Tiger Owl

Chapter 79 The Battle of Queyue (Part 2)

The fleet sped across the river in a grand procession. Gan Ning carefully examined the map in the cabin of the leading warship. He pointed to Queyue City and asked the surrendered general Kan Huang, "General Kan, how many troops are there in Queyue City?"

Kan Huang also came from the prominent Kan family of Jiangxia. Kan Huang's father, Kan Ze, once served as the governor of Wuling County. The Kan family's mansion and ancestral hall were located in the former E County. Therefore, Kan Huang chose to surrender and become Gan Ning's subordinate rather than become a prisoner of war.

Having chosen to surrender to Gan Ning, Kan Huang certainly did not want Huang Zu to take back the southern part of Jiangxia County. If Huang Zu did, his surrender to Gan Ning would implicate his family.

"Reporting to my lord, there were over 65,000 troops in Queyue City before. I led 10,000 men to rescue Wan County, so there are still 55,000 men left. I don't know how many men Huang Zu led to attack Wuchang County, but Queyue City is definitely guarded by his son Huang She. However, I must remind you of one thing: Huang Zu has already asked Liu Biao for help, requesting Liu Biao to send troops to assist him in retaking southern Jiangxia. There may be Liu Biao's troops in Queyue City now."

Gan Ning nodded and asked with a smile, "Isn't the seat of Jiangxia Prefecture in Xiling County? Why has Huang Zu been staying in Queyue City all this time?"

"My lord, you may not know this, but Xiling County is not near the Yangtze River and has inconvenient transportation. It is only a nominal seat of government. Since the completion of Queyue City, Huang Zu has moved all the officials of Jiangxia County to Queyue City, including his own family members."

At this point, Kan Huang suddenly understood his lord's meaning, and he exclaimed with delight, "Could it be that my lord intends to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao?"

Gan Ning nodded. “There are more than 10,000 people stationed in Wuchang County. If Huang Zu wants to take Wuchang County, 20,000 to 30,000 people will not be enough. He will need at least 40,000 to 50,000 people. Therefore, Queyue City will be vulnerable. If I attack Queyue City, I will force Huang Zu to return to reinforce it, and the siege of Wuchang County will be lifted.”

Kan Huang sighed softly, "I'm afraid that at that time, our lord will have to fight another great battle with Huang Zu!"

Gan Ning smiled slightly and said, "I have sharp firearms, which will surely catch Huang Zu off guard."

Kan Huang blushed and said, "My lord's fire oil pottery bottle is indeed very powerful. I have never seen such a tactic before!"

Naval warfare and fire attacks during the Three Kingdoms period primarily involved preparing firewood and sulfur, piling them on ships, igniting them, and then charging into the enemy fleet, similar to the tactics used in the Battle of Red Cliffs. Even when setting fire to a large camp, torches, grease, and sulfur were commonly used, such as Cao Cao's burning of Wuchao during the Battle of Guandu.

There is no precedent for individual firearms combat like that of Gan Ning.

Even when fierce fire oil appeared on the battlefield during the Song Dynasty, it was used to ignite the enemy with fire from a firebox. It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty that fierce fire oil was stored in porcelain bottles and used as a single-soldier throwing weapon. Therefore, Gan Ning's method of using a single-soldier fire weapon was 1,300 years earlier.

It's not that the ancients lacked this wisdom, but fire attacks were ultimately just an auxiliary means of warfare, not used in most battles, and there was no need to study them in depth.

However, Gan Ning's firearms technology was relatively low-tech and was just an idea. Once Gan Ning used them first, Huang Zu and Sun Quan would soon follow suit.

The key is this: Gan Ning must severely damage Huang Zu's navy before Huang Zu learns to use individual firearms, so that Huang Zu will be unable to fight him in naval battles in the future.

The fleet quietly arrived at Xiakou at night. Gan Ning sent scouts to investigate the enemy's situation. At the first watch of the night, the scouts returned and reported the military situation.

Inside the cabin, Gan Ning used wooden blocks to demonstrate military intelligence to everyone.

"This is Queyue City, which is currently only guarded by 5,000 people. However, Liu Biao has sent his nephew Liu Hu and Han Xi with 5,000 troops to support it, so Queyue City has a total of 10,000 troops."

