The four steamships under the command of the Yangtze River Fleet of the Han Army were illuminated by the scorching sun, and a dazzling light was reflected on the hull.

The hull was already made of a layer of steel armor.

A huge chimney rises high in the middle of the entire hull, and thick black smoke is constantly gushing out of it.

The size of the Han army's steam engine ships was about the same size as that of the third class battleships, but the tonnage was obviously much higher.

Judging from the dense gun muzzles on the sides of the ship on both sides, the number of guns on the entire ship was about a hundred.

On the river, Wu Demeng, the general who was responsible for commanding the naval army, stood tall, and his cloak was hunting in the wind of the river.

"Pass my order, the whole army will attack, and you must defeat the Jianyu Water Division."

"Whoa"

The Han fleet of more than 30 ships erupted in cheers.

At the forefront were the four ironclad ships with unique shapes.

Compared with the tank driven by Zou Yiyong and others, the application of steam engines on ships is much better.

After all, the place is big enough.

The four ironclad ships were named Guangfu, Jiefang, Qiyuan and Chenggong.

With the support of powerful steam engines, the four ironclad ships can reach speeds of up to 12 knots, far crushing any ship on the river today.

If it is combined with the sail, the speed can be as high as knots.

On the river, I saw four iron-armored monsters taking the lead, and their terrifying speed rushed towards the Qing army's sailors.

Before the officers and men of the Qing Army's naval division could react, the four ironclad ships had already approached a place three miles away from the Qing Army's naval division.

"Fire!"

On the Guangfu, the captain Song Minxuan shouted violently.

"Boom", "Boom"

Unlike the previous sail battleships, the firepower of the ironclad ships was more ferocious.

Because of the steel keel, the ship did not have to worry about major damage to the hull caused by a salvo from artillery.

In an instant, puffs of white smoke rose from the surface of the river.

The four ironclad ships drew a graceful arc on the water, directly facing the Qing army's naval division horizontally, and the shells of nearly 200 artillery pieces were all dumped on the Qing army's naval fleet.

"Click"

"Bang"

The entire wooden fleet of the Qing army's naval division was like a piece of paper, and the fist-thick planks were instantly shattered by the cannonballs fired by the Han army.

Sawdust, fragments, and the flesh and blood of the officers and men of the Qing army's naval divisions staged a violent aesthetic in the Qing fleet.

"Mother, I want to go home."

The Qing army's sailors were basically prisoners collected from the small court of Hongguang in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and now in the face of such an attack, the former army of the sailor division collapsed directly.

The sound of cries and running was nothing in the sound of the wooden ship being broken down.

On the Yangtze River, which was 7 or 8 miles wide, hundreds of warships of the Qing army were in disarray.

Dozens of battleships in the front row were thumping with shells, but the generals in the back were constantly urging forward.

The backward, forward-rushing battleships kept colliding with each other, which suddenly caused even more confusion.

The four ships of the Guangfu shelled for half an hour before the remaining fleet of the Han army rushed over from the upper reaches.

With these plywood boats joining, the battle on the river instantly changed from one side to one side to one side of flight.

"Withdraw, withdraw!"

Li Zeqing, the commander of the Qing Army's Naval Division, who was in charge of commanding the water division, was so frightened that he wanted to take his subordinates away.

Xi Sihan, who was specially sent by Duoduo to suppress the formation, stopped him with a blank face, "You Han people are cowardly, you are not allowed to retreat, Prince Yu's army is still setting up a formation by the river, who will defend the flank of the army when we retreat?" ”

Li Zeqing's head was in a cold sweat, he looked at Heathham's sturdy figure, swallowed his saliva and pointed at Heathham's back in a panic.

"Look, watch out for the shells!"

Heath Han really hit the plan, and the face of this meaty real tartar turned white with fright, and while turning to check, he subconsciously fell down.

"Puff"

The sound of a long knife entering the flesh sounded.

Heath Han didn't see the Han army's cannonballs, but saw the long knife Li Zeqing held in his hand, and the blood left under his own body.

"Dog's day Tartar, if you want to find death yourself, what do you want to do with Lao Tzu."

"Brothers, let's go!"

Li Zeqing gave an order, and the guards who were still on his boat shouted wildly and slashed at a few Heathham guards around him.

