The third thousand one hundred and twenty-eight chapters
The wind was blowing on the river, and the warships were faster than galloping horses. Stones fired by trebuchets generally rained down from the sky. Although most of them fell into the river and splashed, there were still a few that landed on the warships, and the decks and sides of the warships were smashed to pieces from time to time.
While flying, some people were hit by stones and injured.
However, all the soldiers stood firmly on the deck and performed their duties. No one dodge in panic. They waited with red eyes for the warship to break into the section of the river held by the defenders on both sides and quickly ignite the artillery fuse.
Before the artillery could be fired, a dark cloud poured down from the sky, but it was the bows and arrows of the defenders. The navy soldiers who had been prepared raised their big shields to protect their whole bodies, and let the bows and arrows fall like raindrops. They were nailed to the big shields and sent out dense bursts of fire.
The sound of "grab, snatch, snatch".
The warship's sails swelled and it moved forward at full speed. The wooden oars protruding from both sides under the ship's side were evenly inserted into the water to paddle, and then emerged from the water, bringing up a piece of white water.
Hair speeds up.
The distance is getting closer and closer, and the trebuchet has lost its effectiveness.
Boom boom boom!
The artillery on both sides of the ship roared together, spraying fire and smoke from the gun barrels. The huge recoil caused the hull to shake violently, and the keel made a "creak" sound. From a distance, it looked like a giant beast spewing fireworks.
Generally speaking, it is powerful and unassuming.
Each artillery shell drew a high parabola and landed in the well-organized garrison positions on both sides of the strait. Although the soldiers evaded in panic and were not hit, the shells fell to the ground, the fuse burned out, and the gunpowder inside exploded and was released.
It generates huge energy, explodes the cast iron shell along the prefabricated lines, and then shoots countless fragments in all directions.
Puff puff!
When the dense array of defenders encountered such a destructive weapon, they fell one by one like wheat swept by a scythe in autumn. Blood spattered, limbs flew across, and the screams of screams penetrated the clouds and cracked the rocks, resounding on both sides of the canal.
.
Zheng Rentai, who was holding the Yuan Ting Yue Zhi sword on his waist, suddenly changed his expression. He naturally knew that the lethality of artillery was astonishing. The Guanlong rebels had been bombarded by artillery before when they attacked Xuanwu Gate. The stick was so powerful that Zheng Rentai thought that
There are inevitably elements of exaggeration.
However, now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I have discovered that the power of artillery can only be stronger than the legend. No matter how elite and powerful the army is, it is impossible to stop such artifacts with flesh and blood...
"Send the order, disperse the array, avoid the artillery, and use rockets and ballistae to defeat the enemy!"
"Here!"
These more than 10,000 soldiers are the elite of Zheng Rentai's direct lineage. They are well-trained and have a solid military morale. Although they were a little stunned by the indiscriminate bombardment of artillery, they recovered quickly and quickly dispersed according to military orders. At the same time, they lit rockets and attacked.
Ships on the river.
There are actually not many ways to attack enemies on the water from the road, among which rockets are the most effective. However, due to the gunpowder tied to the arrow shaft, the wind resistance is too great and the weight is excessive, so the range is far less powerful than that of a strong bow.
The scenarios in which crossbows can be used are really limited.
But now the defenders are gathered on both sides of the canal, sandwiching the river channel. The naval ships are passing straight through the defenders' array, which gives the rockets the best space to play.
For a time, countless rockets rose into the sky from both sides of the river, as if a dark cloud rose out of thin air, bringing thick smoke and falling into the fleet of ships rushing on the river.
The targets of most rockets are sails. As long as the sails are burned, it will be difficult for such a huge warship to increase its speed by rowing alone. At that time, it will only be besieged by the defenders on both sides of the strait.
However, Zheng Rentai was very disappointed. He watched as rockets hit the sails one after another, penetrated the canvas, and landed in the river on the other side. The sails had numerous holes and tatters, but they were not ignited. Apparently, this kind of sails had undergone special fireproofing.
However, the rockets that landed on the deck had some effect. The arrow clusters were nailed to the deck, the side of the ship, and the helm building. The ignition materials slowly ignited the wood. Although there was no raging fire, every ship was at risk for a while.
Thick smoke arose and billowed, blowing with the river wind, and soon spread over the entire river.
The navy soldiers on the ship will not dare to neglect it. There are flammable materials such as gunpowder and shells everywhere. If it is detonated, it is very likely to cause a fatal explosion. At that time, the entire ship will be blown to pieces and everyone will be killed.
Go into the river and feed the tortoise.
He hurriedly extinguished the fire and covered gunpowder, shells and other objects with water-soaked cotton cloth.
But the shelling continued.
One after another, the shells were sent to the shore by artillery and exploded among the crowd. The scattered fragments tore apart all blocking objects. The people and horses closest to the explosion point were all smashed to pieces. Even further away, they could not escape the fate of being pierced through the body.
As soon as the battle started, it became intense and the battlefield was extremely bloody.
Zheng Rentai is worthy of being a battle-hardened general. Although the power of the artillery far exceeded his expectations and caused great damage to his troops, he remained as steady as a mountain, with only one pair of sharp eyes staring at the river block.
So.
