It had been half an hour since the two armies met, and heavy fog still continued to shroud the wide river. Under the desolate dome, fog waves rolled violently. Looking down with a sight beyond the reach of human beings, only a little bit of the top of Zhongshan Mountain has not yet been submerged. It is like a lotus horn in the midsummer ocean, making everything in the world seem small and quiet. In this vast mist, countless soldiers were maneuvering oars to hit the water, circling and shooting arrows. From time to time, some people would turn over and fall into the water. However, these struggles and roars were swallowed up by the cold white waves. Zhuangzi once said that for nature, the war between two countries is the same as the game between snails and is not worth mentioning. But for the soldiers in the middle, every shout and draw of the bow is the difference between success and failure, the chasm between life and death, and the sum of everything.
The scope of the fighting has spread to a section of the river that is more than ten miles away from the south bank. At this time, the line of sight is slightly better, and people can barely see the outline of the ship dozens of steps away. In the previous chase, the soldiers on both sides fired several rounds of arrows, but due to the heavy fog, the effect was very little. Most of the arrows were nailed to the arrow-proof wooden boards. If you want to determine the winner, you must You can't get close enough to fight. The Han army knew this, and they encouraged each other: "We have fought so many battles since we joined the army, and we are no longer afraid of death! It's time to fight hand-to-hand with the thieves! When it comes to bloody battles, can these Wu dogs compare to wild boars?"
After that, one after another Han soldiers put down their armor and picked up oars. They swung the oars and approached the Wu ships. The Wu people were really startled at first, but then they reacted and happily accepted the challenge of the Han army. . The hand-to-hand combat in water battles is different from that in land battles. There is a set of methods for hand-to-hand combat in water battles. On land, unless the gap between two people is too great, a melee fight usually involves a competition between two people. After all, when they get close, the defenses of both sides are equal. Whoever is timid to use the sword first will be killed by the sword. In water warfare, the hull structure of the warship has obvious strengths and weaknesses. Generally speaking, both ends of the ship are made of the hardest wood and are surprisingly thick, which can be directly used for collisions. The middle part of the ship is a hollow structure and is often a splicing of wood. Once it collides with the bow of the ship, Up, the waist of the ship must have broken and the ship sank into the water. Therefore, in hand-to-hand combat on the water, it is most taboo to use the bow of the ship against the waist of the ship.
But the Han army did not care about this. Huang Quan knew that they were not as skilled in boating as the Wu people, so he had given instructions during daily training: when they were asked to engage in battle, they must advance head to head with the Wu people, and then jump directly from the ship. Conduct a boarding battle. For this reason, many Han ships were equipped with hooks and halberds, aiming to hook the Wu ships and lock the Wu people's mobility.
The Wu army was basically unprepared for this. When they saw the Han army's ships rushing towards them, they all turned around. Their proficiency in maneuvering the boat was indeed extremely high. While keeping distance from the Han warships, they changed direction and smoothly drew an arc on the river. In just a short moment, they turned the ship's bow straight. They met the waist of the Han army's ship and rammed it straight into it. After the first round of impact, the waists of several Han army ships were broken, leaving huge gaps through which the river water poured in and soon sank to the surface of the river. The remaining Han ships were not much better. Although they were not destroyed, they still left shocking cracks on the sides of the ships. If they were hit again, they would be destroyed on the spot.
But taking advantage of the opportunity of this collision, the Han soldiers were finally able to throw out the hook and nail it firmly to the side of Wu's ship. When the Wu people wanted to separate the ships and collide again, they were shocked to find that the Han army was pulling the ropes and trying to pull the sides of the two ships together. The Wu people suddenly panicked and immediately swung their knives to try to cut off the ropes on the hooks, but more and more hooks were thrown at them, and then there were halberds with hooks. With a "bang", the side of the ship They hit one place one after another, and many gaps immediately opened up, from which the river water poured into the Han army's ships. But the Han soldiers no longer had any scruples, and immediately jumped in from the ship and slaughtered the Wu people on the enemy ship. Many Wu people were caught off guard and were choked by the Han soldiers, unable to resist. They were chopped into pieces in an instant. Some people chose to jump into the river to escape, but how many people had the physical strength to survive in the cold winter water? When we swam to the shore, we were in an unknown state again.
But this was only the first round of confrontation. Both sides were not familiar with the enemy's tactics. As the two armies fought more and more frequently, both sides were prepared. When the Wu people came to collide, the Han army was ahead of schedule. They used oars to open the Wu people's bows, and the Wu people were always on guard against the Han army's hooks. The two sides began to fall into a fierce battle, and they could not win a decisive victory. But looking at the overall situation, the Han army has more naval forces than the Wu people, and the Han army can tolerate losses better. If the confrontation continues, the situation will certainly be in favor of the Han army.
However, Huang Quan was still keenly aware of the strangeness on the battlefield.
