Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 422 Things turn out differently
Xiang River.

Hundreds of warships were lined up, as if to cut the entire water surface in half.

As the loud sound of war drums sounded, the behemoth was the first to charge.

Several giant warships of the Chen people rushed towards the enemy from different directions. Although these warships were huge, their speed was not slow at all. When they began to charge, the bows tore through the water surface, and the water rushed to both sides. The huge force made the small boats dare not get too close and they all avoided it.

Hua Jiao's main navy was stationed in the water fort. No giant ships were visible, but there were many speedboats lined up on the outside.

After seeing the giant ship start to move forward, these speedboats quickly separated and did not retreat. Instead, they drilled into the enemy's formation.

Behind the clippers, the golden-winged ship was ready to move.

The two sides approached each other quickly. Huang Fachi stood at the top of the Henghai and kept looking around.

Perhaps because of its large size, the Henghai was slower than the other giant ship, which had already led its frigates and mixed with the enemy's navy.

The generals under Hua Jiao were now leading many golden-winged ships, preparing to besiege the giant ship.

After the speedboat penetrated into the enemy's formation, the soldiers turned the speedboat horizontally and then set fire to their own boats. They jumped into the water and swam to their own support boats.

The speedboats were burning with flames reaching the sky. They were designed to burn, and it seemed that everything on board was used to ignite fire.

These clippers were also called fire ships. They were placed across the enemy's formation, burning madly, separating the enemy's clippers from the main ship in front.

The Golden Wing Ship took advantage of the fact that there were no escort ships around the giant ship and quickly approached from all sides. Many sailors stood by the ship with grappling hooks in their hands. As long as the distance between the two sides was right, they would find a way to seize the ship.

This behemoth with astonishing speed has no extra patterns on its body, and even the carvings are rare. It does not look like the style of the Chen people at all.

This warship was built by a shipbuilding master from Linjiang County. Its style is more of a mixture of Jing and Shu. It once served the State of Liang and now continues to serve the State of Chen. The name of this warship is not very famous. It is just called Zhijiang. Its color is dark and its speed is relatively fast.

As the surrounding golden-winged ships gradually approached, the Zhijiang, which was thinner than the other giant ships, actually gradually slowed down.

Huang Fate, who was far away, stared at the behavior of the giant ship. He was not surprised or panicked at all. He just continued to approach the enemy's water fort according to the original plan.

The Zhijiang ship let out a roar, and in an instant, the large wooden poles located around it slammed outward with an astonishing force.

Hundreds of soldiers exerted force at the same time, gritted their teeth, and pulled hard.

A wooden pole similar to a catapult structure immediately smashed down towards the surroundings.

"Bang~~~"

There was a loud bang, and a Golden Winged Ship that was too close to the front was unable to dodge and was hit head-on.

The Golden Wing Ship let out a wail, and then its mast collapsed with a loud bang. The soldiers screamed and fell into the water.

With just one blow, the Golden Wing Ship could no longer hold on and was completely destroyed, unable to move.

The officers of the Zhijiang ship issued an order.

The sailors around put away the poles again.

"Ah!!!"

"Bang!!!"

The wooden pole fell again, and the Golden Wing Ship was broken into pieces. It shook violently, the cracks became more obvious, and it began to leak.

The officer on the Golden Wing Ship held a bow in his hand and roared loudly.

"Abandon the boat! Lower the boat! Lower the boat. Wang Junhou, you."

The sunlight suddenly disappeared and the officer was shrouded in a shadow, which interrupted the officer's orders. The officer raised his head slowly in a daze.

The huge Zhijiang ship appeared in front of him, and this behemoth blocked the sunlight.

The Golden Wing Ship looked tiny in front of him.

"I"

"Bang!!!"

The Zhijiang ship just collided with it, and the unfortunate Golden Wing ship paid the price for its reckless behavior. It was crushed by the other ship and disappeared without a trace. Only some wooden fragments could be seen floating on the water.

The rest of the golden-winged ships did not dare to approach and gave way one after another.

