Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 250 Sea Falcon Clipper
"Swish—swish—"

The waves surge rhythmically, rolling and roaring, constantly crashing and releasing boundless power.

The deep blue sea sometimes surges with high crests, and sometimes plunges into deep troughs.

On the sea, warships stood in rows, their towering masts densely packed together, resembling the mangrove forests common in Lingnan. The hulls, polished to a gleaming shine, shimmered softly in the sunlight.

Zhu Wen, dressed in a blue military uniform with a bright armor over it and a rhinoceros-hide shawl over his shoulders, stood tall on the warship's command platform, gazing into the distance.

The ships of the Guangzhou Navy rose like dark clouds suddenly appearing in the sky, and countless masts and flags seemed to rise little by little from beneath the water, obscuring the newborn sun.

Zhu Wen was calm and composed, already displaying the demeanor of a great general.

His piercing gaze seemed capable of swallowing up an entire enemy fleet that blotted out the sky.

Inspired by their commander's charisma, the rebel soldiers also put aside their fear of the Guangzhou navy.

This navy had previously roamed the seven seas without ever suffering a defeat, and its creator, Li Tiao, was also known as the "God of the Sea."

Li Yi, who actually commanded the fleet, was also a famous naval general.

On the contrary, Zhu Wen had no experience in naval warfare.

But Zhu Wen once used his Dragon Sparrow Sword at Muling Pass to tell the world that the so-called female warrior of the Tang Dynasty was nothing more than a body of flesh and blood.

The warriors believed that Zhu Wen could lead them to accomplish another god-slaying feat!
"Don't underestimate mountains or rivers." Zhu Wen's composure was by no means a blind underestimation of his enemy.

In recent days, he has personally witnessed several pushing and shoving incidents that occurred during the training of the online army.

A living person fell into a whirlpool on the sea surface and disappeared without a trace in an instant.

Zhu Wen understood the boundless power of the sea and knew that he could not master naval warfare in a short time.

This does not mean that Zhu Wen had no plans in mind.

As the Cao Jun fleet surged out of the protective range of the dockyard towers, the Guangzhou Navy swiftly approached like bloodthirsty sharks.

The fastest to arrive were not the towering warships, but the medium-sized sea hawks.

These days, Cao Jun has suffered a lot at the hands of the Guangzhou sea falcon ships.

These ships, which appeared during the reign of Emperor Taizong of this dynasty, have become increasingly sophisticated in design over the past two hundred years.

Unlike the flat bottom of old warships, it adopted a pointed bottom structure, with a low bow and high stern, and a large front and small rear, resembling a falcon. Floating planks were placed on both sides under the hull, shaped like falcon wings. Even in stormy weather, the ship would not capsize.

The sea hawk had no sails and relied on oars for propulsion, which made it advantageous for traveling against the wind and current. In addition, its relatively small size facilitated rapid maneuverability.

This type of medium-sized warship was not well-suited for carrying large paddles used for launching massive stones. Besides bows and arrows, the sea hawk primarily employed two other attack methods.

One feature was a sharp ram, covered in sheet metal, positioned below the waterline at the bow, as sharp as a giant dagger. Upon ramming an enemy ship, the ram would penetrate its hull, causing it to take on water and sink.

Secondly, a long pole was used to suspend a stone, called a "striking pole." Unlike a large striking pole that launches stones, this method involved approaching the enemy ship and repeatedly striking it with the pole, effectively causing damage.

The Guangzhou navy boasts highly skilled personnel, and its commander commands them with remarkable precision. In previous naval engagements, the newly formed rebel navy had suffered setbacks at Li Yi's hands. Furthermore, the well-equipped and manpower-rich sea hawks were particularly effective against the rebel navy.

On Zhu Wen's flagship, flags flew high and drums and music resounded. The rebel ships stretched out to both sides, forming a crane wing formation.

The naval flag signals were not something Zhu Wen could understand in just a few days.

