Chapter 1084

Zhu Ba, Xia Sha Gang, upstream (not a name), Yong army (possibly referring to the Yong army of Da Yong, but it's a generic term, so we might not treat it as a named entity). Zhu Ba is a name.

Liang Yinghao (already in the glossary), Yu Tianxing.

Liang Yinghao stepped forward, clasped his fist, and said, "The subordinate obeys orders!"

Yu Tianxing said, "You will lead five hundred men to set an ambush in the reed marsh; once the Yong army arrives, immediately set fire to the reed marsh to create smoke, block the Yong army's vision, then proceed to Duck's Mouth to provide support."

Liang Yinghao took the command arrow, led the five hundred men, and departed.

Hu Zhongyang. Yu Tianxing.

Hu Zhongyang wore bronze mail armor, walked forward with a mighty bearing, and Yu Tianxing said, "You will lead one thousand elite troops to separately guard the siege crossbows and catapults; you must ensure the safety of these weapons and prevent the Yong army from forcibly destroying them."

"The subordinate obeys orders!" Hu Zhongyang also took a command arrow; the siege crossbows and catapults were originally supplied by him to Hu Xiaotian, so it was natural for him to protect them. The one thousand troops under his command were the guard unit he had previously organized. With the great war imminent and manpower needed, Hu Zhongyang requested permission from Hu Xiaotian, who agreed to let him reassemble the guard unit, thereby increasing Hu Xiaotian's available forces to six thousand.

Tang Tiehan, Tang Qingxuan, Yu Tianxing.

Tang Tiehan and Tang Qingxuan, brother and sister, stepped forward together and both clasped their fists in salute.

Yu Tianxing said, "You two will each lead one thousand soldiers to garrison inside the city; once the battle begins, unpredictable situations may arise within the city. You must tightly control the internal situation, promptly suppress any civilian disturbances, and if anyone dares to rebel, execute them without exception!"

Tang family siblings (but the Tang family is already mentioned).

Xiong Tianba could no longer contain himself; seeing that everyone had something to do but he was not mentioned, he shouted, "Me! Me! And me! Don't forget me!"

Yu Tianxing's lips curled into a faint smile as he said, "Xiong Tianba, hear the order!"

Xiong Tianba hurriedly replied, "Coming! Coming!"

Yu Tianxing said, "You will lead one thousand elite troops to set an ambush at Duck's Mouth; after the Yong army is obstructed, they will surely attempt a forced landing there. You must do everything possible to prevent them from landing. After Liang Yinghao completes his mission, he will come to Duck's Mouth as reinforcement. You must use one thousand five hundred men to block an enemy force several times, even dozens of times larger. Do you have confidence?"

Xiong Tianba chuckled and said, "Yes! Even if it's ten times, even a hundred times, I'll use my great hammer to blast them into the Yong River to feed the turtles!"

Upon hearing this, everyone laughed at once.

Yu Tianxing took the last command arrow in hand, and Hu Xiaotian smiled and stepped forward.

Yu Tianxing, Hu Xiaotian (the city lord; note that "city lord" is a title, not a name).

Hu Xiaotian took the command arrow, gazed upstream along the Yong River, and said in a deep voice, "This time I will make sure Tang Boxi has no return!"

A sudden shift in the wind slowed Tang Boxi's fleet considerably; originally intending to reach Dongliang Jun before dawn, they were now delayed by a full two hours, arriving at Dongliang Jun's territory at noon.

After Tang Boxi got up, he came and sat on the penetrated deck. The sunshine was fine; he leisurely basked in the sun when a subordinate came to report, "General, there are still five li of waterway to Dongliang Jun."

Tang Boxi nodded. He issued the order: "Increase our speed; we'll have dinner in Dongliang Jun tonight!"

The generals laughed. From this remark it was clear that Tang Boxi was full of confidence in capturing Dongliang Jun in a short time.

The wind remained from the northwest; at this moment, inside the vast reed marsh on the north bank, Liang Yinghao led five hundred soldiers to start a fire. The fire spread quickly with the wind. Flames and thick smoke soon rose from the reed marsh; the rolling smoke, blown by the wind, drifted southeast, swiftly blanketing the river surface and continuing to spread downstream.

Tang Boxi's side soon noticed the changes along the river. After hearing the report, Tang Boxi gazed at the thick smoke continually expanding from the bank toward the river's center and coldly said, "They intend to use smoke to impair our vision; pass the order to increase speed and reach Xia Sha Port for landing as soon as possible."

Liu Yuncai hurried to Tang Boxi's side and whispered, "General, the rear has spotted enemy movement; dozens of fishing boats are approaching our fleet."

Tang Boxi calmly said, "This Hu Xiaotian still has some guts, actually putting up a battle stance; good, this time I'll let him see how war is fought."

A commander hurried forward and said, "General, nearly a hundred fishing boats have appeared in the rear, along with countless rafts, almost filling the river surface, drifting downstream toward our fleet."

Tang Boxi said, "Prepare the long-pole stone throwers; as soon as they dare to approach, we will smash them!"

Behind the Da Yong fleet, over a hundred fishing boats were desperately chasing, while in front of them floated countless rafts. Zhu Ba, leading those beggars according to the plan, was supposed to set the boats and rafts ablaze and ram them into the Da Yong fleet, but their progress was obviously no match for Da Yong's; seeing the Da Yong fleet increase its speed, they were left farther and farther behind.