But the giant beast was unwilling to let go of its prey. It moved forward at full speed, constantly bombarding the surrounding water with its wooden pole. Occasionally, a small boat was unable to dodge and was smashed into pieces in just one hit.

The soldiers kept shooting arrows, but these arrows were so insignificant on the giant beast that they had no effect at all.

In the water fort in the distance, Qian Ming was standing at the highest point, anxiously waving the flag.

Following his flag orders, the warships in the distance were changing direction little by little.

Yang Su stood beside him, staring blankly at the water battle in the distance.

For the first time, surprise and panic appeared in his eyes.

This was Yang Su's first experience in a naval battle.

In the past, he had read many books about navy and naval warfare, and thought he had some understanding of naval warfare. When Qian Ming was ordered to guard the front water fort, Yang Su proposed to stay by his side, intending to give him advice and fill in the gaps.

But when he really got to the battlefield, Yang Su was shocked to find that the guy beside him, whom he had always secretly despised, suddenly became a different person and began to give all kinds of complicated commands.

Not to mention filling in the gaps, even trying to understand it is a bit difficult, as it is completely different from what is recorded in the book.

Especially those huge ships, Yang Su had never seen such terrifying things, and the fierce battlefield was something he had never seen on land.

He did not say anything to disturb Qian Ming who was standing beside him, but instead learned the flag signals attentively.

In the first fight between the two sides, Hua Jiao's camp was beaten badly. Several Golden Wing warships alone were sunk. As for the speedboats, they almost became consumables.

In fact, it was because our giant ships did not appear that the other side's giant ships started to kill, and no one could stop them.

The other side is not even afraid of enemies boarding the ship. One of their ships can carry nearly a thousand people and has the advantage of defense. How could they be afraid of your small boat with less than a hundred people launching a boarding battle?

It is impossible to trap them, get too close, or too far away. The giant ship even has catapults specifically designed to deal with distant enemies.

There are many large stones piled on both sides, which are used for this purpose.

They fought from day to night. Qian Ming abandoned the water fort and led the fleet to evacuate in a hurry.

Hua Jiao followed Yuwen Xian's request and adopted a defensive strategy. However, the opponent's attack speed was too fast. After exposing his whereabouts, they began to advance at full speed. In order to delay the enemy slightly, Hua Jiao sent his subordinates to various places to try to intercept them, as long as they could hold them off for a while.

But it still couldn't stop the enemy's fierce attack.

Qian Ming sat at the bow with a tired look on his face and something unnatural in his eyes. Just before departure, he boasted to Yang Su about how good he was in naval combat. But when he met the enemy, he was beaten like this. It was really embarrassing.

Yang Su stared at him for a long time before he said, "When Qian Jun left, he said that he was good at naval warfare. To be honest, I was a little skeptical. I thought Qian Jun was a scholar and not someone who could fight or kill. Now I know that Qian Jun was not lying. Facing such a large army, he was able to fight for so long and even sank many enemy warships. He is really amazing."

Qian Ming smiled bitterly, "Don't be afraid of being laughed at by Mr. Yang. There is no general in the Southern Kingdom who is not proficient in naval warfare. Speaking of which, I can also be ranked among the best. However, this time, the enemy's commander must be one of Huang Fachu or Chunyu Liang."

"Oh? Why do you see it?"

"Too fierce. Lord Yang, you don't know that naval battles often take longer than land battles. Once, Wang Lin and Emperor Wu fought on the river for several days, but it was difficult to determine the winner."

“It ended relatively quickly.”

After hearing Qian Ming's words, Yang Su understood something, and then hurriedly asked other questions.

Most of the questions he inquired about were about water battles.

At the beginning, they were all the most basic and simple questions, and Qian Ming answered them with a smile.

But gradually, Yang Su's questions became difficult, and Qian Ming began to stammer and sweat profusely.

"Can the interlacing and swaying just now be used to form a pocket formation?"

"Yes, but it requires a large ship. There are many factors that affect the direction on the water. It depends on the wind direction."

"Can a large warship like that be burned down by using fire ships to attack it from all sides?"

"Ah, it depends on the wind direction. If God helps, it should be possible. I heard that Wang Lin's main ship was burned by a small fire ship."

