Chapter 147 Battleships are connected by fire attack
"Sir, the tactics you gave me were really effective. That idiot Zuo Junbi actually didn't dare to join the army anymore!"
Lan Yu rode on horseback, following Zhang Ximeng closely, not without admiration. Mr. Zhang really had every plan. Zhang Ximeng just treated it indifferently, fully demonstrating the reserve and mystery that an expert should have.
If Lan Yu fails and is captured or killed by Zuo Junbi, it will be nothing more than the loss of a little kid. When recording historical materials in the future, Zhang Ximeng can easily write with a stroke of his pen. Rest assured, no one will know.
It won't damage his image of leaving no stone unturned in any way.
If Lan Yu died early, would anyone still know about Lan Yu?
Zhang Ximeng was making evil calculations in his heart.
"Do you know where the front is?"
Zhang Ximeng suddenly reined in his horse and looked forward. Lan Yu followed him and saw a river flowing straight into the river. On the other side of the river, two mountains could be vaguely seen.
Lan Yu looked at it for a long time, naturally not clear.
Zhang Ximeng coughed and said solemnly: "Ruxukou area has been the site of countless large and small battles in the past dynasties. It is difficult to say whether they are right or wrong. However, historians have all noticed that it was on this ancient battlefield that the rise and fall of Wu and Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period and the later Han Dynasty were decided.
Three-thirds of the world... I don't understand why the Yuan army didn't build a city and guard it here. Don't they know that if the Ruxukou is lost, the gate of Jiqing will be opened, and the Yangtze River will no longer be in hand. By then, my army will be full of vitality, and everything will compete.
Let's cross the Yangtze River with thunderous momentum. The city of Jinling is within easy reach. My lord's hegemony will flourish. The day when the Yuan Dynasty will fall is right in front of us!"
Lan Yu swallowed, and he was confused when he heard it, "Sir, I think this lot is for Yuxikou!"
Zhang Ximeng snorted, "I tell you to read more. Yuxikou is the former Ruxukou. This place is the key to Chaohu entering the Yangtze River. With Ruxukou in hand, the natural dangers of the Yangtze River can be divided equally. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Chu
There was endless competition for this place. Especially what made Ruxukou famous was the Three Kingdoms period. In order to protect the danger of the Yangtze River, Soochow built a city on the east bank of Ruxukou, which is where we are. The Wei State built a city on the opposite side of Qibao Mountain and Qibao Mountain.
Zhuishan stationed troops. The two countries fought four wars for this place, and neither could do anything to the other. The Wei State attacked Ruxukou, and the Wu State had to send all its troops to rescue it. The Wu State went north along the Ruxushui River and captured Hefei...that is, Zuo
In Junbi's Luzhou, Wei State also had to invest heavily in troops, so it got the reputation of giving birth to a son like Sun Zhongmou, who gave away a hundred thousand people in Hefei!"
Lan Yu listened carefully and understood everything except the last sentence, which was not a good word.
This place, Ruxukou, is really important.
If the forces from the south of the Yangtze River occupy Ruxukou and block the Yangtze River, the north will have nothing to do.
Moreover, if the south wants to make an expedition to the north and seize the land of the Huaihe River, it is the most convenient way to take Ruxukou and Chaohu via water to capture Hefei, and it is also the most economical way to save food and supplies.
Therefore, among the Three Kingdoms, it makes sense for Sun Quan to fight against Hefei and for Zhuge to fight against Qishan.
Putting history into reality, if the Zhu Jiajun wanted to leave Ruxukou and enter the Yangtze River, they would break the blockade of the Yangtze River Navy, equally divide the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, choose the opportunity to cross the river, and capture Jinling!
As for the Yuan army, if they guard Ruxukou and block the Zhu army from the Huaihe River, they can even join forces with Zuo Junbi to plot in the west of the Huaihe River.
In that case, Zhu Yuanzhang would be in danger.
There is no doubt that this is a crucial battle.
However, the cards on both sides were not enough. The main force of the Yuan army was still attacking Hezhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang had to supervise the troops to deal with it. At Ruxukou, there were only dozens of large ships led by Manzi Hague, blocking the way and not allowing Chaohu.
The navy entered the Yangtze River. With such strength, it was still a little thin.
In addition to despising the Yuan army's strategic vision and execution ability, Zhang Ximeng brought Lan Yu and hundreds of soldiers over to watch the battle. It could be regarded as a reward for Lan Yu and let him feel the atmosphere of the ancient battlefield.
