In fact, Zhang Li should have discovered something was wrong ahead without the need for this little pawn to report: almost instantly, the front of the fleet suddenly lit up with fire, and in addition to war drums, from time to time there were sounds of clashing swords and shouts of killing. . As far as the eye can see, the formation of ships ahead is also in chaos.
Even though he, Zhang Li, was a fool, he should have guessed at this time: He was being cut off by the Ming fleet!
Water warfare in the early Ming Dynasty was extremely "barbaric". In this era when the development of firearms was just about to start, fighting on the water did not rely on ship weapons as much as later generations did. The two soldiers barely met each other, as long as the two ships faced each other from a distance, and then "you shoot me, and I shoot you back."
The Ming army did have many firearms used in water warfare, such as artillery, fire blunderbuss, rockets, caltrops, large and small muskets, large and small general barrels, large and small iron cannons, magic arrows, and so on. But these weapons, to put it bluntly, are mainly used to kill enemies on board, and are not enough to directly destroy enemy ships.
Even rockets and other objects specially used to set fire often cannot burn down enemy ships from a distance: the few flames ignited by the rockets are often extinguished before the fire grows bigger.
Therefore, in this era, the real winner in water battles still relies on brutal and direct "collision"! In other words, it relies on "huge boats and ships, ramming enemy ships, boarding and beheading generals", or the "fast boats and small boats, loaded with hay, ramming and burning them" used in the Battle of Chibi.
At this time, the "alliance" fleet of the remnants of the Zhang family and the Japanese pirates of the Oida family had already crashed into many "giant boats" of the Ming army. Although the "Guan Chuan" used by them and the Japanese came and went like the wind, it was not stable. Often when a Ming army's "giant boat" comes, it can overturn the people who were hit by several ships!
"Such a big ship..."
"These Ming troops are the Taicang guards stationed in Taicang!" Zhang Li's face turned even more earthy.
Taicang Guard, based in Taicang, is located in the east of Suzhou City. It is one of the guards along the Ming Dynasty and the closest Ming military guard to Suzhou City. Among them, most of the military generals are good at boating, and the main force is the navy.
Unlike the Suzhou Guards, whose elite troops were mobilized, the Taicang Guards were well-equipped and their strength was not compromised. They were the main force in the Ming Dynasty's Susong Land to prevent Japanese pirates. In the past, when Dajingtian and Zhang Li sent people to plunder the coast, they often dealt with the Taicang Guards. I know that this guard on the water has experienced hundreds of battles and is difficult to match.
The Oida clan had previously been unwilling to stay under the city for too long. A large part of the reason was that if Suzhou City could not be captured quickly, the Taicang Guards would most likely rush to help. And if they were attacked from both inside and outside by Taicang Guard and Suzhou Guard, then the "warriors" he had finally gathered together would inevitably suffer immeasurable losses.
The longer the delay, the more dangerous it becomes.
In fact, in order to prevent being outflanked by the Taicang Guards, they sent people to Taicang every day to report news. The news was received that the Taicang Guards were closed in Taicang and could not leave the city, looking worried about harming Chi Yu. He judged that the Taicang Guards believed that the Suzhou Guards were more than enough to guard Suzhou City, so they had no intention of rushing to help.
Each of the guards in the Ming Dynasty had their own subordinates, so it was reasonable for the Taicang guards not to leave the city until they were transferred. After all, if Taicang was lost because of his rash rush to aid Suzhou, to Taicang Wei, that would be considered as leaving without authorization and he would be punished. Although King Zhu Su of Wu could use his status as prince to send people to ask for help, Ojingtian and Zhang Li had already sent people to intercept the messengers along the way. Without orders from superiors and no letters asking for help, it was reasonable for the Taicang Guards to stand still.
But why did Taicang Guard appear here today like a divine weapon descending from the sky? And looking at this posture, it is obvious that the Taicang Guards have almost all come out!
Why? Aren't they worried about losing Taicang?
"Hahahaha, fellow thieves, your grandpa from the Chang family is here!"
