A stone bullet the size of a millstone fell from the sky and hit the lake in front of a Chu warship, causing a wave of water several feet high.
Suddenly, the Chu warship shook violently, and the Chu soldiers on the ship clung to the railings for fear of falling into the water.
However, before the soldiers on the boat could take a breath, one of the soldiers was heard exclaiming: "Here we go again! Here we go again!"
Everyone subconsciously raised their heads and saw a small dot faintly appearing in the sky in front of them. Then, the small dot gradually became larger and larger in their sight.
"No...no..."
"No--"
Amid the panicked shouts of the Chu soldiers, the second stone bullet the size of a millstone hit the middle of the Chu warship with a loud bang. The Chu soldiers on the ship only felt a violent tremor.
"The ship is sinking, the ship is sinking!"
Amidst the exclamations of more than a dozen Chu soldiers, the rest of the soldiers looked intently at the middle of the ship. Only then did they realize that the stone bullet had actually interrupted the entire ship and smashed it into two pieces.
The thousands of people on board shouted loudly, jumped into the lake first, and swam desperately to the friendly ships on both sides.
Under his leadership, the Chu soldiers on the ship jumped off the ship one after another and fled, as if they were like dumplings that had been cooked out of the pot.
But even so, some Chu soldiers still moved a little slower. These people were either swept to the bottom of the lake by the vortex formed when the ship sank, or their heads were covered by the sailboat, dragging them to the bottom of the lake together.
"Help...save me!"
"Someone come and give me a hand..."
"No, no..."
The soldiers shouted loudly and tried to seek help, but in the end, they could not be rescued.
Hearing the cry for help from behind, the soldiers who had jumped off the ship earlier looked back and saw with their own eyes that the sinking ship was pulling their comrades, slowly and slowly, sinking under the water.
After a while, the lake returned to calm again, with only some broken wood still floating on the lake.
"Gu..."
The Chu soldiers who were lucky enough to escape the disaster swallowed their saliva with lingering fear.
If they hadn't escaped quickly, they would have sunk to the bottom of the lake to feed the fish and shrimps like those unlucky Tong Ze.
"Is this the power of Wei's warships?"
"The terrifying power..."
"With just one blow, a warship was sunk..."
The soldiers of the Chu army floating on the lake looked at the dozens of Wei army warships in the distance, which were a mile away from them, with horrified eyes. They felt cold all over their bodies.
"hateful!"
On a flagship, Di Yangjun Xiong Li punched the railing of the ship with his fist bitterly. Especially when he heard the faint cheers coming from the Wei army warship in the distance, he felt angry in his heart.
More and more prosperous.
Too arrogant!
It's so arrogant!
Di Yangjun Xiong Li clenched his fists.
But immediately, he relaxed his fists again, and there was a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
Today is not the first time that he has dealt with the Huling navy of the Wei Kingdom on the opposite side. In fact, the two sides have competed several times. As for the battle situation... His warships of the Chu Kingdom, let alone defeating the Huling navy on the opposite side, cannot even deal with them.
The other party poses a threat.
At a long distance, that is, about a mile away, Wei's warships will use the trebuchets mounted on their ships to attack. Although the hit rate of the trebuchets is very low, so low that the Chu army's generals
I secretly rejoiced, but I couldn't withstand the power of this kind of war weapon. Once it happened, it would directly destroy a warship.
I heard that the soldiers and generals of the Wei State called this combat method "God's Will Tactics". Literally speaking, it depends entirely on God's will. If you are not lucky, you will waste a lot of stone bullets. But if you are lucky, it will be a waste of stone bullets.
Sunk an entire ship.
What made the Chu soldiers feel aggrieved was that at such a distance, they had no means of counterattack.
Since the Wei army cannot be attacked from a long distance, it is better to close the distance. In the first battle, this is what Xiong Li, Lord of Diyang, did.
But he never expected that when his Chu warship came within a hundred feet of the Wei ship, the Wei ship would immediately use its second war weapon - the Wei machine repeating crossbow.
