In the middle of June, the scorching heat shone on the earth, scorching the flesh and heart of all things, this year there was no rain and there was no rain, it was a year of great disaster, and many of the wild grasses on the shore were turned yellow because of the drought, and the ground in many places had cracked the cracks.

On the edge of the big river, you can still get a little cool. But if a strong man stands in a helmet and armor for two or three hours under the hot sun, his face will also turn pale, and he will faint and even faint because of the overdraft of water in his body.

But Zhang Ji on the edge of the river, has been walking back and forth for six hours, Zhang Xiu asked for many days to enter the temporary pergola to rest, but he directly refused, although he is sweaty, but still have to lead by example, can not have the slightest slack, he must see the army can cross the river unhindered, to be able to relax a little.

Previously, the first batch of soldiers who crossed the river had successfully crossed the river by rafts and wooden rafts, and there were no warships of the Hedong Boat Division on the way.

Next, Zhang Ji, who had successfully tried to cross the river, hurriedly ordered many soldiers to start going into the water, erecting wooden poppies and laying wooden planks on the water to connect them into a number of simple pontoon bridges, so that the soldiers and horses could cross the river smoothly.

Despite all kinds of adequate preparations, and all the craftsmen in the army came in handy, the pontoon bridge was laid on the big river, and the waves continued, and the construction was still difficult, not to mention the urgent and increased amount of laying at any cost.

From time to time, there are soldiers, craftsmen because of the wind and waves fall into the water, and there is not enough boat to rescue in time, there are ropes tied can also be pulled back, no ropes can only rely on their own swimming skills to survive, many people have not been able to save themselves successfully, after struggling in the water for a while, with the surging river water, to the east, slowly sink into the water, become the food of fish and shrimp in the water.

However, no matter how many people drowned, it could not withstand the heavy price of defeat and annihilation of the entire army, so Zhang Ji did not hesitate to order that it must be done at all costs, the soldiers and craftsmen can only be rotated, but the bridge building project can not be delayed in the slightest, and the pontoon bridge must be completely connected today.

Although it has not yet been completely laid to the opposite bank, Zhang Ji is unwilling to drag it out any longer, so he ordered the light pawns in the army to cross the river first, and then reach the end of the pontoon bridge, and then wade through the water using rafts, wooden rafts and other things to swim over, and be sure to transport one-third of the troops to the opposite bank in the shortest possible time, before the other two pontoon bridges are completely laid.

As soon as the military order was issued, the crowd surged, and the sergeants in the army began to step on the pontoon bridge cautiously under the reprimand of the soldiers, and then stepped up their pace and staggered in the direction of the opposite bank.

The two unfinished pontoon bridges could not carry too many people at the same time, so a group of soldiers could only cross the river first, then the second and third groups, and then cross the river in turn, until these horses and horses had crossed.

He stood on the high ground on the riverbank from time to time, observing the progress of the soldiers on the pontoon bridge of the river, and from time to time he raised his eyes to look at the wide upper river, and was always worried about the appearance of the Hedong Boat Division.

Seeing Zhang Ji's restless and increasingly emaciated body, Zhang Xiu had to stubbornly persuade Zhang Ji to return to the pergola to rest, and leave it under his own command, which will ensure that the army can cross the river safely and without fail.

But at this time, where did Zhang Ji sit down, he waved his hand, unceremoniously refused Zhang Xiu's persuasion, and was about to move to inspect the next group of people waiting to cross the river bank, when suddenly a piercing horn sounded on the river.

"Oh no, it's the warship of the Hedong Boat Division here, quickly order the archers to prepare!"

Hearing the horn sound that frightened him the most, Zhang Ji's scalp exploded instantly, and he turned around and yelled at Zhang Xiu.

At this time, in the upper reaches of the pontoon bridge, the only few boats collected by Zhang Ji were used to guard the outpost of the Hedong Boat Division, and once traces of the warships of the Hedong Boat Division were found on the water, they must blow the horn in time to give early warning, so that the whole army entered a state of alert operation.

The pontoon bridge became panicked for a while, and the continuous people and horses were pushed and squeezed, and fell into the water from the pontoon, and the shouts, wails, and struggles of the people and horses who fell into the water further aggravated the chaos of the pontoon bridge.

It wasn't until the officers of the pontoon bridge used weapons to cut off the heads of the soldiers in the disorder that the chaos on the entire pontoon bridge gradually calmed down again, and the ranks of the soldiers on the pontoon bridge began to act again, but it didn't take long for the soldiers on the pontoon bridge to shout again.

