Chapter 1283: One Battle Secures the Southwest (Part 20) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
As the main force in naval warfare, the warship was large and tall, resembling a giant beast lying on the river surface from a distance. When it broke through the fog and cleaved the water, this beast bared its fangs, displaying a suffocating sense of oppression. Ordinary small boats could not even match one percent of its power.
Let alone being shoulder to shoulder with them, it's difficult to even get close to them.
Cui Mi was knocked off balance, and if he hadn't been holding onto the railing, he would have been sent flying. He had to use both hands and feet to hold onto the railing, and his furious roar pierced through the wind and waves to reach Chen Wuyou Tang's ears: "You brute! You brute!"
The people of Kangguo had no understanding of the art of naval warfare.
"A brute, a once-in-a-century sight!" Cui Mi had just uttered a few curses when a towering wave crashed over him, the icy, foul-smelling river water filling his mouth, making it impossible for him to open his eyes or choke on his words. The storm had not yet subsided, so he could only keep his mouth shut.
To avoid drinking more river water.
Finally, the shaking that made his heart feel like it was going to jump out of his chest subsided a little. Cui Mi raised his arm, which was blue from the cold river water, and fiercely wiped the water off his face, barely opening his eyes: "...These brutes from Kangguo, are their warships just for ramming?"
Their troops were ordered to flank and gradually annihilate the Kang Kingdom's rear navy—under the cover of night, and with two Guannei Marquises drawing Kang Kingdom's attention, the possibility of being discovered in advance was slim. According to the usual practice of naval warfare, such deadly weapons as tower ships are either deployed in the vanguard, the central army, or on the flanks, while the rear and camps are relatively weakly guarded, and it is impossible to deploy warships of this size.
Even with conventional naval forces, it would be impossible to acquire more than three or five large warships.
The morale required to build a massive warship is astronomical.
It wouldn't be impossible to have craftsmen build actual warships for war and increase their numbers, but the cost would be too high, and the loss of even one warship if the enemy breached it would be incalculable. If warships could be created using morale, then investing money in shipbuilding would be avoided as much as possible.
Based on these considerations, the Southwestern Allied forces' surprise attack, sending a large warship and accompanying light hullers to escort the charge, could indeed inflict significant damage on Kang's rear and camps. However, the Kang people, these reckless naval warriors, did not play by the rules in naval warfare. Not only did they also deploy warships to protect their rear, but the moment the Southwestern Allied navy appeared, they commanded their warship to accelerate and ram them directly.
One attempt failed, so they went for a second one!
The two colossal vessels collided head-on, the resulting destructive force churning the river, creating wave after wave of turbulent water. Smaller warships were tossed about by the waves, with some capsizing at times. Even with the Allied warships activating their protective energy barriers, the Kang Kingdom ships continued their relentless ramming, seemingly determined to break the Allied warships in two.
Cui Mi's stomach was also churning from the impact.
Clinging to the railing, seasick and vomiting: "Ugh—"
He wanted to curse again, but the Kang Kingdom's warship, amplified by the scribe's words, rammed towards him with even greater speed and terror. If the allied forces were the shield, the Kang Kingdom was the spear; the contradictions clashed, ending with the spear deeply embedded in the shield. Cui Mi looked up and saw a mast rapidly enlarging before him. This mast was so thick that five or six strong men holding hands could not fully encircle it.
If I were hit by it, I wouldn't even be able to lift its body with a shovel!
In the blink of an eye, my waist tightened suddenly.
As his body flew backward uncontrollably, a blade of light descended from the sky, exploding not far from where he had just stood, blasting a gaping hole a dozen feet wide in the low wall. Before the smoke could even dissipate, the soldiers on the warship had already pounced, attempting to kill this Kangguo warrior who had led the charge. The other arrow holes buzzed incessantly, a dense barrage of arrows determined to turn him into a pincushion!
"These people from Kangguo..."
The people who rescued Cui Mi threw him onto the roof of the highest level of the ship.
Cui Mi rubbed his bruised stomach and squeezed out through his back teeth, "That's so unsportsmanlike! That's not how you fight a naval battle!"
Before the two armies' light boats even clashed, the warships went ahead?
Not only did it go up, it crashed right away!
Even he wanted to curse him as a "spendthrift" after seeing it!
He was starting to wonder if Kangguo had been carrying out too many decapitation strikes, which was why they were targeting enemy fortresses right from the start of the naval battle? Warships, as high-ground fortresses, were indeed the first choice for enthusiasts who loved to take down enemy generals amidst a sea of soldiers. But this was naval warfare!
Is this how you waste a warship?
To injure the enemy by a thousand, you will also lose a thousand of your own.
If you ram and sink a large ship, you'll also lose one of your own.
Cui Mi's further curses were to no avail. The Kang Kingdom forcibly intercepted the Allied warships with its warships, and then used other warships to form an encirclement around them, using their spiritual power to seal off a section of water nearby. This move was intended to delineate the battlefield and restrict the Allied forces' mobility.