!
I don't know if Lan Yu can appreciate Zhang Ximeng's painstaking efforts. His eyes were wandering around. Suddenly, he saw a small boat moving forward quickly along the tumbling river.
"It's the Chaohu Navy!"
Zhang Ximeng's attention was also attracted, and sure enough there was a boat.
There were not many people on it, only about a dozen. They held shields, spears and daggers in their hands. They quickly descended along the river and headed straight for the Yuan army's ship, moving forward inexorably.
Zhang Ximeng was stunned for a moment when he saw this. He was really a brave Chaohu Navy!
But he soon felt something was wrong. The current was too fast and they could not turn back.
After days of heavy rain, the river swelled and flowed extremely fast. It was difficult for such a small boat to remain stable in the water, so it could only go down the river. As for the Yuan army, they anchored at the bottom of the river to stabilize the big boat. Not satisfied with this, they used chains
, connected the warships, forming a water wall to prevent the navy from rushing out.
This small boat was undoubtedly a scout sent by the Chaohu Navy. They also knew that this trip was dangerous, but no one hesitated.
Resolutely, he rushed forward like a moth to a flame.
When they were still a hundred steps away from the Yuan army, bows and crossbows were fired in unison on the big ship.
The sailors on the small boat could only squat and use shields to cover themselves. The soldiers in charge of the boat had to adjust the direction with difficulty and try to avoid it as much as possible.
The wide river, the turbulent water, the sky full of crossbows, the small boat... Zhang Ximeng's expression gradually became serious, and even Lan Yu stopped his carefree demeanor, widened his eyes, and looked carefully.
They really hope that the small boat can win, but water battles are far more cruel than land battles. The boats are powerful and can really do whatever they want.
Under the random arrows, several soldiers had been hit by arrows. They were still holding on, but they could no longer hold on. One soldier was shot through the neck by an arrow at a tricky angle, and turned over and fell into the river. From this gap, another soldier was shot.
Several heavy arrows were quickly shot in, and two other soldiers were also injured and fell into the water.
There were less than ten people on board and the situation was in danger.
The leader saw that he had no choice but to grit his teeth.
"Charge, charge forward! Fight them!"
The small boat was getting closer and closer to the big ship. At this moment, the Yuan army on the big ship immediately started to move. There was a huge wooden pole on the bow. A Yuan army swung the hammer hard and fired the mechanism. At this time, the wooden pole suddenly moved forward, and on the wooden pole
A large stone was tied to the other end and was thrown towards the boat.
Lan Yu was stunned by this scene.
"Then, what is that?"
"It's a shooting pole!" Zhang Ximeng recognized it. This is a very ancient water warfare weapon. Six shooting poles can be mounted on a large five-tooth ship in the Sui Dynasty. It is quite powerful. Once hit, the boat will be shattered to pieces.
The so-called shooting pole can be roughly regarded as a trebuchet on a ship, but due to different vehicles, the shape and usage are slightly different.
The shooting pole on the boat is usually an upright pole with a horizontal bar on it. One end of the horizontal bar is tied and the other end is loaded with rocks or the like.
When using it, soldiers can first use the windlass to fix the stone at a certain height, then suddenly cut off the rope, the weight at one end drops quickly, and then use the lever principle to throw the stone out.
Since the shooting pole is used on a ship, the deck below is not as stable as the ground after all, so the distance of the shooting pole is not far, and it can even be regarded as a melee weapon. It can only be effective when it is close.
On the other hand, because it is installed on a ship, the shooting rod can be made very large, and the stone projectiles thrown are several times that of the trebuchet, and even larger and heavier.
Once an enemy ship is hit, a slightly smaller one will be immediately shattered. The Sui army once smashed more than a dozen Chen army ships in a water battle, with outstanding results.
Seeing the Yuan army firing their batons, Zhang Ximeng knew that the sailors on this small boat were finished.
However, what was unexpected was that these men, who had lived in Chaohu since childhood, still managed to maneuver the boat and avoid the attack of huge rocks under such unfavorable circumstances.
They were very close to the ship, and two soldiers had already grasped their hooks and spears, preparing to rush forward and engage in close combat. Although they were small in number, they still had to fight Yuan Tatzi!
At this moment, another soldier on the boat was hit by an arrow and fell into the water. The boat lost control and suddenly hit the bow of the big ship.
