Section VIII

Is there really an ambush?

The enemy will use this method to set up an ambush!

When he heard the news, not only Lan Ling, but even Feng Xianchun was powerless for a while, this Wu Ming really thought that no one could think of it, and every time he had a wonderful plan. There is no precedent for an ambush on the water, but the other side did it, not only ambushed, but also chose to carry it out at such a critical moment.

Lan Ling couldn't help but look back at the rear army, the sky was completely dark, and the shouts of killing were higher than the other, and by the light of the torches on the ship, he could find that his ships were retreating. The Organ City Naval Army is very strong, and in the process of marching, it can still maintain a fish scale formation that can attack and defend freely, but now this formation has long been frozen and disintegrated under the frantic attack of the enemy. A chill passed through his heart, now the whole army is exhausted, as soon as the battle is fought, the rear army is lost, how can this battle be fought?

Lan Ling was also a little panicked at this time, and said to Feng Xianchun: "Old general, what should I do now." ”

When it came to the end, Feng Xianchun was much calmer, he comforted Lan Ling and said: "The city lord must not panic, most of the rear army is some heavy grain and grass, and tomorrow will go to Hanshui, even if the grain and grass are lost, for our army, it is still insignificant." In a head-to-head confrontation on the river, our city water army has never been defeated. The enemy attacked our rear road, and although we were caught off guard, the main force of our army was still there, and we could still fight. ”

Hearing Feng Xianchun say this, Lan Ling's heart calmed down for a while, and said in a harmonious voice: "That is the case, please also ask General Feng to command the naval army with full authority to turn the tide and fall immediately." ”

He himself also knows that with his nine-stage master, it is still feasible to reach ten in the army, if it is about leading the naval army to fight, compared with this veteran of the naval army, the gap is not in the Dao. Feng Xianchun did not shirk, and said to the herald: "Go down with the order, order General Huang to drag the enemy as much as possible, and the middle army of the front army will immediately turn around and gallop to the rear army." ”

The herald answered, "Yes." Driving the boat away quickly, Feng Xianchun looked around and said: "Let everyone move the ships closer to me, maintain an assault formation, and don't get too close to each other. ”

The main battleship of the Organ City is the fire-breathing ship that can breathe fire at the front, and this kind of ship is narrow and flexible, which is the key to the repeated victories of its naval army. Now the rear army is being attacked by the enemy, and the front army is stopped by iron cables, and only by turning around and assault can there be a glimmer of life.

In just a short time, the rear army has been killed by the Nanren naval army, and the remnants of the ships are retreating towards the Chinese army, and behind them, a large number of dense Southern Han warships can be seen following closely behind. A few ships ran slower, and were caught up by the Southern Han ships from behind, only to hear a few loud bangs, and a few fireballs flew up from the Nanren ships, and as soon as those fireballs landed on their own ships, they suddenly exploded, and after a while, several ships slowly sank in the raging fire. The rest of the boats rose and fell faster, and with the full force of the oarsmen, the remnants of the boats almost flew up on the river, but the Southern Han ships behind followed unhurriedly, but they never fell a bit.

Is the thunderbolt of the southerners so powerful? Lan Ling's heart sank when he saw it, and he turned his head to Feng Xianchun and said: "I have heard for a long time that the Southern Han warships have been widely driven by Ruyi cars, and there were many unbeliefs before, but now it seems that this is indeed the case, otherwise although our army is tired, but with all its strength, the speed is still not slow, and they may follow so calmly." But isn't the power of the other party's thunderbolt a little too great? ”

Feng Xianchun was still staring at the battle situation in the distance, shook his head and said: "That's not a thunderbolt, according to the subordinates, it must be a gun." ”

Is it a gunwale? Lan Ling almost screamed. Naturally, he had heard of the gunwalstick, wasn't that a patent of the north? Why is it that for such a period of time, the Nanren Naval Army also has it?

While the two were talking, the remnants of more than a dozen ships of the rear army had rushed into the Chinese army's formation, but the southerners' ships were still holding on. One of them was killed, breaking away from the formation and charging straight for the side of the Organ City. The last two ships were about to enter the military water array in the city, but they were caught up by the tail at the critical moment, and the two ships were strangled together. With a "bang", a springboard was set up from the Southern Han Dynasty ships, only the sound of killing was heard to the sky, and countless soldiers passed through the springboard. After only a short while, the sailors above were killed cleanly, and only a large group of Southern Han soldiers carrying weapons were left to cheer on the deck.

