The sail was raised, and Lin stood on the deck, ordering four ropes to be thrown out, tying the four fast-rowing boats to the Dongyang. In case any of the fast-rowing boats were entangled by enemy ships, they could use the powerful wind power of the Dongyang to pull them out of trouble. After a fierce battle for half the night, the rowers and militiamen, although not suffering heavy casualties, were exhausted; it was also difficult to rely on manpower to row out of the encirclement. The Dongyang adopted a compound longitudinal sail structure, with fifteen compound sails opened at the same time, even if the ship was fully loaded with 200,000 catties of cargo, it could still move quickly on the water like a running horse; at this time, the wind was strong, and towing four fast-rowing boats was effortless.

  The lighthouse on the stern deck was lit for the first time, like a bright moon rising, and the light reflected off the polished concave bronze mirror, illuminating the water surface more than 300 steps ahead.

  This can be said to be the simplest structure of the searchlight device, there is nothing special about it. When people already know the principle of concave mirror gathering light, the lighthouse used by Lin Xue in the river mouth tower is even more massive, and can project the firelight six hundred steps away, providing enough illumination for night navigation and anchorage, but the fishermen and boat households of Hongze Pu have never seen such a lighthouse. The water village ship that was blocking the way of Dongyang suddenly found itself illuminated by a bright light column, and saw Dongyang's sails breaking through the waves with a majestic momentum, naturally causing them to hastily avoid it.

  The Hongze Pu family's water stronghold had suffered heavy casualties in their attempt to capture the Lou Chuan, and although they had not yet completely captured it, the main force of the water stronghold was still holding on. The Dongyang number and four fast sculling ships with local braves and Dongyang cavalry had only a few hundred people who were not seriously injured. Compared to the Lou Chuan that Qin Chengbo was on, the Dongyang number did not have much value in a hard fight. The Hongze Pu family's water stronghold was just preventing the Dongyang number from passing by to rescue the Lou Chuan, and apart from a few flat-bottomed boats tied together with ropes to form a river barrier to intercept them, they did not intend to launch a desperate attack regardless of casualties.

  The Jianghuai region's shipyards often use pine or fir to build ships. For inland river boats, a thousand taels of silver can generally produce a sturdy vessel. Seafaring vessels also commonly use pine or fir, but with thicker lumber and carefully selected keel materials, two thousand taels of silver are sufficient to build a robust sea-faring ship. However, some seafaring vessels are particularly meticulous in their selection of materials.

  The Dongyang's hull planks, keel, and reinforced side panels were all made from the finest Sichuan nanmu wood. Pine and fir take thirty or forty years to mature, while Sichuan nanmu takes a hundred years to reach maturity. Its dense and rot-resistant properties make it an ideal choice for shipbuilding.

  Furthermore, the Dongyang's entire hull was divided into thirteen watertight compartments by thick nanmu planks used as transverse bulkheads. This way, even if one compartment is damaged, the safety of the entire vessel will not be compromised. The bulkheads also reinforced the lateral structural strength of the hull, making it impervious to wind and waves or sideways collisions.

  The actual construction cost of the Dongyang was no less than four thousand taels of silver. Lin Xiang took advantage of the low prices in Jianghuai's sluggish shipping market at the time, purchasing three vessels, including the Dongyang, for under three thousand taels of silver. Two other ships were further reinforced at the Longjiang shipyard, resulting in a structure several times more robust than ordinary seafaring vessels.

  Lin Ge saw that there were several boats tied together with ropes to form a river barrier in front of him, without any intention of stopping. He directly made the Dongyang number rush forward horizontally. Perhaps such a brutal collision would cause damage to the ship's body, especially since the side paddles and tail rudder components were relatively fragile. However, as long as the overall structure of the ship was not severely damaged, it was more important to break through the encirclement first.

  The fierce battle on the Lou ship had also reached a white-hot stage, with the flames engulfing the entire bow of the ship. The Qin family warriors were unable to extinguish the fire and the five Mongol warships from the Water Garrison had clamped down on the Lou ship from the sides and rear, their attack relentless. In the end, the various Water Garrisons even deployed 40-50 armored pirates onto the ship to fight. The Qin family guards fought fiercely for half the night, suffering heavy casualties, but those who persisted in fighting were exhausted, and the stern deck, which had already been firmly occupied by the Water Garrison pirates, was on the verge of being breached into the first cabin.

  "Lin Xuan, you who eat the imperial salary, can bear to abandon the righteousness of same clan, same tribe and same hometown, look at us all falling into the enemy's hands!" Shen Rong looked at Dongyang number from behind, raising its sails and rushing straight over. He made Lin Tingli, Liang Zuoren and others in the Feilu cabin shout together. In his heart, he was clear that the building boat could not even get close to the shore now, whether there would be a last chance of survival depended on Lin Xuan who had been despised by everyone at Shanglin Ferry last night.

