"Governor, I have seen the enemy ship, do you want to open fire?"

On the deck of the Bohai Navy's 3,000 Dafu ship, when Zheng Jun opened his mouth to ask Yang Zhan, Yang Zhan just took a monocular to observe the two sides, and he knew the approximate distance.

"I'm familiar with Nanchenghuang Island, and now we are still five miles away from them, and it's useless to shoot the cannon."

"Order the whole army to go southwest downwind, all the fireships are waiting for my military order to be released, don't waste the wind direction that God has given us."

Yang Zhan had been fighting the Imperial City Islands for several months, and he was very aware of the situation here.

Although the wind direction is northwesterly this season, there will be a northerly wind for a while after noon.

As long as he seized that north wind, the one hundred and forty fireships prepared by his seventy warships would be able to accomplish a feat!

"Advance with the whole army, don't give the thief army a chance to use fireships!"

Yang Zhan's thoughts, how Chen Xuan didn't know.

Although he didn't know that there was a north wind, he knew what tactics the Ming army was best at attacking enemy ships.

As long as the fireships loaded with oil and gunpowder go south with the wind, they will have to reimburse at least 30% of their more than 200 warships.

While the thieves did not lay down the fireship, he had to lead his whole army to engage them in battle and win with a short hand.

For a while, the two fleets began to command each other, and Zheng Jun was also nervous for a moment after seeing more than 200 warships and warships of the Southern Army heading north.

It's just that when he saw Yang Zhan's calm appearance, he unconsciously relaxed.

In fact, he didn't know that Yang Zhan's mood was also very heavy at the moment.

Chen Xuan was defeated and could still return to Daqin Island and even Dengzhou City, but Yang Zhan was different.

The Imperial City Islands were not under his control, and Lushun was much farther away from Nanchenghuang Island than Daqin Island, and once they were defeated, they would not be able to find a small island to rely on, because neither the northern nor southern Chenghuang Island had enough people to replenish them.

In the event of a storm or an unfavorable battle, their fate is self-evident.

"The whole team! The whole team! ”

"Don't beat the rudder too hard, fill all the guns with gunpowder and get ready to approach the platoon!"

"Fireship Preparation ......"

Under the continuous blowing of the north wind, it was difficult for the Bohai Fleet to retreat, and it was difficult for the Southern Army Naval Division to regroup.

Although the Bohai Sea at the end of spring is not windy and unstable, the fleet can avoid the wind.

In addition, they are close to the seabed of Nanchenghuang Island, so they can directly anchor in the sea, so their only risk is typhoon, but Yang Zhan did not encounter a typhoon during the crossing.

There are no typhoons, which is good news for both armies.

Under the orders of the two commands, the Southern Army marched north with its fast bird boats as the vanguard, while the Bohai Navy laid down the fireships loaded with gunpowder and oil.

The distance between the two sides is constantly approaching, from ten miles to five miles at the beginning, and then to two miles now.

The Southern Army had already entered the range of the Bohai Fleet's artillery fire, but Yang Zhan did not give the order to open fire.

Chen Xuan asked Wang Sheng and Song Sheng, two naval commanders who had followed him for many years, as the vanguard, and supervised the battle on the boat.

Hindered by the wind, it was difficult for the big bird ships of the southern army to advance, and only the twenty-four big bird ships led by Wang Sheng broke through to the eight-mile range of the Bohai Fleet.

"Full rudder left, prepare for the platoon of artillery!"

Yang Zhan calmly waited for Wang Sheng's twenty-four big bird ships to arrive, and then ordered the entire army fleet to turn around the rudder.

Anchored, they quickly filled the rudder, the ship began to tilt, and the muzzle plate on the right side was pulled apart in an instant.

Wang Sheng and the others were targeted by hundreds of naval guns in an instant, and the feeling was indescribable.

"Assault of the whole army!!"

Wang Sheng stood at the bow of the Big Bird Ship, drew his waist knife and was about to break into the Bohai Fleet and ignite the fireships of the Bohai Navy to blast them, but his plan stopped at the moment when the cannon sounded.

"Put!"

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble!! ”

At the moment when the cannon sounded, 700 shells roared towards the Southern Army's bird boat fleet less than half a mile away from them.

At such a distance, the big bird ship almost became a target.

At least a quarter of the 700 shells did not enter the fleet, and the shattered sawdust became a deadly weapon, reaping the lives of the Confederate sailors.

"The first fireboat is released!"

Yang Zhan calmly ordered, and after a while, more than ten fireships rushed out of the Bohai Fleet with a target and rushed towards the surviving eleven or twelve bird ships.

