Taiheiki

Chapter 244 Flame
Soon, the Wei army answered Qi Tie's question with its actions. The Wei fleet split into two groups. The first half turned further north and sailed against the wind to the left of the enemy, probably intending to attack or bypass the flank of the Ezekiel navy. The second half was arranged in three rows and sailed slowly, seemingly trying to use the relatively narrow waterway between Sangluozhou and the north bank of the Yangtze River for defense, so as to avoid being surrounded by the enemy due to their numerical advantage.

"What a naive idea!" Qi Tie laughed loudly: "It's fine to use the terrain to shorten the battle line and strengthen the defense, but it's ridiculous to divide the already limited forces into two teams. Does he think he can attack me from both sides?"

“I don’t find it funny at all!” Liu Kun gestured to the river surface with his hand: “Look, the river is only three or four miles wide from Sangluo Island to the north bank. Such a narrow river is more advantageous to the side with fewer people!”

"No problem, I can divide my forces!" Qi Tie pointed to Sangluo Island: "Send the order! Send some soldiers ashore to seize this sandbar! Send some ships around Sangluo Island to attack them from behind!"

Liu Kun opened his mouth. From a military strategy perspective, Qi Tie's command was not problematic. However, he had an ominous premonition. After all, putting so many ships into such a narrow body of water was indeed a very dangerous thing.

The booming sound of drums and horns echoed across the river like the howl of demons, carried by ship to ship. Wei Cong stood on the bow of the Chang Le, gazing intently at the approaching enemy forces. The enemy ships were lowering their sails, oarsmen were rushing to their posts, and the decks were a hive of activity, clearly to prevent the sails from being ignited by various projectiles.

"Look, those small boats!" Wen Sheng pointed to the small boats heading towards Sangluo Island, which were filled with soldiers. The first few boats had already reached the shore, and the impatient soldiers jumped into the water and waded towards the shore. To avoid getting their bowstrings wet, many archers raised their bows above their heads. More and more heads rushed toward the land, like a swarm of ants rushing toward a piece of candy.

“Since this section of the river is narrow, it’s only natural to seize the sandbar first!” Wei Cong didn’t focus his attention on the sandbar. At this moment, the approximately forty sailing ships he was commanding had already circled around to the very end of the enemy’s left flank and began to turn east, charging towards the last few rows of the enemy fleet, which were also the largest and most tightly packed ships. Under the command of experienced sailors, these sailing ships maintained an astonishing speed even with the river wind blowing from the side and front.

At this moment, the distance between the two sides had shortened to a point where Wei Cong could clearly see the layout of the enemy ships. He could clearly see the nearest enemy ship, a large ship with a capacity of at least 500 shi (a unit of weight), with nearly a hundred long oars on both sides, neatly slapping the water's surface, like a giant centipede. The deck was densely packed with soldiers, their sharp spears gleaming in the sunlight. There was a catapult at both the bow and stern, and the soldiers were adjusting the angle under the command of their officers. Wei Cong thought that their target was him.

"Watch out!" came Lu Ping's exclamation from behind. Two stone projectiles landed in the water about twelve or thirteen steps to the right of the Chang Le ship. She picked up the water jets, but they had missed.

"Don't worry!" Wei Cong laughed. "If we can hit it from this distance, then we'll be really unlucky!"

As they spoke, the distance between the two sides had been reduced to only about a hundred paces. The archers on the Moth Bandit side began to fire, while the Wei army carried wooden boxes with copper tubes onto the deck and aimed them at the enemy ships not far away.

"The wind direction is about right!" Wei Cong glanced at the flags overhead. The Chang Le had already circled the enemy's flank, and the river wind was blowing from behind towards the Moth Pirates' fleet. Wei Cong turned to Wen Sheng and said, "Beat the drums!"

