The Battle of Jieyang came to an end. Seeing that it was impossible to capture Jieyang, the East Sea bandits withdrew their troops from all directions and retreated.

  As for whether to pursue or not, Gu Wu Chen wants Lin Xie to decide on her own.

  Without the support of the water troops' elite combat force, it was impossible to annihilate the enemy completely. Lin Xie and the garrison troops who had been relocated outside the city were already exhausted, and did not want to add more casualties, so they returned to the city to rest and regroup. Gu Wu Chen ordered the Ninghai Town reinforcement troops, who had arrived in Jiyang first, to pursue the enemy along the Donglai River.

  Due to Lin Xian's delay of the Donghai bandits outside Jiyang City for as long as five days, Ninghai Town Deputy General, Six Camps Water Forces Commander, and Riding Gentleman Xiao Tao was able to bring in the military ships from Junshan Water Fort, and then calmly gathered the remnants of the Ninghai Town water forces that had been defeated on the north shore of Lake Tai, assembling over 2,000 water troops at the mouth of the Donglai River to battle the hastily retreating Donghai bandits.

  The Donghai bandits suffered heavy casualties in the battle of Jiyang, withdrew and fled with low morale, and had no intention of continuing to fight on the river, allowing Xiao Tao to gain a significant victory, which to some extent made up for his defeat in the battle of Taihu North Bank.

  Ji Yang Shou's battle and the subsequent series of naval battles that took place at the mouth of the Donglai River and along the river, not only redeemed the lost situation in the northern shore of Lake Tai, but also to some extent weakened the adverse impact brought by the East Sea pirates on Jiangdong County over the past two months.

  Guang Lin was tied up outside the north gate of Jiayang City and beheaded more than 300 heads. Pingjiang Prefecture, Ninghai Town, Jiangdong Garrison, Xuanfu Temple, and Ancha Temple all announced to the outside world and the imperial court that more than 4,000 enemies were killed in this battle.

  Lin tied back to the city and slept for two days and two nights before waking up.

  The final Donglai River estuary water battle and the false report of merits to Xiao Tuan had brought him a lot of benefits, and the Ti Dufu and Ancha Si also decided not to pursue his responsibility for the defeat in the Taizhou North Bank Water Battle, which was really infuriating. Compared with striking Xiao Tuan, Lin Xie was more concerned about whether the Ninghai Town Navy could preserve its integrity after this battle, which would affect the situation of the coastal prefectures and counties from completely collapsing, and also affect Changshan Island and Xisha Island not having to bear the threat of the East Sea pirates alone.

  Although it's a bit exaggerated to say that they killed over 4,000 enemies, Lin Xie estimated that if they could kill around 1,000 people in total, he would be quite satisfied. Of course, the number of wounded would be even higher, which was also considered a considerable achievement.

  If such a great victory could be achieved immediately after the attack in Anji County, the Taihu Lake area would not have been ravaged so badly afterwards.

  Although the Taohu thieves in the western mountains of Lake Tai retreated to the sea after the battle of Ji Yang, the fact that the 13 families of Donghai pirates, who were directly controlled and influenced by the She family, suffered a severe setback cannot be erased. Lin Xie can at least confirm that the Donghai pirates will not be able to pose a fatal threat to Xiasha Island in the coming year, and the pressure on Changshan Island will also be alleviated. This is the main purpose of Lin Xie's desperate battle outside Ji Yang City.

  This battle raised Gu Wu's prestige in Jiangdong Prefecture to an unprecedented height. Gu Wu's guards were the most direct and core force in achieving this victory. After the war, Gu Wu convened a meeting with officials from Pingjiang Prefecture and other counties, as well as the main generals of Ninghai Town, to discuss local militia training and joint defense against pirates, which made great progress.

  Chen Xiyin retreated from public view after this battle and rarely appeared, at least not openly opposing Gu Wudu's actions in Pingjiang Prefecture.

  *********

  It was already the ninth month, Lin Xie lay on the soft couch in the wing room, gazing out of the window at the maple forest where crimson and sunset hues intertwined, autumn colors had deepened.

  Lin was severely injured in his leg and could only lie in bed to rest. When Gu Wu Dun came to discuss matters with him, he also had to be carried over in a sedan chair.

