Chapter 446: To Save or Not to Save

Latest website: "Jinyin Island? This name is good, money will roll in." Zhou Yi smacked his lips and laughed.

He knew very well that the true purpose of Yan Wang building this fleet was still for trade.

In the future, he must cooperate with merchants to bring a steady stream of wealth to the North Four Commanderies; only then could he be considered a qualified Admiral.

Zhao Xu smiled, "As for your name..."

He looked at the sharks churning in the seawater, "Call yourselves the Black Shark Pirates."

"Dominating." Zhou Yi and Gong Ying heard this, looked at each other, and chuckled.

Gong Ying seemed to have a question and said, "Your Highness, even so, I fear it will be impossible to completely conceal our relationship with Your Highness."

Zhao Xu nodded, "That is indeed true, but this is enough. If I do not admit it, and you do not admit it, even if they have suspicions in their hearts, they can only stare helplessly."

In the modern era, the privateer ships of the Age of Discovery were first created by England.

This was to deal with their enemies in maritime trade, Spain and the Netherlands.

Although Queen Elizabeth of England personally created these privateer ships, the government did not admit to any relationship with them at all.

Other countries could only swallow their teeth and stomach the loss, and could only establish their own privateer fleets to counter them.

Now, the situation with him and Zhou Yi's Black Shark Pirates is the same principle.

He builds warships and trains naval officers and soldiers, but he simply does not admit that this is a force belonging to him.

Even if someone were to impeach him in the imperial court because of this, he would not admit it.

If they have the ability, they can come and wipe out the Black Shark Pirates themselves.

"That's true." Gong Ying nodded. In this way, they could act with even more freedom.

In any case, Yan Wang was their backing.

After settling this matter, Zhao Xu ordered Zhou Yi to send him back to the coast.

At this moment, the Northern Di soldiers who had luckily survived at sea reached the shore under the impact of the waves.

They had lost their armor and weapons,

looking extremely wretched, each one like a drowned rat.

And when they crawled onto the beach, they discovered that Great Song soldiers were already waiting for them.

The fierce Great Song soldiers beat them without a word, then tied them up with ropes, linked them in a string, and hauled them away.

Zhao Xu sat in a small boat, watching the Great Song soldiers catching the Northern Di soldiers on the beach just like catching pigs.

Upon arriving at the beach, Bai Shang immediately led his troops over.

"Your Highness, it was too spectacular." Bai Shang's face was flushed.

Just now, he and the soldiers had watched the entire naval battle.

The three hundred or so Northern Di warships had appeared aggressive.

But under the attacks of the twelve Wangfu warships, they were as fragile as infants, and one by one, the Northern Di warships sank to the bottom of the sea.

The officers beside Bai Shang also had eyes shining with excitement.

This battle was fought too satisfyingly.

The Wangfu warships' attack on the Northern Di was completely one-sided.

As the Northern Di warships sank, the heroic spirit in their hearts continued to rise.

Zhao Xu laughed.

Without a doubt, this naval battle would make the Wangfu soldiers more confident when facing the Northern Di.

He said, "Since that is the case, I hope that one day, you too can fight the Northern Di Iron Cavalry until they have no power to fight back, just like these warships."

"Yes, Your Highness." Bai Shang and the officers shouted loudly.

Zhao Xu nodded and glanced at the Northern Di soldiers constantly being washed onto the beach by the waves, "Continue catching pigs."

Having said that, he left the beach under the protection of Xu Lie.

At the same time, he ordered Zhou Yi to hand Wulanba over to Bai Shang, and then have Bai Shang escort him to Yancheng.

He spent the night in Leting.

The next morning, Bai Shang reported the number of captives taken.

"Your Highness, this time we captured a total of thirty-six thousand prisoners."

"What a pity, otherwise the mines could have had quite a bit more labor," Zhao Xu said.

He had specifically chosen the battlefield near the beach in order to capture as many prisoners as possible.

When attacking the Northern Di warships, Zhou Yi and the others were not aiming to kill the Northern Di soldiers.

Often, once a ship sank, they would attack the next one.

It was just that the Northern Di soldiers' swimming skills were truly too poor.

Most of them still drowned.

"Keep these prisoners temporarily detained in Leting; officials from the Government Office will come to collect them," Zhao Xu said.

After returning to Yancheng, he would have Liu Fu make unified arrangements; wherever people were needed, they would be sent there.

After giving these instructions, Zhao Xu said to Bai Shang, "Additionally, stockpile troops at the border between the south of Ping County and Fanyang Commandery. Once I obtain the evidence, I am going to deal with the Yuan Family."

He had never forgotten the incident in Liaojun and Ping County last time.

Yuan Li had incited the Rich Clans of the two commanderies to flee, taking away a massive amount of wealth.

Now, when the Northern Di moved south, Yuan Li had committed this act of treason and selling out the country again.

This time, even if he could not kill Yuan Li, he would still cut ten pounds of flesh from him.

"Yes, Your Highness." Bai Shang acknowledged, and then he said, "Your Highness, the Northern Di troops that came south by sea have been wiped out, but how should the Northern Di main army outside Yanguan be dealt with?"

This naval battle had made his hands itch; he really wanted to fight a battle against the Northern Di on land.

Zhao Xu shook his head, "At sea, the Northern Di failed, so the two Northern Di royal camps outside Yanguan no longer pose a threat to Yanguan. There is no need to let soldiers sacrifice themselves in vain. Furthermore, the war situation with the Northern Di is unclear, so it is not easy to act rashly."

Outside Yanguan, the land is flat as a plain, and the Northern Di have Artillery and Iron Cavalry.

He is confident that the Prince's Personal Army can win, but he will also suffer a certain percentage of casualties.

Furthermore, if the Northern Di Iron Cavalry cannot win, they can run.

For Infantry, even if they win on the battlefield, they cannot pursue and complete a mission of total annihilation.

If they go too deep, the supply line will become fragile and they will easily stumble.

Moreover, he has only resolved the crisis in Yanzhou.

But the war in the northwest is also extremely important.

If a major disaster occurs, the situation of Da Song will deteriorate rapidly.

Previously, he already knew that Zhao Heng was constantly advancing rashly under the instigation of the Second Prince.

This is an extremely dangerous signal.

Once the Northern Di and Xiliang truly set a trap near Yongcheng, this Emperor of Great Song will likely not be able to escape.

By then, whether the Emperor is captured or killed, a bloody storm will be stirred up within Da Song.

His victory in Yanzhou would then have no meaning at all.

Thinking of this, he decided to return to Yancheng to wait for news, so as to be ready to respond at any time.

At noon two days later, he arrived at Yancheng.

Before reaching the city gate, he saw Liu Fu leading an Imperial Guard soldier coming over in a hurry.

After performing a salute, Liu Fu said urgently: "Your Highness has returned just in time. This official was just about to send someone to deliver a letter to Your Highness. A major disaster has occurred in the northwest; the Northern Expeditionary Army has fallen into a trap. Now the Emperor is trapped in Xian City. When this Scout came to Yanzhou, Old General Yang was engaged in a bitter battle with the Northern Di in Yongcheng."

"It happened after all." Zhao Xu frowned deeply.

"Your Highness Yan Wang, the Emperor requests that Your Highness lead troops to Qinzhou with all speed to rescue him," the Imperial Guard soldier knelt on one knee, "if it is too late, everything will be beyond saving."

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's frown deepened further.

After winning the naval battle, although he was happy, he still felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

The source of this unease was the war in the northwest.

Now, this trouble has finally come looking for him.