At the beginning of April of the fifth year of the Great Zhou Jingzhi, after detecting that the Zhou army had connected all the large boats and ships with thick ropes and iron cables, the withered sheep once again submitted a war letter to the Zhou army Hengjiang Water Village, and asked Xie Anci to fight on the river.

And this time, Xie An readily agreed.

On the second day of April, the day when the two sides were about to fight, when the sky was still bright, Withered Sheep ordered the whole army to prepare for battle, and carried all these pre-built rockets onto the warships.

Due to the deep feeling of the lack of fire arrow reserves in the previous confrontation with Zhou Bing, therefore, when Zhou Bing was in full swing about the serial ship matter, Dry Yang and the Taiping soldiers under his command were not idle, cutting wood all night and night, making a large number of arrows, and then specially transformed into fire arrows.

It is not difficult to guess that these fire arrows must have been used against the chain ships of the Zhou army.

Around the hour, everything was ready, and the commander of the Taiping Army's Niuzhu garrison, Ku Yang, with 30,000 soldiers and more than 400 large and small warships, rushed to the battlefield in a mighty manner.

When the withered sheep arrived at the waters near the Hengjiang River, the Zhou army had already lined up the warships on the river, but it was somewhat incredible that the warships of the Zhou soldiers seemed to be significantly less than those of the Taiping army, and there were only about a hundred small boats and twenty or thirty ships when they were full.

What makes the withered sheep feel even more inexplicable is that Zhou Bing's serial ship has not yet left its water village. From a distance, it looks like a fierce beast with teeth and claws locked in a cage, which is quite ridiculous.

"Is the land so huge that you can't even get out of the gate of your own water village?" muttered, and the corners of the withered sheep's mouth felt a little funny inexplicably. After all, he didn't expect that his brother-in-law, who seemed to be careful and meticulous, would come out with such an oolong.

Wang Jian and other other Taiping generals also seemed to notice the embarrassing situation of the Zhou army's serial boats, and for a while seemed to forget that they were on the battlefield, pointing to the direction of the Zhou army's Hengjiang Water Village one by one, and laughing.

And at this moment, there was a loud "boom" in the distance, and the withered sheep subconsciously raised his eyes to look, only to notice that the Jizhou soldiers in the Zhou army's water village were tearing down the wooden fence and camp standing on the waterbank, and chiseling it into the river.

"Boom!"

"Bang!"

Pieces of thick wooden railings three feet high and four or five feet long were successively pushed down in the river, splashing countless waves.

"How so?" Looking at the Zhou Jun Water Village in the distance in a daze, Wang Jian said in disbelief, "Zhou Bing...... Zhou Bing is actually demolishing his own water village......"

It's no wonder that Wang Jianhui felt stunned, after all, since ancient times, how can anyone dismantle his own family's camp? Aren't you afraid that the war will be unfavorable, and after defeat, there will be no barrier to settle down and defend against the enemy?

At this time, the Zhou soldiers in the distance had already demolished the last huge wooden fence due south, and a group of people pulled it down with ropes with all their might.

"Boom!"

The wooden fence weighing thousands of catties smashed into the river water, splashing countless waves. At the same time, countless Zhou soldiers raised their arms and shouted.

With the sound of that loud cry that resounded through the heavens and the earth, a behemoth broke through the stirred up splash on the river surface, and appeared in front of the Taiping soldiers who were watching from a distance.

Looking at the Zhou army's serial ship comparable to a small island, and listening to the shouts like a declaration of victory, for a while, the 30,000 Taiping sergeants subconsciously swallowed the previous ridicule, and some even had a smile on their faces, staring at the behemoth dumbfounded, silent.

"How did it suddenly become ...... So quiet? ”

As if noticing something, Wang Jian, the general of the Taiping Army, looked around in surprise, after all, a few breaths ago, the soldiers of the Taiping Army on his side of the warship were still laughing at the oolong formation set up by the Zhou soldiers, and they would lock the serial ships in their own water village. However, at the moment, the 30,000 soldiers on his Taiping side were tightly closed and silent.

Surprised, he didn't notice, and even when he spoke, he deliberately lowered his voice for some reason.

"......" glanced at Wang Jian beside him, and a little surprise and admiration flashed in the withered sheep's eyes.

