Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 12: Concealing the truth
The next morning, Ye Sheng once again sent out scouts according to Zuo Junbi's instructions. However, not long after they went out, the scouts reported an unusual news.

"Captain, there are unusual movements in Chao Lake. Some of the villages that were guarded yesterday are deserted today. I went to scout inside and found that they have gathered in several villages near the lake. Those villages are heavily guarded and I cannot enter."

Ye Sheng frowned immediately upon hearing this, feeling very confused.

The Chaohu Red Turbans actually took the initiative to shrink their sphere of influence and gave up their outlying strongholds. What was they doing? Could it be that General Zuo was right and they were going to go south to join Peng Yingyu?

Do you want to run?

Ye Sheng quickly made a judgment. After all, the Chaohu Red Turbans were a naval force and had never won a land battle. Their thousands of ships were the real main force, so he gave orders to the scouts.

"You go and scout again. It doesn't matter where the people are. The key is to find their boats and see if they have left. Especially the Fei River upstream and the Rushu River downstream. Be careful of their fleet escaping. If you find a large fleet downstream, come back and report to me immediately."

"Yes!"

On the other side, on the shore of Laoshan Island in Chaohu Lake, a huge fleet gathered here, with more than a thousand large and small ships, which almost constituted the main force of the navy of Chaohu Lake.

Many soldiers, like ants moving house, were loading food into the boat, trying to create the appearance of a heavy load and a deep draft.

The scene was bustling with people, and various work slogans were shouted non-stop, as if they were afraid that others would not know that a large-scale event was taking place here.

After the cargo was loaded, Yu Tingyu and Liao Yongjian waved their hands and led the fleet eastward under the gaze of Lu Jin and others.

"Can you really fool Zuo Junbi this way?"

Zhao Zhongzhong looked at the fleet going away, smacking his lips, and was a little skeptical about Lu Jin's plan. However, Liao Yongan was very supportive of Lu Jin. Before Lu Jin could say anything, he spoke on his behalf.

"I think so. Why? Mainly because Brother Lu picked a good time. If it was any other time, I would not be able to deceive him. But what time is it now? Monk Peng is starting a rebellion in the south. He must need our support. This way, we have a motive to deliver food!

"Besides, isn't this a chain of schemes? This step we're taking is just to lay the foundation and pave the way for Brother Lu to use all the tricks later. If I didn't know the whole plan in advance, I would have believed it! How could Zuo Junbi not be deceived?!"

Hearing this, Lu Jin quickly said modestly, "It's not that exaggerated. It's just an ordinary fake move. Whether it can really fool him depends on the subsequent operations."

Zhao Zhongzhong nodded, "So what should we do next?"

"The next step is, of course, to pretend to be poor and miserable. We don't have enough military rations to eat, so we can only dig bamboo shoots and catch fish and shrimp to survive. By the way, we can sell some to Luzhou City and find a way to exchange for some food. Of course, we have to act the whole thing. If you don't believe it yourself, how can you make others believe it?"

Lu Jin stood on the dock, hands behind his back, looking at the fleet gradually disappearing in the distance, looking confident.

But that huge fleet did not escape the sight of those who were interested.

The fleet's destination was the lower reaches of Chaohu Lake, the Rushu River connecting to the Yangtze River. On the bank of the Rushu River was Wuwei County, where Li Pusheng's troops were hiding.

If it was a normal military operation and the fleet wanted to hide their whereabouts, they should have sailed deep into Chaohu Lake to prevent others from spying, but the route of this voyage was very strange.

Although it can't be said that it was walking close to the shore of Chaohu Lake, it was not far from the shore and was always within human visual range, looming, as if it had never expected that someone would peek at the shore. That afternoon, Ye Sheng received another report, and the situation was exactly as he expected.

"You said that all the boats in Chaohu went east? Is that true? Did you count the boats?"

The scout quickly replied, "Captain, the fleet is too far away and blocked by each other, so I can't see clearly, but it is so densely packed that I can't see the end. I'm afraid there are really thousands of ships, and those ships are moving very slowly and have a deep draft. It seems that they are carrying a lot of things."

There were a lot of things in it? Were they people or objects? Could it be that the Chaohu navy had managed to escape under his nose?
Ye Sheng couldn't figure it out, but this information was undoubtedly very important, so he reminded again.

"When you go again, leave people on the lookout at Ruxu River, Chao County, and Wuwei County to keep an eye on the fleet's every move. If there is any situation, report it immediately, day or night. I will personally go to Chaohu Lake to investigate."

"Yes."

That evening, Ye Sheng personally led a team of more than 30 cavalrymen to launch a surprise attack on the Chaohu camp, but they were quickly beaten back.

Even five of his cavalrymen were killed or wounded. Two of them had their horses shot dead and fell off their horses on the spot, being surrounded by the Chaohu infantry. Three others were slightly injured. For Ye Sheng, who had only a hundred cavalrymen, losing five at a time was enough to make him feel heartbroken for two days.

But this fire reconnaissance was very effective. At least the result of the action proved that Chaohu's main force was still there. That meant one thing: the fleet should be transporting goods, and their main force did not leave. It was just that the control range was temporarily reduced because of the departure of the fleet.

Ye Sheng did not dare to delay and immediately told Zuo Junbi the news he had received, but Zuo Junbi was also confused.

In his imagination, the Chaohu Navy would either go south to join Peng Yingyu or go ashore to continue the chaos, but now that the fleet has left, why is the main force still here? How come this is a little different from what he thought?
There was no other way but to let Ye Sheng continue to inquire.

But as he continued to gather intelligence over the next few days, Zuo Junbi almost laughed out loud.

The huge fleet heading south that day waited in Chaohu Lake for one night when they reached the entrance of Rushu River. The next day, the fleet sent small boats into Rushu River to gather information and fought with Kang Maocai's navy. Kang Maocai was caught off guard and was totally unprepared. More than a dozen of his boats were burned, and he could only hide in the water fort and not come out.

Late that night, the Chaohu navy's thousands of sails covered the river, with several torches on each boat, forming a long dragon, and rushing against the Rushu River.

Another commando team was sent out, and they lit firewood boats and stormed Kang Maocai's water stronghold. The rest of the large force took the opportunity to dock. A large number of people were busy on the shore with torches. The scene was bustling. About three hours later, the main force of the navy received the commando team and quickly returned to Chaohu Lake.

The next morning, Ye Sheng's scouts saw the fleet coming back again, and they were moving very lightly, as if all the cargo on the ship had been unloaded. In the evening, the fleet appeared on the shore of Laoshan again.

"So, they are just going to deliver food to Li Pusheng?" Zuo Junbi asked doubtfully.

"It's possible. After all, this place is too far from Huangzhou, and the imperial navy will intercept us by water. The Red Turbans in Chaohu are not very strong to begin with. They can still show off their power by hiding in the lake with their many ships. How can they agree to go thousands of miles south to support us? So we can only send some food." Ye Sheng analyzed.

"That makes sense. Keep watching. I just don't know how much food they sent. If they don't have enough food, they will definitely go ashore. Keep a close eye on them."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)