Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 290 Favorable Timing, Location, and Human Harmony

"Dong dong dong..." The sound of the drums carried far across the river.

The four ships under Shao Shuyi's command—one shallow boat, two deep-sea hullers, and one merchant ship temporarily requisitioned at Huangbudun Wharf—rushed forward like arrows, flanking the enemy from both sides.

At this moment, the southeast wind gradually picked up, causing the water's surface to ripple with countless golden scales.

Bi Si stood at the bow of the boat, squinting at the approaching boats from both sides.

To the left front, two sea bream were getting closer and closer, the ship was lying sideways, revealing a row of archers.

The "Cao" flag on the lead ship to the right fluttered wildly in the wind. Several large shields were erected at the bow, and behind them, one could vaguely see a throng of people. "Brother, something's not right!" The thin man leaned over, his voice filled with doubt. "Is this a real fight? And these people don't look like those lax government soldiers."

Bi Si spat, slung his machete over his shoulder, and said, "What's there to be afraid of! A few broken boats, just charge through them."

He spoke tough, but his heart skipped a beat. These were definitely not ordinary patrol archers, and it really seemed like they were going to fight. The reason was simple: the formation of those ships was too neat, as if they had been waiting for them all along.

"Tell the people behind to keep up, don't scatter," Bi Si said, turning and walking towards the stern of the boat.

The mother worm's boat followed closely behind, its sails now lowered, and the oarsmen were paddling furiously, trying to catch up.

She stood at the bow of the boat, sword in her left hand and bow in her right, her gaze sweeping across the river. She shared the same question: "Why are these soldiers acting so desperately today?"

While they were wondering what was going on, the two Wind-Drilling Sea Spinners on the left front had already closed to within a hundred paces.

Instead of charging directly at us, they followed the wind and spaced themselves out one after the other.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Seven or eight arrows, trailing flames, were propelled by the wind, like a swarm of moths drawn to a flame, drifting and falling toward Bi Si's boat. Most of the arrows struck the water, hissing and extinguishing with a puff of white smoke. A few, however, stuck to the boat, sending up wisps of blue smoke, which slowly died out as well.

Just as Bi Si had his men prepare buckets of water, ready to extinguish the fire at any moment, a second volley of fire came from Liu Yi's ship.

The result was similar; only one lucky arrow landed in the pile of cables, causing a small fire.

Three or four thieves rushed over and quickly put out the fire.

Just as Bi Si breathed a sigh of relief, the large ship (Zheyang Qianzhou) slowly caught up to the right.

Shao Shuyi stood in front of the second-floor cabin, his hands resting on the railing, calmly observing the battlefield.

Liang Tai calmly issued the orders: "Archers forward, prepare the rockets."

Ten archers were scattered across the foredeck and one side of the ship's side, each with a quiver of arrows hanging from their waist, containing a dozen or so fire arrows wrapped in oilcloth. Two braziers stood nearby, their charcoal fires burning brightly.

"Wind from southeast, distance 120 paces, elevation angle three fingers." Liang Tai, carrying a bow, squinted as he measured the distance and loudly gave the order. The men who practiced archery on foot in Matuosha all raised their bows.

"Woo!" A short horn sounded.

The flat-hulled ship began its first salvo of rockets.

Ten arrows streaked across the sky and landed near the bow of Bi Si's ship.

It didn't cause a fire, but by sheer coincidence, an arrow struck one of the thieves, causing him to cry out in pain and igniting his clothes. Bystanders reacted quickly, pouring a bucket of water on the flames and extinguishing them.

"Damn it!" Bi Si kicked over a wine jar next to him, spilling wine all over the floor. He immediately regretted it and hurriedly asked someone to wash it off.

Two thieves arrived and poured the water out of the bucket, causing the wine to overflow and spill everywhere.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The merchant ships behind the flat-topped ship also launched a volley of arrows, which were also rockets. Perhaps due to the distance, most of them fell into the water. Only one or two arrows drifted over, which had little killing power, but caused a bit of chaos.

In a single encounter, they were hit by four volleys of nearly forty rockets. Although only one person was injured, it was clear to everyone that continuing to fight like this would be a huge disadvantage.

"Row the boat and ram it!" Bi Si shouted decisively.

He realized that although the enemy had powerful archery skills, they didn't have many ships. If he could get close, he would still have a chance in hand-to-hand combat.

Upon receiving the order, the gaunt man disregarded his arrow shooting and personally went to the stern, turned the rudder, and charged towards the Wind-Drilling Sea Spinner on the left flank.

The female tiger did not rush with Bi Si.

She ordered her ship to slow down and jettison heavy cargo to lighten its load.

"Not going to help Bi Si?" someone asked.

The female tiger did not answer, but stared intently at the large ship flying the "Cao" flag.

She recognized the commander's location at first glance. Bi Si's attempt to ram the left flank played right into their hands—the two ships on the left were clearly bait, light and fast, far outpacing Bi Si's heavy, cargo-laden official ship.

Sure enough, as soon as Bi Si’s boat turned, the two Drilling Sea Spinners on the left wing immediately changed course, left the central channel, and headed towards the shore. They were so fast that the rowers were practically skimming the water’s surface.

