I've been busy looking for a new cover since the afternoon, and this chapter is not only stammering, but also pouring a lot of water...... Let's take a look at it first, tomorrow I'm thinking about it, and try to make the first official water battle in the book a better ending!]

A moment later, five loud "booms" appeared in succession, and the five turtle ships collided with the five ironclad ships at an unprecedented speed.

The huge kinetic energy brought by the rapid speed caused the ironclad ship to shake, and the turtle skull-shaped collision pillar on the bow of the turtle ship was also caused by stainless steel, and the collision between the two actually caused a lot of sparks.

Because the hull of the ship was covered with thick iron plates, the impact did not penetrate the outer wall of the ironclad ship, but only knocked out a large hole in the iron plate, which looked very terrifying.

"It seems that their reinforcements have arrived!" He Yun frowned and said a little helplessly.

Originally, the dozen or so teenagers on the opposite side had already made him very wolf, but now there is another batch, and these warships with strange shapes, which have never been seen before, are so powerful, and they are comparable to them in number, I am afraid that tonight's operation will be hanging!

Although they have begun to worry in their hearts, they still have to fight again, after all, they have already paid a lot of price tonight, and if they return empty-handed, it will be difficult to explain to their brothers.

Besides, although he may not be able to win, but he retreats with his whole body, He Yun asks himself very simply!

"Order Han Tao to take the other two ships to meet the enemy, and the remaining one will continue to march towards the pass with me!" He Yun immediately gave the order.

Although the other party's ship can't see the depth, Han Tao is not easy to match, and he does not seek to defeat the enemy, but if he slightly restrains the enemy to buy some time for himself, He Yun believes that Han Tao will always be able to do it!

The ironclad fleet then began to mobilize according to He Yun's orders, and Han Tao led the remaining two ironclad ships towards Zheng Tai's five turtle ships.

Seeing that the enemy was so arranged, Zheng Tai could naturally understand the other party's intention to contain him, so Zheng Tai decided to strike first!

Subsequently, Zheng Tai led the five turtle ships to sail towards the three ironclad ships in front of him again, but the ironclad ships were on guard this time, and as soon as the turtle boats moved, Han Tao ordered the three ships to separate, intending to avoid the collision of the other party.

It's just that Zheng Tai didn't plan to use such a primitive and barbaric method as ramming this time, because the eldest brother Xu Chen equipped this new type of warship with a special weapon!

The moment the ships of the two sides passed by, the walls on both sides of the five turtle boats were unexpectedly opened like a wooden door!

Through the wall of the ship that was pulled apart, Han Tao could clearly see that the sailors inside were facing them with a strange device, this thing was very similar to the trebuchet used by the teenagers just now, but it looked different, but no matter what the difference, his intuition told him that this thing was dangerous!

Han Tao's guess was not wrong, but this thing was not very dangerous, but quite dangerous!

It's just that this time, the size of the stone is not as big as it was just now, it is all fist-sized stones, for a general like Han Tao who has practiced martial arts, I am afraid that he can crush it with a single grip of his hand.

But if this stone flew towards it at a speed faster than a bow and arrow, I'm afraid no one would think about its size anymore!

What's more, what's even more terrifying is the number of stones, there are dozens of stones thrown by each of these devices on the other side!

In just a short moment of staggering, countless small stones poured towards the three ironclad ships like locusts flying in the sky......

After the locusts, there is no grass!

This was the tragic situation at the time of the locust plague, but for Han Tao and them at this moment, they would rather be a swarm of locusts that pounced on them just now!

I saw that the three ironclad ships that were still intact just now, facing the side of the turtle ship, the thick iron plate was "overgrown" with dense stone chips at this moment, as if it was naturally growing on the iron plate.

But there is one word that can be described above deck at this moment, and that is silence!

That's right!

The soldiers on the deck still retained the silence of the moment when they first saw the flying stones in the sky!

This time, there are no more stumps and broken arms!

No! It shouldn't be said that it is gone! At this moment, these cold little things are being warmed slowly, little by little, by the flesh and blood, internal organs, and even the slurry in the brains of the soldiers......

The living were still in shock, as if they had forgotten the pain in their bodies, and stood stupidly in place, while the dead were clearly happy, for their companions would be tormented with untold pain and would soon be gone with them......

The only ones who survived were the shield soldiers who held a shield in their hands at any time, although the round shield was small, but it could protect the vital parts of the upper body, as for the legs...... Thinking that they could save their lives, it was a blessing for these soldiers!

If you want to say that the least damaged, I am afraid that only the captains and deputies of each ship are masters of martial arts!

Turning his head with difficulty, looking at the tragic situation like purgatory behind him, listening to the soldiers who gradually regained consciousness and began to wail in a low voice, Han Tao moved the muscles on his face, trying to make a sad expression, but after trying for a long time, he still couldn't do it......

