"General, the Bianzhou navy is twenty miles ahead!"
"Reporting to the General, we are still ten miles away from the Bianzhou navy!"
As the pathfinders reported back, the distance between the two sides grew closer and closer.
"Five miles ahead, the Bianzhou navy is attacking quickly!"
At this time, Xu Zhengye and others could already see tiny spots of fire approaching them on the vast river ahead.
Seeing that the flames were advancing at a very fast speed, the generals around Xu Zhengye said sarcastically: "These people are really eager to die!"
Xu Zhengye suddenly drew his sword, and his scarlet cloak was particularly dazzling in the firelight.
He raised his sword and shouted loudly: "All the soldiers of Kuangfu, follow me to kill all the evil queen and her gang. First, we will conquer Bianzhou, recapture Luoyang, and then kill the evil queen!"
The generals beside him drew their swords and shouted in unison: "Kill the Demon Queen and her gang!"
The sound spread out layer by layer, and the soldiers raised their swords and guns and roared loudly: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The warships also sped up their advance.
The night wind blew up Xu Zhengye's cloak. He held the sword and looked forward, with murderous intent in his eyes.
On his way to Luoyang, he encountered heavy rain and was blocked by it. Somehow, rumors spread among the army that his actions were against the will of heaven and that the heavy rains were a warning from heaven...
It was absurd! He picked out dozens of people and beheaded them as a warning to the public, only then did he suppress the voices that were disturbing the morale of the army.
Today, he would first use the lives of the 10,000 navy soldiers in Bianzhou to awaken the morale of the generals! With the morale of moving forward courageously, it would be possible to seize Luoyang from Xuan Ce's army and Li Xian!
As the two sides got closer, Xu Zhengye quickly recognized that the other side's twenty-odd warships were all common models in the Central Plains.
The more than 100 warships he brought were all the best warships in Jiangning and Yangzhou.
Due to the terrain, Yangzhou needs to defend the waters around the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, while Jiangning has the Yangtze River flowing through it. Therefore, the warships in these two places have different divisions of labor and uses, and are different in size, construction, and the layout of mechanical weapons on board. Compared with ordinary warships in the Central Plains, they have great advantages.
At this moment, Xu Zhengye was leading more than a hundred warships behind him. Their momentum was mighty and majestic, like a mountain, and seemed invincible.
In comparison, the only thing worth mentioning about the Bianzhou ships on the opposite side seems to be their desperate determination to throw everything at it, like an ant trying to shake a tree.
When they are weak, their so-called courage to face death head-on is nothing but ridiculous stupidity in the eyes of the enemy.
"Shoot!"
The strategies of naval warfare are divided into long-range and short-range battles. Before the enemy gets close, bows and crossbows are often used to repel the enemy.
The bows and crossbows on the front row of Xu Jun's warships were fired at the same time, with force as dense as rain.
The "Bianzhou Navy" had also started shooting arrows, but most of Xu Jun's ships were suitable for naval battles, and their hulls were much taller than ordinary ships. It was very difficult for the "Bianzhou Navy" to attack from above, and the arrows they shot could hardly hurt the people on Xu Jun's ships, as most of them were blocked by the sturdy and tall hulls.
On the contrary, Xu Jun took advantage of the height.
People on the warships of the "Bianzhou Navy" began to be shot and fall down one after another, and some fell into the water, and the formation of the ships gradually became chaotic.
Seeing this, a general in Xu's army shouted, "Attack!"
It is a good time to approach quickly while the opponent's formation is disrupted!
Next, they could engage in close combat, board the enemy's warships, control the rudders of the enemy ships, and block their retreat! "Whoever kills the leader of the Bianzhou general will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins!" Xu Zhengye shouted, "No prisoners will be taken tonight, and all the demon queen's rebels will be killed, leaving no one alive!"
"We will take their heads tomorrow and knock on the gates of Bianzhou!"
"kill--!"
“…”
On Xu Jun’s warship, the horn to kill the enemy was blown.
However, at this time, Xu Zhengye saw that the Bianzhou warships quickly reorganized their formation, with twenty ships arranged in two rows, ten in front and ten in the back.
The ten ships in front did not retreat but advanced, heading towards the warships of Xu Jun!
Even if there was a collision, Xu Jun, whose warship was larger, was not afraid.
Xu Zhengye vaguely felt that something was wrong. He immediately raised his hand and subconsciously shouted "Slow down!", but it was too late.
There were only a few soldiers left on the other side's ten ships. Because the ships were light and faster, they had already crashed into them! Just as they were about to collide, those "Bianzhou soldiers" suddenly turned their rudders and adjusted their directions, so that the ships that were originally moving forward turned sideways to face Xu Jun's warships.
At the same time, the soldiers on the ship opened the mechanism and lowered the fences on both sides of the ship. There was a secret in this fence. When it was lowered, it could become a suspension bridge. At the top of the suspension bridge, there were sharp iron nails as long as a person and shaped like a bird's beak.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
When the warships of both sides collided, with the force of the collision, the rows of sharp iron nails on the ten ships were firmly pierced into the bow of Xu Jun's warship!
