Chapter 255 Water Warfare

Hongze Lake, Jin Lake, Baima Lake and Gaoyou Lake are dotted in the eastern part of the northbound province of the Huainan River. They are intertwined and moisten the land on both sides. There are also countless fishermen who make a living by the lake, and there are countless boats on the lake.

When the sun goes down in the west, it is already the time of sunset. The glow shines on the lake red, and people's faces also turn red.

"Look, what kind of boat is in front of it?" Countless fishermen looked up at the approaching ship.

The first thing that comes into sight is the chimney with thick smoke, which reminds people of the monsters of ancient times.

" Get out of the way!" The fishermen were afraid and rowed the boats away from the main channel.

The ship is getting closer, and then we can see clearly that it is a big ship, a big ship that can hold thousands of stones of grain, at least it must be a three-mast sail. However, there is no mast, let alone a sail. There are only two strange wheels on both sides, constantly stirring the water, rowing forward, looking at the wheels on the side, more like a strange monster.

In front of this monster, there are several nose-like holes, which make the monster look more ferocious.

One, one after another, a total of four such large ships, followed by the big ship, there were many small sailboats, and the bow was full of soldiers.

"This seems to be the army of Gaoyou Mansion."

"Yes, I heard that there is a strange ship that can be driven without sails, as if it were the one in front of them."

"So many sailoraries, what do they want to do?"

The fishermen are one after another. They are all fishermen of Bishe Lake, and steam engines and boats are mainly wandering around Gaoyou Prefecture, that is, the newly opened lake, which is still a new thing for these fishermen.

Bian Yuanheng stood on the tower of the big ship and looked into the distance. On his ship, there was a "Bian" flag fluttering in the wind, representing that the ship was the flagship.

After receiving the order from the eldest brother, he quickly prepared to set out. After driving on the lake for a whole day, he was close to the northernmost side of Bishe Lake. To the north, there was the river, where the waterway was narrow, which was not conducive to the use of his troops.

In this era, the water war is mainly based on bows and arrows, and the water army on the ship is divided into swords and shield soldiers, bows and arrows. The sword and shield soldiers are responsible for the defense and the "jumping gang" fighting after the ship approaches. The archers, also known as long-range soldiers, are equipped with bows and arrows, daggers and cover shoots. The advance and retreat of the ships in charge of the public.

During the battle, after the ships approach each other, they first use bows and arrows, crossbows and other long-range weapons to shoot each other. Of course, a small number of them are equipped with artillery and use artillery to bombard each other. In order to pursue the effect, they will generally line up and strive to have a broad attack surface. After shooting, they approached each other and began to jump to fight. They jumped on the other side's ship and killed the soldiers on it until they were all wiped out, which was almost the same as the army on the water.

In addition to these factors, there is also a big factor, which is the wind, because today's ships, except for small boats with paddles, large ships sail by wind, so the side with the wind is very advantageous. And the more advantageous side is that the side with the wind can use fire to attack.

In order to enable soldiers to fight like on land and prevent seasickness, some sailors will tie warships together and become flat land. All ships are wooden structures. Once a fire breaks out, the consequences will be very serious.

Of course, since the new weapon has come to this era, the way of fighting on the water has to be changed.

Should we wait here, or continue north and drive into White Horse Lake? Bian Yuanheng hasn't made up his mind yet.

For the first time, it is the first time to command so many ships on the water. We must be safe and strive to get a good start.

"Sent ten fast boats to investigate the waterway within 20 miles ahead. Once the enemy is found, return it as soon as possible." Bian Yuanheng ordered.

"Yes." The messenger waved a small flag at the sentry of the whole ship, signaling each navy to send two small boats to explore the way.

Conducting on the water mainly uses flags and drums. Behind Bian Yuanheng is a big drum. And the flag has to stand high and wave so that the whole fleet can see it.

Soon, several light fast boats came out of each fleet and sailed forward like arrows.

The Clippers just left the fleet and disappeared out of sight, but suddenly turned back.

"The enemy is coming, the enemy is coming." Many soldiers with good eyesight have seen the mast tops on the lake from afar.

