Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Xiao Qi, don't worry, everything will be fine."

Seeing that Shan Shiqi had said so, Ruan Xiaoqi decided to believe for the time being that everything was alright.

Then, after confirming the battle plan with Mi Sheng again, he went back into the cabin.

With a mix of tension and excitement, the group headed towards Tong Guan's direction.

At this moment, Tong Guan was cursing loudly at the generals of Huaixi!

"What do you eat?"

"Can't even manage something as simple as getting ashore?"

"What use do you need!"

After Zan Tongmei landed, Wei Zhaode and the others did hesitate and struggle for a while. In the end, their idea was to return and join Tong Guan's army.

Tong Guan, who had already suffered a loss today, was furious when he saw the vanguard slink back and one of them even surrendered on the shore!

He immediately summoned all the generals of Huaixi and began to berate them!

The insults were extremely harsh, especially the length of time they lasted. In the end, when Tong Guan thought about how his subordinate Chen Zhu had died in battle while none of the bandits from Huaixi had been harmed, he felt it was very unfair!

So, cursing wasn't enough to vent his anger, so Tong Guan went straight for the big sticks! He used the big sticks to beat these people up!

"Guards! These four men, twenty strokes of the military rod each!"

"General! Why?"

Wei Zhaode and the others were very confused. "No, you've been cursing for almost an hour now, and you're still not done?"

They even need to use sticks! Why should they?!

"General, you mustn't! The battle is about to begin, and we desperately need manpower right now. If we take twenty blows, they'll be crippled! Then we'll have even fewer people to use!"

At this moment, Feng Mei suddenly stood up and tried to persuade Tong Guan.

"Yes, Commander. Although the vanguard troops didn't perform well this time, at least they didn't embarrass themselves too much. I think you can spare their lives and let them redeem themselves through meritorious service."

Bi Sheng also spoke well of them.

"Hmph, Chen Zhu is dead, but they act like nothing happened. Is that reasonable?"

Tong Guan asked Feng Mei and Bi Sheng.

"General, General Chen died in battle! He is a hero!"

Upon hearing this, Feng Mei and Bi Sheng understood that Tong Guan was speaking out for his subordinates!

"That's right, Commander! General Chen is a hero, far superior to these people! You are a magnanimous man, please don't stoop to their level!"

Bi Sheng also advised Tong Guan.

"Hmph, for the sake of the two of you, I'll cut it in half! Ten strokes each! That's the lowest I can go!"

"After the battle, make them keep watch tonight! No rest allowed! The entire army will rest on the water tonight! But they don't deserve it!"

Tong Guan vented his anger on the generals of Huaixi. Although the Huaixi brothers were resentful, there was nothing they could do.

After all, it's a fact that they didn't work today...

They could only lie obediently on the deck, waiting for the caning.

"If I had known I would get beaten up again when I came back, I would have left with Zan Tongmei."

Guo Gan said in a low voice.

"Shut up, say less, or someone will hear you and you'll get beaten up a few more times!"

Chen Yun said, "If we're brothers, then shut up now."

Originally, the soldiers who were to carry out the execution intended to really give him ten hard blows, but Feng Mei and Bi Sheng stopped them.

"If you really hit them ten times, they'll be in bed for at least a day. Just give us two face and put on a show."

"But, but what about the commander-in-chief..."

The soldiers carrying out the executions were somewhat uncertain.

"It's alright. As long as we decisively defeat the Liangshan army tomorrow, the commander-in-chief will be happy. Once the commander-in-chief is happy, everything will be fine."

The reason Feng Mei and Bi Sheng pleaded for the generals of Huaixi was not because of any mutual respect, but mainly because these people from Huaixi were still useful.

"Alright, those two generals, please step back a bit."

"Clap! Clap!..."

The loud sound of the batons echoed on the deck. The faces of the Huaixi men turned red, but they knew in their hearts that although the ten blows were loud, the damage was not significant.

After ten strikes, the four Huaixi generals helped each other to their feet and bowed to Feng Mei and Bi Sheng.

"Thank you both, Generals!"

"Don't thank me. We're only protecting you this time because we really have no one else to rely on. If we still fail tomorrow, then we won't be able to protect you anymore."

Feng Mei and Bi Sheng had no intention of exchanging any more words with the generals of Huaixi; they didn't even bother with feigned politeness and turned to leave.

"They...they look down on us?"

Guo Gan was about to lash out when he saw this, but Wei Zhaode held him back.

"Even if they look down on us, it's understandable. They are legitimate government troops, unlike us."

"Besides, if it weren't for them, it would have been twenty lashes today, instead of the mere ten lashes just now."

"...You son of a bitch!"

Guo Gan was helpless; he had indeed received help from others today, so he could only swallow his anger.

"Let's go, everyone go back and rest. Tonight I saw the commander-in-chief assembling the ship formations; tomorrow's battle will definitely be on a larger scale. We still have to keep watch, so let's all make the most of our time!"

Wei Zhaode gestured for everyone to hurry up and rest. Since they were still on the same boat as the government troops, they had to keep working hard.

……

"Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi, come up and see what's going on?"

As night fell, Tong Guan's water fortress was brightly lit, as bright as day, because of the array of boats. The firelight reflected off the dark water and into the distance.

From a distance, Tongguan's water village looks like a fiery lotus blooming in the water.

This greatly surprised Shan Shiqi and his men. Their fleet was about to enter the area illuminated by the government troops' fire, and they couldn't afford to have anything go wrong at this moment.

"Let me see what's going on?"

Ruan Xiaoqi came out of the cabin, walked to the bow, shaded his eyes with his hand, squinted, and tried to see the government army's water camp in the distance.

"Xiao Qi, do you want to use your telescope? Can you even see this?"

Mi Sheng silently handed his telescope to Ruan Xiaoqi.

"Oh right, I forgot we had this!"

Ruan Xiaoqi picked up the telescope and looked over again. After a moment, he put it down, looking puzzled.

"What's wrong, Xiao Qi? Is there something wrong with our plan?"

Shan Shiqi asked with some concern.

"No, our plan is fine. I'm just curious about one thing: is this ship waiting for us to burn it?"

Ruan Xiaoqi looked on in disbelief.

"Why? I saw him connect these ships together, and wow, they're huge! They look really impressive!"

Mi Sheng retrieved his telescope and took another look at the enemy formation.

“Brothers, on the great rivers and lakes, while chaining the ships together can make the convoy move as if on flat ground and increase their combat effectiveness, in this situation, if the enemy launches a fire attack, none of them will be able to escape!”

"When we planned the fire attack, I was worried that the government troops' warships were too scattered and wouldn't cooperate. But to my surprise, Tong Guan actually took the initiative to link the ships together. It was like a pillow being delivered to someone who was sleepy!"

"So you mean this ship can be burned?"

Mi Sheng said, "Don't use such complicated language, just tell me if it can be burned, that's all!"

"It can burn! Not only can it burn! It can burn a lot of fire!"

Ruan Xiaoqi nodded vigorously.

"Hehe! That's good! Lao Shan! Let's do it! If we don't roast Tong Guan into a pig today, I'll change my surname to his!..."