Chapter 413

If it were daytime, these water ghosts would have discovered them long ago.

But do not forget, this is night!

Although the water surface is bathed in bright light.

Yet down below, it is pitch black.

Opening one's eyes underwater is troublesome in itself, and vision is also affected.

Add to that the dim sky, and these water ghosts have truly met with misfortune.

Some, perhaps more vigilant, spotted the fishing nets in advance.

These count as the one in a hundred who are alert.

Far too few, a rare gem!

The rest basically only discovered the fishing net trap when they reached the nets, or when hooks on the nets snagged their bodies.

"My lord Envoy! The fishing nets are moving, and blood is flowing from underwater!"

Besides Ma Kui and the other two, plus Su Qiao's family, to prevent Zhu Di's identity from leaking.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard all took Zhu Di to be an envoy sent by Zhu Youjian.

Coincidentally, Zhu Di was holding Zhu Youjian's jade pendant.

Hearing the report, Zhu Di stood up abruptly. "Take me to see!"

"Yes!"

Arriving at the ship's railing, Zhu Di, aided by the bright lamps on the official boat, saw that the fishing nets were indeed shaking constantly, and blood was flowing out from time to time.

He guessed immediately that the river bandits must have sent out water ghosts, only to fall into the fishing net trap.

Their bodies were snagged by the hooks on the nets.

"Retrieve the fishing nets and kill all the river bandits!" Zhu Di ordered with a cold snort.

"Yes!"

While defending against arrows shot from the distant Mengchong ships, the Embroidered Uniform Guard began directing men to haul up the fishing nets, killing the water ghosts entangled within them directly.

In Zhu Di's view, these were all rebels; letting them live was a waste of grain.

Better to eliminate them outright!

The river bandits were truly fighting for their lives at this moment!

The three leaders, leading the remaining river bandits, all lunged toward the official boat...

Although it was somewhat hard to see clearly under the night sky.

Yet the Embroidered Uniform Guard were occasionally pulling something out of the river and stabbing it with long spears.

They could also guess that something was amiss!

"Wrong, wrong, this situation is wrong; it seems our water ghosts have run into trouble!"

"What? Could the government forces have been prepared beforehand?"

"I fear that is the case! Never mind, we have no retreat left now; let us fight them to the death!"

More than a dozen boats appeared again within the reed marsh.

These boats were much larger than the Mengchong, and the number of river bandits on board had increased significantly.

Seeing this, Zhu Di understood that the river bandits were staking everything on this one throw!

Whether they could hold depended entirely on the final moves of both sides!

Su Qiao was below deck in the cabin, waiting quietly with Liu Rushi.

Hearing the various shouts and cries of battle coming from outside, he remained unmoved.

He had already guessed in his heart that the number of river bandits would not be small.

He certainly did not possess Zhu Di's skill in commanding on the battlefield; even if anxious in his heart, he could not go out and cause chaos blindly.

So he simply waited quietly.

Time passed bit by bit, and the shouts of battle outside gradually weakened.

Su Qiao's grip on the hand crossbow tightened.

Thump, thump, thump...

Urgent footsteps came from the stairs, and then Sun Youxu, covered in blood, appeared in his line of sight.

"Mr. Su, the river bandits have been driven back and killed!"

"Oh? How is His Majesty Taizong?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qiao's eyes widened slightly; while sighing with relief, he hurriedly asked about Zhu Di's safety.

Sun Youxu hastened to say, "Mr. Su, rest assured; that person was not injured and is perfectly safe!"

"Oh, that is good. Then let us go up first and see the casualties; hopefully, everyone survives safely."

Su Qiao said after being completely reassured.

Then Su Qiao told Liu Rushi to stay there for the time being, while he himself went up to the deck and cabin with Sun Youxu.

"This group of river bandits was quite crazy, though a bit impulsive."

Seeing Su Qiao's figure, Zhu Di instructed the nearby Embroidered Uniform Guard with a few words, then walked straight over and said.

Su Qiao was somewhat puzzled, not knowing the details of the process.

"They say a gentleman does not stand beneath a dangerous wall, yet these heads of the river bandits foolishly charged up and were shot dead by the Embroidered Uniform Guard's burning oil and crossbow bolts!"

Zhu Di briefly explained the situation to Su Qiao.

266, just the tip of the iceberg!

After Zhu Di's explanation, Su Qiao roughly understood the perilous nature of this battle.

At the start, the water bandits and the official army were evenly matched, locked in a stalemate for half a day.

They could not get close, inflicting no casualties, as they were all held back outside by the long poles.

Subsequently, the water bandit leader, gambling everything, pulled everyone aboard.

That balance was broken!

After all, the enemy numbers were far too great, vastly exceeding their own.

There were not enough poles to block these boats.

Fortunately, the water ghosts had been eliminated early on, removing the underwater danger.

As the water bandits' boats drew close, they began to board, engaging in ship-to-ship combat.

Even though the Embroidered Uniform Guard soldiers were more fierce and valiant, casualties were heavy.

Zhu Di commanded the Embroidered Uniform Guard in battle while occasionally wielding a steel blade to help hack down enemies, overseeing the entire situation.

Just as everyone was mired in a bitter struggle, Zhu Di suddenly spotted the bandit chief giving orders and shouting desperately!

It was precisely those three leaders of the Twenty-Eight!

Moreover, they were not far from Zhu Di's side.

Zhu Di's eyes instantly lit up; he immediately summoned Ma Kui, ordering him to gather men to prepare an ambush and kill the bandit chiefs.

With a distance of merely a few zhang, they were targeted by several crossbow bolts, and a small stone-throwing catapult hurled jars filled with fierce fire oil over.

The bandit chiefs' boats were not large to begin with; they were instantly pierced by the large crossbow bolts. Furthermore, the fire oil jars smashed onto the boats and were easily ignited by fire arrows.

The three bandit chiefs were immediately engulfed and burned by the raging flames.

Even jumping into the water in desperation proved ineffective; they struggled and were shot dead by the second volley of crossbow bolts.

The water bandits, who had been fighting desperately, saw their own leaders burned and shot dead on the water's surface and were all stunned!

The previously fierce assault collapsed instantly; morale plummeted, and many even turned and fled.

In contrast, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's morale surged greatly; shouting for the bandit chiefs' heads, they launched a high-spirited counterattack, slaughtering the bandits.

The water bandits could not hold out for long and scattered, fleeing in all directions.

Zhu Di and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if setting down a heavy burden, feeling somewhat fortunate.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard also suffered significant casualties, with nearly everyone bearing wounds.

On the official ships, arrows were stuck everywhere: door frames, decks, and so on.

"This time, we owe it all to you; otherwise, they might truly have succeeded!"