On the Yangtze River, a very strange and huge fleet of ships was sailing upstream against the current and the wind.
The reason why this fleet is strange is that it is a tug fleet with a small boat towing a big ship, and the big ship towing the small ship!
There are only three types of ships in the entire fleet, namely crab boats, old lock boats and sampans.
There were about one hundred and sixty crab boats, sixty of which walked in front of the fleet and were the vanguard of the entire fleet. The sixty boats formed two loose rows and marched together along the Yangtze River. These crab boats are all of the same size, about 42 feet long and 7 feet wide, with forty long oars installed on each side. There are no awnings or windows on the boat to avoid catching fire and trapping oneself. Each boat has forty long oars separated on the left and right, which are paddled against the current and divided into waves. Those oarsmen are all strong and strong men, with plenty of strength, and the boat speed is not very fast now. It is just sailing slowly, which is a bit like rafting on the river to watch the scenery, so the oarsmen do not exert any effort at all, and they are still rowing while rowing. It's funny.
On the deck, in addition to the strong men paddling, there were also many gunners, pistols, and sword players.
There is a six-pound bronze cannon hidden in the bow of these crab boats, guarded by four gunners. Ten musket shooting positions are set up on the central axis of each ship. At each shooting position stands a shooter holding a flint-haired turtle-dove-foot heavy musket and wearing a helmet on his head. There are two shooters on each side of the shooter. A wooden shield that is thick and large and can withstand bullets.
In addition, there are dozens of swordsmen on each crab boat, all sitting cross-legged in the cabin to recharge their batteries, ready to fight on the boat, or jump on the enemy ship to kill people.
The sailors on these crab boats are all highly skilled sergeants. Most of them are elites transferred by Zheng Jing from Fujian. They have been fighting Qing soldiers, "friend pirates", profiteers, and various foreign devils at sea for many years. They are all good players!
This time they came to do business in the Yangtze River with the Fujian identity issued by Zheng Jing and the silver issued by Li Zhongshan. If they encountered Wu Sangui's navy blocking the way, they would have to risk their lives to get on top of them with their boats. Even if they risked their lives, they would have to carry them for a while in order to save the lives of the fifty old crabs who were following behind and being towed away by other crab boats. The lock ships buy some time so that they can turn their bows and use their side guns to face the enemy!
These old lock ships are very powerful. Each ship is equipped with twenty six-pound bronze cannons and four twelve-pound red cannons.
If all fifty old lock boats turned around and faced the enemy on one side, that would be six hundred six-pound or twelve-pound bronze cannons firing at the same time!
Instead of fifty boats, these are simply fifty floating water forts!
However, this strategy of dragging the old lock ship as a floating fort does go against the common sense of traditional water warfare. Of course, this strategy violates the common sense of traditional water warfare, but now, times have changed!
Now these fifty old lock boats without sails are dragged slowly on the water by a hundred crab boats. The oarsmen on these crab boats were not as relaxed as the oarsmen on the crab boats ahead of them. They were all shirtless now, with bulging muscles, sweat on their backs, and steam on their heads.
Behind these old lock boats, there are also sampans towed by old lock boats. Behind each old lock boat, there are a series of four sampans, which look like they have tails.
At the same time, on an official road on the north bank of the Yangtze River controlled by the Ming army, a long red dragon twenty to thirty miles long was rolling forward. Infantry, cavalry, engineers, heavy baggage soldiers, and six-pound bronze cannons dragged by four mules and horses, There were also minzhuangs dressed in coarse cloth driving horse-drawn mule carts filled with grain, grass and military supplies, heading southwest.
On the south bank of the Yangtze River controlled by the Zhou Army, a group of Zhou Army's cavalry could be seen slowly following the fleet towards the mouth of the lake. Under the bright sun, it goes without saying that the faces of the second-generation Guan Ning cavalrymen, who were sweating and soaked to the skin, must have expressions of inexplicable surprise.
This group of cavalry followed for a full two or three hours, until the fleet on the river stopped moving forward and dropped anchor, just as Da Lei began to rest on the river. The leader of this group of cavalry finally believed that he had read correctly, and sent several cavalrymen flying along the official road on the embankment of the south bank of the Yangtze River towards the mouth of the lake.