The trebuchets that the teenagers have been using are actually Xu Chen's modifications based on the torsion spring ballistas used by the ancient Greeks.

In 399 BCE, Dionysus in the Greek city-state of Sierra was constantly under threat of force from the powerful Carthaginians. At this time, a weapon was born that overshadowed all other efforts - the craftsmen of Dionysus designed and built the first torsion spring ballista in the history of warfare!

For the first time, the ballista invented by the craftsmen of Dionysus used the latest achievement in mechanical research, the torsion spring, that is, the torsion generated by two bundles of tensioned horsehair, leather rope or animal tendons as the power, driving the crossbow arm to drive the bowstring to throw projectiles or arrows.

The Greeks designed the ballista with a sturdy bracket on which the main beam rested on the bracket and two torsion spring sets on either side of the front end, each of which drove a crossbow arm with a bowstring attached to the center of which was a woven mesh bag for the projectile. The upper side of the beam has a long dovetail groove, a slide with a long guide rail can slide back and forth along the long groove, and the rear end of the slider is equipped with a set of elaborate firing mechanism, which can easily set and release the bowstring. The end of the beam is equipped with a winch, which can be moved by the user by pulling the handle or by dragging the rope ten sliders.

When the bowstring is pulled back and fixed by the firing mechanism, the weapon is in a state of readiness, in order to operate the winch without too much effort, metal racks are set on both sides of the beam, which not only allows the work of opening the bow not to be done in one go, but also can adjust the projectile power of the weapon, so as to obtain the required range. The flowerbed-shaped metal rack is replaced by a round ratchet, making the operation easier and more reliable. In order to give the ballista a flexible direction and elevation angle, they designed a freely rotating base for the ballista, which was the world's first Vientiane Festival design!

Balistas are powerful, and a good ballista is capable of throwing a stone projectile weighing 1 tower (an ancient Greek unit of weight, about 26 kilograms) out of 300 yards. In 332 BCE, when Alexander the Great of Macedonia laid siege to the Persian possession of Gaza, the defenders used ballistas to counterattack, and a spear fired from a ballista even pierced Alexander's bronze shield, piercing his ornate cuirass and bruising him.

The ballista completely changed the balance of power between the two sides, and its tremendous striking power and precision made people shudder: during the siege of Yelusalem by the Romans in 63 AD, the Jewish general Joseph recalled that one of his companions standing side by side on the city wall was completely knocked off the head by a projectile fired from a Roman ballista! A pregnant woman in the city was hit by a stone bullet, and the fetus in her womb was thrown 100 feet away!

With such a powerful ballista, it is naturally a breeze to use it to throw some stones and hit a large ship not far away!

In just one short round of attacks, although the three ironclad ships did not sink, the sailors on board had long lost the fighting spirit to fight again......

"Yes, this thing is indeed much more powerful than the original trebuchet!" Wang Tieniu said to the rest of the group with a smile as he clapped the ballista with his hand on the turtle boat.

After Xu Chen delivered these ballistae to them, due to the relationship of time, they never had time to try them, of course, it was mainly out of trust in the eldest brother, because in the eyes of the young man, the things made by the eldest brother must be the best of the best!

Chai Qi and Peng Ze came with the ship, although they were also shocked by the power of the ballista, but thinking back to the mysterious bamboo tube before, the two of them were not too surprised.

"It seems that the battle is coming to an end!" Zheng Tai put down the binoculars in his hand and said calmly.

"Oh...... Miscellaneous...... What, Captain, what are you talking about?" a lean young man suddenly exclaimed.

"Liu San, how do you talk to Brother Zheng?" Peng Ze next to him saw that his subordinates were so insignificant, for fear of annoying Zheng Tai, so he scolded Liu San loudly, and this Liu San was the young man who stopped Xu Chen and his party at the ferry crossing of Xiashan Island.

Peng Ze and their gang of water bandits from the former Changshan Island were already considered Xu Chen's subordinates at this time, and as Xu Chen's brother, Zheng Tai's status was not comparable to that of their group of people who joined halfway.

Moreover, Zheng Tai has such a talent for water warfare at a young age, and he will become a hero in time, and Peng Ze is also very relieved to let his brothers follow him. In this way, I don't want the brothers to ruin their image in Zheng Tai's eyes for some details and delay their future.

This is also the last thing Peng Ze, a big boss, can do for his brothers!

"Brother Peng's words are serious! Brother Liu also thinks that it is not enjoyable to be like this!" Zheng Tai smiled gently at Peng Ze.

"Yes, yes, yes! We have followed all the way, if we don't fight seriously, it will be too ......" Liu Sanben wanted to say more, but found that his big boss was looking at him with an unusually stern look, so he suddenly woke up!

At this moment, they are no longer water bandits on Changshan Island......