The west wind was blowing, and Zhu Chenhao's warship raised its sails and quickly marched eastward like an arrow from a string in the dark and dreary night.

Less than half an hour after the departure of the warships that had taken the lead in the investigation, the shadow of the dense fleet of rebels appeared on the Yangtze River west of Meizizhou.

The lights on all the warships have been extinguished, and on the dark flagship deck, Zhu Chenhao stood in full armor on the bow of the ship, his eyes scanning the river in front of him like lightning, watching the momentum of his army riding the wind and waves, his heart was full of pride and passion. He believes that in a few hours, the city of Nanjing in front of him will become his bag. There is a palace there, and Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne in that palace and claimed to be the emperor in the world, and now it is his turn to step into that palace and sit on that throne. Soon, he will be able to pocket all the land south of the Yangtze River, and then send a large army across the river after stabilizing the situation. The sick and incompetent Zhengde on the dragon seat of Beijing City is by no means his opponent.

At this moment, Zhu Chenhao suddenly realized how petty his previous move to help Nanchang was, and what could he do in a corner of Jiangxi? There was a precious delay in the middle, so that Song Nan led the army to arrive here in advance, will this become a variable?

"Your Majesty, the front is the Jiangxinzhou outside the city of Nanjing, this continent is called Meizizhou, five miles after Meizizhou is the mouth of the Qinhuai River, according to the intelligence, Song Nan's soldiers and horses are gathered there to meet the battle." Liu Yangzheng was standing on the deck behind Zhu Chenhao and said these words softly.

Zhu Chenhao snorted and said, "Wang Lun, are you ready to fight?" ”

Wang Lun, the secretary of the Ministry of War, stepped forward and said: "Everything is ready, the army is ready to attack Song Nan, the emperor can rest assured." ”

Zhu Chenhao nodded and said: "Okay, after taking Nanjing, I will announce that the world will ascend the throne, and the ministers will be rewarded, and you will be my heroes, and I will reward you well." Summons, act according to plan. ”

Liu Yangzheng, Li Shishi, Wang Lun and others shouted long live together, kneeling on the deck behind them, their hearts were also extremely excited.

"Palm lamp." Wang Lun ordered loudly.

A string of red lanterns slowly rises up the mainmast, dazzling in the dark night, and at the same time, the wind lanterns on the flagship are all lit, just like the lights of the Shangyuan Festival; As the flagship's lights lit up, the thousands of warships around it lit up like the night sky after dark clouds, and the river turned into a starry night sky in an instant.

"Explore the waterways."

"The waterways are fine."

"The detachment passed through the waterways on both sides, quickly reached the wide river in the rear through Guò Meizizhou, and the iron-headed boat turned off its lights and prepared."

"Ready."

In a short period of time, the flagship's orders were issued one after another, and the surrounding warships quickly responded and made adjustments, and the warships quickly divided into two teams on the river above Meizizhou, and rushed down from the channel on both sides of the channel along the water that was divided into two by Jiangxinzhou and became more and more turbulent. The soldiers and horses on the ship were in full array, and the Franc machine guns on both sides of the bow of the ship also raised their heads high.

The first batch to rush down along the sides were more than 40 brigs, the bows of which were reinforced with iron sheets, like dozens of monsters crushing them, the bow split the layers of huge waves, ploughed the water into deep trenches, loaded with more than 200 soldiers, equipped with four cannons, it can be said that they were armed to the teeth. The iron-headed ships had a draft of more than six feet, and they opened the way not only because of their firepower, but also because wherever they could, the ships behind them did not have to worry about the depth of the channel.

However, after crossing the waterway of more than three miles on the side of Jiangxinzhou, the three iron-headed boats that took the lead suddenly shook violently, and the soldiers on the ships were staggered, and the speed of the ship suddenly became slow.

"What's going on?" The ship's officer shouted.

"It seems to have hit a reef, and there seems to be a reef under the boat." The soldier at the helm replied profusely as dozens of torches stuck out of the ship's side to check the situation.

"How is that possible? This is the deepest channel, where does the reef come from? The officer cursed, and looked under the side of the ship, where the new scratches under the hull of the ship came to see under the torch light.

"Damn, it's on the rocks. Immediately turn the rudder, starboard probe oars to push north, can't run aground here, the ships behind are coming. ”

More than 30 large oars poked out of dozens of holes under the side of the ship on the right side, struggling to resist the objects in the water, and forcefully pushing the hull away from the north, this method really worked, and after a while, the ship roared and shook, as if out of the barrier of the reef; Before the officers and men on the ship could celebrate, they felt that the hull of the ship shook again, and several soldiers were thrown off the deck by the opposite force, screaming and falling into the rolling Yangtze River.

