The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 255 Naval Battle

The water flows into the sea!
Scattered snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and on the river, thousands of sails raced and hundreds of boats competed. Nearly a thousand boats of all sizes filled the tens of miles wide river. On the flagship of the leader, Zhang Zhenzhou held his sword hilt and wore battle armor, surrounded by dozens of naval generals.

The estuary of the Weishui River is about a few miles wide, and it can be used by large sea ships. At this moment, a watchman on the mast suddenly shouted: "There are warships ahead."

On the endless water, a ship about a thousand stones was about to sail. Zhang Zhenzhou looked around anxiously, and saw that there were no other ships except this warship. He ordered: "Stop this ship!"

Flags waving.The semaphore conveyed that several large ships cut through the waves and accelerated forward, and they circled in front of the Goguryeo warship in a short while, and the soldiers of the Sui Army on the large ships rained arrows like rain.More than a dozen soldiers screamed and were shot down on the ship. The rest of the soldiers hid in the cabin. The sail rope of the Goguryeo warship was shot off.

Not long.The Sui army escorted dozens of Goguryeo soldiers onto the big ship, and all the dozens of Goguryeo soldiers knelt on the deck, begging for mercy.

Zhang Zhenzhou stepped forward to interrogate, and turned to the generals and said: "These Koguryo water troops are responsible for stationing an island outside Pyongyang. Their more than [-] warships are all deployed in Beishui, and they are responsible for defending Pyongyang. .”

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhenzhou continued: "I lost to Goguryeo several times in the Sui Dynasty, which was our quick solution. We lost to their steady efforts. Now Liaodong has fallen into the hands of my Tai Sui. We no longer have logistical pressure, and Your Highness and the others have restrained most of Goguryeo's troops in Danfeng City, as long as we annihilate this water army, we can threaten Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo."

Zhang Zhenzhou talked about his control of the Goguryeo war situation, and his words and deeds were well-organized, with the style of a famous general.

Zhou Shaozu sighed: "When your Highness attacked the Turks, the aggression was like fire. Now the attack on Goguryeo is as immovable as a mountain. It is admirable to use defense instead of attack and not give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Zhang Zhenzhou nodded and said: "That's true. Your Highness gave us [-] slaves to break through Pyongyang City. As long as Pyongyang City is broken, Goguryeo will be in turmoil and people's hearts will be unstable, laying the foundation for the victory ahead."

Lai Hong asked, "Captain, how should we fight?"

"There are still forty miles, and it takes an hour. The first fleet is going upstream, and the speed should not be too fast. The second and third teams keep a distance and follow behind with slave soldiers." Zhang Zhenzhou, who was once a guardian, Zhou Fashang, a navy general, is very familiar with this place.

"Here!"

The order was given and the fleet set off.

The downstream of Beishui is more than ten miles wide, and there are some small islands scattered in the middle from time to time. Although the river is very wide, more than 300 large ships are traveling very spectacularly.

The fleet that stretches for more than ten miles travels in clusters, like a giant dragon coming out of the sea, swimming in the big river. The two banks are densely populated, and there are large farmlands and villages everywhere.

This is the Beishui Plain, with fertile soil and criss-crossing rivers. It has been densely populated in Koguryo since ancient times. From time to time, you can see patches of forest dotted on the plain like green gems.

"Captain! It is impossible for us to arrive in Pyongyang silently." On the side, Zhou Shaozu reminded loudly, this is the fifth time he has reminded.

Zhang Zhenzong looked at the Goguryeo people who were chasing the fleet and yelling on both sides of the bank, and said: "I never thought that I could sneak into the city of Pyongyang. The higher the water goes up, the narrower the waterway is, which is not conducive to combat. The sooner their navy arrives, they can Decisive battle sooner."

After sailing for about half an hour, dense black spots appeared on the water ahead, about five or six miles away from them.

"Goguryeo water army!" There was a trace of tension in Zhou Shaozu's voice.

'when!when!when! '

The bell rang on the mast, and the soldiers rushed out of the cabin. The Sui army had conducted many water combat trainings over the years.

But the navy is different from the army, and it is extremely difficult to form an army.The main force of the Sui navy was only 2 people, and this time it can be said that it was dispatched in full force.

Zhang Zhenzhou's eyes sharpened immediately. Looking back, he looked at the huge trebuchets towering on the deck and the earthen pots quietly placed in the throwing basket, and said coldly: "Send the order, and the five-tooth warship is in front. , Supplemented by the rush, set up the offensive formation and break his formation."

During the period of confrontation between the Southern and Northern Dynasties, in order to unify the south as soon as possible, Yang Jian asked Yang Su to be the governor of Xinzhou, manage the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and prepare for the attack on Chen. Yang Su built thousands of ships in Bashu.At that time, the shipbuilding technology was quite high, and Yang Su ordered people to transform a stronger and more complete "five-tooth ship" on the basis of the fighting ship.

The five-tooth ship is two hundred feet long, one hundred feet high, fifty feet wide on the deck, seven feet in draft, and 500 soldiers as standard.As you can imagine, what a magnificent ship it was.

There are five floors on the five-tooth ship, the bottom four floors are equipped with soldiers, and there is a small attic on the top for observation and command.There are forty long oars on both sides, and the oars are used to propel.The stern is equipped with two sculls, which can be shaken by multiple oarsmen to control the direction of travel.There are parapets on the decks and sheds of warships, which can hide half of the body.There are crenels on the female wall for archery.There is a transverse bulkhead on the ship, and longitudinal beams are set on the transverse bulkhead, and planks are laid on it.The cabin and combat platform are set above the wooden boards, and earth and rocks are filled under the wooden boards to keep the ship stable.

