The river water flooded his mouth and nose and soaked into his body.
Gan Ning kept struggling, but his body seemed as heavy as an iron block, sinking to the bottom of the river.
He once killed many people, and the final destination of these people was the bottom of the Yangtze River.
The deep and dark river bottom seemed like an abyss that could swallow everything.
He opened his eyes wide. If it had been before, he would have been able to swim no matter how strong the waves in the Yangtze River were.
But now, the long battle has exhausted his physical strength, and it is difficult to use force to float up.
Gan Ning's hands kept waving, trying hard to grab something, struggling to his death.
But he couldn't catch anything, there was no hope, and no one came to catch him.
It seemed like he was about to disappear from this world.
Abandoned.
forgotten.
In less than ten seconds, his vision began to darken.
Consciousness gradually blurred due to lack of oxygen.
ah?
I'm dying.
Gan Ning thought so.
At this moment, the original panic began to become calm for some reason.
I was born where the river appears, and died where the river merges into the ocean. Maybe my body will also flow to the ocean.
He thought so in his heart.
Then.
He felt someone grab his arm.
Then.
He completely lost consciousness.
When Huang Gai's flagship sank to the bottom of the river, when Taishi Ci's reinforcements arrived on the battlefield, and when the sky darkened, the battle was over.
In fact, it was just afternoon at this time, but it was already drizzling in the sky, and dark clouds seemed to cover the whole world.
The Qingzhou Navy sacrificed part of the price in exchange for Huang Gai's flagship appearing on the battlefield, and finally used artillery with a range of up to ten kilometers to decide the outcome in one fell swoop.
Compared with the rudimentary artillery piece built by Du Kuan during his inspection in Qingzhou at the beginning of last year, it has made great progress after a year of improvement and development.
The range and power of artillery are related to their size. The range of artillery under a thousand pounds is often within two or three kilometers, and the accuracy is not very good.
Du Kuan's two newly built cannons, after Chen Mu asked the Qingzhou Iron and Steel Manufacturing Factory to name them for support, the amount of steel they received was greatly increased, giving him enough materials for testing.
After more than half a year of transformation and manufacturing, these two heavy artillery pieces weighing 1,500 kilograms, or 3,000 kilograms, were born.
There is a sight on it, the barrel is rifled, and it uses delayed ignition explosive bombs.
Under the operation of the two best gunners trained by the firearms workshop, the accuracy of these two heavy guns can reach 99% within a three-kilometer range, 90% within a five-kilometer range, and 50% within a ten-kilometer range.
about.
In order to hit the target with one hit, Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci discussed it and decided to merge the two units into one. At the expense of himself, they placed all two heavy artillery pieces on Taishi Ci's flagship. When Huang Zu thought the battle was decided, he launched the attack from the rear.
When you reach the front line, kill him with one shot.
This was the first time that firearms were used on the battlefield, and neither of them was completely sure. But they also knew very well that although their weapons, equipment and ships were better than the other party, Huang Zu was a veteran of water warfare, and it was impossible to compete with them in this kind of battle.
.
So in order to win, they had to make dangerous moves.
Fortunately, these two heavy artillery did not disappoint them. From a distance of about three kilometers, they fired twelve times in succession, with a total of twenty-four shells, blowing Huang Zu's flagship into pieces and also causing all the surrounding Jiangxia
The naval forces all stopped their flags and fell silent.
The rest is for the Qingzhou Navy to clean up the battlefield.
After a brief silence, everyone in the Jiangxia Navy chose to turn around and escape. Thousands of sails were competing on the river, and the battlefield had fundamentally changed from the original Jiangxia Navy having the upper hand to the current one-sided situation of the Qingzhou Navy.
In the afternoon, Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci's troops captured Queyue City, capturing and killing countless Jiangxia navy soldiers. Most of Huang Zu's generals had surrendered, and only a few escaped.
After resting for a few days and replenishing food and grass from the rear, the Qingzhou Navy sailed upstream and along the Han River to Xiangyang City.
It was already early April.
In Xiangyang City, in Liu Biao's room, the breeze blew the beaded curtain, and the drizzle outside the window kept knocking on the wooden door. A fresh fragrance came from the room. Next to the wooden frame made of golden nanmu, there was a wooden case with an incense burner placed on it.
The fragrance comes to your nose.
Liu Biao was lying on the wooden collapse. It was summer, but he was covered with a silk quilt made of silk from Xishu and cotton from Qingzhou. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his old face was full of exhaustion.
I'm really sick, but it's not a serious illness. It's just that there are violent storms in Jingzhou during this period. Sometimes the weather is very hot, and sometimes it cools down again overnight. It's the period when spring and summer alternate, so it's easy to get sick.
season.
The door opened, and a young woman about forty years old who still had charm walked in. This person was Cai Hao's sister, Mrs. Cai. As the niece of the Cai family of a wealthy family in Jingzhou, Mrs. Cai not only helped Liu Biao pacify Jingzhou and allowed him to gain a foothold here, but also because
She was loved by him for her good looks.