At this time, if you rush forward regardless of it, you may not be able to rescue them, but in this way, this formation will be disrupted. Lan Ling looked at it, and the chill in his heart was even stronger: "Why is this southerner so powerful?" ”

Feng Xianchun sighed and said, "It's not that the other party is powerful, it's that our combat power has been greatly reduced." The enemy waits for work, and our army's long-tired division, if it is really a frontal hand-to-hand combat, it can be said that there is no chance of victory. ”

In his tone, there was already a sense of blame that could not be hidden, probably still dissatisfied with Lan Ling's rapid march, but Lan Ling didn't have time to think about it, just said: "Then everyone be careful, try not to let the other party jump to success, and avoid hand-to-hand combat." ”

The fire-breathing ship is a hand-to-hand combat ship, and if it fails to burn the opponent's warship, it can take advantage of the situation and engage the opponent in close combat. When the enemy has gunwales, it is necessary to avoid hand-to-hand combat and engage in long-range fire. Feng Xianchun had already passed a trace of dark clouds in his heart, but he didn't have time to think about it so much, and immediately said: "Order the entire front army to press, defeat the enemy's vanguard troops, and let them see how powerful we are." ”

Morale is the soul of the army, and if an army loses its morale and ordinary soldiers lose the heart to resist, then this battle will not be fought. No matter how strong the enemy is, they must suppress the arrogance of the enemy's vanguard team, if they are left unattended, they will be even more imposing.

Feng Xianchun gave an order, and the soldiers around him responded, and played out the lantern language one after another. The water army of the organ city is worthy of being elite, especially the Chinese army, which is all carefully selected and composed of soldiers who are good at water warfare, and they strive for excellence. At this command, two fire-breathing ships came out of the crowd and headed for the southerner warship.

Although the whole army was exhausted, the naval force of the city was very strong, and the two flamethrowers were even faster under the full force of the helmsman. The southerner warship had just broken through the enemy ship, and many soldiers were still cheering on the deck, and for a time there was time to retreat, and two fire-breathing boats, one left and one right, rushed towards it, one of them was extremely fast, and when it rushed first, the huge sprayer in the bow of the ship unfolded, and with a "boom", a burst of flames rushed straight into the enemy ship. The Southern Han ship was turning, and it was sprayed squarely, and when the sails were lit, the smoke and flames were in the sky, and the soldiers on it rushed to the sky, crying and shouting. At this time, another fire-breathing boat arrived from the other side. I drew the gourd again. This blow squirted squarely, and the whole ship began to catch fire, and in a short time, the hull of the ship began to tilt, and it seemed that a large hole had been burned, and it began to leak, and it was only a matter of time before it sank.

"Pretty."

Lan Ling couldn't help but sigh, and there were even more cheers like a tsunami around him. This attack really raised the low morale a lot, and even Feng Xianchun couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although the enemy attacked our side by surprise, our naval army was very strong, and it was not without the strength of a battle, and it was especially clear who would kill the deer.

In just a short time, the front half of the southerner warship was already immersed in the water, and the second half also sank towards the river very quickly, and the sails at the top were still burning desperately, by the light of the fire. It can be seen that two fire-breathing boats shuttle back and forth around, showing off their might. Without waiting for another order, with a loud "boom", from the southerner fleet, another flash of fire rushed away. Although most of the hits fell in the middle of the river, there were still several shells that hit the target, and the two fire-breathing boats were blazing, one of which sank on the spot, and the other was damaged.

"Boom, boom."