Accompanied by an extremely arrogant laugh, several extraordinarily tall ships crashed heavily into the depths of Zhang Li's fleet. After plowing down several small boats, they collided with many densely packed ships.
At first, a young man held a big sword in his hand and led people to and from the ships, fighting with unparalleled bravery. Wherever this person went, the Japanese pirates and the remnants of the Zhang family fell down like cut weeds in an instant. Being attacked like this by this person, the "alliance" fleet, which was already frightened and panicked, became even more chaotic like a pot of boiling porridge!
Judging from the surname he reported and the gold-embroidered scroll that followed behind him, we could tell that this man was the son of the once invincible Chang Shiwan, the Ming army generals, Zheng Guogong and Chang Mao!
Got it, got it all. Besides Duke Zheng, who else could mobilize the Taicang Guards to come out in full force?
As for why Zheng Guogong appeared here together with Taicang Wei? That must be because Zhu Su'er in Suzhou City had already made a plan to let Zheng Guogong take over the military power of Taicang Guard.
The Taicang Guards closed the city to defend themselves, not because they were worried about harming Chiyu, but because they were waiting for an opportunity. In other words, Zhu Su'er never thought of just defending the city from the beginning.
Instead, he wanted to use this Suzhou city as bait to use his tactics to lure the Taicang Guards together to gather them together and annihilate them all!
"Get to the shore! Get to the shore!" Zhang Li reacted and ran to the helmsman's side, trying to grab the rudder with his hands. One's own side was attacked hastily, while the Taicang Guards were well-prepared and well-prepared. A head-on confrontation would surely result in the total annihilation of the entire army. It would be better to abandon the ship and go ashore alone. Once ashore, you might be able to escape with your life in the chaos.
"Zhang Jun, do you want to abandon my warriors and escape for your lives?" The Oita clan next to Zhang Li was inspired by blood. "If I can only escape like a wild dog, then I, the Oita clan, would rather commit seppuku!"
All the wealth of the Oida family is here. If these samurai who are loyal to the Oida family are lost, even if they return to the country, they will not be able to escape the fate of being hunted down and assassinated by the shogunate. Naturally, Oida Shi Nao was unwilling to escape alone.
His eyes were blood red, and he stared at Chang Mao, who had killed another samurai on a ship. "That man is a general of the Ming army. If we kill him, the morale of the Ming army will be low. Zhang Jun, give me you." That big bow, let me shoot an arrow..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of a sharp weapon entering flesh. Zhang Li was horrified to find that a three-foot-long arrow "grew" out of thin air from the side of Oita's straight neck.
The tail feathers of the arrows are still trembling slightly!
"There's... there's a cold arrow!" Zhang Li was immediately frightened out of his wits. He couldn't care less about Oita Shi Nao who was lying on the deck with a look of disbelief on his face. He quickly shrank his head and crouched under the guard board of the ship.
…
"Hey! Old Five! You, the valet, are so good at shooting!"
On the north bank, Zhu Di, who was riding a horse, put down the monocular telescope in front of him, as if looking at some treasure, and looked up and down at the dog standing on top of a huge rock, holding a huge bow.
"This shooting skill is unparalleled even by the so-called eagle shooters of Meng Yuan! Where did you find such a treasure?" Zhu Di turned to Zhu Su and said.
"Coincidence, coincidence..." Zhu Su casually responded to Zhu Di's inquiry. He was also riding on a horse, watching from a distance the thief flagship that was obviously panicking and running around trying to hide. "This should be enough to completely paralyze the thief's command system, right?"
"The leader of the Japanese pirates has been killed, and the thieves are in chaos... Next, it is time for us to completely take the lives of these thieves who dare to offend our great power." Zhu Su's eyes flashed with a fierce light. And passed. Behind him were many majestic soldiers riding on war horses and holding sharp swords.
"The hunting time has come. Gentlemen, the Japanese bandits Zhang Lu robbed the people, and their crimes are heinous. If any bandits are lucky enough to land ashore, even if there is only one person, you must chase them away and kill them."
"In this battle, our army will leave no one alive!"
(End of chapter)
