Song Xiu

Chapter 126 Like Cao Cao Launching the First Attack
When Yang Shifan's memorial arrived, Zhou Xingfeng was in the lakeside fortress, observing the gathering of the warships.

In that era, the most powerful warships were the tower ships.

Multi-story ships typically consist of 2-3 decks, with parapets built on all four sides of the deck to defend against enemy arrows.

Besides their defensive function, the soldiers on the warships could also use the arrow slits or spear holes in the parapets to flexibly kill invading enemies from a distance or at close range.

The top deck of the warship was equipped with a command tower (watchtower) to facilitate command by the ship's officers.

Using a later metaphor, the "tall ship and large building" is similar to a waterborne tank.

When the Southern Chu dynasty declined, the Wuping Army, which inherited the most property, basically inherited the Southern Chu navy as a whole.

Furthermore, the regimes south of the Yangtze River all wanted to use the rivers and lakes to block the regimes in the Central Plains, so during Zhou Xingfeng's reign, he vigorously developed the navy.

With a solid foundation and years of relentless development, not counting other warships, the Wuping army currently has over a hundred single-soldier warships!
These hundreds of multi-story ships were meticulously modified by Zhou Xingfeng.

Zhou Xingfeng proudly referred to the modified warship as a "giant ship".

Looking at the giant ships standing in the water fortress, resembling sleeping beasts, Zhou Xingfeng felt reassured.

With so many giant ships, he was confident that he could crush the Song army head-on on the wide lake.

With his confidence soaring, Zhou Xingfeng unfolded Yang Shifan's memorial and began to read it.

Zhou Xingfeng knew that Zhang Wenbiao was no match for Yang Shifan, and he thought that this letter was a victory report.

After reading the contents, Zhou Xingfeng looked disgusted, as if he had swallowed a fly.

Zhou Xingfeng had considered the possibility of letting a wolf into his house, but he never imagined there would be such a "stupid" wolf in the world.

Before the tiger could be driven away, the Southern Han was already thinking about preserving its strength.

Disgusting as it may be, Wu Yanrou's intentions are sinister, and Zhou Xingfeng must be wary of her.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xingfeng ordered someone to summon Li Guanxiang.

When Li Guanxiang arrived, Zhou Xingfeng said to him:
“Five thousand troops were transferred south to assist Yang Shifan in garrisoning Hengzhou.”

When Zhou Xingfeng sent Yang Shifan south earlier, he had already given him several thousand soldiers.

After giving Yang Shifan another 5,000, and with the two combined forces, Yang Shifan now had over 10,000 men under his command.

With over ten thousand troops and Yang Shifan's talent, Hengzhou could be guaranteed peace for a short period of time.

After hearing Zhou Xingfeng's new orders, Li Guanxiang couldn't help but remind him:

"With a major battle about to begin, rashly dividing our forces may be detrimental to our army."

According to previous military intelligence, the Song army and the Wuping army were roughly equal in strength.

If 5,000 troops are divided at this moment, the Wuping Army will be inferior to the Song Army in strength.

Li Guanxiang, a scholar, subconsciously felt that this move was disadvantageous to his side.

Li Guanxiang's reminder not only didn't worry Zhou Xingfeng, but instead made him burst into laughter:
"How could our army be weaker than the Song army?"

With the ten prefectures of Wuping under their command, what difficulty could there be in assembling tens of thousands of naval troops?

Before the battle, Zhao Dexiu and Zhou Xingfeng both assessed the enemy's troop strength.

However, the assessment at that time only covered the enemy's main force and did not include auxiliary troops.

In ordinary combat, auxiliary soldiers are relatively weak and are generally not considered for inclusion in the field order.

Zhou Xingfeng initially did not intend to send auxiliary soldiers into battle.

However, as the battlefield situation became clearer, Zhou Xingfeng changed his mind.

In foot combat, if auxiliary troops were to fight against the Song Dynasty's imperial guards, they would almost certainly be defeated.

