The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

Li Heng and Xu Chao went up to the handsome ship, and Zhou Fu and the soldiers on the ship saluted them. Li Heng and Xu Chao came to Zhou Fang, bowed their hands and said,"See you, Lord Sheriff!""

"Thanks to God for the southeast wind, it has only been three days since we set out, allowing us to cover more than half of the distance so quickly."Zhou Fang, Li Heng, and Xu Chao said,"The wind has stopped now, so the soldiers can relax completely. How far is it from Chaos Yang?"

"About fifty miles. From here to Chaoyang, the ship will sail to the southwest. It takes less than an hour to travel fifty miles with a favorable wind. It might take an hour and a half against the wind. Xu Chao said:"If we want to sail to the southwest, God will never give us another northeast wind.""

Zhou Fang and several generals were talking, and a fleet of more than 20 warships came towards them. Li Heng and Xu Chao thought it was Du Zeng's army coming, and immediately said loudly:"Soldiers, grab it. Swords, archers at the ready, shield bearers for protection! Ready to fight!"

We had been facing a formidable enemy for a while, and the oncoming fleet was getting closer and closer. The soldiers on the warship had no intention of fighting and seemed to have no ill intentions. I saw a young general on a large ship in front asking. :"Is it the fleet led by Governor Zhou? I am Zhao Yin, the son of Zhao You, and I am here to greet the generals and go together to kill Du Zeng!"

It turned out to be a false alarm. The bows of the two big ships were next to each other. Zhao Yin said:"Master County Sheriff, you are the leader of this battle, please make arrangements! I will definitely obey orders!"

"General Zhao Yin, how many troops and horses did you bring?" Zhou Fang asked. Zhao Yin said:"When my father and Du Zeng fought at Nuguan Lake, they had about three thousand soldiers and horses. My father, Xiangyang Governor Zhu Gui, and Lingjiang General Huang Jun were all killed in the battle, and many of my father's soldiers also died in the battle. Except for those who deserted and were injured, I collected 1,800 of my father's remaining troops."

"Okay, Li Heng, General Xu Chao and I have brought 8,000 troops. You have less than 2,000 troops here, almost 10,000 troops. Now let's discuss how to fight the battle with Du Zeng"

"Daohe, go to the cabin and get the picture I drew."Zhou Fang said. Daohe was Zhou Fu's name, and Zhou Fu went. After a while, Zhou Fu came out with the picture, and two soldiers brought out a small square table. Zhou Fu put the picture on the table, Zhou Fang, Li Heng, Xu Chao, Zhou Fu and Zhao Yin all gathered around. Zhou Fang said:"This is the map of the land, waterways and lakes in Mianshui and Chaoyang that I drew from memory before sending troops this time. Take a look. look"

"Chaoyang is in the northwest of the Yangtze River, and it is also Du Zeng's base camp in this area. Xu Chao looked at the picture and said,"We have been marching in the river for five or six days, and the soldiers are also a little tired." Tonight, we sent out a few sampans to quietly explore Chaoyang."

"Well, let the soldiers rest now. When it gets dark and we have dinner, we put down five sampans from the fishing boat and send out ten capable oarsmen, two oarsmen on each sampan. General Zhao Yin is familiar with the situation in this area. You and Dao He take a sampan respectively and slowly go ashore near Chaoyang while it is dark to check the situation at Du Zeng Military Camp."Zhou Fang said

"General Li Heng, General Xu Chao, you two have arranged the sentries on the large and small ships. There are groups of four people on the big boat and two people on the small boat, rotating every hour."Zhou Fang ordered:"After arranging the sentry post, you two will rest on the handsome boat."

"Okay, we'll make arrangements right away. Li Heng and Xu Chao then wrote an order on a piece of bamboo slips and handed it to the soldiers on the sampan:"Show this order to the generals on each ship one by one, and let the soldiers act according to the order without making any mistakes!""

"yes! General!"The two soldiers rowed the sampan to convey the order. Zhou Fang also told Zhou Fu and Zhao Yin:"Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. You two must find out Du Zeng's troop deployment, as well as the roads and waterways in various places, to facilitate our advance."

"Okay, please don't worry, dad, I guarantee it will be foolproof!" Zhou Fu said. Zhao Yin then said:"Please rest assured, Sheriff, General Zhou Fu and I will take care of each other and return before dawn!"

It was getting dark. By the second watch, it was already dark. At this time, five sampans filed in and came to the left side of the handsome ship. Zhao Yin got off the first sampan, and Zhou Fu got off. On the second sampan, Zhao Yin came to the stern and Zhou Fu came to the bow. Zhou Fu whispered to Zhao Yin:"General Zhao, it's quiet at night, can we set off?"

"OK, let’s go!"Zhao Yin said in a low voice.

"Brothers, you must steer well and make the sound of paddling softer so that the people in Duzen cannot hear it."Zhao Yin said to the two soldiers on his sampan. The soldier at the helm sat in front of the sampan, and the soldier on the oar sat at the stern. Zhou Fu also said the same thing to the soldiers on his sampan, and then said This was passed to the soldiers on the sampan behind.

The sampan drove quietly to the southwest. An hour later, the soldiers on the sampan saw a place with a lot of light, and Zhao Yin signaled the sampan to stop. Zhou Fu's sampan followed up and merged with Zhao Yin's sampan. Zhou Fu asked,"General Zhao, have you arrived at Chaoyang?""Zhao Yin asked the soldiers to row the sampan to the shore, carefully looked at the bright spots on the shore, and listened carefully to the noise. Zhao Yin said:"We are here, this is Chaoyang. Let the brothers approach the shore slowly and don't make any noise."

"Will all ten brothers come down? Zhou Fu asked. Zhao Yin said:"Leave one brother in each boat to watch the boat, just in case." After everything is done, we will gather at the shore again."

Under the cover of night, all five sampans rowed to the shallowest part of the shore. Then Zhao Yin, Zhou Fu, and five soldiers got off the sampans and came to a tree on the shore.

"General Zhao, what should we do? Working in groups or alone?"Zhou Fu and Zhao Yin discussed. Zhao Yin said:"Around midnight is when the other party is least vigilant. As long as we don't make any noise, the enemy won't be able to detect us. Let's do this, you take two brothers, I take two brothers, and the other brother will take care of you under the tree."

The seven men nodded to each other. Zhao Yin led the two soldiers to the left, and Zhou Fu led the two soldiers to the right. Zhao Yin said to the two soldiers:"Pay attention to the enemy's situation, and be sure to hide yourself first. It would be dangerous if discovered by the enemy."

The two soldiers nodded, and the three of them continued walking towards the shore while looking back and forth. As they walked, two bright lights appeared not far away. The further they walked, the brighter and brighter the lights became. One soldier said :"These are two bonfires, they should be the camp gates"

"We can't go any further lest we be discovered by the enemy."Zhao Yin said:"Observe where there is a cover that can be hidden, and then go over and listen."