The terrifying drums of war were beating, and the rebel ships were deafening with the shouts of the rebels, accompanied by the terrifying drums and shouts of killing, and seven huge warships slowly lined up, lined up on the wide river, and quickly approached the city of Yangzhou.

More than 200 steps away from the mouth of the canal into the city, the three big boats in the middle raised their sails in unison. Under the fierce north wind, the sails were full of wind, and the speed suddenly increased. The three large ships changed from slow to swift, cleaving the waves, and rushing towards the gap under the suspension bridge at great speed.

At the same time, the large ships on both sides also entered the range of bows and arrows, and thousands of archers on board fired the first round of arrows. The fierce northerly wind was not only extremely beneficial for the assault of the warships, but also for the range of the arrows. The locust-like feathered arrows and crossbow arrows shot high and far down the wind, spanning a distance of more than a hundred paces, hanging up and down the left and right of the suspension bridge, weaving a net of arrows. The next moment, at the heads of the city on both sides of the suspension bridge, thousands of defenders on the suspension bridge were shrouded in this arrow net. As one of the Yangzhou defenders on the suspension bridge fell into the water with an arrow, the Battle of Yangzhou officially began.

The rain of arrows of the rebels was fierce and intensive, and the arrows pierced the gloomy sky and fell up and down the city, and some directly crossed the city wall and landed on the river behind the city wall, and the chirping of arrows into the water was endless. Although the first round of attacks only brought casualties to more than 100 defenders of the city. But shooting the defenders of the city is not the goal, the purpose of the rebels is to suppress the defenders of the city, so that the three rebel ships that are sailing smoothly through the open river entrance, that is the real goal. And they did manage to suppress it completely, for the defenders at the head of the city did not fire a single arrow when all the ships were within a hundred paces. They all seemed to be overwhelmed by a dense rain of arrows, unable to raise their heads behind the battlements and sandbag fortifications.

On the west side of the suspension bridge, Wang Yuan stood behind the half-man-high battlements, his eyes fixed on the seven attacking ships on the river. Countless arrows came head-on, whistling past his head and left and right, and some even grazed his helmet with red tassels, but Wang Yuan remained motionless, like a statue cast of copper and iron, without even blinking his eyelids.

Of course, Wang Yuan didn't want to be a live target, he knew that this kind of upward shooting was not purposeful, and the projectile from top to bottom was actually inaccurate. In the midst of this kind of arrows, the chances of dodging and being shot are almost the same as the chances of standing still. Besides, with his own skills, he can swing his sword to block before the arrow hits him head-on.

And it was Wang Yuan's calm and fearless behavior that quickly calmed down the atmosphere in the city that had become chaotic and frightened after the arrow raid. When did the officers and soldiers of Yangzhou really experience this kind of battle? Before the war, even if the blood was boiling, the crowd was excited. Once on the battlefield, facing the enemy army under the city, facing the dense rain of arrows like flying locusts, and witnessing the tragic situation of the people around him falling from arrows. The Yangzhou soldiers, who had never experienced a real battle at all, were still scared and panicked. However, when they saw Wang Yuan's figure standing calmly in the rain of arrows, they felt ashamed of their actions. That's Wang Xiangguo, the generalissimo of the Shence Army. With such a noble status, he is not afraid of death, and his own people are afraid of death. Under this subtle psychology, the chaos in the city soon calmed down.

Wang Yuan did not know that his actions would play a role in calming the morale of the army, and the reason why he kept an eye on the movements of the enemy army was to find the best time to strike. Because Wang Yuan knew in his heart that with the range of more than 6,000 ordinary bows and arrows in the hands of the defenders of Yangzhou City, the range of condescending was only one hundred and twenty steps. In the case of strong winds, the range and power of the arrows will be reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to be in the right position and distance before the order to attack can be given.

"Wang Xiangguo, don't you still give the order to release arrows? The three big boats were almost at the mouth of the river. Cui Yuanbo, who was shrunk next to him and leaning against the battlements, asked nervously. Beside him, Liu Tan, the leader of the Cui family's nursing home, was wielding his blade to shoot down the bows and arrows shot around him, speaking of which Liu Tan was here to protect Wang Yuan, but it was better to say that he was here to protect Cui Yuanbo.