The large ships of the Yuan army were equipped with ramming horns on their bows, and the small boats were immediately shattered into pieces. All the sailors on board fell into the river, were swallowed by the whirlpool, and disappeared without a trace.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Ximeng felt like his heart was hit hard!
The equipment is not as good as the people’s, so it’s a big loss!
At this moment, more and more naval ships appeared in sight.
Some people even witnessed the tragic situation of their own ships, and everyone felt heavy.
There are Yuan troops blocking the way in front of us, how do we rush past?
At this time, Yu Tingyu held her saber in her hand, looked at the leaders in front of her, and said in a deep voice: "Now that we are here, we can advance or retreat, or die or live! Although the Yuan army ships are large, as long as we can get close, we can
There is still hope!”
The navy leaders nodded one after another, and in the blink of an eye, fifty warships were separated, sails were full, and they sailed down the river to attack the Yuan army.
Although there are records of the use of firearms in water warfare as early as the Song Dynasty, water warfare technology in the entire Yuan Dynasty did not develop rapidly, and the Chaohu Navy was indeed not as good as the Yuan army, so it still relied on traditional side-to-side warfare.
The soldiers holding shields were in front to defend against arrows, and the soldiers behind were holding long hooks and sickles. As soon as they collided with each other, they would immediately use their hooks and sickles to catch the opponent. The soldiers who followed would swarm up and rush into the enemy ship.
Of course, if you don't want the opponent to get close, you can also use the hook and sickle gun to stop the opponent's ship. In short, how to use it depends on the needs of the battle situation.
And this time, there is no doubt that they are approaching the Yuan army.
The Chaohu navy all risked their lives. They mustered up their courage and braved the rain of arrows to move forward. Soldiers kept falling into the river, but there was not a single coward who faced death and rushed out of Ruxukou and into the Yangtze River.
go!
The two sides were getting closer and closer, and the Yuan army's attack was once again aggressive. Ships continued to be hit, and soldiers continued to fall into the river. However, subsequent ships were quickly replenished.
The guys lurked and followed up. Finally, someone used a hook and sickle gun to capture the Yuan army's ship gang.
"Get up, get up quickly!"
The navy soldiers struggled to move up, but in comparison, the Yuan army's building ship was too tall and it was not easy to climb up. At this moment, the Yuan army also rushed over. They shot randomly with bows and arrows, and some people were injured and fell from time to time. From a distance,
The navy in Chaohu suffered heavy casualties, but they actually rushed over!
"I come!"
Liao Yongzhong carried a long spear and took the initiative to fight. He wanted to lead the elites of the Liao family to fight!
It was Yu Tingyu's decision to take refuge with Zhu Yuanzhang, and the Liao family could not lag behind.
Even though this is going to be a bad time, there is nothing more to worry about.
But just when Liao Yongzhong was about to set off, a young man suddenly came to the shore, followed by several Zhu Jiajun soldiers.
"Zhang Xingcheng said that the Yuan army has iron ropes crossing the river, so attack with fire!"
"Fire attack?"
Liao Yongzhong was startled, and then thought, yes, the Yuan army used iron ropes to connect ships to block Ruxukou, wouldn't it be a good opportunity to set fire to it!
He immediately ordered that twenty small boats be selected, loaded with fire starters and sprinkled with fish oil. He also selected soldiers with the best water skills to use the boats.
Go with the wind and the current, and go straight to the Yuan army to kill.
Just a hundred steps away from the Yuan army, someone ordered the soldiers on the boat to light the firewood on the boat, turn over and jump into the river.
The flaming boats rushed towards them at a rapid speed. The Yuan army tried to block them and attacked with all their strength, but the number of boats they destroyed was far less than the number of ships they attacked.
In addition, there were many soldiers from the Chaohu Navy who were not afraid of the flames and continued to climb onto the boats and launch attacks.
Bang!
One fire ship succeeded, and the fire broke out, followed by the second, and the third ship... The Yuan army was so frightened that they fled in a panic. The ship that was not on fire tried to escape, but was connected by iron ropes. They were anxious and angry.
He hurriedly split the chain and tried to escape, but in his haste, he bumped into himself, people kept falling into the water, and it became a mess.
At this moment, Liao Yongzhong led the fleet and attacked again. They surrounded the Yuan army's ship. By dusk, the Yuan army's blockade disappeared. The Chaohu navy broke through the obstruction and successfully moved out of the Yangtze River!