The sudden kerosene bombs looked misty and beautiful in the mist-filled sky. However, when they slammed into the ninth flag battleship, people suddenly realized that this was a fatal evil star!
Loud banging sounds echoed among the ships, accompanied by bursts of exclamations and screams, resounding throughout the entire Daxingzhou waterway.
Following closely behind were thousands of long-barrel giant crossbow arrows. They shot out from the dense forest on the shore, hitting the warships in front of them and sending sawdust flying. Many rebel sailors were even directly pierced by arrows and died on the spot.
For a time, kerosene missiles and giant crossbow arrows were like a storm, mercilessly washing away the rebel warships crowding the river.
Ninth Flag was completely blindsided. In panic, although they fought back, their hasty response was completely unable to pose any threat to their opponents on the shore. As time went by, more and more warships either caught fire or leaked and sank, and the losses of the Ninth Flag continued to increase.
Their commander finally came to his senses at this moment, and quickly ordered the fleet not to stop in the waterway in front of them, and rush through Daxingzhou as quickly as possible! However, his subordinates reminded him that outside the elbow in front was the main naval force of the Zhenjiang Army. If he ran over to it, he would die in vain.
"Then retreat!" The general roared with wide eyes: "We have fallen into a trap, get out of danger quickly and return to Chizhou!"
Following his order, Ninth Flag fired arrows towards the north bank of the river to counterattack, while turning the ship's bow and heading in the direction it came from.
But unexpectedly, just as they were preparing to return the same way, a large number of warships suddenly appeared at the bend upstream.
The so-called 艨艉 is a small aggressive speedboat. The ship has a long and narrow hull and is extremely fast. The hull is covered with fire-proof and arrow-proof cowhide, and the bow is equipped with an iron pestle. It is specially used to ram enemy ships in water battles and is very destructive.
The people of the Ninth Banner watched carefully by the light of the fire and found that the Zhenjiang Army's stern boats had completely blocked the entire river bay. The soldiers on the ship were shirtless, holding their swords and guns high, looking at them with murderous intent.
"Don't be afraid! They are all small boats, rush over and sink them!"
"Yes! Fight a bloody path!"
"The Zhenjiang Army is looking for death!"
The rebels shouted loudly, cheering each other up and rowing hard towards the stern formation.
The banging of war drums suddenly came from the dense forest on the shore. The navy officers on the warship were slightly startled when they heard it, and then they broke out into earth-shattering shouts of killing. They knew that this was the Second Army of Fire and the Fifth Army of Boulder cheering them on!
"Brothers! All the Army brothers are watching us, can we embarrass the Imperial Guard?!"
"cannot!"
"Zhenjiang Warriors——"
"Invincible!"
Following the shouts, the scorpion array suddenly moved, the wooden oars flew up and down, and the warships, like wild horses, followed the river to meet the rebels.
In the blink of an eye, the sound of rumbling and rumbling collisions continued, and the iron bows of the stern ships crashed into the enemy's hull and got stuck together.
The war drums on the shore were beating louder and louder at this time. The passionate sound of the war drums fell heavily on the hearts of the Zhenjiang sailors, arousing murderous intent! Countless soldiers climbed onto the side of the enemy ship and boarded it directly to engage in close combat.
Their mission is clear: stop the enemy here and give the Second Army, the Fifth Army and the trebuchet troops a chance to completely eliminate the enemy!
A large number of sterns successfully blocked many large ships, and the large ships blocked the way of the ships behind them. For a while, the elbow in the upper reaches of the Daxingzhou waterway became chaotic, congested and difficult to navigate.
Originally, the Ninth Banner still had a chance to squeeze out of the way, but the Zhenjiang navy boarded the ship and fought hard, completely disrupting the enemy's thinking. The rebels were now locked in a bitter struggle and could no longer think of escaping.
Seeing this, the army in the dense forest quickly continued to fire oil bombs and giant crossbows, frantically attacking the rebel ships that fell behind.
Due to their thorough preparation, the Zhenjiang Army's long-range attacks were extremely intensive. A single salvo was often guaranteed to hit seven or eight fireballs on the enemy ship, igniting a raging fire. Therefore, the longer time went by, the more severe the losses suffered by the Ninth Flag. In less than half an hour, more than half of the rebel fleet was lost, and it was almost impossible to hold on.
At this critical moment, Luo Yuan commanded the main battleships downstream and appeared in the Daxingzhou waterway. Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison:
"Surrender without killing! Surrender without killing!"
Following the shouts, the trebuchets and giant crossbows in the forest also stopped one after another, and then the same thundering sound sounded.
"Surrender without killing!"
After waiting for a while, a shout came from a ship of the Ninth Flag: "Stop fighting! We surrender!"
"It's coming down! It's coming down!" Several more ships shouted.
As more and more warships decided to give up resistance, the rebel flagship eventually hoisted the white flag.
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"General, the enemy fleet has been parked at the upper eight branches and has not moved!"
Listening to the news sent back by his men, Guo Qifeng suddenly felt that the situation was not good: the Zhenjiang Army was obviously coming to attack Jiuzi Fortress, why did it suddenly stay in that place and stagnated? Could it be...