"What the fuck is going on?" The officer yelled and scolded, got up from the deck, and the next moment he was dumbfounded, the tall bow of another warship on the left was facing the port side of his ship, and at the moment when his ship got out of trouble and slipped to the north, another iron-headed ship that was more than ten zhang away actually hit his port side directly uncontrollably, and the solid iron head had already smashed the port side to pieces, and the soldiers and horses on that ship were also exclaiming, and the stern was slowly sliding downward, and the whole ship was on the verge of capsizing.

"Wan Lao Liu, are you fucking crazy?" The officer stood on the deck and shouted to the opposite side.

"The ship hit the rocks, and it couldn't be controlled at all, and it was directly rushed to your boat by the current, what can I do?" Wan Lao Liu leaned on the bow of the ship and responded, while sharply ordering to anchor to stabilize the hull that was about to capsize.

"You can't anchor, wouldn't anchoring here stop the fleet behind? Wan Lao Liu, are you a pig's brain? ”

Before the officer's words could be heard, he was interrupted by an exclamation, and looking in the direction that the soldiers were pointing out in panic, a wooden boat appeared in the range of the light in the rear, and was crashing at an incredible speed, and the soldiers on the ship obviously also saw the two iron-headed boats in front of them, and were scrambling to turn the rudder and deviate from the direction, but where was the time.

Nearly 600 soldiers from the three ships were stunned to witness, and the wooden ship crashed into it with an indomitable fearlessness, like a wooden stopper, wedged into the corner between the two iron-headed ships. The sound of splintering sawdust shook the sky, and the soldiers on the three ships could not dodge, and hundreds of soldiers flew into the air like fleas, and the lucky ones fell back to the deck, and the unlucky ones fell directly into the river, and disappeared with the cold and turbulent river water.

The iron-headed ship of the "boom" Wan Lao Liu completely lost control after this violent impact, and the hull of the ship, which was already about to capsize, was like a giant elephant that had turned over lazily, making a strange creaking sound, and the next moment the entire port side of the ship slapped on the surface of the river, dumping all the soldiers, supplies, and cannons on the deck into the river.

The other iron-headed ship was suddenly blocked by the detached reef that had been hit, and the hull of the ship suddenly sped down the current, and in their place was the wooden warship that had struck behind them. But they did not have time to rejoice, for they found that the hold was half filled with water, and the entire port side and stern were in pieces, and the river was pouring into the cabin, a torrent that could not be stopped. After a cup of tea, the iron-headed ship finally sank in the icy rapids with a whirlpool, becoming another man-made reef.

These three ships are a microcosm, on the river channel on both sides of Meizizhou, nearly 20 ships have been hit and capsized, and in a short period of time, more than 10 boats are lying on the water and cannot move, and three capsize.

And the hundreds of warships in the rear have all entered this narrow passage of death, the narrow terrain of Meizizhou is like a canyon in the mountains, and the place where Song Nan set up a shipwreck obstacle is also very strange, it is in the middle part of Meizizhou, three miles away from the entrance. At such a distance, it is impossible for the ships behind not to follow, and it is impossible to wait for the ships in front to pass through Guò before entering this death passage, because if the distance is too far, the entire fleet will lose their mutual communication and will not be able to cooperate with each other. But once they enter the channel, there is no chance of turning back, and the narrower the river, the more turbulent the current, and it is impossible to turn around and go backwards.

The rocks on Meizizhou were high, and Song Nan looked coldly at the bumper boats on the river, and there was no smile on his face. On the contrary, the dozen or so generals standing beside him were all smiling, and the local officials in Nanjing, who were ordered to leave Meizizhou, were also stunned and pleasantly surprised. This is the way the famous grandfather of the country fights, and they also have the deepest fear in their hearts, how unfortunate it is to fight against such an opponent, and the one that happened on the river in front of them is the most tragic scene they have never seen in their lives.

However, what frightened them was still behind, seeing that all the ships were gathered on the water in a radius, and although the boats in the rear found something unusual, they could only lower their sails and paddle desperately to maintain the chaotic distance from the front, Song Nansen ordered: "Cannons, rocket artillery, blast me." Don't skimp on ammo! Don't have any compassion! Sink them all! ”

The commander of the artillery battalion, Zhang Ning, responded to the promise, after the order was conveyed, the forts camouflaged by the branches on both sides of Meizizhou appeared one after another, and the gunners loaded the ammunition neatly, and after Zhang Ning let out a sharp roar, the roar of the ear drum resounded through the night sky, and the muzzle of the tongue of fire poured a shell mercilessly towards the river, and the violent explosion and fire resounded and illuminated this cruel and cold night.

……

In the city of Nanjing, the people took to the streets one after another, quietly listening to the rumbling cannon sound from afar, and the whole Nanjing city was quiet at this moment, and the heartbeat of the people in the city could be heard.

In the Yunxiao Pavilion on the bank of the Qinhuai River, Shen Yunyan stood at the window, looking at the direction of the flickering fire in the west with a pale face, clasping his hands and praying silently.