Laizhou Bay is adjacent to Bohai Bay.

However, this does not mean that it is very close to the Bohai Sea from Laizhou Bay Port.

The two places are separated by more than 200 kilometers, and it would take more than 500 miles to go there by the coast.

But one thing you may not know is that the level of shipbuilding in the Han Dynasty was already very advanced, and large ships emerged in endlessly.

Not only can these ships carry a large number of people, but their speed is also very slow. For example, ordinary boats and ships can sail on the Yangtze River at a speed of more than 20 kilometers per hour.

It's just that this kind of speed is usually a small speed boat, and it must go with the wind and the current. If the wind is against the wind, the speed will be very slow. For example, "Chaoxi White Emperor's colorful clouds, thousands of miles to Jiangling can be returned in one day" is a typical representative.

Because the ships of the Han Dynasty had oars, rudders, and oars, there were no wheels or oars yet.

The so-called wheel paddles are vehicles and ships from the Tang and Song Dynasties. They are propelled by human power like bicycles, which can greatly increase the speed of the ship when sailing.

Therefore, the sailing speed of large ships during the Han Dynasty was generally 3-6 knots (1 knot is equal to 1.85 kilometers), which is about 5-11 kilometers per hour.

And 6 knots is already a time of super strong tailwind. According to records, under normal windless conditions, the speed of the ship is only slightly faster than the average person walking. The average speed of 4-5 kilometers per hour is normal.

By the Song Dynasty, the sailing speed of ships had increased significantly, with the average speed being 4-8 knots per hour, and it could even reach about 10-12 knots in the case of super strong tailwinds.

This speed was already the world's top level at the time, and its navigation capabilities were greatly improved.

Liu Bei is currently the only prince in the Eastern Han Dynasty who owns wheeled ships, which means that Qingzhou's shipbuilding industry has reached the level of the Song Dynasty.

This is due to Qingzhou’s encouragement of innovation, many practices and inventions.

The keel waterwheel invented by Ma Jun can be transplanted to a ship. As for how to redesign the hull and how to improve the structural style, it is natural to explore step by step over many years.

However, strictly speaking, these ships still do not have ocean-going capabilities. Even if they have traveled to North Korea and Japan many times, and have even gone north to Sakhalin Island, it is because Chen Mu provides a short-distance route and takes coastal and offshore routes.

The risk of going ocean-going is too great. Even if you want to go to Japan, you have to take the nearest sea route from the Korean Peninsula, sail from Busan Port to Tsushima Island, and then enter Hakata Bay from Tsushima Island to easily reach it. If you set off directly from Qingzhou

If you go to Japan, the possibility of capsizing is extremely high.

Therefore, in fact, Qingzhou's shipping industry was only ahead of the entire Han Dynasty, not how powerful it was.

But even so, it's already amazing.

At least at that time, other places except the Roman Empire were mostly primitive tribes. It can be said that they were ahead of their time by countless eras.

Due to the developed maritime trade between Qingzhou and Youzhou, Gongsun Zan would transport cattle and sheep from the north to Qingzhou through the port in Quanzhou (Tianjin), and Qingzhou would transport wine, grain, and salt to Youzhou for mutual trade.

There are frequent exchanges between the two places, and the sailors have long been familiar with each other.

Offshore and with favorable winds, eight large Qingzhou ships sailed northward at a speed of about 6-7 knots per hour, heading for the Bohai Bay, where they launched a plan to rescue the soldier Gongsun Zan.

If you sail day and night, no matter how slow your speed is, you can reach the outlet of the Hutuo River within twenty-four hours a day.

Some people may say, is eight ships too few?

But in addition to the eight large ships, there are also twenty medium-sized ships accompanying them. According to modern naval regulations, this is equivalent to eight large cruisers, twenty medium-sized destroyers, and more than fifty side ships.

, Luradi and other small boats can be used as small frigates.

Although the large ships in Qingzhou are not as good as the later giant building ships in the Soochow period that can carry more than 3,000 people, each of them can carry more than 1,000 people. Together with 20 medium-sized ships and more than 50 small ships, it can carry about two people.

It's basically enough for more than 10,000 people.

