Stones fell from the ship all over the sky, and most of them fell into the water. Some of them hit the stern, but they bounced back, causing the stern to shake violently, but they were not damaged at all. The occasional damage was ignored.
Cao Xiu smiled coldly. The awnings of these small boats were all made of exposed moso bamboo, which was flexible and elastic. Unless a boulder of more than a hundred kilograms fell, it might be damaged on the ground, but it would be intact on the water. These small boats would be intact on the water. Rocks don't help at all.
There was a sound above the water, waves rolled, and water splashed, but the cockroaches landed steadily on the water after beating violently and continued to rush forward.
It turned out that in order to prevent the soldiers from not being skilled enough, craftsmen installed straps on each seat in the cabin, connected to the hull, and fixed the sailors. Unless the ship capsized, the soldiers sitting on them would not move at all.
The catapult started slowly. After a round of stone rain, the stern had already ridden the wind and waves and hit the building ship hard. As expected, the damage to the bottom of the ship was not serious. In addition, the large ships were connected with iron ropes, so the entire defense line remained motionless.
"No need to fire arrows!" Seeing that the Wei army's offensive was so monotonous and the ship was still watching from behind, Zhou Tai shouted: "Set the hook!"
I saw fishing nets and hooks being thrown down from the big boats. The sterns around the big boats were still huddled together, being caught by the hooks and being dragged behind.
Seeing the size of Wu's soldiers, Cao Xiu's face turned livid, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Set the ship on fire!"
The command flag was waved, and a hundred dragon boat-like boats cut through the waves, with black smoke rising from their bows, like dragons swallowing clouds and mist, and rushed towards the building boats on the opposite side.
These fire ships were also imitated from Soochow's alphabet ships. The front bows were equipped with barbs, and the cabins were filled with hay and fire oil. After colliding with the larger ships, they were connected to the ships. Soldiers could disassemble the bows and evacuate quickly.
Streams of thick smoke drifted down the wind and soon filled the river. The speed of the boat was faster than that of the stern. In the blink of an eye, the catapult on Wu's ship also started to launch, and huge rocks fell from the sky.
The smoke and water mist filled the air, obscuring the small boats, and only the burning flames could be seen rushing to the bottom of the building boats. The flames flew with the sound of impact. Although many were extinguished by the water spray, the surroundings were already burning.
"Okay, burn it well!" Xia Houmao saw it from behind and clapped his hands in excitement, shouting: "Burn him, burn him to death!"
Only then did Cao Xiu feel relieved and sneered: "How dare Liu Qi use a chain boat to deceive someone into not knowing how to attack with fire?"
At this time, Cao Yong has led the large ships to approach forward, and the remaining small ships are guarding the left and right sides. As long as they take advantage of the chaos to get closer, fire arrows at random, and then burn the sails with fire arrows, they can board the ship and fight.
When the Wei army's fleet set off, they saw that Wu Jun was not in a hurry and actually untied the iron chains on the side of the ship. With a series of clattering sounds, the iron ropes were quickly untied and coiled around the side of the ship like anchors.
At the same time, the stern and the small boat hidden in the rear were dispatched, and each followed the big ship into position and extinguished the fire at the bottom of the ship, only burning the bamboo fragments on the outside.
Fifty large ships spread out to the two wings, forming a pocket array in the blink of an eye, surrounding the rushing Wei fleet. At this time, it was too late to turn around.
"Hahaha, you are all turtles in the urn!" Seeing that the formation was complete, Zhou Tai raised his gun and shouted: "Fire arrows!"
On the two rows of ships, crossbows and arrows were fired in unison, mixed with the attack of catapults. The arrows rained down on the Wei army ships, and huge rocks fell down, making it impossible for ships of all sizes to avoid.
"Defense, counterattack!" Cao Yong was in a desperate situation and had to grit his teeth and give the order to fight to the death.
