"Brother Zhuzhu, there seems to be something on that arrow."
One of the bodyguards pointed at the arrow.
Guan Zhuzhu took a closer look, and sure enough, there seemed to be a piece of white cloth tied to the end of the arrow.
"There really is something, go get it and take a look. Be careful, don't get hit by a hidden arrow."
"Know."
The bodyguard held a shield and trotted over to pull out the arrow.
Qin'er's archery skills were very good. There was only a wooden box on the deck, which was protected from rainwater, so the arrows were shot in this dry place.
The bodyguard returned with the arrow and handed it to Guan Zhuzhu.
Guan Zhuzhu took off the silk cloth from the arrow, and a group of people looked at the square characters on it, staring at each other with big eyes and small eyes.
None of them can read.
"Be careful on it. I'll go find Tongtong and see what's written on it."
Guan Zhuzi was illiterate, so Jin Feng arranged for him to have a female shopkeeper who could write and do math to prevent him from being cheated.
In this era, scholars were all superior to others. Guan Zhuzhu respected the female shopkeeper very much and did not ask anyone to ask her to go on the deck. Instead, he ran back to the cabin with the silk cloth and knocked on the door of the female shopkeeper.
"Brother Zhuzi, are you okay?" the female shopkeeper opened the door and asked.
"Sister Tongtong, someone just shot an arrow into the boat, and there was a piece of cloth on it. Can you see what's written on it?"
Guan Zhuzhu handed the silk to the female shopkeeper.
"Cumed up?"
The female shopkeeper also saw the large ship and water bandits on the opposite side, but usually when she encountered water bandits, she would consciously hide behind them to avoid causing trouble to the escort.
Hearing this, he quickly took the silk cloth.
The next second, the face of the female shopkeeper changed: "Brother Zhuzi, go and save people! On the opposite boat are Miss Mu Lan and Lord Qing's cousin. They came to Jinchuan to visit Mr. Xihewan!"
"What?!"
Guan Zhuzi was startled, turned around and ran outside.
While running, he shouted: "Old Zhou, save people quickly! The person on the boat is Miss Mu Lan's cousin, who came to Jinchuan to visit her brother-in-law!"
On the deck, when the escorts discovered the water bandits, they set up their heavy crossbows and prepared for defense.
After hearing Guan Zhuzhu's words, the bodyguards immediately aimed at the water bandit's boat.
There was a platoon of escorts responsible for escorting the goods, and they brought a total of nine heavy crossbows. It was easy to kill these water bandits.
However, none of the bodyguards pulled the trigger until Guan Zhuzhu ran up to him.
"Old Zhou, why are you still confused?"
Guan Zhuzhu pushed the escort platoon leader: "Hurry up and do it!"
"Brother Zhuzi, you can't do that!" Lao Zhou said, "If I take action, I will shoot through the big ship on the opposite side!"
Guan Zhuzhu looked up and saw that it was indeed the case.
The power of the heavy crossbow arrows is too great. If fired from the current angle, it will penetrate the big ship as well.
That would not be rescuing people, but becoming an accomplice of the bandits.
"What should we do? Lao Zhou, please think of a way!"
Guan Zhuzhu was so anxious that he rubbed his hands together.
Their boat hauled too much mineral salt and was too heavy to move fast at all.
The passenger ship on the opposite side was almost parallel to the cargo ship. After a while, the passenger ship was far away, and they had no choice but to save people.
"I'm here to shout and see if I can scare away the water bandits!"
Lao Zhou stood on the edge of the deck and shouted loudly: "Where did the young water bandits come from so short-sighted that they dare to rob the guests of our Zhenyuan Escort Bureau? Get back quickly, or I will crush you!"
Several bodyguards quickly pushed the heavy crossbow to the edge of the deck.
In the past, when encountering this kind of situation, the water bandits would have been scared away, but this group of water bandits continued to build the boat as if they didn't hear or see it.
At this time, the two ships were already parallel, and it could be clearly seen from the cargo ship that several small holes had appeared in the bottom of the passenger ship.
The passenger ship looks large and luxuriously decorated, but its structure is very simple.
Cutting through the side of the ship is the bottom tank.
If the boatmen hadn't blocked the water inlet inside, the passenger ship might not be able to hold on now.
"No, they won't last long if this continues!"
Lao Zhou found that the water bandits ignored him and punched the guardrail: "Squad leader, launch the boat and kill them!"
"Yes! Follow me in class one!"
The squad leader agreed and led his men to the other side of the cargo ship.
There are two boats tied there.
In fact, before this, no one on Dakang's cargo ships or passenger ships had prepared such small boats. It was Jin Feng who reminded Guan Zhuzhu to get two "lifeboats" and put them on the cargo ship.
I didn't expect to use it so quickly.
"Lao Zhou, the water is so strong now, can we go down in a small boat?"
Guan Zhuzi asked worriedly.
The lifeboat is a very ordinary small wooden boat, which is difficult to cope with big winds and waves.
"It has to be done even if it doesn't work. If word gets out that we can't teach the water bandits a lesson this time, the prestige accumulated by the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau will be in vain! That is the reputation that brothers have fought for with their lives, and it cannot be destroyed at the hands of our third platoon.
inside!"
Lao Zhou said: "Also, the passenger ship opposite has been drilled with too many holes. Even if the bandits are repelled, it will undoubtedly sink. Our ship is too slow. We must kill Miss Mu Lan before they float away.
My cousin saved me."
"It makes sense," Guan Zhuzhu nodded in agreement: "Old Zhou, you are still thoughtful."
While he was talking, the squad leader had already taken the escorts from the squad into the boat and was put on the water.
The lifeboat was modified by the bodyguard. The bow was equipped with a heavy crossbow and a box of arrows was carried under the cabin.
There is also a row of pig urine bubbles tied to the edge of the cabin, which can be used as a life jacket in case the boat capsizes.
Including the squad leader, there are ten people in the class, five on each boat.
Three people are responsible for the heavy crossbow, and the remaining two are responsible for controlling the direction with the oars.
The current on the river was so fast that as soon as the two lifeboats fell into the water, they flowed down the river.
After adjusting the position, the squad leader pulled the trigger on a water bandit boat without saying a word!
Whoosh!
The heavy crossbow arrow flew out with a roar and hit directly the stern of the water bandit's boat!
Wood chips were flying, the stern of the boat was directly shattered by huge arrows, and all the water bandits on the boat fell into the rushing river.
Heavy crossbow arrows can be used repeatedly. The bodyguards have nothing to do in the salt mine, just practicing shooting crossbows. Now they are very skilled in cooperating.
The squad leader responsible for aiming and firing pulled the trigger. The next second, the escort responsible for winding the gun started to turn the winch quickly.
The bodyguard responsible for filling has also put the arrows on it.
Just a few seconds later, another spear-like arrow flew out.
But this time when firing, the boat hit a wave and the arrow flew diagonally into the water.
The water bandits seemed to be frightened by the power and firing speed of the heavy crossbow. They finally gave up on the boat, loosened the hooks nailed to the big boat, and drifted down the river to escape.
Before escaping, a burly water bandit lifted a big hammer and smashed it against a bulkhead.
Several small holes were drilled around this bulkhead, and a hole larger than the basin immediately appeared after being hit like this.
Such a big hole was not something that a boatman could plug, and the river immediately poured into the cabin.
The passenger ship immediately began to sink at a speed visible to the naked eye.