Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3412 Deja Vu

Cao's Tongguan Camp and Zhongtiaoshan Camp were built on the banks of a river, connected by a floating bridge. Originally, there was no special defense system between the two camps, because many Cao's army thought that the area between the two camps was safe. After Sima Yi stabbed them in the face, they began to set up some sentry towers on both sides of the floating bridge, set up strong bows and crossbows, and catapults to snipe the enemy. This formed a crescent formation with the floating bridge as the bowback.

Of course, the distance between the pontoon bridge and the two camps is different.

The Zhongtiaoshan camp was more focused on defending against the Hussars in Hedong to the north, and the heavy responsibility of fighting against the Hussars in Tongguan naturally fell on the Tongguan camp.

Even if the Zhongtiao Mountain camp discovered that the cavalry troops in Tongguan were launching a counterattack, they would have to immediately send troops to support them, but it would still take about fifteen to twenty miles of mountain roads, at least half a day.

And a half-day time difference sometimes determines everything.

After all, Cao's army had no cavalry and there was nothing they could do because of their short legs.

Compared with the defense of the main camp, the defense system of the pontoon bridge is relatively weak. Neither the guards nor the defensive equipment are very strong. This is also an important reason why Pang Tong chose to further break through and attack on the water.

But this weakness is only relative.

After all, the navy of the Hussars in Chang'an was not very systematic, so neither the Cao army's defense line on the pontoon bridge nor the navy of the Hussars in Guanzhong had the power to directly defeat or crush the enemy.

Pang Tong's combat objectives are multi-faceted and can be described as phased goals. Clearing out Cao's troops in the lower city and regaining control of the Tongguan ferry is the first-level goal, which has now been basically completed.

The second stage was to destroy the chariot formations and traps of Cao's army on the Tongguan Slope, which was basically completed.

Although Liu Fu evacuated some of Cao's soldiers and civilians, as well as related chariot and camp equipment in the end, most of the facilities on the Tongguan Slope were destroyed, and they were even destroyed by the kerosene buried by Cao's army themselves. This has to be said to be a wonderful irony.

It's like Pang Tong not only slapped Cao Zhang and Liu Fu in the face, but also shouted "What's wrong with me hitting you?"...

Anyway, Shandong has such a tradition, so it’s not a big deal.

The goal of the third phase is to destroy the pontoon bridge.

The pontoon bridge is an important passage connecting the Zhongtiaoshan camp and the Tongguan camp. If the connection between the two camps can be cut off, Cao's army will be cut off and separated in a short period of time.

Moreover, destroying Cao's pontoon bridge would allow the Chang'an Cavalry's ships to threaten Cao's entire supply line to some extent...

  Although the river is not as easy to navigate as the Yangtze River, it is still possible, isn't it?

This will not only bring convenience to the Cavalry Army in terms of operations, but also increase the burden on Cao's army. It is more likely to break the stalemate at a certain point and affect the direction of the battle.

However, in order to attack the pontoon bridge, they must first break through the obstacles set up by Cao's army underwater.

Although the morale of Cao's army was not high, the civilians they brought with them were hardworking and meticulous. The underwater obstacles they set up in the river were actually made with the flesh and blood and lives of the Shandong civilians.

When the ice and snow on the river melted, it was washed away once, and then it was rebuilt again. Countless laborers died silently in the river.

Perhaps the muddy water of the river is because it is contaminated by these innocent souls.

Cao's army suffered successive blows, which seriously undermined the morale and confidence of Cao's soldiers.

Seeing this, Guanqiu Jian was very hesitant.

If they tried to send the few ships of Cao's army to attack the cavalry navy, they would naturally be the focus of the cavalry navy's long-range attack. Whether they could rush to the front would be a big problem. But if they didn't rush, the Cao army with insufficient range would be hit in vain...

After much hesitation, Guanqiu Jian still did not order the ships to attack. Although they could be considered to be waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, Guanqiu Jian did not dare to order the Cao army's only naval ships to go forward to fight. He only dared to let these ships defend the obstacles in front of the pontoon bridge.

