The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 117 Criticism of the Weapons of Sailing

After playing in Dongzhi for two days, Sun Shao and others returned with a full load. When they returned to the shipyard, the two warships had been refitted. Ge Heng confidently told Sun Shao that as long as there was no hurricane, he could guarantee the two warships. The boat is not in danger of capsizing.Sun Shao was very satisfied. He went to the bottom of the bilge to see the installed counterweights. Although he couldn't see any tricks, he was relieved a lot.Back in Feilu (the upper cabin of the two-story ship), he sat down in front of the newly refitted desk, and patted the brand-new desk vigorously: "Sizhen, you designed these?"

"It's nothing, I just asked them to change the fixed one into a detachable one. It's always annoying to stay the same."

"Hey." Sun Shao laughed twice: "How about it, did General Yue keep you?"

"Give me the position of a master craftsman." Ge Heng said lightly: "But I'm not interested. I still want to go to Jiaozhou with the young master. It is said that there are many ships from Xiyi, which are quite different from my big man's ships. , I want to go there and have a look, to learn a lot.”

Sun Shao grinned, rejoicing secretly that technology is still not valued these days. For a genius like Ge Heng, Yuehai actually only offers the condition of a master craftsman. A master craftsman sounds nice, but he is actually a foreman with a salary of only a few years. Four hundred shi, that is, the salary of a small county magistrate, Ge Heng is far from this amount with him.In addition to money, there is also respect, which Yuehai cannot give.

Qiaoyue brought tea, poured a cup for each of them, and then retreated. Sun Shao picked up a cup of tea and asked lightly: "Have you tasted the sweetness of this trip?"

"Hey, that's right." Ge Heng smiled honestly, took a sip of tea, and said with emotion: "The young master is right, it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books, and it is impossible to build a car behind closed doors. This time It’s only been a few months since I came out, but it’s been an eye-opener and I’ve gained a lot, and I no longer dare to be as self-righteous as before.”

"Sure enough, as the saying goes, the ripe wheat always keeps its head down, and only the ones in mid-air hold it up high." With an admiration, Shen Xuan stepped into the cabin, smiled and cupped his hands at Ge Heng: "Sizhen, your demeanor now is much calmer than in the past few months."

Ge Heng and Shen Xuan are also acquaintances, but Shen Xuan used to think of himself as a noble person, so he didn't think much of him, but now they are all Sun Shao's guests, so if you bow your head and don't see you, you should be more polite.He smiled: "Mo Zhi's progress is beyond my reach."

Shen Xuan pursed his mouth, glanced at Sun Shao, and stopped bringing up this topic.What Ge Heng said was right, he had suffered too much in front of Sun Shao in the past ten days, and unintentionally, he had changed a lot from the previous arrogant.He poured himself a cup of tea in a concealed manner, and said softly: "Young master, the people of the Yan family have already gone to sea, and our people have already boarded the boat."

"Well, just follow along." Sun Shao nodded: "Find out the situation before we talk, don't act rashly."

Shen Xuan pondered for a moment: "The young master doesn't intend to do anything to them?"

"What are you doing?" Sun Shao smiled bitterly: "The Yan family is already like this, why bother to kill them all, bullying a weak woman is meaningless. If she doesn't come to mess with me in the future, this matter will be over like this."

Shen Xuan blinked and nodded silently.

"By the way, Sizhen, where's your little genius doctor friend?"

"He, he has been very busy these two days." Ge Heng shook his head helplessly: "Spring is here, and there are many epidemic diseases. Many workers in the shipyard have fallen ill. He is busy treating them."

"What diseases is he good at?"

"Epidemics also have experience with miasma." A smile appeared on Ge Heng's face: "He is very interested in the inner alchemy that the young master said, and has always wanted to visit the young master, but unfortunately he has not found time yet."

"Ask him if he is interested in going to Jiaozhou with us." Sun Shao said: "There are hundreds of people on board, and it will be a bit more secure to have someone with good medical skills to accompany them. And there are many businessmen from Xiyi in Jiaozhou. There should be some medical craftsmen familiar with Xiyi medicine, and it would be a good thing to communicate with them."