"Don't panic, wait a little longer." Wang Yuan said in a deep voice.

The seven warships on the river were clearly divided into two formations, and the three warships with their sails raised in a row rushed towards the entrance of the river, and the speed was as fast as galloping horses. Three white waves trailed behind the stern of the boat, showing the speed of the boat. The four warships in the rear were a little slower, slowly approaching a hundred paces away, and the bows and arrows on the ships were fired at the bow in waves, apparently their goal was only to suppress the fire at the head of the city.

Finally, when the four warships in the rear entered within a hundred paces of each other, Wang Yuan gave the order to attack in a deep voice: "Target! Four warships in the rear, shoot arrows! ”

The heralds waved the red flag, and the war drums at the head of the city shook the sky, and more than 6,000 archers poked their heads out from behind the fortifications, and the bows and arrows that were already sweating in their hands opened one by one, and the next moment it was like a black curtain from the city head to the river, and a dense rain of arrows fell on the four big ships behind.

Tuk tuk! Bang bang bang! The arrows rained down on the decks of the four rebel ships, causing countless splashes on the water, which were feathered arrows that fell into the water. The big ship was also shrouded in arrows, and the rebel soldiers who were shooting arrows recklessly on the wide deck were suddenly hit by arrows, and one after another.

"Shoot!"

"Shoot!"

The flag waved again and again, and the rain of arrows fell unexpectedly, just like a summer rainstorm, and the sudden calm came in bursts, which caught people off guard. Under the blow of the arrows, the four large ships responsible for suppressing the blow were nailed with arrows, like a large porcupine with teeth and claws. They also reacted quickly, and countless large shields were erected on the bow of the ship, resisting the dense rain of arrows at the head of the city. Succeed in making a surprise attack on the head of the city in vain. But even so, in the midst of three or four rounds of arrow rain raids, hundreds of rebels were shot on the big ship.

But at this moment, three large rebel ships that broke forward also rushed to the mouth of the river into the city, thirty paces away, and the speed was already amazingly fast. By the time the soldiers at the head of the city began to fire their arrows, the rebel soldiers on the three large ships had already been shielded. They expected to be attacked with ferocious bows and arrows, so they had already prepared for protection. Their goal was to rush straight into the city and slaughter them ashore, so protection was the most important thing at this point, as they were close to the mouth of the river entering the city.

However, the expected bow and arrow blow did not come, but the four ships in the rear suffered a blow, which was somewhat unexpected for them. Just as they were looking out in surprise through the gap in their shields, the sharp-eyed soldiers suddenly saw a row of thick wooden stakes protruding from the water of the river below the suspension bridge thirty paces ahead.

"Oh no, there's a stake under the water." Someone shouted in alarm.

"What? Why didn't you notice it before? The ship's commander exclaimed in horror.

"I don't know. Perhaps the stakes were too little out of the water, so they were not found. ”

“……”

It's too late to talk about the stake, and it's too late to avoid it or make a U-turn and slow down. Within a few breaths, the warship crashed into the shipwrecks under the water like a beast and the huge log stakes that Wang Yuan had ordered to smash down to string the shipwrecks together. This collision was like hitting a wall. The three large ships were huge in size and carried a large number of people, which was already heavy and drafted. It's deep. Their heavy size brought greater inertia at the moment, just at the moment when the three warships collided. The inertia brought by the huge impact force caused the soldiers on the ship to roll down the deck like dumplings like rolling gourds into the water. There were also many people who seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand and thrown into the air, and then smashed heavily on the water.

The dull sound of the huge impact was dizzying, and the huge waves burst into flames, spreading rapidly like a miniature tsunami, hitting the banks on both sides and the sides of the city walls with a huge crashing sound. Although the impact of the ship was strong, it could not withstand the obstacles of the wreck full of mud and stones, and the rows of wooden stakes on the surface of the water were like the tip of the iceberg, although they were broken by six or seven of them, they were enough to make the whole ship begin to sweep sideways with a strange sound and attitude.