When they led the fleet back to their base camp, Qian Ming exclaimed. Yang Su followed his gaze.

However, they discovered that there were many large ships outside the camp, including two large ships with huge wooden poles.

Qian Ming was particularly curious at this moment and stared at the two large ships.

"I've heard that the Zhou Kingdom also has several large ships. I guess this is your country's large ship? Is the King of Qi here? What is the name of that large ship?"

Yang Su was confused for a moment. How would he know what this thing was called?
Also, why do we need to name battleships?
Yang Su was no longer as arrogant as before, and asked whatever questions he had. Qian Ming also answered his confusion, "The matter of naming has existed since ancient times. I heard that at the end of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Sun Quan of Wu built several super-sized ships and gave them names. Later, it became a practice in Jiangnan and Jiangdong. The Chen people had a ship called Henghai, which imitated the ancient name."

Everyone returned to the camp safely.

Sure enough, Yuwen Xian had already arrived here.

When they arrived at the main camp where Hua Jiao was, the soldiers at the door were all Yang Su's old acquaintance, He Ruobi.

He Ruobi glanced at him, said nothing, and continued to stare outside.

After Yang Su asked another person to report for him, he followed Qian Ming in.

Yuwen Xian had already sat in the upper seat. Hua Jiao looked respectful and sat beside him. The two of them had a pleasant conversation.

After Qian Ming came in, he bowed hurriedly to greet him.

Then he looked at Hua Jiao.

"Lord!!"

"I fought poorly and failed to stop the enemy."

Hua Jiao frowned and was about to scold him, but when he looked at Yuwen Xian beside him, he put away his anger and said, "Forget it, the enemy is strong and the King of Qi has arrived, so I won't punish you."

"Thank you, my lord!!"

Hua Jiao asked Qian Ming about the situation again. In fact, Qian Ming had already sent a speedboat to bring the news before he arrived. Hua Jiao's intention was just to let Qian Ming tell Yuwen Xian something.

Qian Ming also understood his intention and started talking about the enemy's situation.

In order to prevent Yuwen Xian from not understanding, he deliberately used some simpler words.

Yuwen Xian listened to him and then waved his hand, "I have been fighting in the north in the past. I am not familiar with naval warfare. I will leave it to the general."

A smile appeared on Hua Jiao's face and he quickly said yes.

Yuwen Xian added: "Although the enemy is strong, there is no need to be too anxious. Chen State is short of food. The previous war in Lianghuai cost a lot. How can we sustain a large army for a long-term battle now?"

"As long as the general can hold on, the enemy will not be our match. As for the enemies attacking from land, leave it to me to deal with. I have several brave generals under my command who can just deal with their attack."

Yuwen Xian has a clear division of labor here. He will deal with the enemies on land, and Hua Jiao will deal with the enemies on water.

He can provide some suggestions on the general direction, but the specific operations still have to be done by Hua Jiao.

The two sides talked for a long time, and Hua Jiao was still quite confident.

It is a bit difficult to defeat Huang Fachu and Chunyu Liang, but it is not easy to just hold on and drag the enemy out of food, right?
After the two sides discussed, Yuwen Xian took Yang Su away.

Walking towards the residence that Hua Jiao had arranged for them, Yuwen Xian suddenly asked, "Have you seen them fighting? What do you think?"

Yang Su said with emotion: "Today I finally understand how the southerners felt when they saw our cavalry fighting."

"Oh?"

"On the water, we are no match for these southerners. Even an ordinary general would be able to defeat us."

Yuwen Xian was very satisfied with Yang Su's answer.

"You have finally made progress."

He then asked: "So how do you think we can defeat the enemy?"

Yang Su shook his head. "I don't know how to defeat the enemy now, but I already know how to defeat the enemy in the future."

Yuwen Xian was a little surprised, "What are you talking about?"

"The only way to defeat the southerners is to compare national strength. We can use our huge national strength to open shipyards and continuously build ships. If the enemy has ten large ships, then we can build twenty, thirty, or forty ships. Once there is a clear gap, we can fight them again and perhaps win."