More than a dozen river-blocking ropes lie across the water. As long as the enemy ships are trapped and unable to move forward, the warships that lose mobility can only become a living target for the defenders, and the boulders thrown by the catapults will be more accurate.
, until these huge warships were smashed to pieces.
The canal is filled with gunpowder smoke and shrouded in smoke. A fleet of dozens of warships is moving through the darkness like a giant dragon. The cannons on the ships continue to blast, and the flames of the muzzles appear and disappear in the smoke. On both sides of the canal,
Blood and flesh were flying everywhere, and broken limbs were everywhere.
The fighting was extremely brutal.
Finally, under the gaze of countless defenders, the leading warship slammed into the river blocking rope. The thick chain straightened in an instant, and the huge bow seemed to be pressed hard by an invisible big hand, and it headed towards the water.
The ground sank violently.
Zheng Rentai clenched his fists tightly and stared at the river rope for a moment.
However, under his gaze, the thick iron cable was hit by the huge inertia carried by the warship, bent and stretched bit by bit, and then...
There was a muffled sound of "collapse", and the iron rope broke from it. The warship was like a tiger that had escaped from the cage for an instant, and then hit the next iron rope, and its momentum was blocked again...
The previously broken iron rope ejected from the broken point to both sides due to the huge tension, and swept hard like a whip at all objects blocking the way forward. The soldiers near the river bank were caught off guard and were swept in the middle. Many of them were caught off guard.
The person was swept into two pieces on the spot, blood sprayed more than ten feet high, and pieces of meat were thrown everywhere.
The scene was horrific.
Until the kinetic energy contained in the iron rope completely disappeared, it fell softly to the ground, but it had already swept away a fan-shaped area on the river bank, dripping with blood...
“Bang bang bang”!
Immediately afterwards, the second iron rope also broke, the third one, the fourth one...
For a moment, both sides of the canal screamed pitifully, and the broken iron ropes turned into huge whips that swept across everything. The destructive power was even greater than that of exploding artillery shells. Countless soldiers rushed to avoid it, even if they did not die.
Flesh Mold Lake.
Zheng Rentai did not expect that the iron rope blocking the river would be so powerful after breaking. He regretted it and watched helplessly as the naval warship relied on the hard trunk of its front end to break one iron rope after another. Although the speed was slightly restrained.
, but the force continued, and it actually broke all the iron cables blocking the river and flew away towards the sluice.
Then, amidst the smoke and gunpowder in the river, the moment before arriving at the sluice, the warship adjusted its sails, and the oarsmen plunged the blades deeply into the river water, forcibly slowing down the warship's speed, and then turned the ship around.
Head, come back again!
Although the barrel of the artillery will be scrapped after three to five shots at most, and there is no time to replace it, but at such a short distance and at such a fast speed, the two armies came into contact almost instantly, with hundreds of cannons on dozens of ships firing only three rounds each.
, several hundred rounds of artillery shells fell into the defenders' formation, causing countless casualties.
As for the navy, except for the slight damage to the warship, the battle damage was minimal.
At this moment, they saw that the navy ship actually turned around and came back. The cannons on the ship were still spitting out fire. The defenders were horrified, and their morale was completely shaken. Many people could no longer care about the officers' scoldings and began to retreat slowly.
Zheng Rentai couldn't help but his eyes were splitting when he saw this situation!
But he was helpless.
Since he joined the army at the age of sixteen and joined the Jinyang Rebellion, he has fought under His Majesty Li Er. He has fought countless battles in his life. He has defeated Liu Wuzhou, Dou Jiande, Song Jingang, Wang Shichong, driven away the Turks, and swept away the barbarians. But has he ever fought such a useless battle?
You can't attack, you can't stop, you can only be beaten passively, you don't even have the ability to fight back, you just let the opponent attack back and forth and kill at will...
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a black dot flying rapidly from far to near. He was so excited that he suddenly swung the stirrup up from the saddle and jumped off the horse. He laid his body tightly on the ground and shouted: "
Get down! Get down!”
Although I have never encountered an artillery battle, I have just learned through observation that the reason why the artillery is so lethal is not the shell explosion itself, but the damage caused by the fragments of shrapnel after the explosion, and most of the fragments are sputtered in all directions.
Keeping your body close to the ground can minimize the probability of being hit by debris.
Of course, it's just a probability, and once the cannonballs fall around you, it's useless to say anything...
Before the soldiers on the left and right could react, Zheng Rentai heard a loud "boom", and a cannonball landed not far away. The flying shrapnel swept the soldiers' camp, and countless elite veterans who had followed him in the north and south were violently beaten.
The raging shrapnel cut off limbs and pierced the body, causing them to fall one by one with a miserable scream.
Zheng Rentai was so shocked that he felt cold and painful in several parts of his body. He shook his head and woke up. Just as he was about to get up, he felt a sharp pain in his leg and fell to the ground. He could not help but fall to the ground when he heard Dugu Yanyun's cry
Shouting: "The whole army retreats! Retreat!"
When he looked up, he saw Dugu Yanyun running from the tent at some point, grabbing his arm and forcefully dragging him away from the battlefield.
Looking back, the entire battlefield was filled with smoke, corpses were lying on the pillow, and there were countless casualties.