Wu Sangui had already left his summer palace in Lushan at this time, and planned his stay in the extremely hot Jiujiang City.
When his sons-in-law Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu came to Wu Sangui with the military report they had just received, Emperor Zhaowu of the Great Zhou Kingdom was shaking a paper fan while reading a secret letter from Wu Guogui.
Wu Guogui told him in the letter that his daughter Wu Xiaotuo had fallen into the trap and agreed to transfer Jia Hanfu back to Guangzhou in exchange for the peaceful coexistence of father and daughter - this was tantamount to cutting off Jia Hanfu's territory to please Wu Guogui! And Jia Hanfu is still Li Zhongzhen's father-in-law. How angry will this old guy Jia Hanfu be? Since this old guy got Guiyang and Chenzhou from Kangxi a few years ago, he has been working hard to manage them as ancestral family businesses.
It is said that this old man has divided the territory among his six sons! Guiyang Prefecture and Chenzhou have a total of nine counties or prefectures. Jia Da alone occupies three, Jia Er occupies two, and Jia San, Jia Si, Jia Wu, and Jia Liu each occupy one.
It's good now, Wu Xiaotuo wants to package these nine prefectures and counties and give them to her father Wu Guogui. I wonder if Jia Hanfu will be angry to death?
In addition, Wu Guogui also reported to Wu Sangui in the letter that after Wu Sanwei arrived in Guilin, Kong Sizhen could no longer control his son at all, and was so angry that he hid in a nunnery outside Guilin to seek peace.
The soldiers from Guihai Town who were bewitched by Sun Jiqing, plus a group of Guangxi chieftains and local powerful men, gathered a total of 50,000 people, and had begun to besiege Wuzhou, an important town on the border between Guangdong and Guangxi - Wuzhou Mansion was Li Fuchen's vassal territory. , is also the richest mansion in Guangxi!
If Sun Jiqing attacks Wuzhou, he will be fighting against me!
Wu Xiaotuo ceded Jia Hanfu's territory to Wu Guogui, probably in order to concentrate his forces to quell Sun Jiqing's rebellion. Once the main force of the Guangdong army moved to Wuzhou to fight Sun Jiqing, Wu Guogui would have the opportunity to take over Guangfu!
When Wu Sangui was about to discuss with his son Wu Yingxiong, who was with him, whether to change the title of Wu Guogui to the title of King of Guangdong to encourage him to march to Guangfu, the voices of Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu came from the door.
"Your Majesty, good news. Li Zhongshan is coming against the current and the wind!"
"Your Majesty, this Li Zhongzheng has finally made a fool of himself. It turns out he doesn't know how to fight in water!"
Wu Sangui heard the two people's reports and quickly declared their presence.
The two naval commanders saluted Wu Sangui together, and then Xia Guoxiang smiled and said to Wu Sangui: "Your Majesty, Li Zhongshan is coming in two groups, walking all the way along the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is the land division, and it is a mighty force of twenty or thirty. The long queue inside may be hundreds of thousands of people."
Hu Guozhu followed the words of Xia Guozhu and said with a smile: "Li Zhongshan's navy only has dozens of old lock boats and a hundred or so fast crab boats. Among them, about a hundred fast crab boats towed the dozens of old lock boats. The lock boat moves against the current and the wind, moving slowly and laboriously. How stupid!"
"What? Towing it in a small boat against the current and wind?" Wu Sangui was stunned. "They really do that? I thought they only towed it when there was a sudden calm wind or a change in wind direction!"
"It should be like this," Hu Guozhu said. "I have asked Lin Xingzhu and Cai Lu, the two generals, and they said that large ships sailing on the sea sometimes encounter no wind. At this time, they are either on the sea Waiting for the wind, or you can only use a sampan to pull it. Unexpectedly, Li Zhongshan actually used two-thirds of the crab boats on hand as tugboats to drag the rowers all the way. How can we fight next? ?”
Wu Sangui stood up and walked to a map. Xia Guoxiang understood what the old man meant. He pointed at Madang Town on the map with the index finger of his right hand and said: "Your Majesty, Li Zhongshan's fleet has passed Madang Mountain. Look at this moment. At this speed, we can cross Xiaogushan tomorrow and get close to the mouth of the lake the day after tomorrow!"
