Yuan Hua commanded the warship to retreat calmly, as if everything was under control. When he first met the Chu army, he was still a little nervous. After several small-scale battles, all worries disappeared.
Just because the Zhao army completely crushed the Chu army's warships and equipment, as long as he was not stupid, he could not lose even if he narrowed his eyes.
Densely packed arrows fell on the hull of the ship, making a crackling sound as they collided and fell into the river feebly.
"Zhao Jun's warship is really made of copper. We can't shoot through it." Chu Jun was a little panicked. They couldn't threaten Zhao Jun, but Zhao Jun stood on the boat and was condescending, but he could easily shoot at them. Chu Jun kept coming.
Hit by an arrow and fell to the ground.
"How can copper float on water?" Xiong Hui's eyes were filled with disbelief, and his worldview was collapsing.
Under Zhao Jun's constant attacks, the Chu army could only retreat and find bunkers to avoid Zhao Jun's arrow rain.
"Charge into the Chu army's water stronghold!" Yuan Hua stood on the bow of the ship, split the gate in half with a sword, and led the Zhao army to rush in. When the Chu army saw this, they retreated continuously.
"Set fire and burn all the Chu army's water stronghold and warships." Yuan Hua said loudly.
Zhao Jun took out barrels of tung oil from the cabin and poured it on Chu Jun's water fort and warship. Chu Jun did not dare to approach Zhao Jun and was unwilling to fight Zhao Jun. After all, the camp belonged to Chu State, but
My life is my own, I can only let Zhao Jun pour oil on me.
Soon, a raging fire broke out in the Chu army's water stronghold.
The Zhao army sailed the warship out of the water stronghold. Once the Chu army dared to put out the fire, Zhao Jun would cover it with arrows. The Chu army could only hide aside and watch the water stronghold burn a little bit.
After the water stronghold and warships were almost burned, Yuan Hua led the fleet and left.
"No, Zhao Jun is heading upstream, please notify Peng Ze's navy quickly." Xiong Hui saw the direction Zhao Jun was leaving and shouted urgently.
In fact, he knew in his heart that with Zhao Jun's sailing speed, even if Chu Jun sent the news before Zhao Jun arrived, Peng Ze's navy would not have time to prepare.
But no matter what the result is, the attitude must be made.
After leaving the water village, Zhao Jun kept encountering patrolling Chu warships. At first, Zhao Jun would ram them no matter what kind of ship they were. Later, they would only ram them when they encountered tall ships. Zhao Jun had lost interest in ordinary boats.
The main reason is that there are already enough prisoners on the ship, and we can’t let them go anymore...
In the evening, Zhao Jun finally arrived at Pengze.
To be on the safe side, Yuan Hua did not order to rush into the Chu army's water stronghold. Instead, he fired a few waves of rockets from a distance and then retreated. The Chu army was so angry that he cursed the Zhao army, making his teeth itch with hatred.
The next morning, it was dawn, and there was still a light mist covering the river.
The Zhao army suddenly rushed into the Chu army's camp. Following Yuan Hua's order, barrels of tung oil were poured into the camp.
Although the Chu army was prepared, these soldiers who had only been recruited for a few days were no match for the elite Zhao army and were quickly defeated by the Zhao army.
Then, a raging fire broke out in Pengze Water Village.
"Brothers, call it a day and go back and report to the king." Yuan Hua stood on the bow of the ship and said loudly.
Zhao Jun burst into earth-shattering cheers and drove the warship out of the water stronghold.
…
Gusu City, once the capital of Wu State, has now become the temporary capital of Chu State.
An autumn rain made the warm city of Gusu complete the seasonal change overnight. The city was full of withered and yellow leaves, and the autumn wind howled, bringing some chilling atmosphere to Gusu.
There were very few pedestrians on the street, and even if there were any, they would pass by quickly with their heads lowered, their faces full of sadness.
Zhao Jun is coming soon!
In the temporary palace, King Chu sat quietly in front of the palace, looking at the fallen leaves flying in the wind in the courtyard.
A series of changes caused this former southern overlord to completely lose his former glory.
From the fall of Chen Ying to the present, in just a few months, the King of Chu has lost dozens of pounds, leaving only skin and bones, and the green hair on his head has turned into white hair.
"The sky is going to destroy our Chu country!" King Chu murmured. The destruction of the water stronghold was no different from the collapse of the sky to him.
He accepted that Zhao's cavalry and infantry were stronger than Chu's. After all, the Jin Dynasty had sent out strong troops since ancient times, and Zhao controlled the entire grassland. But why did Zhao have a stronger naval force than Chu?
Since ancient times, the navy has been exclusive to the south!
Without the navy and the Yangtze River's natural barrier, how could we fight Zhao with only the Chu State's strength in the south of the Yangtze River?
Are you going to surrender like this?
He is unwilling and unwilling!
