Learn skills from the world of film and television.

Chapter 2711 Crossing the River in White?

However, at this time, the number of able-bodied men in the bandit suppression command had reached more than 12,000, all of whom were incorporated into the bandit-suppression army by Guan Yinping. Among them, there were 4,000 elite soldiers and 8,000 auxiliary soldiers. However, the number of civilians in the entire command also exceeded 100,000.

Of course, not all the newcomers were bandits. Some people from Jiangxia and Nanjun who had no land had come to seek refuge after hearing that the bandit suppression command had successfully grown rice in the swamp and achieved a bumper harvest.

However, it was precisely because of the harvest of these rice crops that the anti-bandit command was able to feed so many people and soldiers.

In Wang Yue's eyes, there was no distinction between auxiliary soldiers and elite soldiers. He believed that fighting was all about making money, so as long as the weapons were powerful, auxiliary soldiers could also be used as elite soldiers. Therefore, apart from the two thousand in Huarong, he arranged eight thousand of the remaining ten thousand soldiers in three villages, and left the remaining two thousand in Sanhu City.

Meanwhile, these soldiers were responsible for leading the people to continuously transport the military equipment made in Sanhu City to Sanzhai.

Another month has passed in the blink of an eye. The scale of Sanzhai City has grown larger and its defenses have become more and more complete. Not only has the passage to Sanhu City been opened, but more and more arable land has also been improved.

However, the rate at which fish were sold for grain could not keep up with the consumption, and the grain was becoming increasingly scarce. Even though the people were only half full, the grain was almost gone.

November of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an
The North is cold
North of Dongting Lake

The police are fifty li to the east.
A fleet of merchant ships had just passed Dongting Lake and was preparing to enter the Yangtze River when they discovered that Guan Yu's navy had blockaded the Yangtze River, led by Wu Ban, the commander of the Nan Commandery's navy.

The grain merchant, unaware of what was going on, cautiously approached and said ingratiatingly,
"Sir? Why is the river blocked? When will I be able to pass through? Prefect Mi is pressing for this batch of grain. When will the blockade be lifted?"

The naval commander Wu Ban was ordered by Mi Fang to block the river, ostensibly to raise military funds via land transport, but in reality to guard against a surprise attack from Jiangdong.

Wu Ban knew the matter was too important, so he didn't reveal the truth to his men, only saying that it was to raise provisions.

When Wu Ban's men heard that the purpose was to raise military provisions, they were extremely enthusiastic. Now, seeing the merchant still questioning them, they felt they had lost face and immediately spoke sternly.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. If you want to go to Jiangling, go to the water fortress ahead and queue up. Leave your boats there and go by land. We will help you get your boats to Jiangling. Otherwise, you should just turn back the way you came!"

The merchant's face changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately said aggrievedly, "General, are you joking? My boat is full of grain, where am I supposed to find so many laborers to transport it to Jiangling?"

Hearing the commotion, Wu Ban assumed someone was causing trouble and rushed over by boat. Just then, he overheard the grain merchant's inquiry and said kindly, "There are porters in the three villages north of the river who will transport your goods to Jiangling in two days at most. You don't need to worry about that."

The merchant wanted to say something more, but seeing the expression on his companion's face, he could only return dejectedly.

Seeing that the merchant seemed unable to make a decision, Wu Ban immediately became wary.

Meanwhile, many merchants' boats on the riverbank had already unloaded their cargo. Their boats were taken away by Wu Ban's men, and the goods had been taken away by the laborers on the shore.

The ships that were taken away did not go to Jiangling empty. Wu Ban also helped the police receive the goods of the merchants organized by Fu Shiren, as requested by Mi Fang, and made money again.

Loading and unloading cargo on the ships was also very convenient. Wang Yue used the lever principle to design a set of cranes, so the cargo on the ships didn't need to be carried by people at all. It could be easily transported to the cargo yard on the riverbank, and the laborers on the riverbank would immediately push the cargo away with wheelbarrows. The loading and unloading speed was very fast, and a ship's cargo was all unloaded in less than fifteen minutes.

Faced with the threats of the soldiers, the merchants dared not speak out and obediently complied. Fortunately, the soldiers mentioned the prefect's guarantee, which reassured them somewhat.

The merchant who had spoken to Wu Ban earlier quickly returned to the cabin, bowed to the bearded man sitting there, and said...
"General, the waterway ahead is blocked. The only way to get to Jiangling is to land here."

The bearded man sitting here was Lü Meng, who had already heard his subordinates' report.

Upon seeing the grain merchants from Jiangdong approaching, he immediately stood up, frowned, and said...

"Do you know anyone who can find out how many days the lockdown will last?"

The merchant said cautiously, "It seems like this will continue, General. What should we do?"

Lu Meng paced back and forth in the cabin for a long time before solemnly saying, "Let's retreat. We'll go back to Lukou first!"

Upon hearing this, the merchant frowned and said, "General, I observe that the navy is not large, and the water fortress only has a few hundred soldiers. We only need to press on and we can take it down in one fell swoop."

Upon hearing this, Lü Meng sternly rebuked him, saying, "Fool! That Jiangling was built by that scoundrel Guan Yu into a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as Mi Fang has time to react, we simply have no way to break through it!"

His original plan was to say that when the army was at the city gates, he would say that these grain merchants were all placed in Jiangling by Mi Fang. Then Mi Fang would have no way to explain to Guan Yu, and he would really have a chance to surrender.

But now that they've been discovered in advance, Mi Fang has no chance of surrendering, making it difficult to capture Jiangling!

The merchant dared not say anything more and obediently turned around.

However, Lü Meng overlooked one thing: although the ships in their fleet belonged to merchants under different banners, there were quite a few of them, and their turning around was also very obvious.

Wu Ban, being a naval trainer, had already suspected something. Seeing this reaction, he immediately realized that there must be something shady hidden inside those ships.

Wu Ban then waved his hand, and immediately two warships chased after the merchant ship that had turned around.

As the ship turned around, Lü Meng realized his mistake and immediately shouted, "Oh no! Get the archers on the bow!"

The captain who had been accompanying the grain merchant earlier had some doubts, but he immediately gave the order.

Just as they were getting ready, the two warships sent by Wu Ban approached. Lu Meng's men were not yet wearing armor, so they immediately fired their arrows without thinking twice!
Upon seeing this, the soldiers on the two rapidly approaching warships immediately turned around and signaled to Wu Ban with their flags!
(End of this chapter)