Fenghou

Chapter 287 The First Battle

The navy of the Song Army controlled the Yangtze River. Most of their warships were three-thousand-stone sea-going ships, some of which were old warships, and some of them were new ships built in the past two years. They were originally moored in Runzhou to prevent Jin soldiers from crossing the river. .

However, the Song Army scouts found that there was no sign of the Jin soldiers crossing the Yangtze River on the north bank of the Yangtze River. After Li Gang's repeated requests, Zhao Gou agreed to transfer the fleet to the Dongting Lake area and first control the Yangtze River waterway.

Yang Yao's warships are all around Qianshi. Although they are small in size, they are flexible and fast. They can feel like a fish in water in the Dongting Lake they are familiar with.

But in the Yangtze River, facing the huge warships of the Song Army, and the Yangtze River waterway is not as wide as Dongting Lake, there is not much room for movement. Go to Dongting Lake and wait for the Song army to enter the lake for a battle.

Near the mouth of the Yangtze River in Balingshui, there are fifty huge warships moored in a row. These are the fifty three-thousand-stone warships allocated to Chen Qing by Li Gang, and there are more than one hundred small warships behind the warships. battleship.

In addition to fifty warships, there are five thousand elite water troops, and one of the five thousand stone warships was selected by Chen Qing as the commander-in-chief.

At this time, Xie Changzhi was directing dozens of craftsmen to install small catapults on the sides and bows of several warships. The fire oil ball, about the size of a volleyball, was thrown fifty paces away.

The kerosene ball is actually a spherical clay pot filled with gunpowder and sulfur and coated with kerosene on the outside. It is thrown out during burning. Once it hits a ship, the pottery body shatters and a large amount of gunpowder pours out, resulting in a large area of ​​rapid fire. combustion.

There is also a kind of kerosene ball that is as big as a basketball, with a kerosene tank inside, and the kerosene will splash out after it breaks. Chen Qing believes that this kind of kerosene ball is more practical than gunpowder against warships.

In addition, soldiers still have a lot of gunpowder arrows to deal with sails. In the age of firearms, various firearms and kerosene have been widely used in water warfare and have played a huge role.

This is also a contest of national power. Only the Song Dynasty could produce such a large amount of gunpowder and kerosene. Although Yang Yao had a sharp warship, he could not produce a single firearm, or a barrel of kerosene, and even various resources were scarce. Poverty, this is the performance of weak strength.

In addition to trebuchets, Chen Qing also installed a thousand bed crossbows brought from the northwest on more than a dozen warships. The boat soldiers inside were also one of Xie Changzhi's ten ways to deal with vehicles and boats.

The five thousand water army originally had a commander, but Li Gang considered it more carefully. In order to allow Chen Qing to command the water army better, he did not send a commander over. Instead, three commanders led the five thousand water army and fifty warships. , Chen Qing personally served as the commander of the navy.

"When will the commander-in-chief plan to send troops? Brothers are gearing up, and we can't wait any longer!" A commander named Li Feng asked with a smile.

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Don't worry, starting tomorrow, everyone will have to practice a few more times on the Yangtze River, and you can only go to the battle when you are at least [-]% sure."

"It will take more than ten days before we can go to battle!" Li Feng's face revealed a look of disappointment.

Seeing that the three commanders were a little impatient, Chen Qing simply stopped and said solemnly to the three of them: "You have to understand that the water thieves we are facing are not a mob. They are really nothing on the shore, but in the water, they are one Jiaolong, we will lose if we underestimate the enemy!"

All three of them showed shame on their faces, bowed together and said: "I understand!"

Chen Qing smiled and comforted them again, "Don't worry! I'll send people to watch their every move. When the time comes, we will send troops immediately!"

At this time, Xie Changzhi came over with his lame leg and said with a smile, "Dutong, I actually found a good thing."

"What good stuff?" Chen Qingrao asked with great interest.

"Come with me, please!"

Chen Qing followed Xie Changzhi into the cabin with several generals. Xie Changzhi pointed to a long and thick wooden pole on the corner and said, "That's it!"

"This is a mast?" Chen Qing was taken aback for a moment.

"At first I thought it was a mast, but after a closer look, I found out that it was wrong. This is called a smashing stick, a water warfare weapon in the Sui and Tang Dynasties."