The range of Wei's machine-operated crossbow is not as far as the trebuchet, but its accuracy is much more accurate than the trebuchet. Ten iron arrows as thick as fingers can hit at least six or seven. Plus this kind of
The power of the serial crossbow at mid-range is no less than that of the trebuchet, and it is also capable of sinking Chu warships. This caused huge losses to the warships led by Xiong Li, Lord of Diyang.
Don't think that Wei's warships can show off their power only at long and medium distances. In fact, the most terrifying combat effectiveness of Wei's Huling Navy is at close range within a few dozen feet. At this distance
, the Wei army could not only rely on the crossbowmen on the ship to kill the soldiers on the Chu ship with covered arrow rain, but also use the improved machine crossbow box to completely block the possibility of the Chu army trying to board the Wei ship for hand-to-hand combat.
Simply impeccable!
How to fight this?
After several battles with each other, Xiong Li, Lord of Diyang, finally realized a truth: the Huling navy of Wei State on the opposite side was too terrifying and could not be defeated by his navy at all.
After understanding this, he completely gave up his plan to defeat the Wei army on the opposite side, and just hung the Wei warships from a distance to monitor their every move.
However, the Wei ships on the opposite side were too arrogant. After realizing that the Chu warships could not pose any threat to them, they repeatedly took the initiative to provoke them. From time to time, they suddenly launched attacks and fired several stone bullets at the Chu warships.
If you miss, you'll be fine. If you're lucky enough to hit, you'll definitely hear the cheers from the Wei warships on the opposite side.
It’s so deceiving!
"Li Huo, you son of a bitch!"
Looking at the general flag with the word "Li" flying on the Wei army's warship opposite, Di Yangjun Xiong Li cursed in a low voice.
"A...A...Ache!"
Opposite the Chu navy led by Diyang Jun Xiong Li, Li Huo, the general of the Huling navy, stood on the flagship and rubbed his itchy nose.
Then he smiled and said: "Xiong Li opposite is probably gnashing his teeth and cursing me."
Hearing this, all the Wei soldiers on the ship laughed.
Or a soldier asked out of curiosity: "General, do you have any grudge against that Xiong Li?"
"Qiu?" Li Huo asked in confusion, "Why do you ask that?"
The soldier snickered and said, "Look, you have almost forced the Chu army to land in the past few days..."
"Ha ha ha ha."
Li Huo laughed. Then he looked back at the trebuchet loaded on the ship and said with a smile: "It's just to test the power of these weapons in actual combat. Don't you want to try it?"
The nearby Wei soldiers and generals glanced at each other and couldn't help laughing.
Indeed, this is like someone getting a sharp sword. They must cut something to try the sword. But unfortunately, although there have been simulated battles within the Huling Navy in the past, the most they are
It was just a simulation of a boarding battle, and there was no chance to use the trebuchet and machine-operated crossbow. After all, these two war weapons were so powerful that even the Wei Army's Tiger warships could not withstand a few hits.
Therefore, the soldiers and generals of the Huling Navy were inevitably itchy in their hearts, and they wished they could personally operate the terrifying weapons on board. However, it made them feel physically painful to hit the lake with these weapons, so they kept holding back until
This time, Chu's warships broke into Weishan Lake, finally giving the Huling navy something to test their war weapons.
For this reason, the two generals, Li Huo and Chen Si, have been chasing the fleet of Diyang Jun Xiong Li these days, from the Huling of Weishan Lake and the waters of Tengdi, southward for more than thirty miles, all the way to "Liu County"
The water area was not enough, and the Chu navy was almost forced out of Weishan Lake and back to Si River.
It must be said that the behavior of the Huling navy was indeed arrogant, and it was no wonder that Diyang Jun Xiong Liqi was so angry.
Just when the Wei soldiers on Li Huo's flagship were happily preparing to entertain the Chu fleet in the distance again, suddenly several soldiers hurried from the stern to the bow and said to Li Huo: "General, Chen
The sentinel ship under General Si sent a message with a flag, asking my fleet to move closer to him."
"Huh?"