Yuwen Xian didn't expect Yang Su to say such a thing. He thought Yang Su was going to say something like "go around and cut off the food supply."

The two of them walked into the house one after another and sat down.

Yuwen Xian placed several letters in front of him and asked Yang Su to read them.

"This is the news I got from the south. The enemy's troops are indeed large in scale. Even if we add up our forces, I'm afraid we're still at a disadvantage in terms of warships. However, sending more troops means consuming more food."

"All those parasites we killed in the country have now gone to the south. The emperor is busy feeding these people, and the treasury is basically out of food."

"This time we are forcibly collecting money from the people. They can't continue to collect money by force. As long as we can hold them back for a while, they won't be able to hold on. By then, the entire Jingnan may fall into our hands!"

Yuwen Xian's eyes were particularly bright.

"If we really can't win, then we can take Hua Jiao's navy and flee. Hua Jiao has a large number of shipbuilders. I have already ordered these shipbuilders to return to Liang State in batches. And those warships will all be ours from now on."

Yuwen Xian was quite happy.

"Good fortune has come. God bless the Great Zhou!"

Yuwen Xian's cheerful mood did not last long.

Because Huang Fachi and others have already come to kill us.

The battle on land has not yet begun, but the fight on the water has already begun.

At the beginning, Hua Jiao was still full of confidence.

Relying on the reinforcements from the Zhou Kingdom, he took all of his giant warships with him and led them out. The four giant warships were lined up on the water, and together with the golden-winged warships around them, they were a mighty and extremely terrifying force.

The State of Chen also has four large ships.

Hua Jiao stood on the main ship, full of energy and vigor. Now that he had four large ships to command, he couldn't imagine how he could lose.

Then the enemy began to charge.

The two sides fought fiercely on the water, and Hua Jiao immediately discovered the problem.

Why don't the Zhou people listen to my command? !
After thinking about it again, I realized that these are Zhou people! !

Because it was a joint fleet, only the half of the old Chen army and the enemy could understand the commander's flag order, but the Zhou people were in trouble. The flag orders of the two sides were very different, and the same was true in terms of fighting style. These Zhou people didn't even name their big ships! It was simply unacceptable! !
Moreover, the Zhou navy was really rough in fighting. On the first day, Hua Jiao was beaten to a bloody pulp, and more than 20 fast boats acting as the vanguard were destroyed. Hua Jiao's heart was bleeding and he couldn't help pulling his hair.

He did not dare to attack again, and hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat. Then he began to popularize his flag orders to the Zhou people, asking them to conduct coordinated training in the rear, hoping that they could be deployed to the official battlefield earlier.

Huang Fachi and Chunyu Liang were both veterans after all, so they would never miss such a good opportunity. They launched a crazy and fierce attack on Hua Jiao. Several times, the enemy's giant ships almost reached the gate of the water fort.

Just as Chunyu Liang predicted before the war, on the water, these Yankees were definitely no match for him.

But just as they were fighting faster and faster and Chunyu Liang was ready to cut off the enemy's retreat, a message suddenly came.

The remaining troops in the north came to report that two generals of the Han Dynasty, Yao Xiong and Gao Yanzong, had led their troops into the Huai River region and were preparing to attack the city and seize the stronghold.

When this news spread in Jiangdong, many officials were immediately frightened.

There was a traitor in the country, and the Zhou people turned against us. Now why did even Liu Taozi come to kill us? ?

The emperor was also shocked and hurriedly sent someone to inform Chunyu Liang who was fighting on the front line.

When the two generals on the front line learned about this, they were not surprised.

Chunyu Liang had long thought that the enemy might attack. This group of cannibalistic Northern Hu people, each of whom was a crippled wolves, tigers and leopards, would never miss such an opportunity. They were eager to pounce and devour Lianghuai while the defense was weak.

But Chunyu Liang had already made arrangements. He hurriedly wrote to the emperor, asking him not to worry, as the enemy could not take the main cities. He said that after he had dealt with Hua Jiao, he would immediately go back and repel them.

ps: The second chapter will be posted tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)