Dozens of warships were traveling against the river, their sails were swaying in the river wind, and their flags were flapping. Several vanguard ships in front were moving forward together, and then they were moving forward in a mighty and mighty manner. Because Yanziji upstream had been cut off by private troops from the south of the Yangtze River, the waterway was blocked. Therefore, there were no merchant ships or civilian ships passing along the way, and the speed became faster and faster.
Liu Rengui found various horses and sat on the deck. He was wearing armor but was not feeling very comfortable. Looking at the drowned Xiao Xun who was brought up by the soldiers, he cupped his hands and said with a smile: "I thought it was someone, but it turned out to be Duke Nanhai. I'm disrespectful." I'm sorry. It's a beautiful and sunny day today, which is perfect for a boat trip, but you keep crossing the river. We thought you were boating and fishing, but it turned out that you were swimming in the Yangtze River... It's so relaxing."
The soldiers on the left and right laughed.
Damn it, swim in the Yangtze River...
Xiao Xun was cold and angry, trembling all over, and said angrily: "On the river, how can you run rampant, ram other people's boats and kill people? It is simply lawless!"
Thinking of him, Nanhai Gong Xiao Xun, as the oldest clan elder of the Lanling Xiao clan, and a member of the Nanliang royal family, with a high status and revered bloodline, has always been worshiped by the Jiangnan clan like a "living god". How has he ever suffered like this? humiliation?
Liu Rengui sat still, patted his legs, smiled, looked around, and said: "We are just common men in the army. We don't know so many etiquette. I am very sorry for bumping into Nanhai Gong... But this is also on the Yangtze River. Above, in the territory of the Tang Dynasty, you might as well ask these soldiers, what do we usually do in foreign countries?"
The soldier next to him smiled and said: "I would like to teach Duke Nanhai to know that no matter whether it is Silla, Japan, Annan, Johor or other barbarian countries, we have always been unscrupulous and hit anyone who blocks the road."
"There is a clause in our naval regulations that says, 'Wherever a warship comes, it is our territory.' Especially when the ship is on the water, God will kill God if it blocks it, and Buddha will kill Buddha if it blocks Buddha. We always just bump into it, not repair it, and just kill it, not bury it. "
"Today the general ordered the rescue of Duke Nanhai, which affected the speed of the march. He will be impeached by the commander of the army. He may not only be reprimanded by the governor, but also may lose his bonus at the end of the year. Instead of being grateful, you are making a lot of noise here. I just don’t know what it means.”
Xiao Xun's head was hurt by the words of the soldiers on his left and right, and his beard stood up straight with anger: "You guys sank my boat and almost killed me, so I still have to be grateful to you?" !
He was born in a noble family, and in recent years he has been pampered and ignorant of the world. He cannot accept such domineering and unscrupulous behavior. After all, although the Xiao family does the same thing every day, they do not need to go through his hands. Guilty It’s the people below who belong to his clan, who are innocent and of noble character...
Xiao Xun suppressed his anger, knowing that he could not make sense with a group of Qiu Ba, so he stared at Liu Rengui and asked: "General Liu has mobilized all his troops this time and is rushing to nowhere. What is his intention?"
Liu Rengui stroked his beard and said with clear eyes: "Why does Duke Nanhai ask questions knowingly?"
Xiao Xun's heart sank. Seeing that the other party was not hiding it, he knew that he had made up his mind. He looked at the warships that were rushing forward like galloping horses, as well as the fierce and majestic naval soldiers on the sides of each ship, and said hurriedly: "Now Swallow Ji has gathered private soldiers from various families in the south of the Yangtze River. If there is a conflict, the situation in the south of the Yangtze River will be completely corrupted. Can General Liu bear this responsibility?"
He did not believe that a mere Liu Rengui could dare to risk the disapproval of the world and sit back and watch Jiangnan rot.
Liu Rengui had an easy-going demeanor and was not intimidated by Xiao Xunzhi at all. He smiled and said: "The final general really can't afford it..."
