After a night of fierce fighting, the pirates under the command of Guan Hai and Guan Cheng had successfully forced the ships of the Zhen family merchant caravan into an upwind direction where they could not escape successfully.
Although no ships on the other side have sunk yet, they are already badly damaged. Although the Qingzhou pirates have also paid a heavy price, everyone can see that they will be the winner in the end.
Guan Cheng raised his hand and was about to launch a general attack, but he saw Guan Hai climb onto the bow, narrow his eyes, and said, "Something is wrong."
"It seems like there's a ship coming in the distance."
Guan Cheng didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "It's almost the New Year. Even if there are a few more fleets, they will be in our pockets."
"Let's first take care of the Zhen family merchant ship in front of us. I didn't expect there were so many guards inside. It's obvious that they are transporting a lot of good stuff!"
Guan Hai asked doubtfully, "Don't you think something is wrong?"
"The fighting power of the soldiers on the opposite side is definitely extraordinary. How can they be the Zhen family's private army?"
"It's like he's deliberately trying to seduce us!"
Guan Cheng laughed and said, "The Zhen family is just following the fierce Yuan family. I'm afraid they have invited the Youzhou Army to come and protect them."
"But who can defeat us in a water battle?"
"I'm afraid they lost their ship and wanted to come back for revenge, but they didn't expect our strength to be far beyond their expectations. They went from hunters to prey. It's ridiculous!"
"Of course, it would be bad if the matter was exposed and the fierce tiger found out. They should quickly seize the goods, kill all the people, and destroy the ship."
Guan Hai nodded and said, "Just in case, I will take a few ships over there to find out who is coming."
He ordered another large ship to come closer, and when he saw that the two ships were still several feet apart, he rushed forward a few steps, stepped onto the side of the ship, leaped into the air, and landed directly on the deck of the opposite ship.
He took a few boats and hoisted sails towards the distant fleet. In less than a quarter of an hour, the two sides were rapidly approaching each other. When Guan Hai saw clearly, he felt something was wrong.
I saw that the opposite fleet was composed entirely of multi-masted ships, driven by five or six sails, and they were moving at a very fast speed, cutting through the waves and heading towards this side.
The logo on its bow is not that of the Zhen family fleet, but that of the Xuzhou Guangling navy!
Moreover, there were dozens of ships coming, and the bows were crowded with people, so it was obvious that there were quite a lot of people!
Guan Hai instinctively felt that something was wrong and quickly ordered the boat to turn around. In the meantime, the other party was getting closer and closer. Someone on the bow shouted, "Who is blocking the way?"
After hearing this, Guan Hai gritted his teeth and shouted, "I am Guan Hai, the commander-in-chief of the Qingzhou navy!"
"You and I are both subordinates of the Yuan family. Why did you come to my Qingzhou waters for no reason?"
Just as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter suddenly broke out from the opposite bow, "Guan Hai!"
"What a coincidence, who do you think I am?"
Guan Hai took a quick look and saw a very majestic general standing on the opposite ship's bow holding a bow. He immediately shouted, "How do I know who you are!"
The general shouted, "I am Taishi Ci of Donglai!"
"Do you still remember the time when you besieged Kong Wenju and were defeated by my reinforcements?"
When Guan Hai heard this, he was so shocked that he cried out, "So it's you!"
Seeing Taishi Ci drawing his bow and arrow, he quickly asked, "What do you want to do?"
"I am Yuan Qingzhou's subordinate! You..."
Taishi Ci shouted, "You know what you did!"
He loosened his hand, and the bow in his hand shook, and the arrow shot out like a meteor. Guan Hai saw it was aimed at his face and dodged in panic, but Taishi Ci's bow was extremely powerful. Guan Hai only had time to dodge a few inches before the arrow arrived.
With a "whoosh", the arrow pierced through Guan Hai's leather armor on his shoulder and penetrated his shoulder. The powerful impact force caused Guan Hai to retreat repeatedly and actually nailed him to the mast behind him.
Guan Hai screamed loudly, and the pirates under his command were immediately frightened. The enemy could shoot so accurately from such a distance!