The shirtless sailor lit the fuse of the fireboat and jumped into the sea just as the two sides were about to collide.

"Bang bang bang-"

More than ten brilliant fires lit up on the sea, and more than 20 bird ships of the pioneer and the pioneer officer Wang Sheng were all submerged in the sea.

The Southern Army, which had been attacking the enemy with fireships all year round, also tasted the power of fireships, and everyone was frightened by the destruction of a third of the birdship fleet, even Chen Xuan.

Yang Zhan could clearly calculate the direction of the waves blown by the sea breeze, and what direction could send his fireboat to the Yangtze River sailor formation as soon as possible, but Chen Xuan couldn't.

This is not that Chen Xuan is incompetent, but that he is not familiar with the Bohai Sea literature.

"The hull is back in order, all the fireships are ready!"

Yang Zhan calmly ordered, and when the generals and soldiers around him were cheering, he knew very well that he was not qualified to cheer.

The destruction of more than 20 bird boats is far from a break for the Yangtze River sailors.

Sure enough, in the face of defeat, Chen Xuan was not discouraged at all, but sent the second wave of bird boat troops again.

At this time, the north wind that Yang Zhan was waiting for came......

"Set fire to the boats, all of them!"

Seeing that the wind flag began to shift, Yang Zhan ordered the whole army to release the fireboats without thinking.

Chen Xuan, who also felt the change in the direction of the wind, also changed his expression: "All the ships are scattered, and the thieves are going to set fire to the ships!" ”

As soon as Chen Xuan finished speaking, he saw the fireships of the Bohai Fleet, which were less than two miles away from them, all of them finding the bird boats that were charging, and some of them were coming straight to their main force.

With the blessing of the north wind, the speed of the fireship even exceeded that of the birdboat going upstream, and a large number of birdships were destroyed by the explosion of the fireboat, and many sailors jumped into the sea to wait for rescue.

Due to the lack of paper armor, many soldiers wearing piercing armor sank into the sea.

Some are also able to calm down and surface with a rope cutter to cut the rope of their armor, but many more sink to the bottom of the sea.

"Collect the anchor!"

When all the fireboats rushed out, Yang Zhan also ordered the anchor to be retracted.

If the anchor wants to be retracted, it can't be too fast, and you have to wait for the ship to retreat and then slowly put it away by hand with a winch.

The ship's sailors had to fight the north wind to help the ship keep it back.

This process took a lot of time, but it was all within the scope of Yang Zhan's calculations.

Under his gaze, the fireship had already broken into the scattered fleet of the Yangtze River Naval Division of the Southern Army, and began to bloom one brilliant spark after another.

"Governor, the anchors are all up!"

Zheng Jun saw that most of the ships were waving the flag of "finished", and immediately notified Yang Zhan.

Yang Zhan was not in a hurry, and waited for a while before he began to wave the command flag in his hand: "The whole army is assaulted!" ”

At one time, seventy ships began to assault, and all artillery was ready with gunpowder and shells.

The fleet of the Bohai Navy went south, and took advantage of the gap between the Yangtze River sailors to avoid the fireboats, and rushed into their formation.

"Put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Not only the artillery of the Bohai Navy is ringing, but also the artillery of the Southern Army is also playing a role at this moment.

The difference is that the artillery shells of the Southern Army are all granite shells, while the shells of the Bohai Navy are special shells made of iron shells mixed with pig iron.

When the iron shells pierced through the hull of the Yangtze River Naval Division, these special shells shot into the air and faintly flared.

"Boom, boom—"

In an instant, these special pig iron cannonballs suddenly exploded, and the tiny iron marbles in them shot in all directions.

Flowering shell, Zhu Gaoxu made this shell appear in Daming more than 100 years in advance.

The bullet contains gunpowder and other materials in the body, there is no proximity or delayed fuse, and it is ignited with a twist of arquebus, which can explode after being fired and injure people with shrapnel and marbles.

In the face of the double blow of iron shells and flowering shells, the Yangtze River naval division, which was only a few tens or hundreds of paces away from the Bohai Fleet, was unable to form an army, and the warships that leaked were even more numerous.

"How so!"

Chen Xuan almost gritted his teeth, he had thought that the Bohai Navy's artillery was sharp, but he didn't think that the Bohai Navy's shells could penetrate his own warship.

If such a powerful cannon is used to siege a city, unless it is a bluestone wall, even a rammed earth and brick wall cannot resist it.

The information he received did not mention the explosive shells and the sharp guns that could pierce through the hull.