Tang Boxi went to the stern, looking at the fishing boats behind them now reduced to tiny black dots, he couldn't help laughing loudly; fishing boats opposing warships were practically coming to die, and he had no interest in dealing with these small craft—Xia Sha Port was already in sight, and if the thirty thousand troops could land successfully, that would already be half the victory.

The smoke spread quickly, soon enveloping the pursuing troops behind them. Tang Boxi shook his head; the enemy had intended to create smoke to hinder us, but now it appears they are the ones first being hindered.

Xia Sha Port lay less than three li ahead; Tang Boxi had already seen the three pontoon bridges. He waved his black command flag, and three armored-breaching ships took the lead, proceeding downstream at full speed, charging at high speed into the pontoon bridges. The armored-breaching ships were sheathed in iron armor; their prow bore a massive blade five zhang long, like an unstoppable great axe. Striking the pontoon bridge, the fishing boats composing it were instantly shattered into fragments, wood chips flying. The iron chains linking the pontoon bridge were also snapped by the tremendous impact of the armored-breaching ships.

Seeing the distant scene, Tang Boxi laughed heartily; Hu Xiaotian truly overestimated himself, attempting to block his fleet's advance with such a rudimentary barrier—utterly short-sighted, overestimating his abilities.

After the armored-breaching ships smashed through the first pontoon bridge, their speed slowed somewhat; the navy rowed with all their might, advancing toward the second pontoon bridge.

The three armored-breaching ships quickly struck the second pontoon bridge; just as before, it was destroyed like pulling rotten stalks, the pontoon bridge broke, and the Da Yong fleet as a whole had already advanced to the first pontoon bridge.

Hu Xiaotian stood on the arrow tower, gazing at the Da Yong fleet; the second pontoon bridge was where the hidden magnets lay. Although the armored-breaching ships successfully smashed through the second pontoon bridge, the magnets attached to iron chains were drawn onto the ships' iron armor; in an instant, dozens of huge magnets adhered to the hulls of the three armored-breaching ships, and the magnets remained tightly linked to the pontoon bridge's iron chains.

In the distance, Yu Tianxing waved his small flag, and the soldiers beside him blew their ox horns.

In the smoke above the Yong River's upper reaches, hundreds of rafts were set ablaze, and together with nearly a hundred burning fishing boats they drifted downstream straight toward the Da Yong fleet.

Tang Boxi also noticed the situation with the armored-breaching ships ahead; before he could figure out what was happening, he heard that countless burning rafts were approaching from the rear, so he issued the order for the warships to change direction and land nearby.

Just as Tang Boxi issued the order, the war drums on the opposite bank sounded fiercely; two stones each the size of a millstone fell from the sky and struck one of the warships. Several soldiers who failed to dodge were instantly pulped; the stones, carrying the victims' flesh and blood, pierced the deck straight through, smashed into the hold and shattered the hull. River water gushed out from the large breach, and the sailors aboard cried out continually, clearly underestimating the combat strength of the Dakang side.

Ten catapults fired simultaneously; boulders screamed through the air, and the Da Yong soldiers, having no time to grasp the situation, were hit by successive barrages of stones.

Tang Boxi hastily ordered the formation to disperse; the fleet clustered together presented too large a target, and he also couldn't fathom how the enemy was launching boulders into the river's midst. In a short time, five warships had been sunk by the stones; in the panic, three more warships collided with each other. The smoke from the burning reeds had already spread over the waters where they were, and at this moment the burning rafts were gradually closing in on them.

Tang Boxi roared, "Pull ashore, force a landing!" Over forty warships simultaneously moved toward the north bank.

Yu Tianxing, Lan (the color blue). Also possibly referring to a small blue flag, but we treat Lan as a name.

The smoke grew ever thicker; Tang Boxi only then realized the opponent was far from the helpless force he had imagined—no wonder Hu Xiaotian dared to stay and fight him to the death; it turned out he possessed such formidable weapons.

One warship finally neared the shore; sailors lowered the gangway, rushed down from the vessel, and stepped onto the riverside land, but after only a few steps they felt the ground give way, falling into previously dug pits. This riverbank had been secretly purchased and filled with countless bamboo spears; because the smoke obscured visibility, they failed to notice the ground conditions, and many soldiers stepped on the bamboo spears, their soles instantly pierced. The air filled with screams and wails.

After lying in ambush at Duck's Mouth for a long time, Xiong Tianba gave a single command; everyone fired repeatedly toward the direction of the cries, and many more Da Yong navy sailors fell beneath a hail of arrows.

The warships that managed to shore were few; most remained trapped in the middle of the Yong River, now encircled by dense rafts. The rafts set the warships ablaze, and the smoke grew even thicker. A few warships, like headless flies, fled to the Yong River's south bank, where drumbeats sounded—these were the Dakang navy already lying in ambush on the opposite bank, establishing a blockade. Although Zhao Dengyun had ordered his subordinates not to go to Dongliang Jun for reinforcements, the three thousand troops led by Zhao Wusheng and Li Yongfu, having reached an understanding with Hu Xiaotian, built a defensive line on the south bank of the Yong River; should the Yong army dare to land, they would immediately launch a pursuit and suppression.

Tang Boxi was choked by the smoke, tears streaming down; he heard the war drums beating on both banks, and panic rose in his heart—could his intelligence be wrong, Zhao Dengyun actually leading troops to reinforce? (To be continued~^~)