Chapter 126: The strategy of tiring the enemy out and using fire to stop the enemy!
The Jiangdong Navy’s base.

It’s in the Xiakou area of ​​Sanjiangkou.

"Gongjin, the spies sent back a secret report that the imperial navy did not sleep last night. They thought we would attack at night, but they didn't know that we were just trying to confuse the enemy!"

After Huang Gai received the news from the spies, he passed it to Zhou Yu immediately.

The civil and military officials who were discussing the matter in the commander's camp also heard the content of this intelligence and were amazed at Zhou Yu's ability to see through people's hearts!

The reason why Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci and other generals were so alarmed and on guard was that they guessed that they would attack at night and did not sleep all night.

That was because Zhou Yu made arrangements in advance, sending the Jiangdong navy to launch successive attacks along the marching route of the imperial navy. The navy was defeated repeatedly and retreated, which aroused suspicion and loathing.

After this series of arrangements, Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci suspected that the Jiangdong navy wanted to delay them at Sanjiangkou and launch a night attack, so they made a wrong judgment and did not sleep all night.

Zhou Yu nodded and said:
"This is just a trivial trick, but the successive feigned defeats will help boost the arrogance of the court officers and soldiers. The successive tactics of confusing the enemy and tiring the soldiers will make them paranoid and exhausted!"

The generals nodded and said, listening to your speech is better than reading for ten years!

Huang Gai asked, "Gongjin, is it time for us to take action?"

"hold on!"

Zhou Yu said:

"They just set out, and they must be on high alert. But they didn't sleep all night, and they are so focused that they can't hold out for long.

“Even though Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci and other generals are highly skilled in martial arts and have strong physical fitness, they can hold on. However, the soldiers under their command do not have such excellent physical fitness.

"Moreover, the ships going up the river, swaying back and forth, like a cradle, would be like a lullaby to make them sleepy and break their hearts.

"Of course, we need to be prepared to take action and notify the Jingzhou Navy."

At this point, Zhou Yu looked at the geomancy map, pointed to the area around Hanyang and Jingling, and said, "Order the navy of Jingzhou to go south to Jingling to block the attack, and we will go north to surround them."

After Zhou Yu's deployment of troops, the generals of the Jiangdong navy immediately understood what was going on and felt more confident.

An excellent commander can fully mobilize all the soldiers in the army and defeat the enemy one by one by exploiting their weaknesses, thus achieving the effect of 1+1=3.

This is also why the Jiangdong Navy was led by Zhou Yu instead of Sun Ce.

Sun Ce was extremely brave and could be called the Little Overlord of Jiangdong, but although he was skilled in martial arts, he was not as good as Zhou Yu in commanding troops in battles, nor in strategizing and winning battles thousands of miles away.

The Jiangdong navy had not yet moved, but the scouts and messengers had already taken action.

Before the troops move out, the scouts go ahead.

...

Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci commanded the vanguard fleet of the imperial navy, entered the Xiangjiang River from Sanjiangkou, and headed north to Xiangyang City.

Along the way, they were on high alert, ready to guard against an outflanking attack from behind by the Jiangdong navy at any time.

But after being on high alert for a long time, there was still no sign of the Jiangdong navy, and the soldiers gradually relaxed and began to yawn.

They did not sleep last night to guard against the enemy's night attack.

Although the military carried out rotation defenses, the crew members could not get enough rest on the ship. They tossed and turned and had difficulty falling asleep.

By the time I was about to fall asleep, it was time for the shift change.

After all this trouble, the soldiers couldn't sleep well at all.

They had been on high alert for a long time and their nerves were tense. As the ship swayed and pitched, their eyelids began to droop and they gradually fell asleep.

When the navy fleet arrived near Hanyang, they were finally attacked by the navy of Jingzhou, which caught them off guard!
"Enemy attack!!!"

Densely packed small speedboats attacked the imperial navy. These small speedboats were not large in size, but extremely fast, and they were burning with flames.

Fire attack!

Because warships are made of flammable wood, fire attack is a common tactic in naval battles.

Another point is that the Jingzhou navy is now in an advantageous position upstream. The imperial navy is going up the river, which is upstream. The Jingzhou navy is going south from Xiangyang, which is downstream.

The vanguard fleet of the imperial navy had been kept awake all night by the Jiangdong navy, and the officers and soldiers were a little relaxed.

