Chapter 440: Encounter at Sea

Latest website: Leting County, Liaojun.

Zhao Xu is standing on the beach, admiring the red sun rising from below the horizon.

Bai Shang stands behind him, also gazing at the sea surface as it gradually brightens.

They are waiting here for a warship from the sea.

"If General Mo hadn't identified the fake Imperial Edict this time, the consequences of letting this force infiltrate Yanguan would have been unthinkable." Bai Shang is still breaking out in a cold sweat even now.

Zhao Xu nods, the corners of his mouth turning up, "Actually, even if they had infiltrated Yanguan, they wouldn't have been able to stir up any major trouble."

Mo Yu had already sent him this news.

Upon learning of this, he was only slightly surprised, but felt no panic.

Clearly, this force wanted to coordinate with the Northern Di from the inside and outside to take the Nanmen.

After all, the North Gate is now completely sealed off by stone, and the Northern Di cannot break in.

Therefore, unless this force opened the Nan Cheng gate at the same time the main Northern Di army attacked from the Nanmen, Yanguan could not be taken.

And the key issue is that he will not let the Northern Di army led by Wulanba set foot on Yanzhou soil.

Coordinating from the inside and outside was merely their own wishful thinking.

Hearing this, Bai Shang thought for a moment and understood why Yan Wang said this, then began to laugh.

"It's just, which force could have disguised themselves as the Imperial Guard?" He frowns tightly.

Forging an Imperial Edict and disguising oneself as the Imperial Guard are both crimes punishable by the execution of one's entire clan.

"Who else could it be?" Zhao Xu looks toward Fanyang, "The Yuan Family."

According to information provided by the Four Courts, on the day before the fake Imperial Guard arrived at Yanguan.

Fanyang City suddenly closed its gates, allowing no one to enter or leave, while simultaneously imposing a curfew.

That night, signs of large-scale troop movements appeared within Fanyang City.

Although it is unknown where these troops went, it was ultimately unusual.

In order to pass the information out, Four Courts agents used grappling hooks to climb over the city walls and escape.

And after the fake Imperial Guard withdrew, the Four Courts also dispatched people to track them in time.

They discovered that these fake Imperial Guards did not return to Fanyang, but instead took off their Imperial Guard uniforms and went all the way to Qizhou, creating the illusion that they came from elsewhere.

However, ever since Han Qi suddenly led troops to appear in Fanyang and save Yuan Li last time.

The Four Courts had long since arranged for people to watch the border between Yanzhou and Qizhou.

They did not discover any troops entering Yanzhou at all.

Therefore, these fake Imperial Guards fleeing to Qizhou was simply a facade.

But it must be said that Yuan Li's actions this time were very cunning.

Although they found suspicious points, they could not obtain any substantial evidence.

Just like the Guo Tu incident last time, he was able to pull off a "golden cicada shedding its shell" again.

But he will not let Yuan Li get off so easily this time.

Once he eliminates Wulanba's army at sea, he will order Xu Ke and Zhou Yi to cooperate and seize a key piece of evidence.

At that time, he will expose all of Yuan Li's schemes to the light of day.

As he is thinking this, he suddenly hears Bai Shang shout, "Your Highness, the warship is here."

Looking in the direction of Bai Shang's hand, Zhao Xu indeed sees a Sailing Warship slowly approaching under the morning sun.

Zhou Yi sends people to Leting every day with news from the sea.

Upon learning that the Northern Di army was loading their baggage train, he ordered his command to be brought to Zhou Yi.

He requested that he dispatch a warship to pick him up.

This time, he will personally thwart Wulanba's scheme.

"You continue to guard Leting; if there are any who slipped through the net, annihilate them," Zhao Xu instructs Bai Shang.

He transferred Bai Shang from Jinghai to Leting specifically to guard against Wulanba landing in Liaojun.

If the entire Northern Di army cannot be resolved cleanly and quickly at sea.

Once the remnants of the Northern Di army land, Bai Shang will eliminate them.

After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the warship stops on the sea off Leting County.

