The west gate of Ezhou City is the water gate, and there is a five-zhang high platform standing more than one mile away from the northeast outside the city. Standing on the top floor of the platform, you can condescendingly see every move in Ezhou City, and you can also see all kinds of things on the Yangtze River. It was Kublai Khan who ordered the construction of this high platform.

On September 24, Kublai Khan, the younger brother of the Mongol Khan Möngke, climbed the high platform to look at the city of Ezhou, and the wall of Ezhou was much more damaged than the previous days. If it had been before, Kublai Khan would have a bold smile on his face, proving that he was in a good mood. Today, Kublai Khan held the railing of the high platform with both hands, stared at the city of Ezhou, and was speechless.

A guardrail made of wooden fences appeared in the ruined walls of Ezhou City. Not a paragraph, not a very long paragraph. Wooden fences appeared in the entire Ezhou city wall. This means that even if the Mongols break through the walls of Ezhou, they will still have to face a hard wall. Kublai Khan was sure that there was no such wooden fence yesterday, and in just one night, the supreme commander of the city ordered his subordinates to complete it. Now the supreme commander in Ezhou City is Song Chenjia Nidao.

"Huh! Hehe! Ha ha! Kublai Khan suddenly laughed, not a happy laugh, but a joyful laugh when he met a strong opponent.

The generals beside Kublai Khan had ugly faces, and after hearing Kublai Khan's laughter, the expressions on their faces became even more ugly. In August, when the Mongol army broke the Song navy and crossed the Yangtze River, these people were in high spirits.

At that time, Kublai Khan learned that his brother Meng Ge had 'told bad luck', and Kublai Khan, who was standing on the north bank of the Yangtze River, said angrily to the generals: "I have been ordered to come south, how can I return in vain!" Then the commander crossed the river. At that time, the Mongol army was so high-spirited.

Now, first of all, the famous generals of the Southern Song Dynasty such as Gundam entered the defense of Ezhou City, and then an inexplicable naval army of the Song Kingdom defeated the Mongolian naval army. Now Jia Yidao, a civil official of the Song Kingdom, was able to complete the inner city fence overnight. Let the possibility of breaking through Ezhou greatly decrease. The star that has been shining on the Mongolian army seems to be isolated north of the Yangtze River, and this feeling makes all the generals depressed.

"I have to use it like a Taoist!" I don't know if I felt the emotions of the generals, Kublai Khan sighed.

There is a saying that 'hitting someone doesn't slap the face, and scolding doesn't expose the shortcomings'. Although the generals are not Confucian masters, they will not be unable to understand this sentence. 'How can I have subordinates like Jia Rudao available'! This is undoubtedly a naked mockery of the generals.

Zhang Rou didn't speak, just turned her face away. He Boxiang, a thousand households, stepped forward and said angrily: "Lord, give me another 500 soldiers and horses, and I will take the men and horses of my headquarters to attack the city with a goose cart." Ezhou City will definitely be broken. Capture Jia like a way, and dedicate it to the lord! ”

Kublai Khan was about to respond to his general, when he saw a horse rushing straight to the stage. Not long after, the guard Wang Donglu took the probe horse to the high platform. Tanma knelt down on one knee and said to Kublai Khan: "Report." I am a subordinate of Zhu Guobao. Zhu Qianhu sent a bronze firearm, which was an imitation of the style of the Song Dynasty's naval army. Piercing planks at a distance of thirty paces. Zhu Qianhu also sent six ships at this time, each of which was equipped with a firearm, and was going to fight with the Song army's sailors today. ”

"Oh?" Kublai Khan rejoiced in his heart and hurriedly asked, "I don't know when." ”

"When I came out, Zhu Qianhu was already ready to go, and I thought that I had already arrived on the river at this time." Tanma hurriedly reported.

"The ship over there is probably Zhu Qianhu's sailor, right?" Hao Jing on the high platform said.

Kublai Khan didn't say much and walked to the side of the high platform near the river. Sure enough, I saw a fleet coming from Huangpi from a distance, and from the appearance, this fleet was almost exactly the same as the Song State Naval Army.

It didn't take long to see this fleet begin to speed up, rushing towards the Song fleet that was not escorted by the Song army. The two sides chased closer and closer, and the Song fleet was sunk several ships, and the three ships that escaped in the front escaped alive.

"There is only one person in the bow!" Kublai Khan praised. The deepest impression left on Kublai Khan by the Song navy was the equipment that could break a large ship with only one soldier in the bow. Zhu Guobao imitated such a weapon, just as Mongolia obtained the technology of return artillery, which would change the methods of warfare of the Mongolian army.

Kublai Khan turned back and asked, "Can the firearm be sent to the audience?" ”

"It's been delivered!" Tanma hurriedly replied.