By the time we discovered the enemy's fire attack, it was already too late.

Some ships reacted by avoiding or sinking the fireships, but by the time some other ships reacted, the fireships were already within reach.

"Bang——" sound!
The nails on the bow of the enemy's fireboat penetrated directly into the hull of the imperial navy's ship.

The soldiers on the ship wanted to push it away, but it was difficult to do so. They could only watch the flames of the fire ship spread to their own ships!

A horrific scene happened——

Because the imperial navy fleet was loaded with cannons and gunpowder, when it encountered the fire attack, it directly burned and exploded due to the high temperature and flames.

"Rumble--"

When the sound of the explosion echoed over the Xiangjiang River, everyone present was shocked!
The surprise attack by the Jingzhou navy was led by Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. They were horrified when they saw this shocking scene!

This was the first time they had witnessed the power of cannons and gunpowder, and now they were completely shocked!

If this cannon and gunpowder were to attack them, how could the Jingzhou navy stop them?!
Even with a moat hundreds of meters wide, the city of Xiangyang in Jingzhou could not withstand artillery bombardment!

"We must stop the enemy fleet and never let them go up the river and attack Xiangyang City, otherwise we will be in danger!"

Cai Mao said decisively.

Zhang Yun nodded, seeing the blind spot: "Although these cannons and gunpowder are powerful, they are also vulnerable to fire. Fire attack is their weakness!"

"Attack with fire at all costs!"

Cai Mao agreed: "As long as one fire ship escapes and is hit, a chain reaction will occur!"

However, the imperial navy was not stupid. They had dispersed and used small ships to intercept and block the attack!
But after losing a main battleship equipped with cannons, Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci still looked a little ugly!
Along the way, they went up the river, won battle after battle, and defeated the Jiangdong navy. Unexpectedly, after entering Xiangjiang, they suffered such a great defeat!

But after this battle, they realized that even if they had cannons, they were not sure to win!
The enemy can also counterattack them by taking advantage of terrain, water flow, etc.

Just like this time, the enemy occupied the upstream position and launched a fire attack on them downstream. They took advantage of the momentum of the water flow and attacked with fireboats. They were caught off guard and when they were distracted for a moment, the fireboats were right in front of them.

The enemy seemed to be encouraged by their victory. Densely packed fireboats sailed down the river, taking advantage of the current in an attempt to create another victory.

But this time, Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci had ordered small ships to move forward to intercept the enemy's fireships. Even if they could not sink the enemy's fireships, they could at least stop them.

As long as the main battleships are not damaged, there is nothing to worry about.

...

While the Jingzhou navy and the imperial navy were fighting in Hanyang, the Jiangdong navy had already set out from Sanjiangkou and merged into the Xiangjiang River, outflanking and pursuing the imperial navy from behind, attempting to attack the imperial navy from both sides.

The sudden earth-shattering explosion shook the morale of the Jiangdong navy!
"That doesn't sound like a cannon blast!"

Huang Gai looked in the distance towards Hanyang and saw billowing black smoke rising into the sky. He speculated, "Could it be that Cai Mao and his men succeeded in their surprise attack?! Did the imperial navy fleet explode?!"

"That's probably true! That's really great!"

"The Jingzhou navy led by Commander Cai Mao occupied an advantageous position upstream and used the momentum of the water flow to launch a surprise fire attack. The power was extremely huge and terrifying!"

"It was mainly because of our Jiangdong Navy that we pretended to be defeated all along to boost the enemy's arrogance. Last night at Sanjiangkou, we designed a plan to keep the enemy awake all night, making them exhausted and relaxed. Otherwise, how could it be so easy to succeed?!"

"Our Jiangdong Navy is the main contributor to this battle!"

After hearing this, the Jiangdong naval commanders immediately began to take credit for the success. Huang Gai did not stop them. Sometimes this kind of greed can actually be a driving force!

They had been defeated in battle after battle, they were terrified by artillery fire, but now they had finally managed to inflict a heavy loss on the enemy through a design.

This is a record that boosts military morale!

Huang Gai encouraged the morale and said: "This shows that the enemy is not invincible!!!"

Upon hearing this, all the officers and soldiers agreed with it, and the morale of the Jiangdong navy suddenly soared. They were full of fighting spirit and charged towards the battle point!
(End of this chapter)