  Xiao Man sat in front of the window, propping up her chin, and together with Lin they gazed out at the autumn scenery.

  After the pirates and lake bandits withdrew from Taihu, Pingjiang Prefecture also regained its rare peace. Lin Xie was injured in Jiuyang and needed someone to take care of him personally, so Xiao Man and Liu Yue'er rushed to Jiuyang together.

  Due to the temporary relief from the threat of Donghai bandits, Lin Xie ordered the Lin family's local braves stationed on Xiasha Island, led by Zhao Qingshan, to return directly to Jiangning River mouth; The casualties of the mounted police were too heavy, and Lin Xie ordered Zhao Hu to lead more than 100 prison guards to come to Jiayang to strengthen the escort force for Gu Wudun. These days they also stayed in Jiayang County. The houses arranged by Jiayang County for Gu Wudun, Lin Xie and others to live in were also guarded by soldiers led by Zhao Hu.

  Liu Yu'er was nowhere to be found at this time, and Xiao Man stayed in the house, not only taking care of him but also preventing others from disturbing his quiet convalescence with official business.

  At this moment, a commotion came from the courtyard downstairs, startling the yellow oriole on the branch in the yard to fly away. Xiaoman stood up and looked out of the window, saying to Lin Xie: "There are many people at the gate of the yard who don't know what they're talking about, and Uncle Ao is going over there?"

  After a while, Ao Canghai led the three up to the floor. Lin Xuan saw that the three were all Yangyang civilians who had come out of the city to assist in the battle, and thought that outsiders were all like this. Ao Canghai only brought three representatives upstairs and said to him: "My legs are not convenient for walking, let everyone come up and sit down, we will live or die together, I can't keep everyone waiting in the yard..."

  "It's already absolutely wrong for us to disturb the master while he's recovering, we're just some rough and cheap people who don't know how to speak properly... our bodies are also very dirty..." The three of them said in a hurry, "We came because we were thinking about the master's injuries and wanted to take a look at you."

  Lin Yiwu invited everyone to come up, brought over a long bench, and more than 20 people squeezed into the wing room, sitting down in a cramped manner. Liu Yu'er rushed over with Xiao Man to serve them tea.

  Gu Wu Chen is going back to Jiangning tomorrow, and there's no major threat from the Xisha Island side for now. Lin Fu will also follow him back to Jiangning to recover from his injuries, and maybe they won't have a chance to meet these people again. It's rare that they came to visit with good intentions, so Lin Fu asked Liu Yue Er to prepare several tables of dinner, he wants to keep everyone for dinner.

  Casually chatting with everyone about family matters, asking about the situation of consolation and silver rewards for the wounded after the war in Jiayang County.

  If it weren't for the large number of self-recommended and temporarily recruited militiamen (some of whom were prisoners in the county prison, Ku Wu promised to wipe out their crimes after the war and recruit them as dead soldiers to go out and fight), Lin would not have been able to hold out outside the city until the end. In addition to the heavy casualties among the guards and cavalrymen, these militiamen who had not undergone any training but were willing to forget life and death suffered extremely heavy casualties, with more than 600 killed in battle and countless wounded. The twenty or so people who came to visit Lin still had unhealed wounds on their bodies.

  Lin Xie had someone prepare dinner and had a soft couch set up by the table for him to sit on, then he had Ao Canghai call over all of the Wu Wei to come eat and drink together.

  Seventeen of the Wuwei troops who followed Lin Jue to Jiangning were killed in this battle. Lin Jue had their bodies transported by boat to Jiangning for burial. Twenty-one were seriously injured, and Lin Jue sent them all to Xi Sha Island for treatment, also sending their families to Xi Sha Island to care for them, intentionally settling them on Xi Sha Island. Only eight of the Wuwei troops who received minor injuries remained with Ao Canghai by Lin Jue's side.

  Lin Tie didn't even care about his leg injury, and accompanied everyone to drink a lot of wine. Midway through, Gu Suiyuan and Zhao Qinmin came over, saw that the drinking was lively here, and left without saying anything. Lin Tie also ignored them.

  These Ji Yangxiang heroes thought that Gu Suiyuan and Zhao Qinmin had come to see Lin Xian, so they drank the wine in their bowls without refilling them. Lin Xian saw that they were worried about something, sat on a soft couch and asked: "What is it that you can't do? Tell me, I'll help you with it."