Taishi Ci waved his hand, "Go!"
"Kill without mercy!"
Dozens of warships approached the Qingzhou pirate ship in an instant. The sides of the Xuzhou naval warships were extremely high, and thousands of soldiers as agile as wolves and tigers jumped down like a pack of wolves, landed on the Qingzhou pirate ship, and rushed towards the extremely panicked Qingzhou pirates.
As soon as the fight started, the Qingzhou pirates were scared. These Xuzhou navy soldiers moved quickly and decisively, their steps were extremely steady, their attacks were accurate and fierce, far superior to the Youzhou army on the Zhen family merchant ship!
The Qingzhou pirates could not withstand such a fierce attack. In a short while, the deck was covered with corpses.
Some people wanted to beg for mercy, but when they found that the other side ignored them, they became scared and jumped into the sea howling. However, if they were in the sea at this time, would they still be alive?
Guan Hai gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow on his shoulder, drew the ring-handled sword from his waist, and rushed towards the Xuzhou navy shouting, but with a "pu" sound, a sharp arrow pierced his knee and he fell to the deck.
He reluctantly turned his head and saw Taishi Ci drawing his bow and arrow again, shouting, "Stop, I surrender!"
"People from Donglai don't fight people from Donglai, and the Yellow Turbans don't kill the Yellow Turbans. General Taishi, aren't you also in the Yellow Turbans?"
With a whoosh, Taishi Ci shot an arrow through Guan Hai's chest, nailing him to the deck.
Taishi Ci put down his bow and thought to himself that the Yellow Turban Rebellion had been going on for ten years. How could a thug like you who has been robbing and pillaging be worthy of being called a Yellow Turban Army soldier? You are only bringing disgrace to the Heavenly Master's reputation.
On the side of the Zhen family merchant ship, Guan Cheng was feeling proud when he saw that the other side was in danger, but when he turned around, he found that Guan Hai's ship was actually surrounded!
He was in a state of confusion and confusion, and heard continuous screams coming from Guan Hai's ship, which were very loud at first and then gradually became weaker. He realized that the other party had tricked him!
He quickly ordered his warships to redeploy their battle formation, but due to the delay, the Xuzhou navy warships had already pounced on them!
Guan Cheng knew that Guan Hai was in great danger, but relying on the dozen or so ships under his command, he had some hope and thought that he might not lose to the enemy. However, as soon as the two sides engaged in a battle, he knew that something was wrong!
The Xuzhou navy is completely different from the soldiers on the Zhen family warships. Their actions on the ship are extremely quick and efficient. They are simply not on the same level as the enemy!
He immediately shouted, "Raise the sails and run away as fast as you can!"
However, it was too late. The Xuzhou navy kept firing rockets, setting all the sails of the Qingzhou pirates on fire. This time, Guan Hai had no spare sails, and the speed of the ship was greatly reduced.
Countless hooks were thrown over and hooked onto the Qingzhou pirate ship. The Xuzhou navy jumped onto the ship one after another. Guan Hai went forward with gritted teeth, but saw a fierce general from the opposite side jumping over with double halberds in hand.
The two men started fighting instantly, and within a few rounds, Guan Cheng was beaten back repeatedly, looking extremely embarrassed.
When Yuan Xi saw this, he knew that the outcome had been decided and the Zhen family merchant ship's mission to lure the enemy was successfully completed.
Tian Yu saw Taishi Ci and his men fighting on the deck as if they were walking on flat ground, and he couldn't help but sigh: "When it comes to naval warfare, I have never seen anyone stronger than General Taishi."
Yuan Xi thought to himself that you are not bad either. Only he knew that Tian Yu was proficient in everything. Later, he defeated the invading navy of Eastern Wu. He was a real all-rounder.
Seeing that Lü Lingqi was eager to try and was about to jump over to fight, he was so scared that he grabbed her and said, "Are you crazy? Can you swim?"
"It's okay to be on the deck, but if you fall into the water, who can save you?"
After hearing this, Lu Lingqi gave up in disappointment.