Just before Xiao Xun breathed a sigh of relief, he heard Liu Rengui continue: "...because there is no need for the general to shoulder this responsibility."
Xiao Xun was stunned: "Who is responsible? Fang Jun? Or Fang Xuanling?"
He had already realized that Fang Junyuan was in Guanzhong. Even if he gave orders to the navy, the news could not be exchanged so quickly. It was obviously Fang Xuanling who was in Huating Town who was in command, so that the navy did not have any delay at all. Hearing that Jiangnan Each family gathered private soldiers in Yanziji and immediately dispatched ships to stop them.
It is said that Fang Xuanling is a gentleman with good plans and unstoppable plans, but it is true that lies are spread, and rumors are harmful to people...
Liu Rengui said leisurely: "Of course it is you Jiangnan nobles who will bear this responsibility."
As he spoke, he stepped hard on the deck under his feet, making a "dong dong" sound, and the expression on his face became solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "This is the territory of the Tang Dynasty! Whether it is the grassland outside the Great Wall or the rivers in the south of the Yangtze River, In the whole world, there is no royal land! You Jiangnan nobles were born and raised here, but you regard this land as a forbidden land, and you are entrenched in it to collude with each other. You treat the people of Li as dogs, cattle, and sheep, allowing you to enslave and exploit them. Now you are even more selfish. His selfish motives will not hesitate to drag the whole Jiangnan on the road of rebellion. If the Jiangnan noble clan is exterminated and the people of Jiangnan are killed and injured, it will naturally be the responsibility of the entire Jiangnan noble clan, and especially the responsibility of the Lanling Xiao family."
These words hit Xiao Xun's heart like a heavy hammer. He was breathing rapidly, sweating profusely, and his old face was pale and frightened. He said quickly: "Is the navy planning to launch an attack on the people of Jiangnan? "
Liu Rengui spoke like a knife and spoke in a sonorous voice: "From the moment they picked up their weapons and stepped on the ship to go to Guanzhong, they were no longer the common people of the Tang Dynasty, but rebels plotting rebellion! The navy is the army of the Tang Dynasty. , it is not only necessary to expand the territory and kill the Hu chieftains, but also to protect the land and the people, and defend the country! Anyone who rebels will be killed, no matter you are the Xiao family of Lanling, the Yuan family of Chen County, or the leader of the Li people in Guizhou .”
The soldiers on the left and right shouted in unison: "Kill without mercy!"
This loud shout was like a nine-day drought thunder, exploding suddenly in Xiao Xun's ears, making him tremble with shock, his face turned pale, and his body was shaky.
"General, the vanguard has issued a flag and has arrived at Yanziji. The enemy has been discovered!"
The soldiers saw the flags from the ships in the distance and reported loudly.
Liu Rengui, armed with a golden sword, sat still and calmly ordered: "Destroy all ships on the water. No enemy ship is allowed to float on the water within an hour. Anyone who resists, no matter who it is, will be killed!"
"Here!"
The soldiers received the order, beat the war drums, and the rumble of the drums was melodious on the river, and then used flag language to convey the general's orders to various ministries.
The originally orderly navy fleet suddenly changed. The vanguard rushed out first. When he was dozens of feet away from the enemy ship, he pulled off the oilcloth on the artillery, put in the medicine bag and projectiles, lit the fire twister, and started shooting "all in one". The cannon rang out, and gunpowder smoke filled the river for a while.
The ships collected from various families in the south of the Yangtze River had previously received orders from Xiao Xun. Regardless of whether they were loaded with soldiers or baggage, they all docked at the shore. They were connected end to end and stretched as far as the eye could see. At this moment, they were suddenly bombarded. There was no way to hide or escape, so they could only let it go. Countless projectiles streaked across the sky and hit the ship in a parabola.
