On December 5th, the sun shines directly on the boats going down the river, making people feel a little warm.
Chen Yu put on a water jacket (1) and stood on the side of the ship. Behind him were twenty soldiers who were also wearing water jackets, most of them were old men who chased water dragons.
The soldiers passed the drinking gourd with wine gourds. The water in the river was freezing to the bone. A few sips of strong wine could keep out the cold.
"Brothers, Governor Yang has an order. If you succeed in sinking a building or ship, you will be rewarded with forty acres of land." Chen Yu said loudly, attracting envious looks from the soldiers passing by.
Shang Yang reformed the Qin State and established a systematic twenty-level military merit title system. After the evolution of the Han Dynasty, the military merit title system became a hereditary title.
Yang Anxuan deeply felt that it was difficult for ordinary soldiers to advance, and after many discussions with Wang Zhene, Hu Fan, Meng Longfu and others, Yang Anxuan finally established the Yongzhou military merit system based on the twelve-turn honorary officer system of the Tang Dynasty.
Firstly, military merit is awarded. Regardless of origin, all those who have made meritorious service are awarded with honors. The meritorious service does not lead to officials, but they enjoy corresponding official salaries; secondly, land is awarded according to the level of military merit; thirdly, one can be demoted to become an official based on meritorious service.
The merit is divided into three levels, high merit, medium merit and small merit, and each level is further subdivided into four levels. If you use less to win more, break formations, and defeat the enemy as the superior merit, you will be promoted to one level, and you will be granted sixty acres of land; if you are a middle meritor, you will be granted forty acres of land, and you will be promoted to one level if you have two medium merits; if you are a lower meritor, you will be granted twenty acres of land, and you will be granted four acres of land. Each time the merit is upgraded to one level, etc.; further details include ascending first, beheading generals, beheadings, etc. corresponding to which level of merit.
Everyone had discussed thoroughly in recent months to formulate the general merit system. Yang Anxuan asked the civil servants to preach it in vernacular in the army so that every soldier would know about it. There was a dedicated person responsible for verifying the specific merit. He first reported it to the marching Sima, then to the state Sima, and then asked Yang Anxuan. issued.
The military merit system caused a shock in the army. For ordinary soldiers, this was the only time they could enter the official career and change the fate of their family. Therefore, when Yang Anxuan organized the county and defeated the enemy, his subordinates all competed for the first place, fearing that they would lose the opportunity to perform meritorious service.
Yang Anxuan agreed with Chen Yu's plan to cut the ship, and immediately promised that if he could break the ship, he would be considered a meritorious service, and all the soldiers participating in the battle would be considered meritorious. Zhonggong was rewarded with sixty acres of land. Everyone was happy to hear Chen Yu's words.
Chen Yu's heart is also burning. As a general leading a team, it is more difficult for him to achieve success. There are not many opportunities to break formations and cities on the battlefield. It is more difficult to win with less than more. In comparison, it is more difficult to sink a building. The boat seemed easier. He is a guerrilla general. If he is promoted to another level, he will be on par with Brother Yu, a fifth-level Dingyuan and Ningyuan general.
In Fuxian County, the sounds of fighting began to ring out. Looking at the crumbling west gate of Fuxian County, Huangfu Fu issued an order: "Beat the drums and attack with the whole army. Fuxian County cannot hold it anymore. Let's go into the city for lunch."
The sound of drums sounded "rumbling", and the sound of horns came from the river behind him. Huangfu Fu turned his head and looked at the river, where the Yongzhou warship was going down the river.
Huangfu Fu sneered and said, "When I destroy Fuxian County, I will come back to deal with you."
At the four gates of the county town, there are thousands of knights in each of the north gate and south gate, ready to go. At the front are the knights wearing armor and riding gear.
Yang Anxuan and Meng Longfu walked down from the top of the city and walked towards the front line of Qingqi from the south to the north. Yang Anxuan mounted his horse and shouted loudly: "Open the city gate."
The sound of hoofbeats was like rolling thunder. Huangfu Fu stood up on his horse in shock and looked towards the sound of hoofbeats. A few hundred paces away, Yang Anxuan stood on horseback, wearing horse armor, and pushed forward like an iron mountain.
Huangfu applied it to his scalp and his scalp exploded, and he exclaimed: "Armor and riding gear. Quick, get back to the ship."
The trumpet sounded three short and one long, and the soldiers and horses in the court retreated towards the river like a tide.
Upon hearing the signal, half of the warships on the river resisted the Yongzhou Navy's attack, while the other half docked to rescue Paoze.
