Outside Sizhou City, Liu Renzhan stood on a large flat-bottomed boat. This is a kind of river boat with a flat hull, a square head and a flat bottom. In the Tang Dynasty, the shapes of the ships varied from place to place. The so-called river boats do not enter Bian, Bian boats do not enter the river, and river boats do not enter Wei. This is what is meant situation.
The advantage of this kind of flat-bottomed boat is that even if it is small, it can have a strong load-bearing transportation capacity and it can drive very smoothly.
The disadvantages are high driving resistance, insensitive control, and especially difficulty in turning around. Therefore, it is only suitable for certain rivers with calm water. If you go to the Yangtze River, which is relatively rough and fast, something will definitely happen.
The section of the river where Liu Renzhan's boat is currently traveling is the gentle Sizhou Moat. This place is not far from the Sizhou City Wall, so arrows continued to miss Liu Renzhan's boat, and Liu Renzhan also had elite Jianghuai crossbowmen around him to constantly fight back.
Missing arrows fell on the hull like raindrops, and people kept screaming and being dragged to the cabin for treatment. Several missing arrows hit Liu Renzhan, but he remained unmoved.
The second son Liu Chongliang and the third son Liu Chongjian were guarding Liu Renzhan with large shields. Seeing that the arrows were getting more and more dense, Liu Chongjian wanted to pull Liu Renzhan back, but Liu Renzhan pushed him to the ground. .
Waves of exclamations came, and Liu Renzhan looked to the west of the city. Those who hurriedly exited were the Southern Tang troops dressed in black.
Yao Feng, the commander of the troops and horses in charge of the attack, even lost his flag. Thousands of people were running wild, and they only regretted that their parents had lost two legs.
The ones chasing them from behind were Zhou Jun, who were lined with white robes and white clothes inside and outside the armor. Two days ago, Liu Renzhan first smashed it with a catapult, and then rammed it violently, knocking out a huge gap in the city wall thirty steps from the west gate of Sizhou. Then the Zhou and Tang armies surrounded this gap and carried out seven large and small attacks. battle.
However, each time it ended with the Southern Tang Army being driven out. This time, Liu Renzhan ordered the commander Yao Feng to attack in person, and saw that they were all beaten in, but they were still driven out, and they were still in such a mess.
"Beat the drums. The crossbowmen are ready!" Liu Renzhan ordered loudly with a livid face. Suddenly, the war drums on Liu Renzhan's boat and several large ships behind him rumbled.
This was the only one left in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Perhaps he should be called the only one. Chai Kehong and others could not compare with him. He was the only famous general in the Southern Tang Dynasty before Lin Renzhao appeared. He was very strict in running the army.
Therefore, when the defeated Southern Tang Army heard the war drums and saw Liu Renzhan's recognition of the flag, they did not flee in all directions, but slowly began to form formations.
When the Zhou army chasing them saw the numerous crossbowmen on the ship, they wisely stopped. But they did not retreat to the city, but retreated beyond the range of the crossbows, roaring and protesting against Liu Renzhan.
The Southern Tang Army that had just assembled in the distance still had two to three thousand people. Seeing the more than 200 Zhou Army soldiers showing off their power more than 300 steps away, no one dared to step forward.
Er roared angrily, and a soldier from the Zhou Army wearing silver-white cotton armor suddenly ran to a place only a hundred steps away from Liu Renzhan.
He quickly raised the divine arm bow unique to the Zhou Kingdom in his hand, and with a bang, he shot an arrow towards Liu Renzhan on the boat.
Liu Renzhan's third son, Liu Chongjian, let out a tearful howl and immediately threw Liu Renzhan down. He had already recognized that the man on the other side was holding not a step bow, but a divine arm bow.
At more than a hundred steps, this thing is as lethal as a crossbow. Sure enough, this crossbow arrow came very quickly, and the arrowhead was made of fine steel and was extremely sharp.
With a snap, the crossbow arrow penetrated the shield held by Liu Chongliang, and then hit the shoulder of Liu Chongjian who threw Liu Renzhan down. Liu Chongjian screamed in pain.
Liu Renzhan quickly checked to see if his son was injured, while Liu Chongjian grinned and shook his head. When the crossbow arrow hit here, it was already the end of a strong crossbow. The arrow did not penetrate his armor and stomach, but the huge impact might have bruised his shoulder.
At the same time, Liu Renzhan's dozen crossbowmen sitting on the bow of the boat immediately shot at the Zhou general, but he saw that the Zhou general did not avoid it and laughed loudly.
Liu Renzhan was about to think that this man was in danger, but he didn't expect that after a shower of arrows, more than a hundred steps later, the crossbow arrows fired by two stone crossbows did not hurt the man at all. He tore off the crossbow shaft hanging on his body. , scoffing louder.
Liu Renzhan's third son Liu Chongjian was stunned and stunned.
"What kind of armor did Zhou Thief wear? He was able to prevent crossbow arrows!"
