Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Goro! Xiaoqi! Retreat!"

After picking up Shan Tinggui, Ruan Xiaoer signaled to his two younger brothers to prepare to retreat as well.

"Second brother, I'm here!"

But to his surprise, Ruan Xiaowu was faster than him; his battalion towed about 150 or 160 boats today!

Because they had to leave quickly after successfully tug the boat, Ruan Xiaowu's side is now the furthest from the shore!

"Where's Xiaoqi?"

Seeing that his second brother Ruan Xiaowu was safe, Ruan Xiaoer was relieved, but then he discovered that his third brother Ruan Xiaoqi was not there!

Now Ruan Xiao'er was getting a little anxious. You see, their mother's favorite son was Xiao Qi. If the three brothers went to war together and the youngest son didn't come back, their mother would definitely beat him, the eldest brother, even if she didn't cry!

Where is your commander?

Ruan Xiaoer suddenly jumped into the water and quickly caught up with the underwater ghost squad. He grabbed one of them and pulled him to the surface to ask him questions.

"Cough, cough, Second Brother, our commander just took a few brothers to burn the shipyard!"

The member of the water ghost squad who was pulled was startled. He had been swimming peacefully underwater when he was suddenly dragged out of the water, which startled him so much that he choked on several mouthfuls of water!

"Shipyard? That brat! He's not following the proper procedures again!"

Upon hearing that Ruan Xiaoqi had gone to burn down the boat factory, Ruan Xiaoer immediately felt a headache coming on.

Xiaoqi is indeed very capable, but sometimes she's just too unpredictable! She often doesn't do things according to the agreement!

With that thought in mind, Ruan Xiaoer didn't say anything more. He took the hammer from the water ghost's waist, bit a dagger in his mouth, and then dived back into the water and swam back towards the water village!

"Brother Shan, where are my eldest brother and third brother?"

On Ruan Xiaowu's side, he finally met up with Shan Tinggui, but when he eagerly jumped onto the boat where Shan Tinggui was, he did not find Ruan Xiaoer.

"I don't know either. Erlang just said he went to find Xiaoqi."

Shan Tinggui was also dumbfounded, because Ruan Xiaoer had suddenly jumped into the water and then never saw him get back on the boat.

"Damn it, Xiao Qi must be up to something again!"

Upon hearing this, Ruan Xiaowu knew that his elder brother would definitely not abandon his younger brother and would go to help!

So, he was also ready to jump into the water!

However, he failed because Shan Tinggui, who was next to him, hugged him tightly!

"Wulang, don't jump in! There has to be one of you three brothers to command the entire army's advance and retreat. If you go into the water too, what am I supposed to do?"

Shan Tinggui quickly stopped Ruan Xiaowu, "Stop fooling around. Although I am the Holy Water General, I... I am still not very good at driving a boat."

"It's alright, Bu Qing, you and Di Cheng help Brother Shan!"

Ruan Xiaowu broke free from Shan Tinggui's bear hug, shouted for Di Cheng and Bu Qing to take charge of the army's advance and retreat, and then he also "plop" into the water!

Well, Di Cheng and Bu Qing, although they are only deputy generals, are still members of the Four Heroes of Taihu Lake, so this shouldn't be a big problem!

"Commander Shan, what do we do next?"

Di Cheng and Bu Qing asked Shan Tinggui.

Shan Tinggui stared at the pitch-black water, speechless.

No, being a good swimmer isn't everything. Just because you're a good swimmer doesn't mean you can jump around anytime!

The way you guys are making me look stupid and out of place with the online trolls!

"What can we do? What else can we do but wait for them!"

Shan Tinggui was helpless.

"Maintain the distance between the entire army and the shore, and prevent their arrows from hitting us again! Also, don't give them a chance to catch up with us by boat."

"Leader Shan, don't worry about the one behind him. Liu Menglong's army has almost no ships left, so they can't get across."

Shan Tinggui: ...

The group waited there, but they didn't have to wait long. Suddenly, a fire broke out again in the direction of Liu Menglong's water village!

