Anqing.

Since the defeat by the Huaxia army, the city has been enveloped by a gloomy atmosphere, and all the soldiers are frightened and look frightened.

The reason for this is naturally that when they fought with the Huaxia Army, they were defeated like a mountain. Since the establishment of the naval army by Boyan, although they are not invincible, the naval army of the Song Dynasty encountered has not retreated, been beaten and urinated, and even more like people like Fan Wenhu, they surrendered directly.

However, the Huaxia army was not like the Song army after all, and in the first battle, it directly came to a dismount, giving them a heavy blow.

"Ladies and gentlemen. ”

Xie Cheng looked at the people present and asked, "Presumably you have also seen the strength of the Huaxia Army, so I want to ask you how we should act to be able to block them so that they cannot break through Anqing, and then threaten the Lin'an area." ”

The Yangtze River basin is very important, and this Anqing is one of the hubs.

If you want to completely control the Yangtze River Basin, you have to capture Anqing, which Xie Cheng understands. The reason why they were able to successfully capture Lin'an at the beginning was also because of the simple and neat surrender of Fan Wenhu, which saved the Yuan army from a major danger.

Now that the Huaxia Army is here, its purpose is naturally to come for Anqing.

"It's-"

Zhang Xi shook his head and said, "If we only rely on the weapons in our hands, I'm afraid it won't work at all." "I remembered the scene of the attack on Junzhou for a while, and he was also attacked by the Junzhou Navy Division with artillery, which led to the complete failure of the whole operation.

Zhang Xi has always remembered this vividly.

"No, isn't it okay to send more troops? If you don't have enough troops, you can ask the marshal, and I don't think the marshal will refuse. ”

Xie Cheng's face was angry, as if he was annoyed by Zhang Xi's decadent appearance, but he also knew that what Zhang Xi said was true, so naturally he couldn't say anything.

Zhang Xi shook his head and replied, "It's not a matter of strength. The difference in performance between our warships and the other side's warships is really too great. Just like guns and bows and arrows, both in range and power, they are too far apart, and they really can't be compared. ”

At the beginning, the gun may not be as good as the bow and arrow, but after 30 years of rapid development, the forging process of the gun has also been improved dozens of times, not only using the forging technology, but also introducing the concept of fixed ammunition, and even being able to use technology to pile up high-speed shooting weapons such as revolver rapid-fire guns.

The whole technology of the musket has basically entered the stage of the mid-nineteenth century.

"It's-"

There was a moment of silence.

It is not uncommon for them to load artillery on battleships, at least now in both the Song army and the Yuan army, basically all large warships are loaded with artillery, but they only replace the bows and crossbows and catapults that were originally loaded, and the others have not been improved.

Like the Huaxia Army, it is the first time that a warship is made entirely of steel.

Of course, the reason why the Huaxia Army was able to accomplish this feat was also due to the results of vigorously promoting the construction of trains over the years.

The huge demand for steel allows steel mills to forge suitable steel for shipbuilding, and the continuous and stable steam engine is the key to enabling warships to gallop freely, and the infinitely powerful artillery is also due to the continuous improvement brought about by the improvement of forging technology.

All of this has created such a steel monster.

"Even so, then let's just sit back and wait for the other party to knock on the door?" Xie Chengdong was annoyed and opened his mouth to shout.

"But general!" Zhang Xi shook his head and opened his mouth to say, "With our current strength, I'm afraid it's difficult." ”

That Zhang Rongshi also persuaded: "That's right. With the warship in our hands now, if we rush forward, it is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, but it is just a waste of the soldier's life. However, he suspected that Xie Cheng might send others to attack forcibly, so he said this.

Xie Cheng replied angrily: "Of course I know. Man then raised his head, glared at the two of them, and complained: "It's just that you two are also generals, why are you so pessimistic? If it affects morale, what should we do then? If Anqing is taken away by the other party, we won't be able to please us in front of the marshal at that time." ”

"This, we will defend Anqing to the death. ”

Zhang Rongshi and Zhang Xi were stunned for a moment, then raised their heads and replied loudly.

It was only now that the two of them realized what their situation was, and they showed such a negative attitude just because the other party's strength was too strong, and if Bo Yan really pursued it, it would not be pleased.

The corners of Xie Cheng's mouth twitched slightly, as if he didn't care about the attitude of the two, but his eyes fell on that Fan Wenhu.

As the former governor of Anqing Mansion and the envoy of the system along the river, Fan Wenhu naturally had some troops in his hands, and because he was very familiar with this place, he was assigned here by Boyan to cooperate with the three of them to resist the attack of the Huaxia army.

"This-"

Realizing that he was being targeted, Fan Wenhu was obviously stunned, and then asked in a low voice: "General Xie, what are you looking at me for?"

