Chapter 35: The Sound of Fighting on the Nanpan River
On the Nanpan River, the sounds of killing were deafening.
On both sides, soldiers and horses from counties and counties along the river were temporarily recruited, armed with long bows and heavy crossbows, and fired continuously at the Li Dynasty navy on the river.
Compared with the mighty Li Dynasty navy, the total number of county soldiers on both sides of the strait was less than three thousand, which seemed extremely thin and sparse, a bit like a mantis trying to use its arms as a chariot.
But these soldiers obviously had some plans.
Wanting to stop the Li Dynasty navy, they did not rush forward foolishly and directly attack the large ships with thousands of materials. Instead, they took advantage of the narrow channel of Nanpan River, which made it difficult for large ships to turn around, and lacked support, and specifically selected the middle to transport grain and grass.
, the soldiers' ships launched an attack.
Arrows rained down, suppressing the Le Dynasty soldiers on the ship with all their strength. Then there were military masters who were proficient in water skills, driving ships loaded with kerosene, and rushed straight towards the ships.
There was only a muffled sound of "bang", and the small boat hit the Le Chao warship with great force, almost smashing into it. The fire oil splashed and scattered on the warship.
The specially arranged archers shot rockets directly onto the hull of the ship, and the flames suddenly ignited with a "boom" sound.
Not long after, there were five or four ships, with black smoke burning on them, and the fire gradually became fierce.
Thick smoke was billowing, and accompanied by the screams and panic of the Li Chao Navy soldiers, many warships in front and behind wanted to come to the rescue.
It's just that the river channel is narrow, and all the ships are rushing in. Not only can they not help, but they have blocked the entire river channel. For a moment, the entire Li Dynasty naval formation was in chaos, and there were a lot of chaos!
The Yun soldiers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were only interested in delaying the attack. Seeing that there were warships coming from both sides to respond, they did not bother and slowly retreated under the general's orders without saying a word.
Only a few ships that were nearly half burned by the fire and were about to be scrapped slowly sank into the water, and the Le Dynasty navy in chaos.
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Sitting in the center of the navy, on top of the largest and most magnificent dragon-headed warship with Xuanwu flags inlaid with gold and black background, Li Weining, wearing a gorgeous dark blue armor and a crown hanging on his head, suddenly raised his brows when he heard the soldiers' report.
, shouted:
"Why do we have to stop? After entering the Nanpan River, the army stopped and went, and it took five or six days to start the journey of the previous day. If it continues to be delayed, I am afraid that the Yun State will have to deploy heavy troops.
!”
Having secretly prepared before, Li Weining had planned a surprise attack and caught Yun Guo off guard. But if it continued like this, what was the use of the previous plans?
When the generals under his command heard this, they immediately knelt down and said urgently:
"Your Majesty, calm down! There has been a small Yun army setting up ambushes on both sides of the bank, burning our navy's ships transporting food and troops. The Nanpan River is narrow, and the warships in front and behind are unable to respond to the rescue. After a few days, the losses are not small, so we can only
Stop and adjust your formation from time to time.”
After hearing the report from his soldiers, Li Weining's face turned green and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Damn it!"
He originally thought that by leading the troops on this expedition, he had the secret method left by Lao Immortal, and that he could use the power of national destiny to support the army, and that he would be able to advance with great success, cooperate with the Xia army, gain glory, and revive the prestige of the Li Dynasty.
But he never expected that his army would come in such a mighty manner, and it would naturally catch Yun Guo off guard. However, such a secret loss was too much. It was completely different from what he had imagined before!
Li Weining's eyes were fierce and he said sternly:
"The Yun Kingdom only dares to attack small warships in a sneak attack. It's just a scabies disease. Chuan Gu's order is that if a ship is destroyed, immediately abandon the ship and leave, and the ministries cannot rescue... Humph, we can only isolate the Yun Kingdom
After contacting Yongzhou, Yun State’s hundreds of thousands of troops were completely lost. Everything they suffered before was humiliating. I want Yun State to repay everything!”
When the generals heard this, they paused slightly and said hesitantly:
"Your Majesty, it is okay for the troop transport ship to abandon the ship, but if the ship transporting food just abandons the ship and leaves, the food it carries will be gone... Our army is deep into the Yun Kingdom, and it will be difficult to resupply!"
Ever since the Li Dynasty suffered from hunger and suffering due to lack of supplies on the south coast of Yun State, the navy of the Li Dynasty had attached great importance to grain and grass supplies. When they heard that Li Weining had abandoned the grain-carrying ships, they immediately hesitated.
When Li Weining heard this, he immediately scolded:
"As long as food and grass supplies arrive in Shicheng County, Xia State will be responsible for supplying them. Soldiers are very fast, and the top priority is to rush to the waters of the Yongjiang River as soon as possible. If it is too late, Yun State has many arrangements and cannot hold on for a long time, which will be overthrown.
