Chapter 144: Beacon Fire
In cold and dry weather, the boats slowly moved north along the canal, and the coast was lonely to the east, and the trees in the fields were bare and unrefreshed. Civilians were rarely seen on the official roads, and some of the post stations were in tatters, broken walls, and apparently had just been slaughtered.
After passing the Yongjing Army, the warship has entered the boundary of Cangzhou, and from time to time you can see the ruins of the broken wall and the green smoke. The corpses of the people began to appear in the wilderness, and the further north they went, and the corpses were scattered all over the place, and wild dogs surrounded some of the corpses, gnawing, many mutilated, and with a mess of bellies.
"These shitty fans!"
Li Bao stood on the bow of a warship and spat fiercely into the river.
Across a canal, east of the canal, the Hebei East Road controlled by the Jin people is lifeless and desolate; To the west of the canal, the Hebei West Road under the rule of the Xuanfu Division was orderly, with the people working in the fields and the rangers of the loyal and righteous army patrolling back and forth, eyeing each other.
"Dutong, it seems that there is a military situation!"
The guard pointed to the north and shouted.
Li Bao was shocked, picked up the clairvoyant mirror, and looked in the direction of Cangzhou.
I saw that between the distant sky, there was a faint smoke and dust, from far to near, flying with the flag, and countless Jurchen knights with prancing horses and whips appeared in everyone's sight.
"Dutong, Fanzi's warship!"
Another guard shouted loudly.
On the canal, the warships of the upper north came from the north, the masts were towering, the oil sails were hanging high, taking advantage of the northwest wind, the golden soldiers on it were showing off their might, and the momentum was violent.
"Ready, load!"
The Jurchen army that greeted me was densely packed, the black pressure was boundless, and the golden soldiers on the ship were even more arrogant. Li Bao's face was solemn and he roared loudly.
"Don't worry about the fans on the shore first, let's fight back the fans on the ship first!"
Li Bao arranged for it, and the two warships went back to report the battle situation to Xuanfu Si, while the rest prepared to face the battle. As for the Jurchen army on the shore, he didn't pay attention to it.
They can't always swim or cross the canal. Besides, the artillery of the Loyal Righteous Army is not vegetarian either.
The sailors and soldiers on the ship all had solemn faces, and it was the first time for them to see so many Jurchen troops.
Li Bao gave the military order, the drums sounded, and the ship was busy.
The smoke and dust billowed and the earth trembled faintly, and thousands of troops covered the sky and fields, and soon reached the shore. The dragon spirit and tiger are fierce, the iron horse is vertical and horizontal, the big "gold" word on the flag is clearly visible, and the hideous faces of the Jurchen knights in the front row come into view.
Many of the sailors were pale, and although many recruits were trained harshly on weekdays and boasted of their bravery, they faced the fierce knights of the other side head-on, and felt the murderous aura from the other party's thousands of troops, and they were all frightened.
"Pretend to be a ghost, give me a few shots, and see if they dare to be so arrogant!"
Seeing that there was still some distance between the Jin soldiers and sailors in front of them, and the Jurchen army's iron cavalry was rolling southward, some of which were only two or three hundred steps away from the canal, Li Bao shouted loudly.
One by one, the curtain doors were opened, and the guns were aimed at the shore.
"Fire!"
As soon as Li Bao gave the order, hundreds of artillery pieces opened fire together, and the sound of "Pengpeng" artillery rang out, instantly overpowering the rumbling horses' hooves on the shore.
The iron ball flew in the air, tearing through the air, making a penetrating sound, and headed straight for the Jurchen army on the official road on the shore.
Caught off guard, the iron ball rampage, smashed into the cavalry, a group of people turned on their horses, hundreds of knights fell off their horses, screams one after another, and the Jurchen cavalry was in turmoil.
"Holy shit, see if you dare to show off your might!"
Li Bao looked at the chaotic Jurchen army and roared loudly.
"Look at what, keep banging for me, see if he dares to be so arrogant!"
