Just when Xue Meng ordered the fleet to turn around and prepare to surround and kill the twenty Zhenjiang Army warships heading downstream, the remaining ten fighting ships located in the direction of Guazhou Ferry upstream, commanded by Luo Yuan personally, suddenly emerged from the thin They appeared in the mist and lined up on the river.
The rebel navy's lookout post saw the situation clearly and quickly shouted a warning to remind the warships that were turning their direction to be careful.
Unfortunately, they were still a step too late.
Just as the rebel warship turned around, Luo Yuan gave an order, and the ten flywheel battleships suddenly beat their war drums and rushed forward. They each locked on to a target, headed towards the side of the other side's ship, and crashed into it without any hesitation!
In the blink of an eye, there was a loud roaring sound.
The bows of the flywheel battleships are equipped with iron pestles the size of millstones, and the front hull is also covered with iron sheets. The extremely powerful impact immediately smashed the rebel warship into two pieces, or even torn apart.
The momentum of the ten fighting ships continued unabated. After killing ten enemy ships, they continued to move forward and went straight into the rebel fleet group.
Another meteor-like rocket flew across the sky, catching Xue Meng off guard.
Almost at the same time, the twenty fighting ships downstream used the power of the flywheel to quickly maneuver and fight back against both sides of the river, flanking the rebel fleet left and right.
Objectively speaking, the combat effectiveness of the rebel navy is not weak, and its experience in surface combat is extremely rich. Especially the officers at all levels are veterans of fighting against wind and waves in the broad sea for a long time.
However, they suffered from underestimating the enemy's carelessness. Especially for the water warfare power of the Zhenjiang Army, they don't even have the most basic understanding and knowledge, let alone the sudden encounter with new equipment such as flywheel battleships, which are simply impossible to deal with.
In the fierce fighting battlefield environment, once you lose the opportunity and panic, you will inevitably be in a completely passive state for a period of time. In addition to being beaten, you will still be beaten.
And Luo Yuan had no intention of giving Xue Meng a chance to gradually react.
He ordered his men to blow the signaling horn and notify all warships to attack the core of the enemy. No matter who stood in front of them, they would be smashed!
Thirty flywheel battleships were like crazy bison, charging rampantly on the river, as if they were in an uninhabited land, converging towards the same place from different directions.
And that location is exactly where Xue Meng's flagship is!
The sailors on the Feilong followed the moonlight and firelight and noticed that the warships of the Zhenjiang Army were desperately heading towards them, and quickly reported it to the commander-in-chief Xue Meng. Xue Meng also understood Luo Yuan's intentions at this time and hurriedly ordered , causing nearby friendly warships to immediately move closer to him.
At this moment, there is no concept of formation or formation in the battlefield. More than a hundred warships from both sides are going back and forth on the water, fighting inextricably. After receiving the commander's order, the rebel ships quickly adjusted their directions and paddled vigorously. Immediately, sixteen of the closest ships gathered around them, forming a circle of shields with the Feilong as the core.
This moment can be said to be a crucial moment for victory or defeat. If the Feilong and sixteen warships successfully block the attack of the Zhenjiang army, then the rebels from the outer periphery can take advantage of the situation and encircle the Zhenjiang army who is alone. The military fleet was trapped and even eaten.
The unfavorable situation from the beginning of the war to the present will be completely reversed.
Luo Yuan acted calmly and stood on the podium and shouted: "Signal!"
Following his words, a firework bomb suddenly shot up from the deck, exploding into a large cloud of golden sparks in the sky.
"Long live my emperor!"
Suddenly a huge war cry sounded from the north bank of the river. Immediately afterwards, hundreds of huge crossbows burning with blazing flames rose from the shore, pierced the sky, and fired towards the Feilong.
The Shenji Battalion of the Second Agni Army begins to show off its power!
The long-awaited Shenji Battalion's giant crossbow fired two hundred long arrows in one salvo. With the help of the navy brothers to point out the target, the enemy's flagship suddenly became a veritable target.
Xue Meng, who was standing on the observation deck, didn't even have time to shout before he was pierced by a giant arrow and knocked away from the battleship.
The last thing he saw before he fell into the water and died was that his beloved Feilong was like a glowing hedgehog, lighting up the entire river.
-
Just as Xue Meng's fleet encountered Luo Yuan's fierce attack near Guazhou, a mysterious fleet suddenly arrived from the downstream direction of Jingkou Pier.
The entire fleet, under the banner of the Jin Army, without holding any lights, sailed quietly on the dark river, gradually approaching the dock.
At this time, a fierce battle was breaking out upstream, and the faint light of fire could be seen from more than twenty miles away.
The sentries on the pier all stretched their necks and looked westward. They were not surprised until the fleet entered the port.
"Hey, who are they?"
"Huh? It seems...hey, it seems to be our warship. Which flag is it?"
"I don't know, hurry up and ask! What's going on?"
The sentries were suddenly confused. Some raised torches to signal and inquire, while others jumped into the boats and headed towards the fleet.