"Lead the way!" Kublai Khan said.

Just when Kublai Khan and his generals were carefully observing the artillery made by Zhu Guobao and asking as much as they wanted. The fleet under Zhu Guobao is also extremely excited. Using firearms to break the enemy's ships, he finally vented his frustration when he saw the Song navy and ran away. The mood changed, and even the gloomy sky seemed much brighter.

"This official, do you want us to take a breath first?" The boaters asked breathlessly.

The one who commanded the battle was a ten-household, and when he heard this, his first reaction was to whip the sailors. Although they did work hard, the ten households had seen the boats of the Song army, and the oars were exactly the same, as if they were swans waving their wings gracefully in the air. The Song army's ships glided as if on the water, supple and deadly approaching their prey, and dealt with it with a single blow.

And the men on the Mongolian naval ships made the ship quite bumpy and dangling. Ten households have gradually become accustomed to sitting on the boat these days, otherwise they will be shaken and vomited. These people can't do their own things, and they still have the face to rest?!

It's just that Shihe's anger was not vented in the end, and he knew that even if he wanted to fight, he had to go back to the shore to fight again. On the river, you have to rely on these sailors. What's more, the sailors actually worked hard, they tried their best to catch up with the Song army's fleet, and they were all tired and panting, and their foreheads were covered with sweat.

"Just take a break!" Ten households gave the order.

The other boats seemed to react similarly, and everyone stopped. Then I heard someone on the boat next to me shouting at the top of his voice: "The boat next to you, rest for a while!" Keep talking! ”

In this era when command relies on roaring, people with loud voices always have no worries about finding a position in the army.

Zhao Jiaren's subordinates have propaganda committees, and they generally have huge voices. It's just that after training, the navy gradually relied not on the voice, but on the flag.

Twenty boats sailed from the lake outside Hanyang Castle into the Han River, and then down the river into the Yangtze River. Then he swooped down on the suspicious fleet. Zhao Jiaren estimated in his heart that it took him more than half an hour from getting the news to leaving. So it's possible that the fleet on the river was not a Mongol warship. However, the traces of plagiarism on the small sails on the ship are too obvious, so that Zhao Jiaren cannot ignore them no matter what.

At this time, the ten families on the Mongolian ship strode along the passage between the oars sailors with whips, and at the same time shouted hoarsely: "Hurry up and row!" Hurry up and paddle! ”

The Mongol sailors rested on the river for about half an hour, and the sailors regained their strength. At this time, several ships came out of the city of Ezhou, and the Mongolian sailors rushed up to fight. After only two shots, the Song ships turned around like frightened rabbits and fled back to the water gate of Ezhou City.

After wandering outside the Ezhou Water Gate for a while, the hundred households who led the team ordered to return. The flotilla then struck. As a result, as soon as he left the water gate at the west gate of Ezhou, the lookout post saw a fast-moving ship in the distance, needless to say, it must be the Song State Navy. The Mongol sailors instantly recalled the fear of being dominated by the Song navy, and they turned around and fled, regardless of the fact that their ships also had firearms.

The chase battle on the river will soon come to an end, Zhao Jiaren's fleet is not only well-shipped, but the rowing soldiers cooperate tacitly, far from being comparable to the Mongolian sailors of the grass head team.

Kublai Khan and the others on the shore probably finished asking the first stage of questions at this time, and when they heard someone report that two fleets had appeared on the river, Kublai Khan hurriedly rushed to the tower to watch the battle.

Seeing the Song navy chasing after the fleeing prey like a fierce tiger, Kublai Khan did not feel any surprise. For the Mongols, if they can't fight, they must flee. Silly deaths in battle are not Mongolian culture. It's just that the Song navy is chasing too fast, and the Mongolian navy has been caught up.

When the Mongolian sailors saw that they were about to be shelled if they ran again, six Mongolian ships drew a huge white arc on the river and completed a 180-degree turn. The two armies were about 40 paces apart, or 60 meters. Eighteen small boats faced the Mongol ships in front. The two large ships had already caught up and were ready to sail past the edge of the Mongol navy to encircle them.

Seeing this situation, the Mongol navy immediately pulled the cannon with great difficulty and loaded it with gunpowder. Only this step was done, and the bow guns of the eighteen warships that had stopped had already completed the other steps and opened fire on the Mongol naval forces. The first round of firing did not hit the Mongol ships, but gave the Mongol sailors the opportunity to carry out the first round of firing.

The cannonball crossed a distance of thirty paces and plunged headlong into the water, causing gray spray.

Kublai Khan, who was on the high platform, nodded again and again, this is a good Mongolian man. If you can't fight, you will run, and if you can't run, you will stubbornly resist and fight to the death.