Chen Wuyou Tang: "Isn't the point of war to win?"
Warfare is based on deception.
Winning is the most important thing.
If using formulas can win, then use formulas; if using underhanded tactics can win, then use underhanded tactics. How you win isn't important; what matters is winning. In a naval battle, the victor decides how to fight. Cui Mi was soaking wet, clinging to the roof's eaves with both hands and feet, terrified of losing his footing and falling. Looking down at the deck from this position made him panic; a fall could really kill him.
Why... is it so cold?
A gust of river wind blew, and Cui Mi shivered from the cold.
In just a few breaths, he sensed something was wrong.
Even though the Allied warships were violently rammed to a stop by the Kangguo forces, and the two ships were stuck together and couldn't be separated for a while, they still swayed with the river's surface. But when he clung to the eaves, he felt no swaying whatsoever; it was as stable as if he were on the ground? No!
Why isn't the ship rocking anymore?
Cui Mi wanted to check the situation on the river, but the ship was too high, and he couldn't see the water at all through the thick river fog.
Since we can't see, we can only hear.
"The river is frozen over." His lord narrowed his eyes, raised his hand and gave a strange order to the private soldiers who had rushed over, telling them not to participate in the battle rashly, "All of you stay here and guard the area. Don't make any moves. If things get too bad, fight and retreat as you go."
This instruction left them looking at each other in bewilderment.
However, they were all Shen Tang's private retainers, not part of the Southwest Allied Army or the Qi State Army. They obeyed Shen Tang's orders, not anyone else's. The orders were strange, but no one questioned them. They wouldn't hesitate to obey even if ordered to point their blades at the Southwest Allied Army, let alone merely observe without intervening.
They were all soldiers, and they obeyed whoever distributed their rations.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Wu You's troops remained stationary. She watched helplessly as Kang Guo turned the battlefield from a naval battle into a land battle. On Kang Guo's side, the soldiers obeyed orders, formed ranks, and melted water into ice, creating a layer of ice an arm's length thick on the river.
Under normal circumstances, ice of this thickness would not be able to trap a large ship.
The combined use of large ships and small boats can break through ice and escape from entrapment.
Unfortunately, the Allied warships were immediately rammed by the Kangguo forces, resulting in a one-for-one exchange. Other Allied warships were also rammed by the two warships, limiting their operational range on the river. During the ramming, many warships were even trapped between the two warships.
At this time, the river surface was frozen.
The warship was immobilized, and the other warships were also trapped.
The Allied forces attempted to break through the ice to save themselves, but before the light of their words could penetrate the thick fog, the troops from Kang Kingdom had already charged through the ice.
Five men form a team, capable of both offense and defense.
He leaped onto the deck, drew his sword, and charged into battle.
At this moment, the warships served as the city walls, and the Kangguo warriors charged forward following the established siege procedures. They split into multiple groups, dismantling low walls and arrow towers, destroying the warship's fortifications, and even attacking the cabins below deck, brandishing their knives at the rowers. Once the warship's propulsion was destroyed, without the rowers to drive it, the allied forces on board would have no chance of breaking out or escaping.
Cui Mi and Liao Qian were protected by private soldiers behind them.
With the protection of their private soldiers, the occasional rockets that flew by did not harm the two men. However, they could use the light from the rockets piercing the thick fog to roughly determine where the fighting was taking place. The fire attack was not very damaging to the warship; it was covered in leather and fireproofed, making it difficult for the fire to spread. However, this did not mean the warship was immune to fire. The fallen masts and flags were ignited, and the fire gradually spread from its initial sparks.
Liao Qian nervously swallowed.
"This fire is quite large, are we still going to stay on the boat?"
Cui Mi said, "Stay put, don't run around."
When his lord was by his side, the future he saw was chaotic and disordered, with various scenes switching haphazardly, the future a complete mystery. Once she was gone, Cui Mi could resume normal work. If Liao Qian chose to run around now, he would be hit in the buttocks by stray arrows, the wound festering and causing him a serious illness. Though he wouldn't die, he would suffer greatly.
Liao Qian, being tactful, did as instructed.
The Allied forces weren't entirely useless either.
Aside from being caught off guard and somewhat disorganized at the beginning, the troops quickly recovered. This detachment was commanded by two people, one of whom was Shen Tang's avatar, Wu You. As the representative of the Qi Kingdom's ruler, Wu You held slightly higher command authority in wartime than the other person: "Where is Zhongli Fu? Where are the Qi Kingdom's troops?"
Everything happened too suddenly.
The general's troop deployment had little effect, and seeing that the soldiers fighting were all his own people wearing their own country's insignia, with hardly any Qi troops in sight, he became furious and roared, "They really are still greenhorns! They can't handle anything when it comes to big things!"
He thought the disappearance was due to being terrified by the sudden turn of events.
Unweaned young boys run to a woman's arms to drink milk!
Unfortunately, he can't find anyone to settle accounts with now.
