Chapter 320: Naval War, Sweeping South Vietnam At the end of March in the fifth year of Jian'an, with Qin Zhen's arrival in Dongzhi, war suddenly broke out on the southern islands. Under Qin Zhen's order, three thousand naval forces launched an attack on the territory of the Nanyue tribe. On that day, Xu Sheng and Lu Dai led more than 2,000 soldiers to land on Haitan Island and fight with the Nanyue tribe. At this time, the Nanyue tribes were enjoying the "spoils of war". According to their customs, they needed to perform sacrifices after victory. Similar to the Shang Dynasty, people were given as sacrifices and eaten by warriors going into battle. Then they selected those with beautiful beards and sideburns, peeled off their skins, put them in a bamboo cage, and worshipped them with drums and drums. Most of those captured by these people were Dongzhi Yue people. They were terrified when they saw this, and the whole tribe was filled with crying. At this moment, Xu Sheng led more than a thousand people and rushed into the tribe on the island. Faced with the sudden arrival of the enemy, the Nanyue tribes were horrified and hurriedly fought back with homemade weapons.

However, these Nanyue people were not civilized, and most of them even had bronze tools and bamboo spears in their hands. Apart from throwing stones and injuring several people, there was no significant damage to the Jiangdong troops at all. In just half an hour, Xu Sheng ended the battle and defeated the tribe on Haitan Island. In this battle, they defeated more than a thousand South Vietnamese soldiers at the cost of more than seventy casualties. Originally, Xu Sheng and Lu Dai were still hesitating whether to implement Qin Zhen's plan to kill everyone. But after seeing the scene of human sacrifice, the two men immediately broke down and ordered to kill everyone regardless of age. After a night of killing, only about 2,000 marriageable Vietnamese girls and babies were left. After achieving this result, the two men first returned to Dongzhi to report, rested for a day, and then launched an attack on the Nanyue people in the west the next day. This continued for three days, during which the Jiangdong navy massacred more than 8,000 Nanyue people. Seven Nanyue villages were destroyed and more than 4,000 Yue women were captured. This move made the people of Dongzhi very happy, and they called Qin Zhen a god-sent by heaven. After all, they were protected from bullying by the South Vietnamese here, and if they were not careful, they would be caught and eaten. Who wouldn't be terrified in this situation? Qin Zhen's arrival was like a savior, saving them from the dire straits. For a time, the morale of the people in Dongzhi was greatly boosted, and even many Vietnamese women came forward to offer themselves. In response, Qin Zhen rejected them one by one and gave almost no chance. It’s not that he is out of touch with the world, it’s just that almost all of these Yue women have tattoos. Although there are many good-looking ones, they are far inferior to the girls like Daxiaoqiao and others. The wives in the house were all too busy to handle the affairs, so he wouldn't cause any more trouble. While he was acting like Liu Xiahui in Dongzhi, Xu Sheng, Lu Dai and others were winning battles one after another.