"May I ask, my lord, where are they encamped?" asked the strategist Xu Shu.

"That's the interesting part. Huang She has stationed 5,000 troops in Queyue City, while Liu Biao's army lives on 100 warships moored at the eastern dock. The western dock is Huang Zu's shipyard, surrounded by water barriers, where 6,000 warships are moored." At this point, Gan Ning smiled and said, "Does the strategist have a plan?"

Xu Shu stroked his beard and laughed, "I have a plan: a combined land and water attack will surely annihilate the enemy!"

The thirty warships of the Yuzhang Army were approaching the water fortress. These thirty warships were all equipped with paddle wheels instead of long oars. The biggest advantage was that the twelve rowers were eliminated, and four people were replaced by pedalers. This freed up eight soldiers to join the battle, doubling the combat effectiveness.

Not far behind the thirty warships were thirty fighting ships, each with a crew of one hundred, twenty rowers and eighty fighters. These thirty fighting ships were responsible for supporting the warships.

There is a sentry tower built in the water on each side of the main gate of the water village, with two soldiers standing guard on each tower.

In the darkness, several black-clad water ghosts emerged from the water, their backs pierced by water spikes, and climbed up the watchtower. They suddenly jumped into the watchtower, raised their water spikes, and stabbed the sentries viciously. Two soldiers were instantly pierced through the chest, screaming and falling to the ground. The same thing happened to the other watchtower, and two sentries were killed by the water ghosts.

On the watchtower, the tinderbox was waved three times, and a large, darting warship appeared to the east, followed by thirty large warships. However, they were not going through the main gate, but were preparing to ram through the eastern palisade.

This place is closest to Liu Biao's army's hundred warships, less than a hundred paces away, while the water gate is two miles away.

Suddenly, the Sumai warship accelerated, and with a loud 'boom,' a gaping hole more than ten zhang wide was smashed open in the water fortress's fence. The Sumai warship rushed in, and the thirty warships behind it also accelerated, rushing into the enemy's water fortress through the gap, heading straight for the hundred tower ships anchored a hundred paces away.

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The sentries on the ship rang the alarm bell urgently, and the soldiers were all awakened from their deep sleep. They hurriedly put on their shoes, not even having time to put on their armor, and rushed out of the cabin with their spears in hand.

At this moment, the warships arrived and threw lit oil canisters onto the large ships. Before long, the decks of hundreds of warships were ablaze with flames and thick smoke, and the soldiers were immediately thrown into a panic.

Lieutenant Han Xi realized that the ships were about to be engulfed by flames, and he shouted, "Get ashore! Get ashore!"

The soldiers rushed through the flames without regard for their own safety. Many slipped on the oil and fell into the fire, where they were immediately engulfed. Many others had their hair set on fire, screaming as they ran, only to collapse moments later, curled up from the flames.

However, more than 4,500 people managed to break through the flames and escape to the shore. But just as thousands of them reached the shore, arrows rained down on them. The soldiers were caught off guard and fell to the ground, hit by arrows. Han Xi, who was at the forefront, was hit by more than a hundred arrows. He did not have time to put on his armor and was instantly riddled with arrows and died on the spot.

More than a thousand soldiers were shot dead or wounded, which terrified the other soldiers so much that they lay on the ground, too afraid to move. They could only hear arrows whizzing overhead, which made everyone tremble with fear.

Suddenly, the arrows stopped, and more than 10,000 soldiers of the Yuzhang Army charged in from all directions. Screams filled the shore as they were slaughtered, crying out for their parents. The Yuzhang soldiers shouted in unison, "Those who surrender will be spared! Those who surrender will be spared!"

Liu Biao's soldiers finally found a way out and knelt down to surrender.

At the same time, a beacon tower was lit at the highest point of Queyue City, its bright flames shining in the night, urgently requesting reinforcements from Huang Zu's army, which was two hundred miles away.

At this time, Huang Zu was leading an army of 50,000 and thousands of warships to besiege E County. Across the Yangtze River, Zhu County lit up the beacon fires, and the distress call from Queyue City reached Zhu County.

(End of this chapter)