"Twenty-one large ships, five of which were borrowed from the Yangshan Archipelago, as you already know." At this point, Lu Feiyan had no reason to hide anything. "Sixty-seven small and medium vessels."
In the blink of an eye, He Lingchuan ran the numbers. The large cargo ships of Blade Harbor could carry at least three to four hundred people each. The small and medium vessels held fifteen to sixty-five, so taking an average of forty, a full load would transport roughly ten thousand Bailong people at a time.
It would take four to five round trips to evacuate all forty thousand people from Storm Bay.
Throughout that time, Lu Qingbang and Moqi Tong would have to load people onto the ships under fire from the Ya Kingdom.
And that was the ideal scenario.
In reality, before the Bailong even reached the coast, the Ya troops arrived first—burning, slaughtering—and scared off all the remaining ships.
Even though Lu Qingbang and the Bailong adapted quickly by diverting the main column to Luting Beach, and even though Lu Qingbang re-established contact with the vessels offshore, the ships willing to come in—the ones with the guts to dock at Luting Beach and pick people up—were few and far between!
Half the vessels here had been chartered by Bailie from Blade Harbor and merchant guilds. The captains and sailors usually plied trade routes and occasionally engaged in shady dealings on the side, but braving the wrath of the Ya Kingdom's regular army? Sorry, not happening!
They were here to make money, not to throw away their lives.
Thus, after a full day and night, Lu Qingbang and Moqi Tong had managed to evacuate only two thousand-odd women and children!
This progress lagged far behind projections.
Meanwhile, the casualties from grimly holding Luting Beach skyrocketed with the brutal ferocity of the fighting.
He Lingchuan placed an eyeball spider onto the back of an avian demon to observe the coastal battle in person.
It had to be said that even in such desperate straits, the Bailong tribe fought on stubbornly without breaking, let alone surrendering.
The soldiers of Bailie, on the other hand, lacked their iron will. Some even tried to desert, only to be cut down personally by Lu Qingbang.
Naturally, Lu Feiyan had also sent a flying message to her elder brother, written entirely in cypher that only the two siblings could decipher.
The message was very short—just a single sentence—yet it was enough to inspire:
"I sought out Island Master He for reinforcements. Brother, hold out for one more day, and we'll be there!"
After reading it, Lu Qingbang turned right around and told Moqi Tong, "The reinforcements my sister brought from Blade Harbor will arrive in just a few shichen!"
The news quickly spread through the ranks, giving morale a massive boost.
It was new life snatching them from the jaws of death!
With this shot of adrenaline, their exhausted bodies seemed to find fresh strength.
The two commanders also shifted tactics in time, pulling back into full defense to reduce casualties and allow their soldiers to take turns resting.
Enduring two grueling shichen like this, the sea remained dead quiet, broken only by the thickening mist. Their eyes strained with anxious anticipation, the Bailong went to confront Lu Qingbang: "How much longer will this take?!"
Time and again, Lu Qingbang told them, "Soon, soon! Just hold out a little longer! Traveling by sea can never be completely punctual."
Voyaging across the open sea, who could predict how many mishaps might occur? The Bailong were left speechless.
In this manner, they miraculously held out for nearly ten shichen.
Lu Qingbang had by no means deceived them out of malice. If he had spoken the truth from the start and told the Bailong that reinforcements would take ten shichen to arrive, they never would have endured.
Such was the power of sheer willpower.
Yet after ten shichen of holding out, both the Bailie veterans and the Bailong were half-dead with exhaustion. Even Lu Qingbang himself began to waver.
Was Island Master He reliable after all? Was he even coming?
Yet before his increasingly despondent men and the irritable Bailong, he had to project double the certainty.
As the saying went, stubborn as a boiled duck.
Lu Qingbang knew full well that the moment he showed any sign of hesitation or dismay, this allied force would immediately collapse!
While waiting for the reinforcements, He Lingchuan also used the eyeball spider to observe his upcoming opponent once more, his expression growing increasingly solemn.
Wulu's troops were well trained, attacking Luting Beach with effortless ease. They did not seem in any hurry to overrun the Bailie troops and the Bailong tribe; instead, their units took turns harassing them.
He Lingchuan could tell that Wulu was supremely confident of final victory. Unwilling to trade attrition with a cornered adversary, he had shifted to a slow-grinding strategy, intent on steadily bleeding the two opposing forces dry.
Lu Feiyan had been right: the man fought cautiously, wanting to achieve total victory at the lowest possible cost.
If Moqi Feng were in his shoes, this battle would likely have been over half a day ago. Of course, the casualties incurred would have multiplied several times over as well.
He Lingchuan did not like opponents who were calm and collected, who favored ambushes just like he did.
Yet Wulu's style had a weakness:
The longer a battle dragged on, the more variables and surprises arose.
Confident that he had left no loopholes in his encirclement of Lu Qingbang and the Bailong, Wulu believed he could wear them down until they were spent and easily reap the fruits of victory.
That meant He Lingchuan had an opportunity.
As he was pondering, a few arrows abruptly shot up from the Ya camp below, all aimed accurately at the avian demon.
Terrified, the avian demon squawked loudly, climbing high into the air and retreating, not daring to draw close again.
Yet over the course of just those few brief circles, He Lingchuan had gained a general grasp of the enemy's deployment and troop distribution.
Furthermore, the enemy numbered roughly between six and seven thousand.
That force was large enough to wage a siege, yet Wulu used it merely to run down a defeated foe.