Mrs. Cai held a bowl of medicine in her hand, walked over and said softly: "Mr. Lang, it's time to take the medicine."
"Um."
Liu Biao got up with her help and drank the medicine. I don't know whether it was the effect of the medicine or whether it was not a serious illness in the first place. He felt much better and asked casually: "Is there any news outside?"
Mrs. Cai shook her head: "There is no news."
Liu Biao felt strange and said: "At the beginning of the year, I heard that Liu Bei might go south. How could it be that there is no news yet?"
There was a trace of panic on Mrs. Cai's face, and then she quickly calmed down and said: "Perhaps the north is not fully prepared yet. Now that Xiangyang is protected by the army, Liu Bei doesn't dare to come so quickly."
"Is there something you're hiding from me?"
Liu Biao's face suddenly darkened.
"No."
Mrs. Cai quickly denied it.
"Tell Cai Hao and Kuai Yue to come see me."
Liu Biao immediately realized something was wrong. The news he knew was that the imperial court sent more troops to the south last month.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! A few days ago, I heard that the Qingzhou Navy was going up the Yangtze River, and he sent Huang Zu to meet the enemy.
How is it possible that there is no news at all now?
Mrs. Cai did not dare to disobey, so she had to go out and send people to find Cai Mao and Kuai Yue.
However, Liu Biao did not wait long, because the two of them happened to be on their way here and hurried into his governor's mansion.
After a while, the two people came in, both with water stains on their faces. It was obviously still drizzling outside, and they ran over without even having time to hold an umbrella.
"Ming Gong, it's not good."
As soon as the two came in, Cai Mao said in a panic: "Huang Zu was defeated."
"What?"
Liu Biao was shocked and suddenly coughed.
"Ming Gong."
Cai Hao and Kuai Yue walked over quickly.
"It doesn't matter."
Liu Biao waved his hand: "What's going on?"
Kuai Yue said in a deep voice: "The imperial court sent more troops to the south. The Qingzhou Navy threatened Queyue City. Ming Gong asked Huang Zu to control the entrance of Han River. However, the imperial court had two strange weapons. They were more than ten miles away and fired dozens of missiles.
A huge ball overturned Huang Zu's ship."
"this......."
Liu Biao was stunned for a moment. He never expected that the Jiangxia navy, which he had high hopes for, would just disappear.
Cai Mao was sweating like rain and said: "Ming Gong, the imperial army has arrived at the city. After the Jiangxia Navy was destroyed, the Qingzhou Navy has moved north and will soon surround the entire Xiangyang. Now we have no way out."
Liu Biao remained silent.
It was windy and rainy outside, and everyone in the house was silent. Only the heavy rain knocked on the doors and windows, making a soft sound.
After a long time, Liu Biao sighed and said, "Tell me what to do."
Cai Mao said: "We can only surrender."
"surrender......"
Liu Biao pondered.
Kuai Yue said: "Ming Gong and the emperor have a clan relationship. The emperor has always been benevolent and righteous, and he will not dare to risk being accused of fighting with the same clan to do harm to Ming Gong. And then Sun Ce and Cao Cao were safe and sound after they surrendered?"
"well."
Liu Biao sighed and said, "I understand. Let me think about this matter."
Kuai Yue rolled his eyes, thought about it, and said: "If Ming Gong is still worried that the court will be unfavorable to Ming Gong and the two young masters, I have an idea, maybe I can earn the two young masters a title.
"
"oh?"
At this age, Liu Biao actually had no interest in fighting for hegemony. He was mainly worried that if he died, Liu Bei would deal with Liu Qi and Liu Cong.
Now that he heard that Kuai Yue had a solution, he immediately became interested and quickly asked: "What's the clever solution for Xingdu?"
Kuai Yue said: "If the entire Jiangxia Navy is annihilated, it will be impossible for us to fight a decisive battle with the imperial court. Only by surrendering can we avoid death. But if we can make a great contribution, we can benefit Duke Ming and the two young masters."
Preserving wealth and honor, this meritorious service falls on Liu Zhang."
"You mean?"
"Yes, didn't Liu Zhang send tens of thousands of reinforcements?"
"This...isn't this a breach of trust?"
"If Ming Gong surrenders to the imperial court, he is a member of the imperial court. There is no fault in attacking the treasonous traitors."
"..."
Liu Biao was silent for a moment.
Kuai Yue added: "And if you think about it, Duke Ming, if you can help the court to annihilate these people, wouldn't you be recovering Yizhou for the court? The emperor will definitely not treat the two young masters badly. For the sake of Duke Ming's heirs, he must not hesitate.
ah."
After a long time, Liu Biao sighed and said: "That's all, just live according to the differences. Go and tell the emperor that I am willing to surrender. Open the gate of Xiangyang and let the imperial army enter the city."
Cai Mao and Kuai Yue looked at each other, raised their hands together and said, "Ming Gong is wise."
