The batch of supplies that Chang Suining had been waiting for arrived within an hour as expected.
The Sheng army that was responsible for receiving the supplies in the rear soon discovered that there were more ships transporting supplies this time than before, and those ships brought things that had never been seen before.
The strange thing is that those things are neither food nor medicine, nor weapons and gunpowder, nor do they look like some new and strange mechanical things.
Seeing the rectangular wooden objects that were taller than a person being quickly carried down by the soldiers, Tang Xing was full of surprise: "Sir, are these... bellows?!"
"To be precise, it is an improved bellows." Chang Suining said, "Those craftsmen named it the double-action bellows."
Looking back in history, the emergence of bellows brought great benefits to the improvement of firing and smelting techniques and greatly increased the temperature of the furnace.
However, most bellows have only been able to supply air in one direction so far, and the air can only be sent out by pushing and pulling.
The "double-action bellows" that Chang Suining mentioned at this moment can create wind by pushing or pulling, and has air inlets at both ends, which greatly increases the air supply speed and can achieve continuous air supply with large and long-lasting air output.
Before, Chang Suining ordered Shen Sanmao to have someone make a bellows, and he only made one request - it would be best if the air supply speed could be slightly increased on the original basis.
She never thought that the craftsmen who came to Jiangdu on their own initiative and those secretly found by Meng Lie, through the collision of various ingenuity, actually gave her a big surprise and created such a groundbreaking new thing.
Such good stuff will undoubtedly be a powerful tool when used in the smelting workshop later.
Strictly speaking, bellows were originally designed for firing, so it was unexpected that they appeared in naval battles.
However, the unexpected has always been the only prerequisite for achieving a surprise victory.
"Pass the order down, quickly distribute these 200 bellows to the 50 vanguard warships ahead, four bellows on each ship, and have four people take turns to guard each bellows." Chang Suining ordered: "When everything is ready, listen to my command and create wind."
"yes!"
Hearing the words "create wind" from the girl's mouth, Tang Xing's heart suddenly stirred up an unknown wave - the wind has always been given by heaven. However, at this moment, heaven did not give wind, but someone wanted to rely on human power to create the strong wind she wanted in this sea area.
This feeling of "If God doesn't give it to me, I will create it myself" gave Tang Xing a strange shock.
Soon, the shock was materialized.
As those specially made gunpowder barrels were thrown onto the Japanese warships and then swept into the water by the Japanese army, a sudden strong wind blew on the originally windless sea, making a whistling sound.
Moreover, the wind direction was very strange, all heading straight towards the Japanese warships. They seemed to be controlled artificially, blowing up smoke domineeringly.
The smoke was carried by the wind and formed air currents with certain shapes in the air, as if it had life, covering the Japanese army.
Soon, the lime powder and other substances that exploded in the smoke began to take effect in the air, causing the Japanese troops on the front line to fall into panic one after another.
On the other hand, Sheng’s army covered their mouths and noses with face towels, and with bellows in their hands, they could use the wind power in their hands at any time to promptly expel any smoke that showed signs of coming back.
The strong wind and smoke came suddenly. The exhausted Japanese soldiers did not even have time to figure out what was happening, and thus became more and more panicked.
There were still a large number of gunpowder cartridges that were thrown between the Japanese warships with the help of the projection mechanisms on the warships.
Shouts, urgent orders, the clashing of warships, it was all chaos.
Then, Chang Suining ordered the soldiers to bring out the straw that had been tied in advance, wet the outside with seawater, light the inside, and pile it on the boats. In this way, more than ten unmanned boats sailed towards the Japanese camp with the wind, creating even thicker smoke.
The inside of these straws are also filled with lime and other substances, and the smoke they produce is just as lethal as those specially made gunpowder cartridges.
But in comparison, special gunpowder barrels are more difficult to prevent and extinguish, and are easy to throw in a dispersed manner. They are suitable for leading the charge. After the enemy falls into chaos and loses its mobility, it is more economical and practical to burn them with straw to create smoke.
After all, gunpowder is expensive, and Chang Suining advocates the combat principle of "spend where necessary and save where possible".
As the smoke grew thicker, many Japanese soldiers could no longer open their eyes and burst into tears.
Their panic comes not only from physical and visual trauma, but also from psychological shock.
It should be noted that the weapons used in current naval battles are mostly swords, spears, bows and arrows, as well as catapults installed on warships.
As for tactics, fire attack has existed since ancient times. Initially, it was done with fire ships. Since the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder has been used in wars, and then combustible rockets appeared.