But Guanqiu Jian didn't know that his mentality fell exactly into Pang Tong's calculations.

There were no melee troops such as swordsmen, shieldmen, and spearmen on Ma Jun’s ship!

Although the oarsmen can also fight with swords, they will lose some of their mobility and their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of specialized sword and shield soldiers. Therefore, the tower ship led by Ma Jun is still very afraid of close combat...

Unfortunately, Guanqiu Jian did not dare to go up, so the long-range firepower of the tower ship brought by Ma Jun was fully utilized.

Ma Jun installed small catapults and crossbows on the ship, but no cannons.

Because the current building ships are still too small, the cannons must be installed symmetrically, otherwise the heavy weight on one side may greatly increase the possibility of the ship capsizing. However, the long-range of these cold weapons is enough to form a three-layer long-range attack mode of long, medium and short distances.

Ma Jun didn't know much about naval warfare, and long-range attacks didn't require complicated operations. The ships moved forward slowly, and once Cao's army entered the attack range, they would become targets of attack.

Guanqiu Jian ordered the archers to move forward and seize positions on both sides of the river, preparing to launch a full-scale counterattack when the cavalry's warships were ready to break through the obstacles in the river.

In order to remove the obstacles in the river, some manpower must be freed up, and at that time, because the power of the boats must be used to tow or destroy, the boats are in the most unstable state. If the crossbows arranged on both sides and the pontoon are taken into account, any enemy that launches an attack will be blocked on three sides, so counterattacking at that moment will naturally be the most stable!

However, what Guanqiu Jian did not expect was that Ma Jun's ships were not in a hurry to destroy the pontoon bridge, but instead launched an attack on the Cao army soldiers within the range.

Those unfortunate Cao army archers had just entered Ma Jun's attack range when they were attacked from a long range.

The catapults loaded on the deck of the ship began to show their power. The gunners raised their wooden hammers high and hit the hooks of the thunderbolt chariot hard. The heavy counterweight box sank suddenly, and the long wooden tip drew an arc and swung into the sky, throwing out stones as big as human heads.

This type of catapult is smaller than the ones on land, but for Cao's archers, no matter how big or small it is, they can't withstand being hit by it.

The stone bullets flew in the air, making a sharp whistling sound, and flew towards the archers assembled by Cao's army.

"boom! 』

The stone bullets fell to the ground, and the splashing stones hit several unlucky Cao army soldiers.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Cao Jun's commander shouted in the queue, "The stone cannons are inaccurate! They can't hit us! Don't panic! Don't panic!"

According to common experience, this is indeed the case, but the problem is that the people on the ship are not ordinary naval commanders, but the few great craftsmen in Chang'an who are not from the Huang family!

When it comes to commanding soldiers to fight on the water, Ma Jun is only a mediocre person in this area, but when it comes to skills in terms of machinery and equipment, Ma Jun far exceeds the average general.

When a general sees a catapult fail to hit the target, he will probably just jump up and down and curse, "These are all Italian cannons..."

  But Ma Jun squinted his eyes, calculated the water flow speed and wind speed, and then immediately ordered the parameters to be corrected!

The leader of the archers was still shouting to keep calm, and then he saw the second stone bullet fall directly into the crowd!

The stone bullets bounced, drawing a bloody path!

"stable……"

The team leader was about to shout again when he heard a soldier next to him yelling "be careful". Looking up, he saw another stone bullet whizzing down from the sky, seemingly heading towards him!

"No! 』

  The captain was so frightened that he immediately stared at the direction where the stone bullet came from, trying to dodge. However, because his eyes were looking at the sky, he tripped over something and fell out with a grunt!

The stone bullet whizzed down and hit the unlucky team leader right on the body. In an instant, his body was completely destroyed and his limbs and flesh flew everywhere!

Some people near the captain knew that the captain was simply unlucky, but the Cao army soldiers far away did not know that. They thought that the stone bullets were really that accurate, as if they had predicted how the captain would dodge and then hit that place!