Li Huo was stunned and quickly ran to the stern of the ship. Sure enough, he saw a stern following his fleet. There was a soldier on the stern holding a black and red flag and waving it constantly.
"Huling...urgent report, request...return..."
Li Huo squinted his eyes and murmured to himself while interpreting the flag language: "Could it be that Cai Qinhu and Zhou Kui and the others can't hold on anymore?"
Thinking of this, he no longer wanted to play with the fleet of Diyang Lord Xiong Li in the distance, and immediately ordered: "Contact all our warships and return immediately."
"yes!"
With an order, Li Huo's dozen Tiger warships and dozens of escort ships quickly turned around and returned to the north.
When he returned to the middle of Weishan Lake, he saw Chen Si's fleet docked in the middle of the lake. He didn't know whether they were blocking the lake or waiting for him.
The two sides issued flags, and immediately, the flagships of Li Huo and Chen Si gradually moved closer. Then, the soldiers of the two armies used ropes and poles to park the two flagships side by side, and finally laid the treads.
"Li Huo."
Chen Si, a general from the Beibo Army, pedaled to Li Huo's boat and said to the latter: "I just received an urgent report from Huling. Cai Qinhu, Zhou Kui and the others asked you and me to retreat immediately.
Retreat to Dingtao along the Lianglu Canal."
"What?"
Li Huo was shocked when he heard this.
You must know that Song County has the weakest defense force among all the war zones in the Wei State. Except for the Huling Navy, which can be regarded as the first echelon, the rest of the garrison troops are either the county troops of various counties or the nobles of the Wei State.
Compared with the elite divisions such as the Shang Shui Army, Yanling Army, and Wei Wu Army, the strength of the private army is completely different.
However, the enemy that Song County faced this time could be regarded as the most powerful in all war zones. Li Huo originally thought that Zhao Run, the monarch of Wei State, would send elites to join the battle one after another, but he did not expect that the situation would be exactly the opposite.
"Your Majesty...do you want to give up on Song County?"
Li Huo frowned and said.
"Cough." Chen Si coughed, interrupting Li Huo's guess.
After being reminded by Chen Si, Li Huo realized that what he said was inappropriate, but he immediately changed his words and said: "What I mean is that once we withdraw, Song County will no longer have an army that can stop Chu..."
In fact, there are still some defense forces in Song County, such as the county troops in each county. The number of these county troops is based on the specifications of the county, that is, several hundred people in small counties, more than a thousand in small and medium-sized counties, and one thousand to two thousand in medium-sized counties.
, more than two thousand in Zhongshang County, and then
In large counties like Dingtao and Changyi, there are about 3,000 to 5,000 local troops. These troops are mainly responsible for daily security, that is, anti-theft, city defense, suppression of thieves, etc. If faced with the Chu State,
An army of one hundred thousand is almost powerless.
In addition, they are the private armies of royal families and nobles such as Chengling King Zhao Shen.
In recent years, in order to find something to do for the nobles and family forces in the country to prevent them from exploiting the country's loopholes, King Zhao Run of Wei negotiated with the inner court and contracted some domestic projects to these nobles.
For example, Zhao Shen, King of Chengling, has been responsible for building a Chi Road from Dingtao to Changyi to Rencheng in the past two years. According to the requirements of the imperial court, this Chi Road must be an official road with a width of five feet.
In addition, the two-lane rail carriage is used to improve the transportation between Song County, Liang County and Yingshui County.
As for the remuneration, including the cost of building this Chi Road, the imperial court did not give Chengling King Zhao Shen a single copper coin. However, after the Chi Road was completed, the court promised Chengling King Zhao Shen to "own" the Chi Road for a certain period of time, such as about ten years.
In these ten years, Chengling King Zhao Shen could install several checkpoints on this road to collect tolls - of course, the specific amount of this toll must be reported to the imperial court and approved by the imperial court.
In addition, if merchants need to use this track carriage, they will also need to pay a certain fee to Chengling King Zhao Shen.
But after ten years, King Chengling Zhao Shen must dedicate this road to the country free of charge.
