Mortar shells are not like bullets that can only fire directly, shells can draw curves, go around large shields, and fall behind.

The middle and lower-ranking officers of the Central Army were very experienced, and they would choose the moment when the shells blew up the formation of the Jingzhou Army into confusion and gave the order to open fire.

At this time, many Jingzhou troops are often exposed to the protection of the big shield, so as to achieve the best killing effect.

And for the Jingzhou army, even if it has the protection of a big shield, it is not easy to be beaten passively and unable to fight back.

At the critical moment when the morale of the Jingzhou army was low, the casualties were heavy, and the defense line was shaken, the Yangtze River waterway came with the sound of loud horns and passionate war drums.

With the beating of the drums, a clear trumpet can be heard, "One-two!" One or two! ”

When Liu Bei heard these voices, his face was ecstatic, "Haha, the sky is endless, and the navy is here!" Our water army is coming! ”

Ma Chao and Wang Quan naturally also heard the sound of horns and war drums, the navy of the Central Army was far away in the Yellow River and Jiaozhou Bay, and on the Yangtze River, if there was a navy, it could only be the Jingzhou army.

No matter how clever the military advisor Zhuge Liang is, he still misses Jingzhou's navy.

A mighty fleet sailed on the river, and the Jingzhou Navy also had large warships such as building ships and fighting ships.

They had already seen the two sides fighting on the riverside, and the building boats and fighting ships were quickly moving in the direction of the Central Army.

There are man-powered trebuchets on the ships, and large bed crossbows are also installed on the ships and fighting ships.

The trebuchet of the Jingzhou Navy can shoot 300 zhang of 50 catties of stone projectiles, and the bed crossbow can shoot 150 zhang, which exceeds the range of the flintlock gun.

They could all attack the Central Army from outside the range of flintlock pistols and already posed a threat to the Central Army.

The Central Army was a lightly protected musketeer and cavalryman, unable to withstand the attacks of bed crossbows and trebuchets.

Mortars and trebuchets were within range of what they could fire, and the mortars turned their targets at ships that posed a threat to them.

The Jingzhou Navy put down many small boats, and some walkers and Meng Chong with a smaller displacement also leaned to the shore one after another, wanting to rescue the Jingzhou infantry.

Liu Bei ordered the whole army to retreat and get on the boat by the river, but Pang Tong was thoughtful, and he asked Wei Yan to lead 5,000 people to cover the retreat of the army and prevent the central army from taking the opportunity to charge.

Just as the Jingzhou army withdrew to the river and began to crowd into the boats, the cavalry of the Central Army rushed out of the valley on their side, and it was Ma Dai's brigade that had been following Liu Bei so hard.

As soon as they came out of the trail, they saw the Jingzhou army who wanted to board the boat and escape.

The enemies were very angry when they saw each other, and they didn't care about the Jingzhou naval army by the river, but directly charged the infantry who were boarding.

The five thousand men led by Wei Yan were guarding against Ma Chao and Wang Quan in front, and they never dreamed that a cavalry would suddenly rush out from their side, so close.

He hurriedly ordered 2,000 men to change formation and direction to stop this sudden cavalry.

However, Ma Dai's cavalry brigade was also followed by the Wenpin's Special First Brigade, and they also quickly approached the Jingzhou army, and then suppressed the Jingzhou army with a salvo, obstructing the smooth progress of the change formation.

Hatred gave the fighters of the Central Army extra strength, and they rushed towards the enemy line with unprecedented speed, pouring out their anger on the Jingzhou army with their crossbows and grenades.

Then they desperately crashed into the ranks of the Jingzhou army, and the halberds and horizontal knives in their hands flew up and down, waving wildly.

These men who grew up on the grassland cherish this comrade-in-arms more than others, and their kung fu is also significantly higher, and the two thousand people transferred by Wei Yan have been torn to pieces before they can arrange their formation.

The cavalry of the Central Army turned and rushed behind Wei Yan, and Wei Yan didn't have time to change the direction of the defense, so they took out the chrysanthemum.

Ma Chao naturally did not miss such a good opportunity, and ordered the whole army to attack, as long as the two sides were in a scuffle, the trebuchet and the bed crossbow also had to be thrown into the mouse.

Liu Bei saw that the cavalry of the Central Army had rushed to the river, so he was so frightened that he hurriedly grabbed a small boat, and he didn't care about Wei Yan and the others, so he only beckoned Pang Tongyi to escape to the building boat in the river.

Yan Yan had no choice but to grab a dinghy by himself and flee from the shore.

Wei Yan was fighting hard, he wanted Liu Bei to let the navy get closer to support him, but when he turned his head, he found that Liu Bei and the others had gotten into the boat and fled to the big boat in the river.

Wei Yan was so angry that he jumped to his feet and scolded his mother, but he didn't want to be a victim of Liu Bei, and after he gave the order to retreat, he was the first to flee to the river.

By this time, the Jingzhou army had completely lost its command and was in a mess.

Everyone only wanted to grab the small boat and escape to the big boat in the middle of the river as soon as possible, and there would be no one to stop the attack of the Central Army.

The musketeers of the special operations division, especially the snipers, once again turned the battle into hunting.

The snipers chose their priority targets as the gunners of the trebuchets on the ship, took aim calmly, and then pulled the trigger.

With a range of 300 zhang, they could easily shoot anyone on the ship.

Liu Bei, who had just climbed upstairs on the boat, suddenly saw the gunner next to him being headshot by a sniper, and was so frightened that he lay directly on the deck.

"Sail, sail quickly, stay far from the shore."

Pang Tong also lay on the deck, and he reminded Liu Bei, "Lord, there are still many soldiers who haven't come up!" ”

Liu Bei was already frightened at this time, "Then let other ships continue to save people, this ship will go first!" ”

Pang Tong had no choice but to order the captain to signal the other ships, and then take the first step.

Wei Yan finally squeezed into a small boat, and hurriedly lowered his body, and could hear the musket bullets of the Central Army flying "whizzing" overhead.

When the sniper saw that the boats began to flee to the north bank of the Yangtze River, beyond their own range, they began to design sailors on the boats by the river to save people.

As a result, more than a dozen sailors in the dinghy were shot at once, and when the sailors died, there was no one to operate the dinghy.

Some of these boats spin in place, while others are carried downstream by the current, and when they encounter a reef, they will immediately crash into pieces.

More sailors in the dinghy found themselves being targeted first, and they were so frightened that they did not dare to stay on the river for a moment, and they rowed and fled to the center of the river.

I can no longer take care of the tens of thousands of comrades-in-arms on the shore who failed to squeeze into the dinghy.

When more musketeers rushed to the river and fired a salvo at the warships in the river, the Jingzhou naval army finally stopped staying, raised the dampers one after another, and fled downstream.

The soldiers of the Jingzhou army, who were abandoned by the river, looked at the sailors who had gone away, and then looked at the cavalry of the Central Army who had been killed by their side, like wolves and tigers, and obediently made the wisest choice, laid down their weapons, raised their hands and surrendered.

Although his eyes were red by the anger of revenge, the military discipline of the Central Army still prevailed over Ma Chao's desire for revenge and did not kill the prisoners.

At this moment, Liu Bei's plan to enter Sichuan completely failed, but thanks to Pang Tong's backhand prepared in advance, he was able to escape and escape back to Jingzhou.

Of the 40,000 elite Jingzhou infantry he brought into Yizhou, only more than 10,000 returned to Jingzhou with him.

Fortunately, Wei Yan and Yan Yan were lucky enough to squeeze into the big boat, and they didn't lose their lives like more unlucky ghosts.

(End of chapter)