Hu Guozhu said: "Your Majesty, the wind has been blowing from the southwest these past few days. Li Zhongshan's fleet is facing the current and the wind, which is indeed very disadvantageous. But the weather is unpredictable. Now we are afraid that the southeast wind will suddenly blow. According to Lin Xingzhu, if the wind is strong enough, Those fifty old lock boats with full sails can cover fifty miles in one hour, which is six hundred miles in one day and one night! If Li Zhongshan rushed along the Yangtze River with his head covered, he might be able to reach Wuchang County!"
"He rushed to Wuchang County all day and night? How powerful could he be?" Wu Sangui frowned.
Wuchang County is not Jiangxia, the capital of Wuchang, but is located on the other side of the river from Huanggang, the capital of Huangzhou. Wu Sangui stationed some troops there, built a pontoon bridge across the river, and pulled up an iron cable formation to defend Wuchang.
If Li Zhongshan were allowed to rush there in one go, the trouble would indeed be a bit big.
"Of course it's awesome," Xia Guoxiang said, "The old lock ship is a sea-going ship with a very big sail, and it can also add soft sails. If the wind is favorable and the wind is strong enough, it can travel five to six hundred miles a day and a night. But in the Yangtze River I probably won’t dare to sail at night, but there is still no problem for 400 miles. If these old lock boats can destroy the pontoon bridge and iron cable array we built between Xiaochikou and Jiujiang Fucheng, and there are two days of good wind, we can If it’s not good, I’ll rush to Hubei.”
Hu Guozhu said, "Even if they don't go to Hubei, it won't be easy for us to rush into Hanpokou with favorable winds."
"What do Lin Xingzhu and Cai Lu mean?" Wu Sangui asked, "They also think that our chains and pontoons may not be able to stop Li Zhongshan's old lock ship?"
Xia Guoxiang said: "Both of them said that there are no absolutes in war on the water, and Li Zhongshan has fifty old lock boats. If our shore guns are slammed into the wind, they will probably be able to break through, but at most they will lose ten. There are eight old lock boats. So the two of them think that if they really have a chance, they should take advantage of the favorable wind to set fire to the boats and launch a fierce attack with the tower boats!"
Hu Guozhu said: "Now we have smooth sailing, and our large ships have oars. Even if the battle is unfavorable, they can be withdrawn. However, Li Zhongshan's old lock ships do not have oars, and they are all sea-going ships. They are easy to run aground in the Yangtze River." , so we can only carefully walk through the waterway in the middle of the river. If we are washed away by our tower boats, there will definitely be many old lock boats stranded, and we will capture them the most!"
Wu Sangui squinted his eyes. He didn't understand water fighting, so he could only listen to what the people below said casually. However, there is no way not to fight on the water, because Wu Sangui, who is proficient in land warfare, now also knows that he is even less sure about fighting on land.
Originally, Wu Sangui had two advantages on land: one was his large number of soldiers, and the other was his powerful cavalry.
But now Li Zhongshan has established a national military system. Well, one million Chinese people and one million soldiers! Although it may not be true that there are millions, Wu Sangui’s millions are quite impressive! Moreover, Jiangxi is either a water network or a mountainous area, and it is not a place where cavalry can exert its power!
The advantage of Li Zhongshan is the muskets. Now there are more and more, and they are getting sharper!
"Since both Lin Xingzhu and Cai Lu think they can fight, let's have a good fight!" Wu Sangui nodded and said, "This time I will go to Hukou in person and sit on Xiazhong Mountain to supervise the battle!
Prime Minister and Pillar of the State, you two convey this message to the navy officers and soldiers for me: The Battle of Hukou was the first battle and the decisive battle. The rise and fall of the Great Zhou Dynasty depended on this battle. If we win, we will all be heroes of the founding of the country! "
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The third year of the Republic, June 18th.
Yangtze River, about ten miles west of Xiaogushan. When night falls, the open river surface (a sandbar will appear in this area in the future, but now the sandbar is still underwater and the river surface is very open) reflects the lights. The flat land on the north bank next to Longhu Lake in Anhui Province is full of dark camps of the Ming army. From time to time in the night, the sound of bangs announcing safety could be heard, as well as the commands of patrolling soldiers.