But the sudden appearance of smoke over the sea was an unprecedented method of fighting the enemy.
"Never before" means a huge unknown.
The most lethality of a weapon is always at its strongest when it is first released on a large scale - if its original lethality is 60%, it will reach 100% when used for the first time, and the remaining 40% is the deterrence it brings to people's hearts.
Looking at the billowing smoke in front of him, Tang Xing was able to conclude that this battle, no matter what the outcome, would certainly open a new chapter in naval warfare and leave a heavy mark in the history of naval warfare.
Double-action bellows, gunpowder entering the water... without any external force, a smoke screen rises on the sea to defeat the enemy... Even if Tang Xing dies here today, it is worth it to have the opportunity to participate in such a battle!
Yuan Xiang, who had fought for many years, was also very excited. Looking at the situation of the Japanese army on the opposite side, he could not help but admire and said: "Commander, your plan today is simply the reincarnation of Chi You!"
Chang Suining turned his head and looked at him: "?"
"Ancient books say that Chi You could create a thick fog to make his soldiers unconscious, and thus win the battle!" Yuan Xiang's eyes were full of admiration: "You are even better than Chi You!"
Later, he would definitely write a detailed account of this battle to the Grand Commander! Chang Chiyou Reborn Suining raised his eyebrows slightly and accepted the title.
The two generals stepped forward quickly, their faces full of excitement, and asked impatiently: "Commander-in-chief, while the Japanese army is in chaos, should we order the troops to attack and kill them?!"
"No rush." Chang Suining said, "Wait until they become more chaotic."
Her soldiers had suffered too many casualties, and next, she had to kill the enemy at the lowest cost.
The smoke is thick at the moment, and if we rush forward, we may easily hurt our own people.
This is also the reason why Chang Suining rejected Shen Sanmao's other proposal before -
Shen Sanmao is a person who cannot be defined as good or evil in the secular sense. When Chang Suining asked people to make these gunpowder horns mixed with lime, he privately suggested that it would be better to add poison in addition to the lime powder, so as to poison the enemy with smoke, which would surely be more effective in killing the enemy.
Chang Suining looked at him for a moment, then shook his head: [Not appropriate]
Shen Sanmao quickly knelt down and apologized, thinking that his vicious side had been exposed, which made Chang Suining unhappy.
Chang Suining explained to him: [On the battlefield, it’s a matter of life and death, especially when it comes to the Japanese enemies, I have no mercy at all, but I’m afraid that the poison is too strong and will hurt my own soldiers.]
Many times, when a war breaks out, planning is one thing and implementation is another. If there is a sudden change in the wind direction, the gains may not outweigh the losses and the war may end in a backlash.
Everyone on the battlefield has greed and the desire to kill. Faced with such a huge temptation to defeat the enemy, reason tells Chang Suining that he should first protect the safety of his soldiers, and then talk about other things.
In the thick smoke, the Japanese army's formation became increasingly chaotic.
Looking from afar, the sea surface is still calm everywhere, quietly existing in the thin night between heaven and earth.
But where the Japanese army was, there was thick smoke and deafening screams, as if countless evil spirits were trapped in the endless hell, struggling in fear, being stared at and judged by the heavens and the earth.
Sheng's army regarded the Japanese army as evil spirits being tortured, and the Japanese army also regarded Sheng's army as evil spirits.
——How could someone create a smoke screen that could hurt people out of thin air on the sea surface when there was no wind? If this wasn't an evil ghost, then what else could it be! Sheng Jun was no longer a lamb to be slaughtered.
On the contrary, they were already in a very passive situation because of this! They wanted to escape, but because of the collision of ships, they could not move forward, thus falling into greater chaos.
Some Japanese soldiers did not know what they would face next, and out of fear, they jumped into the water in panic. However, the lime on their eyes and skin brought a greater burning sensation when it entered the water, and they screamed in pain.
"It's just smoke and lime, why are you afraid of it!" Fujiwara no Maro shouted angrily with a gloomy face: "A bunch of useless people who have no ability to adapt!"
He was angry at his soldiers for not fighting back, and he tried again and again to stabilize the situation, but all to no avail, and he could only watch the situation spiral further out of control.
Fujiwara no Maro was an outstanding soldier. He remained calm and fearless in this situation, but he could not force every soldier under his command to respond as calmly as he did.
A general must have something extraordinary to become a general, but there is a fundamental reason why most soldiers can only be ordinary soldiers throughout their lives.
Even before today, these Japanese soldiers were arrogant and ruthless, wearing a cloak of ambition and greed, and dared to kill at will -
But after this coat was burned off the body by a sudden fire, they inevitably revealed their true nature as rats.