  When the villagers of Ji Yang heard Lin Xie say this, they all knelt down in the main hall. The leader said: "We are all individuals with no dependence and low social status. Many people have been harmed by pirates and their families have been broken. We want to follow you, sir, but we don't know how to speak up, and we're afraid that we won't be able to do anything for you and will be despised..."

  "Hurry up, get up, everyone," Lin said, sitting on the soft couch and propping himself up. "It's my fault, I'm afraid I've wronged all of you." He pointed at Ao Canghai and the other Wuwei guards. "They followed me through thick and thin, suffered a lot, risked their lives, and endured hardships. They can't even enjoy good food or drink spicy soup, and they have to follow strict rules... I'm afraid I've let everyone down..."

  "Life and death are determined by fate, as long as it's a rule set by adults, we can follow it, just hoping that the adults will take us in..."

  At this moment, Yang Pu walked in from outside and saw a group of people kneeling on the ground. He smiled and said: "I heard that you are drinking here, I still want to hurry over and have a couple of drinks."

  Lin Youyao helped up the wounded Wu Wei and others, and said to Yang Pu: "These people have no one to rely on, they trust me. I'll take them back to Jiangning tomorrow, and inform Jiayang County tonight. Let Canghai handle it! What does Uncle Yang want from me?"

  "It's mainly drinking," Yang Pu smiled and said, "I didn't expect you all to have finished already."

  "Then let's warm up another pot, I'll keep drinking with Uncle Yang." Lin Fu said, earlier Gu Siyuan and Zhao Qinmin walked in halfway, didn't say anything and left, Yang Pu also came over, should be something to talk about, Lin Fu let Ao Canghai take the people to settle down first, then bring these people to Jiangning before making arrangements.

  Then let Liu Yu'er prepare two more small dishes in the wing room, and hurry back to Zhao Hu's guard. Lin Fu will also call Zhao Hu over, open the window, and under the bright moonlight by the window, the three of them drink together.

  "Zhao Hu has been in the Wu army for more than half a year, and this time in Chongzhou he also made great contributions. After returning to Jiangning, being promoted to a Xiaoqi deputy is more than enough," Yang Pu said straightforwardly to Lin Dai, knowing that he couldn't hide anything from him, "The superior's intention is to let Yang Shi go to the Dongyang army for training, and also fears that your side has too few men."

  "Yang Shi should also take charge of one side," said Lin Fu, "The manpower on Prison Island is still scarce, and everything has to be prioritized from the Dongyang perspective. Yang Shi didn't have any foundation when he first went to Dongyang, but some of the martial officers on Prison Island are familiar with him, so it's better to let him take them over."

  Compared to the 4,000-strong Dongyang Xiangyong control force, the benefits of the prison island were much smaller. It was probably also the Jiayang War that made Gu Wudeng and others fully realize the importance of directly controlling an elite army.

  There are very few people who can use Gu Wu Chen, and outsiders are not as trustworthy as Yang Shi, this family's son. Moreover, Yang Shi also has the talent for leading troops. Gu Wu Chen transferred Yang Shi to Dongyang, Lin Fu knew that this also meant that he would no longer have a share in the affairs of the Dongyang militia.

  If Gu Wu Chen were to ask him to intervene in the affairs of Dongyang Township, Lin Xuan thought that he would even have to find an excuse to shirk, after all, the focus for now should be on Changshan Island, Xisha Island and Yu Island, but Gu Wu Chen so obviously excluded himself, Lin Xuan felt somewhat uncomfortable.

  Lin tied his emotions well in the mellow rice wine.

  The casualties of the capture troops were extremely heavy, with more than 400 capture troops remaining in the end. Only more than 80 people who followed Lin Xiangru to guard to the last. The fact that the army was not useful has been proven many times. Gu Wu Chen directly recruited and supplemented from the surviving civilian bravery in the Jiyang blood battle this time.

  Gu Wudu didn't even mind delaying for two more days, no wonder Lin Xianliu and Yang Minyong had dinner together for over 20 days. Gu Suyu and Zhao Qinmin saw this but said nothing and left, perhaps thinking that they were competing with them for manpower.

  ***************

  P.S: Seeking red envelope!