"Huh. What else could it be for? Naturally, I wanted to ask the famous envoy along the river what was the best way to retreat from the enemy?" Xie Cheng chuckled, and immediately asked about his own culture.

Fan Wenhu secretly complained: "Sure enough!" Facing Xie Cheng's inquiring gaze, he had no choice but to spread his hands and make a helpless look: "This, if you can't resist the Huaxia army, how can I fight alone? If I can really solve it, why did I surrender in the first place?"

"The so-called three stinkers, the top Zhuge Liang. Isn't the reason why we are here just to discuss a way to deal with the enemy?" Xie Cheng encouraged: "You just try to say it, even if it is useless, I will not blame you." ”

"But I really can't help it. ”

Fan Wenhu shook his head like a rattle.

Xie Cheng's face changed, and his voice suddenly raised: "I'll let you say, you just said it, why do you refuse like this?" If you can't help it, then it's better to get out of the way and replace it with another one, which will save you a waste." ”

"Okay, okay!"

Frightened by this, Fan Wenhu was naturally shocked, after all, these generals were not as easy to fool as the high-ranking officials of the Song Dynasty, if he was still sloppy as before, he was afraid that he would really be swept to the end.

When the time comes, he will lose his official position and troops, and he Fan Wenhu will not be able to escape death in the end, after all, in the Song Dynasty, there are not a few people who want to take his life.

"You have also seen that the Huaxia army is strong in the navy, and its warships are fierce and unstoppable, and it is difficult to fight at all. If you are facing the enemy head-on, it is simply impossible. ”

Fan Wenhu took a deep breath before replying, "In that case, we might as well sink the ship into the river and completely block the channel and make it difficult for it to go down the river." They were forced to send soldiers ashore, and although the warship was powerful, it was difficult to go ashore after all, and naturally it could not pose much threat to us. At that time, we will naturally be able to block it so that it cannot go south. ”

"Oh?"

After listening, Xie Cheng looked at Fan Wenhu with surprise and said, "I thought it was just a wine bag and rice bag, who would have thought that he would be able to come up with such a strategy? ”

Because of Fan Wenhu's surrender before, they always felt that this Fan Wenhu was just a person who was greedy for life and afraid of death, but after listening to these words today, they realized that the other party was not that waste, and he also had a considerable level.

Fan Wenhu blushed and said with a smile: "Since this is the case, is this plan feasible?"

"Absolutely. Xie Cheng closed his head and replied: "It's just that the wreck used to block the shipping lane, where did you get it?"

Fan Wenhu complained: "I have heard that there are many merchants in this city, and they have many merchant ships in their hands.

"Huh?"

Xie Cheng was surprised, looked Fan Wenhu up and down again, and thought in his heart: "I thought this guy was also a talent, but I didn't expect it to be so ruthless? Although he was displeased, he also knew that this was the best way, so he had to say, "Of course." As for that, I'll leave it to you. ”

Those merchant ships were important tools for merchants to get by, and if they were destroyed, it would be tantamount to destroying their families.

Although Xie Cheng is a Yuan army, he also knows etiquette, righteousness and shame, so he naturally disdains to do such an act.

"Then I'll do it. ”

Fan Wenhu hurriedly responded, said goodbye to everyone, and began to collect civilian ships.

Watching this person leave, Zhang Xi suddenly opened his mouth and said: "This guy, is really an incorruptible and shameless person, and he actually committed such an act? I don't know what happened to the marshal in the first place, and actually accepted this person into the Yuan army?"

"Alas. It's not for the sake of the trolls in his hands. ”

Xie Cheng sneered: "After all, this person controls one-third of the Song Dynasty's naval army. If we get his help, then the shortcomings of our army can be remedied, and it will not be difficult to fight against the Chinese army and navy as usual. ”

"That's just as well. If it weren't for this person to surrender, where would we have come from so many warships?" Zhang Xi nodded quite approvingly.

He had also trained the navy, so he naturally knew the usefulness of the navy, especially when attacking the Southern Song Dynasty, which was a key factor.

There is no way, in the past, the soldiers in the Yuan army were all northerners, if it was about land warfare, it was naturally the best, but the water network in the south of the Yangtze River was dense, and there were waterways everywhere, and the cavalry was really difficult to pass, and it was difficult to give full play to the advantages of mobility, let alone to fight the enemy, and often because of these reasons, the Song army escaped.

In the past, when the Jin Dynasty conquered the Southern Song Dynasty, it failed because of this.

In order to be able to conquer the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty has been trying its best to develop the naval army, but the number cannot be compared with the Song Dynasty after all, so Fang will hand out an olive branch to Fan Wenhu and invite Fan Wenhu to join the Huaxia Army, the purpose of which is naturally to be able to make up for his last shortcoming.

And after getting the water army under Fan Wenhu, the strength of the Yuan army's water army also jumped up and became a powerful force that could change the situation of the war.