No wonder he executed his rotational wave tactics with such composure.
He Lingchuan gave a silent sigh.
This really was a tough bone to gnaw. And one couldn't forget that the Ya army was backed by origin power.
Since they were elite troops under a fierce general, the origin power of Wulu's army was bound to be formidable!
In other words, given equal numbers, engaging Wulu's army would naturally place his side at an inherent disadvantage.
How could this problem be solved or neutralized?
While he was lost in thought, a figure suddenly ballooned in the eyeball spider's vision!
Its dynamic vision was already exceptional, yet it barely caught sight of a pair of massive, fine-scaled talons before the avian demon carrying it let out a piercing shriek!
A golden eagle—and a massive one at that.
Right in midair, it tore the avian demon to shreds, bloodstained feathers scattering in all directions.
Fortunately, the eyeball spider was tiny and had leapt away the instant of the strike; focused entirely on tearing apart the avian demon, the golden eagle paid it no heed.
In the end, the eyeball spider landed in a tall tree along the coastline. Raising its fuzzy pedipalps to wipe its eyes and calm its nerves, it scuttled under the leaves to hide.
On his end, He Lingchuan shuddered and rubbed his eyes.
From that perspective, it had felt as if the golden eagle's talons were about to gouge his own eyelids out.
"The enemy has an avian demon too—a golden eagle." These days, an army would hardly seem legitimate without one or two avian demons serving as aerial scouts. "Fortunately, our fleet is keeping well clear of the coastline. It won't spot us for now."
Qiu Hu said gravely, "This is bad. Eagles have extraordinary eyesight, and some raptors can even see through illusions and fog. Before our ships can make landfall, it'll likely spot us."
He Lingchuan's gaze shifted slightly. "Then we'll find a way to shoot it down first."
Aerial reconnaissance and sentries, too—Wulu certainly had a well-rounded force.
Very good, the difficulty of pulling off this operation just went up another notch.
He Lingchuan pondered for a long while before turning to ask Moqi Feng, "Wulu isn't very skilled in naval combat, is he?"
"That's right. Most of the Ya Kingdom's territory is landlocked. Wulu comes from the Qihe tribe; like us, they are inland warriors."
He Lingchuan murmured thoughtfully, "The large ships he captured from Bailie are just bobbing in the waves at Storm Bay. Although he posted men to guard them, they don't even know enough to lower the sails. Heh, the wind is going to shift later."
If the sails had been furled and stowed, the ships wouldn't be so easy to steal.
Clearly, Wulu was not a coastal native and knew nothing of such matters.
He Lingchuan's eyes gleamed. "Wulu and his men don't understand ships or navigation. We can turn that to our advantage."
*But these Ya troops don't need to board ships anyway, so what does it matter whether they understand or not?* Lu Feiyan muttered inwardly, though she betrayed nothing on her face.
Having sailed with him for three days, she felt this Island Master He was full of ideas, and somehow managed to pull them off without ever making a fuss.
He Lingchuan turned back to Moqi Feng. "What about you? After six months of naval training, how are your swimming and boat skills?"
"I can't compare to Old Min or Old Huang, but pull off some pirate work? No problem!" Moqi Feng answered immediately. "Not just me, either—I have dozens of men who are skilled in the water!"
"Good. I have a mission for you."
...
Before long, Zhu Daniang, Dong Rui, and two thousand men of the Yangshan Guard arrived and rendezvoused with He Lingchuan.
Without delay, He Lingchuan sent Moqi Feng and his Bailong men out on their mission, then began calculating the time.
Huang Zhao looked up at the sky and praised, "The weather tonight really couldn't be better."
Heavy clouds blanketed the sky, and mist was rising over the sea; visibility was under fifty zhang.
Back when He Lingchuan raided the Third Channel pirates on Centipede Island, he had seized just such fine weather to strike a decisive blow.
"We waited ten shichen just for the heavy fog to set the stage." He Lingchuan was no longer the greenhorn who had just set foot on the Yangshan Archipelago; by now, he read maritime weather better than anyone.
Tonight's operation hinged on secrecy. With the fog to cloak them, it was like adding wings to a tiger.
Another avian demon flew in, bringing bad news from Luting Beach:
"Disaster! Moqi Tong has been gravely wounded!"
Everyone was startled. "What happened?"
"He led a force to seize the ships in Storm Bay, but took several arrows—one pierced near his heart. His men dragged him back, but his life hangs by a thread!"
Dong Rui couldn't help saying, "Such an obvious trap, and Moqi Tong couldn't see through it?"
Lu Feiyan shook her head. "Even knowing it was a trap, he had no choice but to try. They need large ships too desperately."
As someone who led troops into battle, she understood that sometimes hands were forced.
Even knowing it was a trap, one had to hold one's nose and jump in.
Even though she had sent word to her brother, Moqi Tong couldn't pin all his hopes on some ethereal 'Island Master He.' Every extra large ship he managed to secure meant another thousand clansmen who could escape alive.
Wulu was using an open scheme. Having seized more than a dozen large ships belonging to the Lu family, he didn't burn them or sail them away; he simply left them anchored in Storm Bay. When Lu Qingbang and the Bailong looked out from high ground, they were guaranteed to see those vessels floating quietly on the water.
And indeed they had seen them, their eyes burning with covetous longing. If those ships had been put to work ferrying people, they would have evacuated over ten thousand by now.
Moqi Tong had organized two assaults in hopes of seizing the ships, but unfortunately, both had failed.
Chapter 1064