But we're on Dongting Lake now!
Naval warfare differs from infantry warfare. In naval warfare, the advantage of warships is dominant. In addition, the soldiers of Wuping were all accustomed to water before enlisting and were proficient in swimming.

These two factors alone are enough to overcome the problem of the relatively weak combat effectiveness of the auxiliary troops in Wuping.

Standing before Li Guanxiang, Zhou Xingfeng pointed to the long line of multi-storied ships behind him and said:

"Without sufficient troops, how can we fully utilize our army's advantages!"

The large number of "water tanks" behind him filled Zhou Xingfeng with confidence.

Zhou Xingfeng's confidence successfully inspired Li Guanxiang.

"Your Majesty is wise! Our army will surely be victorious!"

In lake warfare, establishing fortifications is crucial.

A fortified village is similar to a military camp on a lake.

There were few people in the Song army who were proficient in naval warfare.

However, the good causes sown in the past are gradually bearing good fruit.

In Jiangling City, Zhao Dexiu acquired a general skilled in naval warfare—Liang Yansi.

Liang Yansi was the Jiangling garrison commander who was casually taken on horseback by a Song soldier as a spoil of war during the Song army's surprise attack on Jiangling.

Liang Yansi's performance that day was not very good, but that was because the Song army was prepared but caught off guard, and it does not mean that Liang Yansi himself was incompetent.

Liang Yansi was originally a general of the Later Liang dynasty in Jingnan, but later surrendered to Gao Jixing, the military governor of Jingnan.

After Liang Yansi joined Gao Jixing's service, he gained the trust of successive rulers of Nanping and gradually became a pivotal general in Nanping.

During the reign of Emperor Gao Baoxu, Liang Yansi held the positions of Commander of the Fuzhou Militia and Commander of the Jingnan Cavalry and Infantry, effectively controlling almost all military power in Nanping.

Given Liang Yansi's position in the Nanping army, he would have been almost certain to be purged after the fall of Nanping.

Fortunately, Liang Yansi met Zhao Dexiu.

Out of gratitude for Zhao Dexiu's benevolence, Liang Yansi wholeheartedly assisted Zhao Dexiu in reorganizing the Jingnan army.

With Liang Yansi's assistance, Zhao Dexiu was able to quickly reorganize the Jingnan army.

During the reorganization of the Jingnan Army, Zhao Dexiu recognized Liang Yansi's abilities.

Zhao Dexiu also heard from Sun Guangxian that Liang Yansi was skilled in naval warfare, so after the Jingnan Army was reorganized, Zhao Dexiu handed over the command of the Jingnan Army to Liang Yansi.

After leading his troops to Huarong, Zhao Dexiu entrusted Liang Yansi with almost all matters concerning naval warfare.

Hua Rong, subdued the Jiangling navy, and launched the great southern expedition.
When these keywords are put together, Zhao Dexiu feels that he is somewhat like Cao Cao.

And Liang Yansi was his Cai Mao.

Zhao Dexiu's trust deeply moved Liang Yansi.

To repay Zhao Dexiu's kindness, Liang Yansi had barely rested for many days, diligently supervising the construction of the water fortress.

Today, Liang Yansi is leading Zhao Dexiu to inspect the newly built water fortress.

Zhao Dexiu, atop the warship, accompanied by Liang Yansi, conducted a general inspection of the Song army's continuous water fortifications.

As the Song army's base on Dongting Lake, the defensive capabilities of the water fortress were naturally a top priority.

Based on Zhao Dexiu's experience of setting up camp on land, the layout of the Song army's water fortress was quite reasonable.

Satisfied, Zhao Dexiu said to Liang Yansi, who was standing beside him:
“I have seen how tired you have been lately.”

I know you find it hard to leave your homeland. Once the war is over, I will petition His Majesty to appoint you as the Defense Commissioner of Jiangling.

Zhao Dexiu's words delighted Liang Yansi.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

As he performed the ceremony, Liang Yansi's full head of white hair, which he hadn't combed due to many days of hard work, was blown wildly by the lake breeze.

Liang Yansi is over sixty years old this year. It is truly remarkable that he can still work so hard for the Song Dynasty at over sixty.

