Lin tied them into the Yangtze River waterway, sailing with the wind, and Xi Sha Island blocked the sandy islands outside the river mouth. It wasn't until night that they saw an unusual firelight in the direction of Xi Sha Island. Lin tied the boat to the north shore, letting people get on shore to pull the tow rope and speed up.

  A sleepless night, at dawn, Xi Sha Island was already in front of us. In the direction of Guanyin Beach, several columns of black smoke were rushing straight into the clouds. Lin Xie grabbed the female wall panel on the bow of the ship and beat it fiercely, cursing: "These many soldiers and grain are all used to feed dogs, damn it! Does anyone know how to bark a few times?"

  Junshan Shuizhai is just nearby, and Ninghai Town's elite troops are stationed there, watching the thieves raid Guanyintan, how can Lin Xie not be resentful?

  Ao Canghai didn't say anything, his face gloomy, he just signaled to the Wu soldiers and the strong and brave refugees to prepare for landing and fighting.

  Lin Tie walked down to the bottom of the boat's cabin, gesturing for the guard Wu Ze to leave. With one foot, he kicked open the prison door and glared at Du Rong with a fierce expression: "Apart from you, are there any other important people in Pingjiang Prefecture besides the two young masters of the Xiao family?"

  Du Rong's hands and feet were shackled with iron chains, and he was somewhat unaccustomed to the strong light that suddenly poured in when the cabin door was opened. He raised his hand to shield his forehead, narrowed his eyes, and looked at Lin Fu, who was flustered and exasperated, and asked in a rather cold tone: "Did Qin Zitan send someone to attack Xisha Island?"

  "Qin Zitan!" Lin Mou muttered the name to himself, only then realizing that Meixi Lake mouth had brought down Du Rong, but let another big fish escape.

  They set sail from Jiaxing Prefecture only two days ago, and the main force of the Donghai bandits could not have completed their assembly in Taizhou and withdrawn to attack Xiasha Island in such a short period. The attack on Xiasha Island can only be for the sake of the She family - accurately speaking, it is for the second son of the She family, She Feihu, to gather that group of Taizu thieves who are gathered at Xishan Island stronghold.

  There were nearly a thousand pirates gathered on the western mountain island of Taihu, all mixed with fish and dragons, and their actual combat effectiveness was not strong. However, when the main force of Donghai bandits pursued Ninghaitown's naval forces to seek a decisive battle and raid the coastal prefectures and counties along Taihu Lake, Ninghaitown's naval forces passively avoided battle, local garrisons and village braves were exhausted from running around, and Lin Xue was at sea avoiding the war in Taihu and unable to catch up.

  ******************

  Lin tied up and didn't wait for the small boat to come and pick him up. After the big ship approached the shore, he jumped off the ship and waded through the shallow water that was not even chest-deep to land on Guanyin Beach.

  The Guanyintan disaster relief camp, which was looted and burned down, has become a ruin. The outer wall of the newly built chest-high enclosure has collapsed in many places, and the charred remains are visible everywhere. From Guanyintan upwards, broken arrows and spearheads can be seen everywhere, and the dark red bloodstains are shocking to behold.

  Lin Meng got half of his face scratched and bruised, with a white cloth wrapped around his neck and left arm. Hu Zhiyong's eyebrows were burned off halfway, but he didn't suffer any serious injuries. He stood with Zhao Qingshan on the newly built stone dam to welcome Lin Xuan.

  "Go see Mr. Fu quickly, he hasn't woken up since yesterday and it's uncertain if he can make it through the day..."

  Lin's chest was tight, as if he had been hit by a heavy bell, and his eyes turned black in front of him. He held the waist knife against the stone dam, forcing himself to calm down, and asked Lin Mengde: "What is the situation with the casualties of the others?"

