Ten miles east of Dengzhou, the sea surface is filled with light and gold, and the waves are calm.
The weather was so good, but no fishing boats went out to sea. The entire sea was empty, and there was not a single sail in sight.
It was as if there was an invisible giant hand wiping along the sea surface, erasing all traces of human beings. It made the waters dozens of miles around become peaceful and beautiful!
"Squeak--" A group of seagulls suddenly screamed and flew through the air, breaking the painting-like tranquility.
Immediately afterwards, dozens of warships with green flags and square heads "rised" from the junction of the sea and the sky, splitting the blue water and heading straight for Dengzhou Port in the distance.
"Squeak - squeak - squeak -" More seagulls were awakened, flapping their wings hastily and flying into the air. The sunlight suddenly dimmed, and the water waves became no longer peaceful.
More warships entered the scene. One after another, from far to near, the towering sails blocked the sky and the sun.
"Pass my order, the forward lowers the mainsail three feet. The left and right fleets keep a distance from the main fleet. The rear fleet follows up, the oarsmen are in position, and the ballistas are all cocked. The sand buckets and water buckets are pushed to the battle position." Gao Lishui.
The division commander Cai Renyuan stood on a two-story flagship and shouted orders. There was a faint bloodthirsty excitement in his voice.
The deck of the flagship immediately became busy, with oarsmen, crossbowmen, and auxiliary soldiers running around under the leadership of the captain and the captain. Several messengers in red grabbed the huge conch and struggled to
"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo guyssscoring scorching conchss that do.
Then, it suddenly accelerated. The relatively long and narrow hull drew four white lines on the sea, pointing at the forward, left, right and rear squadrons.
Because the aspect ratio is much higher than that of a battleship, and there is almost no load in the cabin, the picket ship is extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, Cai Renyuan's order was transmitted to the ears of the commander of each squadron.
The decks of all the warships immediately became busy. The well-trained Goryeo soldiers, regardless of the fatigue of the long voyage, carried out the orders from the flagship to the letter.
One after another, the crossbow carts were pushed to the fighting position. The two-and-a-half-foot-long crossbow gun probed the side of the ship, and the sharp tip of the gun flashed with cold light.
This is a first-class water warfare weapon. Even if a general wearing three layers of cowhide armor is hit by a crossbow, a transparent hole will appear in his chest.
The forward, left, and right armies each had twenty warships with crossbows deployed. The center had forty warships with crossbows pointing diagonally at the sky.
A total of one hundred ballistas, launched in turn, are enough to directly destroy the outer wall of a water village. Once the outer wall of the water village is destroyed, the remaining ships can rush in at high speed, using arrows and burning grease cans to attack
The Song army launched a second round of attacks.
If the Song army can survive the second round of attacks, Cai Renyuan will order the rear army to dispatch. The sixty warships are not equipped with ballistae, but are equipped with a large number of racket sticks, like crab's pincers. They can directly smash people's heads.
Or the side of a warship.
Cai Ren didn't want to believe that after three consecutive rounds of heavy blows, his opponent still didn't collapse. He knew the strength of the Dengzhou Navy just like he knew the lines on his own palm.
The total strength of the navy was only a little over 5,000, and the total number of warships was less than 50. It focused on smuggling at sea all year round and rarely conducted combat training.
The commander of that navy was just a sign, and had just been dismissed by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty for lax control of his subordinates. Yang Xingyan, the actual controller of that navy, had just died in an internal strife.
After this man's death, the Dengzhou Navy ceased to exist in name only. Even if the Song Dynasty court appointed another general, with the ability and speed of the Song officials, I am afraid that in ten or eight years, the Dengzhou Navy would not be able to improve its scale and combat effectiveness.
Go up and compete with the Goryeo Navy.
The Song Dynasty did not pay attention to the navy at all. Many years ago, when Cai Renyuan was still serving under Chen Hongjin, the military governor of Quanzhou, he knew this clearly.
It's a pity that Chen Hongjin was a coward, holding a fleet of 20,000 people and a seal, and actually surrendered to the Song Dynasty in the sacred land of Quan Shuzhou. He also went to the capital of the Song Dynasty to meet Zhao Guangyi in person to show his sincerity in surrender.
"Coward, Adou who can't be helped!" Cai Renyuan's heart was filled with anger again when he thought of the choice Chen Hongjin made.
He was a nobleman of the Southern Tang Dynasty. His father and two brothers died in battle to resist the Song army's march southward. He fled from Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, to Quanzhou to join Chen Hongjin in order to avenge his father and brother.
Therefore, he would not surrender to the enemy no matter what. On the night when Chen Hongjin decided to surrender, he contacted a group of subordinates, hijacked more than ten warships and sailed eastward, all the way to Goryeo.
Over the past twenty years, his subordinates have aged and retired to seclusion, and he himself is no longer young. However, he, Cai Renyuan, has never forgotten the great ambition he made back then, to destroy the Song Dynasty and let all the people live in seclusion.
Everyone in the Song Dynasty has experienced the pain that he suffered when his country was destroyed and his family was destroyed.
