Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 390: Sail Raised, Sail Lowered

Woohoo——

From south to north, the dull and ominous sound continued throughout the entire battlefield.

"kill!"

"Whoa!"

In a fierce fight, a Ming army soldier was kicked to the ground by a fierce enemy, his helmet was pulled off, his chest was pressed by the enemy's knee, and his throat was pointed at by the enemy's sword.

Is that the end? The soldier closed his eyes in despair.

However, after waiting for a long time, the sword did not fall.

The soldier opened his eyes in confusion.

But the enemy remained in a half-kneeling position, his head turned away, his mouth open in surprise, as if he had seen something extraordinary.

The warrior had no time to think too much. He immediately pushed the opponent away from him, rolled on the ground, stood up with a somersault, picked up his helmet and sword, and got ready for another fight.

However, his opponent had no intention of fighting at all, and just stared at the side as if possessed.

Hey, be serious, we're at war!
The Ming soldier was afraid of a trick and asked cautiously:
"What are you looking at?"

His opponent did not turn his head to look at him, but just raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Nanshan, his lips trembling slightly:

"Ship...Ship!"

"Ship? What ship?"

The Ming army soldiers were puzzled. While being wary of the enemy, they secretly glanced at the Nanshan Mountain outside the battlefield.

The pupils suddenly shrank.

The two men who had been fighting to the death just now involuntarily put down their weapons and looked in the same direction like possessed.

In front of their sight, the ridge of Nanshan Mountain sunk down here.

Through this depression, you can vaguely see a long thing flashing on the other side of the mountain.

It looks like a mast, the mast of a big ship.

Damn, there are mountains there!
How is it possible to sail on the mountain?

On this battlefield, more and more soldiers witnessed this strange scene, unconsciously put down their weapons, and watched in amazement.

"Is that... a boat?"

"Are you Guanzhong people all idiots? How can there be a boat on land?"

"What...what is that?"

"Penglai Fairyland, mirage or something like that..."

"Are you Hebei people all idiots? This is Shanxi, where does this mirage come from?"

"..."

This vision was so bizarre that it even caused the two opposing sides to temporarily stop fighting.

Many people thought that they were blurred in consciousness due to fighting, so they wiped their eyes and squinted to look carefully.

However, the battlefield was filled with thick smoke and they could not see anything clearly. They could only see a few vague shadows similar to masts passing by the col again and again.

If they really are ships, what a massive fleet that would be!

…………

However, discovering the anomaly is only a small part of the battlefield.

Li Shiji could not see anything from where he was, and could only hear the continuous dull roar.

He was stunned for just a moment, then quickly ignored it and turned his attention back to combat command.

"The sun is about to set, and the night battle will begin soon. All soldiers light torches and line up in dense formations. Don't be left alone!
"What happened to the left army's offensive? Why did it stagnate?
"What? The left army reported that boats could sail on dry land, and the soldiers all thought it was a sign from heaven? Some even knelt down and worshipped?
"What bullshit is this! Order them to move forward quickly and keep the two wings level! If they delay military operations, they will be subject to military law!"

Really, what is going on…Li Shiji was speechless.

Limited vision and conflicting intelligence are common situations on the battlefield.

But you are already indulging in feudal superstition, which is a bit too much!
As the commander-in-chief, people are dying on the battlefield every minute and every second. He must make decisions quickly and cannot tolerate any slacking off.

He really didn't have the leisure time to pay attention to the strange noises outside the battlefield.

It was only in between issuing orders that Li Shiji could not help but secretly marvel at the sound that shook his soul like the roar of a giant dragon:

What on earth happened? Is there anything over there in Nanshan?

…………

"One, two, three, pull! One, two, three, pull!"

On the South Mountain, the laborers and livestock worked together to drag the huge warship forward with great effort.

Woo woo—the warship glided on the wide wooden boards, like a sleeping giant, making a low and distant sound that echoed among the mountains.

Hey, hey—

Whipped by the workers, the cattle pulled the yoke and took heavy steps.

When passing the highest point of the ridge, my pace suddenly eased.

The foreman was walking at the front of the team. He was very sensitive to this slight change and immediately shouted:
“Let’s go down the mountain!”

The poles and oars immediately stretched out from the front and sides of the boat, getting stuck in the gaps between the wooden boards and in the sand, gravel and mud, stopping the boat's uncontrollable acceleration in time.

It is easy to go up the mountain but difficult to go down. With the efforts of the soldiers on the boat who served as "ballast", the boat was slowly towed by the cattle and carefully went down the slope.

