Several ballistas were fired from the Mongol ships, but none of them hit the Zhao family's ships 60 paces away. At this time, the wind was light, which made Zhao Jiaren feel shocked. That's the case with the winds at sea, sometimes just a few miles away with completely different winds. The worst situation is that there is no wind here in Zhao Jiaren, and the Mongolian ship in the distance is coming with the wind.

Just as he was thinking, suddenly the Minister of Propaganda shouted: "The enemy is shooting arrows!" Avoid! ”

The sailors who had been trained for about two years hid behind the shields against bows and arrows at great speed, and the sailors who had not been trained for a long time reported that they were noticeably slower by half a beat.

"Ahh A famous sailor cried out in pain when he grabbed an arrow and clutched his left arm. The team leader next to him didn't care about anything else, and pulled the guy behind the shield first. The sound of thump and thump continued, and bows and arrows fired from the Mongol ships on the opposite side were nailed to the deck one after another. The white feathers at the end of the arrow made Zhao Jiaren feel that the deck in front of him was a bit like a cotton field.

The Mongolian ship on the opposite side was five or six hundred tons in size, with a wide hull and a two-story building in the center that resembled a pyramid. I saw archers standing on the platforms of each shipbuilding, taking advantage of the fact that the wind was getting lighter and began to organize a salvo. Although there was no way for the bow and arrow to cause special damage after crossing 60 steps, that is, a distance of 90 meters, the feather arrows that kept falling on the ship still caused a lot of damage to the morale of the Zhao family's fleet.

Li Hongjun, Ding Yu, and Liu Meng, their faces are all very ugly. Sailors, who continued to carry out combat orders on board, also began to pay more attention to their concealment.

"The Mongolian ship is approaching us!" Lookout post. The command position is located at the rudder at the rear of the ship. There is also shield protection, but it also blocks a little view because of this. At this time, the observation of the lookout post is extremely important.

"Wait until within 30 paces, and order the three-pound cannon to shoot!" Zhao Jiaren ordered. Archers who can organize salvos have to go through three to five years of training, and from the level of the enemy's ability to maintain the rain of arrows, Zhao Jiaren understands that he has encountered a very powerful regular army. Zhao Jiaren's dream of being vulnerable to the Mongol navy was shattered in Zhao Jiaren's heart, and he finally understood why the Great Song navy was defeated when facing the Mongol navy.

It can be seen that the Mongol navy was very excited about their rain of arrows to suppress the enemy ships. As the ships on both sides approached, the noise came directly from the boat on the opposite side. The Mongol soldiers on the Mongolian ship spoke the northern Chinese dialect.

Zhao Jiaren felt a pain in his heart, and this was the reality he faced. At this time, there was no such thing as 'the Han children were talking nonsense, but they scolded the Han people to the city'. Since the disgrace of Jingkang, these Han people in Shandong have not lived under the Han regime for more than 100 years. Their great-grandparents may have had a lot of affection for the Han Chinese regime. Four generations later, these people no longer think that they have anything to do with the Great Song Dynasty in the south. Raising his eyes and looking at the people on his boat, Zhao Jiaren had to admit another fact in his heart. According to his previous investigation, the ordinary people of the Southern Song Dynasty did not think that the Shandong people had anything to do with the Great Song Dynasty.

"It's within 30 steps." The lookout post reported the news.

"Order the three-pound cannon to fire!" Zhao Jiaren retracted his thoughts and gave an order.

Bang! Bang! …… Below deck came a dense sound of cannons.

Click! The sound of broken wood was heard from the Mongolian military ship opposite. A three-pound shell smashed a large hole in the side of the Mongol ship. The ballista mounted in this position was not directly hit, but was still shaken and slid down under the force of the impact. The Mongol navy originally used ropes to hold the ballistae in place, and these ropes now hung the ballistas overboard. One of the hapless fellows got their feet tangled in ropes and was taken out of the boat. And he saw the man's head and feet hanging upside down from the boat, and his head was less than two feet above the water. He struggled and screamed, and a moment later, the screams were drowned out by the sound of cannons.

It didn't take long for the side of the Mongol navy to be smashed into disarray by the heavy bombardment of the three-pound guns. Not only were the ballistae on the side of the ship destroyed, but several of the levers that had been standing next to the ship were also knocked down. The long wooden pole smashed crookedly against the Mongol naval boat, looking like a large spiritist banner that had fallen to the ground next to the grave.