The rapid drumbeats seemed to pound on everyone's hearts. The Wei army's ships began to turn, charging towards the flanks and rear of the Moth Pirate fleet, their long oars lowered. On deck, infantrymen rhythmically pounded their shields with their weapons, while archers swiftly nocked their bows and drew arrows from their quivers. Guards, shields in hand, blocked Wei Cong, forcing him to crane his neck and try to peek through the gaps. Well, he admitted he couldn't see anything but people.

Stones and arrows rained down, most landing in the water, with only a few hitting their targets. Wei Cong could hear the soldiers' screams. Flames rose from the neighboring boats, but were quickly extinguished by sand. Arrows flew past each other, emitting a sharp, venomous hiss. He gritted his teeth, silently calculating how far away they were and whether it was time to fire.

"The distance is enough!" the captain said in a low voice.

"Let's begin!" Wei Cong waved his arm. He felt his voice was a little hoarse. After fighting so many battles over the years, how could he still be nervous? He secretly laughed at himself.

"injection!"

At the captain's command, the soldiers on the deck of the Chang Le pulled the triggers, and a jet of flame shot from their brass pipes towards the enemy ship a dozen paces away. The terrible flames instantly ignited the rigging, the hull, and even people—everything flammable. People tried to douse it with water and smother it with sand; those who were set ablaze rolled on the ground, but all to no avail. The flames climbed over the ropes, scaled the sails, and turned the entire ship into a giant, yellow, flaming mass. Finally, the men jumped into the water, only to discover in despair that the flames could even continue burning on the surface, and they cried out in terror.

"Don't waste time and fuel, aim for the second one!"

The officers and captain of the Chang Le roared at their soldiers. Although the soldiers had been told before the battle that they would be using a "decisive weapon"—one that could easily destroy the pirate ships—this was the first time they had witnessed its terrifying power firsthand. At a distance of only ten or twenty meters, they could clearly see the jets of flame instantly transform a once-mighty ship into a giant torch. Those engulfed in flames screamed and jumped into the water, simultaneously drowning and burning. Those who witnessed it could even see skeletal, burned hands reaching out from the water, pleading for help. Many soldiers were so terrified that they had to be jolted awake by the officers' fists and the hilts of their swords before they could react and aim their brass pipes at the next enemy ship.

The Chang Le swept past the last row of enemy ships on the left flank of the Moth Rebels. Its six copper pipes on deck spewed flames at enemy ships a dozen or twenty paces away. The river wind amplified the power of the flames. Behind it came the second and third Wei ships, each spewing fire dragons at the enemy vessels. They were like a group of diligent servants lighting candles in a mansion at dusk. One after another, enormous candles rose from the river, quickly losing control, spinning, swaying, and dancing, setting any partner they touched on fire. Because the Moth Rebels' formation was too dense, and the rear rows were all large ships, they couldn't quickly disperse to prevent the fire from spreading. The river seemed to boil from the riverbed, with burning masts, burning soldiers, and debris from exploding ships flying everywhere in the air.

About fifteen minutes later, the Chang Le had passed the right flank of the Moth Pirates, and the flames on its deck had ceased, as it had run out of fuel. This mixture of sulfur, quicklime, petroleum, and camphor oil was extremely dangerous, and many of the raw materials were imported from Southeast Asia. Therefore, Wei Cong's fleet actually only had it on six ships, but its effectiveness in battle was even greater than anticipated. Anyone with eyes could see that the outcome was already decided.

Qi Tie stood motionless on the sterncastle, like a statue, his face as deathly pale as a stone. On the river, across several rows of ships, flames raged. Half of his once-proud fleet was ablaze, and the remaining half were in panic, desperately trying to escape. The once-mighty ships had become funeral pyres, turning their crews into living torches. The air was filled with smoke, arrows, and screams.

The officers standing beside Qi Tie, whether brave or cowardly, watched in despair as the flames spread towards them. Now they understood why the Wei army had chosen such a narrow battlefield. The water was only three li wide, crammed with at least eight hundred boats of varying sizes; escape was simply a pipe dream. The only exit was blocked by Wei ships. Under other circumstances, they might have been prepared to fight to the death, but this time was different. Who knew if the Wei ships on the other side would also spew forth such fiery dragons?