Disaster!"
When the generals under his command were scolded like this by Li Weining, their hearts immediately shivered and they did not dare to say anything. They quickly bowed and saluted:
"I obey the decree!"
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At this time, it was in Xiushan County and Longzhou County, which were less than a hundred miles away from here.
The water from the Nanpan River rolls in, then turns southeast and enters the Yong River.
Compared with the Nanpan River, the Yongjiang River has a flatter terrain, wider waterways, and the turbulent river water merges into it, which suddenly becomes gentler.
The broad meandering river isolates the four states of Yongzhou from the Yun Kingdom. The only thing that maintains the connection between the two places is Shicheng County, the important town of the Yun Kingdom ahead!
On a high hill, he asked about the climate on the river in Longzhou County in previous years. After the wind direction changed, Zhuge Liang bowed slightly to several fishermen and farmers and said warmly:
"Thank you very much!"
The few people who were called for questioning were all poor people struggling to make ends meet by the river. Even though they were being treated with such courtesy by officials, their faces looked frightened and humble, and they quickly bowed and saluted.
Zhuge Liang thanked him a few more times and asked the soldiers around him to take some silver coins to share with them, and then he sent the people away.
Behind him, Xu Shu saw the people leaving. He stepped forward and came to the front of Zhuge Liang. He stretched out his sleeves, shook his brand-new eighth-grade official uniform, and said arrogantly:
"how?"
Zhuge Liang came back to his senses slightly, looked at Xu Shu's full face, chuckled, nodded and said:
"This new court uniform inherits the ancient system, and is embroidered with patches and belts of different materials according to different official positions to identify official ranks. This is much more convenient than before, which had to be distinguished by the waist belt!"
Xu Shu lowered his head and looked at the official robe, smacked his lips and said:
"It's just that the rhinoceros patch on the chest is not very powerful...that's all. I'll change it to something better looking later!"
He joined the army at the eighth level and had a military position. The rhinoceros patch on his chest was made of rhinoceros. Maybe it was because of his embroidery skills, but the rhinoceros patch looked silly and not very good-looking.
When Zhuge Liang heard this, he laughed and said:
"If ordinary people want to become an official, even if they don't take the imperial examination road of thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge, they still have to be recommended by nobles, and then go through the court selection, and then they are only awarded an official position of seven or eight grades. We are like this
It’s so easy to get an official position. If others hear these words again, I’m afraid they will feel uncomfortable!”
With the talent and learning of the two of them, it would be natural for them to look down upon an eighth-grade soldier joining the army. However, some words will always cause some controversy when others hear them.
Gu Lin
"Yes, yes, Yuan Zhi, remember it!"
When Xu Shu heard this, he bowed and saluted as if it were strange.
Then he suddenly pointed to his brand new official uniform and said softly:
"Speaking of which, we were forcibly brought here by Yang Dayan before, but you didn't think of a way to escape along the way. It really doesn't seem like your style. Did you want to take the opportunity to enter the court before?
"
Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang nodded slightly and said:
"This plain barbarian general Yang Dayan is a member of the Yang family. He can deliver words to anyone in the court or in the harem. If you work under his command, you don't have to worry about anything else!"
Don't look at it now, the three in-laws of the Yang family have two families, and their strength is not as good as before. However, Ma and Qu were raised at home with their titles, and Xiao Cheng did not ruthlessly clean up their disciples and former officials.
still has some influence.
The most important thing is that the youngest daughter of the Yang family enjoys undiminished honor and favor in the harem.
Yang Dayan, a descendant of the Yang family, had served Xiao Cheng in the past and gained Xiao Cheng's trust. As a result, he sat on one side and commanded an army of tens of thousands. Yang Yanhe had previously served in the cabinet, and his abilities were often praised by the court. Now he has been promoted several levels in a row and serves as a general.
Third-grade chief envoy.
If you enter the court through the Yang family, you will obviously be able to get into the eyes of His Majesty today.
Having said this, Zhuge Liang paused slightly and said with a somewhat complicated expression:
"It's just that I thought we needed some means to prove our abilities, but I didn't expect that His Majesty would be so...so courageous. He directly gave him an official position and immediately ordered craftsmen to build a wind praying platform.
.”
Zhuge Liang spoke for a long time before finally uttering the sentence "You have courage."
After all, based on just a military report, he was directly awarded an official position and agreed to such a ridiculous suggestion as building a prayer platform, which is really unbelievable.
I don’t know whether His Majesty is too trusting in Yang Dayan today, or whether he is too easily fooled.
When Xu Shu heard this, his eyelids drooped and he said seriously:
"Have you not paid attention to some rumors before?"
Zhuge Liang was stunned and asked:
"What rumors?"