At the same time, a small wooden boat descends from the warship and heads toward the beach.

The water at the beach here in Leting is shallow, and warships are prone to running aground, so they must rely on small boats for transport.

"Your Highness."

After boarding the ship, Zhou Yi and the ship's captain, Gong Ying, immediately come forward to salute him.

The naval soldiers on the warship stand straight along the railing, each raising their right hand with the palm slanted toward their temple.

This is a modern military salute; he ordered it to be implemented in the navy while at the Naval Academy, to be promoted throughout the Prince's Mansion army later.

"At ease," Zhao Xu returns the military salute.

A sense of soaring ambition rises in his heart.

With this fleet, it is as if his territory has extended onto the sea.

In the future, the North Four Commanderies will be like a tiger that has grown wings.

"How is the Northern Di army?" Zhao Xu asks.

The most pressing issue now is still the war here in Yanzhou.

As long as the Northern Di's plan to attack Yanzhou from the sea is broken, the current crisis in Yanzhou will be resolved.

And the Northern Di army outside Yanguan will retreat without a fight.

After all, they cannot break Yanguan on their own.

"Reporting to Your Highness, the Northern Di army is currently boarding their ships; it is estimated they will head toward Yanzhou early tomorrow morning," Zhou Yi said.

Zhao Xu nodded, "Since that is the case, this time let us let the Northern Di witness our prowess."

"Yes, Your Highness," Zhou Yi said loudly, his face showing irrepressible excitement.

Once upon a time, he was merely a house slave to the Yan Wang.

But now, he is the commander of the North Four Commanderies' navy.

Although this position of commander still cannot see the light of day.

Yet he was already very satisfied.

Departing from Leting, the Warships sailed straight north, preparing to rendezvous with the remaining eleven Warships.

After sailing on the sea for half an hour, suddenly an island gradually appeared before everyone.

"Your Highness, this is Pearl Island. The fishermen of Liaojun collect pearls here every year as tribute to be sent to the palace, but in recent years, the Gaoli Navy has repeatedly attacked the fishermen here, claiming that this is Gaoli territory," Zhou Yi introduced to Zhao Xu, his eyes full of hatred.

Only after the fleet entered the sea did he realize how rampant the Gaoli Navy was.

The Gaoli Navy ran rampant in the waters east of Yanzhou, often attacking fishermen.

But in order not to expose the Warships prematurely, they could only watch helplessly.

Therefore, every naval officer and soldier now had a belly full of anger.

As he was speaking, six warships suddenly appeared around the corner of the island.

"The Gaoli Navy!"

Zhou Yi's expression suddenly turned cold.

He had discovered them when he arrived, but he had simply ignored them.

"What is going on here?"

Looking at the six warships that had appeared, Zhao Xu asked.

At this moment, there were still some Great Song fishing boats nearby collecting pearls.

Seeing these six warships appear, these fishing boats were as panicked as mice seeing a cat.

The fishermen in the sea immediately climbed onto their small boats and turned immediately, attempting to flee from these Warships.

The hatred in Zhou Yi's eyes grew even more intense, while also carrying a trace of bloodthirsty emotion.

He said to Zhao Xu: "Your Highness, these Warships are Gaoli warships from Ancheng Port. The commoners who go out to sea to fish have often been bullied by Gaoli warships. They are very Hegemony-driven; as long as they see our fishing boats, they will chase them. Many fishermen have been killed by them, and their fishing boats have been burned. They claim that this entire sea area belongs to Gaoli and do not allow our Great Song commoners to fish."

"This Gaoli is nothing but a bunch of barbaric wretches. Back when they were a vassal state of Great Song, they were respectful to us, but now that they have turned to the Northern Di in the blink of an eye, they are actually so vicious toward us," Gong Ying said, his brows carrying a trace of murderous aura.

"Well said. However, now that we have our own Warships, we cannot let them bully us like this anymore. In the future, we will slowly deal with them, but this time, let us make them understand whose sea this really is," Zhao Xu's eyes narrowed.