[Beautiful!] It's beautiful! ]

Turning his head to look at the island-like chain boat, the withered sheep looked deeply at the handsome flag with the word "Xie" fluttering in the river breeze, and muttered, "It's really 'sinister', brother-in-law......"

[I thought it was my brother-in-law who accidentally locked the serial boat in his own water village, but I didn't expect that this seemingly funny move had such an intention......

In front of my sergeants, he demolished his own water village...... Is it because this water village is no longer needed? Is it because this battle will be won? ]

Thinking of this, Rao is a withered sheep, and his back can't help but feel a chill, as if he is in an ice cave.

His brother-in-law Xie An is good at attacking the heart, which the withered sheep had heard of earlier, but even so, at this time, the withered sheep couldn't help but be secretly frightened, and was frightened by the brother-in-law Xie An's plan to attack the heart is like the spring rain in March, warm and moist everything, fine and silent. So much so that when he realized his brother-in-law's 'sinister intentions', it was already too late, and the 30,000 soldiers under his command were already shocked by Zhou Bing's courage of breaking the kettle and fighting against the water.

Just look at Wang Jian beside him, as a general in the army, he unconsciously didn't dare to speak out loud at this moment.

The attitude of the Taiping army changed before and after, and the generals of the Zhou army naturally saw it. Seeing that the 30,000 Taiping soldiers subconsciously did not dare to make a loud noise while holding their breath, and watched their chain of ships slowly sail towards the center of the water in amazement, the generals of the Zhou soldiers only felt as if they had won a battle, and they felt very happy.

This is the so-called preemptive preemption!

Take the lead in publicizing your own momentum to overwhelm the other side, make the other party tremble, and it is difficult to play the level that it should be. It can be said that this battle has not yet begun, and the withered sheep Taiping army has already lost most of it.

But the withered sheep was not in a hurry, although he was pitted by his brother-in-law Xie An at the beginning, but this did not hinder his battle plan, after all, in his opinion, although the Zhou army had a sharp weapon for cross-river water warfare such as a chain boat, but this weapon also had an extremely fatal weakness, that is, the chain boat itself.

Because the entire huge hull was fixed and connected by hundreds of large ships in the form of thick ropes and iron cables, and the top was nailed with wooden planks, which meant that it was difficult for Zhou Bing to separate some of them in a short time. In other words, once the ships in the chain ship leak or catch fire locally, it will affect the entire chain fleet, so that these 30,000 Jizhou soldiers will be buried at the bottom of the river and buried in the belly of the fish.

And this is exactly what the withered sheep wants to see and guide step by step.

The wind is up.

Feeling the breeze blowing across his face, Wang Jian looked up at the flag sail at the corner of the ship, and saw that it was blown and rattled, so he hurriedly whispered to the coach Withered Sheep.

"Southerly wind...... God help me! The corners of his mouth raised a little smile, and the withered sheep's right hand shook the cloak, and then raised his hand to point at Zhou Bing's chain of ships.

"Woo-woo! Woo-woo! Woo-woo! ”

A trumpet sounded in the Taiping fleet, which represented the attack, and after that, the earth-shattering drums sounded one after another, resounding throughout the heavens and the earth. This finally lifted the spirits of the Taiping soldiers who were bluffed by Xie An's preemptive plan, and their pale faces returned to a little blood.

With the thunder of drums, the Taiping army took the lead in launching an offensive against the Zhou soldiers, leading more than 70 ships to gradually increase their speed with the help of the south wind, and later sailed like a shuttle to the Zhou army's chain of ships.

To the secret joy of Wang Jian, the general of the Taiping Army, the Zhou army did not seem to be aware of their plan, and actually allowed their more than 70 ships to sail towards the opposite side on the river.

In fact, wasn't there really anyone in the Zhou army who was aware of the Taiping army's plan?

I'm afraid not.

"The hull is not shallow......"

At the front of the chain fleet, the former Taiping Army's six god generals, Yuheng Shen General, and the current Jizhou Army Pioneer Governor General were in command, Qi Zhi crossed his arms and looked solemnly at the more than seventy people who were quickly coming towards him.

Although the hulls of the more than seventy ships were covered with green curtains, with experience, Qi Zhi could still guess what exactly those ships were carrying. It's nothing more than hay, firewood, oil, and other burning things.

[Are you really going to attack with fire, withered sheep?] ]

Looking at the huge [withered] handsome flag in the Taiping Army fleet in the distance, Qi Zhi sighed slightly.