"Boom boom boom"
When bombarding such a simple ship, solid bullets are obviously more effective. The heavy projectiles instantly cut through the sky under the power of gunpowder, carrying strong kinetic energy and slamming into the wooden hull, causing wood chips to fly and flesh and blood to fly everywhere.
More than a dozen vanguard warships sailed upstream along the center of the river. Their muzzles were pointed at the enemy ships parked on both sides of the shore. There was almost no need to aim. The soldiers only had to keep loading powder bags, inserting projectiles, lighting fuses, and cleaning. The cycle of firing the gun barrel, reloading the charge pack... and so on, until a base number of shells are fired, the gun barrel has reached the critical point, and it must wait for the temperature to drop or it will be scrapped.
The warships that followed were using full power to ram into these dilapidated enemy ships that were bombarded by artillery. The strong ramming angle easily smashed these wooden hulls into pieces. The cargo and grain sank with the ship, setting off whirlpools one after another. Many private soldiers who boarded the ship also fell into the water, struggling and thrashing, crying for their fathers and mothers.
Then, the larger main ships slowly arrived, and the poles with stone bars and iron blocks tied to the bow and sides of the ship were lifted up with nooses. When they got close to some remaining sunken enemy ships, the poles fell down one after another. The enemy ship was smashed into pieces with "snap bang bang", and the fully armed soldiers stood on the side of the ship, aiming their muskets, strong bows, and powerful crossbows at the soldiers on the enemy ship. Anyone who did not put down their weapons and surrender would be shot immediately.
For a time, the roar of cannons and bursts of gunfire were heard on the broad river. The thick smoke almost covered the entire river. It was impossible to see anything from a distance. The invincible naval fleet across the ocean did not encounter any decent resistance. It was completely During the dimensionality reduction attack, numerous ships of the private army in the south of the Yangtze River were damaged, and the grain and supplies sank to the bottom of the river. The soldiers were floating and struggling in the water, crying and howling loudly.
Xiao Xun was lying on the side of the flagship ship, grabbing the side of the ship with both hands. The veins on the back of his hands were bulging and his nails were white, as if he wanted to crush the side of the ship. Looking at the tragic situation on the river, his eyes were wide open, his canthus was about to burst, and his heart seemed to be broken. They will all sink to the bottom of the river with those ships.
Where is the use of an hour?
After several rounds of shelling and then ship collisions, in more than half an hour, almost all the Jiangnan ships that had gathered on both sides of the river sank. Countless supplies were damaged, soldiers were killed or injured, and tens of thousands of private troops who entered Guanzhong to fight for the throne were still there. , in front of the navy's elite, he was like a chicken or a dog.
It is estimated that not even one of the navy soldiers was injured...
Suwen Royal Navy is invincible in water battles, and there is no one in the world who can compete with it, but they have only heard about it, and now they have seen it with their own eyes. How can the Jiangnan clan's hastily formed private army be able to compete with such a powerful fighting force?
A deep despair enveloped Xiao Xun.
The vanguard fleet in front rushed through the anchorage of Jiangnan ships. The front was suddenly empty. They turned the helm and turned back, cleaning up the mess along both sides of the bank. At the same time, they signaled and reported the details of the battle to the flagship.
The flagship received the news, and the soldiers reported to Liu Rengui: "General, the enemy ships on the river have basically been cleared, and the vanguard fleet is destroying the remaining ones. Please tell me what to do next!"
Liu Rengui then got up, came to the side of the ship and stood side by side with Xiao Xun, and ordered in a deep voice: "Order the gunboats to move forward and line up on the river outside Yanziji. The muzzles of the guns are aimed at the Yanziji ferry, covering the strikes from near to far. .”
"Here!"
After hearing this, Xiao Xun's body swayed and he almost fell off the side of the ship. He looked at Liu Rengui with desperate and horrified eyes, and said in a trembling voice: "Why is this? Why is this? We are all descendants of China's Miao and Chinese sons. There is no one left." Why should we fight back with such brutal slaughter? I will have these private soldiers dismissed now. From now on, I will never dare to covet you again!"
