Chapter 5: Tanka (4)

"Woo, woo, woo—" Angry horns rang out one after another, resounding across the field.

"Big brother, Jerodreth asked us, why didn't you do it just now!" Yelu Basin shook his fat ass and ran to Jerodsachel, asking knowingly.

"Blow the horn and tell Yeludelie, don't worry, the surname Zheng can't escape!" Yelucha pursed his lips, full of pride.

At the beginning of the year, when he led the remnants of the defeated army to withdraw from Hebei in a panic, he was ridiculed by a group of compatriots and brothers, especially Yelu Dilie, the envoy of the Eastern Route Army, and his words were particularly ugly. Now, the brothers should know what kind of mad tiger Zheng Ziming is, right? He was dragged down by Xiao Tianci at the beginning, so he had to withdraw his troops. And now, nearly 100,000 troops, thousands of generals, but watching this person seize the big ship and fly away, among the brothers, who is more incompetent, don't ask!

"Woo woo, woo woo, woo woo woo......" The horn sounded from the south bank of the Liao River, revealing confidence that was difficult to hide. Several Khitan warriors with herald logos rushed downstream, and where they passed, they were splashed with mud.

There are also Youzhou soldiers in the brigade, driving the ploughing cattle, pulling the bowstring of the bed crossbow, and filling the siege chisels more than two zhang long and the thickness of the bowl one after another on the crossbow bed. There are constantly people who are observing the distance between the bed crossbow and the big ship with the naked eye, looking for the best time to launch.

On the north bank of the noisy Liaohe River, the crying and scolding quickly decreased. The Eastern Route Army made Yerodiel break up and rush to the river beach, pointing to the ballista carts on the south bank that flashed with cold light, his eyes were round, his teeth were clenched, and his whole body was trembling.

He hated, hated Zheng Ziming for being cunning, and actually took advantage of the fact that he was sleeping soundly before dawn to lead a mere thirty outlaws through the camp, and pressed the faces of tens of thousands of troops directly into the dung pit!

He hated, hated those Murowei barbarians for being vain and betraying his trust. claimed to be able to tear tigers and leopards alive, but before he finished taking a picture, he was killed by Zheng Ziming.

He hated even more, and his brother Jerodza was insidious and shameless. obviously has enough troops and means to help him capture Zheng Ziming. But together with Han Kuangsi, he chose to stand by and watch. It wasn't until Zheng Ziming fought with his side that he jumped out to reap the benefits of the fisherman.

"Dashuai, we have been fooled, we have all fallen for Yelu Cha Cut!" A cavalry thousand people rushed to Yelu Dilie's side without opening which pot and which pot, and complained angrily, "He, he is obviously using us, for him, for him to consume Zheng Ziming's strength." Then, and then give the last blow to the surname Zheng!"

"Deserve it, who made us stupider than him!" Yerodiel's anger suddenly could not be suppressed any longer, and he raised his steel knife and cut off half of the head of the war horse under the man's crotch. "If you are stupid than others, you deserve to eat dirt behind others. We're stupid, who can blame us!"

"Poof!" the poor horse crashed down, and the thousand people on the horse's back were smashed to the ground, and their faces were covered in blood.

The rest were about to step forward to ask Yerodilie about countermeasures, and when the Khitan generals saw this, they quickly grabbed their mounts and carefully held their breath. I am afraid that my performance will be too conspicuous and be used as the next target by my own coach.

And that Jerodiel didn't know anything about restraint. Raising the bloody blade, he pointed at his generals and scolded, "What are you doing in a daze? You are all dead! The surname Zheng ran away in a boat, won't you ride a horse to chase after him? Ride a horse and chase along the riverbank! Shoot me with arrows, shoot rockets, and turn that big ship into a torch!"

"Yes, Marshal!" the generals originally wanted to remind Yerodiel that the wind was strong on the river, and it was impossible for the range of the feathered arrows to reach the center of the river. However, seeing the beads of blood dripping from the tip of the knife, he instinctively pressed his true thoughts back into his stomach. One by one, they scrambled to turn their horses' heads, lit their respective parts, bent their bows and arrows, and aimed at the big ships that were gradually moving away.

Most of the feathered arrows, before they could get close to the big boat, were blown crooked by the river wind and fell limply into the water. The scattered dozen or so ones with an extraordinarily long range also lost their strength when they reached the vicinity of the hull. Zhou Xin and Tao Yong used shields and weapons to fly out upside down and disappeared.

Zheng Ziming and the Cangzhou warriors under his command have all received rigorous training in water warfare, and they have long expected this situation. Instead of being bothered by the feathered arrows in the sky, he took the initiative to maneuver the rudder and oars to adjust the course so that the big ship was as close to the north side of the river as possible. I'd rather be hit by hundreds or thousands of feathered arrows than risk being targeted by the Southshore Bed Crossbow.

"Smack!" "Smack" "Smack!" The bed crossbow on the south bank launched the first salvo. A dozen thick crossbow rods stuck to the surface of the water, pounced like barracuda on the big boat.

The brothers Li Shun and Li Biao adjusted their course and tried their best to manipulate the big ship to dodge. However, after all, the speed of the ship was not comparable to the flight speed of the giant crossbow, and only two muffled sounds of "bang" and "bang" were heard, and the left side of the ship was close to the waterline, and the crossbow arrow was immediately shot out of two helmet-sized holes.