In order to realize this ambition, he worked for the powerful Huangfu family of Goryeo, and even knelt down to Jin Zhiyang, the face of the Queen Mother of Goryeo.
Now that the ambition he had back then was close at hand, I wonder how he could have no worries in his heart?
"Woo, woo, woo -" A sentry ship returned from the forward squadron, sending the enemy's reaction into his ears with its low conch sound.
The Dengzhou Navy did not send any ships to fight, or even sent any ships to ask whether the Korean fleet was hostile. The entire Dengzhou Port was currently unresponsive, and the four gates of Dengzhou City next to the port were closed.
No one came or went!
"Idiot! You think that the navy is the same as the troops on land and needs a city to seal the victory!" Cai Renyuan's mouth immediately showed a hint of contempt. Then he waved vigorously at the messenger on the deck below,
"Notify the forward fleet to approach Dengzhou Port and block the waterways in and out of the port. If there is resistance, destroy it immediately!"
"Yes!" the messenger responded at the top of his voice, and then blew the conch shell again, "Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo--". It was like a ghost crying in the middle of the night, making those who heard it tremble.
Using the sound of conches to convey orders cannot be absolutely accurate. However, Cai Ren has been willing to control the Goryeo Navy for so many years and has already formed a tacit understanding with his generals.
The conch sound only needs to convey the general meaning, with an accuracy of more than 60%. He and his generals can guess and understand the rest. This method of delivering orders was inherited from the prosperous Tang Dynasty three hundred years ago.
The fifty battleships of the forward squadron began to adjust their formation, changing from a horizontal formation to a swallow-tail with swept wings.
Although it is still five or six miles away from Dengzhou, at the current ship speed, the vanguard fleet can reach the port in a quarter of an hour at the latest.
It is not as easy for a battleship to adjust its direction and posture as a carriage. Therefore, it is necessary to change into a battle formation in advance to be prepared.
"Hmm -" Cai Renyuan nodded with satisfaction after seeing the performance of the forward fleet.
The commander-in-chief of the vanguard fleet, Cui Rong, was his direct disciple. He was born in the Choi family of Goryeo's wealthy family, and he taught him all his skills step by step.
Three days ago, when the fleet was at Wengjin, the last stop away from Goryeo, Cai Ren wanted to hand over the complete battle plan of his trip to Cui Rong. At the same time, he also handed over the most dangerous forward mission to this person. (Note)
: The shortest route from Dengzhou to Goryeo in the Song Dynasty, historical records only took two days and one night. Ships from all over Goryeo would first arrive at Wengjin, then cross the Yellow Sea to the west directly to Dengzhou. Or go north to Laotieshan (Lushun)
), then turn from Laotieshan to Dengzhou).
The most dangerous one also means the most opportunities for meritorious deeds. Both the master and the disciple knew this very well.
And on that day, he finally made a plan and risked his life to cross the sea in a fishing boat and sent back the most detailed information about the Song Dynasty.
The person who was ordered to reorganize Denglai's coastal defense was a civilian official named Han Qing. At the beginning of the year, it was this man who used a sneak attack to kill Yang Xingyan, the Marquis of Yu, the naval commander of Dengzhou.
Although this man was a prison official, he was proficient in the art of war and had great prestige among the grain men of the Xiang Army. The Chunyang Sect, which had close ties with Goryeo in the past, was also annihilated by this man under the leadership of thousands of grain men.
"He is quite capable. Where did he learn from it? How old is he now? Does he have any other achievements?" Cai Renyuan frowned slightly when he heard this, and immediately carefully investigated Han Qing's background.
"He, he seems to have learned from his grandfather, Han Chonggui, the Marquis of Yu in front of the Song Dynasty Palace, or Li Jihe, the Superintendent of the Zhenrong Army. He should have just turned twenty years old." Xi Zuo, surnamed Wang, was ordered to lurk in the Song Dynasty for many years, and he was quite accomplished.
Capable. After sorting out his thoughts for a while, he immediately gave the answer, "It was said that he followed Li Jihe on the battlefield on the Yongxing Army Road in the Song Dynasty. Because of his merits, he was promoted to the sentencing judge there."
"It turns out to be a tiger on land!" Cai Renyuan immediately gained confidence and waved to the left and right with a smile. "Who will tell him for me that water warfare is different from land warfare!"
"The general is willing to go!" Immediately, several commanders rushed to respond, and everyone's eyes were full of confidence.
It's not their fault for being arrogant, but the information about General Song gave them such confidence.
Unlike the Song Dynasty, which always focused on the country, Goryeo began to peek into the old lands of the Han and Tang Dynasties soon after completing its unification.
In the past ten years or so, even when Empress Dowager Qianqiu was in power, she did not forget to continuously send detailed work to the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, not only Cai Renyuan knew that the Yongxing Military Road was located in the northwest of the Song Dynasty, where the Zhenrong Army fought against the Party members all year round. Several generals under his command knew this very well.
How much fighting power can the hastily organized soldiers and grain men have? How can they be the opponents of Goryeo's elite soldiers who have been trained for a long time?
No matter how capable the civil servant surnamed Han is, he is still a tiger on land. And how can a tiger on land resist a dragon on water when it reaches the seaside?!