The experienced captain walked out of the cabin, felt the wind direction for a while, and then gave a decisive order:

"Sail!"

The sailor skillfully manipulated the sail so that the wind filled the entire sail surface, thus slowing down the ship.

With multiple approaches, the laborers, crew members, and cowherds cooperated with each other and moved the giant ship down the mountain at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow and just enough to be controlled, diving towards the rear of the Jinyang battlefield.

Hey, hey—

The sound of the horn lasted for a long time.

I don't know who found it monotonous or what, so he hummed a little tune.

The little tune quickly spread from person to person, and everyone started humming rhythmically together:
The sails go up, the sails go down.

Sailing on dry land, taking the enemy by surprise.

You are pissing and playing in the mud, he has conquered the Tang Dynasty.

Shisilang, please sit in the hall and watch me destroy Jinyang City!
…………

On the city wall of Jinyang City, Li Shimin half leaned on the couch, overlooking the earth below.

His posture was very relaxed, but his furrowed brow and focused expression showed that he was not as calm as he looked.

The fire had stopped, with only a few scattered areas still emitting smoke. Nanshan Mountain was almost completely burned out, and the vegetation on the mountain was almost all turned to charcoal.

Although the air is not as unsuitable for human survival as it was in the past few days, it is still quite choking.

Even so, Li Shimin still ignored the dissuasion of his close ministers and forced his servants to move the bed to the terrace on the top of the city wall. He sat there with his sick body, observing the battlefield intently.

"Your Majesty, please go back and rest for a while. It's getting dark."

Several generals knelt behind His Majesty, trying to persuade him for so many times that they couldn't count it.

Li Shimin naturally turned a deaf ear to it and whispered to himself:

"Where are the remaining Ming troops? Where are the remaining Ming troops?"

Although it was a little late, it was summer, the days were long and the nights were short, and it was still bright.

Moreover, after a whole day of strong winds, the fog covering the battlefield had dissipated by more than half.

The view was good for a while before dark.

Taking advantage of this precious time window, Li Shimin must completely clarify the doubts in his mind.

Otherwise, he won't be able to sleep well tonight.

Although the situation on the battlefield in the distance is not clear at a glance, it is much clearer than during the day.

The red color representing the Tang army formed a semicircle, like a huge pocket, half-covering the black color representing the Ming army.

The advantage is mine!

If the Ming army's southern route could be defeated or even completely annihilated, the siege of Jinyang and the distress in Shanxi would naturally be resolved.

The more optimistic ones even began to imagine a reversal of the war. The conservative and cautious ones also felt that the Tang Dynasty could still survive for a while, waiting for changes in the world.

In short, the generals who stayed in Jinyang were ready to open champagne at halftime. However, Li Shimin had a heavy heart.

With extremely rich combat experience, he could estimate the approximate number of enemies just by looking at the area of ​​the black "square" in the distance.

Undoubtedly, this Ming army that fought to the death with Li Shiji was not the entire main force of the Southern Army.

The question is, where are the rest of their troops?

The battle has progressed to this point. If that hidden force doesn't show up to provide support, the Ming army on the front line will be surrounded and annihilated.

"What exactly is that kid's conspiracy..."

Li Shimin's eyes moved rapidly, trying to locate the mysteriously disappeared Ming army through the long distance and the intermittent fog.

Given Shisilang's temper, he would definitely not order his people to charge the defense line for no reason.

This front-line force is used to divert the attention of the Tang army. That guy must have some shady tricks behind the scenes.

But what kind of shady trick is this? Where will that army that only exists in speculation suddenly appear, and how can the war situation take a sudden turn for the worse?

Li Shimin tried to think about this problem from the opposite perspective.

This is a common method of determining the enemy's movements.

But when used on Li Ming, this trick didn't work.

Li Shimin was frustrated to find that even if he put himself in his youngest son's shoes, he could not imitate him in the slightest.

That guy's imagination is really too big...

Just as Li Shimin was staring at the battlefield, the people on the tower heard a strange noise -

Wow.

It sounded like a large animal like an elephant or a rhino suddenly jumped into the water.

But, damn, this tower is still far from the water.

What kind of giant beast could make such a noise heard here?

"Your Majesty! Look, what is that!"

During the banquet, a general screamed in surprise, not caring about his impolite behavior in front of the palace, and pointed with a trembling finger at the bottom of the city wall.