The surroundings were still in a blur of confusion, but based on the sounds and noises of the surrounding ships, Huang Quan could still vaguely control the changes in the situation. From the beginning, Huang Quan speculated on the enemy general's intentions based on the Wu army's warships taking the initiative to provoke him: Does Zhou Yu really want to fight together in foggy weather? Or is it a cover, secretly preparing to take advantage of the situation? Or should we turn to attack Liyang?
But as more and more ships from both sides engaged in battle, the Wu people's intention to actively seek war was undoubtedly exposed, and Huang Quan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Just like Zhou Yu's trust in his own army, after these days of training, he also believed that the Han army would not be at a disadvantage in the water battle, so he did not prevent the Han ships from attacking. But what surprised him was that he had clearly heard that Wu Jun also brought large ships, so why were only small ships dispatched now? The scale of the battle has expanded to this point, and it is inevitable that the decisive victory will not be determined by relying only on small boats such as Pankan and Qingque. However, the enemy general still does not launch a general attack. This is because there are two possibilities. One is that the enemy has set a trap in front and is waiting for him to take the initiative to attack. The other is that there is help out there who may join the battlefield later and reverse the situation. .
Thinking of this, Huang Quan's heart moved: The Wu people are new here, what kind of trap can they set? To put it bluntly, I just want to catch him by surprise, so there is no way I can use any strange tricks. But when it comes to foreign aid, if the Wu people in Nanjing and Jianye are resisting by Zhou Buyi, there must be no mistakes. And among the entire Jiangnan battlefield, only 20,000 Wu people under his command have surrendered, so Zhou Yu's idea is ready to come out. . Although he had made arrangements in advance to disperse 10,000 Wu people into various ships, there were still 10,000 Wu people who remained intact and were still under the command of Deng Dang. Now Deng Dang has been sent to the right wing farthest from the battlefield. Once he defectes on the battlefield, the consequences may be disastrous.
Huang Quan is known as a famous general. Although he is worried about this, there is still no panic on his face. He calculated carefully and found that Deng Dang had been favored by the emperor since his surrender and was directly assigned the duty of guarding the army. He did not dare to say that he was absolutely loyal, but he was definitely moved. He also had a secret chat room around Deng Dang to observe him. However, no strange behavior was found on him, indicating that he had not been in contact with Zhou Yu before. At this time, it was possible to send someone over in advance to stabilize him.
So he immediately called Cen Guang over. Although Huang Quan was anxious, he still maintained a slow and firm tone, analyzed the situation at this time to Cen Guang, and then said to him: "Captain, you take two ships with a hundred people." On the right wing, we must stabilize Deng Dang and prevent him from contacting the Wu people. Deng Dang has a very high prestige among the Wu people. As long as he does not make up his mind, the others will never dare to act rashly!"
After hearing this order, Cen Guang did not panic. Instead, he asked to the point: "What should I do if Deng Dang cares about his country and insists on surrendering to the thieves?"
Huang Quan was also worried about this. After a little hesitation, he pulled out the sword from his waist and handed it to Cen Guang, saying: "This is the Zhongxing Sword given to me by Your Majesty. It was given to the late Emperor by Emperor Xiaoling. If Deng Dang dares to disobey, , you take this sword and kill him, and keep an eye on the other generals." Seeing how sacred the sword was, Cen Guang immediately knelt down and took it with great solemnity. Huang Quan said: "The success or failure of this time is all in your hands, don't make any mistakes!" Cen Guangze replied enthusiastically: "Don't worry, general, I will bring this sword over and I will make sure that the right wing is not moved at all!"
Cen Guang took the order and immediately summoned the two sterns in front of the building ship. They had been waiting for orders since the beginning of the battle, so they moved directly to the right flank with almost no time delay. At this time, the battlefield has become more open, and there are not many ships blocking the way. The two boats immediately went down the river and headed straight for the right wing of the front.
On the boat, Cen Guang saw that the soldiers around him were fighting hard. Many people fell into the water after being hit by the Wu army. They swam desperately on the river, but were soon swallowed up by the undercurrent. At the same time, many Wu people who were chopped into pieces were thrown from the boat. Their blood disappeared into the river and disappeared without a trace in an instant. This kind of fighting situation was by no means tragic, but as he went eastward, he found that the fighting became calmer. Many ships were docked on the riverside and did not move out. Most of the soldiers on the ship were watching from the bow, obviously not intending to join the battlefield.
This situation made Cen Guang curse secretly in his heart: These Wu people don't even bother to pretend! Is it really possible to keep them from defecting? Fortunately, Zhou Yu didn't know his location in advance and should have sent people to pursue him, otherwise the situation would have been chaotic now. He then touched the sword in his hand and silently made up his mind that as long as Deng Dang behaved a little differently, he would immediately cut off his head!
But the actual situation is that those Wu people who were watching looked at Cen Guang curiously and stopped paying attention. After all, two ships and about a hundred people seemed so insignificant among the ships on the right wing. It wasn't until they rowed under Deng Dang's flagship and reported to the flagship that these Wu people realized: It turned out that the person who came was entrusted by the master, Huang Quan, and came specifically to convey the order to the master.
