On the cliff in the northwest corner of Baishaying, there is a tall sentry tower made of bluestone, called Jie Tower. This tower was built by Duke Dehuan, the first monarch of Ye State, and his people, and it has survived for thousands of years. To this day,
Soldiers still patrol the tower every day, rain or shine, day and night, always alert to threats from the sea.
On the top of the tower, there is also a whale horn that is more than ten feet long. It is said that this huge horn was polished from the long horn of the last narwhal in the world. The whale horn was used as a dowry back then.
Together with Bai Jiangxi's sister who married to Ye State, they came to the city. It was also from that time that Duke Huan of Dehuan "built towers and built hundreds of boats" and made the development of naval forces a national policy that Ye State had adhered to for all generations.
Create a formidable and powerful fleet.
This ancient horn is facing the direction of Mulu City. Once it is blown, it can be vaguely heard even in Xiyin City dozens of miles away. According to the national history of Ye State, for more than 1,800 years,
, the whale horn was only blown twice, once at the wedding ceremony of Duke Huan of De, and the other time when Duke Huan of De Huan passed away.
Although it has not been used for a long time, the Whale has been carefully maintained by dedicated personnel and has lasted for thousands of years. I don’t know what happened on the sea at this moment, but the guards on the Jie Tower blew the horn for the first time. The sound of the horn shook the sky and resounded throughout the world.
The entire Mulu City. And the sleeping people in the city were awakened by this and became panicked, but no one knew what happened outside the city.
Drunk, Ji Yan braved the heavy rain falling from the sky, untied the Wu Chen tied in front of the main entrance of Jia Yunzhai, turned over crookedly and rode up. The young man's legs were only slightly clamped, and the crotch was
The black horse galloped along Zitong Street like a sharp arrow off the string.
"Little Stutter, where are you going, Little Stutter? Come back here, I won't let you leave like this!"
Ning Yue also rushed into the rain, but she was still a step too late. The girl's hair and clothes were soaked in an instant, but she stood motionless in the middle of the street like a clay sculpture. Her tears mixed with the rain.
, accompanied by silent crying.
Unknowingly, the rain falling on her head was blocked by something. The girl looked back in embarrassment, and saw that Leng Jiayun had held up an oil-paper umbrella and silently appeared behind her, and then stuffed a roll of reins into herself.
In hands:
"Silly girl, if you want to chase me, I can lend you this horse in the store."
"Sister Jia - Little Stutterer has already promised the king that he is going to marry that Princess Di! He has never cared about my feelings, so what can I do if I chase him!"
Ning Yue said with a tearful voice, her eyes were filled with regret or hatred.
"Silly girl, if he doesn't care about you, how can he be so drunk? When a person is angry, even good words and words are just harsh noise. But if you don't even try it yourself, you will act so lightly.
If you give up, even if there is still room for recovery, I'm afraid it will be difficult to seize the opportunity."
The woman in purple stretched out her hand and wiped the tears from the girl's face.
"But, I don't know if the time is right now..."
"You will naturally understand when the boat reaches the bridge. But before that, you must take this step bravely. You also have to think about many things clearly. Carefully consider what you want to say to the other party and how to say it.
Otherwise, in the end, it will be you who will be sad and regretful."
The other party's comfort made Ning Yue gradually stop crying. The girl raised her head thoughtfully, looked in the direction where Jiang Yan left, and held the reins tightly in her hands.
The rain finally subsided. Xiang Baili, who had just arrived at the Baisha Camp, suddenly grabbed the reins of his horse and flew to the ground next to a stern docked on the shore. Looking at Jiang Yan, who had arrived earlier than him, he said in surprise : "You brat, why are you here?"
The black-eyed boy performed a standard military salute and took the reins from the other party: "My subordinate happened to be passing by nearby, but it's a long story..."
"We'll talk about it later. Do you know what kind of threat is there on the sea that would actually cause Jie Tower to blow the whale horn?"
General Qingyi smelled the still strong smell of alcohol on the child, and did not ask any more questions. Instead, he turned around and boarded the deck, looking up into the distance. He saw a vague fleet under the dark sea level in the distance. Coming to the ship. No lights were lit, but the leader of the Wupeng warship raised its full sail and was riding the west wind towards the shore at full speed.
"General Baili, the ships on the other side don't look like our country's standard. They didn't respond to the shore signals. I'm afraid they are coming with bad intentions..."
Jiangyan cupped his hands into fists and stood aside to report.
"Have you ever given a warning to order the other party to stop, or used any means to force them to turn?"
The man in green, who was always calm, frequently touched his chin with his hand and frowned slightly, as if he smelled a disturbing and strange smell from the oncoming sea breeze.