From the water road in the northeast, warships sailed out one after another. Finally, the two fleets met unexpectedly on Bishe Lake.

"The order is lined up, and the boat is between the cracks in the big boat, ready to attack at any time!" Bian Yuanheng commanded calmly.

It's the north wind now, but the wind has never been strong. The 40,000-step army led by General Dashi Tiemu has set off in advance. In order to rush to Xinkai Lake in two days, he blocked the waterway to the west of Gaoyoufu and swayed 10,000 water troops on the water.

They say that they are sailor, which can also be regarded as raising them. They can only be regarded as infantry in a boat.

Dazhi is a very far-sighted person. In the north, the army of the imperial court fought fiercely with Liu Futong's army, mainly using cavalry. When it comes here, it is far from enough to have only cavalry. It is more convenient to use boats here. However, most Mongolians can't do water. Therefore, after recruiting these 50,000 horses, Dazhi changed 10,000 people into a navy, equipped with dozens of large ships and some small boats.

However, the effect of the training after half a year is not very obvious. This part of the navy has just mastered the essentials of fighting on the water, and there is still a big gap from skilled work.

Guo Yihai, who served as Wanhu, was very happy. He was originally a bandit on the Yangtze River who did nothing. He wanted to defect to Guo Zixing, but failed. As a result, he joined the army of the imperial court, which was regarded as a correct identity.

He is cruel, courtes his boss, and is very familiar with water battles. As a result, after forming a sailor, he got this coveted position. Wanhu, but he is a senior official of the third grade. He is looking forward to establishing merit and being appreciated by the court.

"Marshal, there are many boats on the lake ahead, which seem to be a sailor all the way." On the flagship, Han Yong, who stood next to Guo Yihai, said.

Han Yong is Guo Yihai's deputy general. He was sent by Dazhi and is also a governor.

Guo Yihai looked into the distance. As soon as he entered Bishe Lake, someone came to welcome him?

Look at the sunset. It's only half an hour away from dark.

"Sing the drums, get ready to fight, and kill all the anti-thieves before dark." Guo Yihai said solemnly.

Although the fleet in front of him looks huge, with his eyes, he can see the key at a glance: the other side has only four big boats, and the rest are small boats. And I have dozens of big ships. In the middle, it is very exquisite.

The final solution of the battle is solved by jumping gang fighting. Jumping gang fighting is to jump on the other party's warship, destroy the other party by hand-to-hand combat, and occupy the other party's ship. Then, there is a very important link in the middle: you have to jump to the other party's ship. Most of the other party is a small boat, and you are a big boat. War, of course, is to take advantage of yourself. If the other party wants to occupy his own ship, he has to attack on his back, which is very at a disadvantage.

Thinking of this, Guo Yihai was already full of confidence. Although his training was still lacking, as long as he rushed up, jumped on the other party's boat and killed the other party, it was that simple. In his mind, it is still the process of pirate robbery.

At this moment, he felt that the north wind seemed to be more fierce, which cheered him up: "Full sail, rush up and kill them!"

Countless soldiers shouted, and the ship began to accelerate and rushed over.

Compared with Guo Yihai, Bian Yuanheng's men didn't say a word. They just flattened the Tianque in their hands and silently waited for the other party to come.

Do you want to jump and fight? Then you have to jump up and talk about it.

Hundreds of warships lined up, occupying almost half of the lake. The same is true of Guo Yihai's ships, but his ships are more, with three rows.

The sails were raised, and the speed of the ship began to accelerate. The bow of the ship stirred up small waves. The bows and crossbowmen on the ship were full of strings, waiting for this order.

On Guo Yihai's flagship, the three cannons have also been filled with gunpowder, but now the effect of the cannons is very poor. These cannons are used as signals. After a while, the three cannons are fired together, which is the beginning of the general attack. With the sound of gunfire, bows and arrows will be fired together.

These ships are loaded with 3,000 archers, and the arrows alone can kill each other.