With the heavy cavalry as the front, Yongzhou soldiers and horses easily divided the imperial soldiers and horses. Yang Anxuan swung his spear and knocked over a soldier. Looking at the imperial soldiers rolling and crawling away in front of him, he saw a trace of unbearable in his eyes, but on the battlefield. Life and death, there is no room for mercy.
Huangfu Fu used as many as 5,000 infantrymen to attack Fuxian County. Less than half of them fled back to the river. Many soldiers saw the Yongzhou army coming with swords and threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender.
There were not many ships docking, and the soldiers rushed to jump on board. Huangfu Shiki's personal guards escorted them onto a small boat, which sailed towards the building ship. The ship has a deep draft and cannot reach the shore.
Yongzhou Qingqi has chased them to the shore, and the warships picking them up have
They sailed away from the shore into the water, ignoring the crying soldiers on the shore, and some soldiers threw themselves directly into the river.
"Let the battle go without killing." As the Yongzhou army roared, the desperate court soldiers dropped their weapons one after another and were escorted towards Fuxian County.
During the battle with the Chaoting navy, Chen Yu and Qian Lei led forty navy men into the water quietly and dived towards the building ship.
The battle has begun on the river. No one noticed that there were people swimming in the river. Occasionally, someone came up to exhale. There were a lot of debris floating on the vast river surface, and no one noticed at all. Even if someone sees it, they will think it is a finless porpoise playing.
Chen Yu has excellent water skills and can swim underwater for more than half a cup of tea (2). The soldiers around him are not much worse than him.
After quietly rising to the surface and taking a breath, Chen Yu glanced in the direction of the building boat. It was only twenty steps away.
Pulling out the iron awl and hammer from his waist, Chen Yu gestured to the brothers not far away and shot towards the bottom of the building like a sharp arrow.
The two large ships brought by Huangfufu are both three-story, about three feet high, and have a draft of about ten feet. They can carry four hundred soldiers on board and are equipped with four Wanjun divine crossbows.
Chen Yu touched the side of the boat, placed the chisel on the hull, swung the hammer hard, and the chisel penetrated three-thirds of the wood.
At this time, Huangfu Fuci boarded the tower boat and shouted an order: "Move to the shore, Wanjun Divine Crossbow, prepare to launch."
The general beside him reminded: "General, there are still many of our troops on the shore."
Huangfu Fu said fiercely: "The traitors are so rampant that we can't care about that much anymore."
At this time, the soldiers under the water approached the hull one after another. Chen Yu signaled with his hands, and everyone gathered at the side and rear of the ship to dig.
The vibration of the ship being hewed alarmed the soldiers on the ship, and someone reported to Huangfu Fu that "someone was hewing the ship under the water."
A moment later, nearly a hundred figures jumped off the boat and rushed towards Chen Yu and others.
At this time, a hole had been drilled into the hull, but the hole was not large, and not much water seeped into the ship.
When Chen Yu saw someone jumping off the boat, he felt anxious and signaled the soldiers beside him to step forward to resist. He inserted the chisel head into the hole and said goodbye with force.
A piece of ship plank about a foot long was pried off, and the water surged in. On the other side, a soldier also pried off a ship plank, and the water inflow speed increased significantly.
A sailor from the court rushed towards Chen Yu. Chen Yu sank down, raised the iron chisel in his hand, and stabbed the sailor viciously into the belly. Bright red blood gushes out and dyes the river red.
Seeing that the hull of the boat began to tilt, Chen Yu knew that something big had happened, so he turned around and swam away. The large ship is too large and will create a whirlpool when it sinks. If you don't stay away, you may be sucked into the water and unable to escape.
More than ten feet away, Chen Yu emerged from the water and turned to look back. He saw that the boat had tilted. The people on the boat were panicked and many of them jumped straight into the river.
Chen Yu looked at another building ship in the distance. The building ship was also slowly tilting. It seemed that Qian Lei had also succeeded.
Huangfu Fu avoided the toppling war drums, feeling anxious and annoyed. The building and ship were chiseled, the navy had no command, and the battle was lost.
The horns sounded in the distance, and the Yongzhou navy was rushing towards them. When their own warships saw the building and the ship tilting, they panicked and fought each other. Some even retreated backwards.
"General, abandon the ship quickly and leave." Without further ado, the bodyguard beside him picked up Huangfu Shiki's arm and pulled him onto the midship ship from one side.
Huangfu Fu followed his guards to abandon the ship on the stern. The ship sailed more than 20 feet away. The ship capsized and slowly sank into the water. The officers and soldiers in the court let out a cry of horror.
In the distance, Liu Zhong saw two large ships of the Chaoting Navy capsized, and shouted loudly: "Bang the drum, hit them directly."
Taking advantage of the current, the Yongzhou fleet rammed straight into the Chaoting ship like a sharp arrow. The violent impact knocked many people from the ship into the water.