"Okay, I'll go tell him." Ge Heng hesitated for a moment, and then said: "But young master, don't have too much hope, Jun Yi is very quiet about Taoism. They are not very interested, and may not be interested in entering the mansion as a guest."

"It doesn't matter whether you enter the government or not, just treat it as a friend." Sun Shao didn't pay much attention to these relationships, and he didn't have the same power as Cao Cao who wanted Hua Tuo to be a full-time doctor. Dong Feng looked down on him , he can't help it either.

"That's good." Ge Heng breathed a sigh of relief, said a few more words, and got up to find Dong Feng.

Sun Shao and Shen Xuan sat silently, neither of them spoke. After a while, Sun Shao said: "Mo Zhi, I am going to leave for Jiaozhou tomorrow. The sea route is dangerous, and the future is unpredictable. If you are willing to I am very welcome to go with you, and if you have another job, I dare not force you. Let me tell you the truth, I will definitely not be able to help you with what you want to do. "

Shen Xuan stopped the cup in his hand, looked through the window at the mountains in the distance with deep eyes, his eyes flickered, he seemed a little hesitant, he thought for a while, then turned his head to look at Sun Shao: "Sun Jun sent someone Are you planning to follow the example of Taibo by investigating Yizhou?"

"How can I have such a high realm?" Sun Shao smiled self-consciously: "I can't afford to offend, so I just hide. Yizhou hangs alone overseas, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. It's better for me to occupy the mountain and become king than here." It's okay to be suspected by others." He paused, then raised his head to look at Shen Xuan: "To tell you the truth, I always feel that it is not a good thing to get a big name this time, and I feel a little uneasy in my heart. Mr. Cao is so wise. This time, he acted a little too favorably, and something went wrong."

Shen Xuan raised the corner of his mouth, but avoided answering: "Sun Jun, Xuan dare to ask, what if you can't avoid it?"

Sun Shao looked at Shen Xuan with flickering eyes, and the corner of his mouth twisted: "The world is vast, so there is no place for me to stand?"

Shen Xuan frowned: "Are you really willing to float on the sea?"

"Mozhi, I'm afraid the vastness of the sea and the vastness of the sea are beyond your imagination." Sun Shao smiled, stood up, walked out of the cabin, leaned on the railing, looked at the cloudless sky, and saw the sky in his eyes. I am somewhat fascinated.Shen Xuan stood behind him, looking at him with piercing eyes, obviously he would not give up until he got the final answer.Sun Shao waved his arm, drew a circle towards the sea in the distance, and said with a heroic smile: "Mozhi, believe it or not, if we can work together, the final achievement may not be inferior to that of Emperor Gao. "

Shen Xuan raised his eyebrows, and his heart moved immediately.Gao Emperor Liu Bang started as a commoner, broke Chu and established the Han Dynasty in a few years, and established the foundation of the Han Dynasty for more than 400 years, thousands of miles of rivers and mountains. Sun Shao said that he was obviously not reconciled to floating on the sea.You can understand that he wants to dominate the country by himself, or it can be understood that he wants to dominate the world and become the new master of the land of the big man.From Shen Xuan's point of view, the latter ambition is obviously more practical. As a person of their level, Sun Shao's meaning has been clearly expressed.

In a moment, he made a choice: "Then Shen Xuan will be attached to the young master's tail."

"With Mo's help, what can we do?" Sun Shao turned his head and looked at Shen Xuan with a smile.

The two smiled at each other.

The next day, Sun Shao's ten boats sailed out of the water village in a file, followed by Zhang Xi's repaired fleet, and Yue Hai personally sent Sun Shao out of the water gate, saying goodbye.Dong Feng had a long talk with Sun Shao last night. Although he was very tired at the moment, his spirit was a little excited. He said to Sun Shao with some regrets: "Sun Jun, I have nothing to do here, and I will rush to Jiaozhou immediately, and then I will ask Sun Jun for help." beneficial."

Sun Shao laughed: "Jun Yi, you're killing me. I'm just hearsay, and I don't have any real talents. I don't have any real talents. I can't be called "please benefit." You can treat your illness here with peace of mind. I'm in Jiaozhou It should be a while, you don't need to be too anxious. There are also medical craftsmen from Xiyi from time to time, and there are many opportunities to meet them."