"Marshal, those big ships are a little strange. Why are they smoking?" As the distance approached, Han Yong gradually saw the other party's ships. Those ships looked really strange!

Guo Yihai was also puzzled, but now the arrow is on the string and has to be fired.

"Jump beam clown, dare to come and be wild in front of us!" Guo Yihai said. Smoke, I'm afraid the other party is on fire, right? It's better this way. They won't be in civil trouble if we don't do it.

"Attention, God of War cannon, with a range of five miles, aim at the rear of the enemy's fleet, prevent the enemy from escaping, scattered fireworks, with a range of 500 steps, aiming at the enemy's warship, Tianque, within 300 steps, start shooting in a volley." Bian Yuanheng calmly gave the order.

Due to the limited production, each of the Ares cannon is equipped with four ships. He originally wanted to concentrate these cannons and kill the other party's big ships. However, when he saw the other party's fleet, he suddenly changed his mind. If those warships are captured and equipped with steam engines, his fleet can be expanded several times. No need Those old fishing boats, they are precious and can't be damaged.

In order to prevent the other party from escaping, he asked the God of War cannon to aim at the rear of the other party's fleet. Once the other party escapes, it can block the other party's escape route. Those big ships are treasures, and one of them cannot be lost.

And the scattering cannon is not limited. It is equipped with both the army and the navy, but the recoil force is relatively large and can only be used on the deck of the large ship. On the deck of each large ship, there are eight scattering cannons. The trajectory of the scattered cannon is bent and loaded with scattered bombs. At that time, in the right Falling from the top of Fang's head, it is a rain of death.

The main way to destroy the enemy is to rely on the sky. With accurate lead bullets, you can completely destroy the opponent outside the range of the opponent's bow and arrows.

And the last resort is the spearman equipped on each ship. If you want to jump to fight, you will be pierced before you jump up! Of course, this is only the worst possibility. In Bian Yuanheng's estimation, as long as the sky shoots in a volley, the enemy should retreat. The capture of as many big ships as possible is what he is most concerned about.

Now it is the north wind, which is beneficial to the attacking side, but for Bian Yuanheng, it is more favorable, because when the enemy attacks, it is a downwind, and when it escapes, it is a headwind.

On the contrary, steam engines don't matter. When the other party wants to escape, you have to keep adjusting the angle of the sailboat and the direction of the bow, and take the zigzag route of the wind boat. At that time, the steam engine ship can quickly go out and cut off all the other party. Except for those boats that rock the oars, all the big ships must be captured!

"Boom, boom..." Before Guo Yihai's flagship began to issue a general attack order, the four large ships on the opposite fleet had already made a gunfire.

Listening to the sound, as if there were still many artillery from the other party, Guo Yihai was shocked. At this time, the whole fleet was only 500 steps away from the other party.

"Wo, wao." Suddenly, countless "raindrops" fell on the top of my head.

The gunners in charge of the cannon on the front deck have all been lying in a pool of blood at this moment, and the scene is terrible.

Guo Yihai was shocked. He smelled a little conspiracy. Is the other party's artillery so powerful? I'm afraid the people who come here are not good!

Guo Yihai was very lucky. In the first round of test shooting, he actually hit his flagship. The probability was lower than winning 5 million in lottery tickets.

"Marshal, the other party's firearms are so powerful, let's withdraw!" Han Yong said.

Withdraw? A cold light flashed in Guo Yihai's eyes: "We are about to contact. Now withdraw, just leave your buttocks to others. Is it possible?"

Besides, because of this bullet rain, I was scared like this, which really stained the name of Han Yong.

"Fire cannon, get ready to shoot arrows!"

"Boom, boom!" After waiting for his own cannon, the other party's second round of bullet rain came again.

At the same time, "B Bang, Bang." On the line of the other party, there were countless fireshots.

At this distance, it is purely lucky that the artillery can hit the target, and it is impossible for the fire to hit the target! Guo Yihai knew that the effective range of the fire was similar to that of the bow and arrow. A hundred steps away, he didn't know where the projectile flew to, and on this swaying ship, it was even more impossible to hit the target. Now he was in the wind, and the bow and arrow thrown out were more powerful with the help of the power of the wind.