Since he ascended the throne, under his leadership, the State of Chu conquered Yue, destroyed Lu, and conquered Qi. He recovered all the lost land from Qin, including the old capital and Shang Yu, pushing the territory of Chu State to the largest in history.
He could have become a once-in-a-thousand-year-old wise king of the Chu Kingdom, but now he has to become the king of the country's subjugation!
How could he accept this!
"A few years ago, I heard that Zhao State purchased some warships from Yue State, but I didn't take it seriously. Now that I think about it, Zhao State seems to have started planning from that time." Huang Xie said weakly.
More than ten years ago, the State of Zhao had just won the Battle of Changping, and was attacked by the five-nation coalition. The country was impoverished and the people were starving, and people died of starvation everywhere. Under such circumstances, it was not easy to protect the State of Zhao from being divided by other countries.
.
King Zhao not only pulled Zhao State out of the quagmire, but also began to plan the unification war more than ten years later!
Thinking again about King Zhao's unswerving help to Wei and South Korea, and the defection of Wei and Han troops on the battlefield, Huang Xie felt deep fear in his heart.
The gap between the two sides was so big that he didn't know how King Zhao did all this, and even if things came to light, he couldn't see the whole picture clearly.
"At that time, I only thought that King Zhao was young and promising, and that he could help Chu State share the pressure of Qin State with Chu State in the south and north. I didn't expect that now..." The corners of King Chu's mouth twitched twice, and he wanted to laugh but smiled again.
Not coming out.
If we knew that Zhao State could unify the world, we would have united with the other five countries to destroy Zhao State no matter what.
Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now...
In October, after Zhao Kuo pacified the Jianghuai area, he led his army to the north bank of the Yangtze River.
The Yangtze River during this period was wider than that of later generations. Warships traveling on the river looked only as big as a palm from a distance.
When Yuan Hua saw Zhao Kuo coming, he quickly ordered the warship to dock, walked quickly to Zhao Kuo, clasped his fists and saluted: "General, I will pay my respects to the king."
"Well done, King Chu may be very angry." Zhao Kuo patted Yuan Hua on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"The main reason is that our warships are better than Chu's warships, and the last general did not play a big role." Yuan Hua said sheepishly.
If he really relied on his own ability to win, Yuan Hua would have accepted Zhao Kuo's praise generously, but he completely relied on the strength of the warship to defeat the Chu army. Even if he replaced him, he would not be worse than him.
Where to go, Yuan Hua felt a little embarrassed.
"If you have good warships, you will naturally use them. Is it possible that you still have good warships, but you still need to use fishing boats to fight the Chu army? As long as you win, it will be your ability." Zhao Kuo said.
"Yes." Yuan Hua said loudly.
"All the warships, please come closer and start crossing the river." Zhao Kuo looked to the southeast.
The State of Qin has surrendered, and the three kingdoms of Qi, Wei, and Han are basically controlled by the State of Zhao, leaving only the strong backbone of the State of Chu.
It can be said that this battle was the last battle to unify the Central Plains.
"No." Yuan Hua cupped his fists and began to direct the warship to dock. Except for the personnel who controlled the warship, all other soldiers disembarked from the ship, leaving their positions to the cavalry and infantry.
In order to prevent the Chu army from attacking, Lian Po led the Xuanjia army to board the ship first and formed a defensive formation on the other side.
After the Xuanjia Army boarded the ship, other armies also began to board the ship one after another.
It was not until evening that all the more than 200,000 troops crossed the Yangtze River.
The Chu State did not send troops to harass, perhaps because they understood that even sending troops would be in vain. These recently recruited soldiers could not be a match for the elite Zhao army, so it was better to conserve their strength and defend the city.
On October 10th, Zhao Jun arrived outside Gusu City.
Zhao Kuo drove to the city gate and told the Chu army guarding the city that he wanted to see the King of Chu.
However, after the defenders reported the matter, they were rejected by the King of Chu.
"Alas, it seems that King Chu refused to surrender." Zhao Kuo sighed.
Refusing to talk means that there is no room for negotiation. Even if the battle is fought to the last soldier, the King of Chu will not surrender.
To be honest, Zhao Kuo didn't really want to fight this battle.
This is the only city left in the Chu Kingdom. Even meteorites falling from the sky cannot save it. If we continue to fight, there will be no change except for more casualties among soldiers and people.
"After all, the King of Chu is the hero who pushed the Chu Kingdom to its peak. Although there is an element of luck, it is enough to prove his ability. He must be extremely proud in his heart and would rather die in battle than live." Le Yi said.
Not everyone can accept being reduced from the king of a country to a prisoner. This huge contrast is enough to drive a person to death.
Just like some bosses in later generations would commit suicide by jumping off a building after going bankrupt, subjugation of the country is far worse than bankruptcy.