There are six paddle poles on the left, right, front and back of the warship.

The pole is shaped like a big mast, with a huge stone on it, and it is controlled by a winch installed under the deck. It is a powerful weapon in water warfare.When the enemy ship is approaching in combat, release the mechanism at the lower end of the long pole, and the long pole will fall down, and the boulder will hit the target, which is equivalent to a super long hammer. This boulder can be used repeatedly. its wrecked.

In 588 AD, Yang Su led an army to attack Chen Guo in the Southern Dynasty.At the beginning of the decisive battle, Yang Su dispatched more than a thousand soldiers of Bajie to take the lead in rushing towards the Chen army's water formation on the five-tooth warship.

After the five-tooth warship approached the Chen army, it immediately attacked the enemy ship with a racket.In a short time, more than ten enemy ships were sunk with a stick, and more than two thousand enemy people were captured.In this big water battle, the Sui army was invincible, and Chen Jun was terrified.

It is no exaggeration to say that the five-tooth warship is the limit of the cold weapon era. Its combat power and deterrence are equivalent to the battleships of later generations, or even surpassed!Not to mention the Sui and Tang dynasties, even if such a behemoth was placed in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it would still be a big killer in the waters!In order to adapt to the strong wind and waves of the sea, the five-tooth boat has been improved, and its seaworthiness and safety are better than before.

As for the rush, it is an offensive speedboat with good protection.Also known as Chongchong, Mengyao.

The entire cabin and board of the ship are covered with cowhide, which can be used for fire prevention.Several oar holes are opened on both sides for inserting oar boats and rowing for oarsmen.There are three layers of cabins above the deck, which are also wrapped in raw cowhide to prevent enemy fire.There are crossbow windows and spear holes on all sides of each cabin, which can be used to attack enemies from all directions.There is a record that "the back of the boat was covered with raw cowhide, and the two compartments had openings. There were windows and spear holes on the left, right, front, and back. The enemy could not enter, and the arrows and stones could not be defeated." From this, it can be seen that the scorpion is majestic in shape, strong in mobility, and convenient for water warfare.

During the Battle of Chibi in the 13th year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhou Yu, the governor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, used "dozens of Mengchong warships, filled with firewood and ointment", broke into the Cao army's fleet after igniting, and burned the Cao army's fleet in one fell swoop.This is a typical example of a conflict attack in the military history of our country.

"Woooooo!"

At this time, with the sound of horns and drums soaring into the sky, a red triangular flag was waved rapidly, and the first fleet composed of more than 300 boats and five-toothed ships immediately separated from the formation and headed towards The Goguryeo water army on the opposite side killed them.

On the surface of Beishui, after hearing the news, the Goguryeo naval division who came to intercept the Sui army was not strong, with only more than 200 men, mainly Qianshi warships, with a total of more than [-] ships.Their main water warfare weapons are mainly bows and arrows.

Countless sail shadows of Goguryeo were revealed, shouts came from the central army formation, orders were issued in an orderly manner, crossbowmen and shield soldiers stepped forward alternately, and formed defensive arrays on top of each ship .Staring at the enemy army that was getting closer and closer, with the vibration of "嗡", a dark cloud composed of hundreds of arrows suddenly rose, sweeping towards the Goguryeo ship formation overwhelmingly!The scream of the arrow tearing through the air is shocking!

When the first enemy ship appeared on the river surface shrouded in cold mist, showing a clear outline, the water battle broke out immediately!
"Raise your shield!"

Goguryeo also came here in full force this time, and they were well prepared. They fought against the Silla navy all the year round, and their soldiers had far more combat experience than the Sui army.It can be said that the tactics of the Sui army had been expected by them. Almost at the first moment, there were several hoarse and exhausted roars from the Goguryeo boat.

A row of Goguryeo soldiers raised their shields and strode forward, putting the shields on the side of the ship. The crossbowmen stepped back in unison. Beside them were soldiers holding their shields high. At the same time as locust-like arrows rained down, The shield was closed like a tortoise shell, firmly blocking the other soldiers under the shield, and the feathered arrows hit the shield violently like raindrops.

The screams and muffled groans echoed in everyone's ears, and the surviving Goguryeo soldiers looked back and felt their scalps explode.I saw a five-foot-long arrow piercing the shield, stringing the front and rear soldiers into a string.

"Let go!" With the roar of three hundred large bed crossbows of the Sui army, six hundred giant arrows as thick as long spears tore through the air, and with a low and sharp whistling sound, they crossed hundreds of steps in an instant, a series of muffled sounds During the attack, many Goguryeo shield walls were shot open, and the strong penetrating power caused many Goguryeo soldiers to be directly torn apart by the huge arrow, and the bloody breath permeated all of a sudden.

After closing the distance for a while, the soldiers of the Sui army on each warship adjusted the angle according to the instructions of the flag officer and continued to launch.

"Oh!"

After another round of crossbow arrows, many shields shattered, and the warships of the first echelon of Goguryeo were completely paralyzed under the continuous blows.

Unknowingly, the distance between the two armies was within [-] paces.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Zhenzhou immediately drew out his sword and shouted sharply: "Order the former army to attack and defeat the Goguryeo water army!"

"The former army strikes!"

The messenger soldiers quickly conveyed the order with flag language, waved the flag vigorously, and cruised back and forth in front of the formation. Two hundred Muchong and Wuya ships quickly began to exert their strength and greeted the Goguryeo water army.

In an instant, overwhelming shouts sounded from above the river.

(End of this chapter)