Immediately afterwards, arrows came like rain and wolves struck. The officers and soldiers in the court could not resist the enemy and retreated.
Huangfu Shiki originally wanted to continue commanding the battle, but when he saw his own warships escaping along the river, he could only sigh and ordered the soldiers manning the boats: "Let's go."
On the river bank, Yang Anxuan ordered Yang Anyuan to lead his army to clean up the battlefield. He and Meng Longfu took the Qingqi and continued southward, heading straight for Huangfu Fu's camp.
The camp was stationed five miles to the south and was defended by more than a thousand soldiers. Some soldiers who escaped reported the news of the defeat. The generals stationed at the camp quickly ordered the camp gates to be closed and the defense to be stepped up.
Yongzhou Qingqi went all the way south and encountered fleeing court soldiers. Yang Anxuan ordered the horses to slow down and drove these deserters to the military camp.
When they saw the military camp, there were more than 200 officers and soldiers fleeing in front. These people rushed to the camp gate, shouting loudly to open it and let them in.
Guardsman Chen Qi stood on the high platform and looked at the Yongzhou Qingqi that was slowly approaching a hundred paces away. He dared not open the door and ordered the soldiers to detour to the rear camp.
Seeing that the camp gate was not opened, Yang Anxuan knew that his plan had failed and said, "The generals guarding the camp were cautious and knew not to open the camp gate."
Meng Longfu asked for orders: "My lord, I would like to lead my army to break the stronghold."
"We must fight quickly, otherwise we will inevitably have a hard battle when Huangfu Fu's navy returns." Yang Anxuan glanced at the court soldiers and horses walking around the camp in front, with a fierce look in his eyes, and ordered: "Shoot those who go around. Soldiers and horses, forcing them to break into the camp."
Arrows arrived like locusts, shooting at the fleeing court soldiers and horses from both sides, forcing those people to gather in front of the camp gate again. When the soldiers saw that there was no way to escape, their cries shook the sky. Some of them started to cut and stab at the camp door with their weapons, trying to open a gap and escape into the camp.
The soldiers in the camp, holding bows, arrows, swords and spears, couldn't bear to attack their own robes, and soon large and small holes were cut out in the village gate and fence wall.
Chen Qi knew that he could no longer hold on. If the soldiers outside the camp were allowed to continue to cut down, the camp would be opened in a few moments. He saw that the front line of Yongzhou soldiers and horses were heavy cavalry with horse armor. He stood along the gap and entered the camp. Unable to resist.
If he ordered an attack on the soldiers outside the stronghold, it might be possible to delay the attack for a while, but afterward the court would blame him for the defeat, and he would definitely be the scapegoat, beheaded to quell public anger, and face death on both sides, so it was better to give himself a chance to survive.
Thinking of this, Chen Qi gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Open the gate of the village, I will go out to meet the enemy."
The village gate opened, and the soldiers outside rushed in. Yang Anxuan's horse pointed forward, his heavy horse in front, his light horse in the back. The sound of hoofbeats rumbled towards the camp.
Chen Qi came out with his own soldiers. Yang Anxuan was quite surprised. This general was so brave. Did he actually want to use hundreds of infantry to fight against him? Is it possible to ask for death?
After twenty or thirty steps, Chen Qi fell off his horse and knelt on the ground, shouting loudly: "Chen Qi is willing to surrender."
Yang Anxuan laughed dumbly and said: "He is a smart man. Take the camp and don't hurt his life."
When the general surrendered, there was little resistance from the soldiers in the camp. With the words "Let the war go", they all dropped their swords and guns and knelt down to surrender.
Yang Anxuan asked his men to gather the surrender troops to the east of the camp. He and Meng Longfu led others to hide in the west, hoping to take advantage of Huangfu Fu's navy to flee here and charge for another round.
Unexpectedly, some soldiers escaped from the camp, and the navy fled onto the ship as soon as it docked. Huangfu Fu did not dare to stop for a moment, and fled south with the remaining defeated soldiers.
After escaping back to Xiakou in one breath, Huangfu ordered his troops to gather their troops and set out for the expedition. Only half of the more than 300 warships were left, and even two large ships capsized in the river. Less than 4,000 of the 10,000 soldiers and horses who accompanied him fled back. More than two-thirds of the grain and grass supplies were lost.
Although there were four thousand troops stationed in Xiakou, most of them were old and weak, and Huangfu was unable to attack Xiangyang again. Just as he was about to send someone to deliver a letter to Feng Gai, the messenger from Dangyang arrived and learned that Feng Gai was defeated and reorganized into the county and fell ill in Dangyang. Huangfu's face was covered with ashen.
This time they attacked Yongzhou and returned with a huge defeat.