From the southerners' ship formation, there were fireballs flying up one after another, although the accuracy was not high, but the two sides lined up in formation, filling the river to the brim, and there was no need to aim at all, many fireballs had already hit the target. This row of cannons came down, and on the side of the city, three warships sank on the spot. In the face of this kind of killing weapon, even if he is a nine-stage master, once he is hit, he will die without a place to be buried. Although the organ city supported the Northern Han Dynasty, it was an independent force after all, and Li Tie would not tell him about the shortcomings of the gunwales. In fact, after a few volleys, the gunwales must cease firing, and if they are forced to open fire, they must be blown up. But Lan Ling's understanding of the gunwales was only slightly mentioned to him by the Kyoto side, and many places were only known but did not know why. At this time, he was so frightened that he didn't care about Tiyì, who had avoided hand-to-hand combat before, and said angrily: "Old General Feng, quickly tell the army to press up and fight the enemy in close combat, otherwise if this continues, everyone will be finished." ”

Feng Xianchun didn't answer Lan Ling's words, but pointed to the river in the distance and said, "Look, my lord." ”

At this time, although the night is deep, but the large and small ships of the two sides add up to nearly a thousand, lined up on the vast river, forming a confrontation situation, and the torch light on the boat reflects the river surface as if it were day. By the light of the fire, the waters between the two sides were clearly discerned. After a round of artillery barrage, the southerners did not take advantage of the situation to attack, but rushed out of the array with many ships that could only accommodate a few dozen people. The cabins and planks of this dinghy are covered with cowhide for fire protection. There are several oars on each side of the board for the oars to insert the boat and for rowers to row. There are three cabins above deck, which are also wrapped in raw cowhide to prevent enemy fire. The ship is narrow and long, with a fast speed, and is designed to surprise enemy ships. Exactly the nemesis of the Spitfire.

The Spitfire was a tall ship, at least compared to a shipwreck, and its means of attack, mainly the nose flamethrower, were used to burn the ship. The hull of the ship is not high, and the flamethrower cannot reach it at all. In addition, another killer feature of the Spitfire is to jump into the gang to fight, and there are more sailors on the ship, and the last thing is not afraid of this. Once the fire-breathing ship rushes into the formation, several ships are often on board at the same time, using hooks and other objects to rush onto the enemy ship in hand-to-hand combat. In the past, the Jiangnan Navy used its ships to restrict the movement of firethrowers before there were no gunwales. Therefore, every time a ship sails, it must be accompanied by several ships. Sometimes, even a dozen ships are equipped just in case. On the one hand, it can indeed be seen that the Jiangnan Navy is very afraid of the fire-breathing boats, and on the other hand, it also shows that the use of shipwrights against fire-breathing ships is indeed miraculous.

After these ships rushed out of the array, they did not pursue, but spread out on the river, making a defensive posture. Feng Xianchun couldn't help frowning and muttered, "What the hell do these southerners want to do?" ”

When Lan Ling saw this, he shouted even more strangely: "Oops, now we have a chasing army in front of us, and an iron cable blocking the river behind us, they must be trying to confine us on this narrow river surface and use gunwales to wipe us out." ”

Is that so? Although Feng Xianchun didn't know the weakness of the gunwale, he faintly felt that it shouldn't be so. However, the enemy stood still, but he fell into his arms, and he shouted: "Let the front army quickly press, and come forward at the same time with the Chinese army, and we will fight to the death with the Nanren naval army." ”

The front army in his mouth is the current rear army, after such a short while, those ships also drove over, densely spread all over the river, Feng Xianchun looked at it, and his heart was a little settled. Even if your own army is tired, it is not necessarily weaker than your southerners.

Come on, let's see who is the strongest in the world. Just as he was thinking, the soldier next to him suddenly pointed to the sky and exclaimed, "General, what is that?" ”

Five or six feet in front of me, there was a black slimy thing moving in the air. It was too big, it was black, it was hidden in the night, and it looked like it was just a shadow.

"Is it a cloud?" Feng Xianchun put his hand on the pergola and looked at it. The night was thick, and under the light of the fire, the sky was very dark, but it was a little blurry. It looked a little like a cloud, but if it was a cloud, it would be too low. He looked at it for a moment, and suddenly changed color and said, "Release the arrow!" Hurry up and release the arrows! ”

Behind the object, there was a large group of similar things, and the one in front was very close, and you could see that it was a black sphere, and there was a hanging blue or something like that, and there were people looking down inside. Since there are people, it must be the stuff of the Southern Han Dynasty, although I don't understand what the other party wants to do. But it's not a good sign to let it sit overhead. This ship is the flagship, and the sailors on the ship are very strong in archery, and when they heard Feng Xianchun say this, they all bent their bows and arrows and shot towards this black shadow. The arrows were everywhere, but only the sound of "poof" could be heard, and the arrows seemed to pierce something very soft, and the black shadow still moved very quickly.