"The thieves have a backhand......

As soon as Chen Xuan's thoughts appeared, there was a "crackling" sound similar to fried beans on the sea.

After all, the Yangtze River Naval Division was also an elite, although the artillery of the Bohai Navy was sharp, they also knew that there was a gap after the artillery was fired, so many warships that were not seriously injured began to pick up the ship's side and lay wooden planks to prepare for hand-to-hand combat.

However, in the face of their charge, the Bohai arquebusiers who had been waiting early had already formed a formation and began to round out their guns.

After the three rounds of guns were exhausted, the sailors of the Southern Army suffered heavy casualties.

A ship of only forty or fifty people, after the double blow of the platoon of guns and artillery, there were very few survivors left.

The soldiers of the Bohai Navy took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack and snatched one after another of the Yangtze River Naval Division warships.

The scene was too chaotic, and the orders of the various departments had been disturbed by the Bohai ships that had broken into the formation, and more than 200 warships were divided by 70 tall Bohai naval warships.

All Chen Xuan could see was the smoke from the firing of arquebuses and cannons, and the shouts of killing around him.

"Mingjin withdraws!"

After realizing that he could not reinvigorate the ranks, Chen Xuan did not hesitate to order the withdrawal of troops.

Rather than going against the wind, they were smoother when they retreated.

It's just that they are not the only ones who have a tailwind, and the Bohai Navy has maintained the advantage of tailwind from the beginning of the war to the present.

In the face of the retreating Yangtze River Naval Division, Yang Zhan unhurriedly divided the fleet into three ways to attack:

Middle Route: There are a total of twenty-one ships, divided into seven teams, each team has three ships, commanded by Yang Zhan personally, as the main force to attack Chen Xuan on the boat.

Right Side: A total of eighteen boats, divided into six teams, with Cui Jun responsible for flanking the left flank of the Yangtze River Naval Division.

Left Side: A total of eighteen boats, divided into six teams, with Zheng Jun responsible for flanking the right flank of the Yangtze River Naval Division.

The remaining thirteen warships were left by Yang Zhan to rescue the Bohai Navy and the Southern Army sailors who fell into the sea.

The three-way fleet attacked with the wind and was in an advantageous position for a while, and Song Sheng, the commander of the bird boats, was killed by artillery bombardment, and more than a dozen bird ships were captured.

Under the westward slope of the sun, the Yangtze River Navy Division retreated all the way, and the Bohai Navy pursued all the way.

Due to the westward slope of time and the fierce rise of the sea, many ships of the Yangtze River Naval Division ran aground in the reefs of the Imperial City Islands on the way to escape, and were captured by the Bohai Navy.

In the pursuit of the Bohai Navy, the Yangtze River Naval Division withdrew all the way to Dengzhou.

"Let go of wolf smoke and send news to Dengzhou City!"

Seeing that he was about to arrive in Dengzhou City, Chen Xuan, who was worried about Dengzhou's defenselessness, ordered wolf smoke to be released.

For a while, the Yangtze River sailors who fled south began to release puffs of wolf smoke, but Yang Zhan, who saw this scene, was still calm.

Of course, this was only the surface, because he never thought that the naval guns and flowering shells in the Bohai Sea would be so effective.

The more than 240 warships of the Yangtze River Naval Division were defeated in less than an hour and a half when facing his 70 warships, and they fled south for two hours.

"Bell... Clang... Clang... Bell ......"

At dusk, when the fort of Dengju City rang with a hurried bell, many people had not yet realized what was happening.

Qi Ji, who was inspecting the city defense, hurriedly looked at the sea when he heard the bell, and sure enough, he saw puffs of fire and smoke rising on the sea.

"The whole city is on alert, all ships are ready to leave the port, and the batteries are ready to defend the port!"

Qi Ji quickly reacted, commanding the Denglai Naval Division of Dengzhou City to leave the port, and at the same time let the batteries on the left and right sides of the port prepare for the enemy.

He hurriedly led the team to the port, and when he arrived, many sailors were hurrying to board the ship, and one after another the warships were slowly sailing out of the port.

Qi Ji boarded one of the 1,200-material ships, and at the same time ordered the twelve forts on the left and right sides to wait for the order to prepare for the enemy.

Time passed little by little, and when the more than 100 warships of the Denglai Navy Division sailed out of the port, the sky gradually darkened.

It was only in this darkness that the constantly burning warships on the sea began to become conspicuous.

Compared with the high spirits at the time of departure, the Yangtze River sailor has completely become a lost dog at this moment, and the warship that came back is less than one-third of what it was before departure.

