Chapter 366 Attitude is more important than results
"Woooooooooo..." Cai Zhongcheng, the commander-in-chief of the Liao army, found out that his truthful plan had failed. He was furious and ordered his cronies to blow the horns like ghosts crying and wolves howling.
When the surrounding Liao soldiers heard this, they immediately used steel knives to force the fisherman who was driving the boat, and drove the fishing boat closer to the sentinel boat of Han Qing and others.
However, in order to slow down the sentinel boat, these fishing boats were filled with stones and sand used for ballast, and were connected to each other with ropes. How could they possibly speed up?
Although the fishermen rowed desperately, and although many Liao soldiers also picked up all available objects to paddle, they could only watch the sentinel boat passing in front of them, getting further and further away.
"Send the order, unload the things in the boat, cut the ropes, and catch up at all costs." Cai Zhongcheng's eyes were almost on fire, and he shouted at the top of his voice.
He is Cai Renyuan's nephew. Together with his cousin Cai Zhongyi, he was ordered to defect to the Liao Kingdom to find the third rabbit hole for the Cai family.
The Liao Dynasty was founded on bows and horses and paid little attention to the navy. Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Dynasty also had deep doubts about the sincerity of the Cai family.
Therefore, although brothers Cai Zhongcheng and Cai Zhongyi were each appointed as observers at the strong recommendation of the Empress Dowager Xiao Chuo, they had no real power and were only responsible for training a navy of less than 5,000 people for the Liao Kingdom.
Of the 5,000-man naval force, 30% were used to control the sails, oars and rudders, and another 20% were used to take care of the baggage, food, and tents. The real soldiers were not even 3,000. After going to the battlefield, they could not even fight.
What does it do?
The Cai brothers were so disappointed that they couldn't help but want to go home. Fortunately, Cai Renyuan sent a handwritten letter in time, using the various suspicions he encountered when he defected to Goryeo as an example, telling the brothers to be patient and wait for the opportunity.
Facts have proved that ginger is still spicier with age.
Not long after Cai Zhongyi and Cai Zhongyi brothers settled down and started working seriously for the Liao Kingdom, the time came.
Pingyuan City was captured by Han Qing by water. More than a dozen Liao generals, including Xiao Pai who stayed in Tokyo and Xiao Moke, the deputy general manager of the Southern Pedestrian Department, were all sent back to their hometowns by Han Qing overnight.
After the news spread, Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Kingdom was furious. Immediately, he realized the importance of the navy.
In order to prevent Han Qing from repeating his old tricks, he used the Xiaoqing River to transport soldiers and horses and attack the Liao army's rear. Yelu Longxu decisively issued an order to promote Cai Zhong's loyal Cangzhou Jiedushi to cut off the Xiaoqing River.
Immediately, Cai Zhongyi was appointed the commander of the Bohai Navy and went to Tieshan to be responsible for building a naval force of not less than 50,000 people for Daliao.
In Daliao, the governor of a state was the local emperor of a state. Not long after arriving in Liao, he was entrusted with such an important task. How could Cai Zhongcheng not shed tears of gratitude?
Although more than half of Cangzhou is currently controlled by Song general Yang Yanzhao, the remaining half is enough for Cai Zhongcheng to show off his talents.
After arriving in office, he immediately ordered a search for ships. All the ships, large and small, that could be found on the Xiaoqing River and Wudi River were captured by force and sent to Leling next to the river at starry night.
Immediately, he began to build an inland river navy with the Koryo soldiers he brought as the backbone and the sign troops stationed in the local area as the followers.
Early this morning, a Goryeo-style sentry ship was discovered going upstream along the Xiaoqing River. Cai Zhongcheng immediately realized that this ship was closely related to Han Qing. He decisively led the navy, which had just been formed for a few days, to intercept and kill the sentry ship.
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Unfortunately, the opponent he met, Zhang Shouzhong, was also proficient in water warfare and had the upper hand in terms of ship specifications.
Cai Zhongcheng tried his best, but failed to stop the sentinel ship. He could only look at the opponent's sail shadow and jump into rage.
Qi returns to Qi, but the children of the Cai family have never lacked resilience.
After regaining his composure, Cai Zhongcheng quickly judged that the sentinel boat would turn back sooner or later. Therefore, he immediately regained his energy and used fishing boats, sampans, and bamboo rafts to create traps.
When he finished making the trap, Xiao Dalin's military order also arrived, asking him to help him intercept Han Qing at all costs.
Cai Renyuan, Cai Zhongcheng's uncle, lost half his life at the hands of Han Qing. How could he hate Han Qing less in his heart?
From the mouth of the messenger, he learned that Han Qing had boarded the sentinel ship. He immediately cheered up and vowed to avenge his uncle's shame.
With the war horses being replaced in turn, military orders can be delivered at a speed of fifty miles per hour, much faster than any ship in this era.
Therefore, Cai Zhongcheng had extremely ample preparation time. In order to ensure the success rate, he also specially added another blocking rope behind the fire wall.
However, what he couldn't accept was that neither the wall of fire nor the blocking rope could do anything to defeat the sentinel ship.
The Song general who controlled the sentinel ship seemed to be his natural nemesis. Every time he made a move, he could immediately think of a way to defeat it without even spending any time thinking.
It would be fine if the sentinel ship was carrying ordinary officials from the Song Dynasty. Cai Zhongcheng himself took office less than a month ago, and the navy under his command was also temporarily formed. It was normal for him to be unable to stop the sentinel ship.
However, Han Qing was sitting on the boat. The person who ordered him to intercept the sentry ship was Xiao Dalin, whose two sons died at the hands of Han Qing on the same day.
If he didn't even pursue him, he would just let the sentry ship sail away. Needless to say, Cai Zhongcheng knew whether Xiao Dalin would be angry with him.
Therefore, even if he chases him to death, he must maintain his posture. Otherwise, as a military governor, he may have already reached his end.
"Quick, quick, throw all the stones and sand into the river and chase. Our boat is small and there are few people on it. We can run faster with the wind and the current!" The soldiers from the Liao Kingdom on the fishing boat also knew about today's battle and their attitude.
As important as the result, while shouting and ordering the fishermen who had been forced to speed up the boat, he threw the load on the boat into the river in a hurry.
At least one thing they said is right, a small boat can run faster than a big boat if it goes with the wind and the current.
After all the load was discarded, the speed of the fishing boat increased significantly. After chasing along the river for about an hour, we finally saw the silhouette of the sentinel boat's sail again.
"Quick, bite it, bite it and join the gang." Cai Zhongcheng was overjoyed and shouted at the top of his lungs.
The sailors on the boat grabbed everything available and paddled, rowing the fishing boat with a load of less than two stones like a jumping barracuda.
"What do they want to do? Are they looking for death?" On the sentry ship, even Yang Xu, an amateur in water warfare, found that there was a big problem with the enemy general's command, and asked Han Qing with a frown.
As soon as he finished speaking, a fishing boat had already caught up to the side of the sentinel ship. The Liao sailors on the boat picked up the fly and wanted to throw it towards the sentinel ship.
Zhang Shouzhong, on the other hand, sneered and waved down his flag.
"Bang!" A two-foot-long racket stick, as thick as a human leg, fell from the air and hit the fishing boat in the middle.
In an instant, the fishing boat was smashed into a pile of broken boards.
