As long as the fire is large enough to form a fire, it is very scary, and wildfires can burn all the raw trees that are not dry. Above the river, the river seems to have turned into a big pot of oil, and the whole sky is burning, burning all the momentum!

The huge flames spread out to the west of the water in the wind, and the originally huge fleet seemed to be vulnerable to the fire at this time. The ship, which did not have time to run, was quickly engulfed in flames and ignited a raging fire. The air was filled with smoke, and black dust flew everywhere.

However, the sails on the giant raft were quickly engulfed after the fire broke out, and without the help of the sails, the raft drifted westward very slowly, and without looking closely, it seemed as if they had come to a standstill on the surface of the river. Rao is like this, and the southern ** soldiers are also scared enough.

"Ahh......h

Although the fire has not yet spread to this ship, the flames in the direction of the wind are raging in this direction, and it is close, and the temperature on the ship's floor is very high, and the air is simply hot! Several flags on it were all lit by flames, burning the flagpole bare.

Coupled with the overwhelming momentum of the fire, the ship was in chaos. People were all panicked, screaming in pain and running downstairs with their heads covered.

People are not fish, only by virtue of the boats on the water, many people are wearing armor, and dare not jump into the river in a hurry; But when people are in danger, their reaction is to run away, and the soldiers are running in a hurry, leaving the building and deck, and instinctively hiding in the cabin, separated by planks, at least temporarily to escape the scorching heat. The heat wave that hits people in the air is like roasting people alive!

The surest way to escape was to get the ship out of the place, the giant raft moving slowly and the ship moving faster. But one by one, people only care about running around.

"Lord, go this way!" The soldiers grabbed Zhu Lingyun's arm and shouted.

Chen Qiao also hurriedly followed everyone and left the unobstructed roof first. The panicked soldiers behind pushed and ran, squeezing everyone to the top of the stairs. Chen Qiao almost didn't get pushed off the boat at the mouth, and immediately shouted: "Don't be impatient, don't squeeze ......"

Zhu Lingyun's personal soldier in front of him pulled out his knife, and in the chaos of the army, the bright knife was in front of Chen Qiao, and his face suddenly changed. The soldier with the weapon shouted, "Don't squeeze ...... him."

Before the words fell, a loud "pop" was suddenly heard, and then a loud scream. Chen Qiao hurriedly turned his head to look, and saw that the guardrail on the stairs was broken, and a figure rushed straight down the boat. After a while, it fell into the tumbling river with a "plop".

Someone hissed and shouted: "General Zhu has fallen into the water!" ”

Chen Qiao let out a "groan" in his heart, he didn't care to hide his roasted face, he hurriedly looked down, and couldn't see anything, only the river water. That Zhu Lingyun seems to be wearing two layers of heavy armor, and dozens of catties of iron are burdened on his body, so falling into the water is not much different from tying a big stone and throwing it into the river!

"Quick! Drop the rope and go down! Chen Qiao shouted.

But at this time, the chaotic army is crowded and chaotic, where to find a rope for a while? Someone shouted frantically, "Didn't you hold the lord?" How to help! Jump down and save people! ”

"Squeeze you|!" A soldier with a knife slashed at a soldier behind him, and suddenly there was a scream, and blood splashed in the crowd. But the killing did not stop the chaos, and in the midst of the fire and panic, it was as if it was about to explode. Others were thrown out of the boat, others climbed up from the railing, screamed and jumped onto the plate below and were thrown half to death.

Someone shouted: "The boss fell into the river and drowned!" ”

The warship had been sailing westward, and after a while, the location of the broken railing was no longer the place where Zhu Lingyun fell into the water; Finding someone in this position is undoubtedly asking for a sword. Chen Qiao looked back behind him, but he didn't see anyone at all, and the waves were one after another...... How can I save someone?

But the battlefield coach is gone, and this matter is very serious. Chen Qiao hurriedly shouted: "Quickly order the helmsman and turn the direction!" ”

Turning direction? Into the fire...... Besides, even the helmsman didn't know where he was at this time. No one listened to Chen Qiao, a civil official, and the warship was still sailing westward, but Zhu Lingyun had disappeared.

On the river, the southern ** warships fled westward, and no one had a way to control thousands of ships. Even the land soldiers on the riverside were in chaos, and countless people stood by the river, watching the fire on the river.

After a long time, the ship docked, and Chen Qiao landed. The fact that Zhu Lingyun drowned has become a fact that has to be accepted...... Although Chen Qiao didn't like Zhu Lingyun, he had prestige in the Zhennan Army and the title of the commander of the army, so he could command the whole army; Now dead, who will lead the army? Chen Qiao did not think that he could control this army by a civilian official on a temporary basis.