The gunners hurriedly loaded their ammunition and continued to attack, and the Jin soldiers hurriedly moved away from the shore, standing in the distance, and scolding, apparently denouncing the officers and men of the loyal and righteous army for being despicable and indecent, and making a conspiracy behind them.
On the wilderness and official roads on the shore, corpses and blood were everywhere, horizontal and vertical, the wounded moaned in a pool of blood, the flesh and blood of the dead were blurred, and the tragic situation could not bear to look directly.
"Did you see it, a few rounds of artillery fired, and it slipped faster than a rabbit!"
Li Bao glanced contemptuously at the shore and said loudly: "The rabbit has run away, let's clean up the loaches on the other side!"
Li Bao shouted loudly, the sound spread far away, and there was a laughter on the surrounding boats, and some of the previous nervousness and uneasiness disappeared without a trace.
Some people even think that these seemingly fierce Jurchen warriors are also afraid of death!
The Jurchen army ignored the battle of the sailors, leaving a small group of cavalry to watch from afar, and the iron cavalry rolled south. Li Bao looked at the Jin soldier warship coming from the opposite side, frowned, and shouted loudly: "Pass the order, prepare to fight!"
On the Jin Soldier Warship, Xu Wen, the commander of the Jin Soldiers and Sailors, stood on a warship, staring at the loyal and righteous warships coming down the river on the opposite side, with a hideous expression.
"Brothers, slide hard and knock over the Song army's warship!"
led sixty of his subordinates to join the puppet Qi and served as the commander of the sailors, who had just joined the command of the new master, and did not have a name, wouldn't he be able to be justified and be a man.
With his tall and strong ships, attacking these small and medium-sized warships of the opponent is not yet hand-to-hand.
Xu Wenjun gave the order, and the several big ships in front took the lead and headed straight for the warships of the Loyal and Righteous Army.
"Hurry up, you're all set! Shoot again when you get closer, and use rockets against the sails of the opponent's ship! I remember it, if anyone dares to escape, don't blame Lao Tzu's knife for being fast!"
On the first warship, the pseudo-Qi warrior Xu Wu commanded his subordinates, his eyes were cold. The eldest brother Xu Wen is the commander of the water division, and of course the younger brother must take the lead, otherwise how to serve the public.
Suddenly, the Song warships on the opposite side exposed their sides horizontally, and five or six warships lined up, and the faint muzzles of the guns on the ships were exposed, aiming at the Jin soldiers warships coming in front.
"These dogs, don't you want to fight if you expose the hull like this!"
Xu Wu was secretly happy, and suddenly, the officer on the opposite ship shouted loudly, followed by the red flag falling, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, and the sound of "Pengpeng" artillery rang out.
"Such a long distance, there is still a mile to go, what are these Song dogs going to do?"
Xu Wu subconsciously shrunk his neck. His gaze swept over him, and countless iron balls roared straight towards his ship.
"Get out of the way!"
Hearing the sound of artillery, seeing that the soldiers on the warship in front of him were still at a loss, he stood on the ship and stared ahead, Xu Wen shouted loudly.
Dozens of whistling came, and more than half of the iron balls directly hit the golden soldier's warship, and the sawdust on the bow and deck flew one after another, and the golden soldier hula fell to the ground.
Xu Wen was dumbfounded. He could see clearly that his brother was hit by an iron ball, flew straight out, fell heavily on the deck, and never got up again.
There was no time to grieve, the artillery on the opposite side was endless, and the river was filled with gunsmoke. Amid the sound of artillery, countless sampan boats rowed out and headed straight for the golden soldier warship opposite.
Xu Wen, who was just about to order the warship to cut in from the shore to attack, was shocked. In the shallow water were the sampan boats of the other side, and the artillery on them was impressive.
"Reload your ammo and get ready for the dog-bombing day!"
Li Qiang shouted loudly, commanding the gunners and sergeants on the sampan. Although the Jurchen army on the shore just now made him a little frightened, as soon as he returned to the familiar field of water to fight, he was at ease and calm.
Those fierce Jurchen cavalry, let's leave a prince to deal with them.
The iron balls flew and flowed endlessly, and the golden soldiers on the warship couldn't raise their heads. They mustered up courage, manipulated small cannons, drew bows and arrows, and fought against the rapidly approaching Song army on the sampan.
