Three glazed lanterns of the corner towers and a glazed lantern of the prison island lighthouse illuminated the waters outside the wharf on the riverbank as bright as day. Sixty or seventy pirate ships were crowded in front of the wharf, waiting to send people ashore to attack the river mouth. Who would have thought that six fast oar warships and four armed flat-bottomed boats would come from behind to encircle them?

  While dozens of enemy ships split out to intercept, the other ships also stopped landing and turned their bows to come over and fight.

  Where would Lin Tie give the thieves a chance to adjust their formation at leisure? While the corner towers and prison island lighthouses illuminated the waters outside the dock, six fast oar warships and four armed flat-bottomed boats launched a charge together, breaking through the waves, with arrows raining down on the intercepting ship array.

  The Wu soldiers all held strong crossbows, which could shoot arrows that could penetrate ordinary armor at a distance of 40-50 paces. However, when they were ambushing the river mouth, only 7 or 8 out of 100 men were able to pierce armor. The Taihu wing ships had low and wide gunwales, and the rebels stood on the deck ready to engage in boarding combat, without even simple shields. How could they withstand the strong crossbow fire at close range?

  Nearly two hundred crossbow arrows were fired from this side, with the sound of breaking air like a swarm of locusts flying over, followed by the "popping" sound of entering flesh. After the two rounds of arrow shooting, more than 200 people on the ten or so enemy ships that rushed out to intercept were shot down into the water, accounting for almost one-third of them.

  Zhao Hu led the armed ships and boats at the forefront, first docking with the pirate ship, Lin Fu stood on a slightly later fast warship, beating drums incessantly, not allowing Zhao Hu to stop and fight against the pirate ship. The dock was crowded with more pirate ships, the formation had not yet unfolded, at this time, bravely advancing forward, piercing through the enemy array, could borrow momentum to completely defeat the pirates on the dock, absolutely cannot entangle with the pirate ship and miss the best opportunity for battle.

  Zhao Hu held a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, using his sword to strike the shield and shouting loudly as he urged the boatmen to row with all their might, driving the ship forward in a straight line.

  The front half and sides of the armed ships were all wrapped in iron, with a four- or five-foot-long iron ram at the bow as thick as a pillar. The soldiers on both sides held bamboo spears over ten feet long. The four ships drove forward together, charging directly into the midst of the pirate ships that had come to intercept them. In the blink of an eye, they broke through the pirate ship array that was already covered in two layers of arrow fire. The four armed ships did not pause for a moment, and after breaking through the pirate ship array, they did not turn back to fight, but instead charged straight towards the pirate ships crowded at the dock.

  Lin Xiang led six fast warships scattered on both wings, closely following the armed car ships, and slightly expanding the formation. The intercepting pirate ship that was far away, Lin Xiang didn't let anyone go to deal with it; the one that was close by, had people throw clay pots filled with lamp oil, igniting fire arrows; even closer ones, had people use long guns and bamboo spears to stab - not engaging in boarding combat with the intercepting pirate ship, nor firing arrows, maintaining formation, full force charging at the crowded pirate ships in front of the dock...

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  In the darkness, on the fast boat, Hu Fei Tiger sat at the bow of the boat, looking at the fierce battle on the water's surface illuminated by the large glass lanterns in front of the dock. He felt a chill run down his spine, Du Rong and Zi Tan were silent, Song Jia also wore a small, light, and soft armor for women, her eyes fixed on the front, her expression serious.

  Xue Feihu has been leading troops into battle since he was a teenager, single-handedly holding up the Xue family's reputation. He has seen bloodshed and is fond of it. Although he had just encountered Lin Xie in a very dangerous situation and was forced to retreat, it doesn't mean that Xue Feihu is timid and afraid of trouble, immediately hiding back in Longcangpu.

  In Jiangning, the person that Xiaye most dreaded was Li Zhuo. Once Xiaye Hu had revealed his traces in Chao Tian Tang, unless it was a special situation, he generally wouldn't dare to continue muddling through, for fear of giving Li Zhuo a handle to grab onto. However, Xiaye Hu realized that Lin Xie might very possibly become the future arch-nemesis of the Xiaye family, and being able to observe his future arch-nemesis at such close range was an opportunity he couldn't afford to miss in the Battle of He Kou.

  Lin Jue led six fast warships away, and Du Rong secretly contacted the more than 100 elite troops hidden in Cháotiān Dàng. The troops converged and transferred to two armed paddle-wheel ships disguised as Wu Peng sailboats, then snuck into the waters near the dock, about 400-500 steps from the shore, hiding in the darkness to observe the situation.

  Although Lin Xie led six fast warships with over 400 armored soldiers to suddenly appear, letting Sha Fei Hu and others encounter them unexpectedly and be forced to retreat in defeat, Sha Fei Hu did not think that Lin Xie had absolute victory over the Qu family. After all, the number of bandits invited by the Qu family exceeded one thousand, and the Qu family's private soldiers might also be deployed at critical moments. The outcome of the battle at the river mouth was still unknown.

  Watching Lin Xiansheng lead the vanguard, leading the fleet of warships to break through the enemy's formation on the dock like a broken bamboo, Xia Feihu knew that the Qu family's situation was already hopeless.

  Although the pirate ships were ambushed from behind and caught off guard, they lacked effective command and coordination after hastily gathering together. However, they were defeated too quickly, offering no resistance to Lin's fierce charge. Lin led the assault on the pirate ships, breaking through their formation from the outside and pushing them all the way to the riverbank docks. The entire process took less than a quarter of an hour. The pirate ships were completely routed, with countless pirates being rammed, shot, stabbed, or burned alive as they fell into the water. Lin's own ten warships suffered almost no casualties.