These Manchus didn't expect the Green Battalion soldiers to dare to rebel, and after the trapped beasts killed a few guards, the Manchurians on the entire boat were killed.

Li Zeqing commanded his flagship to go straight to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

His move immediately caused a continuous reaction.

The entire fleet of Qing naval divisions was like a frightened rabbit, all desperately turning around and trying to flee downstream, and even many warships began to shoot directly at each other in order to grab a chance to rush out.

It's a pity that they ran into the ironclad ships of the Han army.

The artillery bombardment, which lasted only an hour, directly destroyed more than 100 ships of the Qing army's fleet, and there were many corpses and soldiers of the Qing army on the river.

Seeing that the Qing army wanted to escape, Song Minxuan, the captain of the Guangfu, roared angrily, and the four ironclad ships rushed to catch up.

"Boom", "Boom"

For the ironclad ship, with its super speed, it can pursue the Qing army at any time and then turn against the enemy.

The escape of the Qing army was meaningless to the Han army.

Compared to the situation where the traditional war could last for several days, what happened on the river was indeed a little too much for Duoduo and the others to expect.

It only took more than half a day for the situation on the entire river and the evolution of four Han army steel monsters to chase and kill the Qing army sailors all the way.

And the entire Qing army's naval division, with nearly 70,000 people, collapsed directly like a chicken, a tile, and a dog.

On the bank of the river, Duoduo, who had been observing the battle in the river, changed color when he saw this scene.

"Heathman wasted one, and let the army escape, and Lao Tzu turned around to kill him."

Immediately, his face became more difficult to look at, and now that the sailors guarding his flank were destroyed, his army would be completely exposed under the noses of the Han army.

"Quick, withdraw quickly, retreat in the direction of Chizhou!"

Dordor, who had reacted, yelled hysterically.

Without waiting for the other Qing generals to go and arrange it, they galloped in on a fast horse.

"The Han army is surrounding!"

"Boom"

It was like a thunderbolt sounding directly in his ears, and the heroic and extraordinary Duoduo's body shook and his face turned pale.

"The puppet is trying to catch us all."

Kong Youde clenched his fists with a sad and indignant face, "Lord Wang, the pseudo-Han is menacing, please make a decision as soon as possible." ”

Turai looked arrogant, "Decide, what else to decide, since Hangou wants to fight, then the big war is, my Jianzhou warriors have not been afraid of anyone." ”

Just outside the camp of the Qing army, which stretched for dozens of miles, the 170,000 Han troops led by Liu Ximing had quietly surrounded them from two directions.

Wu Demeng led the Yangtze River fleet down the river, which was in Liu Ximing's plan.

The Han army knew very well that if they wanted to break through the Qing army's camp, the first thing to disintegrate was the Qing army's sailors.

Historically, from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River down the river to attack the south of the Yangtze River, water warfare has been the most critical battle.

For example, Chibi Cao Cao led an army to attack Eastern Wu, and Chen Youliang led an army to attack Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the end, it was all because of the great losses suffered in the water war, which led to the defeat of the whole army.

The main force of the Liu family's Yangtze River fleet is still the battleships when Zhao Jingyong escorted Zhu Cihong to Wuchang last time.

Later, although the Liujia Shipyard specially designed more than a dozen small warships for the Yangtze River, Liu Ximing considered that the river did not have as much room for maneuver as the sea, so he specially sent the ironclad ships that had just been developed by the Arsenal Department over.

It just so happened that the ironclad ships and tanks went out together, which not only shocked the Qing army like a mountain, but also laid a solid foundation for the great victory of the Han army.

Taking advantage of the battle on the river, the Han army had already deployed heavy firepower in the first line of defense of the Qing army.

At the same time, the entire army also took advantage of the fact that the Qing army was attracted by the river, and the cavalry was suppressed by the Han army.

By the time Duoduo and the others reacted, the sky had already begun to darken, and even if the Qing army wanted to run, it would have to wait until tomorrow.

Otherwise, there is only a fear of heavier casualties at night.

Of course, the premise is that Liu Ximing will leave him plenty of time to escape.

So will Liu Ximing do this?

The answer, of course, is no.

The Han army laid out such a big game in order to wipe out the Qing army, how could the Han army make such a mistake at such a critical moment.