They killed their way across Meizhou Island and almost reached the Nanyue tribe's lair. Naturally, the Nanyue tribe would not fail to respond to this. Facing the Jiangdong navy, the Nanyue tribe sent out a large number of boats to fight. Although the Yue people were underdeveloped, these South Vietnamese were experts in shipbuilding. Amid the deafening sound of drums, the Nanyue people actually gathered more than 2,000 boats and launched an attack on Xu Sheng and others. Seeing this scene, even Xu Sheng was shocked and hurriedly ordered the troops to withdraw. Even though they are regular troops, as the saying goes, a swarm of ants can kill an elephant! Among their three thousand navy ships, they only have five or six tower ships, and if other warships are included, there are only about one or two hundred ships. In addition, the shooting accuracy on the sea was touching. With so many South Vietnamese people, they could not kill them all even if they used up all their arrows. On the contrary, if these South Vietnamese people punctured the boat, they would all be finished. After this retreat, the morale of the South Vietnamese people increased greatly and they even showed signs of counterattacking. However, at this moment, the main forces of Zhou Yu and Gan Ning crossed the sea and joined the battlefield. Because at that time the territory of the Nanyue people belonged to the later Quanzhou City, and was separated from Yizhou by only a strait. After Zhou Yu and Gan Ning received Qin Zhen's order, they ordered their troops to return home and head straight for Dongzhi. Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived near the coast, we discovered two armies fighting each other. Seeing this, Zhou Yu decisively ordered the use of large ships to separate the Nanyue boats and dispatched elite troops to break through the enemy formation with warships. So Gan Ning personally led more than 2,000 vanguards and fifty warships to charge forward. The two armies then began to fight, shooting with bows and arrows when they were far away, and fighting on board ships when they were close. Although the Nanyue people were brave, they were no match for Gan Ning's troops. After a while of fighting, their formation collapsed and was divided into several pieces. Seeing this, the Nanyue people held the daggers in their mouths and jumped into the water, ready to win by their swimming skills. But at this moment, Zhou Yu suddenly ordered a withdrawal and urged the warships to retreat. The Nanyue people were overjoyed when they saw this, and thought that their bravery had scared off the Han army, so they boarded their ships and gave chase. Unexpectedly, after Zhou Yu reorganized the formation, he used the large ships in the front to form an iron wall and pressed towards them. This is also the strength of Zhou Yu's use of the navy, first splitting the enemy formation and consuming the physical strength of the Nanyue people. Then, taking advantage of their large ships, they formed an array and crushed the South Vietnamese fleet. Under its pull, a large number of South Vietnamese boats were overturned, and the Vietnamese people in the rear had to jump into the water to survive. At this point, the South Vietnamese became sitting ducks. No matter how good they were at swimming, they couldn't withstand the attack from a high position. All of a sudden, the soldiers on the ship shot their bows and crossbows rapidly, a large number of South Vietnamese were killed, and the water surface was dyed red. After Zhou Yu won, he asked Xu Sheng and others why. After Xu Sheng explained, he smiled and said:

"I was wondering why Lord Qin called us here, but I didn't expect that he was the enemy of the barbarians!" "If I had known this, Xingba could have defeated them alone. Why would I have been in charge?" At this moment, after nearly a year of adjustment, he has relaxed and is no longer as entangled as before. If it were someone else, Gan Ning would definitely not be convinced, but he was convinced by Zhou Yu. It was because he had fought with Zhou Yu and knew what Zhou Yu's level was! He then asked the South Vietnamese how many naval forces they had so that they could deal with them all at once. But when Xu Sheng heard this, he could only say that there were only so many naval forces in Nanyue, and there were no more. Gan Ning was a man who enjoyed watching the fun, so when he heard that the Nanyue navy had been annihilated, he laughed and said: "In that case, we just need to kill our way into their tribe, and avoid going to Yizhou!" Afterwards, everyone led their troops into the Nanyue settlement and directly attacked the small town of the Yue people. Until this moment, the South Vietnamese people became frightened and surrendered quickly. Their leader is an old South Vietnamese woman with tattoos all over her body. Facing the powerful navy, she spoke fluent Chinese: "How dare we, a small and remote tribe, challenge the might of the Han army? It was Zhang Jin of Jiaozhou who ordered us to do so." "He told us that as long as we conquer Dongzhi, this place will be where our tribe will live in the future." "If not for this, I would not dare to lead the people to fight against the Han army!" Hearing this, Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, but Xu Sheng drew his sword and put it on his neck, shouting: "I allowed you to capture Dongzhi, but I never allowed you to eat my people." "You should be killed for spreading such evil words to confuse the people. How can I spare you?" Seeing this, the old woman was so frightened that she knelt down hastily. However, Zhou Yu said: "Wen Xiang, wait a minute, this guy knows Chinese, maybe he can be of use to you!" "Now our army is short of soldiers and horses. If they are willing to help us conquer Jiaozhou, they can be pardoned!" Xu Sheng listened and hesitated for a moment, and the old woman knelt down and begged for mercy: "What this young man said is true. The Baiyue people live together in Jiaozhou, and even though the Han army is large, it is difficult to enter there." "If you can spare my life, I will serve as the general's vanguard!" Seeing the old woman like this, Xu Sheng put away his sword, and Zhou Yu learned about the current situation of Baiyue. It turned out that the old woman was not a Yue person, but a pure Han woman. Because she was captured by the leader of the Nanyue tribe, she had no choice but to give herself to him. Later, in order to consolidate his rule, the leader nominated him as the tribal shaman. Unexpectedly, the leader died within a few years. Since he had no children, the old woman took over the power. After all, the old woman was also a Han Chinese, so she was naturally not used to the customs of the South Yue people and had changed a lot of them. But she was powerless to change the custom of human sacrifice and had to allow the South Yue people to continue. As she developed the tribe, it grew stronger and stronger and was in urgent need of a stable place. Therefore, at the suggestion of the envoy sent by Zhang Jin, she set her sights on the city of Dongzhi.

