Seventy miles upstream of Jiangxia, in Chibi County.

The river channel of the Yangtze River suddenly narrows, the strange peaks on both sides of the river bank are steep, the mountains are cuiwei, and the sound of birds and apes is heard from time to time; The river is turbulent, mixed with reefs, so that passing merchant ships have to cheer up.

"It is said that there are water ghosts in the previous section, brothers should cheer up!"

The three ships went down the river, the big flag with the word "Han" fluttering in the wind, and a 50-year-old military Sima on the head of the ship reminded the two adjacent ships loudly.

It was the sentinel ship sent by Han Shizhong who came to spy on the intelligence on this section of the river from Chibi to Jiangxia.

According to the scout's report, Huang Zu used the Huang clan as an internal response to kill Wang Lang, the Taishou of Jiangxia, half a month ago, and recruited more than 10,000 Liu Biao's old troops scattered in Jingchu, as well as bandits who fell into the grass, and firmly controlled Jiangxia. And along the river, more than 1,000 ships of different sizes were plundered in the territory of Lujiang, Chaisang, and Jiangxia, and were deployed along the river, in an attempt to block Zhuge Liang's reinforcements from moving eastward and create conditions for Cao Cao and Cai Mao to join forces.

Zhuge Liang and Han Shizhong left Chengdu in mid-July to reinforce Huainan in the east, and originally planned to arrive in a month and a half, but when they arrived in Luzhou, they got the news that Liu Xun and Cheng Gongying had fled to Yunnan to bewitch the southern barbarian alien rebellion, and captured the counties of Jiandao, Anshang, Nanguang and other counties, and gradually had a resurgence trend.

Yunnan is the territory laid by Zhuge Liang himself, and his own achievements are built on this land, how can others be touched? What's more, Nanban is capricious, and a little bewitchment will produce non-divisive thoughts, and if it becomes a prairie fire, all the achievements will be wasted. Zhuge Liang immediately decided to divide into two ways with Han Shizhong's soldiers, and Han Shizhong and Zhu Huan led the sailors to reinforce Hefei first, and he led Long Ji, Jiang Wei, Chen Zhi and others to kill in Zhuti County.

After half a month, Zhuge Liang successively regained the lost territory, and surrounded Liu Xun and Cheng Gongying on a lonely mountain in Nanguang County. In the end, he set fire to the mountain, burned Liu Xun, Cheng Gongying and other more than 800 people alive, completely cut off the troubles, and then continued to wave his army north to reinforce Hefei.

Zhuge Liang led his troops to walk for five or six days, and then caught up with the continuous autumn rain that occurred once in ten years some time ago.

The heavy rain continued for seven or eight days. As a result, the water level of the Yangtze River soared and the Bashu road collapsed, not only the army led by Zhuge Liang could not advance, but even the sailors led by Han Shizhong did not dare to risk sailing, so as not to cause heavy casualties, so they could only temporarily camp in the White Emperor City.

The continuous autumn rain has caused many Shu roads to collapse and block the roads, and if they are not cleared and reinforced in time, they will be even more blocked. As a result, the main force led by Zhuge Liang could not pass. Therefore, Han Shizhong could only lead some sailors to abandon the boat and go ashore, clear the road, and strengthen the hillside, so as to ensure that Zhuge Liang's army could get out of Bashu as quickly as possible and arrive in Huainan as soon as possible.

This back and forth, for various reasons, made it take more than two months for the support troops led by Zhuge Liang to get out of Bashu and cross Jiangling and enter Jiangxia. It is still 500 miles away from the mouth of the wet suke downstream.

Compared with the army led by Zhuge Liang, Han Shizhong's sailors were slightly faster. It was about one hundred and fifty miles in advance, so the sentry spies along the way all fell on Han Shizhong, and seeing that it was getting closer and closer to Jiangxia, he sent three ships, totaling more than 120 people, to spy on the intelligence on the river in advance.

"Quack ......"

A group of geese flapped their wings to the south and flew over, and the cliffs on both sides of the river bank made the sound of apes "whooping". It seems to be greeting a passer-by in the sky.

Listening to what Jun Sima said, the young soldier on the ship smiled: "Hehe...... Lu Sima Mo wants to joke, we are battle-hardened soldiers, how can we compare with those business travelers who are greedy for life and afraid of death? How can there be ghosts and gods in the world? ”

"You're still too young!" This military commander named Luon made a serious rebuttal. "When I was the head of the water division under Liu Biao......"

Speaking of this, I was afraid of getting into trouble, so I hurriedly emphasized: "But I have nothing to do with Cai Mao and Huang Zu, I followed General Huang Hansheng and was recommended as a military candidate." But there was a shortage of people in the water division, so Liu Jingsheng transferred me to the water division to take charge of a ship, although I have made many military exploits, but because I am not Cai Mao's descendant, I have not been promoted. For this reason, I gritted my teeth with hatred for Cai Mao, I have long felt that this guy is a villain, but this finally shows the fox tail! ”

"Huh...... We all know that Lu Sima is loyal, otherwise General Han would not have promoted you to be a military commander and take charge of a fleet. All the soldiers echoed in unison, saying that Lu Ang thought too much, and those who were clear were self-turbid.