Although the Longhu area was under the jurisdiction of Anhui Province, it had always been under the control of the Ming Dynasty and had never been occupied by Wu Sangui. Moreover, Wu Sangui only occupied Xiaochikou on the other side of Jiujiang Fucheng and Balijiang on the other side of Hukou on the north bank of the Anhui and Jiangxi sections of the Yangtze River. The stronghold and the garrison were not too large and could not pose a threat to the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops. However, the troops led by Li Zhongshan were still very cautious in setting up their camps and did not dare to take it lightly.
After all, the opponent this time is Wu Sangui!
In today's China, who can compare with him in terms of military experience?
On the Yangtze River near Li Zhongshan's camp, there were more than 300 large and small warships moored at this time. Most of these warships did not turn off their lights. Looking from a distance, it seemed like stars in the sky had fallen into the water of the Yangtze River.
At this time, a hazy mist rose on the river. Such weather even made the sailors on the small sampans patrolling around the Ming Navy warships on the river a little nervous. In the mist, I casually walked around the large fleet and rowed back in a hurry. But even if these sailors in small sampans patrol meticulously, they can't see what's happening too far away in this foggy night.
As for the soldiers on the Kuai Crab boat that formed a blockade on the river, except for a few who were on sentry duty, everyone else lay down in the cabin with their clothes on and fell asleep. After several days of sailing against the wind, the oarsmen were already exhausted. The other crew members were actually alternate oarsmen, and most of them had been substitutes for some time today, so they were also exhausted.
And the fleet is now not far from the mouth of the lake. Maybe there will be a battle tomorrow!
Therefore, every soldier is taking the time to rest so that he can regain his strength in time. There will be a lot of hard work tomorrow!
At this moment, in the Yangtze River, dozens of small sentinel boats are leaving the river and arriving quietly!
These small sentry boats are in the shape of willow leaf-shaped fast boats that are common on the Dongting Lake and Jingzhou sections of the Yangtze River. Fishermen like to drive these small boats to and from the rivers and lakes at high speed.
These dozens of willow leaf boats have been modified. In addition to the rear scull, several pairs of oars have been added to the sides, and there is a wooden shield on the bow. There are two ropes at the stern of each small sentry boat, towing two small boats of the same model. However, there is only one sailor in those small boats who wears water and can tell at a glance that the water quality is extraordinary. However, the sailor did not rock the oar, but sat with his arms folded in a corner of the cabin piled with firewood, rags, and a lot of grease, quietly waiting for the moment of fire attack.
Among them, there was a person in the lead on the small sentry boat. He was short and stocky. He was Lin Xingzhu, the number one warrior on the water of the old Wu family. Although he is the commander-in-chief of the Navy's former army and has a high position, tonight, he still risked his own life and led his good brothers to attack in a sneak attack. There was no martial ethics at all in the fire attack!
Behind Lin Xingzhu, on the dark Yangtze River, escorted by dozens of tower boats and another two to three hundred smaller warships, they had already taken advantage of the night to reach out. On the river at night, two impact clusters formed!
They are the main force of the fleet led by Prime Minister Xia Guo and Hu Zhuguo. Although they are the main force, sneak attacks are necessary! There has always been no martial ethics in water warfare. Even now that gunboats have dominated water warfare, the favorite tactic of the navies and naval generals of various countries is to sneak attack on the anchorage. No one!
Among all the great naval battles that took place in Europe, seven or eight out of ten battles that could truly lead to great victory were surprise attacks without any regard for martial ethics!
If we really want to start a fight, no one can guarantee that we can get a satisfactory exchange ratio - and battleships are too expensive and we can't afford to lose them!
But this time, according to the plan drawn up by Lin Xingzhu and Cai Lu for Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu, tonight was a fire attack plus a sneak attack. After the fire started in front, the Lou fleet and other warships behind them charged forward in one fell swoop, clearing the Ming Dynasty. The formation of the military fleet was completely disrupted, and then the Ming Dynasty Navy was eliminated with "chaos"!
(End of chapter)
