Chapter 412

"Nothing special. I have seen many geniuses, but you alone make me feel you are somewhat different, so I am quite curious."

Zhu Di said without any concealment.

Su Qiao heard this and did not know what to say; should he praise Zhu Di's insight, or should he comment on his alertness?

……

The sun slowly set behind Xishan, and the sunset glow gradually faded at the horizon.

Night gradually took dominion over this heaven and earth.

The great official boat, over ten zhang long, still lay across the center of the river, but now it was brightly lit, illuminating an area several zhang in radius.

The reed marsh not far away was eerily silent.

It seemed like a gaping abyss with a huge mouth, inside which lay dangers of unknown nature.

The bright light was swallowed up completely!

At this moment, neither Zhu Di nor Su Qiao and the others continued to relax; instead, their spirits became tense.

"When do you think they will launch a surprise attack?"

Zhu Di and Su Qiao asked while eating their meal and gazing at the pitch-black reed marsh not far outside the window.

Su Qiao did not even lift his head; he took a sip of soup. "I estimate they will act very soon!"

"Oh? Why could it not be in the second half of the night?"

Zhu Di felt that throughout the afternoon, he seemed to always want to find fault with Su Qiao.

He always liked to argue.

Su Qiao has also already adapted.

"Because attacking now still allows them to have stamina. In the second half of the night, we would be resting while they attack, and since we have maintained vigilance, they would fall into a disadvantage. That would be an unwise move!"

"Hmm, Su Qing indeed sees matters with great clarity!"

Zhu Di offered a word of praise and set down the empty rice bowl in his hand.

............... 0

"They are coming!"

At this moment, Su Qiao had just finished gulping down the last mouthful of soup.

"Then it is up to Your Majesty, Emperor Taizong!"

After speaking, Su Qiao pulled Liu Rushi and went down into the cabin to hide.

Zhu Di, however, was in high spirits; his eyes were bright, revealing a hint of excitement.

"Come! Prepare the defenses!"

"Yes!"

……

The reed marsh moved!

From an unnamed small river branch within the pitch-black reed marsh, more than twenty small Mengchao suddenly emerged.

On each boat, there were only seven or eight water bandits.

Four were responsible for rowing quickly.

Two held wooden boards as shields for defense.

The remaining one was commanding everyone, holding a crude bow and arrow in hand.

With more than twenty boats, that added up to roughly one hundred and seventy or eighty people.

One could see how many water bandits were in this wave.

This was merely the number of people in the first charge for reconnaissance.

Zhu Di glanced over roughly and was able to infer approximately how many water bandits there were in total.

Even though he was mentally prepared, he was still startled.

The number of water bandits must be at least five or six hundred to send so many people out for such a large-scale first reconnaissance.

Five or six hundred people!

The people on their boat, all the official soldiers of the Suzhou Guard Bureau plus the guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, totaled only over one hundred.

The number of water bandits was at least five or six times theirs!

This battle will not be easy to fight!

Zhu Di even felt relieved in his heart that Su Qiao had not listened to him and fled directly to San.

265, end!

That is right!

Zhu Di was quite relieved that they had not simply turned around and fled earlier.

One could imagine that with so many water bandits,

they must have cast a large net at various points along the waterways.

Su Qiao's official boat was large, but its turning ability and short-distance speed were not fast.

It was definitely not as agile as the water bandits' Mengchao.

If they had been scared into fleeing and were surrounded by Mengchao, then set on fire,

at that time, even if they were on the river and possessed great skill, they would still suffer a heavy loss.

Now, holding their ground in this relatively spacious part of the river channel was actually safer.

When the Mengchao charged over, Zhu Di ordered the boat's sailors to take poles and push against the charging Mengchao.

Additionally, he arranged for the Embroidered Uniform Guard and soldiers with accurate archery skills to shoot and kill the water bandits.

Even though each Mengchao had two water bandits holding wooden boards as shields.

Yet two men shielding everyone on a single warship always left them stretched to the limit.

In a short time, many were shot dead.

The remaining river bandits found it even harder to charge forward.

They could hardly get close, managing only to shoot arrows from afar at the towering official ships.

Yet they gained nothing.

The three river bandit leaders hidden in the distance grew utterly impatient.

"This won't work, Big Brother, Third Brother. Our current approach has no effect. We must immediately send the water ghosts down. Besides, everyone else must press forward to give them the illusion we are fighting desperately!"

The Second Leader, with a solemn expression, urged the two.

The Second Leader served as the strategist among this group of river bandits.

His proposals were often accepted.

This time was no exception.

Especially seeing that over twenty warships remained deadlocked with no progress, while their own side kept losing men.

They became even more certain this approach would fail.

Instead, they trusted the Second Leader's words, believing there might still be a chance.

With this thought, they immediately ordered everyone to press forward according to the Second Leader's proposal.

Moreover, the water ghosts, their ultimate weapon, were no longer hidden and were sent out as well.

Splash, splash...

Halfway through the small boat's journey, the water ghosts silently leaped into the water one by one, swimming swiftly toward the official ships.

Indeed, the water ghosts moved with extreme speed and stealth.

Underwater, almost no one could notice them.

Moreover, they seemed not to need to surface for air; even when they occasionally broke the surface, it was merely to judge distance and direction.

However, although they could not determine whether water ghosts were involved.

Zhu Di, having been reminded by Su Qiao, had already made arrangements.

He specifically ordered a squad of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to monitor the fishing nets underwater, instructing them to report to him immediately if any disturbance occurred.

The water ghosts did not know that the official ships had deployed extensive nets with barbed hooks beneath the hull.

Holding hammers and chisels, they swam desperately toward the bottom of the official ships.

Just as they were about to reach beneath the ships.

They suddenly discovered a net ahead!

The net was lined with hooks!