"Perhaps... he is expecting a miracle to happen." Tian Dan said, just like he was guarding Jimo back then. He knew that if he continued to guard, he would not be able to change the outcome, but he was still unwilling to give in and hoped for a miracle to come.
Sure enough, a miracle happened, King Yan Zhao died, and the war turned for the better.
Unfortunately, the State of Chu is not the State of Qi.
In other words, God has already favored Chu State, and cannot always favor Chu State.
"Send the order, and the whole army will set up camp, build siege equipment, and begin the siege in three days." Zhao Kuo turned around and returned to the military camp.
"Your Majesty, General Yan and Zhou have arrived at Yanling." At this time, the messenger reported.
Yanzhou originally followed Lecheng to attack Jingxiang, but encountered almost no effective resistance along the way. Occasionally, some unsighted ones appeared, but they were quickly put down by the Zhao army.
Half a month ago, Zhao Jun pacified Jingxiang and Lecheng stayed in Jiangling to garrison. Yan Zhou led the Shesheng Battalion to rush to Jiangdong to support Zhao Kuo.
"Okay, you came just in time." Zhao Kuo said happily.
As long as Tian Dan is there, the Shesheng Battalion is equivalent to a complete military soul army, and it is also super staffed.
Coupled with the crossbowmen, there are two long-range attack legions at the military soul level, which can easily suppress Gusu City.
…
In the city of Suzhou.
"My son, come here." King Chu pulled the prince to his side, pointed at Huang Xie and said, "Kneel down."
Xiong Han looked at King Chu in confusion.
"Your Majesty, why are you doing this?" Huang Xie said quickly.
"Kneel down." King Chu ignored Huang Xie, stared at Xiong Han sternly, and said again.
Plop!
Xiong Han quickly knelt down towards Huang Xie.
"Prince, get up quickly." Huang Xie quickly helped Xiong Han up.
But without the order of King Chu, Xiong Han did not dare to get up.
"Let him kneel down." King Chu pulled Huang Xie away, looked at his son and said, "Call Father Zhong."
"Father Zhong." Xiong Han shouted.
He was very dependent on Huang Xie and didn't hesitate even to call him Father Zhong.
The King of Chu had always been very strict with him. Once he did something wrong or failed to do something well, the King of Chu would punish him.
Whenever this happens, Huang Xie will stand up and protect him.
Huang Xie would also play with him and tell him stories.
Sometimes Xiong Han even wishes that Huang Xie would be his father.
"Kowtow." King Chu said.
Boom, boom, boom!
Xiong Han kowtowed three times without hesitation.
"Your Majesty..." Huang Xie looked at King Chu with a bad feeling in his heart.
"If this battle is defeated, the prince will entrust Chun Shenjun to take care of him. You take him and surrender to Zhao State. You do not ask to educate him to become a talent, but just want to live in peace for the rest of his life." King Chu paid his respects.
He knew very well that unless a miracle occurred, it would be impossible to defend Gusu City.
After he died for his country, if anyone could protect the prince, it was Huang Xie.
The two have known each other for more than 20 years. Although they are monarchs and ministers, they are actually brothers.
Only Huang Xie can make him trust him.
"Your Majesty!" Huang Xie knelt on the ground, "It is better to temporarily surrender to the Zhao Kingdom in order to make a comeback in the future."
"Prime Minister, there is no need to persuade me anymore. As a king, even if he cannot resist foreign enemies, he should die with his country. How can he be reduced to a prisoner and survive in this world." King Chu said solemnly.
The so-called comeback was nothing more than words of comfort given by Huang Xie to persuade him to live.
The State of Zhao was light on corvee and paid little in taxes, and was well-connected in government and people. The court and the local government worked together as one. After occupying the Jianghuai River, they quickly stabilized the local people and exempted them from taxes and taxes.
It won't be long before the people of Chu land will attach themselves to Zhao.
What can Chu do to make a comeback?
If the Zhao State was extremely tyrannical, imposed excessive taxes, and oppressed the people, the Chu State might be able to make a comeback, but such a Zhao State would not be able to keep him.
Even if you surrender, you will still die in the end.
It would be better to die with dignity.
"Father." Xiong Han knelt in front of King Chu and cried loudly.
"Live well." King Chu stroked his son's head, his eyes full of nostalgia.
Three days later, Zhao Jun officially began to attack the city.
"The archers are ready, and when the Zhao army approaches, they will release arrows immediately." King Chu stood at the top of the city, heard the sound of drums, and began to give orders.
At this moment, a sharp sound of breaking through the air came from a distance, and a dense rain of arrows rushed toward the city head like locusts, and the entire sky was covered by the rain of arrows.
"Your Majesty, get down quickly!" Seeing this, the guards rushed towards King Chu to protect him.
The arrow fell, and the guard was quickly shot into a sieve, and blood dripped on the face of King Chu.
King Chu was stunned.
If the guard had reacted any slower just now, he would have died.