However, the navy built by Huang Chao absorbed boatmen and pirates from all over Lingnan, and even deserters from the government navy. These professionals were able to imitate the structure of the government navy and create an effective command system.

Zhu Wen conveyed his intentions, leaving the specific command to the experts. As the Guangzhou navy's fast hawk ships rapidly surrounded them, the rebel ships also unleashed a hail of arrows.

When drawing a bow, one should draw a strong one; when using an arrow, one should use a long one. The arrows used by the soldiers of the Grass Army were all single-piece wooden bows made of mulberry wood, with extremely long bows that were almost as tall as a person when not bent.

Compared to composite bows made of ribs and horns, single-piece wooden bows are less susceptible to moisture and are better suited to the humid environment of Lingnan. Although their power generation efficiency is not as good as that of horn bows, this can be compensated for by increasing the pulling force.

Among the rebel army were many with extraordinary strength and archers skilled in hitting the bullseye from a hundred paces away. They drew their bows as if embracing the moon, and their long and light arrows shot towards the enemy ships like iron clouds.

The sea falcon boat has cowhide walls on both sides, but the oarsmen must leave openings for rowing.

The grass army fleet was located upstream, with the wind and current at its back. The long arrows flew towards the enemy with the help of the favorable wind. Once they hit the gaps in the cowhide cover, blood would spurt from the oarsmen.

Even if the arrow doesn't kill instantly, the wounded oarsman will be weakened by blood loss, which will reduce the sea falcon's mobility.

Faced with the rain of arrows from the rebel army, the Guangzhou navy's morale immediately faltered.

"Order the entire army to fire arrows in retaliation!"

Li Yi retaliated in kind, issuing orders.

Arrows, like locusts, also swarmed towards the grass army.

However, the government fleet was facing an upwind wind, and their arrows were far less powerful than those of the rebels. Their archers were also less skilled than the rebels, so the chances of them hitting their targets were naturally very worrying.

Even if the retaliatory arrows managed to hit the grass army archers, they would only fall limply onto the deck with a thud.

Only then did the government troops realize that the archers on the rebel side were all wearing fish-scale armor!

Naval personnel generally do not wear armor, or only wear light armor, otherwise they would not be able to climb out if they fell into the water.

Zhu Wen's tactics, however, went in the opposite direction.

In land battles, archers' armor is not heavy, in order to conserve energy and allow for mobility.

In naval battles, ships serve as vehicles, eliminating the need to consider movement. Although heavily armored, the focus is solely on firing.

The ship could store a huge number of arrows, so the number of arrows fired was not limited by the size of the quiver.

What should be done if a ship capsizes?
If this battle is lost, even if the rebel army is not completely annihilated by the government forces, it will collapse due to starvation caused by the interruption of supplies.

Now, the only option is to fight with our backs to the wall; there's no time to think about how to escape if the ship sinks.
Zhu Wen did not reprimand his soldiers much on this matter; he simply put on a 50-pound suit of bright armor himself.

This means that if Zhu Wen's ship sinks, he will perish with the ship!
With such a general showing such a willingness to die for his country, how could the soldiers lag behind?

As a result, in the initial exchange of fire, none of the peasant soldiers, who were determined to fight to the death, were injured or killed.

Military strategy states: "On the battlefield, where corpses lie, those who are destined to die will live, and those who are fortunate enough to live will die."

As the saying goes, "If one principle is understood, all principles will be understood." In fact, many principles are the same in land warfare and naval warfare.

Although the paddler was protected by raw cowhide and few were injured or killed, the situation still caused Li Yisheng some annoyance.

"The enemy is heavily armored and has nowhere to escape. Our army will advance rapidly and send them to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish and shrimp!"

Li Yixuan issued his orders, and the flags and drums on the flagship swayed, signaling to the entire army.

The sea hawk ships advanced like a high-speed wall on the sea. A fierce boarding action was about to take place between the two armies.

(End of this chapter)