The three boats were already less than ten steps apart, because after all, the width of the river at the entrance to the city was limited. They had to get close enough to rush into the city from the deep river in the middle. But at the moment, such a close distance brings even greater disaster. The three warships quickly crossed the plane, and the huge hull that was more than thirty paces long collided together in the huge waves in an instant. The hull and the hull were like two huge slaps slapping together. Amid the tooth-aching roar and grinding sound, sawdust flew and figures flew into the air, spraying water into the air like a fountain, and the defenders on the suspension bridge above were knocked to their feet by the splashes and splinters of wood below.

Everyone looked at the scene in front of them in amazement, including the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou above and below the city, and An Qingxu Yanzhuang and others who were looking forward to it on the river in the distance. The scene in front of them was beyond everyone's expectations, and even the defenders of Yangzhou did not expect that these several underwater hidden piles would have such a huge effect.

Wang Yuan is not surprised. From the moment he saw the ferocity of the opposing ships, Wang Yuan knew that the more fierce they charged, the more tragic the end. Therefore, Wang Yuan simply ignored the three warships that intended to break through the river, and instead ordered to fire arrows at the four ships in the rear. Because in Wang Yuan's opinion, the lethality brought by those four ships to the city was greater, and these three reckless ships did not need to worry at all.

"What are you doing? Shoot the overboard rebels, can't they swim ashore? Wang Yuan's loud reprimand woke up all the defenders on the left and right sides of the suspension bridge. They immediately turned their bows and arrows high and shot at the rebels on the water below and on the big boat. The rebels who fell into the water were frozen and stiffened, floating and fluttering on the water, saying that they were close targets. Even the most lame archers can easily find their targets on the water. The rebel soldiers who did not fall overboard could not be called lucky, as the huge collision and the collision between the following ships had already left them dizzy. The smart ones hurriedly hid in the cabin building, and those who were dizzy would naturally be shot by all the feather arrows above.

A short moment later, blood gushed on the surface of the river, staining the river red, and countless corpses that had been shot floated on the surface of the water, with arrows stuck in the shafts of feathered arrows. A handful of survivors fluttered and swam to the shore on both sides. However, hundreds of sailors from Yangzhou in more than a dozen small boats in the rear surrounded them and shot them all.

The bottoms of the three large ships were smashed, and the icy water rushed into them. The hulls of the ships, which had been broken by the collision with each other, had long since lost their balance, and after the river was flooded, the three boats began to tilt and sink at a speed visible to the naked eye. The rebel soldiers hiding in the cabin cried and cried as they clung to the sinking hull. The vast majority of people were shot one by one before the ship sank.

The rebels on the four ships in the rear did not care about anything else, and tried to get close to the rescue of the overboard, but the arrows and crossbow arrows at the head of the city forced them to retreat, and they could only return fire with bows and arrows. They also did not dare to get too close, and the closer they got to the entrance of the narrow river, the more turbulent the water became. They feared that they would be carried by the wind and the currents of the water to the land of death, and that they would never be able to get out of it again.

In less than an hour, three rebel ships became a new obstacle at the mouth of the Yangzhou Canal. Because of the large number of shipwrecks below, the three large ships could only sink halfway, and the crooked hull still exposed a small half on the water, the tilted mast and broken sails pointed diagonally to the sky, it is hard to imagine that just now, these were three fierce and huge warships with teeth and claws. By now they were wrecked, and more than 5,000 rebel soldiers on three ships had lost their lives or wounded.

The wind was blowing, and in the distance on the river, there was a dead silence in the rebel fleet. I don't know when, the restless drums of war have stopped, and the rebels are stunned one by one as they witness the tragic situation in front of them. Yan Zhuang's face was pale, and fire almost erupted from his eyes. He suddenly realized that Yangzhou City was probably not as easy to break through as he imagined, and the means of defending the city seemed to be in order, and there should be someone good at defending it. And the situation at this estuary is actually a trap, and in the middle of such a wide river channel, it has sunk into an obstacle. What seems to be an estuary that can be easily broken through is a trap for death.

