knife

Chapter 617 Yesterday Reappears
Chen Yan failed to save Lü Fu.

When his main force crossed that bend and appeared on the battlefield, all they saw was devastation.

On the water, flags and pieces of wood floated everywhere, and of course, there were many more sailors struggling. As for the soldiers on the warships, most of them were armored, or at least half-armored. Once the ships capsized, those who fell into the water would have little chance of survival if they could not remove their armor in time.

The fifteen main warships had now transformed into fifteen blazing torches.

As for smaller and medium-sized warships and vanguard ships, not a single one could be seen.

Large warships can easily crush these small and medium-sized warships into dust.

The dozens of warships opposite them saw them, but showed no intention of retreating. Instead, at the sound of horns, they began to organize their formation, forming groups of three ships each, creating more than a dozen formations ready to launch an attack at any time, seemingly waiting for the right moment.

Chen Yan did not act rashly, even though Yao Dali's fleet was nothing compared to his main fleet at this time.

Because his field of vision was now filled with an overwhelming expanse of white sails approaching from afar.

Wang Dao's main force has also arrived.

On the great river, after a six-year hiatus, a large-scale naval battle once again took place.

The last time was the Battle of Xiangyang.

On that occasion, the State of Chu deployed its main forces, while the State of Qin also mobilized its entire navy, which it had painstakingly built up over twenty years.

He Qiku believed that he had at least a 70% chance of winning that battle.

Unfortunately, due to internal problems within the Qin state, what was initially a resounding victory turned into a crushing defeat.

The last competitive navy of the Qin state was thus completely annihilated.

When He Zudao made a comeback and once again occupied the eight towns of Jiangnan, he was no longer able to rebuild his navy.

The formation of a navy is on a completely different level of complexity compared to that of a land army.

The reason why Li Dachui was able to quickly organize a navy of more than a hundred main warships in Shu County was that Shu County already had a navy, but it had remained unknown because it was not valued.

After Li Dachui captured Shu County, he immediately transferred Yao Dali and other key naval officers from outside the pass, investing a large amount of resources in an effort to build a powerful fleet in the shortest possible time.

In fact, they did it.

Ironically, much of the timber used to build warships in Shu County was purchased from the State of Chu.

The timber used for shipbuilding cannot be simply cut down from the mountains and used immediately. Without several years of processing, the resulting ships are mostly disposable.

The Chu navy split up. After Wang Dao's forces and Yao Dali's Shu Commandery navy merged, they had more than 300 warships of various sizes, which was roughly equivalent to Chen Yan's forces.

The two armies met once again on the great river.

This time, for the State of Chu, it was also a battle of life and death.

Chen Yan knew very well that if they lost this battle, Jiang Qian would never give them another chance to build a large fleet. The entire Yangtze River would become their backyard, a place where they could come and go as they pleased.

The Chu state had a well-developed water system. If it could not control the rivers, it would be tantamount to opening its heart and allowing its enemies to attack at will.

Chen Yan looked up at the sky; the wind direction had changed again.
It kept changing direction, sometimes east, sometimes west, sometimes south, sometimes north; there was no consistent direction at all.
I felt a coolness on my face; a light drizzle had begun to fall from the sky.
Looking at the thick, leaden clouds in the sky,

I'm afraid it will rain heavily soon.

In such weather conditions, the abilities of the naval commander and the courage of all the soldiers are put to the test.

As the first thunderclap rang out in the sky, the war drums of both sides sounded simultaneously.

Yao Dali's fleet once again launched the first attack.

The long oars plunged into the water, and the warship flew across the surface like a centipede with a thousand legs. Behind it, two other main warships followed closely in a triangular formation.

The opponent did not attack randomly, but rather followed an offensive pattern of three ships per group.

Interspersed among the three ships attacking at a time were small warships. Seeing the cargo holds of those small boats filled to the brim, Chen Yan knew that they were definitely not good things.

Wang Pu's specialty was the three-man naval warfare tactic.

Judging from the enemy's banner, it's Yao, so he must be the naval commander from beyond the Great Wall. Has he learned Wang Lao'er's signature skills so quickly?
With banners waving, Chen Yan's more than one hundred warships began to change formation as they moved forward, slowly spreading out a huge hollow square on the river surface. They even opened a gap in front of Yao Dali as he charged forward.

The small boats suddenly accelerated, rushing towards the densely packed enemy warships ahead. But from the Chu army's fleet, countless small boats also rushed out to meet these enemies.

Before the large ships even made contact, the smaller ships were already engaged in battle.

There weren't many people on the small boat.

Each ship had only seven or eight sailors, locked in fierce combat. The scale was small, but the battle was brutal. Victory or defeat was decided in just a few moves. Some ships were wiped out of their crew, while others were capsized by the violent impact.

A few ships broke through the encirclement and rushed towards the outer edge of the square formation. With a loud bang, the sharp spears at the front of the small boats pierced the hulls, pinning them to the enemy. The small boats burst into flames, and the soldiers on board jumped off with thuds. Whether they survived or not depended entirely on luck.

The warships were not unprepared for such a fire attack. In the blink of an eye, huge logs were brought down from the ships. These were heavy logs with ropes tied to both ends, which were smashed down at the same time. The weight of hundreds of kilograms was enough to damage, destroy, and sink the small boats below in an instant.

Yao Dali charged headlong into the center of the square formation of ships.

At the same time, a dozen catapults on the ship also launched stone projectiles weighing tens of kilograms at the enemy ships ahead.

The new river warship designed and built by Li Dachui is powerful not only in terms of performance, but also in the fact that it is equipped with more long-range weapons and carries more combat soldiers.

A single Chu warship could carry a maximum of two hundred soldiers, but this new warship could carry a maximum of three hundred.

It was clearly noon, but the sky seemed to be about to darken. Lightning pierced through the heavy leaden clouds, and thunderclaps were deafening. As dense raindrops pounded down, Wang Dao's fleet launched a general attack on the enemy.

Wang Pu was good at attacking, while Chen Yan was good at defending. With one spear and one shield, they engaged in a desperate battle on the great river, amidst thunder, lightning, and torrential rain.

Chen Yan, however, stared intently at the warship opposite him.

Beneath the fluttering banner, a woman dressed in white held a drumstick at the bow of the boat.

That's Empress Dowager Jiang Qian!

Chen Yan suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body. In a daze, he seemed to have returned to that life-or-death battle many years ago.

(End of this chapter)