Staring at the speeding battleships and the spread-out wings of the entire battleship group, Sun Jian couldn't help but be surprised: "Cai Mao is worthy of being the commander-in-chief of the Jingxiang Navy. He is indeed very capable."
"He wanted to attract our attention and then completely surround our army. I have to admit that he is very ambitious and his methods are good. But unfortunately, he happened to encounter me, Sun Jian."
"Send the order!"
Without any hesitation, Sun Jian gave a sonorous order: "Follow the second plan and beat me hard! Let them have a taste of our power. The Nanyang Navy is the real king of water warfare."
The ordering soldier bowed and raised his hands: "Here."
The next moment.
On the mast, red and green flags flashed.
At the same time, the sound of beating drums sounded continuously.
These are all sending signals to attack to the rest of the fleet.
But see...
Dozens of warships rushed forward quickly.
As the distance between the two sides continued to close, two or three loud noises sounded on the river.
Peng! Peng! Peng!
This is the sound made by the trembling bowstring of the ballista.
Of course, today's crossbows are by no means the crossbows of the past, but real crossbows.
This was because Sun Jian tied the fire-thunder bomb to the crossbow shaft, lit it, and then shot it out.
Although this will slightly affect the effective range, the lethality will be greatly improved.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
...
Continuous explosions sounded.
Hundreds of water jets, mixed with fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs, rose several feet high. Some warships were torn apart in an instant. With the sound of explosions, they were scattered on the river like goddesses scattering flowers.
The soldiers of the Jingxiang navy were completely confused. They couldn't believe that there was such a huge difference between today's ballistae and the ballistae five days ago.
The ballistas fired five days ago could at best penetrate the hull of the ship, and then with the help of huge power and the panic of the soldiers, the warship tipped over and sank into the river.
but......
Today's ballistae is a ballistae with fire and thunder attached to it. Not only does it have the effects that a ballistae should have, but it even explodes in a shocking way, causing the ship's hull to explode in an instant, giving them no chance to react at all.
"Loading the ballista."
"complete!"
"complete!"
"complete!"
"..."
"put!"
Peng! Peng! Peng!
A row of crossbow arrows were like a stream of blue light, drawing a straight green line in the air, and then plunged into the group of speeding battleships, followed by continuous explosions.
The river surface was stirred up by the water column, causing violent tremors. The fragments of the battleships were randomly scattered on the river surface. The soldiers of the Jingxiang Navy were flopping in the river, but some had become floating corpses, rising and falling with the waves.
.
So what about the warships that have always been famous for rushing into formations? Under the bombardment of the Nanyang navy's ballistae, one after another exploded to pieces. They did not have the momentum to move forward at all.
"Damn it!"
On the command ship, Cai Mao was so shocked when he saw this scene that his eyes nearly popped out.
He couldn't believe his eyes.
The Nanyang navy actually organically combined the ambushes, thunder bombs and ballistae in such a way, thus evolving into a brand new offensive tool.
The most terrible thing is that this brand-new offensive tool is extremely lethal. Once it hits, it will inevitably damage the warships of the Jingxiang navy, and they will face the end of destruction in an instant, without even the slightest reaction.
Even Kuai Yue on the side couldn't help but widen his eyes: "The Nanyang navy has indeed innovated weapons. I really can't believe it. Fire-volting thunder can actually be used by the navy!"
"Degui."
Having said this, Kuai Yue turned to glance at Cai Mao and said solemnly: "We must think of a way. If this continues, we may not be able to sustain it."
"Think of a way?"
Cai Mao was furious and yelled: "What are you thinking of? If we can't control those battleships, we will never be able to defeat Nanyang. Now we can only attack by force, continue to attract the enemy's attention, and buy time for the flanking detour."
"Here comes someone."
Cai Mao screamed at the top of his lungs.
"exist."
The ordering soldier bowed and handed over his hands.
Cai Mao gritted his teeth and gave a sonorous order: "Beat the drums to cheer up, send orders, continue the attack, and execute according to the original plan without any mistakes."