.......
.......
On April 5th, Liu Bei walked into the ancient city of Xiangyang.
From Liu Biao's surrender to him the day before yesterday, to Zhang Xiu being the vanguard and personally entering the city the day before yesterday, Xu Huang, Zhang Yan and other troops also entered the city one after another.
Now the entire Xiangyang City was controlled by the imperial army, and the remaining 10,000 Jingzhou troops all laid down their weapons and knelt down to surrender.
When Liu Bei entered the city today, Liu Biao, his wife and children, and officials from Jingzhou, large and small, greeted him at the city gate.
Liu Bei was naturally generous and exempted Liu Biao from the crime. Accompanied by everyone, he visited the streets, city walls and people's livelihood in Xiangyang City, and asked about the people's demands.
A few days later, the imperial army went south again, passed Yicheng, compiled counties, Linju, and arrived at Yiling.
Of course Liu Bei didn't know that he suffered a disastrous defeat at this place sixteen years later in history. He only knew that Liu Zhang sent generals Liu Zhuang, Lingbao, Zhang Ren, Deng Xian, Wu Yi and others to attack with 40,000 troops.
From the time the army set out at the end of March to the beginning of April, for more than ten days, the reinforcements had not even left Sichuan at this time due to heavy rain and muddy conditions, making the roads difficult to travel.
They are currently in Linjiang, Pingdu, and Zhixian areas on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which will later be known as Fuling, Fengdu, and Zhongxian areas.
Liu Biao constantly sent people to contact them and delivered false news to them to stabilize these people.
Liu Bei traveled day and night and arrived at Yiling, which was later known as Yichang.
The reason for stationing here is because the fastest way to enter Jingzhou from Sichuan is to take the waterway down the river. The river mouth here is relatively narrow, making it easy to intercept and set up ambushes.
By mid-April, Liu Zhang's reinforcements were belatedly arriving. Due to the insufficient water depth and narrow river surface in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which was not suitable for large ships, Yizhou did not have a naval force, and the shipbuilding industry was not developed enough. There were no large ships, so there were only 40,000 people.
Ability to advance both by land and water.
The main force took the land route, while the rest took the water route, using small and medium-sized ships to transport food and coordinate with the main force's advance. It happened to be the rainy season recently, and the roads were severely blocked, so it took the 40,000 troops nearly a month to reach the Three Gorges.
Then Liu Bei gave them a grand welcome ceremony.
When the sky was just getting dark, the small boat sent out to explore the way by the grain transport fleet in front discovered that something was wrong.
Located in the central area of the Yangtze River in the northwest of Yiling County, there were densely packed ships on the left and right sides of Guozhou. Some people fixed the ships together and used them as pontoons to block the way for the Yizhou reinforcements to reach Jingzhou.
They were warmly welcomed by Jingzhou officials along the way. When they passed through Wu County and Zigui, local officials also greeted them. Why was it like this when they arrived at Yiling?
The advance ship was confused and had to lower its anchor and wait and see.
Naguozhou is the later Gezhouba Island, located on the central island of the Yangtze River in Yichang. It occupies a large area of the Yangtze River. The pontoon bridge is fixed through Gezhouba, which plays an interception role.
When the Yizhou Army's grain transport fleet slowly arrived nearby, they also saw the pontoon bridge in the distance and stopped to watch.
They have already sent people to contact the officials in Yiling County before, so everything should be smooth.
After a moment of hesitation, he was about to send someone to Yiling City to ask.
However, a large number of naval forces suddenly emerged from the Xiling River behind them, blocking their way back.
Attacked from both sides, the Yizhou army was frightened and fell into a bitter battle.
This Xiling River was later called Huangbai River, named after the Xiling Kingdom that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period. It is located to the north of Yichang City and forms an angle with the Yangtze River.
The reason why Liu Bei set up an ambush here was because of this.
Soon the Yizhou Army's grain transport fleet was completely wiped out. As the saying goes, the three armies have not moved, but grain and grass go first.
The grain transport fleet was one day faster than the main force.
They thought they were walking in a friendly army's home and should be safe, but they didn't know that the friendly army had turned into an enemy army at this time.
After the grain transport fleet was destroyed, Liu Bei immediately sent Zhao Yunxi to take Zigui.
The main force of the Yizhou Army had just rested for a day in Zigui and continued to move southeast. As a result, they encountered Zhao Yun, Xu Huang, Zhang Yan and other tens of thousands of the main force of the imperial court ambushing them halfway.
A battle was caught off guard and several generals died in the rebel army. The Yizhou army suffered heavy losses and fled back in a hurry.
Taking advantage of the victory, Zhao Yun pursued him all the way to Yufu County in Yizhou, which was later known as Fengjie County. He was blocked by Baidi City on Baidi Mountain and could not continue his pursuit, so he stationed troops in Yufu and waited for reinforcements.
In this battle, Jingzhou was recovered, and Yizhou suffered heavy losses. The recovery was just around the corner.