  "The lake bandits launched a surprise attack at noon yesterday, with over a thousand people forcibly landing on Guanyintan. At that time, there were still 5,000 refugees who failed to evacuate in time. Mr. Fu and Zhou Pu led the guards and temporarily organized militia of over 600 people to intercept them along the beach, fighting while retreating, and finally retreated into the walled building to defend themselves. Fortunately, Zhao Hu and Zhao Qingshan arrived just in time last night to provide reinforcements, causing the lake bandits to retreat. However, less than half of the people inside the wall could still stand up with knives and spears, and 94 people were confirmed to be beyond rescue, while 50-60 people were seriously injured. Mr. Fu's body was covered in gunshot wounds and arrow wounds, and his left arm was cut off at the elbow. Mr. Wu Yanqing arrived by boat with medical supplies, but Mr. Fu still hasn't woken up yet. We are trapped inside the wall, while the lake bandits have split their forces to launch a deep raid on the island. After Guanyintan was relieved, Zhou Pu and Zhao Hu led the troops in pursuit, but it is still unknown what the casualties are like at other locations on the island."

  "How many people did you bring over and what are you going to do with them at the river mouth?" Lin Fu asked Zhao Qing Shan.

  "After receiving the news that Xi Sha Island was attacked by bandits, the Seventh Lady ordered me to lead 200 militiamen and soldiers led by Zhao Hu to rush here," Zhao Qing Shan replied. "Four days ago, Governor Guo's promotion document as Provincial Inspector arrived in Jiangning, and Governor Guo is currently in Jiangning..."

  There is Gu Wu dust in Jiangning, the river mouth will naturally be worry-free. Moreover, Li Zhuo will not let the bandits gather and enter the territory of Jiangning; Lin Lian took a deep breath and wanted to go and see Fu Qinghe temporarily. At this time, six warships sailed out from Junshan Shuizhai and came over here.

  Lin tied up his cold eyes and looked back, resolutely ordering: "Fire arrows to warn, refuse to let them land on the island; you all make good preparations for battle, and if the Junshan Water Fort warships dare to approach within one arrow's distance from the shore, they will be considered enemy invaders and killed without mercy!"

  "General Lin, you can't be so reckless!" Li Shuyi's face changed color with fright, and he hastily dissuaded him, "The government troops at Junshan Water Fort are under the jurisdiction of Ninghai Town, and Xiasha Island is indeed within the jurisdiction of Junshan Water Fort's river defense. There really isn't any excuse to stop them from landing on the island!"

  Although Junshan Shuizhai sat and watched Xisha Island being raided and did nothing, it is really hateful. However, Lin refused to let Ninghai Town soldiers land on the island at this time, and even went so far as to engage in armed conflict. If examined carefully, there is no end to this matter.

  "What's wrong with being reckless? The lake bandits are attacking the island, and the military camp is just around the corner. How can I be sure that they haven't colluded with the lake bandits? What's wrong with refusing to let them land?" Lin Xuan said coldly, ignoring Li Shuyi's dissuasion, ordering Ao Canghai, Ge Cunxin, Ning Zechen and others to lead their troops back onto "Jiyun One" and "Jiyun Two", preparing for battle.

  Ao Canghai, Ge Cunxin, Ning Zechen and others resented the military officers of Junshan Water Fortress who stood by and did nothing. Even if Lin Xie ordered them to take the initiative to attack the warships of Junshan Water Fortress that were rushing over, they would not hesitate. They were either bandits, defected generals or refugees, how could they care about the consequences of refusing to let the officers land on the island? At worst, they would just rebel.

  Lin Mengde wanted to persuade Lin Fu, but he also gave up. The soldiers and officers at Junshan Shuizhai were indeed hateful, and the soldiers at Junshan Shuizhai were all Xiao Tao's trusted followers. Who knows, they might become the powerful enemies of Xisha Island in the future. Now that there is an excuse not to use it, it will be even harder to stop them from landing on Xisha Island in the future.

  Li Shuyi saw Lin Xie being stubborn and refusing to listen to advice, and Lin Xie's subordinates also harbored resentment towards the soldiers of Junshan Water Fortress and would not persuade him. He glanced back at the six warships from Junshan Water Fortress that were approaching, but he didn't say anything else, nor did he say he wanted to stay out of it. Instead, he followed Lin Xie to the ruined relief camp.