The messenger nodded and said, "Here."
The next second.
Winter! Winter! Winter!
Dongdong—!
The sound of golden drums shook the sky and spread throughout the entire Jingxiang Navy.
The commander of the Zhongzhong battleship responsible for the storming attack was Pan Rui.
Pan Rui naturally understood what Cai Mao meant. Although he knew that the front was difficult, he still resolutely ordered: "Attack again, let me take them all. We must get close to the pirate ship as quickly as possible."
In fact, ballistae and bows and arrows are the same in meaning. They are both mid- and long-range weapons. They just have different powers and different effective ranges.
but......
The indiscriminate attacks of both sides are exactly the same.
As long as one's own warships can break into the enemy's warships within fifty steps, it means that they have to engage in close combat with their frigates. In this way, the performance of their crossbows can be restricted.
After all, it is impossible for the Nanyang Navy's ballistae to fire at its own people. As long as the two sides can fight together, in a sense, the other party's ballistae is useless.
And fighting with bayonets on the river?
Cai Cao asked himself that he would never lose to a navy that had just been established for a year, so he must get close to the Nanyang navy at all costs and start a hand-to-hand battle with it, a real water battle on the river.
When the stern warship continued to charge forward despite the attack of the crossbows, even Sun Jian himself could not help but be stunned. After all, in his heart, he looked down on Cai Mao at all and thought he was a cowardly person.
But I never thought...
The opponent actually dared to withstand the pressure and continue to attack.
Sun Jian frowned, stared at the battlefield, and nodded slowly: "Cai Mao does have two brushes. He knows that he has no retreat, so he can only charge forward to kill."
"Although it is somewhat beyond expectations, it does not affect the overall situation. Ultra-long distance is not our opponent, and mid-range and short-distance naturally cannot be our opponent."
"Send the order!"
Sun Jian calmly commanded and gave a sonorous order: "Let Pan Zhang rush up with the destroyers, and be sure to stop his stern warships and buy enough time for the main warships to attack."
The ordering soldier bowed and raised his hands: "Here."
immediately.
Above the mast, red and green flags flashed.
Following that, the distinctive rhythmic sound of drumming sounded.
But on the river, a group of battleships rushed forward quickly and pounced towards the oncoming battleships.
Cai Mao was stunned when he saw this scene: "What does Sun Jian mean by this? Is he seeking his own death? How dare he compete with my battleship?"
You must know that the warship is the main ramming warship. What it is best at is the collision between two ships, and then the two sides fight in close quarters on the battleship. Ordinary warships would like to take a detour, but no one would dare to collide with the warship.
"wrong!"
At this moment, Kuai Yue's eyes suddenly brightened and he raised his hand and pointed forward.
But seeing that Nanyang's frigate was still fifty steps away from both sides, it began to change direction, and the soldiers on the battleship pulled out short sticks one after another, and plumes of blue smoke immediately appeared.
Kuai Yue was so shocked that his jaw dropped, and his eyes nearly exploded: "They are not going to collide with the scorpion, but they are going to bombard us from a medium distance with fire-fire thunder bombs."
That’s right!
Because destroyers and frigates are relatively small and have shallow drafts, they cannot withstand the powerful recoil of ballistae, but this does not mean that they cannot use Fire Thunder.
only......
Medium-sized warships with the ballistae bonus can carry out long-distance attacks of hundreds of steps, while destroyers and frigates without the ballistae bonus, which can only rely on soldiers throwing, can only carry out mid-range attacks within fifty steps.
But there is no doubt that it all relies on the Ambush Fire Thunder, which comes in an instant and causes tons of damage. Even because there are ten soldiers on the destroyer, leaving aside the two oars, eight people can throw the Ambush Thunder together.
The damage is even worse than the ballista.
Phew! Phew! Phew!
All they saw was seven or eight Fire Thunder Bombs rising into the air, drawing a perfect arc in the air, and then immediately covering the enemy's warship.