"I hope so." Dong Feng nodded again and again.

Sun Shao turned to Yuehai, and said very politely: "General Yue, Shao is very grateful for accepting the general's guidance on water warfare this time, and he has nothing to repay. When I return from Jiaozhou, I will have a drink with the general."

"Don't dare, with my wife here, how dare Yue Hai trust her." Yue Hai also said politely.He was very conceited at first, but later found that Guan Feng was also good at water warfare, although he might not be much better than him, but it was enough to surprise him.Although Sun Shao doesn't understand water warfare, he has an extraordinary ability to comprehend and often has excellent insights. In time, his achievements in water warfare will definitely not be weaker than his crossing the sea.Although Yue Hai was arrogant, he admired capable people and did not dare to underestimate Sun Shao.

After saying goodbye, Sun Shao returned to his boat and set sail.Yue Hai looked at Fan Ying who was going away, and smacked his lips with some regret: "It's a pity that such a young hero can't fight on the battlefield. He can only survive by being a businessman. Alas, I don't know if this is my Jiangdong fortune." , or Jiangdong’s misfortune.”

Captain Li Nong also nodded regretfully: "Yes, Captain Sun is so famous in Jiangdong now, and he has a lot of tricks. If he can be on the front line, why would Cao Jun be so arrogant. The front line is tense, so good Talents can only be idle, and the Supreme is inevitable..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Yue Hai gave him a cold look, swallowed back his words in fright, shrank his neck, said "I'm going to patrol", and left in a hurry.

"Young master, I heard some rumors in the army."

"What rumor?" Sun Shao, who was playing with Ge Heng on the model boat, asked casually without raising his head.

"Ruxu's battle is not going well." Shen Xuan found a seat and sat down. While watching Ge Heng fiddle with it, he said, "Although I don't hear it clearly, the general situation is not bad. Cao Jun seems to have invented a It is a very powerful weapon that can directly attack Ruxuwu in the water. The defenders in the dock suffered heavy casualties, and the navy suffered a lot. The military order just arrived at the shipyard yesterday, and a large number of warships will be mobilized." He paused, then said : "It seems that one of the important generals has died, and the morale has been seriously damaged."

"Is there such a thing?" Sun Shao raised his head in surprise: "Who died in battle?"

"I don't know who it is." Shen Xuan shook his head, looking a little gloating: "In short, it should be an important general. I think General Yue and the others are evasive, as if they don't want others to know. Presumably they are unknown people."

Sun Shao straightened up, feeling a little complicated.Shen Xuan didn't know, but he guessed a little bit, Liu Ye must have loaded the thunderbolt car on the warship, and launched a long-range attack on the warships of Ruxuwu and Jiangdong.Jiangdong's warships win because the sailors are proficient and experienced, but the combat methods are not too advanced. In addition to hand-to-hand combat, they use bows and crossbows to carry out long-range attacks. To suffer.And once Cao Jun's battlefield has an advantage in the water battle, not only will Ruxuwu be tight, but it may even endanger Jiangdong.If the Jiangdong water army is defeated across the board, then Cao Cao may really be able to cross the river smoothly this time.

Calculated, this order should have happened five or six days ago.Judging from the time Cao Jun needed to prepare, Jiangdong should not have reached the point where he could not support it. Sun Quan mobilized a large number of warships, probably because he saw the danger and was ready to win by quantity.The biggest difficulty may be the low morale. It is not a trivial matter for a major general to die in battle.

Is it a bit self-defeating?In the end, Cao Cao was cheaper?Although Sun Shao liked Cao Cao better, it was obviously not a result he was willing to accept if Cao Cao were to annex Jiangdong.

"Young master?" Seeing Sun Shao's complicated and silent eyes, Shen Xuan thought he was worried about the war in Jiangdong, so he reminded him softly.

"Mozhi, look... is it possible for Cao Jun to cross the river this time?"

Shen Xuan smiled and shook his head again and again: "There is a possibility, but it is not great. Some time ago, the water was shallow, and the disadvantage of the Qingxu Navy was not obvious. Now it is late spring. As long as you persist for another ten days, the water will rise sharply. The surface of the water will also become wider, the Qingxu Navy will be unable to withstand the attack of the Jiangdong Navy, and Cao Cao will definitely retreat."