"Ordered Qian Lun and Zhao Shixian to stop the attack immediately, turn around and return to the team. Ordered the whole army to anchor and encamp. Wait for the command. ”

Yan Zhuang hurriedly gave the order, turned around and ran to the shipbuilding on the second floor. An Qingxu, who was full of disappointment there, was looking at him with a blank gaze. He needed to go up and appease His Majesty the Emperor, who was afraid that he was shocked by the scene just now.

……

The four large ships turned around and retreated in a hurry, and the defenders at the head of the city could not believe their eyes. Could it be that the rebels have just died down? The battle had only been going on for more than an hour, and could it have really repelled the rebels' first siege? It wasn't until they saw the four ships return to the enemy formation, and all the enemy ships retreated, putting on a defensive formation, that the Yangzhou defenders realized that they had indeed repelled the enemy army.

Loud cheers rang out from the city walls, and the soldiers jumped and cheered with their weapons in their hands. The cheers at the head of the city also quickly spread to the crowd of Yangzhou people watching the battle under the city. Suddenly, the streets in the north of the city burst into cheers like a tsunami, and everyone smiled and celebrated. The tense nerves suddenly relaxed, the stiff face quickly stretched, and the heart hanging in the throat fell into the stomach. It's amazing how easy it was to fight this first battle. All the tangled worries were swept away.

"Talking and laughing is gone, and the rebels are nothing more than that. Hahaha, when the floating is white. The scribes said.

"These dogs are still delusional about capturing our Yangzhou, let's dream. They were beaten all over the ground looking for teeth. The people said.

"Wang Xiangguo is so powerful, he is really talented in civil and military affairs, and he is a dragon and a phoenix among people. After the war, it would be such an honor to invite Wang Xiangguo to our building. The red prostitutes of the Qingguan said.

“……”

The atmosphere of optimistic celebration filled the whole Beicheng, although Wang Yuan did not feel that this battle had any decisive effect, he could not bear to let everyone be disappointed. This battle was indeed clean and neat, and more than 5,000 enemies were annihilated at the cost of more than 200 casualties, which was of course a huge victory to boost morale. Even if it did not have a decisive impact on the outcome of the war, it was crucial to boost morale and make the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou realize that the rebels could be defeated.

Cui Daoyuan went up to the city wall surrounded by Cui Ruoyu and Shen Zifang and other officials, everyone was smiling, Cui Ruoyuan was even more excited, her phoenix eyes were bright, her face was pink, she held Cui Daoyuan with her hand, but her eyes did not leave Wang Yuan's body for a moment.

"Hahaha, Xiangguo really has good means, and he easily thwarted the rebels' siege, and the old man is really convinced. On behalf of the military and civilians of the whole city, Lao Yu thanked Wang Xiangguo and congratulated Xiangguo on the victory of the Xiangguo flag. Cui Daoyuan laughed and arched his hand.

Wang Yuan bowed his hand and saluted: "Rejoice and rejoice, this is not my ability, it is the result of everyone's concerted efforts." It's still the same sentence, united and indestructible. Cui Weng wanted to thank him, so he went to thank the soldiers and civilians of the city. ”

Shen Zifang said with a smile: "The lower officials just said, how can the prestige of Xiangguo's victory in a hundred battles be buried in Yangzhou?" The rebels are kicking the iron plate now. It was believed that after a while, they retreated. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Shen Taishou, this is too early to say. I don't mean to spoil the scenery, but this battle is just the beginning, and the hard battle is to come. ”

Cui Daoyuan nodded and said: "What Xiang Guo said is extremely true, Xiang Guo is really handsome and graceful, he is not arrogant or discouraged when he wins, and he is not shocked by humiliation." But in any case, this battle was fought beautifully, and the people's hanging hearts were also put down. Such a beautiful victory, how can you make everyone happy