After some ships in the rear changed direction with difficulty, they began to flee without paying attention to military orders.
Seeing the smoke fade away, Chang Suining raised his hand and ordered: "Shoot!"
"yes!"
Shepherd's Purse responded loudly and pounded the drum violently, using the sound of the drum to convey the order to release the arrows.
On each ship, drums beat in unison, and clusters of rockets were fired at the same time, landing on the Japanese warships.
The purpose of the rockets was to set fire to enemy ships and create further chaos, but many Japanese soldiers had difficulty seeing and had no time to dodge, and many were even hit by arrows and fell down.
This undoubtedly made the Japanese army even more frightened.
As the ship caught fire, they fled in disorder, completely losing what little coordination they had left.
The rockets continued to fly, and Fujiwara no Maro's warships were also affected.
Although most of the smoke had dissipated, a new sea of fire had already begun to brew in the Japanese camp.
"Commander...!" Deputy General Jin and others bowed and asked for orders behind the black-robed girl.
The girl did not look back at them. Her long-dried black hair was a little disheveled, with a few strands of hair flying in the early night breeze. There was a flicker of fire in her dark eyes.
Now the time has come, she said: "Pass the order down, all soldiers, kill the Japanese bandits immediately."
Deputy General Jin and his men, who had been waiting for this moment for too long, were all very excited when they heard this, and they responded loudly, "I obey your orders!"
They stood up suddenly and were about to go down to pass on the order when they heard the girl say, "Do you know that in our army, there is a rule that those who surrender will not be killed?"
Thinking of their comrades who had died tragically or even been tortured and killed in recent days, Vice General Jin and his companions were unwilling to accept the fact, but they still said, "I know!"
"Then remember, we don't speak Japanese..." Chang Suining said, "Therefore, there are no surrendered soldiers here tonight."
Blood debt must be repaid with blood. Tonight, she wants these Japanese troops who took the initiative to invade to pay ten times or a hundred times the price.
"I obey your command!"
Deputy General Jin and his men clasped their fists in response. As they turned around, they all drew their swords with red eyes and shouted hoarsely, "The commander has given the order. Kill the enemy immediately!"
“Kill the enemy!”
One general even shouted in grief and anger: "…Avenge our comrades who died in vain and General Chang! Kill!"
"Revenge for General Chang!"
"--kill!"
Amid the exciting shouts, Tang Xing also burst into passion, drew his sword and rushed forward.
Fujiwara no Maro was not a man who would act on his own. In this situation, the Japanese army was doomed, so he should have withdrawn. However, the huge chaos made it difficult for the fleet to move. With nearly 800 warships of all sizes, it was not easy to restore order.
What's more, many ships were on fire at this moment, and Sheng's army was attacking in large numbers at this time. The Japanese troops on each ship were unable to take care of themselves, and Fujiwara no Maro's orders could not be conveyed smoothly.
Just at this moment, a Japanese soldier rushed over and brought back the battle situation in Runzhou.
Fujiwara no Maro led nearly 40,000 troops to attack the defense line of Runzhou. On the one hand, it was to contain the strength of the Sheng army, and on the other hand, he also hoped to break through Runzhou. Although Runzhou was far inferior to Jiangdu, it was also a route to land in Dasheng.
Seeing the Japanese soldier who brought the news, Fujiwara no Maru was hoping for a victory report. He almost grabbed the soldier by the collar and asked, "How is the battle in Runzhou going? Is it a win or a loss?!"
According to common sense, he would definitely win! But the sudden change in the situation today made Fujiwara no longer believe in the existence of "common sense".
"General... we were defeated... in Runzhou!" The Japanese soldier who came with great difficulty to report the news was also frightened by the situation. Facing Fujiwara Maro's ferocious face, his voice trembled even more: "... Runzhou, there is Xuan Ce's army to help!"
The soldier's trembling voice trembled even more violently when he mentioned "Xuan Ce Army".
Those three words were the shame and nightmare that had hung over the heads of their country of Japan for more than a decade, and this was even more so for Fujiwara no Maro.
"——What did you say?!" Fujiwara no Maro almost grabbed the soldier's neck, as if he was going to break it the next moment: "Xuan Ce Army?! How could the Xuan Ce Army appear in Runzhou!"
"They...they are hanging the old flag of the Xuan Ce Army!"
(Note: Double-acting piston bellows originated in the Tang and Song dynasties.
This is a chapter that I have been revising for a long time. I will catch typos again later. And also ask for your monthly vote~Good night!
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