Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 455: Kunshan Arson

If Li Qi's goal was just to set fire to the Jin navy's flagship, then at this moment, he had already completed half of it.

The scattered fireboats had already approached the flagship of the Wanyan Zheng family before the Dongting Lake navy, drying the water marks on it and setting fire to the fallen sails. Even if no one cared about it, the fire on the flagship would gradually grow and become uncontrollable.

However, the purpose of the Wanyan Zheng family was to preserve the entire Jin navy by sacrificing several ships including the flagship, so they blocked the waterway.

Would Li Qi spare the fleeing Jin navy? Would he give up on avenging his lord and comrades?

impossible!

Will Wanyan Zhengjia abandon his duties as the commander-in-chief of the navy and flee in embarrassment?
That's impossible!
So there is nothing else to say, the blade is broken, the iron armor is shattered, and it is a matter of life and death for men.

Once the two sides started fighting, the situation almost immediately became intense.

"Liang Peng! Go and cut the anchor!" Li Qi knocked a Jin army soldier to the ground with his double swords and shouted orders to his two bodyguards.

"You want to cut my anchor? Are you really that bold?" Just as he finished speaking, a heavily armored warrior came slashing across, his twin maces swirling like wielding straw, forcing back several Dongting Lake naval soldiers. Then he pointed at Li Qi and cursed, "Grandpa is from the Wanyan Zheng family. When we get down there, I'll teach you a lesson!"

After a roar of anger, Wanyan Zhengjia led several personal guards to attack head-on, while Li Qi gathered the soldiers on board to fight hard.

"Go quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Liang Peng gritted his teeth, brandished his spear, and made a feint towards Wanyan Zhengjia. When the Jin soldiers dodged, he crouched down and tried to break through the blockade, but Wanyan Zhengjia used his shoulder armor to knock the spear head away and knocked him off the ship with one arm.

He Zizheng had just boarded the ship when he saw such a chaotic scene. The young general, who had followed his father He Boqiu on Yishui since he was a child, only needed to take a quick glance to tell from the layout of the ship that the anchor chains must be piled up in the cabin.

However, He Zizheng looked at the staircase behind him that was blocked by more than 20 Jin soldiers. Without any intention of fighting, he turned around and shouted, "Big Axe!"

Soon, a large axe was handed to He Zizheng, who drew a circle on the deck and said, "Let's chop together!"

After that, three axes and two long swords were chopped on the deck.

Even though the deck of the ship had gone through many processes and the materials used on the flagship were solid, how could it withstand the chopping and smashing of several big men with heavy weapons? In just a moment, a big hole was cut in the deck.

"Follow me!" He Zizheng picked up the axe and jumped in without any hesitation.

With a thud, He Zizheng landed in the cabin. Before he could stand firmly, he felt the wind tighten in his ears, and a hand knife hit his helmet with a bang, splashing sparks.

He Zizheng was confused and just reflexively swept with his long axe. Then he heard a scream. The thigh of the Jin soldier who had just launched a sneak attack was chopped off, and he fell to the ground, crying continuously.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to retreat, He Zizheng's eyes also adapted to the dark environment in the cabin. After seeing four unarmored braided warriors surrounding him, before he could shout or curse, several more armored soldiers jumped out of the big hole above their heads. After just a quick glance around, these Jingnan Army armored soldiers pounced on the braided warriors.

He Zizheng, holding a big axe, did not join the battle, but looked around for the anchor chain. After a moment, he saw the anchor winch at the back of the cabin. He was overjoyed and started chopping with the axe.

Although those braided warriors were not wearing armor and were at an absolute disadvantage when facing the armored soldiers of the Jingnan Army, they were the elite on the flagship after all and were extremely tenacious. Seeing He Zizheng chopping the capstan with an axe, they could not help but be horrified. One of them, Pu Liyan, ignored the heavy blow to his body and rushed towards He Zizheng waving a melon hammer.

However, it was too late. It was not known whether the capstan was broken or the chain was cut by He Zizheng, but the entire anchor chain rattled and slipped out along the anchor chain hole on the side of the ship.

What followed was a huge shaking of the ship, and both the Jingnan Army soldiers and the braided warriors rolled all over the ground.

The Jin navy flagship finally broke free.

However, Pu Liyan, who was struggling to get up, looked at He Zizheng with terrified eyes, to be precise, he looked at the burning oil lamp that had rolled out from somewhere at He Zizheng's feet, and the broken gunpowder barrel that was very close to the oil lamp.

"Fuck him!"

Following Puliyan's gaze, He Zizheng also saw this scene, and then saw the dozens of barrels of black gunpowder neatly stacked in the cabin. He couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end. After cursing angrily, he immediately ordered: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

The soldiers of the Jingnan Army did not dare to delay. They did not even have time to pick up their fallen weapons. They pushed aside the braided warriors and fled towards the stairs.