In short, it must be one of our own who is coming, so there is no need to panic.
But who would have expected that before the sentinel's boat could approach, there was suddenly the sound of a large bow string vibrating from the front building boat. Then, countless feather arrows flew out of the darkness and hit the pier like raindrops. people.
Following a series of exclamations and screams, the fleet suddenly lit up the torches on the ship at the same time, and hundreds of huge flywheel battleships appeared on the shore of Jingkou like magic soldiers descending from the sky!
"Long live my emperor! Kill!"
Three thousand light-armored sailors swooped out from the warship, and some of them quickly boarded the dock bridge and took control of it. At the same time, they struggled to cut off the cables of all the ships docked at the dock.
More soldiers boarded the enemy warships and attacked and killed the rebel sailors sleeping in the cabins like chopping melons and vegetables.
Without any warning or warning, the rebels were completely killed and cried in their sleep. Many people did not even bother to put on their clothes and jumped into the water from the portholes or deck to escape.
According to the military's practice, when the warship docks, only a small number of sailors will be stationed on the ship, while the rest will go ashore to camp for rest. Therefore, after the light soldiers of the Zhenjiang Navy made a surprise attack, the rebels on each warship were either killed on the spot or fought for their lives, and soon there was no one left.
At the same time, the enemy soldiers in the dock camp reacted and began to launch a counterattack in the direction of the trestle.
The two sides mixed together between the dock camp and the waterfront trestle, fighting endlessly with swords and swords.
Listening to the constant sound of bugles and war drums coming from the opposite side, Nie Xianzang, who was sitting on the boat, knew that time was precious now and he must not be held back by the enemy, which in turn turned into a fierce battle on the water. So, he ordered his men to grab as much as they could, and not to delay their actions because of greed. Any warships that could not be taken away were to be destroyed by the flying wheel battleships.
With an order, the navy's light soldiers sped up their movements, and more and more rebel warships were driven out of the dock and headed towards the dark and gloomy river.
By the time Yao Mingjie organized a large force and pressed against the trestle, the Zhenjiang sailors who had landed had already returned to the ship and sailed away.
-
Two days later, when Bao Yuchun, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army and the commander-in-chief of the navy, arrived at Jingkou, he was shocked and angry when he saw the blackened wrecks and broken ships everywhere.
In an inexplicable river battle, one hundred and thirty-five warships on our side were destroyed, and one hundred and forty-two were stolen by the other side. More than half of the entire Jingkou Army was lost.
The most incredible thing is that not only was the water battle of 100 vs. 30 not won, but the general Xue Meng and the main warship Feilong were even involved.
Simply puzzling!
Bao Yuchun was so angry that he trembled all over and ordered someone to tie up Yao Mingjie and wait for him to be punished.
Yao Mingjie knew that he had caused a big trouble, so he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, and even moved his own sister out.
And his sister is Bao Yuchun's wife.
"Brother-in-law, spare your life, brother-in-law!" Yao Mingjie cried: "The Zhenjiang Army was cunning and secretly built a large number of warships. We were completely kept in the dark beforehand and didn't even know to take precautions! Brother-in-law, I was wronged! Please spare my life, and I will definitely do meritorious service! I will do meritorious service if I am guilty! Spare my life!"
Bao Yuchun was upset by his quarrel and shouted angrily: "Pull him down and give him fifty fucking military sticks first!"
The soldiers agreed, dragged Yao Mingjie out and beat him severely until he passed out with less than twenty army sticks.
Bao Yuchun didn't really want to kill his idiot brother-in-law, he just wanted to teach him a lesson and get out his bad temper. He called the generals and colonels of the Jingkou camp together and ordered them to talk carefully about what happened the night before yesterday.
After everyone's gossipy and exaggerated descriptions, Bao Yuchun gradually had a rough outline of the entire incident: the Zhenjiang Army indeed had a powerful navy!
The battle that night was basically divided into three parts.
Thirty warships, with the cooperation of the army, set up a suspicious formation in Guazhou, upstream, to lure Xue Meng to attack, and then took advantage of the geographical advantage to launch the attack first, defeating their own side.
At the same time, hundreds of well-equipped large ships, disguised as the Jiangnan Navy, first quietly killed the warships on guard at the mouth of the canal, and then quietly approached the Jingkou Pier to carry out a sneak attack. The opponent's combat intention is very clear - seize the ship!
In addition, there was also a small fleet, about twenty or thirty battleships, which quietly entered the dock downstream of Jingkou and captured all sixty-six large ships parked there.
Although the opponent's entire operation was very covert and focused on the word "strange", both the number of ships and the combat qualities they displayed aroused Bao Yuchun's vigilance.
Obviously, those people were by no means a temporary navy that was diverted from the Zhenjiang Army and hastily formed. On the contrary, they are familiar with water warfare strategies and proficient in warship operation. They are good at fighting frontal battles and can come and go in large rivers without leaving a trace.
This is clearly the first-class navy force of the Shengtang Dynasty!