The hot wind whipped his cloak, lashing his face and jolting him out of his despairing stupor. He tried to do something, but didn't know what. Another nearby boat was set ablaze; flames danced on the water, the crashing masts drowning out all the cries of anguish. Hundreds, even thousands, of heads lay on the river, either drowned, burned, or both. "Get ashore, or to the sandbar! That's the only way to survive!" Liu Kun roared at Qi Tie, shoving his commander's shoulder. "Get in the small boats to the shore! Only when people get ashore will they survive!"

Qi Tie realized what was happening and quickly led a dozen or so of his confidants onto a small boat, rowing with all his might toward the nearest land.

————————————————————————

"You won again!" Lu Ping looked at the fire in front of her and sighed softly, "It seems I made the right choice again this time!"

“According to the intelligence we have, there are only half of the Moth Thieves’ fleet here!” Wei Cong said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter how many are left!" Lu Ping sighed. "Those who have experienced this battle will no longer have the courage to fight you. Really, it's all over. The remaining people won't dare to fight you, at least not on the water!"

"If that's the case, then that would be for the best!" Wei Cong sighed. "I've run out of fuel, and I don't want so many people to die; it's too terrible!"

“I actually think this is a good thing!” Lu Ping laughed. “Precisely because it’s so terrible, it can save more lives. Otherwise, many people would still have illusions. But after this experience, all you have to do is write a letter, and places like Yuzhang, Danyang, and Jiujiang will all obediently surrender!”

"If that's the case, then that's for the best!" Wei Cong sighed, glancing back at the hellish scene. "The deaths of these people can be considered worthwhile!"

----------------------

On the stern of the Chang Le, the highest point on the entire ship, Xie Bing was frantically wielding his charcoal pencil, recording everything before him on paper using the "sketching" method taught by Wei Cong. This would prepare him for his next creation. He had a premonition that what he saw before him would surely become a famous scene that would be constantly mentioned by future generations, and if he could draw it well, he could also leave his name in history through these drawings.

"It's so lively outside, what are you doing here!"

The hatch was suddenly pushed open, and Qin He rushed in. He was surprised to see his friend working with all his might.

"Draw!" Xie Bing answered without looking up, his charcoal pencil number four still moving.

"What time is it? A great victory! An unprecedented victory!" Qin He grabbed Xie Bing's shoulder: "You're still drawing!"

"Let go!" Xie Bing shoved Qin He's shoulder away. "Are we soldiers? Are we sailors? We didn't fight this battle, but if we can record it with our paintbrushes, people will remember our names thousands of years from now, just like Marquis Wei! Come on, lend a hand, I can save you a place in the signature!"

Qin He was stunned. After a moment, he began to assist Xie Bing, saying, "Okay, it's settled then. My name must be right next to yours, with no one else in between!"

——————————————————————————————————

The fire didn't end until the following morning, and no one knows how many people on the Moth Bandit side died. However, the corpses floated downstream all the way to Zongyang. The local official recorded in his documents, "Corpses floated on the river for more than ten miles, crows perched on the corpses, and when boats approached, they would rise up, like clouds covering the surface. From then on, many people stopped eating fish!" As for the wreckage of the boats, it even drifted to Danyang and Guangling. From then on, no naval force on the Yangtze River could contend with the Wei army.

Sangluozhou, Wei army camp.

"Has the victory report been sent to Jiangling yet?" Wei Cong asked. "Victory reports are the best proof of loyalty. I don't want to win here only to have our base taken down!"

"It's already been dispatched! It set off at dawn, the fastest ship!" Wen Sheng laughed. "You really don't need to worry so much. Your victory is already a done deal. Whether it's the imperial court or the bandits, they all have no choice but to bow their heads before you!"

"Quite the opposite!" Wei Cong sneered. "In my opinion, the battle of bows and spears is over, and next up will be the battle of pens and ink. I reckon that after the court learns of this victory, they will try every means to promote me and then transfer me to Luoyang!"

(End of this chapter)