"Is that the boatyard?"

"It should be. They've succeeded. Everyone get ready. We're ready to leave at any moment!"

Shan Tinggui and the others quickly made preparations. They didn't want to ask how the fire was started anymore; they just hoped that the fire could be safely escaped from Liu Menglong's army!

A moment later, several figures suddenly emerged from the water. They climbed onto other boats. Before Shan Tinggui could see who they were, he heard a few splashes on the water, and then three figures jumped straight out of the water and landed steadily on the boat where Shan Tinggui was.

Those beautiful figures floating on the water—if they weren't the three Nguyen brothers, who could they be?

"Xiao Qi, if you suddenly change your plans again next time, I'll definitely have your mother deal with you when I get back!"

Ruan Xiaoer wiped her hair and shook off the water droplets.

"That's right, Xiaoqi, what you did was too risky. Don't do it again!"

Ruan Xiaowu took the blanket handed to him by the soldier, wiped the water off his body, and then quickly put on his clothes.

"Hey, it worked! Let me tell you, although my method of burning it wasn't as effective as yours, Second Brother, burning the water fortress, it still delayed their shipbuilding progress, so it was quite effective!"

Ruan Xiaoqi had a truly fruitful day; he had personally salvaged no fewer than ten boats!

With this added fuel to the fire, Ruan Xiaoqi really had a blast today!

"Alright, hurry back and report the results to your brother! Also, quickly dry yourself off and change into dry clothes!"

……

The fire at the water village and boatyard was not extinguished until the early morning of the following day.

Liu Menglong's face was covered in soot, and his clothes had many burn holes. He sat quietly in the unburned part of the water village, looking at the village in front of him without saying a word.

"General, the fire is out!"

The deputy general beside him was also covered in soot, clearly having just come out of the fire.

"What's the damage?"

Liu Menglong's voice was hoarse.

“We lost more than a thousand men last night. Of the original five hundred warships, only one hundred and twenty-six remain. The rest are missing. Three small stockades were completely burned down, one granary was burned down, and the shipyard… the shipyard is in better condition. The main damage was to the new ships that were almost finished. The dozens of ships that were already completed are not in much trouble.”

The deputy general reported to Liu Menglong.

"So, we now have none of our two hundred ships?"

Liu Menglong felt that the entire sky was now gray.

Gao Qiu's massive army is about to arrive, and we only have less than two hundred ships on our side.

What to do? Gao Qiu will probably just throw himself into Liangshan Marsh to feed the fish!

Now we can only hope that Niu Bangxi can requisition more ships!

"Yes, General, actually, we can learn from Niu Bangxi. He mobilized boats near the Yangtze River, so we can mobilize boats from the villages near Liangshan Marsh!"

The deputy general gave Liu Menglong an idea.

"Nearby villages? Where to?"

Liu Menglong's eyes were lifeless. If there really were a boat nearby, he would have gone to request it long ago.

"I've heard there's a village called Shijie nearby, full of fishermen. I'm willing to go there to procure boats! Even small fishing boats will do for now! General, trust me!"

The deputy general said with great confidence.

Well, what this lieutenant didn't know was...

At this time, there were no villagers left in Shijie Village. The villagers had all taken refuge on Liangshan Mountain. Currently, Wang Yin, the military advisor, and Zhang Shun and his naval forces were playing the role of villagers.

This time, Wang Yin is responsible for posing as a villager selling boats.

They're selling Liangshan's wrecked ships!

As for why Xiao Jiasui, who proposed the idea, wasn't invited?

Because Xiao Jiahui's demeanor doesn't quite resemble that of a villager.

Although Wang Yin is now skilled in both literature and martial arts and his temperament has changed somewhat, he comes from a small mountain village after all, so it would be relatively easy for him to change back.

Here he is, practicing the rhetoric that Xiao Jiahui taught him.

Be especially respectful to the people who come to buy the boat this time; it's best to approach them with utmost deference.

Sir, would you like a boat?