  Xue Feihu and Song Jiamo remained silent. Du Rong looked at Qin Zitan, and couldn't confirm whether the elite naval forces of the Xue family could have achieved such results by launching a surprise attack from behind on the enemy ships. The combat effectiveness of Lin Fu's led troops and armored soldiers was secondary, the key point being that Lin Fu's ability to grasp the opportunity for battle had almost left no room for criticism, the ten warships led by Lin Fu in the entire process of impacting the enemy ship formation were like an arm movement, and it was not a coincidence that Dongyang No. 1 could retreat intact from the Luoyang Lake Battle.

  Du Rong had to admit that Lin Xie was indeed a figure worth using the young lady's marriage to lure in, but unfortunately it was no longer possible now.

  Xue Fei Hu completely abandoned his mind to muddy the waters at this time, Du Rong ordered the ship to retreat slightly to avoid colliding with the scattered enemy ships, and he also did not make a sound.

  Xue Feihu watched as Lin Xie and the others charged towards the dock, four armed ships immediately turned around to pursue and attack the fleeing pirate ship, preventing the pirate ship from reassembling and threatening their rear route. Six fast oar warships were anchored ashore, ready to occupy the dock.

  Lin Xuan wore scale armor, held a shield in his left hand and a knife in his right hand. He led the way for the soldiers, leading 400 strong warriors to land on the dock. Zhou Pu, who had twice failed to kill Xia Fei Hu, and the bearded man with a green armor and a halberd stood guard beside Lin Xuan, charging onto the dock first with their troops.

  Previously, the group of bandits who landed had around 400-500 people. One batch had already infiltrated deep into the streets and alleys near the river mouth, but many others were still gathered near the dock. After seeing Lin Xie's sharp and powerful killing formation on the ship, they also gathered their men to intercept them, thinking of using the narrow terrain of the dock to push Lin Xie down the dock.

  The dock was only one berth that could accommodate a large ship of over 1,000 stones, and the fast warship had a smaller hull shape, so it could only dock three ships at the same time. Lin Xie led three warships to rush ashore and occupy the dock first, while the other three warships scattered left and right to cover with arrows.

  Although they retreated a little further back, wherever Lin Xiao and the others killed, the two bronze lanterns on the island's corner tower and the shore cast their light to illuminate their path, allowing Xue Fei Hu and the others to clearly see the intense battle at the dock.

  The warship approached the shore, first covering it with a rain of arrows, and then using long bamboo spears over a zhang in length to sweep the thieves on the dock into the water. Lin Xie and others who were the first to rush onto the dock were all wearing heavy armor and helmets, except for Lin Xie holding a knife shield, other armored soldiers either had war halberds or super-long bamboo spears, or had sharp knives, and there were also shield-holding hands holding shields from both sides landing on the shore to block the two wings, blocking the thieves from shooting arrows from high places on both sides.

  Just as Xue Fei Hu and others were considering how Lin Tie would get rid of the narrow terrain and rush ashore, Lin Tie, Zhou Pu, and Ao Canghai led thirty or forty heavily armed soldiers with sharp blades, charging ashore with an unstoppable momentum. After stabilizing their footing at the shore, the swordsmen and archers behind them also continuously disembarked from the dock and came ashore.

  Even if the thieves have elite combat power, they are the vanguard who first landed and attacked the river mouth and inland areas. When Lin Xie and his men cut off their rear route and occupied the dock, there were only a few people wearing armor near the dock, and most of them were short weapons such as single knives. The bows were soft and scarce, how could they stop Lin Xie and his 30 or 40 sharp piercing killings?

  When more than 400 Wu soldiers rushed ashore, Lin Xie personally restrained himself a bit, no longer taking the lead, but standing at the entrance of the shore to command and direct. He let Zhou Pu, Ao Canghai and others lead the 400 Wu soldiers to take advantage of the open terrain in front of the dock to fan out and intercept the rebels.

  Although the combat effectiveness of other warriors under Lin's command is unknown, Xue Fei Hu cannot comment on it. However, just now, Lin personally led the 30-40 elite soldiers who took the lead in occupying the dock, and their bravery can be compared to that of the most elite warriors of the Xue family.

  Although they all knew that Lin Xie had also practiced martial arts, he was after all a civil official. Lin Xie's bravery in occupying the dock earlier and his fearless fighting against the enemy at present had left a deep impression on She Fei Hu and the others, which was consistent with Lin Xie's usual strong personality since coming to Jiangning.

  There are many outstanding people in the world, but how many can truly live up to being "both intelligent and brave, with both literary and military talents"?

  "In time, he will surely become a second Li Zhuo!" Qin Zitan sighed softly.

  "He is stronger than Li Zhuo," Song Jia said decisively. "Li Zhuo's mind is filled with loyalty and filial piety, although it may be difficult to defeat him on the battlefield, it is also easy to bind his hands and feet through other means. However, if you want Lin Xuan to truly form a powerful force, can the so-called loyalty, righteousness, morality, and virtue really restrain him? Li Zhuo wants to be a loyal minister of the Yuan Dynasty and a famous minister in history, but Lin Xuan does not have such thoughts. This is where Lin Xuan surpasses Li Zhuo."

  Xue Feihu and Du Rong did not make a sound, what could they say at this time? Du Rong regretted that he had not killed Lin Xie with one knife in Baisha County earlier. Even if Xue Feihu and others went to Jiangning later, it was impossible to send someone to assassinate Lin Xie, who was still insignificant at that time. If there was anything to regret, it was not adopting Song Jia's suggestion to spend a lot of money to win him over for the Xue family.

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  P.S: Looking for red envelopes (with money).