Lu Ang cleared his throat and said: "I don't say this to show off, I just want to tell you brothers that I have been going back and forth in Jingzhou for at least ten years, and this section of Chibi is the most dangerous, and passing ships often capsize for no reason." During the peace period, more than a dozen merchant ships sank here every year......"

Before Lu Ang could finish speaking, suddenly a soldier's boots were soaked by the river, and when he looked down and saw that there were many waves of water seeping on the ship's board, he couldn't help shouting in panic: "Oops...... Oh no, there was water seepage on the ship! ”

The soldier's shouts were sudden and high-pitched, and the atmosphere of the birds and apes on both sides of the river, and the story of the water ghosts that Luon was telling, all the forty or fifty soldiers on the ship were startled. They all looked down and saw that there was indeed a large water stain on the board, and there was a hole bubbling like a spring.

"Ah...... Where did the hole come from? All the soldiers were startled, drew their swords in their hands, and asked nervously.

"Whoop......" A sharp voice was particularly harsh, as if the nails of the water ghost were scratching the deck, and it frightened the soldiers into shouting in unison: "What person? Get out, what kind of hero is the one who hides his head and tail? ”

At the same time, the other two ships were also in a mess, and the same situation occurred, and the chief of the tun who took the lead reported to Lu Ang with a sad face: "Lu Sima, it's not good, there are suddenly a few holes in the ship's board for no reason, and the river is whirring into the cabin, how is it good?" ”

"Oops...... Let you doubt my words! Lu Ang's face was as white as earth, and he suddenly knelt down on the deck and bowed, and said something in his mouth, "Almighty Jiang God, it is the villain who has forgotten to pay tribute, please forgive us for our sins!" When he turned around, the villain brought sacrifices such as cattle and sheep to worship, and asked the almighty Jiang God to forgive me! ”

"Poof!"

With a loud bang, a large hole was pierced at the bottom of the ship, and the river water bubbled into the boat like a Baotu Spring, and the boat quickly capsized, and the soldiers on board were forced to jump into the water. The other two warships also did not escape the doom of capsizing, and sank to the bottom of the river one after another, and the Han troops on board jumped into the water to escape.

Most of these sailors came from Dongwu and Jingchu, and they had been immersed in the Yangtze River for many years. Except for a dozen choking water that were swept away, most of them did not worry about their lives, but the army Sima Luang disappeared without a trace.

A rough-looking tun chief was the first to see the strangeness: "Damn, no wonder the ship was dug several big holes for no reason, it turns out that there is a mystery under the water!" ”

The other soldiers dived into the water to check, and sure enough, they found that there were many hidden piles arranged under the water, and the hidden piles were inlaid with large iron cones, like thorns and antlers all over the water, and the height was just the height of the draft of the warship. The bottom of the three warships was pierced by the iron vertebrae as they drove from the top of the dark pile, which caused the river to submerge and the water level to get lower and lower, before the large sledgehammer behind them pierced the big hole, which eventually caused the warship to sink.

"Where did you get so many big cones for no reason?" A soldier swam in the water and asked with a surprised expression, "Isn't it arranged by water ghosts?" ”

"Stupid!" The tun chief scolded, "If there are water ghosts, do you still need to arrange these dark piles?" Of course, it was Huang Zu, a traitor, who made a ghost, in order to prevent our army from reinforcing Huainan to the east! ”

"But where is Lu Sima? It stands to reason that he is better water-based than any of us! ”

One hundred and ten soldiers who had fallen into the water swam hard to the river, and they were talking and puzzled.

"Look, Lu Sima!"

A sharp-eyed soldier suddenly found a corpse, his body had been cut through a large hole, his intestines had floated out, and the red blood was drifting downstream along the river.

The commander felt a chill in his heart, and reminded the soldiers loudly: "Brothers, be careful swimming, don't be like Lu Sima who was pierced by the iron vertebrae and became a ghost who died unjustly!" ”

With great effort, everyone grabbed the dead vines on the shore before climbing the riverbank, and in the process, more than a dozen unfortunate fellows were killed by the iron vertebrae on the hidden pile, or by the turbulent river.

"Whew...... Finally survived! ”

When they came, there were more than 120 people, and only about 80 climbed onto the riverbank, all of them were cold, shivering, and palpitating.

Everyone quickly found dry firewood and withered grass to make a fire, and dried their clothes while heating, which was a little more comfortable. A soldier looked to the east and suddenly saw a large number of ships moored on both sides of the river, and three looming iron cables on the river surface were like three long snakes, cutting off the river.

"Look, the iron cable barricades!" The soldier shouted.

Everyone looked at it one after another, and there were really three iron cables on the river surface connecting the cliffs of the north and south of the Yangtze River, the upper, middle and lower three side by side, and the iron cables crossed the river, even if there was no big iron cone upstream to destroy the warship, it was impossible to pass, unless the iron chain was broken.

However, seven or eight hundred ships were moored on both sides of the river bank downstream of the iron cable, and the flags on the boats were fluttering, and the big "yellow" flag was waving in the wind.

Tun Chang hurriedly got up: "It is not advisable to stay here for a long time, dry the clothes and quickly return upstream, and report the news of Huang Zu's arrangement of hidden piles and iron cables to General Han Liangchen!" (To be continued.) )