Chapter 265 Iron Chain Chain Boat Yonghu Water Battle
"Enemy attack!"
Sharp shouts pierced the sky.
Then the trumpet sounded.
Yong Lake is connected to Dongting Lake, and the mouth of the lake has been built as a fortress at this time.
In history, Sun Quan set up a water fortress here.
The mouth of the lake is very wide, about one or two miles, and there are a large number of boats floating on the lake at the moment.
When the horn sounded, Shen Chen put one foot on the three-story parapet ladder of the building and stood on the top of the building to watch.
The fierce north wind roared in, blowing the flags on the ships. All the big ships threw their anchors into the water, stopped at the mouth of the lake, and connected them together with iron chains to block the entire lake.
In the strong wind in the distance, a large number of large ships, sterns, and fighting ships came towards them like breaking the wind. When they got closer, they began to slowly lower their sails and reduce their speed.
Of course, a water fight does not involve two ships colliding with each other. Instead, the two ships slowly approach each other and then shoot with bows and arrows. The most consumed part of a water fight is the bow and arrow.
Shen Chen's army was locked across the river, and hundreds of warships were connected together. There were a large number of high oars on the ships, and crossbows were also deployed. They looked at the enemy warily as if they were defending a city.
After a while, Jiangdong Navy's ship began to slow down. Because it was sailing against the current, and the sail had to be furled after approaching, the speed was very slow.
When the distance between the two sides was less than one mile, the speed of the Jiangdong Navy's ships completely slowed down, and they all began to stagnate on the Dongting Lake.
Opposite the Jiangxia Navy, thousands of large ships were lined up. Jiangdong's army was between 50,000 and 60,000. Except for the approximately 20,000 people left behind, the main force was basically here, almost 40,000 strong.
However, Shen Chen's army only has 20,000 troops here, including Huang Zu. The rest, such as Su Fei, Deng Long, Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng and others, respectively occupy the remaining key areas of Baqiu to prevent the Jiangdong Navy from dividing its troops. Break through the coast to the north or west and attack from the land.
Facing twice as many enemies as before, the Jiangxia navy was not afraid. As a defender, they connected the ships with iron locks, smeared mud on the bows, and blocked the entrance of the lake. There were high oars shooting arrows on the shore. At a very great advantage.
Although the iron chain method of connecting boats is easy to be attacked by fire, it was actually a common method used by people at that time. Not only the Battle of Chibi, but also the Cliff Mountain and Water Battle in the late Song Dynasty and the Poyang Lake Water Battle in the late Yuan Dynasty all used iron locks. The method of connecting boats.
In addition, when ancient ships stopped at the dock, they would also use iron ropes to connect the boats. This was passed down as early as the Spring and Autumn Period of Wu and Yue.
It's just that in the water battles of the past dynasties, those who used iron chains to connect boats were defeated, so people think that using iron chains to connect boats is not a good tactic.
The problem is that in large rivers and lakes such as Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, the wind and waves are very strong. Even professionally trained naval forces may not be able to stand firm. Therefore, the iron cable boat will make the ship more stable when facing the enemy head-on. Fighting is also easier.
As long as you can defend against fire attacks like the cliff landscape battle at the end of the Song Dynasty, it is actually a very good method.
At this moment, Zhou Yu stood on the boat and watched.
Ling Tong, who was next to him, said: "Captain, they have connected the ships together. I ask for an attack!"
Zhou Yu waved his hands and said, "Let's wait and see before talking."
The two sides faced each other on the river.
After a while, Zhou Yu ordered Cheng Pu to conduct a tentative attack.
This battle saw the best of the Jiangdong Army, with Commander-in-Chief Zhou Yu in charge. Under his command were Commander-in-Chief Cheng Pu on the left, Commander-in-Chief Huang Gai on the right, General Xu Sheng of the Zhonglang Army, General Lu Fan of the Secondary Army, Ling Tong, the Lieutenant of the Bandit School, and Zhu, the Colonel of the Zhechong School. However, Pingbei Commander Lu Meng and so on.
After Zhou Yu issued the order, Cheng Pu, the left governor, personally led hundreds of warships to launch an attack on the Jiangxia Navy. The ships rode the wind and waves and attacked the Jiangxia Navy in a mighty manner.