"Are you sure?" Sun Shaoqiang smiled.

"I'm sure." Shen Xuan nodded, and Sun Shaogang was relieved, but then he became nervous again by what he said later: "Judging from the previous battles, there shouldn't be too many surprises."

Previous wars?Do you know what is the critique of weapons?A new weapon suddenly appeared on the battlefield, how much impact will it have on the balance of power between the two sides?Why can't Cao Cao cross the river?It's not that his strength is not as good as Jiangdong's, but that Qingxu Navy is not the opponent of Jiangdong Navy, so his strong overall strength cannot be used. Once Qingxu Navy has the upper hand in the water battle, don't be too much, as long as Jiangdong Navy is contained, If Cao Jun can be guaranteed to cross the river, the natural danger of the Yangtze River will become an empty talk, and Cao Jun's powerful cavalry will give full play to its due power and deal a heavy blow to Jiangdong.

Intellectuals in this era have seriously underestimated the enormous role of technological progress.

Sun Shao suppressed the beating heart of "呯呯", looked at the silent Ge Heng, and forced a smile: "Sizhen, what do you think?"

Ge Heng stroked the model ship in his hand, and sighed regretfully: "So far, we haven't found a long-range weapon that can compete with the thunderbolt car. I'm still experimenting with the trebuchet that the young master mentioned. Some key points have not been figured out yet. It would be much more convenient if... if there is a blueprint of Thunderbolt now."

Sun Shao regretted it unceasingly, and when the book is used up, he will regret it less.He had seen trebuchets in movies in his previous life, but he only knew a rough shape, which was theoretically feasible, but Ge Heng needed to supplement some specific components.Although Ge Heng is proficient in machinery, it is impossible to accomplish it overnight. It is still unknown when it will be put into use.

The atmosphere in the Ruxuwu camp was oppressive. A dozen civil servants and military generals sat down silently, their eyes focused on Sun Quan's face.Sun Quan supported the desk with both hands, and couldn't help trembling slightly. On the battle report in front of him, the numbers were shocking.

However, in the seven-day attack, [-]% of Jiangdong's warships were lost, and nearly ten ships were directly sunk, and hundreds of soldiers were killed.Ruxuwu, which was originally thought to be impenetrable, suffered even greater losses, but the wall of the dock was severely damaged, and nearly a hundred soldiers were killed. What's more, the boulders flying all over the sky dealt a heavy blow to morale. The morale brought up by Sun Shao is now gone. When I saw Cao Jun's battle flag, there was a chill from the bottom of my heart from the general to the soldiers.

And this is just the beginning, Sun Quan is very clear that Cao Jun is not familiar with this new method of warfare, especially a few days ago, the boulders they hit had a very low hit rate, and most of them fell into the river. The threat was not great. If General Ling Tong hadn't been hit by a boat and died, the Jiangdong soldiers would not have taken Cao Jun's attack seriously at all. But from the third day onwards, he sensitively discovered this new style of warfare After Cao Jun got acquainted with the thunderbolt chariots that were refitted on warships, his accuracy improved significantly, and Jiangdong's casualties began to increase sharply.

Who seems to have said that it would be a nightmare to load the Thunderbolt on a warship?Sun Shao's eyelids twitched, and it took him a long time to remember a name that had become indifferent, which was Sun Shao.When he came back from Cao Ying, he reminded himself.Sun Quan couldn't help clenching his teeth, feeling bitter. He had only listened to it as a joke at the time, and never thought of this possibility. He didn't expect it to become a reality now.

Thinking of Sun Shao, Sun Quan's eyelids jumped even more. In the past two days, morale was low, and some people quietly mentioned Sun Shao, saying that Sun Shao, a brave general, left the military camp to do business. It was really Jiang Dong's loss. Here, it seems that if Sun Shao is here, he can restrain Cao Jun's new weapon.Of course Sun Quan scoffed at such absurd words, but he could not turn a blind eye to the shake in morale. If the morale of the army shakes at this time, his doom will be far from over.