He did not dare to think about the worst, and quickly ordered: "Change the entire army from defense to offense and advance towards the upper eight branches!"
"General, I'm afraid it's inappropriate for us to attack against the current!"
"What's wrong?" Guo Qifeng said angrily: "The commander asked me to join forces with the Ninth Banner to attack the Xinjiang Army. What if we delay in fighting and delay the opportunity to fight?"
"The enemy is acting strangely and may have some conspiracy. If we rush to attack in a hurry, it will be more dangerous. General, why don't you ask Commander Bao for advice first and see what he decides."
Guo Qifeng hesitated, feeling that it was really difficult to make a decision. He finally got Bao Yuchun's appreciation for capturing Zhao Shuo and was ordered to command the battle. But if he ran back to ask Bao Shuai for instructions before the battle started, wouldn't he look very incompetent?
But thinking about it on the other hand, the Zhenjiang Army waited calmly at the Eight Branches and spent so long fighting with him. It was obvious that there was some conspiracy. If he made a mistake in judgment and ended up losing the battle, he would be even less able to follow Bao. Yuchun explained.
So, should we send someone back?
Just when Guo Qifeng was in a dilemma, a small reconnaissance boat suddenly approached quickly. The scouts on the boat couldn't wait to board the flagship, so they waved and shouted from a distance: "The enemy has moved! The enemy has moved! Zhenjiang Navy Army We are rapidly approaching our army!"
Upon hearing this, Guo Qifeng immediately became energetic, and his previous hesitation was wiped away.
good! Li Jiangyao and Nie Xianzang, as long as you are willing to come!
"Military order! Everyone is on alert!" Guo Qifeng pulled out his sword and shouted loudly and confidently: "Brothers! Commander Bao has a brilliant plan. As long as we delay the Suppressing Army for a few hours, the Ninth Flag will be able to follow the river and move forward and backward. Pincer attack! When the time comes, capture Li Jiangyao alive and Nie Xianzang alive!"
"Capture Li Jiangyao alive! Capture Nie Xianzang alive!"
The rebels were so inspired by these words that they raised their weapons and shouted in response.
In less than half an hour, numerous sails appeared in the mist on the upper reaches of the river, and Zhenjiang Kunpeng's 10th Army arrived as scheduled.
Guo Qifeng was so excited that his whole body trembled slightly. He issued orders repeatedly, asking each battalion and team to adjust forward and backward to meet the enemy at any time.
Not long after, the Zhenjiang Army, which had the advantage of smooth sailing, took the lead in launching an offensive. Sixty warships were divided into three groups and launched a tentative attack on the rebels downstream. Guo Qifeng was also a veteran in water warfare. When he saw this, he immediately confronted each other and sent three groups of warships with a similar number to start a fierce battle with the opponent.
More than a hundred large ships were going back and forth on the river, fighting endlessly. Dense arrows flew across the sky, killing the sailors on the opposite side mercilessly, and the sails of the ship were ignited by firearms, burning in the thick fog. The sides of the ship were collided and damaged, the mast was broken and toppled, and the shouts and screams were intertwined, even overpowering the roar of the war drums.
Both sides are elite naval forces who are good at fighting, and their strength can be said to be equally matched. However, because the Zhenjiang Army has the advantage upstream, the situation is even better. In less than half an hour, the Zhenjiang Army successfully sank the opponent's twenty-one warships at the cost of losing twelve warships, and steadily suppressed three groups of rebels.
Guo Qifeng reacted quickly and immediately dispatched fifty new ships to join the battle. However, this new force did not enter directly, but divided into two teams and outflanked the Zhenjiang Army along the river banks on both sides.
Due to the shrouded fog and the rebels deliberately concealing their intentions, it was not until the fifty warships were almost crossing the core battlefield that the Zhenjiang Army suddenly became aware of them.
In order to prevent the brothers who were fighting fiercely from being cut off by the enemy, twenty flywheel warships jumped out of the formation and rushed straight towards the enemy on the side like meteors.
Guo Qifeng really didn't expect that the warships could be so flexible and fast. In just a moment, the flywheel warships intercepted the two attacking warships and strangled them together.
As a result, the vast river surface was suddenly filled with battlefields, and the shouts of killing were louder than before.
"General, judging from the enemy's posture, they should launch a general attack soon!"
Guo Qifeng was certainly aware of the reminder from his subordinates. The Zhenjiang Army has 600 warships in hand, which is 100 more combat power than our own. Coupled with the downstream terrain, only an all-out charge is the best option.
His biggest command difficulty today was to withstand the opponent's fierce attack until the Ninth Flag arrived in time.
Seeing that the battle had reached this stage, Guo Qifeng nodded slightly and gave a new order: "The remaining ships of each battalion and team formed an internal and external double ring formation, anchored and prepared to resist the enemy's attack!"
The order was conveyed, and the rebel fleet immediately took action. Two ring formations, one large and one small, appeared on the river. The giant anchor sank into the river and the ship was stabilized. The sailors on the deck raised their shields and crossbows, waiting for the battle to come.
However, what confused them all was that the probing battle on the river had been going on for more than an hour, but the main fleet of the Zhenjiang Army located upstream showed no sign of launching a general attack.
Those giant ships were parked quietly in the distance, motionless.