However, as the howling sounds of ghosts and wolves came, iron-tipped crossbow arrows as thick and long as tree trunks drew a gorgeous arc in the air and fell into the Jiangdong Army's fleet, making a loud banging sound.
The huge crossbows were still firing. The Jiangdong naval fleet was flying sawdust and screams. Cheng Pu had to retreat before he could get close to the bow and arrow distance of both sides.
"All the fleets approached, fired with crossbows, and ordered fish paste to be prepared!"
Zhou Yu issued new orders again.
Lu Fan, the general next to him, was surprised and said: "Captain, the enemy's crossbows are powerful, and the lake entrance is relatively narrow. If we force a breakthrough, we may not be able to get close."
Zhou Yu said with a smile: "This chain of boats is usually used when the fleet is anchored on the river or dock without a shelter at night. It is indeed smart for Shen Chen to block the entrance of the lake in this way. But if the boats and boats are connected together, once the fire breaks out, they will be destroyed." They can't escape, so we can spend some money to break through by force, let the ships light the fire, and then we can destroy them."
Lu Fan was stunned for a moment, then gave a thumbs up and nodded repeatedly: "The Governor is indeed a mastermind. It is the time when the north wind blows. We can attack the enemy fleet in the north. As long as their ships in the north are burned." Get up, and the fire will take advantage of the wind and burn all the way south, even burning the boat."
"hehe."
Zhou Yu smiled and said nothing.
Because what Lu Fan said was true, he indeed planned to let the death squads rush to the north of Jiangxia Navy.
As long as you can get close and light a fire, with the blessing of the north wind, it will soon burn the boat.
At that moment, under the command of various trumpets, flags, and gongs and drums, the Jiangdong Navy's fleet spread out along the lake, and then began to move forward slowly in accordance with Zhou Yu's orders.
They could only move forward slowly.
Although the wind is favorable, the current is not favorable, and the sails cannot be opened in close combat. If the two ships hit each other too fast, the ship will be destroyed and everyone will be killed. Therefore, during water battles, both sides often shoot bows and arrows at each other. .
Then in close combat, you use a hook to hook the enemy's ship with your own ship, then jump onto the other side's ship and engage in close combat with the enemy using cold weapons.
Therefore, unless you are attacking with fire, you generally will not use your own fleet to launch an attack like this.
At this moment, Jiangxia Navy was lined with ships for miles, with masts and flags blocking out the sky and sun, and high oars stretching vertically and horizontally. As Jiangdong Army's fleet began to sail forward, a large number of crossbows began to be fired.
Jiangdong Army raised wooden planks, and under the cover of the wooden planks, the distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters.
A hail of arrows hit the wooden planks erected on the bow of the Jiangdong Army, making a clanging sound. However, the wooden planks were not high enough to cover the ship, so a large number of soldiers were still hit by arrows.
On the board of the ship, under the planks, and along the side of the ship, many Jiangdong soldiers were holding their arrow wounds and wailing continuously. Someone kept dragging them into the cabin despite the rain of arrows.
Moreover, Jiang Dongjun actually suffered a heavy loss at this time.
Later generations of Yueyang people should all know that the opening between Nanhu Lake and Dongting Lake stretches for one or two kilometers from east to west, and there are more than ten large and small hills on the lake, such as Ergui Mountain, Yueshan Mountain, and Ouyang Mountain.
Due to the large water area in the Han Dynasty, a large number of islands to the west of Nanjin Port in Yueyang were in the water at this time, but many mountains were exposed on them. These mountains are now occupied by the Jiangxia navy, and many high oars were built on them.
Water fortress, Wubao and other military facilities.
In addition, Hukou faces east and west, Jiangdong's army could only attack from west to east, and the north wind was blowing at that time, which would not have any blessing on the bows and arrows on both sides.
However, due to the many hills and islands on the lake, Jiangdong's army was baptized by bows and arrows.
Therefore, Jiangdong Army's overall offensive was actually very difficult.
Fortunately, they had a large number of ships. Although the Jiangxia navy was raining arrows, they were able to get closer under the successive attacks of Jiangdong army and suffered huge casualties.
