At the beginning of September, Zhou Guobazhou assassin Shi Yuwenwen and other generals led troops to invade the south, attacked Xisai Mountain, a key place on the south bank of the river defense, and succeeded, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses together with naval warships were killed and wounded, not only that, Yuwenwen also issued a letter to denounce Chen Guojiangzhou's assassin Shi Chen Shujian's many 'evil deeds'.

The text claims that Chen Shujian sent assassins to Xiyang to assassinate, so the Zhou army went south again, which means that Yuwenwen originally wanted to truce without fighting, but was angered by Chen Shujian's indiscriminate methods, and he couldn't bear it anymore and sent troops to teach this wolf ambition a lesson.

The short-term loss of Mount Xisai is unbelievable, and the content of the text is even more jaw-dropping, the full text of the text is somehow widely known, and people of insight are shocked by its content.

It's not for the thing like Chen Shujian buying murder as mentioned in it, the focus is on the weird style of the text, the half-incomprehensible sentences, and the kind of words that can't tell where the blame is, anyway, the text made by Shi Yuwenwen, the assassin of Bazhou, does not look like a 'traditional style'.

Everyone is speculating whether there is something wrong with this one-legged bronze man's brain, or if he drinks too much and goes crazy, if he can't read and write, it's okay, so he can find a rough and well-written Mr. Xiangxue to polish it, so that the inexplicable essay dares to send it out, except for making him laugh and be generous.

Putting aside this joke, the situation in Yingzhou in Chen State is not good, the farmland was originally seriously damaged by the Zhou army, and there is no harvest this year, and now the Xisai Mountain has fallen, although it is quickly recovered, but the hostility of the Zhou army in Jiangbei has been clearly revealed.

The Zhou army didn't even care about its own autumn harvest but wanted to send troops, the key is that the Chen army has been unable to resist the Zhou army, except for Xiakou and Wuchang, which are heavy cities, Xisai Mountain can not stop the attack of the Zhou army, you must know that tens of thousands of soldiers and horses can be stationed there, and there are many naval warships stationed.

Xisai Mountain, which is defended by water and land forces, cannot be defended, not to mention other camps along the river, and the recent fall of Weiyuankou shows that people's worries are not unreasonable.

The beacons, sentry forts, and camps along the river are all difficult to protect themselves, and the officers and soldiers are frightened all day long, and if they want to hold these places, the number of garrisons will be less useless, and the more will not be able to afford, and without water transportation, the additional consumption of grain transportation by land will not be small.

The Yangtze River has always been the most favorable line of defense for the Southern Dynasty to resist the Northern Dynasty, and the Yangtze River moat can be said to be worry-free in the Southern Dynasty's officials, but now the Jiangbei Zhou army is mainly anti-guest, and then the advantage of boats and ships attacks the Chen army in the south of the Yangtze River everywhere, and then the situation is becoming more and more erosive.

Only when the navy army regains its strength can it cure the root cause, and suppressing the Zhou army on the north bank is the best way, as for how the Jiangzhou assassin Shi and the king of Changsha Chen Shujian responded to that text, it is impossible to know......

Wuchang, Fan Lakeside.

There are dozens of wooden boats, large and small, moored in a large and small water village, these brand new wooden boats have only recently been completed, and there are many unfinished wooden boats in the shipyard on the shore.

Some of the wooden boats were almost finished with their masts not erected, and some were just erected shelves, and many boatmen were busy around them, and the autumn sun did not feel too hot on them.

In the corner of the shipyard, a young apprentice was sawing wood with his master, and when he saw that there was no one next to him, he said the doubts in his heart: "Master, isn't this shipbuilding wood to be used after drying, why is it just cut down and used to build a ship?" ”

"Long-winded, Shangguan will do it, what are you worried about." The master said in a low voice, his apprentice is good at everything, but he is dead-eyed, some things must be broken and asked to the end, in fact, this is not wrong, but sometimes he should be silent.

"But the boat made in this way will not be used for long," muttered the apprentice, it was common knowledge that the boat made directly from fresh wood would not be used for long, and he really didn't understand why there were so many masters in the shipyard who were not reminded.