The soldiers above had no choice but to hide and avoid. They could only watch helplessly as the smoke-emitting fire and thunder bombs fell all around their battleships.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
...
Continuous explosions sounded.
Water columns suddenly rose up in the river around the battleship, and the waves undulated violently. The battleship swayed along with it. The terrified soldiers walked around randomly and fell into the water one after another. The battleship capsized, but only in an instant.
You must know that the capsized battleship did not withstand the direct explosion of the Volcano Thunder. Its capsizing was entirely caused by the panic of the soldiers, and was definitely not caused by the Volcano Thunder.
Even if it did not withstand the thunder and lightning of the lurking fire, and it was like this, then the warship that withstood the thunder of the lurking fire can only be described as "horrible".
With a boom, the Jingxiang naval forces on the battleship were transformed into a lake of flesh and blood in an instant. As the battleship rocked, they fell into the river one after another, dyeing the river red and killing the fish and turtles.
"Chop suey!"
Cai Mao, who was watching the battle, suddenly became furious.
He punched the parapet in front of him with a loud bang, gritted his teeth, stared, and hated in his heart: "Old thief Sun Jian only knows how to use Fire and Thunder, and has no fighting skills at all."
"but......"
Kuai Yue quickly regained his composure and said in a cold voice: "This fire-subduing thunder is indeed very powerful. If you and I had it, wouldn't we use it? It doesn't have to be like this. It's better to hurry up and find a way."
"If we still can't rush through, I'm afraid it will affect the morale of the team. With successive setbacks, I'm afraid we will face the end of the entire army being annihilated. In this case, Xiangyang will definitely miss."
Cai Mao was originally in a bad mood, but when he heard Kuai Yue speak like this, he felt even more resentful: "Nonsense, don't I understand these principles?"
"But look..."
At this point, Cai Mao raised his hand and pointed to the battlefield: "The opponent uses fire and thunder to clear the way. How can our warships rush past? Do you think I am unwilling to break through the defense line?"
The tactics formulated by Cai Mao were based on victory based on controlling the ballista ship. But if he wanted to control the ballista ship, he had to get close to it. If he couldn't even get close, how could he control it.
At this moment.
No one was angrier and more worried about the war situation than Cai Mao.
You must know that the Cai family is the largest noble family in Jingxiang. Once Xiangyang is lost, the Cai family will suffer the greatest losses, not the Kuai family, Pang family, Huang family and other noble families.
However......
Just when Cai Mao was angrily attacking Kuai Yue.
Suddenly, from the northeast of the battlefield, a strong cry sounded:
"General, charge forward and kill them all."
"Roar! Rush over and kill them all!"
"Brothers, follow Colonel Gan and charge with me!"
"..."
Cai Mao suddenly felt surprised and turned around to look.
However, I saw that a warship actually broke out of the ruins unscathed, and kept approaching the nearest enemy warship at a speed that was almost galloping.
"That's..."
Cai Mao's eyes flashed past, and he suddenly discovered that it was the location of Huangzu of Jiangxia: "Is this person a subordinate of Huangzu of Jiangxia? Who is he?"
Kuai Yue was also surprised by this man's ability. Looking around, he saw a fierce general standing at the opposite end of the battleship. This man held a double arc shield in his left hand and a long gun in his right hand. Behind him, there were also several people
, holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
This is the standard charge infantry equipment in infantry battles, but in naval forces, it is rarely equipped like this. After all, bows and arrows are the most effective offensive tools, not shields.
It should be noted that the shield is relatively bulky and will increase the load on the battleship, thus affecting the speed of the battleship. This will put the battleship in a passive position and lose its initiative.
but......
This kind of awareness is based on the fact that both sides are attacking and killing with bows and arrows. Naturally, the faster and more flexible the warship is, the more advantage it will have. But it is different now. The Jingxiang Navy is obviously no match for the Nanyang Navy in terms of weapons.
.
Therefore, blindly pursuing the speed of a light battleship is actually of little use. After all, its moving speed is definitely not as fast as that of a meteor-like ballista.