"Ahh In the smoke from the shelling, a sailor of the Zhao family's fleet was suddenly hit by an arrow in the leg. He screamed and fell to the ground with a thud. The sailor endured the pain and shrank his body back behind the shield of a pound of cannon. A few feathered arrows swished and snapped to the deck.

In this scene, Zhao Jiaren had to remind himself again that the enemy on the opposite side was a well-trained regular army. And not a pirate who panics after being hit. Even if weapons such as ballistas were destroyed, the archers on the opposite side suffered losses under the shelling, but they did not lose their will to fight.

Shouts, cannons, all sorts of shouts resounded on the battlefield. Wiped out the little caution that Zhao Jiaren originally wanted to capture the enemy ship as completely as possible. Seeing that there were constantly feathered arrows shooting on the deck, Zhao Jiaren shouted with murderous intent: "Order the gunner to shoot at the shipbuilding!" Knock it down for me! ”

The order was quickly carried out, and with the sound of a roar, the thin planks of the Mongol ship's building were smashed to pieces, and soon no one inside was shooting arrows outside. The situation changed slightly, and Zhao Jiaren ordered fiercely: "The gunner of a pound of guns is suppressed on the deck!" "Now that the Mongol ships have lost their long-range throwing capabilities, it's time to jump and grab the ship.

At this time, the life commissioner rushed to the deck and rushed to Zhao Jiaren's side. "Report! Ten percent of the gunpowder and ammunition on board have been depleted! ”

Zhao Jiaren was stunned, this hasn't fought much. Why is it consumed so much? But after a moment, he was also somewhat relieved. The 300-ton warship had twelve three-pound guns on each side, and the gunners could fire about two shells per minute. Zhao Jiaren didn't pay attention to how many rounds of shelling had been carried out, and he estimated that it had been at least ten minutes at this time. Ten minutes will consume at least 720 catties of artillery shells, as well as several hundred catties of gunpowder.

"Report! The artillery was too hot, and the cannon on the other side had been transferred to the side of the shelling. Liu Meng of the Marine Corps rushed up to report. At this time, it was not the turn of the melee troops to appear, so he helped drag the cannon, and now he came to report and just take a look at the situation.

"Let a pound of cannon shoot at the enemy!" Zhao Jiaren still decided on Fang Cai's order.

The order was quickly carried out, and the gunners quickly rushed to the deck, where they ran behind the gun shields and began to operate the guns to fire at the shipyard of the Mongol ship. It can be seen that the Mongolian army is quite serious about shipbuilding, and they know that a building with a high position and an unstable center of gravity cannot be built too heavy. As a result, a three-pound cannon can break a large piece of the ship's floor with one shot, and a one-pound cannonball can easily break through the ship's floor, making a large hole in it.

After another seven or eight minutes, with the efforts of one pound of guns and three pounds of guns, the wall of the Mongolian warship building thirty paces away was continuously collapsed several zhang wide, and the inside could be clearly seen from the outside. At this time, there was not a single archer to be seen on the dilapidated platform of the ship, and there was no living person in the dilapidated shipbuilding. I think the archers are probably already hiding.

"Report! The Mongolian ship behind will arrive in more than half an hour! The observer ran to Zhao Jiaren to report. It's a rule, and if nothing goes wrong, they have to report every quarter of an hour.

"Report! The gunpowder has been used up again! "The life commissioner also ran up to report.

Zhao Jiaren bit his lower lip fiercely. This battle was beyond imagination, and the experience of fighting pirates in the past turned out to be of little use. When the pirates arrived, they gathered on the deck and fought to the death with Zhao Jiaren's fleet. Zhao Jiaren used a large lifting pole to inflict intensive damage on the pirates on the deck, and then sent melee personnel to harvest the heads.

Faced with the same dilemma, the regular troops on the Mongol ships chose to hide. Zhao Jiaren didn't know how many melee personnel there were on the opposite ship, even if there weren't too many, the archers could put down their bows and arrows and pick up their knives and guns to engage in close combat. There must be two or three hundred soldiers on the enemy's ship.

Zhao Jiaren went to Lianghuai to help Jia Yidao this time, and only more than 500 people took the initiative to sign up. Each boat is allocated 100 people, and if there are 300 people on the enemy's ship, now jumping the gang is simply hitting the wall with his head.