"Before the general arrived, I had sent someone to notify the governor, and ordered the stone cannons on both sides of the camp to be in position, and fired a volley at the channel in front of the incoming ship, aiming to frighten the other side."
"How did it work?"
"The incoming ship still went its own way, never lowered its sails to slow down, and had no intention of changing its course."
As he spoke, the fleet in the sea had arrived only six or seven miles away from the dock. Xiang Baili finally stopped hiding his nervousness, raised his hand and pointed at the hazy black shadow and decisively ordered:
"Immediately order all the stone cannons on the shore to fire another volley and use fire bombs to sink it outside the harbor. No ship can be allowed to continue approaching the camp!"
"But general, the other party has never had any offensive momentum so far. If a dispute rashly breaks out——"
After the military order was issued, Jiang Yan still hesitated. General Qingyi immediately waved his hand to prevent him from continuing:
"Among the twelve vassal states in the Great Ascension, only our country Ye and the Peng Kingdom far away in Zhangzhou can dispatch a fleet of this size! The unique kerosene of the Peng Kingdom is so powerful that even if the ships opposite are equipped with even a little bit of it, If we let it break in like this, all the warships anchored in the harbor may be in danger!"
The Pengguo fire oil mentioned by Xiang Baili is also called blue flame. According to legend, it was a black oil discovered by Pengguo Duke Yinghuai under the moon marsh at the east foot of the Qingying Mountains at the beginning of the Great Ascension Dynasty. Quality. The color of the flame generated by this oil is blue and purple. It is unquenchable when blown by the wind and unquenchable when poured by water. It is unique and unparalleled in the world.
The formula of Blue Flame has been the top secret of the Peng Kingdom for thousands of years, and only successive princes can know it. Legend has it that the process of making the oil is also extremely complicated and the cost is high. However, because of its great power, it was not discovered until 60 years ago. After the Di Rebellion ended, Fang began large-scale refining with the support of the imperial court.
Every year, countless crude oils collected from dozens of oil mills in Moon Marsh are sealed in oak barrels and transported by water and land in batches to Zeyin City for refining, and then distributed to the boat divisions and landmen in the main roads of the Peng Kingdom's large and small cities. The divisions and battalions have become powerful weapons that the princes and princes are quite afraid of. Therefore, even though the six southeastern countries have been at war with each other for more than ten years, even Weiliang and Chengguo, the most powerful countries, dare not rush to the north.
At this moment, the stone bullets used by the stone cannons on the shore were tied with rattan soaked in oil. After lighting the fire, the stone bullets with dazzling light and thick black smoke went straight towards the nearby
Flying on top of the fleet. Under a salvo, dozens of arc-shaped traces of light appeared in the night sky, like meteors all over the sky.
The enemy flagship that bore the brunt of the attack was shot through the thick canvas on the spot. The flaming stone bullets then fell and crashed through the watertight compartment below the deck. As expected by Xiang Baili, the invading ship immediately jumped into the air.
A burst of blue-purple flames. As more ships were ignited by the flames, even the sky above the outer harbor was reflected in a strange purple color, and the entire bay suddenly became brighter, as if it were daytime.
The fire quickly spread across the ships. Only a short moment later, several loud rumblings were heard, and the entire fleet exploded violently under everyone's gaze!
However, no one expected that the hull of the fleet opposite was actually stuffed with boxes of caltrops. In the sound of explosions, the hundred-foot giant ships turned into large and small fragments, wrapped in blue
The flaming caltrops were like heavy rain, flying in all directions, as if countless fireworks were lit in the dark night to kill people.
Like a rain of fire falling from the sky, countless caltrops fell straight from mid-air to the shore. Fortunately, the order to attack Baili was issued in time, the explosion was still far away from the camp, and 90% of the caltrops fell into the sea. Only
Several gondolas and high-rise boats moored in the pier were slightly affected. Otherwise, the entire harbor would have been plunged into a huge disaster.
The blue-purple fire burned on the sea all night, and it was gradually extinguished as the enemy ships sank at dawn. Before that, Xiang Baili had already sent General Yan back to the palace. He himself stood on the shore.
The whole night, I watched the sea of fire in the distance in trance.
As soon as the sky dawned, General Qingyi sent his deputy from the Baisha Camp, Mi Ziyan, and led thirty soldiers with excellent water skills to go out to sea on a barge to search for clues in the wreckage that had sunk under the water. Now he
I waited anxiously on the shore, and when the other party returned to the shore, I immediately went to meet him.
"The general expected it to be true. These ships were indeed prepared for a sneak attack at night. Apart from wooden barrels containing blue flames and caltrops, no other weapons were seen in the cabins. From the wreckage that sank to the bottom of the sea, it was finally discovered that
The general also found this thing."