There was a sudden uproar among the archers of Cao's army, and then the entire line became scattered. Everyone's attention was focused on the stone bullets flying in the sky one after another. They had no intention of paying attention to the fighting ships that were coming out from behind Ma Jun's tower ship to clear the iron chains and were quietly approaching Cao's iron chains blocking the river.

Under the technical conditions of the Han Dynasty, it was impossible to make this kind of iron chain used to block rivers as thick as those in later generations. Even if a thick iron chain was really made, due to its own weight, it might break on its own without the opponent having to destroy it.

The fighting ship in Guanzhong approached the iron chain, propped up the chain with a strut, and turned the ship sideways. The soldiers used a fishing rod to hook up the iron chain and placed it in the slot on the ship's board.

Iron chains in the Han Dynasty were generally cast, without hydraulic presses, but this kind of cast iron is relatively brittle...

Soon, the soldier aimed the jaws of the bayonet at the chain, while another soldier raised a hammer and smashed the chain open in two or three strokes.

The Cao army soldiers on the floating bridge only discovered at this time that the iron chain had been broken, and they began to scream.

Guanqiu Jian was also shocked. He shouted and gave a death order, ordering all Cao's soldiers to go onto the pontoon bridge. He must stop the Chang'an navy of the Cavalry from destroying the second underwater interception obstacle, otherwise the pontoon bridge would face direct attack from the Cavalry!

But Guanqiu Jian miscalculated again...

  When the iron chains blocking the river of Cao's army broke, Ma Jun did not send ships to tow or destroy the underwater obstacles as Guanqiu Jian had expected, but directly released fire ships from the back of the tower ship!

There were not just one fireship, but two, one after the other.

The front ship is used for attack and the rear ship is used for escape.

The oarsmen in the fireboat worked together to steer the boat down the river! In order to reduce the risk of being hit, the fireboat was generally small. In addition to the things that ignited the fire, there was only space for the oarsmen to row.

The rowers were bare-chested, half lying and half sitting on both sides of the cabin, rowing the long oars. Although it was already late autumn, they were still sweating and steaming.

Above the rowers’ heads is the latest addition of “armor”.

This is a rare configuration for fire ships.

Perhaps because the fireship itself was used for burning and destruction, most of the fireships were relatively simple, and even the rowers who operated the fireships seemed to be used as consumables by default. They did not care too much about the quality of the fireships, nor the protective devices for the rowers on the fireships themselves.

But it was different in Chang'an Guanzhong.

Once the fire ship was released, it was like the cards were revealed on the poker table, and everyone knew what they had to deal with.

Guanqiu Jian's face flushed, his voice was hoarse, he had to save some face in this battle, otherwise, he had proved himself to be a coward by leading the troops in close combat, and now if he proved that he was also incompetent in commanding in the rear, then the best outcome for him in this life, even if he survived the war, would probably be to be a clerk in a county. When he was old and weak, he could only recall the battles he had participated in, the opportunities he had had, the wrong choices he had made, and then indulge in the alcohol or Wushisan that numbed his nerves and caused pain, and end his life.

Thinking of such an outcome, Guanqiu Jian shuddered with fear!

He hurried forward a few steps, almost rushing to the river bank, and shouted orders to the Cao army soldiers.

Following Guanqiu Jian's order, Cao's soldiers rushed onto the pontoon bridge, endured the damage from being hit by the bows, crossbows and stones from the cavalry's tower ships, and fired rockets at the fire ships floating downstream!

  The archers on Ma Junlou's ship also knew that this was a critical moment, so even though they had been shooting all the way and their physical strength was somewhat reduced and their arms were sore and numb, they still gritted their teeth and shot desperately!

There are three hundred archers on a warship, with three or four ships lined up on the left and right, and thousands of arrows can be shot out in an instant!

  Although the hit rate of the arrows shot from the ship was relatively low due to the influence of the wind on the river, there was nothing that could be done about the large number of arrows!

The Cao army archers who rushed onto the pontoon bridge and tried to intercept the fire ships were fighting back under a hail of arrows. Almost every moment and every second, an archer of the Cao army screamed as he was hit by arrows, and then fell into the river, floating down the river.