At the same time, the large ship to the right suddenly accelerated and came straight at them, as if it wanted to smash Bi Si's ship in half from the front.

As they charged, more arrows rained down.

Wisps of smoke rose, only to be quickly dispersed by the river breeze.

The small flame had just been lit when it was extinguished by the river water.

The thieves were running around busily. The deck and hold were piled high with all sorts of cargo, making things even more chaotic and inconvenient.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The two drilling ships on the left wing were as slippery as eels, and as they passed by Bi's four ships, they also launched two volleys of arrows.

This time the distance was close enough that two screams rang out from the ship; one of the thieves was dead and the other wounded.

A leader led his archers to retaliate, and several arrows flew out, though it was unclear whether any hit their mark.

Bi Si's ship failed to intercept any of the Drilling Sea Loaches, but continued to sail to the left. If they did not adjust their course, they would eventually crash into the north bank of the Grand Canal.

Without a dock, getting ashore is very troublesome, especially with so much cargo on the ship...

"Turn around and attack that big ship! Capture the leader first! Once we break that ship, victory is assured!" Bi Si waved his hand and gave the order. The bandits dared not delay and immediately urged the captured boatmen to row, while simultaneously adjusting their course, turning from sailing to the left front to the right front. Just as they were halfway through their adjustment, an increasingly dense barrage of arrows came flying in.

On the flat-hulled ship, the crew members drew their arrows one by one and mechanically fired according to the commands relayed by Liang Tai.

After shooting one arrow, the second arrow is shot. After the second arrow, the third arrow is shot...

It's okay if you get tired of shooting; just hand the bow to your comrades and let them take over. Everyone knows how to shoot arrows anyway.

Of course, after only five or six shots, I wasn't tired at all.

Occasionally, two or three arrows would fly over from the opposite ship, but they were mostly blocked by the shield bearers and caused no damage.

The flat-hulled boat sped along, quickly circling to the flank of Bi's four boats. Just as the other boats righted themselves, one sailed upstream and the other downstream, their gunwales facing each other, no more than ten paces apart.

Almost all the archers came to the ship's side.

"Woo!" The horn sounded.

The arrow flew swiftly and rapidly from the bow.

Several people on Bi Si's boat were hit by arrows. Two of them fell to the ground on the spot, clutching their throats and convulsing a few times before becoming still.

"I'll kill you all!" Bi Si roared angrily, crouching low to avoid them.

A loud humming sound rang out.

An arrow flew out from behind a window, pierced the gap between two shields, and pinned a crew member on the flat-topped ship to the cabin.

"Whoosh!" Another arrow flew by, this time slightly off course, and it struck the ship's side, penetrating half a foot deep into the wood.

The flat-hulled ship remained motionless, and the archer nocked an arrow and fired another volley in their direction.

A gasp rang out from the window, followed by the sounds of things clashing and banging.

The two ships passed each other.

At this moment, the course of the four ships had only turned slightly to the right and forward, while the Pingjia had already sailed behind it and launched a volley of projectiles at an angle, sending the skinny man at the helm sprawling onto the deck.

The civilian boats carrying the archers from the patrol office arrived one after another, continuing to pelt arrows at the four boats until they passed each other.

The mother worm's ship has completed its turn.

She ordered her men to throw everything unnecessary into the river: surplus grain, looted cloth, heavy porcelain, and even a row of oars to lighten the boat.

With this action, the boat's draft decreased significantly, and its speed increased noticeably.

"Bi Si is still fighting," someone reminded him.

"He's finished," the female tiger said calmly. "Our boats aren't as fast, our archers aren't as numerous, and our boat handling isn't as skilled. How can we fight? That Cao guy won't chase us; his target is Bi Si. He'll deal with Bi Si first, then he'll come after us."

"Then we..."

"Go." The female tiger uttered a single word.

The boat turned and headed south towards a narrow waterway. There, a narrow channel led to Taihu Lake. Once inside Taihu Lake, the vast expanse of water and sky made it impossible for anyone to catch her.

However, Shao Shuyi's four ships had just passed Bi Si, only fifty or sixty paces away from her flagship, and they could see right through her intentions. On the Pingjia ship, Shao Shuyi saw the "Mother Tiger's" ship turn around in the distance and immediately ordered the signal flag to be raised, commanding Liu Jia and Liu Yi's ships to surround and intercept it, making sure to capture the ship.

The oarsmen on the Drilling Sea Loach were all seasoned veterans with superb skills. Upon receiving the order, more than a dozen long oars entered the water simultaneously, their movements perfectly synchronized, and the boat darted out of the water like a loach skimming the surface.

As for the Pingjia boat, it turned around directly on the river and rushed towards Bi Si again.

The merchant ship carrying twenty archers from the Jiangyin Patrol Office continued forward, rushing towards the last pirate ship.

The ship was full of bamboo and wooden items, and there weren't many thieves. They were now in a dilemma, not knowing what to do.

Moreover, they still haven't been willing to discard their goods, and may have already missed the best opportunity to escape.