Such a scene made everyone's scalp tingle.

The strength of the Yangtze River Naval Division is several times that of the Denglai Naval Division, and as the Denglai Naval Division that stayed behind, it has less than 50 warships of more than 1,000 materials, and the rest are small ships of about 500 materials.

If the other party is an enemy that even the Yangtze River Sailor can defeat, then how can they defend themselves?

"Don't panic, our army has a battery to cover, it's okay!"

Qi Ji became the backbone of the Denglai Naval Division, but no matter how calm he was to calm the ships, he still couldn't stop the panic from spreading.

Under their watchful eyes, Chen Xuan finally escaped back with sixty or seventy warships.

They entered Dengzhou Port under the cover of the Denglai sailors, and Chen Xuan also disembarked when he passed by and came to Qi Xuan's boat.

"Governor, you are ......"

Qi Yan looked at the embarrassed Yangtze River sailor in surprise, but Chen Xuan said calmly: "It's too late to explain, they are coming, you go to the fort and order the fort to prepare for shelling!" ”

"Yes!" Qi Ji didn't have time to ask, so he responded to the military order and followed the ships of the Yangtze River Naval Division back to Dengzhou Port.

Soon, the twelve batteries in Dengzhou began to turn the direction of the guns under the command of Qi Ji.

The artillery in this group of forts are all Hongwu iron cannons of more than 1,000 catties, and the firing range can reach one mile, and the forts are made of instructions and are two feet thick.

However, even knowing that there was such a fort, Yang Zhan still ordered the pursuit to the offshore.

They occupied Long Island, fifteen miles from Dengzhou, and did not seem to be ready to retreat, but waited for a full-scale attack after dawn.

This scene made Chen Xuan's face embarrassed, he didn't expect the water battles of the Bohai Navy to be so brave.

At the same time, he was also very strange, he had never heard of a general who was good at water warfare in Liaodong and Bohai, let alone naval warfare.

Of course, he didn't have time to think about these things, what he was thinking about now was what to do with the Pingwu Shui Division who was sent by him to harass southern Liaoning.

He didn't suspect that the Pingwu Naval Division was collaborating with the enemy, after all, he himself wanted to send the Pingwu Naval Division to harass southern Liaonan, but he didn't know how the Bohai Navy avoided the Pingwu Division.

Although the Bohai Sea is very large, there are only a few fixed shipping lanes, and unless the Bohai Navy masters a new shipping channel by itself, it is impossible to avoid the Pingwu Naval Division.

If it weren't for the fact that the Ping Wei Shui Division did not stand on the side of the Bohai Navy to help fight, he might have suspected that Yang Yu had leaked the news.

Now that the sea route has been cut off, if the Pingwu Sains don't know the news, then they ......

"Governor, Chief Officer Yang has come to the carrier pigeon!"

In the dim cabin, Chen Xuan's face was cloudy and uncertain, and a general hurriedly walked over with a message sent by the Ping Wei Sailor.

Chen Xuan, who heard the words, snatched the letter and quickly opened it to read.

The content is very concise, Yang Li replied that he had led the sailors to attack Lushun, but there was not a single ship in Lushun Harbor, and the defenders were huddled in the city.

Next, he prepared to divide his troops to attack Jinzhou and Fuzhou to attract the main force of the enemy army for the Yangtze River Naval Division.

"The main force is here!"

Chen Xuan crumpled the letter paper into a ball, and also confirmed that Yang Yu did not surrender to the enemy, and the Bohai Navy must have mastered a new shipping lane.

"Governor, what should we do now?"

The general who delivered the letter asked Chen Xuan, but Chen Xuan also had a headache.

"It's okay, we have batteries to help, although the Bohai artillery is sharp, but today, the range should not be large."

Chen Xuan fell into the trap set for him by Yang Zhan, because today's artillery of the Bohai Fleet was shelled within a mile, so he thought that the artillery of the Bohai Navy was trading range for power.

If that's the case, then it would explain why the Bohai Navy didn't use today's powerful artillery on land.

In the Bohai Navy on land, the artillery was basically fired two miles away, but today it is within one mile, so I think the artillery situation is different.

Chen Xuan thought like this, but he was always a little uneasy in his heart.

He was not good at naval warfare, and he had no object to refer to for the naval battle tactics of the Bohai Navy, so he could only let the whole city prepare for the enemy for a while, and let the reorganized Yangtze River Naval Division and the Denglai Naval Division merge to defend against the enemy outside the port.