They finally saw the Hedong warship that was going down the river!

The Mengchong warship in the east of the river looks like a big centipede in the water, the sharp collision angle with the arc of the bow chops the waves, unstoppable, and the wooden oars on both sides of the warship are like centipedes' hundred feet, constantly turning, following the current, driving the entire warship to rush to the pontoon bridge downstream.

They ignored the ships of Hongnong's soldiers and horses as outposts, and all of them aimed at the pontoon bridge on the water.

During this period, a Hongnong boat ventured to block it, but it was directly run over the hull by a Mengchong warship with a ramming angle, and the wooden boat with its mantis arm as a car turned straight into two pieces of wood, which slowly soaked in water and sank powerlessly into the river with the water flowing downward.

"Quick, rocket launch!"

Although the distance was very far, Zhang Ji still ordered to release arrows at the Hedong warships in the middle of the river, and for a while, the rockets scattered by the archers in the army were fired at the Mengchong warships in Hedong one after another, but because the distance was too far, these rockets could not be shot at the Mengchong warships in Hedong.

On the pontoon bridge, the soldiers who led the team saw that the warships in the east of the river were flowing down the river, unstoppable, and the men and horses had no time to cross the river and land, so they ordered the soldiers around them to stop advancing, and kept shooting arrows and throwing spears, hoping to stop the Mengchong warships in the east of the river.

However, this kind of attack was completely unscathed for the Mengchong warships in Hedong, and the two Mengchong warships of the Hedong Boat Division, which were rushing at the forefront, were unstoppable, and they hit the pontoon bridge in the water with collision angles one after the other.

"Bang-" For a while, there were loud noises on the water surface one after another, wooden poppies were broken, clay pots were broken, sawdust and tiles flew together, heavy objects fell into the water and splashed in all directions, and countless soldiers on the pontoon bridge fell into the water one after another in order to escape for their lives, or could not withstand the violent vibration caused by the impact of the warship.

A pontoon bridge also became an isolated three sections in the water after the sharp collision angle of the two Mengchong warships collided and ran over, except for the one that was tightly connected to the shore, the other two sections began to move slowly downstream with the flow of the river.

A large number of soldiers who fell into the water tried to seize the severance of these pontoon bridges and continued to struggle for survival in the water, but the Mengchong warship that broke the pontoon bridge did not slow down, and the three Mengchong warships that followed up continued to collide with the next pontoon bridge.

"Help me!!"

"Help!!"

The water surface showed the undulating human heads, as well as the struggling hands, and the cries of the soldiers were endless, and the entire surface of the river had instantly turned into a tragic battlefield that devoured lives.

Zhang Ji, who was standing on the high ground on the riverbank, could only watch as the Mengchong warships mercilessly collided and ran over the pontoon bridges in the water, one after another, until all the escape routes connecting the two sides of the river were completely cut off.

The soldiers and craftsmen on the pontoon bridge had no time to withdraw to the shore, and in order to survive, they scrambled to jump into the water.

But what awaits them is something even more terrifying.

A belated building boat appeared in the eyes of the Hongnong soldiers struggling to survive in the water, this first building ship can only be regarded as a small and medium-sized building ship at best, but in the eyes of the soldiers who fell in the water, it was like a giant beast in the water.

The three-story female wall on the warship, looking from afar, and the beauty of the palace in the water, but in the eyes of the soldiers who fell into the water close at hand, this is clearly the mouth of the ruthless bow and arrow shooting, and everyone in the water is scrambling to escape for their lives in order to avoid this building ship.

But the Hongnong soldiers who were struggling in the water, how could they escape the building boat in the water, leaning on the crossbowmen on the female wall of the third floor below the building boat, Shi Shiran began to open his bow and release arrows, and methodically harvested the lives of the Hongnong soldiers who emerged in the water.

Standing on the women's wall at the top of the building boat, looking at the river that became more and more vivid and bloody under the heavy arrow shooting of the building boat, he laughed, dormant for more than a load, the feeling of great achievement in hand at the moment is really exciting!

The arrows fired by Zhang Ji's soldiers on both sides of the river could not hit the boats in the east of the river at all, and Biqiu Xing could have leisurely issued a flag and commanded the five Mengchong warships in front of him to turn around one after another, cruising back and forth in the river, and constantly shooting and killing the Hongnong soldiers who were struggling in the water.

On the high ground on the riverbank, Zhang Xiu ran to Zhang Ji panting, and he said with a worried face:

"Uncle, the sergeant's bow and arrows can't hit the Hedong warship in the water at all, and my nephew has ordered to stop shooting, so I can only wait until a large trebuchet is built on the high ground on the riverbank before I can throw flying stones and attack the Hedong warship on the river!"