"What good strategies do you guys have for the current war?" Sun Quan forcibly drove the name Sun Shao out of his mind, raised his head and looked at the officials calmly, with a calm smile on his face: "I see This appearance reminds me of the 13th year of Jian'an, the scene at that time is really vivid. It's just a pity that although Zijing is here, Gongjin's heroic soul has passed away."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, all a little embarrassed. Praising Zhou Yu and Lu Su at this time, doesn't it mean that they are incompetent?But the strange thing is that after hearing Sun Quan's words, although they felt a little uncomfortable, the tension in their hearts subsided a lot inadvertently.Yes, although there are some difficulties in front of us, can it be more serious than Jian'an 13 years?At that time, Cao Cao decided to settle Jingzhou without a fight, and he also controlled the Jingzhou Navy. He claimed to have an army of 80, and he was about to go down the river. Compared with the current situation, the situation was much more serious.

"Gongji (Ling Tong) died in battle, and I am very sad. You must be the same, but it was just an accident. God does not bless good people. Don't be frightened by this accident." Sun Quan's eyes turned red, and he sniffed , some sighed, and after a while, he smiled again: "The water has risen very fast these two days, Zang Ba and the others are almost unable to sit on the boat, and you should be ready to fight."

"Here." Gan Ning and other generals responded immediately.Gan Ning patted his chest and said loudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry. Although Cao Jun's thunderbolt chariots are very powerful, they are not bad against immovable targets, but they are not satisfactory against fast-moving warships. I think that as long as we Give full play to our army's superb boat handling skills and act quickly, and these thunderbolt cars will definitely become useless."

"Then it doesn't mean that we can only use small boats that move fast and go up first?" Zhang Zhao suddenly interjected, "Even if such a small boat is close to Cao's army, how effective is it? Most of Cao's thunderbolt chariots are They are all mounted on high-rise ships, attacking from below, attacking from the small to the large, I am afraid it may not be effective, right?"

Gan Ning choked, and retreated to his seat in dismay.Zhang Zhao is right, Cao's army is all big ships, and it is indeed a big disadvantage to attack the big ships with small ships.As soon as he returned to his seat, the atmosphere that had just become more relaxed immediately became serious again.Sun Quan looked at Zhang Zhao with some displeasure, and said flatly, "According to what the military advisor said, what should we do?"

Zhang Zhao stood up without saying a word, straightened his clothes first, and then said seriously: "I thought that I should negotiate with Cao Jun first to delay the time, and then immediately send Lu Su, Lu Xun, Sun Jiao and other ministries to help."

Sun Quan didn't think much of Zhang Zhao at first, but after hearing what he said, he couldn't help but nodded.Most of Jiangdong's elite soldiers are now concentrated in Ruxu, and the rest are the Lusu tribe stationed in Lukou, the Sun Jiao tribe stationed in Xiakou, and the Lu Xun tribe stationed in Wuhu. These three parts have a lot of troops The strength of the army, especially Lu Xun's department, is only a hundred miles away from here, and it can be reached overnight.But Sun Quan was a little worried. Lu Xun now has more than 1 elite soldiers. If he makes a contribution this time, his strength will grow further. Will he be able to control it by then?
Seeing Sun Quan's hesitation, Teng Dan got up immediately and said, "I think Zhang Gong's strategy is feasible. However, Lu Xun's department wants to suppress Fu Shanyue, and Sun Jiao's department wants to guard against Guan Yu. They should not move lightly. It is better to urgently transfer Lu Su to the east."

"What do you guys think?" Sun Quan glanced at the crowd, who understood and expressed their support.Sun Quan was very satisfied, turned his eyes around a few times, and finally landed on Gu Yong: "What's your opinion, Mr. Gu?"

Gu Yong stroked his beard and bowed slightly: "I think Zhang Gong's words are very kind, but apart from this, we need to find a sharp weapon to deal with Cao Jun as soon as possible, otherwise even if General Hengjiang arrives, it will be difficult to turn the tide of the battle. "

"Then... who can recommend Mr. Gu?"

Gu Yong glanced at Zhang Zhao and smiled slightly: "Has the Supreme Master forgotten Zhang Gong's son Zhang Fen and Zhang Wenjing?"

(End of this chapter)