Immediately afterwards, the Jiangdong Army also began to counterattack with bows and arrows. At the same time, more than a dozen fighting ships filled with fish paste and oil rushed desperately towards the fleet of the Jiangxia Navy.
At this time, if a general like Huang Zu was extremely experienced in water warfare, he would send a stern battleship out to intercept.
In history, when the Red Cliff was burned, Huang Gai would definitely be stopped if he rushed over like this. However, he sent someone to send a message to Cao Cao to surrender, so Cao Cao did not send someone to intercept him, which led to the success of the Burning of Red Cliff.
Therefore, Cao Cao actually lost not because of the iron chain but because of his gullible trust in Huang Gai.
Otherwise, starting from the Spring and Autumn Period, when ships stopped at docks without safe havens, they would use iron cables to connect the boats. Why did Cao Cao suffer the consequences?
It can only mean that there was external protection when the ship was docked. It's a pity that Cao Cao let Huang Gai in. No one can blame him.
At this moment, Shen Chen should have immediately sent a ship to intercept the opponent.
But he didn't do that.
It's not that they are arrogant, but the number of their ships is smaller than that of the Jiangdong Army. Now that the big ships are all connected together, there are no more ships to send out.
So soon those fighting ships rushed towards them at a very slow speed.
Boom!
With a loud collision, these fighting ships collided with the fleet of Jiangxia navy, causing the entire fleet to shake slightly.
Then the soldiers of Jiangdong Army lit a fire in the cabin, ran to the stern and lowered the boat to escape.
This is the time for everyone to run away and settle down.
Historically, when Huang Gai went to set a fire, he took a boat to evacuate. He was shot by an arrow, fell into the water and almost drowned.
During the Poyang Lake water battle at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent his dead soldiers to set fire like this, and almost all the dead soldiers were wiped out.
Therefore, setting fire like this is also a waste of life.
However, this time they obviously did not have such good luck. Countless arrows rained down, and Jiangdong's troops on the small boats were hit by arrows and fell into the water. In an instant, more than ten battleships and nearly a thousand soldiers were killed and injured.
But their mission was accomplished.
Soon the flames of these fighting ships started to burn. The fire was scorching and the flames jumped very high and began to spread towards the ships of Jiangxia Navy.
Shen Chen stood on the highest point of the ship in the main deck. He saw that the fleet position about a hundred meters away from him was being attacked without any worry. He just said softly: "Keep shooting!"
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
The crossbow strings on the ship made a clanging sound, and hundreds of crossbow arrows flew out each time and hit the Jiangdong Army's fleet, causing a large number of casualties.
After more than ten minutes of burning there, the fire had already spread into the sky.
The Jiangxia naval forces on those ships did not have any urgency, and kept going in and out of the cabins, scooping out large amounts of mud and lake water with buckets from the cabins, and pouring them onto the decks and sides of the ships.
This is how the Song army used iron cables and boats to deal with the attack of the Yuan army's fire ships during the Yashanshui Battle at the end of the Song Dynasty.
Apply a large amount of silt to the hull of the ship, wait until the flames attack, and then continue to pour silt onto the ship from the cabin. Let alone burn it, even if one or two ships catch fire, when all the ships are covered with mud, the fire will
It can't spread either.
It's just that this method is easy to use, but it also makes the ship very dirty, and the silt smells disgusting. Therefore, except for cliff landscape battles in the late Song Dynasty, almost no one would use water battles in other situations.
"Um?"
Zhou Yu looked from a distance. Because he was far away, he could not see the specific situation clearly.
He only saw that although the flame ship was forcibly sent in, after the fire started, it did not spread to the Jiangxia navy ship.
"Why didn't it burn?"
Lu Fan was also puzzled. As the main ship, they were one mile away from the battlefield and couldn't see clearly.
Zhou Yu said nothing, still waiting patiently.
At this time, the battle between the two sides had lasted for more than an hour. The two sides continued to shoot at each other. Jiangdong's army suffered heavy casualties. Even under the suppression of bows and arrows, many Jiangxia naval forces put down their small boats and began to attack Jiangdong's large ships.
"withdraw!"
