knife

Chapter 616 Fierce Battle
Several flags, soaking wet, were pulled from the river and placed in front of Chen Yan.

Unfolding one of the banners revealed it to be Lü Fu's general's flag.

Chen Yan frowned.
It seems that Lü Fu's fleet suffered a great loss.

"General, General Lü's fleet, acting as the vanguard, is only about thirty miles ahead of our main fleet! General Lü and his men have more than fifty main warships, and they are not so easily defeated by the enemy. They have tied up Wang Dao, and as long as we arrive in time, we can deliver the final blow!" Admiral Yi Yuan of the naval forces said excitedly.

Yi Yuan and Yi Hong are cousins, and Yi Hong is currently a prisoner of war!

Jiang Qian once proposed exchanging Yi Hong and others for He Han and others, but Xiang Ying refused and even beheaded He Han and the others in the street to boost morale.

In order to appease the Yi family and others, Xiang Ying then promoted a group of Yi family members from the concubines' houses, such as Yi Yun, which suddenly made Yi Hong, the main branch, a minority.

If Yi Yun and his group can make contributions in this battle, it's not impossible for them to replace the main branch with Xiang Ying's support.

For a clan, the main branch of the family can rely not only on inheritance, but sometimes more on strength as a guarantee.

Chen Yan looked up at the flag atop the warship; the wind direction remained unfavorable.
They went against the current, expending countless efforts to reach the battlefield, only to find the enemy waiting in ambush.

He looked down on Director Wang, believing that the latter was merely relying on his father's influence.
The Empress Dowager also practiced nepotism in her appointments.

But he would never believe that Director Wang was truly a useless person.

Although not as good as myself
But at least he has to be stronger than Yi Yuan, who's right next to me.

Chen Yan was well aware of who was stronger and who was weaker among the naval commanders.

Lü Fu was his most capable general.
He should be able to hold out until I arrive.
It's only thirty li of waterway.
Fifty warships are not so easy to take down.

Just as he made up his mind, he heard Yi Yun's joyful shout: "The wind has changed! The wind has changed!"

Chen Yan suddenly looked up and saw that the flags on the warships had all changed direction in a flash.
"May the late emperor protect us!" Chen Yan was overjoyed and shouted, raising his arms: "Raise all sails! All troops, accelerate! Forward!"

The drums thundered, and a bright red signal flag rose atop the flagship.

More than two hundred warships of various sizes raised their main and auxiliary sails, and amidst deafening cheers and shouts, they surged upstream like a long dragon cutting through the waves.

It was clearly difficult to go against the wind, but suddenly the wind direction reversed, the west wind turned into an east wind, and morale was immediately boosted.

With the help of the wind, the thirty-mile waterway can be reached in the blink of an eye.

However, at this moment, Lü Fu had reached the final stage.

Despite Yao Dali's attacks, Lü Fu's fleet finally broke through the narrow bend after losing more than ten ships of various sizes to damage and sink.

But that's all it was—it broke through.

Once past this bottleneck, the river widened and the current slowed, allowing the warships on both sides to engage in close combat.

In such aquatic environment, the performance of warships, the quality of sailors, and the capabilities of soldiers become the most important factors.

Yao Dali and Lü Funeng, as the vanguard of their respective armies, were naturally quite capable, and the sailors selected by both sides were also top-notch.

When manpower and command levels are roughly equal, the performance of warships becomes crucial.

The newly built warships from Shu County had a significant advantage in performance.

The Chu Kingdom had actually obtained the blueprints for this type of warship two years prior, but Xiang Ying and his men were unwilling to spend a lot of money to build new ships at that time.

Because if it were created, it would only increase the power of the Empress Dowager's faction, and it wouldn't be their turn.
Even if they were to build one, it would be after the wicked empress had been overthrown. Besides, at that time, the Chu's inland waterway navy was the best in the world; where could they find a rival? Why waste time, money, and effort?
There are new ships outside the pass, but they are 108,000 li away from the State of Chu. What does that have to do with them?

But man proposes, God disposes. Who could have imagined that Li Dachui would be able to take over Shu County and build a powerful fleet there in a short period of time?

More importantly, their own invincible and powerful navy was torn apart by internal strife in Zhiyang.
The hundreds of warships currently in service, apart from Chen Yan's original subordinates, are a fleet assembled by various powerful families who have gathered all their resources.

Lu Fu had witnessed the power of the new warships, because after Chen Yan acquired the Tu Shi, he built a prototype ship, which is now Chen Yan's flagship.

He still has over thirty warships, including fifteen main battleships and over thirty other transport ships of various types.
On the other side, the number of ships was similar, but they were all new warships built by Shu County.

Defeating his opponent and achieving victory is no longer possible; what he needs to do now is to entangle his opponent and buy as much time as possible.
Because the main force is only thirty miles behind us and will arrive soon.

Moreover, the wind direction has changed!
Lu Fu stood at the bow of the boat, feeling the change in the wind, and was overjoyed.

The change in wind direction meant that Chen Yan's main force, located thirty miles away, could quickly arrive here.

What I need to do now is to hold this pass and prevent the enemy from catching me off guard again by targeting this area.

In naval battles, the most basic rule applies: big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp.
If you try to shake a towering ship that's tens of meters high while you're in a small sampan, it's like a dragonfly trying to shake a stone pillar. They won't even give you a second glance; a light brush or touch will be enough to capsize your boat and send you tumbling into the water.

As for the idea of ​​diving under such a large warship to get a chisel and scuttle it, that's a joke. These ships are equipped with watertight compartments, so you can't just sink them whenever you want.

Sometimes everyone on board dies, but the boat still floats on the water perfectly fine!

It was precisely because they knew these things that, from the very beginning of the close combat,
They then each sought out an opponent of similar size.
As for if you're unlucky in the process and get taken down by everyone, you can only sigh that you're just unlucky.

Yao Dali and Lü Fu had their eyes on each other from the very beginning.

Naval warfare is a great test of a general's command ability. If you can destroy the enemy's flagship, you've won most of the battle.

The two massive warships began a dazzling display of skill.

With constantly adjusting the sail angles, changing the direction of the ships, and dealing with the currents and winds, while also keeping an eye on the chaotic warships of both sides, the generals on both sides demonstrated their superb ship-maneuvering skills.

Yao Dali was highly focused.
In terms of experience commanding large-scale battles, he might indeed be inferior to Lü Fu on the other side.

But this kind of one-boat skill competition is truly his forte.

With nothing to do outside the Great Wall and no real intense competition, he spent most of his time practicing this.

More importantly, the warship he was on had better performance.

As the two sides entered the final duel, Lü Fu despairingly discovered that his warship had not yet fully turned around. Although there was only a small angular deviation, the sharp, iron-forged ram of the opposing warship would strike the middle third of his warship.

An extremely critical position.

With a deafening roar, Yao Dali's warship's ram sank deep into Lü Fu's warship, causing Lü Fu's warship to immediately tilt several tens of degrees. Soldiers on board fell into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot, while the sailors in the lower decks were thrown into complete chaos, rolling around like gourds.

As the sailors in the hold of Yao Dali's warship exerted their strength, the entire warship pushed the opponent's warship forward on the river, while the opponent's warship tilted at an increasingly greater angle.

"Charge! Seize the ship! Seize the ship!" Lu Fu roared as he leaped into the air, gripping his sword with both hands, and charged onto the opposing warship.

Approaching them was Yao Dali, who was laughing heartily.

I have more territory, more ships, and more men than you do now!

(End of this chapter)