Seeing that the soldiers on several ships were hit by the opponent's artillery, their flesh and blood blurred, and they fell into the water, Li Zhuang glared angrily and roared loudly.
"Earthquake thunder, extinguish these shit days for me!"
Several iron balls volleyed into the air, and the mast of a warship was hit, and the "Ge Qi" broke and smashed on a ship next to it, causing a group of people to turn over on their backs.
The sound of explosions was incessant, and on the ships in front, Jin soldiers suffered heavy casualties, people who fell into the water abounded, and there were cries for help and shouts everywhere.
"The ships are scattered, the archers are ready, they crash into it, they can't be together!"
The tragic situation on the warship in front made Xu Wen feel terrified. He gave the order loudly and directed the counterattack.
On the Golden Soldier Warship, although the artillery could not be used, the archers could still return fire. In particular, some rockets continued to be fired at the officers and men of the Loyal Righteous Army on the small boat, and the casualties of the Loyal Soldiers began to increase.
Several large ships of the Jin soldiers moved forward, and some sampan boats could not dodge, and the soldiers of the loyal and righteous army on them fell into the water one after another, and the water surface was in chaos. From time to time, the archers of the golden soldiers poked their heads out and attacked the loyal soldiers on the boat.
"Grenade!"
Li Zhuang was almost hoarse and shouted.
Countless smoky earth-shattering thunderbolts flew up the bow of the ship, and the screams on the deck continued, and several golden ships slowed down, some spun in place, and some ran aground on the shore.
"Pengpeng", the sound of artillery on the warships of the Loyal Army rang out again. This time, not only large warships, but also medium-sized Flying Tiger warships also met them, and the ships were filled with gunsmoke and the sound of artillery was incessant.
Cannonballs smashed into the Jin soldiers like a tidal wave, and the Jin soldiers on the ships suffered heavy casualties. Their artillery firing range was not enough, so they could only let the opponent bombard indiscriminately.
"Withdraw your troops!"
Xu Wen was terrified. In just half an hour, more than a dozen warships were lost. If such a water war is fought again, I am afraid that the whole army will be wiped out.
The golden warships turned around one after another, and fled northward as if they were fleeing with the protection of the battered and damaged warships.
In the process of pursuit, five or six more Jinbing warships were hit, or sunk in the water, or became prisoners of the other side.
"Don't chase after you!"
A hundred miles ahead is the mouth of the sea, and the big ships of the Jin soldiers can obviously enter the sea, except for the main warship, most of their own warships cannot conduct naval battles, and it is futile to catch up.
"Fanzi, don't you run away quickly, do you want to try Lao Tzu's artillery!"
After a victory, the recruits of the Loyal and Righteous Army seemed to have changed, and many of them shouted loudly at the Jurchen knights on the shore.
"Two shots!"
Li Bao resolutely gave a military order.
The warship approached the shore, the gunners hurriedly loaded their ammunition, the Jurchen knights on the shore avoided it far away, and the sailors and soldiers on board laughed.
"Dog's day is all paper tigers!"
The Jurchen knights watching the battle on the shore all looked surprised, and they turned their horses' heads one after another, jumped their horses and whipped their whips, and headed south.
"These rookies!"
Looking at the cheering sailor soldiers, Li Bao spit out a mantra of Wang Song and shook his head gently.
It's just a small battle, with the loss of more than 30 soldiers, what is there to be so excited about.
"Clean up the battlefield immediately, the big war is still to come!"
The boundless and chilling Jurchen army that sounded earlier, Li Bao scolded fiercely in his mouth.
"Holy shit, I'm going to leave you behind this time!"
"Big official, who are you scolding?"
Li Zhuang was sweating profusely and asked on the side.
"Of course it's scolding!"
Li Bao glanced at the busy troops on the water, and said loudly: "Hurry up and clean up, and join General Huang immediately." This time, we're going to do a big deal!"
Li Zhuanghu said suspiciously: "Big official, what's big?"
"Don't talk nonsense, you will know when the time comes!"