"Liu Renzhan, the commander of the inner chamber of the Holy Week, Marquis Jinchang, asked a certain family to tell you that begging for surrender as early as possible may save the lives of the whole family. If it is too late, once the saint's army arrives, everyone in Shouzhou will be in chaos." There was a shock on the boat. Phew, there is no other way. The four bears and tigers under my command, Man Xiong, Dunzhu, Wang Tongtong, and Qiongre Duojin, are too famous.
Even in the Southern Tang Dynasty, they were like thunder, and the world regarded them as unparalleled generals like Yuchi Jingde.
"This is Zhou's traitorous deception. How could Zhang Zhao be here if he wants to protect the inner city?" Liu Renzhan refuted loudly, but as soon as the words came out, he was shocked.
Even his own subconscious thought that Zhang Zhao was a tough general like Zhang Zhao and seemed invincible.
And since Zhang Zhao didn't come, the one who raised the flag of Fuzi Commander in the city could only be Fu Zhaoxu, the military and horse supervisor of Xuchang Prefecture, as claimed by Zhou Jun.
Liu Renzhan himself had 20,000 elite soldiers and 40,000 to 50,000 civilians. He was known as an army of 100,000 people, but he couldn't even defeat Sizhou City guarded by a little-known Zhou general. What else was there to fight in this battle?
. . Zhang Deqing rolled and climbed back to the city wall of Sizhou. Yuhou, the seventh general of the Xiongzhu squad in Xiangshan, came from the Zhang Zhou royal family.
Because the seniority of the Zhang family of Long Tongue is sorted according to loyalty and loyalty, virtue and loyalty. This person is not only a member of the royal family, but also a close relative. He is Zhang Yan's third uncle and Zhang Yichao's nephew, Zhang Huaizhen's fifth generation grandson.
He is of the virtuous generation and can be regarded as Zhang Yan's great-nephew. From Zhang Yan's perspective, he is one of the bravest third generation members of Zhang Zhou's royal family.
After taking seven or eight crossbow arrows, he ran back to the city wall of Sizhou with a puff of smoke, and immediately took off his cotton armor, revealing a large steel plate on his chest.
This thing shines with a unique dark silver light, and it is not ordinary at first glance. Zhang Deqing was panting heavily. He had run so hard for a while that he was exhausted. If his breathing had become less severe, he would have no doubt that he would pass out.
While Zhang Deqing was gasping for air, four Dr. Lao Shizi from Tiangong Institute were surrounding him, their eyes shining with curiosity.
After being able to catch his breath, Zhang Deqing waved his hands unconsciously and said intermittently: "Tell my fourteenth cousin that if he doesn't pay five hundred guan of decoction and medicine when he returns to Shendu, he won't look for a certain family in the future. What the fuck What's the name of plate armor? I don't think it's plate armor. It's just a fucking turtle shell. It's hard enough! It's fine even if it's hit by a crossbow. But can you not only consider the protective power, but also consider the safety of the soldiers wearing it? It's a flesh body, not made of iron. Is that okay? This damn thing only has a large piece of iron on its chest, with no support behind it. That Southern Tang warrior came over with a black hammer, and my vision went dark at that moment, and I almost didn't give up. I fainted from the pain." Zhang Deqing complained very well. What kind of plate armor is this thing? It is just a big iron plate tied to the chest. It is completely inconsistent with plate armor that forms a barrel or box type defense on the torso. Features.
This thing seems to have strong defensive power, but it can't unload its power at all. The enemy can hit the armor with a heavy hammer or a big ax, and it can still kill the armored person. The hammer's internal organs will be shattered and killed. Add this piece of iron plate and it will be thirty or forty The weight of a kilogram is completely incomparable to the cloth-covered iron armor that only weighs about thirty kilograms for the whole body. It has shortcomings everywhere.
"This is an idiotic design, and only idiots would wear it on the battlefield." Zhang Deqing became angry when he remembered that he had believed the fools of the four idiots in front of him, thinking that it could really protect against heavy weapons, but in the end he was almost beaten to death with a hammer. Don't type it out.
He learned Zhang Yan's mantra and made the final conclusion. A doctor from the Gastroenterology Department of Tiangong Institute stopped recording and looked at Zhang Deqing, a sinister smile flashed across his face.
"So that Marquis Yu will know that the design idea of this plate armor was designed by a saint and he also drew the sketch himself."
"Ah!" Zhang Deqing was immediately stunned and quickly grabbed Dr. Jiawei's hands.
"Dr. Du, a certain family didn't say anything just now, right?" Dr. Du held Zhang Deqing's hand and said sincerely: "A certain family plans to make changes based on the information fed back by Yu Hou, but I don't know who Can you try to help us out of a sense of justice?"
"Easy to say, easy to say!" Zhang Deqing took back his hand with a grimace and said insincerely: "Dr. Du, don't worry, a certain family is the one who is eager for justice and justice! You can come to me next time." Dr. Du was satisfied. He nodded, and then continued to ask Zhang Deqing about his experience wearing armor this time, which was recorded in half a booklet. Then the four of them discussed it for a long time and came to a unanimous opinion.