The wind at sea is far more violent than the wind on land. You won't know how strong the wind is when you don't go to the seaside. The wind howls, making the sails and the flags on the ship rattle, and they sway slowly along the way.

However, there is an advantage to the offshore sea, that is, the same wind speed may stir up several meters of waves in the open sea, but not in the offshore sea.

The height of the waves is related to the wind speed and sea water depth. When the wind speed is the same, there will only be strong waves in the offshore, but there will be no situation where the waves are high enough to overturn the ship. In addition, it is semi-tailwind, and the route is very familiar.

, the ship was full of energy and headed north.

After traveling rapidly for a day and night, the ships arrived first and arrived at the outlet of the Hutuo River.

After all, ships don't need to rest. Sailors work in three shifts, sailing day and night. When there are fixed routes, the roads are smoother than land routes.

At this time, Gongsun Zan was still at the crossing of the Hutuo River, which was about thirty miles away from the sea. The spies from the Military Intelligence Department told him by land that Liu Bei would come to pick him up from the sea. As a result, the spies were riding faster than the others.

Liu Bei took the boat here.

After arriving at the outlet of the Hutuo River, all the ships dropped their anchors far away from the coast. Without a port, they rashly docked and either hit the rocks or ran aground. There would be no third result.

Immediately afterwards, the four small boats hanging on both sides of the big ship, as well as the boats hanging on the left and right of the medium-sized ship, were lowered one after another.

Boats such as Xiandeng, Zouge, and Luradi are small troop carriers that can transport thirty or forty soldiers at a time. Ships and fighting ships are medium-sized ships that can transport hundreds of troops at a time.

It is a large ship that can transport two to three thousand troops at a time.

Because small boats such as walking boats and Luradi boats are not large, they are about twice the size of ordinary assault boats in later generations. Therefore, they can be hung on the left and right sides of a large ship or tied behind the ship and towed.

In history, when the Red Cliff was burned, Zhou Yu tied hundreds of small boats such as galleons and lunar boats to dozens of stern boats. After fighting the ships, he placed a large amount of firewood ointment on the ships and used red cloth to camouflage them.

Cao Cao's serial boats burned Cao Cao's navy completely.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! It can be seen that suspending large ships and towing small boats have been very common in ancient times.

The soldiers of the Ship Guards and Liu Bei and Chen Mu docked in a small boat.

The sea breeze in early spring is whistling, the waves are rolling on the sea, and there are many rocks on the shore. If a big ship approaches, they will all sink here.

Chen Mu looked around and found that the trees here were dense and the vegetation was growing wildly, especially the numerous basil and weeds on both sides of the river bank. He nodded and said, "Yes, this is a good place."

Liu Bei wondered: "The vegetation here is too lush, which makes it very unfavorable for marching and fighting. Even if you want to ambush, the ships in the distance cannot hide you. If you want to pick up Gongsun Zan, you may be seen by others. What kind of good place is it?"

Chen Mu waved his hand and signaled the soldiers of the ship guard to move the boxes of incendiary bottles ashore, and added: "A good place to set fire to."

Liu Bei: "..."

The fourth brother still loves to set fires.

The boat drifted, and several horses were sent down. These horses have been professionally trained and will be blindfolded in the cabin to adapt to the bumps of the big ship.

The scout mounted his horse and headed west quickly.

Chen Mu arranged an ambush and waited until Gongsun Zan's troops arrived. If there were pursuers, he would greet them with Molotov cocktails, which would definitely be enough for Yuan Shao to drink a pot.

At the crossing of the Hutuo River, Gongsun Zan camped on the spot. He looked across the river restlessly. During this period, he cut down trees, built a large number of rafts, and tried to cross the river in the middle of the night to attack, but was defeated.

The current situation is that Yan Liang's tribe is intercepting the ferry in front, and there are Yuan Shao's pursuers behind him. The Wangmen of the Hejian Kingdom in the west has rebelled, and the Zhangshui River and the Hutuo River converge at the Bohai Sea to form a new river. If he goes to the Hejian Kingdom

, but he had to cross two rivers in a row, and the situation was even worse for him.