The speed of the ship slowed suddenly, and the hull of the ship tilted slowly. "Da Chun, Zhou Xin, follow me down to mend the boat. Zheng Ziming picked up a door panel, roared and rushed to the bilge, and while running, he issued an order like a flowing water, "Shunzi and Biaozi continue to steer, and the others, go find the weapons and prepare to counterattack!"

"Be careful!" Tao Dachun unloaded another hatch to catch up, leaning sideways, blocking Zheng Ziming behind him.

"Bang, bang!" The other two siege crossbows were carved into the bilge against the waterline, and the flat crossbows continued to poke forward four or five feet before stopping, almost passing the two men.

"Siege chisel, they used siege chisel!" Zhou Xin, the third to rush into the bilge, was shocked and reminded in a dumb voice. "It's the siege chisel of the Youzhou army, and the Khitans never know how to use this thing!"

Zheng Ziming glanced at him, calmly stepped forward, and pushed the two siege chisels that had lost their strength out of the cabin one by one. Immediately, he used the hatch panel to press down a hole that was pouring water into the ship.

Thanks to the ups and downs of the waves, the holes that were carved out by the siege were located above the waterline most of the time. It is only when the waves come in that there is a rush of water. Therefore, it is not a waste of effort to block it, but it is just a matter of risking being cut through by the next siege at any time.

The big ship shook violently and began to turn. Obviously, Li Shun and Li Biao, who were at the helm, made the right decision to move the ship closer to the north shore and take more feather arrows. Increase the distance between the hull and the south bank, so that the siege chisels of the Youzhou army will not have more opportunities to exert their might.

The dense sound of feather arrows striking sounded outside the cabin, and in an instant, it was like rain hitting plantains. Four Cangzhou warriors rushed down the bilge with wooden planks, pushed Zheng Ziming away, and began to seal the other holes. Tao Dachun gestured to Zhou Xin and forcibly pulled Zheng Ziming up the stairs, "The Khitans didn't have time to sabotage, and there should still be our weapons on the ship." Find out, we can't just get beaten and not fight back!"

"Find a bed crossbow, our bed crossbow is more convenient than the operation of the Youzhou Army!" Zhou Xin handed the wooden board to the brothers beside him, turned his head, and pushed Zheng Ziming out.

Zheng Ziming understood the painstaking efforts of the brothers, so he could only take advantage of the situation and walk onto the deck. As far as the eye can see, I saw that both sides of the river were densely packed with people. Countless Khitan warriors, drawing rounded bows, sending feather arrows and rockets above their heads like money.

Tao Yong was alone, holding a shield, while shielding himself from the rain of arrows falling from the sky, while trying to adjust the ballista fixed to the port side. This simple ballista is specially customized for warships by Cangzhou military craftsmen, and it is completely made of Zhuge crossbow in a tenfold scale. Although it is not as powerful as the bed crossbow used to defend the city, it is much simpler to operate. In an emergency, only two people are required to cooperate with each other to fully reload and shoot, and to be able to shoot three shots at a time.

Zhou Xin stayed behind to assist Yongzi. Da Chun, let's go to the right deck, we can't just be beaten and not fight back!" Zheng Ziming was immediately reminded of Tao Yong's actions and gave a decisive order. Then he pulled Tao Dachun and threw himself on the other side of the cabin.

Tao Dachun was worried about his safety and wanted to stop him. However, looking at the bed crossbow that was about to be fired by the south bank after being reloaded, he stomped his foot sharply, grabbed his shield and quickly followed.

The two brothers cooperated tacitly, and soon, they adjusted the crossbow that the Khitans had not had time to destroy, and then worked together to turn the winch and pull the crossbow string. Immediately, three slender crossbow arrows were quickly loaded into the firing slot one by one.

"Smack!" "Smack!" "Smack!" The ballista on the south bank began the third salvo. The thick crossbow rod swept straight white lines on the surface of the water.

Because of the distance, this time only one bed crossbow hit the hull. The others were all in vain. Causing sighs on both sides of the north and south.

"It's my turn!" Zheng Ziming pushed Tao Dachun away, aiming at a bed crossbow on the south bank to pull the mechanism. "Whoosh-" "Whoosh-" "Whoosh-", three crossbows fired in unison.

The slender crossbow bolt flew over a distance of more than two hundred steps in an instant. The first one hit the ballista accurately, pushing it to the ground. The second one grazed the scalp of the crossbowman, and he didn't know where to go. The third team hit the chest of a Khitan general who was supervising the war, pushing his whole person into the air, and his flesh and blood were splashed.

"Whoosh-" "Whoosh-" "Whoosh-", the ballista placed on the port side also quickly became powerful. Three crossbow arrows were fired into the cavalry that was riding horses and bending bows.

A Khitan soldier who was ready to shoot was pushed down from the war horse directly by the crossbow arrow, rolled a few times in a row, and before he could stand up, he was knocked down again by the war horse that rushed by, opened his mouth and spit out a mouthful of blood, fell again, and was trampled into a ball of flesh in a blink of an eye.

A war horse was pierced by a crossbow arrow, raised its hooves in pain, and galloped wildly. Three steps and two steps rushed into the river, and was swept into the bottom of the water by the whirlpool with his master.

The third Khitan soldier who was shot was directly taken away from half of his head by a crossbow arrow. Bright red plasma spurted from the cavity like a spring. The mount under his crotch, but he did not know that his master was dead. Wu raised his hooves and continued to gallop along the riverbank. The horror of death instantly spread to the hearts of every Khitan warrior present.