Li Sizhao's death was just an accident, but the impact was very large, but now everyone is not aware of it.

Yang Liu Nancheng, Li Cunmiao, who returned from collecting troops, was sad and indignant in his heart, as if his own brother had passed away.

He ordered the appointment of Li Cunjin, the commander of Tianxiong Ma Budu and the envoy of Zhenwu Jiedu, as the envoy to the north to replace Li Sizhao; At the same time, Li Sizhao's sons were ordered to escort Li Sizhao's coffin back to Jinyang and bury him there.

At this time, although he was still having a headache about the battle situation on Yang Liu's side, he still made careful arrangements for Li Sizhao's funeral, hoping to entertain his brother with the strongest courtesy.

It's a pity that what he didn't know was that when Li Sizhao was still alive, the states under the command of Zhaoyi Jiedu were of course loyal to the Jin State and would not have any dissent; But Li Sizhao could be loyal to the king of Jin, but his sons were not.

When Li Sizhao died in battle due to an accident, Zhaoyi Town, which was supposed to be an important part of the Jinyang Domain, began to have problems.

Of course, all this is an afterthought.

……

In the camp of the Wu army.

After Yang Wu returned to the camp, after careful reflection, he vaguely guessed that the news of Li Sizhao's death might have caused the Jin army to withdraw suddenly.

However, because the Jin army blocked the news very strictly, it was impossible to confirm the news in the short term.

And the generals were still speculating about what had happened.

"Okay, it's useless for the generals to continue to speculate suspiciously, let's talk about how to break the enemy. You have also seen the results of today's two head-to-head battles, so you might as well share your thoughts. Yang Wu raised his hand to interrupt the generals' discussion.

Li Chengding pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, judging from the course of today's two major battles, the minister thinks that the enemy soldiers have been on the battlefield for a long time and have rich combat experience; In this regard, our army is difficult to compare. ”

"Yes, the Jin army has experienced too many wars in the past ten years, the Yan army, the Khitans, the Liang army, the Zhenzhou soldiers, the Dingyan army, etc.; In recent years, however, our army has mainly been resting and recuperating. Guo Chongtao nodded in agreement.

Zhou Ben added: "Another point is that most of their soldiers come from the bitter cold land in the north, not only are they generally tall, but they also have a strong personality, and they are not afraid of death when they rush to kill. In addition, their military discipline is also very strict, and the combination of the two makes the Jin army strong. ”

"And the cavalry, whose cavalry is more skillful in use than our army, and better at capturing fighters; Fighting on horseback is more skillful, etc., which is also inferior to the cavalry of our army. Chai Kehong focused more on cavalry.

……

In a few words, the generals quickly listed the respective advantages and disadvantages of the Jin army and the Wu army.

Through comparison, it is not difficult to find that the Wu army has an advantage in infantry and is more suitable for frontal battles; The Jin army, on the other hand, was known for its cavalry, which was more suitable for fighting sports warfare on the plains.

The current situation is a frontal siege battle, which is good news for the state of Wu.

However, there is good news and bad news, and the bad news is that although the Jin army has a disadvantage in a frontal battle, it does not mean that they are completely powerless to fight back, but only slightly inferior.

That is to say, Wu Jun's advantage is not obvious!

"The present war is dominated by our army's siege of the city, and judging from the performance of the enemy's army, even if they go out of the city to engage our army, it will be difficult for our army to take advantage of it; What's more, they still have a city to rely on! Yang Wu frowned.

"Yes, with the city as a base to defend, it is too difficult for our army to break through in the siege. So ......" Zhou Ben's complexion is also not good-looking.

"So, the only chance is still on the pontoon!" Guo Chongtao categorically said what he said later.

If the pontoon bridge is not destroyed, then the Jin army will not only be able to get military support from Hebei, but also get sufficient material resources, and there is almost no chance to break through the southern city.

However, if the city is fortified and cannot make a breakthrough for a long time, this is an extremely dangerous situation.

Not to mention far away, let's just say that Yan Bao's recent defeat outside Zhenzhou City, although the main reason is because of the light enemy, but why did Yan Bao light the enemy? It's not because of the delay in breaking the city, everyone has relaxed after a long time.

If the Wu army can't break through the city in a short time, the situation will become very dangerous!

"Well, I went around in a circle, and finally I got back to the pontoon." Yang Wu smiled bitterly in his heart.

He looked at Sima Fu and said, "Didn't you navy army find a way to destroy the pontoon bridge?" ”

Sima Fu stood up and said with some shame: "The king, the minister is incompetent, and he has not yet found a way to destroy the pontoon bridge." ”

Yang Wu frowned and said: "Your navy is the key to this battle, if you can't play your due role for a long time, then what's the use of your navy?" ”

His voice was a little cold, obviously very unhappy with the result.

Yan Keqiu on the side said: "The king is angry." General Sima, the best way to destroy the pontoon bridge is to attack it with fire. The old man heard that there was fierce fire oil on the naval warship, I wonder if it has been used before, and has it achieved any results? ”

Menghuo oil is actually the oil of later generations, and it is unrefined crude oil, which is mostly produced in the area of Zhancheng; It is a great weapon used by the navy to fight arson.

Hearing him mention it, all the generals looked at Sima Fu one after another.

"Lord Yan, our army has already used fierce fire oil."

"Unsuccessful?"