"You, you have a lot to learn" The master didn't blame anything, after all, the apprentice was right, the cut fresh wood was not actually 'dead', even if it was sawn into planks or sticks, it was still 'alive'.

Fresh timber must be dried and waited until it is really 'dead' before you can build a ship, otherwise you will not be able to last more than half a year and will be scrapped if you build a ship with 'live' timber.

Planks and sticks that have not dried to a certain extent will still grow when immersed in water, but the growth of each plank and stick will be different, and the result is that the originally straight hull will start to become crooked, and then gaps will begin to appear between the originally sealed hull planks.

If there is a problem above the waterline, the boat is barely usable, but the part below the waterline will inevitably have deformations and cracks, and the severity is even greater.

These problems will slowly worsen, at first small repairs can be improvised, but after half a year, you have to repair the caulking frequently, and then even make up the can't be repaired can only be dismantled as firewood.

A big ship uses a lot of materials, if you use fresh wood to fool people into building a ship, within a year the owner of the ship will have to carry a knife to settle the account, qualified shipwrights must avoid using fresh wood to make a ship, of course, to make a ship for the enemy, that is another matter.

Seeing the aggrieved look on the apprentice's face, the master sighed, and when he saw that there was no one next to him, he explained the original situation in detail: The officers and soldiers can't wait.

"The Zhou army flaunted its might in the river all day long, attacked the west at once, and ran to the east to attack Fengsui at once, and the officers and troops were anxious to rebuild the naval army." After speaking, the old master sighed, "If you have an idea from above, you don't have to worry about it." ”

The dead-eyed apprentice still couldn't figure it out, he felt that the naval warship was something to be used for life, and if it was used for a few months, it would leak, in case those military masters were unreasonable to cut the boatman, what would it be.

Besides, if you use this kind of warship that is prone to leakage to enter the river, the wind and waves will be stronger, and it will sink before the enemy ship can be picked, and it will not be these shipwrights who will be blamed for the bad luck.

"You, you don't know much, that's why you think so." The master is not impatient, this year the master has carefully selected the apprentices, and after worshipping the master, he has to teach the arts, the apprentice treats the master as the father, and the master also has to treat the apprentice as a son, so he has to teach patiently.

"The size of the naval army of the Zhou State on the north shore is not comparable to that of the official army, do you know why they suddenly came with so many warships?"

"Could it be that the boat is also made of fresh wood?" The apprentice asked.

"Right! The officials and troops have already figured it out, and Zhou Guo seems to have done just that. The master nodded, this apprentice is not stupid, his head is turned around, "Fight, win first, then talk, what new wood dry wood, if you can win, it is a good ship!" ”

"You see, Zhou Guo will prepare some more timber to dry, from March and April to the present, and then make warships to replace those that can't work, isn't this over?"

"Isn't it okay to use a kiln to dry wood?" The apprentice thought of another way.

"How much firewood does it take to dry the wood, and the boat that comes out of this way will cost money." The master continued to enlighten, "A few, a dozen are okay, this is a warship to make hundreds of warships, where can the firewood consumed be afforded." ”

The apprentice probably understood, he followed the master to learn the art in order to support his family after leaving the master, and it didn't matter much to him whether he was fighting or not, and it was better to go home early to complete the shipbuilding task as soon as possible.

Yingzhou was sacked by the Zhou army, the water village that was originally here was also razed to the ground, as for the boatwright, it was naturally taken away, the master and apprentice and other shipwrights were not native to Yingzhou, they were all requisitioned by the government in July, and the army came to Wuchang to live in the rebuilt water village to catch up with the warship.

Just after a while, the apprentice had another problem, he asked the master why the officers and soldiers would build ships in this Fan Lake, it seems that the navy is also training in this lake, but Fan Lake has to go more than 20 miles from Fankou into the river, and there is a lake not far from the southeast suburbs of Wuchang City, why the navy is not stationed there.