After inspecting the basic situation of the water village, Zhao Dexiu asked him the question he was most concerned about:

"How are our warships ready?"

The key to naval warfare lies in warships, a fact that Zhao Dexiu was well aware of.

Upon hearing Zhao Dexiu's question, Liang Yansi ordered the sailors to steer the ship to a heavily guarded port.

Upon arriving outside the port, Zhao Dexiu, looking down from his vantage point, saw numerous warships displayed within the port.

Judging from the number of warships, there were at least several hundred. However, the number of warships did not bring Zhao Dexiu a sense of security.

In his view, most of the Song army's warships were small boats and fighting ships.

The zouge is a long and narrow vessel with many oarsmen and extremely fast speed. It is usually used for surface reconnaissance.

As for the fighting ships, their hulls were reinforced with multiple layers of wooden planks, and parapets were erected on both sides to protect the soldiers' upper bodies; they were medium-sized warships.

The port had the largest number of fighting ships.

Importantly, Zhao Dexiu did not see many large ships in the port.

"Our fleet has far too few warships!"

Zhao Dexiu couldn't help but sigh.

As a powerful naval weapon, the multi-storied ship was always scarce in the Song Dynasty army.

In the past, the Later Liang dynasty, in order to resist the Jin army crossing the Yellow River, managed to assemble more than ten warships to block the Jin army on the Yellow River.

Those dozen or so warships were all burned by the Jin army.

Later, when Zhou's army conquered Huainan, although they obtained many Tang warships, those warships were mainly fighting vessels.

After pacifying Nanping, Zhao Dexiu immediately inquired about the situation of the warships in the Nanping army.

At that time, Zhao Dexiu received the following data on paper: more than thirty ships.

This data is not fabricated, but importantly, unlike other warships, tower ships require frequent maintenance.

However, the Nanping Kingdom had long indulged in pleasure, and Zhao Dexiu was very worried that the Gao clan rulers did not pay attention to this.

With this concern, Zhao Dexiu had previously asked Liang Yansi to carefully investigate the situation of each ship.

Ships that can be repaired should be salvaged as soon as possible.

Judging from the current situation, most of the ships in Nanping should be "too badly damaged to survive".

Upon hearing Zhao Dexiu's sigh, Liang Yansi looked ashamed.

“I once advised the late king, but he had no intention of protecting us. I am guilty.”

As he spoke, Liang Yansi was about to kneel down and beg for forgiveness.

Liang Yansi was well aware that the lack of warships in the Nanping navy would further amplify the Song army's disadvantages in the upcoming naval battles.

However, before Liang Yansi could kneel down, Zhao Dexiu reached out and stopped him.

"The fault for the destruction of our warships lies with the brothers Bao Rong and Bao Xu, and has nothing to do with the general."

General, please don't worry about it.

As Zhao Dexiu helped Liang Yansi up, there was no trace of sighing on his face.

If the Song army could obtain the assistance of more than thirty warships from the Nanping navy, the subsequent naval battle on Dongting Lake would be much easier.

But even if it weren't for that, this battle still had to be fought.

The lack of boats and ships has been a persistent problem for the Central Plains regimes in their efforts to unify the country since ancient times.

Everything is difficult at the beginning; constant lamentation is useless to the country.

After helping Liang Yansi up, Zhao Dexiu, feeling sorry for his hardship, reached out to tidy up his white hair that had been ruffled by the wind.

As soon as he stretched out his hand, Zhao Dexiu sensed the wind direction.

It was winter, and the wind was from the northeast.

This trend resonated with Zhao Dexiu:
"General Liang, what kind of winds often blow over Dongting Lake this season?"

Liang Yansi didn't know why Zhao Dexiu suddenly asked about this.

Touched by Zhao Dexiu's courteous treatment, Liang Yansi quickly replied:
"This season, the winds are often from the north or northeast."

After answering that question, Liang Yansi thought of another possibility:
"But sometimes a strong northwest wind can blow."

Upon hearing Liang Yansi's reply, Zhao Dexiu appeared lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.