Suddenly, a defensive battleship appeared, and it successfully withstood a wave of damage. Cai Mao, who had experienced many battles, immediately understood the reason.
"What a fool I am!"
Cai Mao couldn't help but laugh at himself, and even wanted to slap himself twice.
Such a simple and effective countermeasure was unexpectedly not thought of by me. Instead, it was thought of by Huang Zu's subordinates, and they were able to successfully use it. It was a slap in the face.
But there is no other way. Now that the battle situation is getting tense, he can't temporarily withdraw his troops and go back to get the shield, right? If this is really the case, Sun Jian, an old thief, will definitely take the opportunity to press on and crush them all the way.
Kuai Yue stared at the rushing fleet: "If we can tear a hole from the flank, it will also be helpful to the battle situation. Degui, we must persist and never give up."
"Do you even need to say this?"
Cai Mao's fighting spirit was completely ignited, and he immediately raised his hand and shouted loudly: "Quick, beat the drums to cheer, order everyone to charge, cover them, and reduce their pressure."
The ordering soldier bowed and raised his hands: "Here!"
The next second.
Winter! Winter! Winter!
Dongdong—!
The thunderous sound of golden drums rang out, and the strong shouts of killing soared into the sky.
However, hundreds of warships seemed to be going crazy and launched a fierce attack on the formation of the Nanyang Navy.
At the same time, Sun Jian on the command ship also noticed the battleship charging at the front: "Hey, there is someone who can kill to this extent? He is quite capable!"
"He is Gan Ning, whose pseudonym is Xingba."
Zhou Yu on the side stared at the man on the battlefield and explained: "In the book issued by the imperial court, this man was marked as a key point and needs to be taken seriously. Could it be that the general doesn't remember it?"
"Is he Gan Ning?"
Sun Jian did have the name "Gan Ning" in his mind.
only......
Because the time was too long, he was already a little confused about this warning. If Zhou Yu hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have thought of such a number one person.
"That's right."
Zhou Yu's memory was still fresh in his mind and he said softly: "This person is just a school captain under Huang Zu's account, but your majesty actually attaches more importance to this person than Huang Zu."
"Before, the general had some doubts about whether His Majesty had made a mistake, but looking at it now, our school affairs office is doing a very good job, and we can actually grasp people in such a precise state."
"Having the courage to face Fuhuo Thunder, and even thinking of a way to deal with it, this warrior named Gan Ning is indeed worthy of our attention. After this battle, the general can take him for his own use."
Hearing what Zhou Yu said, Sun Jian became more and more interested in this person. He raised his telescope, looked for the battleship in the battlefield, and said softly: "I want to see how powerful this person is."
You won’t know if you don’t look at it, but you will be shocked when you look at it.
Sun Jian couldn't believe it.
Facing seven or eight roaring thunderbolts of fire, the fleet soldiers behind Gan Ning acted very calmly. They raised their double arc shields to protect the battleship extremely tightly.
However......
Gan Ning, however, still stood proudly on the bow of the ship, holding a shield in one hand and a gun in the other, not dodging or evading, like a god.
When the Thunderbolt of Fire and Thunder struck at him, Gan Ning waved his silver spear casually and swept the Thunderbolt and Firebolt bombs that were coming towards him directly into the river. With a boom, a column of water splashed up.
Subsequently, the waves on the river rose and fell extremely violently, but the soldiers on Gan Ning's warship remained motionless and remained calm, like a fortress standing on the river. No matter how rough the waves were, I remained unmoved and moved forward quickly.
"What a Gan Ning."
At this moment, even Jiangdong Tiger Sun Jian couldn't help but be surprised: "You dare to face Fuhuo Leiting directly, haha, I, Sun Jian, like such a warrior."
Zhou Yu frowned, also stared at Gan Ning, and said softly: "General, don't be complacent yet. Gan Ning is an extremely brave man. We must stop him first to prevent him from ruining the big event."
"rest assured."