"The second ship, the report, has already solved the long-range armament of the Mongolian ship. Ask for permission to jump the gang! ”

"Report, the third ship also solved the long-range weapons of the Mongolian ship."

No matter how stubbornly the enemy resisted, Zhao Jiaren's fleet still relied on artillery to gain the upper hand. Li Hongjun and the others were extremely happy in their hearts, according to their experience in fighting pirates. Now it's time to jump the gang and take the ship.

They looked at Zhao Jiaren, hoping to get orders. But Zhao Jiaren, who was in the eyes of everyone, frowned, looking indecisive. Zhao Jiaren has not hesitated, and the weight of this hesitation makes it difficult for everyone to believe that this sad person is the previous leader who led everyone forward.

After an extremely painful choice, Zhao Jiaren gritted his teeth and squeezed out words from between his teeth, "Design against the waterline and sink these ships!" ”

"Hey! Headmaster. Don't you want to jump into the boat and grab the boat? Li Hongjun knows that Zhao Jiaren wants to strengthen himself by seizing the ship, and now that he is in the upper hand, how could Zhao Jiaren choose to give up?

"I just thought one thing straight. Even if we sink all the enemy ships, we can still build new ships when we return to Fujian. But if you jump into the gang and are ambushed by the Mongols, you will go on a business trip. I can't get you back anyway. When it's time to fight hard, then naturally you can't care about your life. Now is far from the point where you have to fight hard. At such times, your lives are more valuable than the gold of the ship! ”

Zhao Jiaren was quite sorry when he explained. If he could get rid of the greed in his heart from the beginning, he would directly aim to sink the enemy ship. Now I'm afraid that the battle has been settled, and there probably won't be so many wounded. Just by seeing it with my own eyes, there were already ten sailors with arrows. Several were shot in the chest and abdomen and were seriously injured. When he didn't see these sailors injured, Zhao Jiaren felt that it should be a very cost-effective thing to exchange a few lives for such a big ship. However, after seeing these people injured, Zhao Jiaren began to feel that human life may be more important.

"Principal......" Zhao Jiaren choked up when he heard the voice of Zhong Zengbo, a member of the study committee next to him. When I turned my head to look, I saw Zhong Zengbo in tears.

"Headmaster, I'...... I see! Li Hongjun, who was opposite Zhao Jiaren, was also a little choked in his voice. After finishing speaking, Li Hongjun turned around, wiped the corners of his eyes with his hand, and then shouted loudly: "The principal has an order!" Shoot at the waterline of enemy ships! ”

Sincerity itself is convincing enough, and everyone around Zhao Jiaren felt that Zhao Jiaren said what was in his heart. Everyone was quite moved, but the sound of artillery also clearly told everyone that they were on the battlefield at this time. With Zhao Jiaren's new order, they immediately went to their posts to complete their duties.

Not long after the flag was issued, Zhao Jiaren saw that the other ships also obeyed the order and began to sink the enemy ships. Looking up at the flag, Zhao Jiaren was stunned. In addition to the banner of 'shelling the waterline', Li Hongjun even let a flag be hung, 'The principal ordered not to jump into the gang rashly, because human life is more important than the ship!' ’

"Report! The enemy ships are still half an hour away from us! "News came from the lookout location again.

"One more round of shelling, and wait for the enemy ships to start flooding in large quantities. Let's turn back and meet the enemy! Zhao Jiaren ordered. If the purpose is to sink, Zhao Jiaren's choice is very simple.

In the evening, four Mongol naval ships began to sink slowly. The panicked Mongol sailors did not expect that their long-range weapons would not have time to exert their power at all, and their ships could not withstand the shelling and began to sink first.

The most seriously wounded ship sank into the water before the last rays of the setting sun were gone, and before the ship could sink, the Mongols on board began to jump ship in despair, trying to climb onto other ships that had not sunk. Zhao Jiaren ordered to leave the battlefield temporarily and anchor twenty miles away from the battlefield.

The night battle was too dangerous, and Zhao Jiaren didn't want to take this risk. He was going to come back tomorrow to search, if not to capture the ships, at least some Mongol soldiers. These people soaked in the water overnight, and tomorrow, if they didn't die, they would have lost at least half their lives. It was very difficult to capture them at that time.