In the middle of Yushan Mountain, hundreds of soldiers were digging around an inconspicuous dirt bag.
Liu Zongzhou, Li Banghua, Geng Ruqi and others walked around anxiously, waiting for the results.
Even Bi Maokang came.
After getting a letter from Zuo Mengeng, saying that Cao Zhi's tomb might have been discovered, these big guys were extremely excited and worked hard just to make a discovery.
In fact, after seeing the scriptures and the ancient inkstone in Fanbei Temple, Liu Zongzhou and others started to believe it.
In addition to being a literary master, Liu Zongzhou also conducted considerable research on archeology.
It is unjustifiable for literati who advocate retrospection not to understand archeology.
"Report, we found an ancient sword."
Several soldiers rushed over and presented a bronze sword unearthed from the soil.
Although the sword is covered with dirt and rust, its simple style gives it a sense of age.
Liu Zongzhou couldn't wait a moment and immediately started cleaning up on the spot.
Li Banghua and Geng Ruqi were helping on the side, with solemn and solemn expressions, as if they were performing a sacred ceremony.
At this time, Zuo Mengeng, Mao Yuanyi, Liu Yiyuan and others will stand aside and can only watch the three bosses working patiently and meticulously.
About an hour later, the dirt on the sword was quickly cleaned away, revealing its original appearance.
Liu Zongzhou carefully raised it and exposed it to the sun, and saw three inscriptions on the sword.
"Sure enough, it was Cao Zzi who built the tomb, and it was really found."
Liu Zongzhou's ancient writing skills were even better than Mao Yuanyi's, and he recognized the three characters "Cao Zijian" on the sword at a glance.
This is enough to prove that this desolate and ordinary dirt bag in front of us is actually the tomb of Cao Zhi, the first scholar of the Three Kingdoms.
Subsequent discoveries also confirmed Liu Zongzhou's words.
The various funerary objects unearthed are all in the style of the Three Kingdoms period, and many places are engraved with information related to Cao Zhi.
Even without opening the tomb, it can be determined that this is the tomb of Cao Zhi.
Liu Zongzhou quickly ordered Zuo Menggeng: "Zhongheng, this place must be protected to prevent it from being destroyed. Cao Zijian is a great generation, a literary giant for the ages, and should be respected by the world."
Although Zuo Mengeng didn't know much about Cao Zhi's status, he also knew that such monuments really needed to be protected.
"Don't worry, Mr. Nian Tai, I will immediately allocate funds to repair this place."
Li Banghua stroked his beard in approval.
"Such a great kindness."
No one knows that Cao Zhi's tomb was discovered in 1951 when a leader came to Yushan to inspect the Yellow River and saw a child playing with an ancient sword.
Out of curiosity, the leader took it to view and found that the three characters "Cao Zijian" were engraved on it, which led to the discovery of Cao Zhi's tomb.
Zuo Mengeng advanced this history by more than three hundred years.
Liu Zongzhou and others were very concerned about this matter and stayed here personally to manage the excavation. This also allowed Zuo Mengeng to get away and start planning to attack Shuibo.
After more than ten days of work, the entire water channel has been connected, and the final water release is still needed.
During this period, the entire New Army was not idle either, and was working hard to learn the essentials of water warfare.
Those who taught them were Li Qingshan, Ma Yingxiao, Ren Qi, Zhang Qi and others.
"You see, Sir, we have oiled every ship. This way, we won't be afraid of catching fire."
In water operations, fire prevention is always the top priority.
Because the ships of this era were all made of wood, once they burned, it would be a disaster.
The ships used by the New Army are all merchant ships and tank ships of various companies. They are usually used to transport goods, not for fighting, so naturally they will not be oiled.
Ren Qi checked around and discovered this flaw, and immediately reported it to Zuo Hua.
Zuo Hua quickly sent people to prepare oil and oiled all the ships.
Zhang Qi also picked up a long pole and said: "When fighting on the water, the most common way is to build some small boats, pile them with flammable objects, and lower them down the wind. There are nails on the front of these boats. Once they are hit,
It would be difficult to push our boat away, and we would have to burn it too. So I made this long pole that can push the arson boat away."
Li Qingshan also played a role.
"Senate, I saw our artillery. The projectiles can explode, but they are not useful on water. They will burn out when they encounter water, but they are not as good as solid projectiles. If they hit the enemy's ship, it will definitely sink."
Zuo Mengeng suddenly understood and hurriedly sent people back to Linqing and mobilized a batch of solid artillery shells.
Although the New Army is currently developing warheads with percussion cap fuses, they are not widely available for a while. What's more, so many artillery shells have been produced before, and they cannot be wasted.
Unexpectedly, in a water battle, such a powerful warhead would be useless.
Among the strategies presented by Li Qingshan and others, there were many novel things that Zuo Mengeng and others could not have thought of.
It can be said that without their help, the new army would definitely be in trouble if they attacked Shuibo this time.
When the new army was well prepared, Feng Benyu also came over to report the good news.
