Chapter 42

“There are a total of four wooden arrow towers. The water village is surrounded by water on three sides and a mountain on another. If you want to destroy this group of water bandits, you must have boats,” the sailor, who took the sentry boat to investigate, reported to Chu Tian.

Chu Tian summoned 210 professional soldiers, 100 local soldiers, and 8 sailors to the vicinity of the water village, finding that the water village was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

There was only one sentry boat in Xia Town, which could, at best, deliver a few soldiers at a time. This kind of tactic would lead them to be crushed by the water bandits.

“Lure them to the shore. We’ll set up archers on the shore. Once they come ashore, our archers shoot, and our cavalry seize their boats.”

Chu Tian planned for the sentry boat to lure the enemy.

“Lord, let me lead the team,” Liu Sandao volunteered.

“Take three archers with you to lure the enemy.”

“Yes!”

Liu Sandao selected three Xu Prefecture archers with high ranks, then left on the sentry boat.

Other soldiers lay in ambush among the trees on the shore.

The water village was dangerous to Xia Town, which was close to the Yi River. No one knew when these water bandits would unite and attack the surrounding villages and towns, so the safest path was to destroy them while they could.

With its location, a water village was typically easy to defend and difficult to attack, which also meant it was very difficult to conquer.

However, if they occupied the water village, it could become their navy camp in the future, meaning they wouldn’t have to use the town dock.

This was the first step in separating the military and the civilians in Xia town.

Liu Sandao’s sentry boat appeared outside the water village. When the water bandits’ two wooden boats noticed the sentry boat, they started to chase it.

Liu Sandao held a long bow and stood on the stern of the boat, shooting several arrows in a row and killing one water bandit.

He was a retired military officer of the Han army, so his personal skills were decent.

The water bandits also shot arrows at Liu Sandao, dozens of their arrows flying over the water.

The sentry boat was very agile. With eight sailors paddling at the same time, it quickly fled towards the shore, a sharp arrow on the water.

However, the enemy’s boat was just as agile, keeping up the chase.

“Lord, General Liu has led the water bandits our way!”

“Prepare for battle!”

Chu Tian took up a longbow. While his Strength wasn’t high, he could cause at least a little damage.

When the sentry boat reached shore, Liu Sandao and the others abandoned it. One group of water bandits snatched the sentry boat, while another group of water bandits continued to fight Liu Sandao.

Suddenly, the archers, who lay in ambush on the shore, shot their arrows. Dozens of arrows flew out, hitting a group of water bandits!

The arrows sank into their bodies, killing several water bandits instantly!

They were attacked by Level 3 soldiers, the elite archers of Xu Prefecture.

“No! It’s a trap! Brothers, retreat!”

When the water bandits saw the soldiers lying in ambush, they realized what was happening and tried to run.

The longbow tightened in Hua Mulan’s hands. The silver-level weapon seemed to be unable to withstand such high force, looking as if it could break.

The arrows flew like shooting stars, the water bandits’ leader collapsing on his boat after taking a hit.

The water bandits, who had lost their leader, panicked. The sound of horse hooves on the shore was another death knell for them.

The light cavalry quickly came to the shore, dismounting and boarding the water bandits’ boats!

Liu Sandao took the opportunity to counterattack, trying his best to overtake the enemy’s boats before they escaped!

Killing the water bandits was one thing but getting the boats and attacking the water camp was their top priority.

Hua Mulan used the advanced skill “Superior Marksmanship,” rewarded to her by Chu Tian, to continuously shoot and kill water bandits, practically hitting a water bandit with each arrow shot.

Even commanders had limits to their strength, however. Their arms would become numb after continuously shooting.

Soon, nearly 20 water bandits were killed on their two boats, with several of them jumping into the river to escape.

Two bandit boats were captured in total; they were almost the same as the sentry boats of Xia Village. The boats were fast and flexible in the inland river, but they didn’t have parapet walls, thick decks, or crossbows, so they weren’t considered warships.

Now Chu Tian owned three sentry boats, which was probably enough to hold 30 soldiers and sailors.

Which was to say, he had to conquer a water village with 30 soldiers and sailors.

It was difficult, but not entirely impossible.

Chu Tian had Hua Mulan and her “Superior Marksmanship” skill. As long as this skill was in use, Hua Mulan could eliminate the water bandits one by one.

There was also Liu Sandao, who used a bow and arrow.

The archers of Xu Prefecture couldn’t use their power fully during a water battle, but they were somewhat useful.

Close combat after approaching the water village was also a problem.

If only archers were used, then after successfully attacking the water village, the archers would be forced into close combat.

The archers could be used as ordinary infantry if they used their swords, but that meant their attributes would decrease.

“Archers should have no problem being fighters. The water bandits’ morale should be close to rock bottom after we take their water village.”

Chu Tian not only had to consider the types of troops and the terrain, but also changes in morale.

The water village was the water bandits’ home. Once they broke into it, the morale of the water bandits would drop drastically. Even archers should be able to deal with the bandits in close combat.

So Chu Tian selected 20 Xu Prefecture archers, eight sailors, Hua Mulan, and Liu Sandao, leading to a total of 31 people, including himself. They took the initiative to attack the water village.

Hua Mulan was a little worried, insisting, “Please stay here, my lord. We will come back to report to you after taking the water village.”

“I have to direct this battle myself.”

Chu Tian was using a king-level military commander and a gold-level military commander at once, so he was worried about this battle. He needed to personally be there. This way, he would also experience a brutal battle.

If you didn’t go to the battlefield in person, you wouldn’t be able to understand what occurred on the front lines. Anyone could talk about war on paper. As a lord, unless they were monarchs such as Cao Cao, Li Shimin, and Zhao Kuangyin, who often fought in person, it would not be easy to personally direct operations. For example, Emperor Qin Shihuang delegated his power to Wang Jian, asking him to lead 600 thousand Qin troops to destroy the Chu State.

But Chu Tian was a self-made lord. He didn’t have the accumulation of Qin Shihuang, let alone the ability to fight a vigorous war and unite the entire land.

In summary, lords who did not want to be commanders were not good entrepreneurs.

When the three sentry boats were ready, Chu Tian, Hua Mulan, and Liu Sandao each took command of a sentry boat and quickly approached the water village.

The water village mostly consisted of wooden houses, with dozens of them connected to form a village.

The biggest threat to the sentry boats, however, were the three-meter-high wooden arrow towers.

The water village was already higher than the water surface and coupled with the height of the wooden arrow towers, they reached an imposing height of four meters.

Two water bandit archers stood guard on each of the wooden arrow towers.

Hua Mulan’s sentry boat took the lead in attacking. Sailors and archers who were not very skilled in rowing feverishly moved the oars, using the sentry boat’s flexibility to avoid an attack by the wooden arrow tower.

Hua Mulan stood alone at the bow of the ship. With a full bow, she shot and killed a water bandit archer on a wooden arrow tower!

The second arrow missed. It nailed to the plank of the wooden arrow tower, splashing up sawdust.

While the remaining water bandit archer secretly rejoiced, the third arrow hit his chest, killing him on the spot.

One wooden arrow tower had temporarily lost its attack power.

The other wooden arrow tower reacted, using bows and arrows to attack the incoming boat, shooting at the Xu Prefecture archers on the boat.

The wooden arrow tower was still quite threatening, with a sailor from Xia Town and an archer from Xu Prefecture shot and killed.

The water bandits in the entire water village were alarmed by the attack, dozens of fierce-looking water bandits swarming out.

Chu Tian’s scalp turned numb as he watched the scene from the boat. How many water bandits were there in this water village?