"Unsuccessful. After the last general transported the boat over the iron cable, poured fierce fire oil, lit it, and sailed down the river, ready to burn the enemy's pontoon bridge; However, the enemy set up a third iron cable not far in front of the pontoon, and it was difficult for the small boats that set fire to the pontoon bridge to get close to it. ”

"What? The third iron cable? At this time, all the generals were shocked, but they didn't expect the enemy to be willing to spend so much money and set up three iron cables in a row.

Iron in this era is a precious resource, and it takes a lot of iron to cast weapons and armor, and the enemy army is willing to cast three iron cables!

"My lord, the third rope is also hidden underwater, although it is not as strong as the first two, but it is enough to intercept small boats." Sima Fudao.

Yang Wu nodded, and then he understood why the navy was so ineffective this time, it was really that the enemy army was too well prepared, and even the arson ship was prepared for it.

"If only there was something that could set fire far away!" Zhou Ben sighed.

"That's right! Arson from afar, isn't this a flame striker? Yang Wu was reminded by Zhou Ben's unconscious words, and suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Why did I forget this!" ”

"Flame Striker?" The generals looked puzzled.

"Well, it's the Fierce Fire Oil Tank, something that can shoot the Fierce Fire Oil far away. Isn't there a fire extinguisher in Jinling City, which is called a 'water dragon', which can spray water into a distance; as long as we change the water to the fierce fire oil, wouldn't we be able to launch the fierce fire oil far away? Yang Wu explained, while regretting in his heart why he didn't think about it earlier.

The application of fierce fire oil and military is relatively old, whether it is a siege or a defense of a city, it is widely used in arson.

However, before this, the army's use of fierce fire oil was still very low-level and primitive, and it was generally poured on the fire-starter, such as arson boats, to burn enemy warships, which could not be extinguished in water; Or they could be transported directly to the city and poured on the city gates, which were used to burn the city gates, etc.

In other words, the fierce fire oil of this era also needs to be poured on the target at close range, rather than being able to set fire from a distance, as was the case with the flamethrowers of later generations.

It wasn't until the fierce fire oil tank, a naval weapon that was greatly developed in the Song Dynasty, that all this changed; With Yang Wu's words today, it is obvious that the fierce fire oil tank will appear in advance.

Li Chengding and the others were excited, and said: "King, if you can really launch the fierce fire oil and set it on fire from a distance, then the third iron lock set up by the enemy will not work!" So the pontoon bridge will be broken! ”

"It's just that I don't know how much time it will take for this fierce fire tank that the king said will take to prepare, and how far it can be launched?" Yan Keqiu asked.

"This is not a problem, Lone will order the craftsmen in the army to rush to make it overnight, and we must come up with a sample in the shortest possible time and do a good test!" Yang Wu said: "As long as it is sure that it can be used, it will be manufactured on a large scale, and it can be equipped with every warship in the future!" ”

Sima Fu said excitedly: "King, if this is really the case, in the future, our warships will have one more weapon for water warfare, and when the time comes, when the enemy ships are directly set on fire, they will be invincible!" ”

……

The generals were full of joy and enthusiastically discussed how the fierce fire oil tank would be applied to the battlefield.

After a long time, Yan Keqiu said: "King, if the fierce fire oil tank can really be manufactured, then it should be no problem to destroy the pontoon." However, after the pontoon bridge was destroyed, the enemy's iron rope was still there, and the navy was still difficult to pass, and the enemy could still use small boats to transport troops, although the speed was a little slower, but it could not be regarded as a complete blockade of the river. ”

"Lord Yan, please rest assured, as long as the pontoon bridge is destroyed, the remaining enemy boats are not to worry, and our army can also use small boats to engage the enemy army, and they can also be defeated!" Sima Fu said confidently.

The main means of water combat is to shoot each other with bows and arrows, before the Jin army was on the pontoon bridge, it was a relatively stable platform, there were no waves and waves, and the bow and arrow shot as if on the ground, so the battle with the Wu army could have the upper hand.

But as long as the pontoon bridge is destroyed, the enemy army can only use small boats to fight the small boats of the Wu army, which is pure water warfare; If the Wu army and the navy can't win under such conditions, then Sima Fu should reflect on it.

……

In the following period, the Wu army launched an attack on the ground while ordering craftsmen to rush to make fierce fire oil tanks.

The principle of making this fire tank is similar to that of a water hose, but because it ignites the fire, it must be cast in bronze.

Within a few days, this new weapon was made, the size of a window, weighing about 100 catties, and it could be filled with fierce fire oil and sprayed with a nozzle.

After the manufacturing was successful, Wu Jun couldn't wait to conduct a test, and the results showed that this guy could launch fierce fire oil to a distance of about eight steps.

"With a range of only eight paces, is that distance enough?" Yang Wu frowned and asked Sima Fu.

"Barely enough, right?" Sima Fu was also a little unsure.

"You can't force it, you have to know for sure whether it's enough! Well, take it yourself and see how far you will get from the third cable to the enemy's pontoon. ”

"Yes, the last general will prepare now, and he will definitely give the king an accurate answer." Sima Fudao.

In the afternoon of the same day, Sima Fu personally led people to confirm that the distance of eight steps was indeed enough, which was undoubtedly good news.

Now that it has been confirmed that the range of the Fierce Fire tank is sufficient, then it will be the turn of mass production.