"Ah, ah..." Before Guo Yihai could speak, he heard the screams around him.

It was purely unlucky to be hit by the opponent's artillery. This second round of bullet rain came, only one ship was hit, and most of the soldiers on it died miserably.

However, there are quite a lot of people who have been shot by fire. Guo Yihai's heart is cold. From his big ship, you can see that the ships next to him, all the soldiers in the open air, fell one and a half. It seems that four or five hundred people have fallen.

What kind of fire is the other party? So awesome? So far, it has not entered the range of the bow and arrow!

The battle has completely subverted Guo Yihai's thinking. He knows that he is afraid that the big thing is not good.

Although he has nearly 10,000 people, it's okay to win the battle and take advantage of the victory. Before the war, he has been cleaned up so miserably by the other party, and Guo Yihai's heart is cold.

Bian Yuanheng is very satisfied. The cannon can make a hole in the other party's whole body. However, for those large ships with several decks, the damage is very small. Most of the projectiles will be embedded on the first deck, which will not cause serious damage to the ship. And the power of Tianque's volley is also very amazing.

"After three shots, shoot freely." Bian Yuanheng ordered. After three shots, you will enter within 100 steps. At such a close distance, the free shooting effect should be better. However, the fire hand on those boats is poor. Due to the elevation, the closer you are, the less likely it is to get the chance to shoot.

Fortunately, there are nearly 200 best shooters on each big ship, and they are the main shooting force.

"Wo!" Another rain of bullets fell, and dozens of soldiers who had just walked to the deck fell into the rain of bullets.

Guo Yihai was angry with it. This battle was too cowardly! Since his debut, he has never been so cowardly! This is not called a war, it's simply death!

Judging from the current casualties, I'm afraid it's close to one.

Although the casualties are not very large, the impact on morale is the greatest. The archers and crossbowmen all hide and refuse to be targets on the open deck. The distance is enough for a hundred steps. With the downwind, they can shoot the arrows.

"Order, shoot arrows immediately, cringe, kill without mercy!" Guo Yihai's shouting sounded all over the whole ship.

Unfortunately, the order to shoot arrows is three cannons. The gunpowder has already been installed, but no one is on the deck.

Guo Yihai jumped off the command platform, took the torch himself, and ignited three cannons.

"Boom, boom, boom." The sound of three cannons released the anger in Guo Yihai's heart.

After the artillery sounded, Guo Yihai stood on the deck, pulled out his sword, and raised it high: "Attack, attack!"

Seeing that the commander was so afraid of death, the soldiers were also infected. Their morale was boosted, and the arrows flew to the opposite fleet.

"Bang!" With a shock, Guo Yihai looked down. Outside the armor, there was a silver-white thing, which was shot by the fire of the other party.

However, the bullets from the fire did not penetrate his armor. What's more, in the armor, he also wore a set of invulnerable clothes!

Guo Yihai is not stupid to stand here as a living target. He is fearless. He wears nearly 20 catties of armor made of fine steel and a treasure coat. This treasure coat is his treasure across all kinds of waterways. He dodged several chases, and the bow and arrows can't shoot through it. On both inside and outside, he was very safe. The bullet rain just now also splashed on him a few grains, but it was not lethal at all.

"Marshal!" Han Yong on the command platform looked at Guo Yihai and was very worried. He saw that he was hit. However, nothing happened, which made Han Yong bold. He was also ready to go down. He wore the same armor. He must be fine.

Suddenly, Guo Yihai felt a sharp pain in his eyebrows. Fresh blood flowed out, and his consciousness began to collapse. The pupils that had spread revealed incredible.

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

The flagship is in the last position, more than 200 steps away from the other party. How can it be hit by the fire? It must be a shot. What bad luck!

Bian Yuanheng put down his fire. He just saw the arrogant coach just now. He couldn't help taking a Tianque, gently hooked his finger, and easily ended him.

Don't be awesome, awesome is sniped!

(to be continued)