The dozen or so warships in front of Xu Jun were pinned down. As the ships shook, a general shouted, "Stop them! Kill them!"
These people who fell into the trap and resorted to such means were undoubtedly trying to climb onto their warships!
As expected, those "Bianzhou navy" quickly ran up to the suspension bridge connecting Xu's warships.
But they did not climb onto Xu Jun's warships, but quickly jumped into the water from both sides!
Soon, the ten ships became empty.
Xu Jun was puzzled when he saw this. A general with experience in naval warfare shouted, "Watch the bottom of the boat! Be careful they might scuttle it!"
"Shoot them!"
"Quick, check the bottom of the boat!"
Amid the chaos on the boat, Xu Zhengye looked at the ten Bianzhou ships that were still holding them tightly and they could not get rid of them at all. He didn't know what he thought of, and suddenly raised his eyes and looked forward.
The remaining ten ships, carrying their wounded companions who had emerged from the water, quickly retreated in the hail of arrows.
Are you trying to escape? No...
Xu Zhengye stared for a moment and his expression suddenly changed.
More than ten!
He saw several new flames suddenly lit up about a mile ahead.
Soon, several groups turned into dozens of groups!
With the lights on, one warship after another could be seen, suddenly emerging from the bottom of the water like ghosts and appearing on the surface! The ten warships that had just retreated, like fish, surrounded the "newly appeared" warships. A drumbeat suddenly sounded from the top of one of the tallest ships.
“Boom!”
“Boom boom!”
With one long and two short drum beats, the warships suddenly woke up like sea monsters and attacked them! On the building ship, a girl in armor held a heavy crossbow, narrowed her eyes slightly, and aimed forward.
The crossbow had a range of over three hundred steps, and she patiently estimated the distance.
Like her, there were nine other people on the boats on both sides, all of whom had taken aim, like hunters ready to strike in the night.
"not good!"
Although Xu Zhengye could not see the specific actions on the opposite ship, he understood something and immediately retreated, saying, "Everyone stop, abandon the ship immediately!"
"Except for the ships in the front row, the remaining ships should retreat quickly!"
"Retreat quickly!"
"quick!"
On the front row of Xu Jun's warships, people were running around and shouting in a hurry. Many soldiers didn't know what was going to happen next and were pushed back. The situation was extremely chaotic for a while.
Some of them were pushed into the water, some jumped onto the warships behind, and some had no time to jump on board before the warships began to retreat as ordered.
As the ships retreated in chaos, some of them collided head-on with each other, making it difficult for them to move quickly.
"Shoot!"
The girl gave the order in a clear voice.
When sound fails to reach certain places, the sound of drums can convey it.
“Boom!”
Along with the drumbeat, a rocket flew out from the girl's hand.
"call out!"
The rocket was fired accurately at one of the ten empty ships.
The flames crackled.
Immediately afterwards, rockets were fired one after another and hit the empty ships.
The flames gradually connected into pieces, and when they accumulated enough, there was a deafening explosion.
"--boom!"
“——Bang!”
It was gunpowder! A large amount of gunpowder was laid on those ten ships in advance!
Those on the front row boats who did not have time to evacuate all had changed expressions and their ears were buzzing, including the general who threatened to go to the brothel in Bianzhou to broaden his horizons.
Bad news, we can’t go to the brothel.
Good news, you can still go to the King of Hell.
The look of fear only stayed on the man's face for a brief moment, and the next moment, he was blown away.
Their warships were also blown up, and the fire rose with the night wind and continued to spread to the rear.
Many sails were set on fire, and the huge shock force caused the water surface to shake. The warship lost its balance and seemed to be overturned.
The screams of people being burned by gunpowder, the panic sounds, the smoke that stung the eyes, the coughs of people who were choking, and people falling into the water, all of this made the surroundings seem like a sea of fire and purgatory.
The more this happened, the more panicked the soldiers at the helm became. Their warships collided and jostled each other, and the advantage of the ship's size became a disadvantage at this moment.
With his head buzzing, Xu Zhengye held onto the boat railing, trying to steady himself, and shouted angrily, "Don't panic!"
However, in the chaos, his voice was drowned out by the noise as soon as he spoke.
"General, General!"
The Taoist who followed him rushed over dizzy and vomited before he could say anything.
“General…” The Taoist didn’t care about anything else. He wiped the vomit from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. His eyes were filled with fear and he pointed his finger forward tremblingly: “Look, that, that is…!”
Xu Zhengye had already looked over, and through the sea of fire in front of him, his eyes trembled.
There were far more than ten or dozens of ships heading towards them...
Points of fire were connected, and with the orderly beats of drums, they meandered over the water like a vigorous and galloping dragon.
Hanging high above it are the large commander's flag with the word "Xiao" on it and the military flag with the word "Sheng" on it.
"How...how could this be..." The Taoist's voice trembled, and he no longer had the immortal demeanor he had before.