His approach was uneventful, and at least there was nothing to criticize in the water wars of this era.

However, it is precisely because of the stability that it is easy to be surprisingly successful.

Before dawn, strong winds began to blow in the Bohai Sea.

Before the change of season, the northwest wind on the sea did not stop for a moment, and the Bohai Fleet, which had rested all night, also launched an attack in the early morning.

"Woooooooo

The horn sounded, compared to yesterday, there were a few fewer ships of the Bohai Navy, and only sixty-two could pursue here, but this was enough.

Standing on the deck, feeling the tingling of his cheeks from being blown, Chen Xuan nervously clenched the handle of the knife.

On the deck of the Bohai Navy, Yang Zhan also ordered at the same time: "The whole army marches to Erli, don't overstep." ”

"There are twelve forts in Dengzhou, each with sixty Hongwu iron cannons, which can only hit one and a half miles away, as long as we are in the position of two miles, they can only be beaten passively."

"First destroy the Dengzhou Fort, and then the whole army will rush forward and fight according to yesterday's fighting style."

"Yes!!"

Attacking with the wind, the Bohai Navy was in an advantageous position, which made many superstitious Southern sailors pray.

The voices of those prayers sounded harsh, and people with a good temper like Chen Xuan couldn't help but scold: "What's the use of praying to God and worshiping Buddha, this season is the time when the northwest wind blows!" ”

Chen Xuan scolded bitterly and regretted it at the same time.

If he had waited until March to attack, he might not have been as embarrassed as he is now.

But as soon as the thought came to him, he shook his head and shook it out.

He knew very well that even if he did it again, he would have to move troops at that time, because the imperial court had already urged them for half a month, and with his official position and status, he could not continue to hold on.

Besides, even if he understood the strength of the Bohai Sea Master, would he be able to defeat the Bohai Sea Master?

Chen Xuan saw clearly yesterday that the number of artillery pieces of the Bohai Division was almost three times that of theirs.

Their artillery is numerous and powerful, which is far from being comparable to the naval divisions of the Southern Army.

If the Pingwu Shui Division had not gone north, then this battle would still have to be fought, but for now, ......

"Boom, boom—"

The dull sound of cannons began to sound two miles away from the Denglai Naval Division, and this sudden change made Chen Xuan suddenly raise his head.

"The range is misestimated!"

Chen Xuan realized it later, but the battlefield changed rapidly.

Sixty-two Bohai warships began to turn left and right to shell Dengzhou Harbor, each representing five or six hundred shells.

When those shells were two miles away, the aim began to get lower, which made Chen Xuan breathe a sigh of relief.

But then, when a warship was shot around him, and the power of its cannonballs could still penetrate the deck and the hull on one side, his breath came up again.

"Can't the fort hit?!"

Chen Xuan questioned the flag soldiers, and the flag soldiers also cried with sad faces: "Governor, you can't fight." ”

"It's over......" Chen Xuan closed his eyes, he seemed to have seen the picture of the fall of Dengzhou City.

If Dengzhou City is taken, Zhu Gaoxu can rely on the warships captured yesterday and his own warships to transport a large number of people to Dengzhou, just like Emperor Taizu Gao asked Ma Yun and Ye Wang, two generals, to lead tens of thousands of horses and infantry officers to cross the sea to attack Jinzhou more than ten dozen years ago.

However, the difference is that once Dengzhou is lost, Zhu Gaoxu can take Laizhou to the west, and go straight to Qingzhou and Jinan, cutting off the grain route of the Dongchang Canal.

Once the Dongchang Canal was cut off, the 300,000 troops in Beiping ......

Chen Xuan didn't dare to think of what would happen, so he could only draw his sword and shout: "The whole army is assaulted!" ”

Under his command, nearly 200 warships were mobilized again and launched an assault against the wind towards the Bohai Navy.

At the same time, a hurried wooden whistle was heard in the Bohai Fleet.

"Enemy from the north!!"

"Beep-"

The sudden change made many Bohai Navy generals nervously look back.

To the north of Long Island, a fleet of hundreds of warships appeared above sea level.

This scene made the Southern Army sailors who were charging excited.

"The Peacekeeper has come to the rescue! Assault of the whole army! ”

"Rush!!"

The naval divisions of the Southern Army were like chicken blood, and the Bohai naval soldiers were also nervously preparing to meet the enemy.

In such a chaotic environment, only Yang Zhan was very calm.

He made a slight change in his original plan, and did so to keep his father safe.

But even so, the outcome of this naval battle will not change......

"Prepare to meet the enemy!"

(End of chapter)