For this decree, the imperial court and Chengling King Zhao Shen have made careful calculations, and both parties have benefited: for the imperial court, it is a waste of time, and even within this ten-year period, the imperial court does not even need to maintain it, as there is Chengling.
Wang Zhaoshen did it all; and for Chengling King Zhaoshen, within ten years after the completion of this Chi Road, he could fully recover the cost, and even have several times the surplus.
As soon as this decree came out, the nobles of the Wei State immediately became aware of the news and hoped to contract the construction of a section of road. After all, this kind of thing can not only get a good reputation but also make a lot of money. It is simply a very profitable thing.
.
As a result, the nobles of Wei State flocked to Song County.
As for the private armies of various nobles, they are not actually responsible for the local security of Song County. They are only responsible for the construction and maintenance of their own road.
Just like Zhao Anding, the Marquis of Shangliang who helped Suiyang County defend the city a while ago, he was previously responsible for building a "Dingtao-Mengxian-Suiyang" Chi Road. However, the Wei-Chu War broke out, so the Song Dynasty
Road construction in the county has basically been suspended, and private armies of Wei nobles such as Shang Liang Marquis Zhao Anding also participated in resisting Chu's attack at the request of the court.
Compared with the county armies in the counties within Song County, in fact the private armies of Chengling King Zhao Shen, Shangliang Marquis Zhao Anding and others were superior in number, but their strength was, to be honest, barely adequate. After all, the private armies of the Wei nobles
The army followed the main force of Wei in several battles, and its role was
They are just icing on the cake, either cleaning up the battlefield, or temporarily guarding the city captured by the Wei army. To put it bluntly, they are just attacking the Wei army. If they really fight against the armies of other countries, to be honest, their results will probably not be good.
How much better.
Because he knew the inside story, Li Huo couldn't understand the order from Tiance Mansion: Their Huling navy retreated to Dingtao, what would Song County do? Just rely on the county troops in each county within Song County, plus
Can the private armies of various nobles withstand hundreds of thousands of Chu troops?
Those hundreds of thousands of Chu troops were not only food and soldiers, but also the elites from Chudong region of Chu State!
That night, Li Huo and Chen Si led the fleet back to Huling Water Village, and unexpectedly saw Li Ji's fleet also anchored in the water village.
"Li Qi is back too?"
Li Huo said in surprise.
As far as he knew, Li Wei, Cai Qinhu, and Zhou Kui were responsible for patrolling Weishan Hubei Lake in shifts during this period to guard against the army from the Lu State, while he and Chen Si were responsible for patrolling Weishan Hunan Lake.
Of course, those on guard were the naval forces led by Xiong Li, Lord Diyang of Chu State.
It can be seen from this that the Huling navy, which has received strong support from the Luoyang court and the Daliang Smelting Bureau in recent years, is indeed powerful. Even if half of the force is deployed, it can still defeat the Chu navy.
Regrettably, although they had an advantage in the water battle, the situation on land was not very optimistic.
After a while, Li Huo and Chen Si arrived at the handsome tent in the water village.
At this time, in the commander's tent, Li Qian, Cai Qinhu, and Zhou Kui had been waiting for a long time. After a few words of greeting, the two sides talked about the orders of Tiance Mansion.
Li Huo took the lead and said: "Guys, do we really want to abandon Huling, retreat to Dingtao, and hand over the entire Song County to the Chu army?"
After hearing this, Zhou Kui said calmly: "There is nothing we can do about it. Although our army can completely suppress the Chu army in the water battle, on land... To be honest with you, during these days, General Cai and I
It’s very difficult to defend the ground.”
Li Huo was stunned. Only then did he notice that Cai Qinhu's open lapel seemed to be wrapped with a blood-stained bandage.
Perhaps noticing Li Huo's gaze, Cai Qinhu coughed and said, "It's nothing. Those cowards from the Chu State are just relying on the strength of their numbers. Although our army is not as powerful as the Chu Army, the Chu Army can't even think of doing that."
Capture Huling easily..."