Now no one had time to fight, and everyone began to rush to survive.

When He Zizheng and Pu Liyan pushed and shoved each other and reached the deck, a muffled sound was heard from the cabin, and the deck shook. Several Song Jin armored soldiers who had just stood up fell down again.

Only the panting Li Qi and Wanyan Zhengjia lived up to the title of naval generals. Their feet just swayed for a moment, then they stood firmly and fought again.

Fortunately, most of the black powder of this era was used as an accelerant, and it was difficult for an explosion reaction to occur without special treatment. Otherwise, if so much gunpowder exploded at the same time, everyone on the ship would be reduced to dust.

He Zizheng slapped out the fire on his legs, then swung his axe, disregarding any ties of brotherhood, and knocked the Jin army soldier Puliyan beside him away. He treated him to a drink of Yuxi River water, and then, feeling the increasingly hot deck, He Zizheng shouted, "Retreat quickly! Retreat to the boat!"

In the center of the fleet, Li Qi was still leading his soldiers in battle against the Wanyan Zheng family. Victory or defeat between soldiers in a well-organized formation was often a slow process, with casualties occurring only when one side was physically exhausted, morale was low, and formation was disrupted.

Seeing that the victory was achieved, Li Qi had some thoughts of retreating, but Wanyan Zhengjia had already gone completely crazy. After seeing the Song army retreat slightly, he just leaned on his double maces and took two heavy breaths, then once again took the lead as the commander-in-chief and rushed towards the retreating Dongting Lake navy.

The morale of the Jin army recovered a little upon seeing this, and many sailors who were in a panic turned around and engaged the Song army. What surprised and angered Li Qi was that the right wing of the Song army was in disarray due to the spread of fire on the deck, and they were caught in a melee under the counterattack led by Wanyan Zhengjia's army.

"You idiot, you're so scared of death! Why are you running?"

After putting his life and death aside, Wanyan Zhengjia was no longer as cautious as before. His fathers who had fought their way out of the White Mountains and Black Waters seemed to be watching him. The blood was boiling in Wanyan Zhengjia's heart. He no longer needed to care about the navy, his future and destiny, his family and country. The only thing he wanted to do most now was to tear all the Song army into pieces with his own hands.

Although Li Qi was extremely angry when he heard this, he still maintained a sober attitude as a general. While covering the rear, he ordered his subordinates to retreat in an orderly manner.

He Zizheng also led several soldiers to fight back to contain the flank of the Jin army.

Dozens of armored soldiers fought a life-and-death battle on the burning Jin army flagship.

"You think you can get away?!" Wanyan Zhengjia roared. He dropped his maces, snatched a long sword from one of his personal guards, and swung it with such force that it spun like a rocket, drawing a silver arc through the air and cleaving a Dongting Lake sailor in half, shield and all. Without waiting for the soldier to counterattack, Wanyan Zhengjia retreated a step with his sword, twisted his body, and, with the force from his feet, slashed the long sword in a semicircle, slashing towards Li Qi.

Li Qi knew how powerful it was. This long sword was only slightly lighter than the crescent-shaped sword, and could only be used by people with strong bodies and large strength. However, the Wanyan Zheng family could flexibly use this cavalry weapon in infantry combat, which was enough to show their extraordinary martial arts skills.

The long sword is coming with force, how can a flesh and blood body stop it?
However, Li Qi did not want to block. He broke away from the formation and rushed towards Wanyan Zhengjia with two swords in hand. When the long swords were still in the air, Li Qi had already reached Wanyan Zhengjia and slashed at him from the front with two swords.

Wanyan Zhengjia remained calm, loosened the knife handle with both hands, let the long knife fly out, and quickly pulled out the melon hammer on his waist with both hands, smashing it together with the two knives.

Li Qi and Wanyan Zhengjia both retreated two or three steps, but they were still too close. Guards from both sides rushed forward to support their generals, and the formation was suddenly thrown into disarray. Nearly thirty soldiers engaged in a chaotic battle, and casualties began to occur in large numbers.

Wanyan Zhengjia hammered his breastplate with both hammers and strode towards Li Qi, grinning and gritting his teeth: "I cut off that old dog Li's head with my own hands. This time, I will use that head as a chamber pot!"

Before he finished speaking, Wanyan Zhengjia swung his two hammers and hit Li Qi.

Li Qi's eyes turned red instantly, but he also knew that the other party said this to provoke him, so his hands did not move. The knife in his left hand steadily unloaded the power of the double hammers, and the knife in his right hand stabbed forward.

