A bonfire was raised on the beach. A tied strong boar was beside the fire. Mononobe Renxiong changed into white hunting clothes and prepared to sacrifice Uma Shimaji, the ancestor of the Mononobe family, to thank him for blessing the Mononobe family. The fleet arrived safely at its destination and prayed to the Lord God to bless them with victory in the ensuing war.
As the whimpering reed flute music ended, Monobe Renkuma walked to the boar, knelt down on his knees, took the special flint dagger from the priest's hand, and stabbed the pig's neck hard, blood spurted out, and the boar let out a shrill scream. Wails. Mononobe Renxiong skillfully cut open the belly of the pig, took out the heart, and raised it above his head. The steam from the bloody pig's heart steamed in the cold air on the shore. His hands were red to the elbows. The bonfire beside him was swaying, and the orange flames reflected the boar's blood into pitch black.
"Uma Shimaji accepted the sacrifice. He was very happy and blessed us. This expedition will be victorious. In front of Mononobe's bow and arrow, the enemy will fall one after another, and the enemy's wife will shed tears of sorrow and mourn. Absolutely, the Mononobe clan will become famous all over the world, and every samurai will return home with great achievements!"
"Victory! Victory!"
The priest's voice was trembling at first, but it became louder and louder as time went on. The surrounding Mononobe warriors shouted in unison until the sky was filled with their calls.
"General, general!"
"What's the matter?" Mononobe Renxiong took the white cloth from his subordinates and wiped his hands clean. He didn't like the ceremony just now, but tradition is tradition. As a general, he must do everything that can boost morale.
"There is a fleet on the river!"
"Fleet?" Mononobe Renxiong quickly climbed to the nearest high ground and looked towards the mouth of Jinjiang River. He could clearly see a fleet of ships slowly sailing along the river into the sea. One, two, and three ships. There are six ships in total.
"Is it the Baekje fleet?" Monobe Lianxiong asked.
"We're not sure yet. The distance is too far and we can't see the flag clearly!"
Mononobe Renxiong narrowed his eyes, stared for a while, and suddenly said in a cold voice: "Blow the horn, I will go and see for myself!"
"Yes, General!"
Mononobe Mamoru rushed over: "Have you confirmed the identity of these ships?"
"Not yet! But they shouldn't be from the Baekje and Silla people! These ships are too long and narrow. I have never seen such a ship!" Monobe Renxiong paused for a moment, and a cold light shot out of his originally narrow eyes: " If my guess is correct, this is probably the Tang Dynasty’s ship!”
The sound of the horn penetrated the blanket, awakening Wang Wenzuo from his dream. He turned over and sat up. His right hand subconsciously reached under the pillow and held the handle of the knife tightly.
He didn't sleep a wink last night - in order to avoid conflicts with the Baekje people, he let the fleet pass through the waters around Zhouliu City at night - fortunately with the blessings of gods and Buddhas, the ship did not hit the rocks and everything went smoothly. When the white color of fish belly appeared on the sky, Wang Wenzuo took Ha Qie back to the cabin and lay down - but what happened?
"Sanlang, we encountered an enemy ship!" Cui Hongdu got into the cabin, his face a little ugly: "Maybe it's a Japanese!"
Wang Wenzuo pushed Cui Hongdu away and got out of the cabin. The oncoming sea breeze made him cough violently. He covered his mouth with his sleeve and looked in the direction of Cui Hongdu's finger. He saw dozens of ships on the southwest sea. Speeding toward him, depending on the speed of both ships, he should be able to catch up in about half an hour.
"Let the soldiers row faster and get rid of them!" Cui Hongdu whispered: "They have many boats!"
"This is impossible!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "Our boat is too full, the boat's draft is too deep, and there is no way to launch the oar!"
It turned out that the ship built by Wang Wenzuo was a mixture of an Arabian dhow and a Viking longship. The hull was four paces wide and twenty paces long. With an aspect ratio of five to one, such a long and narrow hull was unique in East Asia at that time. Yes, if the sails and oars are used together, the speed of the ship can reach 8-9 knots at the fastest, which is far faster than the ships at that time. However, since there were only six ships, Wang Wenzuo stuffed 700 people and 80 horses on the ship, as well as food. , military supplies, and forty "Scorpions". Each boat was packed to the brim. The waterline was only more than one foot away from the oar holes on the ship's side. In order to prevent seawater from splashing into the cabin, the oar holes had been plugged with cork. Unable to use an oar, he could only rely on wind power to sail. With the wind speed at that time, he could not outrun the pursuers who were using both sails and oars.
"How about throwing the goods into the sea so that we can get rid of the pursuers?"
"What will the soldiers eat if we lose them?" Wang Wenzuo rolled his eyes at his subordinates: "Order the soldiers to wear armor and fight. Our ship is bigger and stronger, and the armor and weapons are sophisticated. We may not lose to them!" He boarded the He looked around for a moment from the height of the stern, and finally jumped off the deck: "Look, the coast in front is protruding, and it is full of cliffs and rocks. Let's sail northwest first. The enemy will definitely find a way to block us. In this way Behind them is the coast, there is no room to advance or retreat, we can compress them in the narrow water and beat them hard!"
"I obey the order!" Cui Hongdu immediately understood. It turned out that the number of Japanese ships was much more than that of the Tang army, but the ships were generally smaller, far less sturdy than the Tang army's ships, and their equipment was more sophisticated. If they were in open waters, the Japanese could use the flexibility of the boats to advance and retreat, and rely on their numerical advantage to surround the Tang army one by one and defeat them one by one. However, if they were driven into narrow waters by the Tang army, these thin and fragile boats would be easily Too much to deal with.
"The enemy wants to escape!" Mononobe Renxiong's lips twisted, revealing a ferocious smile: "Give me the order to speed up the Tengu ship and go around to the front to intercept those guys!"
"Yes, General!"
With a series of horn sounds, the Japanese fleet separated into more than ten small boats, like hounds rushing out of the hunting den, strong, fierce and hungry. The long and narrow bows of these ships are painted with images of Tengu, a monster in Japanese mythology known for its agility and fierceness. Its long gray-white oars extend into the sea and fly up and down like a dragonfly gliding on the water. The drummer on the bow beat a rapid beat, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, like a living heart beating.
"The hounds have smelled the scent of the wild boar. No matter how hard the wild boar struggles, there is no way to escape!" Monobe Lianxiong licked his lips, showing an intoxicated look. He took the vine bow from Lang Dang and sneered: "Send the order. Go down, don’t use rockets, the Tang Dynasty’s ship has a very deep draft, and there must be many precious treasures on it!”
"Sanlang, the enemy has divided its forces!" Cui Hongdu said loudly.
"This is a good thing, we can defeat them one by one!" Wang Wenzuo said coldly: "Are the scorpions ready?"
"Everything is ready!"
