As the fire started, the surrounding small boats scattered one after another. The Jin soldiers on several small boats that came to engage in the battle were also stunned, but due to the strict military law, they did not dare to go forward. The only thing they were afraid of getting involved in this ship was that they had to go up to it and fight with bows and arrows!
Zhang Yongzhen stood alone at the bow, waving his shield, unafraid. There were fifteen or sixteen arrows piercing his leather armor, but he still raised his sword and ordered the troops to move forward.
The ships were getting closer and closer. Puluhun was completely furious but also a little frightened. He simply ordered the Han soldiers on the ship with the longest shooting range to ignore the fact that there were more Jin army ships below and shoot arrows together. He also ordered the Jin army ships below to come closer and shoot arrows together, otherwise he would be killed!
Upon hearing the military order, the Jin army did not dare to neglect it...but Zhang Yongzhen remained unafraid and kept getting closer to the ship.
When Zhang Qilang from Longxi killed a Jurchen man at the bow but was hit hard in the thigh by an arrow, he heard the people on the other boat not far away speaking with a Longxi accent and that they were going to move closer and shoot him to death together. He could not help but hold his shield and roared in anger: "Do people from Longxi dare to shoot me, Zhang Qilang?!"
After these words were spoken, the Han soldiers on the nearest Jin ship were so frightened that they dared not fire a single arrow! However, after this shock, the fire ship, which had already dyed half of its stern, broke free from the siege and headed straight for the big ship.
But what was even more bizarre was that at this point, Puluhun on the big ship suddenly took the initiative to order to stop shooting arrows, and held the edge of the boat, watching the fire ship crookedly coming towards him without saying a word.
Zhang Yongzhen had no idea how many arrows he had been hit by at this point, and he was bleeding profusely, so his mind was a little blank, and he didn't quite understand for a moment. When the boat was twisting and turning and finally turned downstream towards the floating bridge, he came to his senses and looked back, only to find that only the fellow villager who had held up a shield for him was still alive on the boat, but he had also been hit by countless arrows and had no strength left.
When this person saw Zhang Yongzhen looking back, he seemed to have received some testimony. His whole body relaxed and he fell headfirst onto the oar, without any movement.
Zhang Yongzhen was stunned for a moment, then tried to go to the stern that was gradually sinking due to the burns, intending to row the boat himself. But as soon as he started, he felt pain in his internal organs like needles, and then he fell down on the bow, just using the shield to barely support his body.
Then, the small fireboat drifted with the waves and slowly approached the side of the floating bridge, but Zhang Yongzhen could never get up again.
"First, let all the boats leave here quickly, and then untie the pontoon bridge!" Puluhun said expressionlessly. "If the man has not been burned to death by then, cut off his head and bring it back. I will keep it as a trophy for my trip south this time!"
However, before he finished speaking, everyone on the boat heard clearly the sound of a gong coming from the north bank. Many Jin soldiers looked in the direction of the sound and saw military flags waving next to the Fourth Prince's banner. It was an order that could not be clearer to abandon everything and withdraw troops immediately. At this time, even the Fourth Prince himself seemed to be nowhere to be seen.
Puluhun didn't know the reason and was naturally furious, but he dared not disobey military orders and had to set off quickly.
However, just as he left the big ship and got on the small boat, he heard a loud bang behind him. Looking back, he found that it was a large ship of the Song army that had turned to the open space on the east side of downstream at some point, and paddled hard on the open water, ramming towards this place and directly breaking a section of the dried floating bridge.
This was not the end yet. Several Song army soldiers took the opportunity to jump off the big ship and desperately tried to move the people and bodies of the half-burned fireboat to the other small boats, as if they were here specifically for the people on the boat.
Seeing this, Puluhun was even more puzzled... Because the place was already in such a mess, if the Song army dared to come, wouldn't it be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, wasting his military merit? So why did they retreat?
But after a few breaths, when the small boat carrying Puluhun turned into shallow water and avoided the rising smoke, the chief Meng'an under the Fourth Prince of Jin suddenly realized, but was stunned - it turned out that in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River, at the corner where the Bagua Mountain turns south from the east, a bunch of terrifying giant ships appeared at some point in time!
It’s really a giant ship!
Compared to the naval battle that lasted most of the day before, which was only a few large and small ships modified from Shouzhou's local fishing boats, passenger ships, and cargo ships, the ships that appeared downstream at this time were all huge, and almost every ship had tall masts and sails. Coupled with the southeast wind slightly blowing the sails, they were truly unstoppable and were coming here with the force of a mountain pressing down on one's head!
"Damn Han Wu!"
On the top of Xiacai City, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, who had watched the naval battle from afar for half a day but saw nothing, now revealed the reason in one sentence and then angrily left the city. "You can only act impressive! What else can you do?"
PS: Shaosong readers,
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