When the battleships were in flames and the enemy warships were still burning, Zhou Yu realized that something was wrong and immediately ordered a retreat.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
The continuous sound of the trumpet penetrated the sky, and the sound spread several miles away.
The Jiangdong naval forces on the river struggled to retract the anchor, and then swung the oar in the opposite direction, allowing the ship to slowly retreat. When they were out of the range of the enemy's bows and arrows, they slowly turned and headed back.
This process was really grueling. They had been fighting for more than two hours from the time Zhou Yu launched the attack at the end of Yuzhong to the time when the attack failed and the troops were withdrawn.
It was already 2:00 pm in the afternoon, and the sun was high in the western sky. The Jiangdong navy retreated dejectedly. There were still some broken ships left in the same place, the wreckage of the large ship that was still burning after the fire attack failed, and the floating wreckage.
Countless bodies on the lake.
There are more arrows on the lake.
A water battle consumes a huge amount of arrows. The Jiangxia Navy used no less than half a million arrows in this battle alone, so the densely packed arrows on the lake seemed to fill the entire lake.
"Clean the battlefield and recover arrows!"
Shen Chen issued the order.
He did not choose to continue chasing, mainly because although the iron cable boat stabilized the hull and occupied the favorable terrain at the mouth of the lake, it was only suitable for defensive and defensive battles, not for offensive and pursuit battles.
What's more important is that although Zhou Yu suffered heavy casualties in this battle, at least thousands of casualties, his number was after all twice as many as theirs, so he couldn't take advantage of them in a water battle.
But even so, this is already a great victory for Jiangxia Navy.
Ever since the last defeat of Huang Zu at Ruxukou, the Jiangxia Navy has always been afraid of the Jiangdong Navy as tigers, so this victory and watching the Jiangdong Army flee in despair was a great morale boost for the Jiangxia Navy.
"Jiangdong Rats, you attacked us last time, so you must have lost at our hands this time."
"Hahahaha, boys, we are victorious!"
On another main ship, Huang Zu, as the second commander, was extremely excited.
Because whether it was the Sun Ce period or the Sun Quan period, he suffered a lot in the battle with Jiangdong.
Nowadays, it is rare for the Jiangdong navy to suffer a loss. Naturally, he was very happy and stood on the boat stroking his beard and laughing.
However, Shen Chen did not get carried away. He looked into the distance, looking at the direction in which Jiangdong Army was leaving, and simply ordered: "Tell the scouts to follow them in a light boat and see where Jiangdong Army is stationed!"
"only!"
Qu Gan, the deputy general on the side, quickly went to execute the order.
Shen Chen looked to the northwest with a smile on his lips.
If nothing else happens, the only place where Jiangdong's army can be stationed is Hongkou.
Hongkou is located at the mouth of Dongting Lake into the Yangtze River, northwest of Baqiu, which is the Junshan District area northwest of later Yueyang City.
Although they can be stationed there, just like the terrain of Wulin and Chibi, there are no natural sheltered ports.
This also means that when Jiangdong's army stops the ship, it can only choose the iron rope to connect the ship.
There are currently only two other safe harbor terminals in the Baqiu area, one is Yonghu Lake they occupy, and the other is Weishuikou in the south.
Yonghu Lake is a large lake recessed in Dongting Lake, surrounded by mountains, which can provide shelter from the wind. Weishui is the Xinqiang River in the north of Yueyang County in later generations. There is a notch wharf in the north of Yueyang County as a port.
As for Bajiao Lake north of Baqiu, it was almost a part of the Yangtze River at that time, including the surrounding Dongfeng Lake, Jijia Lake, Chengyu Lake, Maojiayan Lake, etc., all connected together to form a huge Dongting Lake that flows into the Yangtze River. mouth, so the one with strong wind force is called strong.
So if Zhou Yu insists on finding a safe haven, he can only go south to Weishui. But when they go south, the north wind is blowing at this time. They will suffer a lot in the direction of the wind, and they will also be flanked by Liu Panjun coming from the Xiangjiang River in southern Jingnan. .
Therefore, Shen Chen believed that they would do the next best thing and have a greater chance of stationing at the mouth of the flood.