After finishing speaking, Zhang Xiu found that his uncle did not respond at all, he immediately felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly reached out to support Zhang Ji, who was crumbling, only to see that Zhang Ji's face was like gold paper and his lips were white, he was shocked in his heart, and hurriedly shouted:

"Uncle, uncle!"

Under Zhang Xiu's call, Zhang Jicai, who was overdrawn physically and witnessed such a tragic situation on the river, and suffered a heavy blow in his heart, regained a little consciousness, after he saw Zhang Xiu's face, he used force in his hand, grabbed Zhang Xiu's arm tightly, lowered his voice and said with difficulty:

"Hold me on, don't let the sergeants see me, ,,, order the withdrawal of the army quickly!"

"Okay, okay, nephew will order, uncle, you must hold on!"

Zhang Xiu almost finished answering Zhang Ji's words with a crying voice, he held Zhang Ji tightly, who was already weak and weak, and then raised his head and shouted:

"Blow the trumpet, withdraw the troops!"

"Withdraw—woo-"

In the desolate sound of the horn, the Hongnong soldiers who witnessed such a tragic situation in the river on the river bank had no heart to fight, and ignored the people and horses who were still struggling in the river and neighing, and turned around and retreated to the rear.

This scene on the river today has ruthlessly shattered the last illusion of these ordinary soldiers retreating safely, and those soldiers who have not had time to step on the pontoon bridge are happy in their hearts.

It's just that after the rejoicing, they, like everyone else, fell into the endless fear of the end of the road.

···

At night, Zhang Ji's army camped.

Today, all day long, Zhang Ji's command estimated that at most only 2,000 soldiers, the remaining more than 1,000 soldiers, when they crossed halfway, encountered the Hedong Boat Division in the big river, those soldiers on the pontoon bridge were unable to resist at all, and there was nowhere to escape, almost the entire army was wiped out, and there were very few soldiers who could escape back, only a handful.

The morale of the entire camp was already low to the extreme, because the army had no hope of retreating, and the soldiers had witnessed the one-sided and powerless massacre on the river, and there was a lingering gloom and misery in the army.

Zhang Ji is in the tent.

"Uncle, my nephew has ordered the craftsmen in the army, as well as the soldiers, to make the trebuchet overnight, as long as I give my nephew a little more time, when the trebuchet is finished and erected on the high ground on the river bank, we will be able to throw flying stones and cover the army to cross the river!"

Zhang Xiu approached Zhang Ji's bed, sat next to him, and looked at Zhang Ji who was lying on the bed, Zhang Xiu tried to squeeze out a smile, and said with a smile to his uncle.

Zhang Ji shook his hand and said weakly:

"Don't toss those useless things anymore, you are also a person who has been in the battle array, how can you not know, even if you build trebuchets, how can you sink those warships east of the river-cough-coughcough-"

"Those bulky equipment, used to bombard still life objects such as city walls and corner towers, can be used to bombard warships that come and go in the water like the wind and turn flexibly, it will not work, it is just a means I use to stabilize the morale of the army-I have to make the sergeant still have some thoughts, otherwise this person's heart will be scattered immediately-"

Zhang Xiu knew that what his uncle said was true, but he still didn't want to talk about the increasingly bad prospects in front of his frail uncle, so as not to aggravate his uncle's condition, he held Zhang Ji's hand and comforted:

"Uncle, don't worry, take good care of your illness, Yan Yan's men and horses in Hedong have been hit hard by us before, and now they haven't arrived yet, I still have time to command the army to cross the river."

"It's too late!" Zhang Ji suddenly surged up with a strong force, grabbed Zhang Xiu's wrist, he glared at Zhang Xiu angrily, squeezed out all his strength and said:

"Yan Yan in Hedong has only a few thousand soldiers, so he doesn't dare to bite the army tightly, for fear of being turned around and counterattacked by our soldiers who are like arrows and the army's heart is not scattered, but after today's defeat in crossing the river, our army's heart is already in turmoil, I am afraid that the soldiers in the camp are already secretly discussing in private, how to escape and surrender when the chasing soldiers arrive!"

"Now the army is about to collapse, you need to leave quickly, swim at night, although it is dangerous, but it is difficult for the boat division in the east of the river to intercept a small number of people, if you have to cross the river and go ashore, you can not stay nostalgic for Shaanxi County, Henan and other places, remember, take advantage of the chaos to flee to Chang'an, there is a glimmer of life!"