A single sword could not penetrate the heavy breastplate, so they could only rely on strength to repel the Wanyan Zheng family.

Li Qi, taking advantage of his situation, pushed forward with his left hand and slashed his right hand straight at the opponent's helmet. "Filthy beast, I will personally send you down right now and make you kneel before General Li for a thousand years!"

The two men were still fighting, but the fire on the boat was getting bigger and bigger.

The deck in the middle of the ship had been burned through, and when the wind blew in, thick flames burst out from it, igniting the sails on the masts. Now there was not only smoke in four places, but also fire in eight places on the planks.

In this desperate situation, the auxiliary soldiers on the Jin army's flagship had basically collapsed and jumped into the river, but the Jin army, known for its perseverance, became murderous and poured out their anger on all the Song army within their sight.

It wasn't that He Zizheng didn't want to support Li Qi, but he was being entangled by the increasing number of Jin Guozheng troops. Even if the Jingnan Army soldiers were elite, they couldn't use even 10% of their abilities in such an environment, and there was no way to quickly break through.

However, He Zizheng's involvement on the side was not meaningless. Except for the soldiers who were fighting with the Jin army, all the rest of Li Qi's troops retreated.

A small section of deck actually became a battleground for the soldiers of the Song and Jin armies.

Li Qi took a moment to glance at He Zizheng, who was still fighting in the crowd. He had dodged the Wanyan Zheng family's counterattack, but was struck on the left arm by a Jin soldier who had come from the side. Although he was not injured under the protection of heavy armor, the pain was excruciating. As the knife in his left hand fell out of his hand, Li Qi couldn't help but stumble forward two steps.

The Jin soldier who had successfully launched a sneak attack also came to help at the risk of his life. He swung his sword, and the Song army soldier who was fighting against him was shocked and angry. He hit the soldier's back hard with the hammer in his hand, causing blood to spurt from his mouth and nose, and he died instantly.

Wanyan Zhengjia didn't waste the opportunity his men had sacrificed their lives for, and brought down the hammer with all his might. Li Qi rolled on the spot, picked up a rattan shield, and hastily blocked it, but he didn't release any strength at all. He only felt a sharp pain in his left arm, and the numbness that followed told him that his left arm was broken.

Li Qi gritted his teeth and used his broken arm to block in front of him, lowered his body, and slashed at Wanyan Zhengjia's shin armor with a single knife.

Wanyan Zhengjia struck Li Qi with two more hammers, knocking him to his knees. However, he felt a pain in his calf. After moving it a bit, he found that it was only a flesh wound. He ignored it and stepped forward with a grim smile, stepping on the single sword.

Wanyan Zhengjia waved his hand and threw the melon hammer in his left hand, knocking down the Dongting Lake navy soldiers who wanted to come to support. Then he grabbed the edge of Li Qi's shield, lifted it up with force, raised the melon hammer in his right hand, and smashed it towards Li Qi's head.

"When you get down there, say hello to Old Dog Li!"

However, when the shield flew out, Wanyan Zhengjia only saw blood-red eyes exposed in the gap between the helmet and the neck.

"Let's go down together!"

Li Qihu roared, put down his sword, hugged Wanyan Zhengjia and pushed him backwards, completely ignoring the opponent's hammers falling on his shoulders like raindrops.

"Song dog! You are so brave!" Wanyan Zhengjia couldn't struggle free and screamed in anger.

"Let's die together!" Blood foam spurted out of Li Qi's mouth. All the strength in his body was almost gone, but he had no intention of stopping.

"you……"

"Hahaha!"

Wanyan Zhengjia's scolding had not yet finished when it came to an abrupt end along with Li Qi's laughter.

The two heavily armored warriors fell together into the hole in the deck that was burned by the fire.

Flames rose up and the two men disappeared in an instant.

He Zizheng watched this scene helplessly, but he had no way to do anything. He could only lead his troops to break through a gap and withdraw the remaining troops back to his own ships.

Meanwhile, the other ships also made progress, and the Jin ships that had been blocking the fire ships broke free and became new fire ships. Among them, the Jin flagship was extremely large, and as it drifted horizontally downstream, it set the other ships on fire.

The momentum of burning the camps could no longer be stopped. The Jin army fleet in the narrow Yuxi River could not turn around in time and could not escape. Except for the Jin army who escaped ashore and a few small boats, the Jin army warships were burned into huge torches.

Yuxi River was quickly turned into a river of fire.

The Jin Dynasty's naval fleet, which Su Baoheng and Wanyan Zheng's family had painstakingly built, could not escape the fate of being annihilated.

The remnants of the Dongting Lake navy also fulfilled their oath and avenged their blood feud.

The fog dissipated in the early morning.

The morning sun looks like blood.

(End of this chapter)