Hearing this, Chen Si frowned and asked, "Where is Pei County? Is it lost?"
There was silence in the tent. After a while, Cai Qinhu said depressedly: "We were captured by Xiang Mo and there was no time to rescue..."
Li Huo and Chen Si looked at each other and remained silent.
They knew that it was not so much that Cai Qinhu had no time to rescue, but that he was unable to rescue. After all, the strength of the Huling navy lay in water warfare. As for land warfare, it was nothing compared to the Chu army, which easily numbered hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands.
opponent?
After a moment of silence, Li Qian said in a deep voice: "Pei County is lost, and it will be my turn to Huling County next. I will not deny that it is the order of Tiance Mansion. Even if our army is firmly rooted in Huling, it will still be difficult in the end."
To avoid being overwhelmed by the Chu army, why not conserve your strength and temporarily avoid the Chu army’s edge?”
Having said this, he glanced at Zhou Kui and continued: "I read the secret letter sent by Tiance Mansion. In this secret letter, Tiance Mansion borrowed a sentence from His Majesty, "Take back your fist, yes
In order to punch more powerfully next time... I hope General Li Huo will put the overall situation first."
"Retract your fist to punch more powerfully next time?"
Li Huo tasted these words carefully, and his restless mood gradually calmed down.
After a moment, he raised his head and asked in a somewhat expectant tone: "So, the Tiance Mansion ordered our army to withdraw to Dingtao. Is there some deep meaning in it?"
Zhou Kui did not disappoint Li Huo. He nodded and said seriously: "That's right!... In fact, our army will not be stationed in Dingtao for a long time."
After that, he made a mouth shape silently.
Seeing the mouth movements made by Zhou Kui, Li Huo and Chen Si were shocked, and there was a surge of excitement in their hearts for no reason.
"Any more questions?"
Li Ji looked around at the four generals Cai Qinhu, Zhou Kui, Li Huo and Chen Si in the tent.
I saw these four generals looking at each other and shaking their heads.
Seeing this, Li Ji lowered his voice and said: "In this case, without further delay, we will take action tonight and withdraw the entire army!"
"yes!"
Cai Qinhu, Zhou Kui, Li Huo and Chen Si responded with clasped fists.
At midnight that night, the warships of the Huling navy sailed out of the water village one after another and headed north.
As the warship sailed away from the water stronghold, there was certainly a lot of movement, so it was inevitable that the Chu army's scouts would discover it.
Just two hours later, Xiang Mo, the Chu general stationed in Pei County, received the relevant news.
"Is there any unusual movement in the Wei army in Huling?"
Xiang Mo was very surprised when he learned about this.
The first thing he thought of was that the Huling navy might sneak attack Pei County. After all, during this period, he had several battles with Wei generals Zhou Kui, Cai Qinhu and others, so he knew that the Wei army was very tough.
That is to say, Peixian County is separated from Weishan Lake by more than ten miles. Otherwise, the Huling navy would have come over in warships.
"The Wei army made strange movements late at night, so they must have some agenda."
After thinking about it, Xiang Mo immediately found the march map to see where the Wei army might attack.
But after much deliberation, he couldn't come up with any clues, and instead became more and more confused.
It's no wonder that he couldn't guess the truth. After all, the Huling Wei army's counterattack during this period was very tough. Therefore, when the Huling navy suffered almost no casualties, how could Xiang Mo guess that this navy would abandon Huling?
?
In order to be cautious, Xiang Mo stayed up all night. While sending people to continue to monitor the activities in Huling, he was waiting for news from other Chu armies. If any Chu army was attacked, he could provide immediate assistance.
.
But until daybreak, he did not receive any news that his own army was attacked. Instead, he received news that he could not believe: warships from the Huling navy of Wei State were continuously sailing out of the water stronghold and heading north.
And go.
"No way? Abandoning the defense of Huling?"
Even Xiang Mo couldn't guess the Wei army's intention at this moment, so he stood still until daybreak, when the Huling navy burned the water stronghold and the people of Huling County rushed to flee. Only then did he confirm his intention.