Chen Qing glanced back at the three commanders, and Li Feng said in surprise, "This was moved from an old ship. We thought it was a mast, but we felt that it was a bit soft and unusable, so we left it here. As far as I can remember, at least five or six years."

Xie Changzhi laughed and said: "This is much more valuable than a mast. It is the same thing as the throwing pole of a thousand-step gun, but it is much thicker. It costs thousands of dollars to make such a pole. It takes more than ten years. The oil needs to be soaked ten times, soaked for more than half a year each time, then dried in the sun, and then soaked in oil, it is extremely tough, if you don’t believe it, you will chop it a few times to ensure that there is no trace.”

Chen Qing stepped forward and took a closer look. It was indeed the same as the throwing pole of the super trebuchet in Fort Ganquan. It should have excellent toughness, and there was a round hole at the bottom, which should be used for a shaft.

"How does it work?"

"It is installed on the side of the ship, and the front end is equipped with a hammer head. When the enemy ship is approaching, it is pulled down suddenly. This hammer can directly smash a thousand-stone ship into a big hole."

"Is it just a saber?"

"Yes! A sharp weapon for close defense."

Chen Qing nodded, "Find a way to install it on Shuai Chuan, as Shuai Chuan's personal saber!"

"Don't worry, it's not difficult. You can go to the warehouse to find a hammer, and you can install it at night."

After installing the weapons, the Song army immediately conducted tactical drills in the Yangtze River. Seven drills were performed within fifteen days.

In the early morning of this day, Chen Qing received an eagle letter from Changde Mansion. When he opened the letter, there was only one sentence on it, "The first dog has returned to his lair last night!"

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Pass my order, the whole army set off!"

Half an hour later, [-] large ships and more than [-] small boats sailed into Dongting Lake from the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Junshan is not far from Hukou, Yang Yao was shocked when he received the report, why did Chen Qing choose to attack at this juncture?

Is it a coincidence or premeditated?

Yang Yao had no way of knowing, but he had no choice, so he immediately led more than a hundred warships out to fight.

Since the other party insists on coming to die, I will fulfill him!
The warships of Yang Yao's army are not big, there are more than [-] vehicles and boats, all of which are thousand stone warships, and then there are ships of about two hundred stones and five hundred stones, and there are more than three thousand bandit troops in total.

Yang Yao admits that he is no match for the Song Army on land, but he has strong self-confidence in the water. This confidence comes from his repeated victories. He has defeated the Song Army three times, and the Song Army suffered heavy casualties.

His vehicles and boats are fast and flexible, like wild dogs on the prairie. After destroying the power of the Song army's big ship like a wild dog, they sent water ghosts to scuttle the big ship, causing the entire Song army to feed the fish in Dongting Lake. shrimp.

On the vast lake, Chen Qing stood on the handsome boat and saw the group of black dots in the distance, he turned his head and smiled at Yang Zaixing: "It's the same as last time, let them learn your arrow skills!"

Yang Zaixing nodded, "I'll deal with the water ghosts, unless they don't show their heads for a breath!"

Zhao Ping, the commander next to him, quickly said: "The water ghosts of the bandit army really don't show their heads. They usually carry a half-foot-long bamboo tube. They use this bamboo tube to breathe. It's not easy to find on the water."

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Don't worry, our General Yang's eyes are sharper than eagles, no one can escape."

"Dutong, they are coming!" shouted the watchman overhead.

Chen Qing stared at the lake. Under the sun, more than [-] thousand stone warships lined up and rumbled towards this side at a very fast speed. Their tactics were exactly the opposite of those of the Song army. in front, while the boat full of soldiers was behind.

After the vehicles and boats destroy the power of the big boats, the lake is dominated by small boats.

There are two sources of power for a big ship, one is the sails, and the other is the stern rudder. On the one hand, the stern rudder is used to control the course.

The car and boat use its flexibility to destroy these two places.

The Song army went up to thirty small boats with canopies. This kind of canopy is not the canopy of ordinary civilian ships. It is a military canopy. Its function is a shield. When the situation is critical, soldiers of the Song Army can enter the canopy to avoid the enemy's arrows. arrow.

Thirty tent boats were fast and approached the enemy vehicles and boats quickly. The fishing nets were hidden in the boat tents. The bandits did not notice any abnormalities. He even aimed at the boats and rammed them head-on.

　Lao Gao has the audacity to ask everyone for a monthly ticket and a reward, please everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)