Zhao Jiaren, who personally participated in the battle, breathed a sigh of relief, a firearm that can shoot a distance of thirty paces is basically equivalent to waste in this era. Those archers and crossbowmen could easily fire arrows from sixty to one hundred paces away, that is, at a range of one hundred to one hundred and fifty meters. Firearms with a range of only 45 to 50 meters have no way to compete with it.

Moreover, the Mongols were too slow to open their artillery. Zhao Jiaren's side fired two more rounds before the Mongols fired a second shot. This time the Mongols were unlucky. Three of the six ships were shelled and then shattered.

The second round of firing by the Mongol navy only knocked out the shells by thirty paces, and posed no threat to Zhao Jiaren's fleet at all. Under the heavy shelling of Zhao Jiaren's fleet, all six Mongolian ships sank.

The signal flag waved, and twelve small boats immediately went to arrest the men, and two large ships and six small boats rushed to the location where the six Mongolian ships were sunk. All the ships were at anchor, and when the Mongols in the water were caught, the sailors tied ropes around their waists and went into the water to determine their positions. Neither the Mongol ships nor the Mongol sailors were of much value, but the artillery representing the highest level of Mongolian science and technology was valuable.

The crowd on the high platform watched the short and fierce water battle, and no one spoke. The Mongol army was like a lamb, trying to hit a hungry wolf with its immature horns, but it still fell to death under the sharp teeth of a seasoned hungry wolf. Compared with this result, the firearms that Fang had just tried to fire were more impressive to the Mongol generals.

Sighing, Kublai Khan turned his head to Wang Donglu and said, "Go and summon the Hui people." ”

Zhao Jiaren didn't care what the people on the high platform thought, all he cared about was artillery. The sailors quickly pinpointed the location of the guns, and along the way, salvaged some gunpowder bags and other objects. With the pulley set, Zhao Jiaren doesn't have to work as hard as his predecessors before. The sailors tied ropes to the guns and quickly salvaged them.

During the salvage, the ship was completely shattered. The sailor who knew how to wood scooped up a few pieces and looked at them, and couldn't help but laugh, "Ship with metasequoia, these Mongols will take advantage of it." Even if you don't use artillery, if the ships on both sides collide, the Mongolian ship will be shattered! ”

Metasequoia wood is very straight, but brittle and easy to catch fire, that is, the Mongolian sailors jumped over the wall to build military ships. Even if Zhao Jiaren used old wood when building ships, it was also old wood from sea ships. The old wood has been soaked in water for a long time, and it can't be burned with fire.

Ignoring the ability of the Mongolian navy to build ships, Zhao Jiaren only waited for the artillery. The beams on both large ships creaked a little under the weight. When the copper cannon came out of the water, Zhao Jiaren first raised his eyebrows, and then covered his mouth with his hand. He didn't want to laugh in public, but he couldn't hold back.

The Mongols used bronze cast cannons, which probably melted copper coins. The caliber is the caliber of a two-pound gun, and it is more than eight centimeters. The entire thickness of the gun is twice that of the caliber, and the length of the barrel is about 70 centimeters. Zhao Jiaren quickly calculated in his mind, but he couldn't calculate the weight immediately. But just looking at it like that, if you don't have 800 catties, you have to have more than 700 catties.

Covering his mouth, Zhao Jiaren was extremely happy in his heart. With so much bronze in Zhao Jiaren's hands, he was able to cast a twelve-catty cannon instead of a two-catty cannon. There are six boats in the river, and he sent it, really sent it!

At this time, the head of Hui Hui rushed to Kublai Khan's side. After listening to Kublai Khan's statement about casting cannons, he turned his head and asked Tanma, "How many copper coins did you use to cast a cannon?" ”

Tanma was stunned for a moment, and then replied very uneasily: "800 guan." ”

Kublai Khan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and the amount of this money was not particularly large. However, the head of Hui Hui then asked, "How many texts have you been writing consistently?" ”

Now the probe is silent. In these years, the money is generally 450 Wen, not 1000 Wen. Different calculation criteria mean completely different results.

Kublai Khan also felt that something was wrong, and he asked himself: "How many texts?" ”

Tanma knew that he couldn't say it, so he lowered his head and replied, "1000 Wen." ”

The head manager didn't bother to say anything more, just turned his face away. Kublai Khan was also speechless, and it cost 1,600 copper coins to cast a cannon. 1,600 copper coins are a great wealth among the people, not to mention the lack of copper production, where is there so much copper available!

Kublai Khan looked up at Zhao Jiaren's fleet on the river, and he wanted to know how much it cost this Song navy to cast firearms!