But because there were many troops stationed in Dongzhi, she planned to continuously weaken the strength of the Han army through looting. Unexpectedly, just one year later, Qin Zhen sent people to attack his hometown. Seeing Xu Sheng's eager look, she said: "I know your army hates the Nanyue people. There are still many young and strong people in this tribe. I can mobilize them to join your army in the expedition." "As for whether they live or die, it is entirely up to your army to decide. Just spare my life!" What she meant was obviously that she wanted to exchange the lives of the young and strong people of the South Vietnamese tribe for her own life. Everyone was naturally ashamed when they heard this, but Zhou Yu smiled slightly and said: "If that's the case, then that's exactly what we want. I hope the old lady can persuade them and not make things difficult for us!" Upon hearing this, the old woman quickly agreed and went to call for young and strong men from among her tribesmen. Seeing this, Gan Ning came to Zhou Yu and asked in confusion: "This old woman is sinister and cunning. Why doesn't the general let Wen Xiang kill her and be done with it?" "I just don't believe that without this old woman, those young and strong men would dare to rebel!" Seeing his puzzled expression, Zhou Yu smiled and said to Gan Ning: "Xingba doesn't know the customs of South Vietnam. Don't underestimate this old woman!" "In the minds of the South Vietnamese, the status of the shaman is extremely high. If we really kill this man, they will really rebel!" "If we are determined to make them our slaves, we can kill them!" "Now that the Lord wants to attack Jiaozhou, we should borrow his strength." "Although this person is insidious, he is also cowardly and is not a threat." "If I can use this man's strength to save the lives of my soldiers, why not do it?" The reason why he dared to act on his own was that he believed that if Qin Zhen were in his place, he would do the same. Because these commanders sometimes don't take human lives seriously. But deep down, he still hopes to save the lives of his soldiers as much as possible! If there was no chance, it would be fine. But now that there is a chance, he must seize it! Now with these Yue people as vanguards, they can not only protect the lives of their soldiers, but also increase their military strength. How could Qin Zhen not agree to such a win-win situation? Gan Ning and others listened to his explanation and said nothing more. They then sent someone to report the news to Qin Zhen. While they were fighting against Nanyue at sea, Qin Zhen also prepared his troops to attack Shanyue in the north. As a result, before they set out, they heard the news that Zhou Yu and others had crushed the people of Nanyue. Seeing that the Yue leader was willing to lead his troops to help attack Jiaozhou, he was naturally very happy.

The reason is just as Zhou Yu thought. Now these naval forces in his hands are all treasures. If possible, he wouldn't want any of them to be damaged! Now that there is an army given to him for free, why shouldn't he take it? After discussing these rights and interests, he ordered Zhou Yu and others to move into Dongzhi and lead the Yue people to the north to attack the Shanyue. After receiving the order, Zhou Yu and others led the Yue troops northward and returned with Qin Zhen. Therefore, in April of the fifth year of Jian'an, after eliminating the threat from Nanyue, Qin Zhen led his troops north and arrived at the heart of Shanyue. (End of this chapter)