How could these pursuers who were supposed to be behind them pass them and appear in front of them! And the number of warships was too numerous to count, so they were probably no less than theirs!
Xu Zhengye's mind was full of mixed thoughts. Although he didn't have time to think carefully, it was obvious that he had fallen into the opponent's ambush! In the face of danger, he couldn't let his mind wander.
He pushed aside a panicked helmsman, steadied the boat himself, and shouted, "Shoot! Bring us rockets!"
Rockets needed gunpowder, and they had gunpowder.
However, gunpowder was only used in warfare for a few decades, and it was not easy to produce it in large quantities. Xu Zhengye originally planned to stay to attack Luoyang City, after all, the most difficult Xuan Ce Army was located there.
In comparison, the mere tens of thousands of Bianzhou navy were not worth his use of gunpowder at all.
But he never imagined that Xiao Min's army would suddenly appear here and set an ambush!
Under the control of Xu Zhengye and his subordinates, the chaotic situation improved slightly. While adjusting the chaotic arrangement of the warships, they began to passively counterattack.
In the firelight, the two sides attacked from far and near, and the sound of fighting shook the sky.
The battlefield is not just on the water.
Xu Zhengye soon discovered that arrows began to rain down on them from both sides of the river.
These were naturally the people brought by Chang Suining and Xiao Min. They all came by water, but the number of people on the warships during transportation was different from that during war. In order to ensure flexibility during combat, an ordinary warship could not accommodate hundreds of people. Therefore, she set up an ambush on the shore to observe the battle situation and block Xu Zhengye's retreat.
Another point is that Chang Suining discovered in advance that Xu Zhengye had a limited number of warships and carried a large amount of baggage and food, so among the army he brought, there were another 10,000 cavalrymen who did not take the water route.
Xu Zhengye has few elite troops under his command, and these 10,000 cavalrymen are his elite vanguard.
In order to guard against a surprise attack by Xu Zhengye's 10,000 vanguards, Chang Suining also set up an ambush on the shore.
These were the ambush troops she used to await the arrival of the ten thousand soldiers.
She noticed that Xu Zhengye had already released the fireworks signal at the very beginning, probably to contact his subordinates.
But the strange thing was that until dawn, the 10,000 cavalrymen, who should not have been too far away from Xu Zhengye, had not arrived yet.
The battle situation was unfavorable as they had lost the initiative. The cavalry had been slow to arrive to support them. As they watched another trusted general fall from the arrow, Xu Zhengye gritted his teeth, his eyes already bloodshot.
"General, General..."
The Taoist priest, whose hair was disheveled and whose whisk had been thrown away long ago, crawled over and grabbed the hem of his armor, saying in panic, "The situation is not good, General, please evacuate quickly!"
Xu Zhengye lowered his eyes and looked at him steadily: "Master, do you still remember what you said in Jiangdu?"
The Taoist told him that he would definitely achieve great things when he came to Luoyang! Facing those cold eyes, the Taoist trembled like a sieve: "I...I...could not predict this disaster..."
"Really?" Xu Zhengye smiled silently, and the blood-stained spear in his hand suddenly stabbed diagonally downwards.
The Taoist opened his mouth, but because his neck was pierced, he could no longer make a sound.
Looking at the Taoist priest with thick blood gushing out of his mouth, Xu Zhengye asked, "Did the master predict his own death today?"
In order to achieve great things, he followed the example of his ancestors and recruited some so-called talented people and people from Buddhism and Taoism to help him build up his reputation and create the image of "obeying the will of heaven".
Who knew that this Taoist was a complete liar!
He is not a fool, so he certainly does not blindly trust the other party. He came to Luoyang not just to believe in the other party's words, but this does not affect his resentment and anger at the moment.
Xu Zhengye pulled back the spear, and when the Taoist fell on his back, he pierced his body with the spear again, once, twice, three times, to vent his anger, until his face was covered with blood.
"thump!"
As a soldier next to Xu Zhengye was shot by an arrow and fell into the water, a sharp arrow was approaching him.
Xu Zhengye suddenly swung the spear in his hand to block the arrow.
At the same time, he raised his eyes, trying to trace the source of the arrow. It was not shot from the shore. His position meant that the archers on the shore could not hurt him.
Soon, he saw a warship with a flag flying the word "Sheng", which had circled to their side without them knowing when.
A young man in armor and holding a bow stood on the bow. The dawn light behind her broke through, hiding her face in the backlight.
But Xu Zhengye still determined at a glance that this was the girl from the Chang family who had "cursed" him with the proclamation, General Ningyuan! His eyes suddenly became extremely gloomy, and murderous aura began to surge and gather.
Ah, thank you Hanhan for the 100,000 coins reward again! Thank you all for the monthly tickets! The war will end in the next chapter. I was planning to update today (so that I could fulfill my promise of someone appearing (actually, he has already appeared secretly), but, but the war is too difficult to write, and it took too long to look up information_(:з」∠)_Then see you tomorrow, and by the way, ask for a new monthly ticket for August (づ￣3￣)づ╭I updated more than 130,000 words in July, which is a diligent month~
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