On the side of the ship, the Wei army raised their large shields, and their archers and catapults also launched a counterattack. However, the overwhelming rain of arrows and stones fell down, leaving many people in a hurry and causing many casualties.
After the rain of arrows, there was another round of fire arrows, and the flames fell into the ship. The sails instantly caught fire. The Wei army's ships lost control, and the soldiers screamed and ran away, causing complete chaos.
Bang bang bang——
After two rounds of cross attacks, the Wei fleet was huddled together, unable to advance or retreat. At this time, Wu Jun launched an attack and crashed into the big ship. The navy attacked the surrounding small boats, and there was a scream.
The Wei army only had ten large ships, and they were surrounded by fifty large ships of the Wu army. The sails were destroyed, the bottom of the ship was leaking, and they were almost paralyzed. They watched the big ships approaching and were unable to fight back.
Zhou Tai proudly stood on the bow of the ship. When the two ships collided, he led his troops across the side of the ship, boarded the Wei army ship, and killed the panicked enemy troops indiscriminately. There was no enemy wherever he passed.
Although the Wei army had been training for three years, most of them had to cooperate with the fleet. On the swaying warship, facing the Wu army who had grown up in the water, there was no advantage in close combat.
Zhou Tai was a battle-hardened general who had experienced many battles and was extremely brave. Even if Cao Xiu came in person, it would be difficult to resist these small soldiers, who were no match for him. In the blink of an eye, they rushed to the command ship on the third floor.
At this time, the Wei army's ship had begun to fill with water, rockets were hung on the sails, the fire was raging, and the smoke was billowing. The Wei army panicked and ran away from each other. There were shouts and screams everywhere, and Cao Yong was unable to command at all.
Just as he was about to leave the cabin and retreat, he saw Zhou Tai coming, so he raised his knife to resist. In just three seconds, he was stabbed in the center with a gunshot, and his body flew away and fell into the water.
"Ah this?" Xia Houmao was stunned and murmured: "It turns out that the iron lock can also be made into a movable buckle..."
"It's unreasonable to bully the few with more!" Cao Xiu's eyes were cracked, and he was about to give the order for the whole army to attack. Suddenly he heard a rapid sound of gold ringing from behind. He became more and more angry and shouted: "Who is giving the order without authorization?"
The soldiers on the left and right looked at each other in confusion, none of them understood why. The sound of ringing gold came from the stronghold at the rear. Who dared to be so bold?
At this time, the Wei army was already frightened. When they heard the order to retreat, they all turned around and retreated to the depths of Fuling Lake. Even though Cao Xiu wanted to send a fleet to rescue people, there was nothing he could do.
Looking at the thick smoke billowing on the river, Xia Houmao frowned and said, "Could it be General Wen who did this?"
Cao Xiu said angrily: "You bastard, if you dare to pass on the general's orders without permission, I will definitely behead him in public."
Xia Houmao hurriedly advised: "General, calm down. Wen Qin's father has made great contributions, and the prime minister accepted Wen Qin as his adopted son. Suddenly, there is a call for gold. Maybe there is something going on in the camp. He can only be arrested and questioned, not killed immediately."
Cao Xiu was so angry that he drew his sword and struck it on the side of the ship: "Even if something happens, I should send someone to report it. How can you mess up the morale of our army? If I don't kill this thief, I swear I won't be a human being."
The fighting on the Huaihe River gradually became quieter. All ships, large and small, were destroyed by the Wu army. The Wei army was surrounded by large ships. Although they could not see clearly what the situation was, they expected that the entire army would be wiped out. Such a disastrous defeat in the first battle was a great shame for Cao Xiu.
The fleet returned to the water stronghold and saw that the stronghold was safe and sound, and there was no movement. Cao Xiu became more and more angry, and all his anger was directed at Wen Qin.
Before the boat could reach the shore, he jumped out of the boat and shouted with his sword: "Wen Qin is a thief, my day/you... Prime Minister, Prime Minister?"