  Shen Rong and the others shouted just in time, Lin Tie stood on the deck and heard it clearly. He smiled and asked Lu Dongyang beside him: "Lord Lu, this ship is yours to command, whether to save or not, depends on Lord Lu's thoughts."

  Lu Dongyang was only an eighth-grade county instructor, and Lin Tie's official rank was one grade higher. Hearing Lin Tie say this, he had no way to respond. Looking at the intense fighting on the other side, if Qin Chengbo and Shen Rong were killed, it would be fine, but if one or two of them escaped, the crime of abandoning them would be severe. He steeled himself and said: "General Fuguo is a pillar of the state, and Lord Shen is the respected elder of Dongyang. How can we not rescue him? Please, Lord Lin, do not fear danger and save them once." He was also worried that Lin Tie would go all out to rescue people, so he added another sentence: "Let's do our best and leave it to fate..."

  There were still over a dozen officials from Dongyang who had been rescued onto the Dongyang ship. Seeing that they were about to narrowly escape, they were now going to rush into the center of the battlefield again. Everyone's face was pale and they were frightened and fearful after a night of psychological fragility. Some people couldn't help but open their mouths to dissuade: "Lord Lin, it's more important to lead us out of the encirclement and preserve our strength first. We can regroup and return to avenge General Fu and Lord Shen later. It's not the time to take risks recklessly now... Even if General Fu and Lord Shen are in the underworld, they will understand Lord Lin's bitter heart."

  "I think Lord Lu's words are reasonable, let all the masters and village elders retreat to the cabin and hide, maybe there will be a fierce battle later..." Lin Fu said, ordering the Dongyang ship to turn southwest towards the Loucang ship.

  The Dongyang ship, which had been fighting negatively all night, suddenly turned to receive the aid of the Lou ship. The main force of the Shuizhai's five Mongol warships were firmly attached to the Lou ship and could not escape. There were no large ships in the nearby waters that could block the Dongyang ship, so the pirates on the Yuexing ships and the Bahe ships even threw their weapons over to block the Dongyang ship from approaching the Lou ship. However, the Dongyang ship took advantage of the wind and sailed quickly, rendering these obstructions ineffective. Some Shuizhai ships thought of surrounding and intercepting from the side and rear, but Lin Zonghai's two fast-paddled Xiaoyong ships and two fast-rowed Dongyang Prefecture Ma Army ships were towed behind the Dongyang ship, taking on these attacks.

  Lin Xie cleared a space on the right side of the ship's deck, allowing someone to stand up and shout loudly: "The wind sail will not be lowered, and when the two ships meet, it will only take a moment. If you want to escape with your life, don't hesitate! Although Lin Xie is willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the gentlemen, he cannot abandon the lives of the old and young on this ship. This is all that Lin Xie can do, please forgive him..." The rear of the Lou ship had already been occupied by the lake bandits, and Lin Xie did not want to engage in a fierce battle with them. He only dared to use the side of the ship to connect with the Lou ship, and he also had to prevent a large number of lake bandits from jumping onto his ship. The time for connection would not be long, and Lin Xie did not want to kick someone when they were down, but this was all that he could do.

  Lord Qin Cheng was panting heavily, he had not worn armor and gone into battle for nearly twenty years. Wearing thirty or forty kilograms of heavy armor, surrounded by his guards, he fought for a moment before becoming breathless. Lord Qin Cheng looked towards the rapidly approaching Dongyang ship, they had already been tied up by the lake bandits who had rushed onto the ship. If he retreated back to the cabin now, the lake bandits would also swarm into the cabin. In order to let more people in the second floor cabin have a chance to jump onto the Dongyang ship and escape, he could only grit his teeth and lead the guards to hold on until the end, firmly pinning down the lake bandits at the back of the ship. Lord Qin Cheng slightly regained his spirit and said to his attendants: "I, Lord Qin Cheng, have enjoyed wealth and glory my whole life, dying in battle here is also not a regret, young men, do you have any regrets?"

  "I'd rather die in battle with the general!" The other attendants were also exhausted, but at this moment, a desire to die arose, giving the family members in the cabin a chance to escape, and suddenly a new wave of energy emerged.

  As Dongyang approached, Lin Xie's young yet solemn face was already clearly visible. Qin Chengbo regretted underestimating him, for his performance in assisting Gu Wuduan to successfully counterattack Wang Xueshan in Jiangning had far exceeded that of ordinary people. He was no ordinary talent. After catching his breath, Qin Chengbo spoke out loud: "Lin Xie possesses great talent, I, Qin, regret not being able to recommend him to the imperial court in time. If there is a survivor today, please convey my praise for Lin Xie's bravery and righteousness..."