The entire river channel has been connected and water can be released.
"What are you waiting for?"
Following Zuo Mengeng's order, dams across the river began to explode one after another.
First, the dam of the Jindi River was blown open, and the rolling water flowed into the canal. Then the east side dam of the canal, the dam of the Daqing River, and the dam of Anshan Lake were also blown open.
The surging turbid water spread across the rivers at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few hours, the originally barren areas were filled with water.
Looking around, a large jade belt appeared out of thin air under the earth.
Feng Benyu was very conscientious and walked along the new river again. After measuring the water levels everywhere, he ran back happily.
"As you sit down, the water level at the shallowest point is more than four meters, which is enough for sailing."
After wasting more than ten days, the road suddenly became smooth.
Zuo Mengeng was in a happy mood and looked at Mao Yuanyi.
As the commander of this battle, Mao Yuanyi understood this deeply.
"Army attack!"
The flag on the flagship was waved, and the ships received the order, weighed anchor one after another, followed the flagship, and sailed into the river one after another.
At the entrance from the Daqing River to Anshan Lake, the artillery regiment has already been in place, with more than ten artillery pieces deployed on both sides to protect the fleet from entering the water berth.
Jia Yunzhi nervously observed the water surface with a telescope, fearing that something unexpected might happen.
The first boat successfully entered the water mooring.
Ren Qi was on the boat, lying on the bow and staring at the water and below.
"The water is shallow on the left, go to the right."
The captain listened to the order, pulled the sail and turned, and the tank boat drew an arc on the water while turning its side toward the depth of the water.
This ship is equipped with four artillery guns, which can attack the enemy immediately.
Eighteen large ships and seventy-five small ships took a full hour to get into the water.
By this time Guo Yunbiao had already obtained military information.
"Humph, Zuo Mengeng is going to kill them all. There is nothing to say. This place is our home base. If we lose this place, we will be like dogs in the water. Brothers, let's have a good fight and let these landlubber officers and soldiers see how powerful we are.
"
The White Lotus Sect rebels came out in full force, rowing boats one after another, quietly sailing to various places in the water, and setting up positions along the way of the new army.
"The people of the White Lotus Sect will definitely be able to build boats, so the big ships must be on the outside. If the White Lotus Sect attacks with fire, let the small boats go up to deal with it."
After entering the water pool, Li Qingshan was extremely nervous and reminded him from time to time.
Mao Yuanyi followed suit and spread the big ships around to form a line of defense to protect the small ships in the middle.
Big ships are not afraid of being chipped.
It would be a joke to just cut through such a thick ship plank by hand underwater.
And because the water waves are calm, the water of Ansan Lake is very clear, making it easy to defend against large ships.
As the fleet went all the way south, they saw vast blue waves all around, and the land gradually became invisible, and it looked like the middle of the sea.
No wonder the officers and soldiers can't do anything here.
In such a vast water area, it is impossible to surround and suppress the bandits without a small number of troops.
After walking for a while, we saw a large tidal flat on the left and a continuous reed swamp on the right. It was so densely packed that it was impossible to see what was going on inside.
Li Qingshan added: "The people of the White Lotus Sect are accustomed to using these reeds, so there is no way they can hide people inside."
Zuo Mengeng asked: "How should we deal with it? Shoot with firepower?"
Li Qingshan shook his head.
"This patch of reeds is miles long, no matter how many guns and cannons there are, it will be useless. The best way..."
He gritted his teeth, feeling that Zuo Mengeng might not adopt it.
"The best way is to throw kerosene inside and set it on fire."
The reeds are dry in winter, and once they are stained with kerosene, they will not stop until they burn out.
It's just that this approach is beneficial to the peace of mind, and it has not been used by the government and army to suppress bandits in the past.
Zuo Mengeng didn't believe any nonsense like "there is heaven and earth", so he immediately gave the order.
"Burn this reed swamp."
Given the choice between sacrificing soldiers and burning the reeds, he would definitely choose the latter.
Moreover, the new army has a lot of time and is not in a hurry to advance quickly. It will just take one step at a time and force the White Lotus Sect rebels to have no place to hide.
Following his order, each ship used trebuchets and powerful crossbows to shoot jars of kerosene into the reed swamps.
When the clay pot falls into the water, the oil inside flows out and spreads along the water flow, providing the conditions for arson.
Then each ship used a powerful crossbow wrapped in oil-soaked cloth, lit it, and shot it into the reed marsh.
The powerful crossbow has a range of hundreds of steps, and even if someone is hiding in the reeds, there is nothing you can do.
Dozens of crossbow arrows pierced the reeds, and most of them fell into the water and were extinguished. But as long as one of them was stained with kerosene, the fire would be unstoppable.
Sure enough, billowing smoke suddenly appeared somewhere in the reed marsh, and then flames several feet high shot into the sky and quickly began to roll into the surrounding reeds.
Thousands of new troops were waiting outside the reed marsh, waiting for the fire to burn out the reed marsh.