The only way out is to the east, but unfortunately the east is the sea. He has reached a desperate situation that neither heaven nor earth can escape from.

As the commander, he was powerless, and the morale of the soldiers was naturally low.

There was an air of sadness permeating the entire military camp.

"General, spies are here to report that Yuan Shao's army arrived at Zhangwu yesterday, and the vanguard general Ju Yi will be here as soon as today."

Tian Yu came to the river bank and told Gongsun Zan the bad news with a heavy face.

If Gongsun Zan had a cigarette in his hand now, he would definitely be looking into the distance with melancholy, his eyes full of loneliness.

Yuan Shao suddenly attacked him at an extremely critical moment. Although he had a large army, he didn't even have the strength to fight back. How could he feel so aggrieved?

But who made the right time and place not on his side?

It happened that due to excessive hiring fees, the northern barbarians were disbanded, and there was a war in the south. Sun Jian and Cao Cao were in danger, and Liu Bei went south to rescue him, which led Yuan Shao to seize the best opportunity.

If it had not been at this time, according to common sense, not to mention the 100,000 barbarians sitting in the north, but still 40,000 to 50,000, they would definitely be able to fight Yuan Shao.

such a pity........

"snort!"

After a long silence, Gongsun Zan snorted coldly and said: "Yuan Shao wants my life, and I will never stay here and wait to die. I expect that when Yuan Shao first arrives, the morale of the army may not be stable. Guo Rang, you hold the camp, I

Lead the cavalry and charge his front army."

Tian Yu thought for a moment and decided that sticking to the camp was already the last option. If he took the initiative to attack, a miracle might actually happen. Anyway, a dead horse was treated as a living horse. He immediately said: "Okay, everything will follow the general's arrangements."

At that moment, Gongsun Zan immediately returned to the camp and summoned his generals to arrange tasks. Then the gate of the camp was opened and the cavalry came out. Their iron hooves were wrapped in the wind and thunder, and they headed south.

At this moment, Ju Yi's vanguard army was indeed not far away from him.

It is about seventy miles from Zhangwu to the crossing of Hutuo River. They arrived at Zhangwu yesterday and set out this morning. They should arrive here in the evening.

However, Ju Yi was not reckless, and instead prepared to set up camp in a plain area about 20 miles south of the Hutuo River crossing, waiting for the arrival of the rear troops of Yuan Shao's central army tomorrow.

After all, after marching fifty miles in one day, the sergeants were already exhausted. In addition, Yuan Shao's rear army of the Chinese army had not yet arrived, and the baggage vehicles were still behind. There was no need to go head-to-head with Gongsun Zan at this time.

This place was a rural pavilion to the north of Zhangwu. Later it was the wilderness to the east of Qing County, Cangzhou, Hebei Province. It had a tributary of the Hutuo River. The terrain was flat and it was originally a very fertile land.

However, in recent years, Bohai has been experiencing endless wars. First, there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and then there was the rebellion of Zhang Chun, Zhang Juqiu, and Liju, and then there was the endless fighting between Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, Gongsun Zan, and so on. As a result, the people's livelihood in Bohai County was in decline, the land was barren, and the people suffered from military disasters.

Or leave your hometown and flee somewhere else.

Therefore, except for a few remaining common people, most of the area in this rural pavilion has been abandoned. These common people are few in number. When they see soldiers and horses approaching, they all reflexively flee into the nearby barren mountains. In these troubled times, the most vulnerable people are

They are also the ones who are hurt.

Ju Yi had no interest in these people. After arriving here, he sent scouts to investigate the movements of Gongsun Zan's tribe in the north, and at the same time set up camp on the spot, using the already dilapidated village as a temporary camp.

At this time, the sky was still dark at the end of the afternoon, because it was more than seventy miles from Zhang Wu to the Hutuo River crossing. It originally took a day to walk, but they only walked fifty miles, so naturally they didn't need that much time.

The soldiers began to cut down trees and build temporary camps. Ju Yi's vanguard army numbered more than 20,000 people. How could an ordinary Xiangting village accommodate so many people, even if there were some houses?

Therefore, the house is only a place for officers and generals to live, and soldiers still have to set up tents.
To be continued...