  The ground is littered with ruins, and the scene is shocking. Most of the previously built sheds and tents have been burned down. The newly built outer wall of the enclosure, which was only chest-high, has collapsed in several places, but the overall structure remains intact. Many arrows are deeply embedded in the bricks and stones.

  It was this hastily constructed breastwork, barely chest high, that saved the 600 defenders of Guanyintan from being overwhelmed.

  The temporary tents were all inside the fortifications, Wu Yanqing was leading the medical apprentices to treat the wounded Wu Wei and Min Yong, seeing Lin Fu walking over, just slightly sighed and shook his head, his hands didn't stop moving, not wasting time on idle chatter with Lin Fu.

  "Hard work, Mr. Wu!" Lin Xian squatted down to examine the wound of the injured person being treated by Wu Yanqing, exchanged a sentence with Wu Yanqing, and couldn't help but express his indignation, stood up and looked around, saying: "A month ago, this island suffered from a typhoon, and more than 20,000 people drowned in the tidal wave. It can be said that it was a natural disaster; today, everywhere is wounded, how can we still blame it on natural disasters? You remember, those who eat the people's grain but cannot protect the people's lives and deaths are the people's thieves!"

  Since ancient times, there has only been the saying "eat the salary of the official and worry for the official" among the clean streams. Lin Xie had the idea of "eating the people's grain and being a thief to the people", it's no wonder that he was not tolerated by the clean streams, he openly said so, directly pointing at the useless Military Mountain Water Stockade and local government office, somewhat offending against taboos. Li Shu-yi heard but pretended not to hear, also really couldn't explain anything for the Military Mountain Water Stockade and Chongzhou County, even felt ashamed as a member of the Chongzhou County government office.

  Lin Xian endured the pain and first went to check on other wounded soldiers before entering the tent to see Fu Qinghe, who had lost an arm and was bleeding profusely, lapsing in and out of consciousness. A medical apprentice was inside the tent, specially assigned to take care of him.

  Fu Qinghe's face was as pale as if it had been painted with gold, without a hint of blood color. His eye sockets were sunken, and the white whiskers on his chin seemed like withered grass in winter, devoid of vitality, making one's heart ache to look at him. His left arm had been cut off at the elbow, and the severed limb was placed beside him.

  He couldn't help but shed tears as he thought of Fu Qinghe, whom he regarded as a mentor and father figure. Although they had been separated for a long time, their bond was deep and unmatched by others. Looking at the unconscious Fu Qinghe, he thought that he should have been a renowned hero like Li Zhuo or Chen Zhihu, but instead, he lay here on the brink of life and death, just an unknown figure in the Jianghu world.

  "Lao Gao said a few words before he fell into a coma, he said that if he dies this time, with you here, there's nothing to worry about." Wu Qi lifted the curtain and walked in saying.

  Wu Qi was also injured, and he didn't feel at ease about the situation around Guanyintan, fearing that spies might sneak in. He insisted on taking responsibility for reconnaissance, and only returned to camp after Lin Xie came back. The wound on his shoulder had reopened and was bleeding, and Wu Yanqing stormed in, scolding Wu Qi: "You don't care about your own lives, but if you die from excessive blood loss, it will ruin my reputation!"

  "In the meantime, I'll stay here. Mr. Crow, you should prioritize treating your wounds first." Lin tied himself to Fu Qinghe's side and sat up straight, letting Wu Qi and Wu Yanqing go re-dress his wound first.

  Wu Qi, Lin Mengde and others only then saw the tear stains on Lin Xie's face. They were at a loss for words, as in their eyes, Lin Xie was a man with an unshakeable will like a boulder, young but already a hero of great renown.

  Lin Meng thought that the Baisha County robbery case had changed Lin Xuan into a completely different person, and at that time, Fu Qinghe was the one who interacted with him the most. Apart from that, it was probably only Su Mei and Xiao Man who knew about it. Thinking that Su Mei might be the weak point in Lin Xuan's heart, he thought that today's incident of Lin Xuan crying must not be leaked out, so as to prevent others from using Su Mei to threaten him.