Sun Jian was full of confidence and refused to move his eyes away: "The public prosecutor will stop him. Cai Mao's Jingxiang naval army only has such a capable person. Is it possible that he can still break the sky?"
"General Huang?"
Zhou Yu naturally knew that Huang Gai was extremely powerful and proficient in water combat.
but......
Whether he can stop Gan Ning based on his strength is another matter: "Gan Ning is extremely powerful. General, please do not underestimate this person. It is better to make more preparations."
Sun Jian said proudly: "Don't worry, I know what's going on."
At this moment, in the battlefield.
The battleships led by Gan Ning braved the wind and waves and moved forward.
It seemed like it was just a blink of an eye.
The distance between the two parties was shortened to twenty steps.
You know, the warships of the Nanyang Navy rely on their super speed advantage to always maintain a safe distance.
But even so, the battleship led by Gan Ning still closed the distance by a full thirty steps, which is simply incredible.
"The thief will leave, and I, Gan Ning, will fight to the death."
Gan Ning stood at the front of the battleship, the iron gun in his tent pointed angrily at the battleship ahead.
But......
What greeted Gan Ning was not a warship turning back, but dozens of smoke-emitting fire and thunder bombs.
After all, as Gan Ning continued to advance forward, he attracted the attention of more battleships. At the same time, he also attracted the firepower of more battleships. The previous seven or eight Fire Thunders also turned into several.
Ten.
Facing the incoming fire and thunder, Gan Ning held a double arc shield in one hand. While protecting his body, the iron gun in his palm kept beating back and forth in the air.
Peng! Peng! Peng!
The ambushes and thunder bombs were thrown out one after another, and then exploded around the battleship. Water columns were stirred up one after another, and the violent waves of the river continued to beat the battleship at Gan Ning's feet.
But unfortunately, all the soldiers in Gan Ning's ship were very calm, especially the soldiers who controlled the oars. They were extremely calm. No matter how the waves beat them, they still stabilized themselves and remained motionless.
"Chase me!"
Gan Ning gave an order and the battleship continued to charge forward.
Closer.
A little closer.
Closer.
...
"General, the distance between us and the team behind us is too far. If we go further, we will go deeper alone. Do you want to wait for the brothers behind us?"
On the battleship, Gan Ning's soldiers looked back at the team that was far behind them, frowned, and gave a kind reminder.
"Wait for them?"
At this moment, Gan Ning could only see the Nanyang navy in front of him, and he said coldly: "Hmph! If these guys see us slowing down, they will definitely be scared. Only by rushing forward can we really mobilize the enthusiasm of the army."
"do not be afraid!"
Gan Ning was the first to bear the brunt and shouted loudly: "Let's just charge forward. As long as we engage the enemy in close combat, it will be equivalent to destroying their fire and thunder. Compared with close combat, they are no match for us."
A general will not hesitate to die, but a scholar can use his life.
Gan Ning standing at the front is the greatest encouragement to all the soldiers:
"Yes, as long as we follow General Gan, we will definitely win."
"Brothers, charge forward, let's fight through, and those behind will naturally follow."
"Come on, destroy the Nanyang navy!"
"Come up together, and those behind will follow."
"..."
Looking at Gan Ning, who was leading the way, Sun Jian ordered without hesitation: "Quickly, order Huang Gai and Pan Zhang to go around in a roundabout way, attack the bandits from both sides, and cut off the reinforcements in the rear."
"snort."
Sun Jian snorted coldly and said with murderous intent: "If you go deep into the army alone, do you really think you are Xiang Yu?"
Zhou Yu, holding a telescope on the side, scanned the Jingxiang navy and reminded softly: "General, something seems wrong. The Jingxiang navy is in full attack."
"On the surface, it seems that they want to follow Gan Ning, but in fact, their distribution is relatively even, and they have no intention of making any breakthroughs."
"The general will think..."
Zhou Yu took a long breath and said tentatively: "Cai Mao must be hiding other killing moves. General, it is better to be careful to avoid unnecessary losses."