What's there?
Li Shimin looked down.

In the section of Fen River south of Jinyang and north of the battlefield, the splashes had just subsided and the waves were rolling.

Before he could see clearly what it was, there was another sound -

Blah, blah, blah!

One after another, the Fen River splashed with huge waves.

There's something in the river...

"That is……?!"

Li Shimin's pupils suddenly contracted and he cried out in surprise.

What on earth did the battle-hardened General Tian Ce see that caused him to lose his composure like this?
The generals were stunned by this rare scene and immediately rushed to the fence on the roof.

"Ship...Ship?!"

Like the ordinary soldiers on the front line, they were all stunned and kept muttering the word.

Suddenly, a few sailboats appeared on the Fen River outside Jinyang City.

Like a magic trick, the dark Ming fleet suddenly "folded" right under their noses!

"This this……"

The battle-hardened generals were so shocked that they were speechless for a while.

The two sides are not far away from each other, and they cannot paralyze themselves by saying "this is all an illusion."

It is absolutely true, the Ming fleet really took advantage of us!

"The blockade failed to stop them?!"

Li Shimin was the first to recover from his shock and looked south along the Fen River.

In the setting sun, the iron chains reflected the warm red light, and the incendiary straw boat floated in it, safe and sound.

"No... the straw boats are not moving, and the iron chains are still there. How did they break through the blockade and get here?!"

The generals were incoherent and could not understand the scene before them.

No, buddy, I know that your Ming Dynasty has developed shipbuilding, but it is not developed to this extent!
Can your ship fly or jump? How did you physically pass through these physical blockades?

“I went around it.”

It was Li Shimin who made careful observations and pointed to the South Mountain.

I saw the dark Ming warships lined up in neat rows like soldiers, "driving" on the mountain one after another as if they were walking on flat ground. When they reached the river bank, they plopped into the water like dumplings, splashing waves.

Oh~ I see, we took the land route to bypass the iron chain defense line~
The corners of the generals' mouths were almost twitching.

Damn, a big ship climbing a mountain?
It sounds as sci-fi as a big ship taking off...

"Is that so? He was planning to transport goods by land to bypass the river blockade? Was he burning the mountain to conceal his whereabouts and open up a trail in the South Mountain?"

Li Shimin was talking to himself, his speech was unclear and his speed was very fast.

Only when you get closer can you vaguely make out what he is saying——

“However, this trail is not suitable for large-scale military maneuvers. Only two hundred people are needed to block the way down the mountain.

“Simply moving the navy to the rear will have limited effect.

"And the remaining half of the Confederate Army is missing...

"Could it be that!"

Li Shimin's whole body trembled, as if an electric current was running through his body, making his hair stand on end and his lips tremble.

"Could it be that the ships...these ships are filled with!"

While the generals were still ignorant, General Tian Ce was the first to realize the very, very terrifying situation and stood up from his couch.

"His Majesty!"

The generals did not understand why His Majesty had such a violent reaction and rushed to support him.

"roll!"

Li Shimin pushed them away angrily and yelled:
"What are you still doing here? Go and support Li Shiji!"

…………

Wow!
Under the skillful steering of the full-level crew, the Ming warship re-entered the Fen River and docked steadily on the shore.

The cabin doors opened one by one, and the soldiers filed out of the cabins.

There were no shouts or slogans. They passed the gangway silently, orderly and efficiently and stepped onto land again.

They were located at the rear of the battlefield, outside the city of Jinyang.

On the left is the large Tang army led by Li Shiji.

On the right is the Tang army’s lair.

The true meaning of having the best of both worlds!

Who to hit?

you still need to ask?

The loyal Ming army officers and soldiers will naturally implement the strategic purpose of His Majesty Li Ming to the end -

Give priority to destroying the enemy’s manpower!
"Everyone obeys the order!"

Under the command of the officers, the well-trained infantry immediately formed an array and rushed to the battlefield on the left!

…………

"What are you still standing there for? Something terrible is happening! Quickly open the city gates, send out all your forces, and intercept the enemy!"

While everyone was still in a daze, Li Shimin was the first to react and decisively gave the order to attack.

The generals still hadn't recovered from their shock, and were slow to react, with a look of bewilderment and confusion on their faces:

"But Your Majesty, this will leave Jinyang empty..."

"What's the point of a broken city in Jinyang! Soldiers, only soldiers are the core!
"If Li Shiji is attacked from both sides, our army and our dynasty will be finished!"

(End of this chapter)