He never thought that he, who was once a member of the Taiping Army, would one day meet his former brothers and compatriots on the battlefield, and fight to the death.

[Restoration of the Southern Tang Dynasty?] What's wrong with Jiangnan under my Great Zhou right now? Is the imperial court heavily taxed? Or is it a favoritism and a loss to the people of Jiangnan? The unification of the whole world is an inevitable part of history...... Do you want a Jiangnan where the people live and work in peace and contentment under the rule of the Great Zhou Dynasty, or do you want a post-war Jiangnan where the lives of the people are miserable and the people are miserable for the restoration of the Southern Tang Dynasty? Since you are saying that you are thinking about the people of Jiangnan, then, think about it calmly......]

In Qi Zhi's mind, he couldn't help but recall what Xie An had said to him. To be more precise, it should be Xie An's words to persuade him to command the four thousand Taiping soldiers. After all, although Qi Zhi was grateful for the kindness of Xie An and Liu Qing at that time and was willing to truly surrender, the four thousand Taiping soldiers under his command who had surrendered to the Zhou army were still full of complaints, so in order to avoid uneasiness in the army, Xie An personally went to the military camp to persuade him. Except for a few stubborn Taiping generals like Xu Le, most of the soldiers were impressed by Xie An's sincerity and sincerity, and were willing to follow his main general, Qi Zhi, to surrender. And these words were the original words that Xie An used to persuade the four thousand Taiping soldiers at that time, and at the same time, Qi Zhi gradually weakened his sense of guilt that he was a traitor to the Taiping Army.

"General? Checkmate? A series of calls interrupted Qi Zhi's thoughts.

"Huh?" Qi Zhi raised his head and looked at the general who had spoken out to wake him up suspiciously, but saw the latter with a frightened expression pointing at the fifty Taiping troops who were close at hand.

Qi Zhi looked up, and he noticed that the Taiping soldiers on the more than 70 ships had already torn off the green curtains covering the hull and lit the burning things with torches, as if they were planning to crash into them like this.

[Alas!] I was distracted on the battlefield, and I was really ......]

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Qi Zhi's face turned straight, and he comforted the slightly uneasy soldiers on the ship under his command and said, "Don't panic! -- Xie Shuai had long expected that the Taiping army would attack with fire, so he made arrangements early......"

When the soldiers on the boat heard that Xie An had already guessed that the enemy had such a move, their slightly uneasy minds gradually stabilized.

Of course, even so, one of the hundred generals hesitated and said, "General Qi, having said that, but ...... Just watching the Taiping Army's ship crash over? -- Even though we can't knock over our ship, what if the fire spreads to our ship? ”

Qi Zhi smiled slightly when he heard this, and said indifferently, "It's okay!" Just let the other party bump into you! -- The officers and men on board should pay attention, beware of the impact of the collision of the two ships, and hold on to the wooden railing, away from the edge of the hull, so as not to be thrown into the middle of the river......"

And just when Qi Zhi slowly and methodically instructed the Zhou soldiers under his command to take precautions, the more than 70 ships of the Taiping Army that had been burning with raging flames were only more than 20 zhang away from the Zhou army's chain ships, and even the Taiping Army generals on the leading ship could already see Qi Zhi's unfazed expression.

[What's going on?] More than 70 fireships of our army crashed into them, why was the general so calm that week? Even the rest of the Zhou soldiers on the ship weren't necessarily a little panicked? ]

Seeing Qi Zhi's calm expression in the distance, a trace of surprise flashed in the eyes of the pioneer general named Zhang Feng Taiping Army.

But at this moment, he didn't have time to think about it, and after looking at Qi Zhi a few times, he shouted, "Listen to the boys on the boat, hold on to the hull!" ――If you break the Zhou soldiers today, you will attack us! ”

"Oh!" On the more than 70 ships that were burning with raging fire, more than 1,000 Taiping soldiers raised their arms and shouted, and their morale was lifted.

It's closer......

It's closer......

Licking his lips, Zhang Feng silently counted the distance between him and the Zhou Jun serial ship in his heart.

Twenty zhang!

Fifteen zhang!

Ten zhang!

Five!

Three...... Not?

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, the more than 70 Taiping soldiers seemed to have hit something before they could touch the Zhou army's serial ships, and they were forced to stop their forward momentum.

