Chapter 787: Strategic Stronghold

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"Your Highness, ahead is Yizhou."

Owen departed, and after sailing for another hour, the horizon on the sea could be faintly seen.

This is Yizhou.

In order to entice Wu to join the Eastern Land Alliance, Dongying handed over the northern part of Yizhou on a silver platter.

Afterwards, Wu dispatched Navy warships and thirty thousand soldiers to Yizhou.

These thirty thousand soldiers are currently all stationed in Lujiao City.

This is a large city built by Dongying, relative to Malka City.

Through this city, one can control the surrounding land.

Of course, the most important value of Yizhou does not lie in agriculture, but in its important strategic position.

Controlling this place is equivalent to controlling the north-south maritime trade routes of Da Song.

In ancient times, this value was not yet prominent, but as the world enters the modern era, the value of Yizhou will manifest.

This is not just a matter of Da Song's north-south trade routes.

Taking this place is equivalent to pinching the lifeblood of Dongying and Gaoli.

If Dongying and Gaoli want to participate in maritime trade in the future, they will only be able to look to his favor.

Moreover, using this as a base, the Yanzhou Fleet can also enter the Pacific Ocean on a large scale, turning the Pacific into their own backyard.

After all, Sam Country has already reached out to the islands of this ocean.

He cannot sit by and watch the important islands of the ocean all be occupied by them.

"Take action!" Gazing at Yizhou, Zhao Xu gave the order.

He will not have his rhythm disrupted by the petty tricks played by Britain.

Even if Britain and other Xitu Guo say something flowery, he must still level Jiangnan and complete the unification of Da Song.

Furthermore, in the North Territory of Da Song, Da Song's mortal enemy, the Beidi, has yet to be eliminated.

He has many things to do and no time to bicker with Britain.

"Yes,

Your Highness." Zhou Yi acknowledged and ordered the fleet to advance at full speed.

As they drew closer to the Lujiao City Pier, Wu warships appeared in Zhao Xu's Telescope.

A total of thirty ships were docked at the pier.

They did not take the Wu warships seriously.

This time, their fleet was composed of twelve Steamships and twelve Sailing Warships.

Following at the rear of the fleet were Troop Transport Ships, carrying eight thousand marine soldiers.

After sailing for a while longer, the Wu warships discovered them.

The Wu Navy soldiers boarded their warships, but they did not engage; instead, they slipped away, having no intention of fighting them at all.

The news of the Edo naval battle had also reached Wu.

During the Gaoli naval battle, they were already being chased everywhere by Yanzhou's Sailing Warships; how could they possibly be a match for Steamships combined with Sailing Warships now?

"A bunch of cowards." Seeing this scene, Zhou Yi sneered.

This time, the Prince's Personal Army is heading south, and their navy will cooperate with the Prince's Personal Army to launch an attack on the coast of Jiangnan, striking the Jiangnan Powerful Clans from two sides.

It is precisely based on this that they must first take Yizhou.

Of course, there is one more point: their Yan Wang seems to have an obsession with Yizhou and is somewhat impatient to bring it under his command.

Without pursuing the Wu warships, Zhou Yi led the fleet to sail directly south, and did not directly attack the Lujiao City Pier.

According to intelligence provided by the Four Courts, Wu had built quite a few Forts at the Lujiao City Pier.

When they attacked the coastal cities of Dongying, they generally engaged in counter-battery fire with these Forts to destroy them...

But in fact, this method is very clumsy and time-consuming.

It was just that there was no other way, because the coast of Dongying is mostly mountains, and the terrain is not convenient for marine soldiers to outflank and land for combat.

But Yizhou is different; the west coast of Yizhou is almost entirely plains.

Any location is easy to land at, and the Shizu Army stationed in Yizhou has worse firearms than the Dongying Army and is even harder to defend against landing marine soldiers.

Therefore, just like when they hit Ryukyu, Zhou Yi ordered the fleet to land thirty miles south of the Lujiao Pier.

During the landing process, the Wu army did not obstruct them, and the entire landing process was exceptionally smooth.

Zhao Xu and Zhou Yi also immediately boarded boats to land.

"Pan Zhang, you must be careful; the lives of His Highness and this general are in your hands." Stepping onto the land of Yizhou, Zhou Yi said to Pan Zhang.

Pan Zhang felt a cold sweat, straightened his back, and said: "This subordinate will protect the safety of His Highness and the General."

Zhao Xu smiled, "Don't listen to Zhou Yi. Fight however you need to fight; don't be timid. This Prince is also a veteran of many battles, not some delicate little girl who needs you to watch over me at all times."

Having said that, he waved his hand, signaling Pan Zhang to go and take the pier first.

Then, he stepped deeply onto the ground beneath his feet, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Having taken Lujiao City, Yizhou will henceforth be under his control.

Under his order, Pan Zhang led seven thousand soldiers toward the pier, leaving one thousand soldiers to protect him.

At this time, Zhao Xu and Zhou Yi strolled inward and arrived at a paddy field.

Unlike the bitter cold of the North Territory, Yizhou at this time of year is as warm as spring.

While the north can only grow wheat, rice is still being planted here.

According to his memory, the rice here in Yizhou seems to have three harvests a year and a high yield, and in the contemporary era, it is hailed as the granary of the sea.

Besides this, the subtropical humid maritime climate here is also suitable for planting sugarcane, pineapples, bananas, etc., and it is also hailed as the land of fruits.

Of course, there is also a very important point.

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Rubber Tree cultivation can be carried out here.

Although Rubber Tree cultivation can also be carried out in the southernmost regions of the Great Song.

But currently, due to the inconvenient inland transportation, he feels it is still more convenient to find a way to plant Rubber Trees on Yizhou.

When the time comes, through maritime transport, the Rubber can be shipped to the coastal cities of the Great Song.

Therefore, with so many advantages, if Yizhou is not taken now, when will it be?

While he and Zhou Yi were strolling, the Marine soldiers arrived at the Lujiao City Pier after an hour of trekking and launched an attack on the Fort from the flank.

The Wu army defending the Lujiao Pier numbered about five thousand.

They clearly did not expect the Yan King Army to land elsewhere and execute a flanking maneuver.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

"Boom!", "Boom!", "Boom!"...

Because the Artillery in the Fort were all facing the sea and fixed on the Fort, they were difficult to move.

The Marines attacking from the side meant they completely avoided the opponent's Artillery.

Upon reaching the range of the Fort, the Marine soldiers, led by their officers, attacked the Fort one by one.

Because the range of the Marine soldiers' Rifled Musket was much further than the Wu soldiers' Smoothbore Gun.

The Marine soldiers often fired at the opponent from a distance of about 150 meters.

At the same time, under the cover of gunfire, the skirmishers approached with Hand Grenade and threw the Grenade into the Fort.

The general guarding Lujiao City was named Liang Xi.

Under the attack of the Marines, he was stunned, and seeing the Fort falling one by one, he was unable to turn the tide.

He immediately led the remnants to retreat toward Lujiao City.

Ever since Wu harassed Jiangbei along the coast of Jiujiang, they had the realization that Yan Wang would attack Yizhou.

Therefore, they had strengthened the Fort during this period.

But they did not expect that these Fort would all become useless waste.

However, around Lujiao City, with the help of their Mercenaries, they had dug Trench and constructed fortifications.

They hoped to use this to block the Yan King Army and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Dear, this chapter is finished, I wish you a happy reading! ^0^