First, it must be made into a barrel-type integrated armor, so that it can fully buffer the impact of heavy weapons such as axes, hammers, and maces against the armorer.
Secondly, the current smelting technology still needs to be improved, otherwise it would probably weigh more than a hundred kilograms, which would be too expensive for no one to wear.
Fu Zhaoxu waited for the four idiots to go away before he leaned next to Zhang Deqing. For some reason, Fu Zhaoxu felt that none of the servants in Tiangongyuan from Ziting County Duke Cao Yanming to the sweeper below were normal.
Zhang Deqing immediately became energetic when he saw Fu Zhaoxu coming over.
"Supervisor, Liu Renzhan will definitely retreat now. We won't block the gap and let him fight. But he fought seven games with 20,000 men, and ended up losing seven games and losing four to five hundred soldiers. Thousands of people were injured and he can't fight anymore." Fu Zhaoxu's head was wrapped in a white bandage that was still bleeding. His left hand was hanging unnaturally, but the look on his face suddenly became lively.
Originally, the order he received was to lead the 400 elite troops from Zhongwu Town and Xuchang Left Guard of the Forbidden Army, plus the 100 elite cavalry from the inner Xiangdu of Hanshan Mountain, to rush to Huai'an Prefecture, at least to save Huai'an Prefecture.
But Fu Zhaoxu knew the actual situation in Huainan far better than Guo Tiance, the privy envoy of Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo, and the queen in the palace.
Zhang Yanqing, the governor of the Huaiyin Mansion and the military supervisor of the Mansion, and Zhang Xiong, the commander-in-chief of Baisheng Town of the Forbidden Army, are much stronger than Guo Tiance and others thought.
Moreover, the sage sent his deputy privy envoy Li Gu to preside over land equalization in Huainan. The sage personally ordered that most of the 300,000 acres of land in Huai'an that had been occupied by senior officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty be returned to the people of Huai'an. .
Such a great favor made Huai'an Mansion the most stable fortress in the Huainan region of the entire Zhou Dynasty, much more reliable than Xuzhou Mansion.
The people here deeply hated the oppression of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and those with vested interests in the upper class were almost completely eradicated by Li Gu. They all remembered the kindness of Zhou and the saints, and they were like iron buckets, which Liu Renzhan could not defeat at all. .
So Fu Zhaoxu proposed to go directly to Sizhou, because in his opinion, Huai'an Prefecture did not need to be guarded, and Haozhou was too close to Shouzhou to make it too late. He could only go to Sizhou in time.
Of course, more importantly, how could he show off Fu Zhaoxu's ability by just going to Huai'an Mansion and then defending it.
The current result is as expected by Fu Zhaoxu. He first sent an urgent message of 800 miles to inform Zhang Yanqing and Zhang Xiong to mobilize a thousand elite troops from Huai'an Prefecture. Then he directly led 500 elite troops into Sizhou and took over the command from Gao Yunquan. .
By the time Liu Renzhan sent Huangfuhui and 5,000 vanguards to arrive, he had basically completed his defense. Huangfu Hui surrounded and fought for a day without making any progress. Instead, Fu Zhaoxu seized the opportunity and charged forward with his cavalry. Unable to stand, he could only retreat and wait for the army to arrive.
But as soon as he retreated, a thousand elite soldiers from Huai'an Prefecture, commanded by Zhang Xiong himself, immediately entered Sizhou City.
No matter how Liu Renzhan fought, the 1,500 of them plus the 1,500 of the Sizhou Guards, a total of 3,000 elites and 2,000 civilians, Liu Renzhan claimed to have an army of 100,000, but he couldn't stop it. .
Although the Qing Huai army took advantage of the naval force to control the moat, they could no longer advance any further. They attacked for twenty days and gained nothing except heavy losses.
. . In the Qing Huai Army camp, Liu Renzhan rode his horse to the hillside in the dark night and looked to the southeast. The southeast was pitch black, but there was still no movement.
Before starting the army, he wrote to the court several times, asking the Jiangning court to send the newly built Longwu Army of the Forbidden Army to Shouzhou for him to command.
In this way, he will have 30,000 elites at his disposal, and he will definitely be able to restore Huainan. When the time comes, Liu Renzhan will act without authorization and push him out to behead him. If he succeeds, he can also use him as a shield to deal with Zhou Guo.
But unexpectedly, the king was so afraid of Zhou that not only did no Longwu army come, he didn't even send an angel to reply, as if he hadn't received his report.
"Alas! The destiny is not in the south! The foundation created by Emperor Liezu Gao will be in the hands of the Zhou people." Liu Renzhan looked up at the sky and sighed, feeling heartbroken.
"Send the order, tomorrow we will break out of camp at three o'clock, throw away all the baggage, the army will retreat in order, and the cavalry will be at the rear to guard against the pursuit of the Zhou people's cavalry."