[How so?] Didn't you hit Zhou Jun's serial ship yet? ]

In the violent impact force, Zhang Feng, who had misestimated the distance, clutched the railing of the ship, and looked at the Zhou Jun serial ship that was still more than two zhang away from the bow of the ship.

It is unbelievable that the distance of more than two zhang is like a heavenly stream, and none of the more than 70 Taiping army ships can cross this distance and really hit the hull of the Zhou army's chain ships.

"......" felt the hull of the ship shake slightly, Qi Zhi sighed secretly in his heart, and looked at the more than 70 Taiping Army ships that were on the verge of capsizing because they were suddenly forced to stop sailing.

It was obviously the side that was hit, but it only felt a slight shaking, on the other hand, the side that took the initiative to hit it almost capsized and sank.

[That's the horror of the serial boat...... Is it? ]

Glancing at the Jizhou soldiers who had firmly established themselves on the serial boat, Qi Zhi secretly shook his head in his heart. He knew very well that the Jizhou soldiers who had solved the problem of standing unstable on the river were by no means something that the Taiping army on the opposite side could deal with.

But having said that, since he is now a member of the generals of the Zhou army, Qi Zhi must not show mercy to his former compatriots in Tongze, after all, this is a battlefield.

"The crossbowman is in position...... Put! ”

With Qi Zhi's order, countless Zhou soldiers on the chain ship launched a fierce shot at the Taiping soldiers who were only a few zhang away, and at most no more than fifteen zhang away.

Pity the Taiping soldiers on the more than 70 ships, when the hull of the ship has not yet recovered from the huge force of the impact, they can only firmly grasp the wooden fence and other fixed objects with both hands, and watch one after another Tongze being shot alive by the crossbow arrows of the Zhou army.

However, the hulls of a few ships have gradually become stable, but in the face of the distance of more than two zhang from the Zhou army's chain of ships, the Taiping soldiers who were already ready to enter the Zhou army were dumbfounded, after all, this distance is not something that people can cross casually.

More than 1,000 soldiers of the Taiping Army on more than 70 ships suddenly fell into a dilemma, and watched the fire on the ship burn more and more vigorously under the blowing of the river breeze.

You must know that the ignited things on the Taiping army's ship were originally used to burn the Zhou army's serial ships, but now, before they touched the Zhou army's serial fleet, those ignited things burned by themselves, which made Zhang Feng, the general of the Taiping army, anxious and heartbroken.

[How so?] How could the hull stop on its own?! ]

Wielding the sword in his hand and spreading out the dense arrows that were fired at him, Zhang Feng rushed to the bow of the boat and poked his head out to look at the river.

It didn't matter what he saw, his eyes widened in shock, and he gasped.

Fang Cai didn't pay attention to it, and it wasn't until now that Zhang Feng saw clearly that the bottom of the Zhou army's serial ship was actually wider than the hull, as if the Zhou army had deliberately strengthened and lengthened the base. In other words, the more than 70 ships he led this time did not hit the Zhou army's serial ship, but collided with the base that Zhou Jun deliberately strengthened and lengthened on the serial ship, making the entire hull look extremely strange.

But unfortunately, because the lower half of the Zhou army's serial boats were submerged in the river, therefore, neither Zhang Feng nor Dry Sheep had found that Zhou Jun's serial boats were still set up with such a mystery.

No wonder Fang Cai Qizhi was so calm, because he knew that the Taiping Army's stern could not hit the hull of his own serial ship at all, at most it hit the deliberately reinforced and lengthened underwater guardrail. Since you can't touch your own hull, how can you talk about any fire attack? Unless the flame can burn under the water.

[That's a clever move, that Lord Xie......]

Rao is Qi Zhi used to be quite conceited of his own talents, and now he has to admire Xie An's improvement of the chain boat, which cracked the fire attack strategy used by the Taiping army in one fell swoop.

And Zhang Feng, the general of the Taiping Army, also seemed to realize that his plan to attack the fire had been cracked by the Zhou army, and seeing the increasing fire on the ship, he gritted his teeth with hatred and shouted, "Abandon the ship!" Abandon ship! ”

"Poof! Poof! ”

On the more than 70 ships of the Taiping Army, more than 1,000 Taiping soldiers were forced to abandon their warships and jump into the icy river water.

At this time, the commander of the Taiping Army, Withered Sheep, still looked calm and calm. (To be continued.) )