  Lin Xian saw that Qin Chengbo was already entangled by the lake bandits and couldn't escape, so he said these words to comfort his heart, wanting him to rescue more members of the Qin family without worrying about being held accountable afterwards.

  Lin Xie bowed to the Qin City Lord and then ignored him. At this time, the arrows shot towards the Dongyang ship were getting denser, and there were also fire arrows shooting at the wind sail. The pressure on the Dongyang ship was also extremely great. Fire prevention is the first priority in naval warfare. Lin Xie had put a lot of thought into it. The wind sail was made of cotton fabric, and for the time being, no better fireproof material could be found to replace it. However, before the battle, he had someone apply a layer of flame-retardant mud paste to the wind sail, and when raising the sail, water was poured on it to make it wet. For a short period of time, there was no need to worry about the wind sail being ignited by the lake bandits.

  The Dongyang was careful to keep a distance from the Loucang, both to prevent the fire at the front of the ship from spreading to the Dongyang and to prevent the lake pirates at the back from jumping aboard. On the second floor of the Loucang's flying cabin, some people couldn't wait for the Dongyang to get closer and jumped over with all their might. Some people jumped far and fell onto the deck, breaking their legs in the process; others landed on top of people in front of them, causing fractures. Some people jumped near and fell into the water through the gaps. The left front side of the Loucang was already engulfed in flames, and Lin Xiang could only throw a few ropes to see if they would be lucky enough to escape.

  The pirates also thought of a countermeasure, they no longer shot arrows at the soldiers wearing armor and holding signs on the deck of the Dongyang ship, but instead concentrated their arrows at the gaps between the two ships towards the people jumping onto the boat, and stopped hearing someone who was shot by an arrow crying out in pain as they fell into the water.

  Liang Zuoren was shot in the arm and waist when he jumped onto the ship, but fortunately, he fell onto the deck, where two militiamen quickly used wooden shields to block the arrows and protect him. Lin Tingli was a core member of the Lin family, and without needing to be told, some militiamen proactively held out their shields to cover him as he jumped onto the ship, allowing him to board safely. It seemed that someone among the lake bandits had been targeting Shen Rong, and when Shen Rong jumped onto the ship, Lin Xuan also ordered someone to hold up a shield to block the arrows for him. One arrow shot over with a whistling sound, piercing Shen Rong's chest at a sharp angle.

  Among the lake thieves, there was a person whose archery skills were not inferior to Fu Qinghe and Zhou Pu. However, this arrow shot right in front of him, still startling Lin Xuan. Although Shen Rong's deep mind made people fearful, he was very important, saving him would let him take on all the responsibilities tonight. As Lin Xuan watched Shen Rong fall into the water, he shouted loudly to Zhou Pu: "Catch me..." He first flew out to catch Shen Rong, and Zhou Pu and another guard soldier also managed to grab him back onto the boat in time. In that instant, Lin Xuan was also hit by two arrows, one shot at his back armor, didn't penetrate, and fell directly into the water, and one deeply pierced his right arm.

  An arrow shot through his arm, but at such a critical moment, he didn't even have time to deal with it. Lin Xie immediately ordered the sails to be turned around and continued to break through to the south.

  "Lower the sails, lower the sails! Who dares to set sail? I'll take his life!" A young man in brocade clothes shouted, holding a dagger, demanding that the Dongyang ship stop. Zhou Pu stepped forward and easily took the dagger from his hand. The young man came over and grabbed Lin Xie's collar, crying out in distress, "Lord Lin, my father is still on the ship fighting to the death! This ship cannot set sail! If you just bring back my father, the Qin family will reward you with gold, silver, and jewels..."

  "Master Qin, General Fu is fighting bravely, so that you and more of the Qin family can escape from the bandits. If we return to fight again, it will be a waste of General Fu's efforts, and even if he dies in battle, his eyes will not be closed!" Liang Zuoren persuaded, enduring the great pain brought by his arrow wound.

  Lin Xian made someone speak out for him, he had people cut off the arrowheads that were shot through his arm with large scissors, endured the pain to pull out the arrow shaft and threw it aside, poured a lot of medicinal powder on the wound and bandaged it tightly to stop the bleeding. He then picked up the waist knife he had thrown onto the deck earlier, looked back at the Lou ship which was getting farther and farther away, Qin Chengbo's attendants were left with only three to five people who were still struggling, Qin Chengbo was surrounded by over a hundred lake bandits and it was impossible for him to escape. Lin Xian ignored Qin Chengbo's son's plea, had people kill all the dozens of lake bandits who jumped onto the ship, and made the Dongyang number tow four fast scull ships quickly break through the water village blocking ship array in disarray and rush into the upper forest.

  At this time, a big fire also broke out in the direction of Shanglinli. I don't know what happened, maybe the lake bandits divided their troops to attack Shanglinli.