Since it was a southern expedition, the Song army naturally had to take the initiative to launch an attack.

Late November of the first year of the Jianlong era of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Dexiu personally led 40,000 Song troops, traveling on hundreds of warships, from Dongting Lake toward Yuezhou.

Yuezhou, also known as Baling, is the later Yueyang City.

As soon as the Song army made its move, Zhou Xingfeng learned of it.

To prevent the Song army from having any opportunity to take advantage of the situation, Zhou Xingfeng chose to lead his troops to meet the enemy between Junshan and Mengshan on Dongting Lake.

Junshan and Mengshan are two islands located on the northeast side of Dongting Lake.

These two islands, one on the left and one on the right, acted like two gatekeepers, controlling the vital passage for the Song army to enter Yuezhou from Dongting Lake.

Positioning the Wuping navy outside key routes allows for both offensive and defensive maneuvers.

On November 19th, the Song army and the Wuping army met on the lake outside Junshan.

As they drew closer to the Wuping army, a spectacular scene unfolded on the distant lake before the Song army's eyes.

The hundreds of warships in Wuping Army resembled moving mountains on the lake, their hulls, made of sturdy wood and wrapped in iron, gleaming with a dark luster.

Sensing the approaching Song warships, the Wuping army's hundreds of warships steadily glided across the water, carving wide ripples into the lake.

The hundreds of warships of the Wuping Army were not scattered. With the help of many excellent sailors, although there were gaps between the ships, they were arranged in a strict and orderly manner.

Hundreds of ships advanced almost simultaneously, resembling a continuous mountain range stretching across the waters several miles in front of them.

Around the towering, mountain-like warships, countless battleships darted back and forth like schools of fish.

Although they were far smaller than the warships, their sheer number made them stand out, like a flowing suit of armor covering the warships beside them.

At Zhou Xingfeng's command, the Wuping Army swarmed onto the warships and battleships like ants.

At first glance, the number of Wuping troops seems to be more than 40,000.

There could be as many as 100,000!

The scene that unfolded before their eyes caused all the Song generals to change their expressions drastically.

The strength of the Wuping navy's warships far exceeded everyone's imagination.

The number of naval troops in Wuping also far exceeded the original estimate.

Zhao Dexiu, who was on the ship at the rear, was also shocked when he saw the scene before him.

I knew there was a difference in the strength of the two sides' online trolls, but I didn't expect the difference to be this big.

In that instant, Zhao Dexiu finally understood why, after the great victory in Huainan, Emperor Shizong of Zhou did not press his advantage and destroy the Southern Tang in one fell swoop.

But the shock only lasted a moment.

In the past, we dared to fight against 30,000 with only 3,000 men, let alone now that we have tens of thousands of soldiers at our disposal.
Sensing that the Wuping army's momentum would affect the morale of their own troops, Zhao Dexiu drew his long sword from his waist, struck the eaves of the building, and said sternly:

"Issue the order to the entire army:"
I will personally oversee the battle. Any ship that lags behind will be executed!

As soon as Zhao Dexiu issued his order, messengers immediately boarded small boats and used their mobility to quickly shuttle through the army, conveying Zhao Dexiu's military orders.

When Zhao Dexiu's order spread throughout the army, the morale of all the soldiers was boosted, and their thoughts of retreat vanished.

After issuing the first military order, Zhao Dexiu looked at Huyan Zan with his sword in hand:
"I have long heard of your bravery, but seeing it for myself is far better than hearing about it!"

Zhao Dexiu did not witness Huyan Zan's capture of Huguan in the past.

Given the situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak, in addition to verbal intimidation, we must also take concrete actions.

Zhao Dexiu is the commander-in-chief and cannot act rashly, while the entire army knows that Huyan Zan is Zhao Dexiu's personal guard commander.

If Huyan Zan could take the field in place of his master, it would be enough to further boost morale.

As soon as Zhao Dexiu finished speaking, Huyan Zan readily accepted the order:

"Your Majesty, you have already drawn up the plan, and today Your Majesty will see it!"

(End of this chapter)