As the lieutenant spoke, he raised a fist-sized metal buckle bowl in his hand to Xiang Baili's eyes. The buckle bowl had been somewhat deformed in the fire, but the overall shape could still be distinguished.
"The fine iron rudder chain is indeed made by the skilled craftsmen of Zhangzhou. It seems that the big ship leading it is indeed the Pengguo Wuya Ship. But the Pengguo is obviously far away on the east coast of the mainland. Even if it wants to fight, it should be
Cheng Guo is our opponent, so why bother traveling all the way around Lancang Ocean to come to Ye State for a sneak attack that has no chance of winning..."
General Tsing Yi stared at the strange-shaped buckle bowl and gradually became lost in thought, muttering to himself.
The so-called rudder chain is a mechanism installed on the rudder blade of the ship. Using it, the height of the rudder position of the seagoing ship can be determined according to the depth of the waterline. The land between Pengguo and Chengguo originated from Tuori Peak.
Lingshui River, the third largest river in the upper reaches, is the boundary. The river bed of Lingshui is shallow, and the surrounding areas of Moon Marsh are crisscrossed by river branches, bays and lakes. In order to facilitate ships entering the river, skilled craftsmen made such a unique device. When the water is deep, it will
The rudder blades are lowered to control the wind and waves, and when the water is shallow, they are raised to sail into rivers and lakes.
After pondering for a moment, Xiang Baili continued to ask: "Have you ever caught anyone alive?"
"General, not only did I salvage the flags with the shark pattern hanging on these ships, but I also found many items with the Ying family emblem in their cabins. But - not even one prisoner, but even one
No body was found. Moreover, there was no food, grass or fresh water left in the cabin by the Pengguo army."
Mi Ziyan's answer made Xiang Baili, who was always steady, couldn't help but stare:
"Are you saying that these ships are completely unmanned and are empty ships?"
"The other party deliberately planned a sneak attack at night. Maybe they all disembarked early?"
"This is impossible. The wind blew from the southeast in the first half of the night yesterday, and it did not turn to the northwest until after midnight. How could the other party raise the full sail when no one was around, not only bypassing the long coastline and just right
Floating near the coast, can it accurately sail against the wind towards our port? Moreover, only one five-tooth ship can carry more than two hundred people. It was only a matter of time for me to order the stone cannon to attack. I wanted to leave all of them.
It’s not easy to build a ship…”
Xiang Baili shook his head, it seemed that the method of this sneak attack was beyond his understanding.
Seeing this, the expression on Mi Ziyan's face became solemn: "General Baili, I also noticed something, I don't know whether to talk about it or not."
"But there's no harm in talking."
"There seemed to be many scars on the ship fragments that could be found, as if they had experienced a fierce battle not long ago and were so easily penetrated by stone cannons. Even among the soldiers who followed the general to explore, there were also some
Rumors spread that this was actually the work of a sea monster. Although the general has stopped it, the rumors are hard to suppress and may shake the morale of the army."
"This matter is indeed a bit tricky, especially at this time..."
Xiang Baili also showed a trace of uneasiness on his face. However, before he finished speaking, he saw an ink crow fluttering down in front of him. The dark red bird's feet were tied with black and gold double-stranded silk threads.
The mark is the messenger crow used in the palace to deliver letters.
Xiang Baili stretched out his hand and pulled out a roll of silk from the thin bamboo tube next to the bird's feet. He turned his back, unfolded it, glanced at it, and immediately ordered someone to bring Mo Yun Taxue, who was tied to the side:
"The news spreads really fast. Immediately order the three battalions of Weiyu, Benhai, and Qiusi to be on alert, repair the damaged ships, and be ready for war at any time!"
"Going to fight—could it be that the king already knows about it?"
There has been no war in Ye State for a long time. Although the young lieutenant often leads his team to patrol the sea, he has never been involved in a decent battle, and his face can't help but show some worry.
"The Governor didn't know where he got the news that the incoming ships belonged to the Peng Kingdom Marine Division. He reported it to the king this morning, and even proposed to attack the Peng Kingdom by land and water at the same time to preemptively strike. But now.
Now there are many doubts. If the sneak attack last night was carried out by someone under the guise of Pengguo, starting a war will definitely drag Yeguo into a quagmire of eternal disaster! I will rush into the palace to argue with him, but if I can't convince the king
, the army may leave at any time!"
As he spoke, Baili flew up onto his horse and galloped away without looking back.
Only then did Mi Ziyang realize that this matter was far more serious than he thought, and he immediately returned to the camp to count the troops. As the military drums sounded, the entire Baisha Camp under the camp gate,
It was like a giant beast waking up from its sleep, ready to move.
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