"This general will definitely return and—"
He will definitely seize this opportunity to launch an attack on the Qi state.
What kind of unreliable people are they sending?
The words were still on his tongue when a strong sense of crisis shot from his feet to the top of his head. His eyes widened, and he conjured a heavy shield in front of him. The next instant, he was slammed backward by a tremendous force, his feet scraping against the deck and sparks flying: "Who?"
"So noisy!"
Before I could even see the figure clearly, a kick loomed large in front of me!
The commanding general leaped into the air, about to soar over the ship's railing and plunge into the ice, when he suddenly twisted his waist. As martial energy enveloped his entire body, he instantly transformed into a bizarre, gigantic spider, its abdomen revealing a ghastly white face. White silk coiled around the fallen, charred mast, and with indescribable agility, the giant spider abruptly stopped its descent, its eight slender legs plunging into the ship's timbers. Martial energy wriggled on the spider's back, sprouting the half-body of a man—the very same general.
"What dares to ambush me?"
The newcomer responded by spinning in mid-air and accelerating downwards, unleashing a dozen or so sword strikes with his longsword, each aimed directly at the spider's leg joints. Compared to other armored parts, the spider's legs were covered in relatively small armor, with larger gaps between the joints.
If hit, their mobility will be completely lost.
The spider moved across the ship as if it were flat ground, sometimes darting, sometimes leaping, sometimes bounding, precisely dodging Lü Jue's attacks: "You young upstart!"
Lu Jue chuckled and suddenly sped up.
A flash of white light, and the balance of the Spider General was destroyed.
Lu Jue struck the man's spider leg, using it as a springboard to maneuver and dodge the spider silk swirling around him from all directions. He then flashed left and right, unleashing a blade of energy to strike the man's face at close range. The giant spider crashed into the mast, its legs regaining their balance as it slid along.
The burning deck was scratched with several charred marks by spider legs.
As the spider warrior gasped for breath, his bloated belly contracted, and his pale white face seemed to be grinning maliciously, looking eerie and terrifying.
Lü Jue said, "Disgusting stuff."
A few breaths later, he retracted his assessment.
Because there are even more disgusting things.
The swollen abdomen suddenly burst open, spewing out a thick, yellowish-white liquid mixed with countless spider eggs. These eggs, upon contact with fresh air, began to swell, instantly transforming into countless fist-sized spiderlings. The spiderlings surged towards Lü Jue like a dam bursting. Countless sticky white threads flew wildly through the air, soon covering most of the ship…
These spider silks are not only poisonous, but also corrosive.
It can burn red marks upon contact with human skin and cause unbearable itching—an itch so intense that even scratching flesh and bone with fingernails wouldn't quell it! This general's individual fighting ability may be lacking, but if left unchecked, it will be a disaster!
The tangled spider silk in the air tried to entangle Lü Jue's steps, but it was all dispersed by the martial energy emanating from his body, unable to get close. The spider general sneered, "You think it's that simple? Naïve!"
Lu Jue expressionlessly chopped off one of his arms.
Enough with the nonsense, let's slice his brains off!
Before the blade could land, Lü Jue's expression changed drastically. He retreated several steps, only managing to see a dozen or so spiders, each the size of a fingernail, explode on his armor. The power wasn't great, but the deadly part was that the spider eggs that hatched came from his nasal cavity!
In the air...
Are they all spider eggs???
He assumed that the egg-like particles in the thick, yellowish-white fluid were all the spider eggs. This judgment was both correct and incorrect, because the thick, yellowish-white fluid was also spider eggs, which could only be seen with the naked eye at very close range; at first glance, it just looked like a sticky, thick fluid. These fluid-covered spider eggs would be blown into the air by the wind and, with each breath, would enter the enemy's body through their nasal cavity, absorbing their martial energy and flesh as nourishment.
It can self-destruct after hatching.
The power may not be lethal, but quantitative change can lead to qualitative change.
Even Lü Jue couldn't withstand the self-destruction emanating from within his own body.
He was so disgusted that his scalp tingled.
The soldiers fighting on the deck were hit one after another, and casualties increased sharply. Lü Jue chose to behead them quickly, his murderous eyes magnifying in front of the spider general in an instant: "You're dead!"
The dense swarm of spiders refused to agree.
The continuous stream of attacks hindered Lü Jue's offensive.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen moves had passed, and the two fought their way from the end of the mast to the top, beyond which lay the frozen river.
In the darkness, the bowstring gradually tightened.
The arrowhead was aimed directly at Lü Jue's back!
|ω`)
Pointing and whispering, if a warship of this size were built directly from physical materials, any one of them would cost an astronomical sum. Even if it were made from morale, the cost would still be exorbitant.
Good news! Dong Wuyuan has finally released a new book!
I'm just wondering when I'll be able to start a new book.
Ink Burns with Crimson Colors
Synopsis: In the final moments when everything is collapsing and there's no turning back, someone always has to step forward and pull everything out of the abyss. If that person isn't there, then I am.
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