Siyang Ferry intercepted the main position of officers and soldiers on the south bank to land on the shore, since the Liumin Army took control of Huaisi, the fortifications and barracks built on this side were the most complete.

Ma Lantou did not stay in Siyang Village, he took the escort and rode to the embankment of Siyang Ferry, wearing iron armor, bare strong arms, heart goggles flashing cold luster in the dim morning light, and his eyes were blazing observing the water and waves, boats and pawns on the Huai River.

It seemed that the light was too slow on this day, and a large number of officers and men had already passed through Feixiaji against the current, heading straight for Baitan, and there were still dark shadows on the water, which made people unable to see the reality of the real fleet crossing Huai.

Although there has been a fight on the Baitan side, how many soldiers and horses have been sent by the officers and soldiers to sneak over, as long as the Baitan garrison camp is not lost, Ma Lantou does not believe that the officers and soldiers will land from Baitan.

However, it is difficult to say that when the Jiangdong Left Army first came to Huai'an, it went straight to Shukou and chose a landing place, which was also unexpected. There was news from Huai'an that Lin Jian and Liu Tingzhou were at odds, but did you know that this was not a trick for them to join forces to confuse this side?

Ma Lantou hesitated in his heart, but he was also patient, and he was not in a hurry to strengthen the direction of Baitan with the elite soldiers who remained in Siyang Village.