The water village of the Huangzu naval army is located near the wharf adjacent to the west gate of Xiakou City, hundreds of large and small warships have long been in battle under the command of Su Fei, when Ling Cao led the Jiangdong naval army into Hankou, Su Fei immediately commanded the warships to meet the battle.

Naval warfare is generally based on bows and crossbows, shooting and killing soldiers on the opponent's ships at medium and long distances. If you fight in close quarters, you can use the hook to hook the opponent's ship, and then the sword and shield soldiers jump onto the opponent's ship and engage in hand-to-hand combat. The melee weapons used by ordinary sailors are mostly swords and shields, and long weapons such as spears, spears, halberds and lances are rarely used, one is that the space on the ship is small, and the long-handled weapons are not easy to deploy, and the other is the use of a combination of swords and shields, which can effectively defend against the blows of the opponent's crossbowmen. And once the sword and shield soldiers board the ship to fight, the crossbowmen have almost no power to fight back. Therefore, the ratio of crossbowmen and sword and shield soldiers on each ship is generally two to one or three to one, as the main attack force, the crossbow soldiers are slightly more, but as a defensive force or an attack force close to the ship, the sword and shield soldiers are also indispensable. If a ship is full of archers, if the enemy approaches and forcibly boards the ship, the ship's soldiers are left to be slaughtered.

In addition, the larger ships were equipped with slapping rods, which could sink enemy ships, and fire attack was also the most common means of attack, and the arrows were wrapped in cloth soaked in oil and ignited to shoot at the enemy's ships. Generally, the sail mantle that attacks the opponent is not enough to rescue after ignition, and if it is directly attacked on the hull, the effect is not ideal, although the hull is wooden, but most of them have been treated with fireproofing, and the boat is on the rivers and lakes. It is also relatively easy to get water to extinguish the fire, if it is not a large area of fire, it is easy to extinguish with only a few arrows, only if there are enough people on board.

The Jiangdong flotilla and the Yellow flotilla soon engaged in a fierce battle on the narrow waterway of the Han River. Ling Cao took the lead in a boat, braving the rain of arrows and quickly rushed towards the Yellow Army's naval army column, starting a hand-to-hand fight. Ling Cao flew onto the enemy ship, and with a swing of his sword, the Jiangdong soldiers swarmed up, quickly slaughtering the soldiers on a Yellow Army warship. Many of the soldiers of the Yellow Army were not cut to death, but could not resist the enemy. Forced to commit suicide by throwing himself into the river. Those who are better in the water may still have a chance to swim to the shore, but those who are less watery or are caught up by the Jiangdong boats will only have a dead end.

Huang Zu's army was frightened by Ling Cao, who was like a mad tiger, and was powerless to resist the fierce offensive of the Jiangdong army. Su Fei saw that the situation was not good. The entire flotilla was ordered to retreat.

Ling Cao was already red-eyed at this time. Regardless of the order to keep the fleet chasing Su Fei, he never thought that the enemy would lure the enemy deeper.

Although after breaking through the water barrier in Hankou, the surface of the Hanshui River is wider than near Hankou. However, it was not enough to spread out a large-scale fleet, and the Jiangdong sailors basically maintained a formation of four or five ships advancing side by side, and hundreds of warships were stretched into a long serpentine shape, like a giant dragon lying across the Hanshui River.

At this moment, Gan Ning, who had already been ambushed in the reeds by the river, saw that the time was ripe, and with an order, more than ten Mengchong fast boats rushed out of the reeds like arrows from the string, and crashed into the long serpentine Jiangdong fleet.

These more than ten Mengchong clippers are all of Gan Ning's belongings, and these sailors are also water bandits who have followed Gan Ning for many years and have rich experience in water warfare. The Mongol fighting ships are narrow, long, and fast, and are designed to surprise enemy ships. It was the main ship of the ancient navy. The hull is narrow and long, and it is highly maneuverable, which facilitates the conflict with enemy ships. This ship is covered with raw cow skin, the two compartments are opened, there are crossbow windows and spear holes on the left and right, the enemy can not enter, and the arrow stone can not be defeated. Ganning's Mengchong ship was different from other naval forces' Mengchong ships, Ganning specially wrapped the bow position with iron sheets, and the tip was made of cast iron to create a tiger-shaped punch, and when the water surface charged, Ganning's Mengchong ship could directly ram the enemy ship. Because the ships of the other navies were all wooden structures and could not withstand the collision of the Mengchong ships with punches, Gan Ning's ships had been rampant in the Yangtze River for many years, and no one dared to hold on to them, whether they were officers and soldiers or water bandits.

At this time, more than ten Mengchong fast ships such as more than ten sharp blades, directly Ling Cao's long snake halved into more than a dozen sections, no matter what kind of warship design is the bow part is very firm, the two sides and stern are relatively thin, Gan Ning's Mengchong ship launched a lateral attack, the position of the collision is the weakest side of the Dongwu warship, many warships were destroyed and collided, the gunwales were broken, a large number of water entered the cabin, the warship rolled, and soon sank to the bottom of the river.

At the same time of the collision, the well-trained Gan Ning's subordinates did not give the Jiangdong sailors a chance to breathe at all, and the arrows fired by the crossbowmen in a flat row poured down on the Jiangdong warships like a shower, and the Jiangdong sailors' warships were destroyed, and they were hit by the enemy's dense rain of arrows, which could not form an effective counterattack force at all, and even the chance of escape was quite slim.