When Lu Xun came over, he saw that Taishi Ci had completely suppressed the Qingzhou pirates with the Xuzhou navy, and he sighed, "This navy is very well trained, and Mr. Yuanlong and General Taishi have put in a lot of effort."
"It seems that the Guangling navy is now about 80% as strong as the navy under the command of the Jiangdong Tiger."
Yuan Xi was shocked. "He's so powerful, but he's still not as good as Sun Bofu?"
Lu Xun sighed, "I know that you once defended the city and repelled this man, but there are many talented people under his command, especially Zhou Gongjin, who is very good at training naval forces. He should not be underestimated."
Yuan Xi also became alert when he heard this. Since Sun Ce conquered Wujun, many people went to join him. Zhou Yu also introduced many people, including Lu Su, Lu Meng and others, relying on his connections with the aristocratic families. Sun Ce's power had begun to expand rapidly.
However, for Yuan Xi, who had no intention of plotting against Jiangdong for the time being, this was a good thing. The ones who had direct conflicts with Sun Ce were Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, and Yuan Xi had to rank behind them.
The reason for this is that there are more road options heading south from the Central Plains in the north than there are options heading north from the Yangtze River.
Given Sun Ce's position, there are two most likely routes for him to go north to achieve great things in the future. One is to attack Shouchun from Hefei, and the other is to go north from Jingzhou to the Central Plains.
As for Yuan Xi's route to Guangling, it was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and few people would have chosen it. Later, Sun Quan ordered Zhang Zhao to try it, but he gave up after being defeated.
But the same was true for Yuan Xi. None of the cities in Wujun across the river, from Qu'a to Jianye, were easy to fight. If Yuan Xi wanted to go south, he had to go through Hefei.
So Jingzhou, Hefei and Xuzhou, the four warring areas in the world, were occupied by Liu Biao, Yuan Shu, Yuan Xi and Liu Bei respectively. It was already difficult for Yuan Xi to operate in Xuzhou, and he would not think of occupying Hefei and Jingzhou in the short term.
The battle at sea was gradually coming to an end, and almost all the Qingzhou pirates were killed. Lü Lingqi was eager to fight, and said to Yuan Xi unwillingly: "This time we only shoot arrows, and the double halberds are not stained with blood!"
Yuan Xi said helplessly: "You can fight on land, but as you just saw, falling into the sea means death, it is extremely dangerous, and you can't swim, what will you do if you fall in?"
Lu Lingqi was a soft-hearted person, and after hearing Yuan Xi say this, she had to give up her last bit of thought.
After another half hour, almost all the Qingzhou pirates were killed. Because they had committed so many evil deeds at sea before, Yuan Xi did not intend to leave any of them alive. In the end, the corpses were almost piled up on the ship.
As Taishi Ci's boat approached, he picked up Guan Cheng, who was tied up like a dumpling, and jumped over ten feet high. Everyone cheered immediately.
Taishi Ci came up and threw Guan Cheng in front of everyone. Yuan Xi walked up to Guan Cheng and said, "You said you have a military position in the Qingzhou Army. Let me see your seal."
Guan Cheng was in doubt. He had already seen that Yuan Xi was an extraordinary person, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope and said, "We are all generals under the command of Yuan Xiansi, the governor of Qingzhou!"
"You are the generals of Envoy Yuan of Youzhou, right? This is a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple!"
"I want to see Envoy Yuan!"
Yuan Xi sneered, "You said you were a general under Yuan Tan, do you have any evidence?"
Guan Cheng hesitated for a moment, "The envoy said that our identities are not to be revealed and did not give us a seal, but the fact that we can enter and leave Qingzhou Port at will explains everything!"
Yuan Xi's face turned cold, "So he also knew that you guys were out robbing?"
"What is the relationship between the Zhen family caravan and the Yuan family? Don't say you don't know!"
Guan Cheng's heart skipped a beat, and he stammered, "There is some misunderstanding about this matter. I want to see the envoy and everything will be clear!"
Yuan Xi sneered: "I am Yuan Xi, what do you want to say?"
After hearing this, Guan Cheng turned pale.