Chapter 661: Crossing the River

Guangning City.

A massive fleet stirred the thin mist on the water in the morning glow, sailing slowly through the canal outside the city.

Compared to the warships, the passing merchant ships were like frail infants beside burly men.

Merchants and boatmen gazed at the giant ships brushing past them, their eyes not blinking even once.

At this moment, they were too shocked in their hearts, but even more so, they felt a deep sense of pride.

Having spent years on the water, they had heard rumors about the Yanzhou Warships from other merchants.

At the time, they had found it unbelievable.

Seeing them with their own eyes today, they finally understood the feelings of those merchants when they first saw these giant ships.

The appearance of the fleet also attracted many of the people of Guangning.

They climbed onto the river embankment, pointing at the warships and standing on tiptoe, wanting to catch a glimpse of the scenery on the warships.

It was just that because the warships were very tall, they could only see the edge of the deck.

"Captain, after passing Guangning, we will reach Pingyuan City." On the flagship of the fleet, Gong Ying stood at the bow, looking down and enjoying the surrounding scenery.

At this time, the first mate of the warship came to his side and pointed to the south.

Gong Ying nodded and straightened his new blue military uniform.

Three days ago, this batch of military uniforms arrived at Jinghai Wharf.

After these twelve warships were launched here, the naval camp was successfully completed just one month later.

At present, their main naval force had already transferred from Leting to Jinghai.

Along with the arrival of this batch of military uniforms came the orders from Yan Wang.

They were to head to the Pingyuan City ferry crossing to assist the Prince's Personal Army in capturing the Qi ferry crossing on the south bank of the Jin River.

Because they were to launch a surprise attack, they were ordered to arrive at night and launch the offensive at dawn.

"Rest here for the morning, and continue our departure in the afternoon," Gong Ying said.

This time, they had arrived first at Pingcheng from the mouth of the Haihe River, then traveled south along Pingcheng to reach Fanyang.

At Fanyang, the canal headed toward Guangning City, finally reaching Pingyuan City.

It was precisely because Pingyuan City was located at the intersection of the canal and the Jin River.

Therefore, throughout the dynasties, Pingyuan City had always been a place of strategic importance for military contention.

Since it only took one day from Guangning City to Pingyuan City, if they set off now, they could arrive by dusk.

But the fleet's target was too large and could easily be discovered by the Qi soldiers on the other side of the river.

By setting off in the afternoon, they could arrive exactly at midnight.

After resting for the morning, the fleet set off again.

Sailing down the canal, the time reached dusk, night fell, a crescent moon rose from the east, and dots of starlight covered the dark sky.

The fleet sailed on the river as if traveling through the sky.

After the sky turned completely dark, Gong Ying would take out his pocket watch from time to time to check the time.

Just when the hands were two quarter-hours away from midnight, he saw what seemed to be faint firelight ahead.

This firelight was like something hanging high in the sky.

Seeing this, Gong Ying felt a surge of joy.

Without a doubt, this was the bonfire on the walls of Pingyuan City.

At this time, he called over the signalman.

Of course, in the dark of night, he naturally was not having the signalman come over to use flag language.

Rather, he had the signalman light a torch to use it to transmit information in the darkness.

This was the common way for the navy and the Prince's Personal Army to transmit orders in the dark of night.

By waving the torch left, right, up, and down, different orders could be transmitted.

The signalman sent out the order, and before long, soldiers on the walls of Pingyuan City also began waving torches.

"Captain, they say they have received it; the troops have finished assembling and are waiting at the ferry crossing, asking us to head directly to the ferry."

Gong Ying nodded and ordered the fleet to continue forward.

Pingyuan City ferry crossing.

Chang Wei and other generals were waiting here; upon learning that the fleet had arrived, he nodded and said to Lv Chang and the other two, "Prepare to board the ships."

The three responded in the affirmative and returned to their respective troops.

Before long, they heard the sound of rolling waves in the night.

Looking in the direction the sound came from, the distance was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

It was not until they were within fifty meters that they saw black behemoths sailing from the river surface; it was precisely Gong Ying's warships.

"General Chang Wei, Yanzhou Navy Captain Gong Ying leads twelve warships and thirty troop transport ships to have arrived on time; please inspect them, General."

The warships docked at the ferry, and Gong Ying disembarked and came before Chang Wei, raising his hand to perform a military salute.

Returning the salute, Chang Wei nodded, "Welcome to your arrival; continue to wait for orders."

He was still quite polite toward the Yanzhou Navy.

According to Yan Wang's words, the Prince's Personal Army now belonged to the Army, while Zhou Yi and the others belonged to the Navy.

The Army and the Navy were two different branches of service, both directly loyal to the Prince's mansion, but there was no subordinate relationship between them.

Therefore, it was still necessary to maintain a good relationship between the two armies.

After all, sometimes they would need each other's help.

"Yes, General Chang." Gong Ying responded in the affirmative and stood to one side of Chang Wei, saying no more.

At this time, the soldiers, led by their officers, boarded the troop transport ships one after another.

In the span of two hours, fifteen thousand soldiers had all boarded the ships.

With everything ready, Chang Wei said to Gong Ying, "Captain Gong, you have all seen the layout map of the Qi forts, haven't you?"

The layout map of the forts on the south bank of the Jin River had been delivered to Jinghai along with the new-style military uniforms.

The purpose was to let Gong Ying and the others understand the locations of the forts, so that during the attack, they could use the warships' artillery to bombard these forts and cover the landing of the troop transport ships.

"Rest assured, General. On the way here, every warship captain memorized the layout map until they knew it by heart; when the time comes, they will deal with these forts severely."

Chang Wei felt slightly more at ease, even though they had also built forts on the north bank of the Jin River.

But these forts were only meant to prevent the enemy from crossing the river.

Because the enemy's forts were built very covertly, were at the same elevation as their own, and were constructed of piled stone, they were very sturdy.

Using their own forts to bombard the enemy's was not very effective.

Warships were different; because the warships were very tall, facing the Qi forts was equivalent to attacking them from a superior position, which was naturally much easier.

Having resolved his final concerns, Chang Wei said, "Synchronize your watches; we launch the attack at the fourth quarter of the Mao hour."

At this time, the sky would be just between dark and light.

As his voice fell, Lv Chang, Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and Gong Ying gathered with him to synchronize the time on their pocket watches.

Once the Mao hour arrived, Gong Ying ordered the warships to depart from the ferry crossing, reach the middle of the Jin River, and align the sides of the warships with the Qi ferry crossing.

Time slipped away bit by bit, and the hands gradually pointed to the fourth quarter of the Mao hour.

By this time, the surface of the river was no longer pitch black, and the scenery on the opposite bank could be vaguely seen.

And when the hands pointed to the fourth quarter of the Mao hour, almost at the same time, twelve warships simultaneously erupted with huge flashes of fire, the hulls of the warships even shifting backward.

Amidst the roaring sounds, cannonballs flew toward the locations of the forts at the Qi ferry crossing.

The warships trembled, and layers of ripples spread out from the warships as the center, continuously drifting into the distance.

At this moment, the troop transport ships took the opportunity to head toward the Qi ferry crossing.