Moreover, Zhu Lingyun's news spread quickly, the matter of the commander was a matter of concern to the officers and men of the whole army, and the news of the dead commander spread rapidly. The people in the army were panicked, especially the naval division was very chaotic, and for a while they couldn't even find the generals of the various departments.

Chen Qiao called on the generals present to call other generals to re-elect a temporary coach.

But Zhou Jun didn't give them a chance, and Zhou Jun reacted quite quickly to the battle situation. Before noon, Chizhou transferred troops over, the cavalry took the lead, and the infantry followed, directly attacking the men and horses stranded on the main road in the south. It was too late to unify the military orders, and the various ministries knew that they were fighting. Although the Zhou army had few forwards, it was not besieged by the superior forces organized by the south. Moreover, at this time, the people in the southern ** army were panicked, and they were soon defeated......

The people and horses in the back were affected, and in some places they fled in formations. Known as an army of 150,000, it looks majestic, but it is completely more fragile than Chen Qiao imagined, and the army is like a big house falling apart.

The main road to the west was full of retreating soldiers. On the river, the boats were also scattered, each retreating.

……

In the middle of the night of the same day, Guo Shao received a quick report from Luo Yanhuan in the water village by the river. He took a closer look, and his face quickly turned red...... It's late at night, and there is no one else around to celebrate, but he still can't suppress the excitement in Guo Shao's heart, and he can only steal the fun alone for the time being!

Luo Yanhuan described the battle situation in detail, and said that the troops of Wankou and Chizhou were weak and could not expand the results of the battle; However, after the chaos in the south of the country, it was by no means easy to redeploy, and the goal of "delaying the enemy's reinforcements" had been achieved.

But in Guo Shao's view, Luo Yanhuan unexpectedly established a miracle feat. South ** suffered this setback, rectify the chaotic army and do not say anything, how to revive the morale and morale of the army? By now, the threat of that army had been very small.

Guo Shaoxin said: During the Tokyo Mutiny, I felt that Luo Yanhuan was brave and strategic, so it seems that this person has great talents. Luo Yanhuan did not have many elite soldiers in his hands, mainly a group of town soldiers from all over the country, and there were few warships; Under limited conditions, he was able to devise a way to attack the army of the Southern Tang Kingdom, which was very remarkable...... Moreover, after the fire was successful and the morale of the army was disturbed, Luo Yanhuan boldly sent troops to attack with weak troops, and the fighters caught it very well.

"Luo Yanhuan, Luo Yanhuan ......" Guo Shao said twice, and walked back and forth in the cabin for a few steps.

He put down the military newspaper, walked to the window again, and lifted a corner to look out. The water is brightly lit, the windows are slightly open, and the sound of the waves is even noisier...... It turns out that on the side of the Yangtze River, there is no "midnight bell to the passenger ship" general quiet, and it has nothing to do with the small number of people, the sound of the waves is noisy enough.

The atmosphere was buzzy and noisy. But there is no danger here: yesterday, the Han Tong Naval Division has entered the Yangtze River, and the naval army is under the jurisdiction of the guard Ma Busi, which is a forbidden army, with many people and ships, and elite soldiers, and those who were dispatched from Tokyo are enough to put pressure on Nan**; Moreover, Guo Shao still has a large number of warships and sailors on his side, forming a front and rear attack on the south of Jingkou.

The enemy soldiers in Jingkou are now turtles in the urn, and there is no way out except to go ashore, but the boat cannot go ashore, and the reinforcements from Hukou cannot come, and it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated. Guo Shao is sure that he has won the battle!

Guo Shao sat in front of the table, with a situation map under the lamp, and shallow ink in the inkstone next to him. He sat down for a while, then poured a lot of water from the iron cup into the inkstone, and diluted the ink very lightly. Then he lifted the brush, dipped it in a light ink, and painted all the fields of influence of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the borders of the Southern Tang Kingdom on the map.

Throughout the image, a large piece in the middle has been discolored. Guo Shao stretched out his finger and stroked the large area of the Southern Tang Kingdom. Although it was only a piece of paper, he really felt the great increase in strength.

Countless wealth, countless people, vast territory......

Guo Shao suddenly felt a little that at the end of the year, it was also very difficult for a little profit; And now, the huge interests can't be stopped, and they come too quickly.

He still had a sense of loss of control, and there seemed to be a torrent in front of him, but fortunately, the torrent was following his direction. And I still have the ability to adjust its direction. Guo Shao let out a long breath and closed his eyes to feel the river flowing at the bottom of the boat.

……

……

(When I was writing the second chapter last night, I lay down to rest, but I accidentally fell asleep, and as soon as I opened my eyes, the sun had risen...) I'm really sorry. ）