"You mean South Lake? It is too close to the river, and the exit of Nanhu Linjiang, that is, Wuzhangkou, is too small, and it is easy to be blocked by the Zhou army on the other side. ”

"But if the official army sets up a water village in Wuzhangkou" The apprentice still has a lot of problems, but he just finished saying that he can't think it will work, as long as the Zhou army is blocked outside Wuzhangkou, it is useless if the official army warship can't come out.

Fankou also has a similar problem, the Zhengrongzhou upstream of Fankou is guarded by Zhou warships, and the defense is that the official warships will rush out of Fankou, but the water surface of Fankou is much wider, and there are many ships that can rush out in a short time, so the hope of breaking through is greater.

Seeing that the apprentice had figured it out, the master nodded and added: "Yanji, more than ten miles east of Nanhu, is the territory of the Zhou army, and the lake area is so big, if the Zhou army sends someone to quietly touch it, it will be terrible to set fire to the boat at that time." ”

"What are you talking about! What are you talking about if you don't work! When the apprentice was sweating profusely, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a small boat approaching on the lake, and several warships guarding nearby immediately rushed up to intercept it.

"What's the matter, who is so bold as to dare to approach the water village?"

"Don't look forward to it, itchy skin and want to eat whips?!" ……

In a room in Shuizhai, a general was staring at the man in front of him, the man in his thirties was thin and thin, with dark skin and two large teeth, and a soldier on each side was holding him hostage.

"Are you saying that someone in the clan colluded with the Zhou army to burn this water village?" The general asked, and the man nodded yes, his brother has been acting strangely in recent days, and he has frequent contacts with strangers with foreign accents, and later he overheard several times and found that the other party actually did the internal response of the Zhou army.

He said that there was something wrong with his brother since the first half of the year, and he often went out quietly for a few days before coming back, and when he asked where he was going, he always said that he was going to hunt, but every time he came back, he carried one or two pheasants and hares or something, and it looked like he had been hunting for a few days.

"It must be to lead the way for Zhou Jun!" The man scolded fiercely, but the general looked at him but remained silent, this person is from Tianjiazhai at the foot of the mountain south of Fan Lake, claiming that he wants to come out of the secret after discovering the secret, of course, he also hopes to be rewarded after meritorious service.

"You said that they agreed on a day, and your brother would lead the way to boil the water village, whether by land or by water?" The general asked, staring into the man's eyes.

The man said that he could not hear the specific day, anyway, in these few days, of course, the specific waterway, because his brother was collecting boats.

"In this case, you and Ben will go to Wuchang to meet the general and tell you everything you know in person."

"Ouch, I'm looking for an excuse to slip out of the boat, telling people that I'm out fishing, what if he gets suspicious when he goes back?" The man complained bitterly, "General, it doesn't matter if you believe it or not, anyway, it's right to pay attention to it immediately." ”

"You go back first, Ben will have his own arrangements."

When the man heard this, he wanted to say something, but he still sighed and put on a straw hat to hide and followed the soldier out, and after he left, a person turned in from behind, came to the general's side and said: "This person is lowly and recognized, and he is indeed a person from Tianjiazhai, named Tian Liuluo, who makes a living by fishing in Fanhu Lake like other clansmen. ”

"What he said about someone doing what Zhou Jun should do, do you think it's possible?"

"Very likely." The man replied, "The Zhou army took away the people of Yingzhou, but they were all the people of the county and the neighboring villages, and these remote villages scattered in the mountains and lakes were all spared, so it is not surprising that some people colluded with the Zhou army as guides." ”

"Yes, if it weren't for these bastards who ate inside and outside to lead the way, where would Zhou Jun be able to do whatever he wanted in Yingzhou!" The general scolded fiercely, just now he carefully observed Tian Liuluo's words and deeds, and found nothing suspicious, the most important thing is the last question.

He asked the man to go to Wuchang together, and the other party was also the proper performance of an informant: he was in a hurry to go back so as not to be discovered, this kind of behavior of being a thief was very normal, so he judged that at least half of what the other party said was true, and it was always right to pay attention to vigilance no matter what.

"The water village immediately strengthened its defenses and asked the soldiers to deploy their defenses immediately." He instructed his men, "Hurry up and prepare your horses, I was going to enter the city to meet the general!" (To be continued.) )