Cao's counterattack rockets fell one after another...

Guanqiu Jian stared intently at the trajectories of the rockets falling from the sky...

Generally speaking, these fireboats carry ignition materials and flammable materials, so once they are ignited, they will immediately get out of control and will most likely be stuck and blocked by underwater piles in the river!

But those hidden stakes under the river are not afraid of burning!

The Hussars do not have an unlimited number of fire ships. As long as we burn this batch, we will be able to block the Hussars' attack on the pontoon bridge!

  Victory or defeat depends on this moment!

The rocket falls.

Cao's archers were not too bad either. They fired many arrows, and some of them happened to land on the fire ships...

"well……"

Guanqiu Jian cheered subconsciously, but when he said "good" for the second time, his expression changed a little, and the smile that had just appeared on his face froze.

"Why... isn't it burning?"

Guanqiu Jian's eyes widened.

Was it because Cao's soldiers made a mistake in a hurry and forgot to ignite the cloth strips of the rocket?

That's not right. I clearly saw that it was the fire that pierced the fireboat...

"The fireboat has armor! They have armor on their fireboat!"

Some sharp-eyed Cao army soldiers shouted.

  When Guanqiu Jian heard this, he felt his head buzzing!

Why are fireships still covered with armor?

Isn't it just a bamboo tent at best? !

"Send out the fighting ships! Stop them!" Guanqiu Jian felt a little dizzy and his head ached, as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head. "Stop them! If you can't stop them, you'll all die! You'll all die!"

It cannot be said that Guanqiu Jian’s decision was wrong, it was just too late.

  On the battlefield, being slow by one step means being slow all the time!

What’s more, Guanqiu Jian’s slowness was not limited to just this step.

The fireboat quickly drew an "S" shape on the river, bypassed the hidden obstacles of Cao's army under the water, and then headed straight for the floating bridge!

When the final collision began, the oarsmen on the fireship opened the plate armor on the ship, evacuated to the rear ship, cut the traction rope, and lit the fire starter on the fireship...

"Stop it! Stop it..."

Guanqiu Jian howled, his face flushed, and he wanted to cry but had no tears.

The fireship crashed directly into the floating bridge like a galloping horse!

Near the battlefield, almost all the soldiers and generals on both sides stopped what they were doing at this moment, staring at the fireboats that had crashed into the floating bridge...

Ma Jun clenched his fists tightly, his heart in his throat.

"Burn it!"

Although he was sure that the fire ship was qualified, there was still a chance that it would not catch fire.

Although the probability is small, it cannot be denied.

Therefore, the soldiers and generals of both sides, at this moment, instantly chanted the title of the god countless times...

It seemed that he sensed the intentions of the soldiers, and it also seemed that the generals and soldiers on the side of the cavalry were praying to a more unified object, all of which were the Five Gods, while those on the Shandong side were naturally much more chaotic...

This moment seemed incomparably long.

Fireworks finally came out from the fireboat on the floating bridge, and in the blink of an eye, flames shot up into the sky!

"Good!" Ma Jun clenched his fists excitedly, raised them high and shouted, "Victory! Victory to the cavalry!"

"The hussars are victorious!" 』

The soldiers of the Hussars were also extremely excited and cheered in unison.

On the other hand, Cao's army was extremely depressed.

Guanqiu Jian stood there for a while, looking at the blazing flames, his expression twisted, and he unconsciously took two steps forward...

"My dear, my dear, what do you want to do?"

The guard at the side asked.

Guanqiu Jian did not answer, but looked at the raging fire, and then began to run towards the direction of the raging fire, "God is jealous of me! What can I do!"

Guanqiu Jian's guards were a little confused at first, but when they saw Guanqiu Jian running towards the fire without looking back, they were shocked and rushed forward to knock Guanqiu Jian to the ground.

"Wow... God is jealous of me, jealous of me..."

Guanqiu Jian was pinned to the ground by the guards, still crying and shouting in pain.

At this moment, he did feel pain, but he still only felt his own pain, and turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Cao army soldiers who were engulfed by flames on the floating bridge...