Gan Ning's Mengchong fleet rampaged on the Hanshui River, and the Jiangdong Navy was shocked into several sections that could not be connected from end to end, and the entire formation was completely scattered.

When Gan Ning's fleet launched a horizontal attack, Ling Cao's ship was not attacked because it was in the front, but the chaotic situation of the rear team made Ling Cao's heart sink, and he didn't expect that Huang Zu's army had set up an ambush here, and he was just greedy for merit, and he didn't expect to be hit. Ling Cao saw that although Gan Ning's Mengchong ships were violent, they were only more than ten ships, which was completely out of proportion to the hundreds of ships he led, so he immediately ordered to stop the pursuit of Su Fei's fleet, and let the few warships in front of him immediately turn around and outflank Gan Ning's fleet.

Gan Ning also saw Ling Cao, who was commanding in front, and captured the thief first, Gan Ning didn't hesitate at all, and immediately took out the bow with his left hand, and pulled out three feather arrows from the quiver with his right hand.

Yang Youji walked through Yang in 100 steps, Li Guangfei pierced the stone with arrows, from ancient times to the present, there are countless good shooters, but Gan Ning has practiced the unique skill of three arrows in one hand. What is a triple arrow? It is the right hand between the ring finger is buckled with three arrows, three consecutive times to pull the string, the three arrows one by one, when the hand speed is super fast, when the first arrow hits the target, the second arrow has been flying halfway, and the third arrow is just off the string, so it is called three arrows in a row. There is nothing mysterious about simply shooting three arrows in a row, but Gan Ning's three arrows are the first arrow to hit the bull's-eye, the second arrow is from the arrow shaft of the first arrow to cut the arrow shaft into two halves, the arrow hits the tail of the first arrow, the third arrow is also concocted into the tail of the second arrow, the bull's-eye only sees one arrow and three arrows are connected like beads, it is for the three arrows in a row, and the subtlety of its archery is amazing, breathtaking.

Gan Ning held his breath and condensed, deducted three arrows, and aimed at Ling Cao's throat. Ling Cao held a shield in his left hand, held a knife in his right hand, and was covered with armor all over his body, all the vital points on his body were tightly protected, only the throat part was exposed, so Gan Ning chose his throat as the target, but seeing the three feather arrows "swish" three times, they left the string, and the three arrows drew a perfect parabola in the air and shot towards Ling Cao.

Ling Cao was directing the fleet to turn around and outflank, and he didn't notice that Gan Ning was killing him in the dark, but he heard the faint sound of arrows breaking through the air, and instinctively swung his knife to block. Ling Cao is also a famous general, and his reaction speed is far above ordinary people, but he only knocked down the first and second branches, no matter what, he couldn't block the third arrow, and was shot through the throat by an arrow, and he fell on the boat on the spot, and died of exhaustion.

As soon as Ling Cao died, the morale of the Jiangdong Navy Army was immediately weakened, and no one could organize an effective counterattack. At this time, Su Fei commanded the Jiangxia naval army to cover the killing, and the fleet of Ganning was united, and the Jiangdong naval army was defeated like a mountain, and retreated in the direction of Hankou in a hurry. On the surface of the Hanshui River, there are half-sunken Jiangdong boats everywhere, thick smoke is billowing out, the wreckage is half-floating, and the dead bodies in the river are drifting with the waves, silting up the river. Ling Cao's lieutenant fought desperately, only then did he protect Ling Cao's corpse and fight his way out of the bloody road to the Yangtze River to meet Sun Ce. Although the deputy general picked up a life and went back, his ship was also hit by the rockets of the Jiangxia army, the main sail was burned, the hull was injured in many places, and the whole person was also smoky and burning, and the wolf was unbearable.

The entire forward fleet of the Jiangdong Navy Army was lost by seventy or eighty percent, and almost the entire army was wiped out, and Ling Cao was also broken, and the old hatred was not snowed, and new hatred was added, which made Sun Ce feel sad. Ling Cao has followed Sun Ce since he crossed the river in Liyang, and in Sun Ce's many battles to pacify the entire Jiangdong, he was the first to go to battle every time, and he made many military exploits, and was one of the most courageous generals under Sun Ce's account, and also Sun Ce's confidant and favorite general. Unexpectedly, this time the conquest of Huang Zu was a general before he could succeed, Sun Ce was stunned, and ordered all the naval forces in Jiangdong to immediately rush in the direction of Hankou to avenge Ling Cao.

Zhou Yu stopped Sun Ce in a rage and comforted: "Lord, our army is newly defeated, we must not be rash, gather people and horses for the time being, and it is not too late to attack Xiakou again in the future." ”

Sun Ce felt that the wound on his face was hot and painful, and he summoned a doctor to come for treatment. After seeing it, the doctor said worriedly: "The lord is angry in vain, which has affected the wound and caused the old sores to recur, and the lord needs to recuperate immediately to be safe, otherwise he may have to worry about his life." ”

Under the repeated persuasion of Zhou Yu and Lu Su, Sun Ce had to give up his plan to attack Xiakou immediately, gather the remnants of the army, and in the battle of Hankou, Jiangdong actually lost nearly 100 warships, and the naval army suffered more than 3,000 casualties, which can be described as a heavy loss. Although Cheng Pu Chen Wu's attack on the east gate of Xiakou was a feint, it also lost a lot of soldiers. Sun Ce had no choice but to accept defeat and move to Exian County, revitalize the troops, and prepare to attack again. (To be continued......)