Xu Shu lowered his voice and pretended to be mysterious:
"There are rumors among the government and the public that His Majesty has a secret agent in his hands, lurking all over the world. They do not spy on intelligence. They are only dedicated to gathering intelligence about talents from various countries for the Emperor for His Majesty to recruit. Now there are many young and capable ministers in the government.
He was discovered and appointed without taking the imperial examination."
Zhuge Liang frowned and said:
"Is there such a spy agency? It's just that you and I have just achieved some success. We have just gained some fame in Xiushan County in the past two months, and can it be spread to the ears of His Majesty today?"
"At that time, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, the two Masters Zhang, were said to have been awarded official positions as soon as they arrived in Zhongqing City... The palaces in the world are so vast, and who can say with certainty the power of the people hidden in the dark?
It is not unusual for the Dayun royal family to secretly form such a team in preparation for regaining power after dormant for decades!" Xu Shu said.
Zhuge Liang was silent for a moment, nodded slowly, and said no more.
Xu Shu paused for a while, then said seriously:
"By the way, the only inland river navy in the country has just been ordered to come."
Having said this, he sighed slightly and said:
"It's just that the navy of this country has not been taken seriously before. The largest ship only has more than 500 pieces of material. You and I are people who have seen the navy of Li Dynasty with our own eyes. We know how big the gap is! If it weren't for you and I, we would try our best.
To dissuade him, I'm afraid that with General Yang's character, he will directly sink the warship in the river to block the waterway."
As far as what the two of them had seen before, among the Li Dynasty's navy, there were roughly a dozen large ships with two to three thousand materials. The warships with only five hundred materials could only be used as escort ships in the Li Dynasty.
, the gap between the two sides is what makes people unable to resist!
The Yun Kingdom was previously a landlocked country, so the navy was naturally not taken seriously. In recent years, the court has become a little more concerned about it, but how can it be compared with the Li Dynasty, which was founded based on the navy, in a short period of time?
Zhuge Liang was not so frustrated and said in a deep voice:
"The dark rocks and reefs failed to stop the Li Dynasty navy. Even if all the warships sank into the river, how long could they be stopped? Besides, without the navy, the means of attack and containment would be lost... What is it?
On the Nanpan River, it is not the boundless sea area that cannot be guarded against. The navy of the Li Dynasty just caught us by surprise!"
Previously, the water of the Red River was twisting and turbulent, making it difficult to pass. No one thought that the Li Dynasty navy would have a way to kill them. If they had been prepared and lined up water forts to defend themselves, how could the Li Dynasty make a surprise attack here?
Zhuge Liang continued in a deep voice:
"The armies along the way, mobilizing long bows and heavy crossbows, have tried their best to delay the progress of the Li Dynasty navy. The most urgent task is to block the river with iron ropes at the mouth of the river. Build more water forts and wait for the opportunity!"
Having said this, Zhuge Liang turned his head and looked into the distance.
The craftsmen have not yet arrived, but the civilian laborers who have been recruited have already gathered and began to carry various materials needed for the prayer platform.
Xu Shu followed his line of sight and saw the place where the wind praying platform was to be built, and couldn't help but ask:
"Looking at the materials you ordered people to prepare and the questions you asked the people, I can guess that you plan to use fire to attack. The so-called wind praying platform should be that you want to use it to set up formations and use the power of heaven and earth.
It depends on the strategy of attacking with fire. I just don’t understand, is it necessary to report this kind of thing to His Majesty?"
Yang Dayan had seen Zhuge Liang's methods before, and he respected and trusted the two of them. To build a small prayer platform, Yang Dayan could just allocate some manpower to build it, and there was no need to report to Xiao Cheng to ask for an order to build it.
When Zhuge Liang heard Xu Shu's question, he paused, shook his head and said:
"The army of the Li Dynasty is attacking, and King Li Weining is personally taking charge. This is gambling on the fate of the country. The vision of the army gathered together can ward off all kinds of evil. Isn't it unusual? If I directly set up the formation, I would summon the east wind.
There is nothing we can do about the Li Dynasty Navy who suppressed the strange phenomenon!"
Having said this, Zhuge Liang's expression darkened and he said seriously:
"Only if His Majesty decrees that I can use the power of Dayun's national destiny to help suppress the strange destiny of the Li Dynasty, can I completely defeat the navy of the Li Dynasty!"
After hearing what Zhuge Liang said, Xu Shu was a little silent.
After a long time, he said in a deep voice:
"I understand... I have already given instructions before to assist General Yang in arranging all the troops and horses to stop the Li Chao navy from coming. After that, I will also rush to the front line and make arrangements again!"
When Zhuge Liang heard this, he curved his lips and chuckled:
"It's because Yuan Zhi is here that I feel so relieved."