The four hundred and thirtieth chapter of the battle of Hukou (2)
Between the mountains and rivers of Poyang Lake, the land is still full of greenery even in autumn, and the water is as clean as a mirror. The water is covered with a light mist in the morning, slowly rippling in the breeze. There is a beautiful natural scenery here
, there is no pollution from smoke and dust, everything is so brightly colored; it is also like a paradise, with a large population around it, but the local human traces of the small farmer economy have been hidden by the great natural environment. Even in distant counties, there are only a few
Some houses don't have too much noise. So the land is quiet and seems to be exceptionally peaceful.
But after the shallow mist gradually dispersed, the paradise-like scenery was immediately completely broken by a spectacular scene. The water in the north, from the Yangtze River to the entrance of the lake, seemed to be suddenly occupied by countless ships. This was just the mist dissipation zone.
It’s an illusion. The boats are of different sizes and lined up on the water, row after row. It’s countless. I don’t know how many boats there are.
After a while, the morning sun rose from the mountains to the east, immediately coating the rippling water waves with a layer of orange-red light. The quiet colors between heaven and earth suddenly became a little more gorgeous. The sound soon became noisy, mainly because of
There were drums everywhere, and there was also the faint noise of people amidst the sound of the waves. On the Poyang Lake side, there were also a large number of boats on the water, most of which had no sails because there was no wind. The largest building boat in front had wooden boats lined up on both sides.
The boat, which looks like a fat centipede, is the command ship of the Jiujiang Navy. It has a stern and a wide deck in the front, which is filled with five-color flags and has many soldiers.
On the ship's deck, there were several generals standing. The bearded man in the middle was Yang Chengxiao, the admiral of the Jiujiang Army Navy. There was also the deputy admiral Wu Zhongxun sent from the Yongding Camp to supervise the generals.
Admiral Yang Chengxiao covered the right side of his face with his palm and looked at the scene on the west bank of the lake. Only some flags could be seen. There was an artillery camp there, and it was said that the king of Hunan, Zhu Wenbiao, was also watching the battle in the camp.
Wu Zhongxun on the side saw this and said coldly: "As long as General Yang blocks the imperial navy in the first line and prevents it from entering Poyang Lake, the army may turn to attack Hukou City, and then the responsibility will not be with General Yang."
Yang Chengxiao said sternly: "I will transfer all the ships here, so of course we will block the enemy!"
Wu Zhongxun said: "That's very good. The stakes in this battle are very important. If the battle is not effective, you will wait to raise your head to see the King of Xiang." Wu Zhongxun was only a deputy general, but he had no respect for the admiral's words at all, because he was the direct lineage and partial division of the Suzaku Army at the same level.
After all, people are still different.
The boat here was waiting for work on the water. It drifted for a while, and dozens of boats, large and small, from the army and the army were rushing straight towards them without any intention of stopping.
There were about a dozen small boats moored in the middle of the lake. The bottoms of the boats were locked with hidden ropes. They were filled with firewood, tung oil, and gunpowder. They were lined up on the water. When the government and military warships approached, the boats were suddenly ignited, and the particles were fired.
The gunpowder burned quickly, and with a "boom", the fire shot up into the sky. Ten ships caught fire at the same time, and the fire was more dazzling than the morning sun. An army warship rushed too far ahead, and the fire did not stop sailing. It tried to
Passed through the gap between the fire ships, but the bottom of the ship immediately hit the underwater iron cable. The fire ships on both sides slowly squeezed into the middle under the force, and in an instant they were attached to the side strings of the warships, and the raging fire
Then the warship was set on fire.
People's shouts came from the water. After a while, the officers and soldiers on the ship saw that there was no hope of putting out the fire. They jumped into the water one after another, making a mess. Some people's bodies were on fire and they screamed and threw themselves into the water in panic.
The officers and men of the Jiujiang Navy were very happy when they saw this, and cheers and shouts rang out from all the ships. The world suddenly became lively, and people's morale seemed to be high.
The navy of the navy did not stop because of this, and the ships circled around both sides of the burning water. At this moment, the sound of "dong dong" drums on the shore came from afar, and then the sound of "dong dong" came from the mountains and rivers illuminated by the morning sun.
The rumbling "thunder".
During the earthquake, clouds of white smoke rose from the mountains on both sides, as if a forest fire was about to break out. White waves splashed everywhere on the lake, and many shells fell into the water. Suddenly there was a "click"
, many damaged pieces of wood on a ship splashed into the water, and the bow of the ship immediately deflected, apparently hit by artillery fire. The Jiujiang Navy Navy once again shouted cheers. Before the two armies approached, the official army had two ships.
One damage and one destruction is undoubtedly a good start.
However, the waters at the entrance to the lake are still relatively wide. Such shelling is very loud, but the actual results are not great. In addition, the army's wheeled boats sail very fast, and most of the shells hit the water and could not hit the ships.
It was entirely God's will that the artillery could not stop the assault of the army.
Yang Chengxiao stood at a high place and saw that one after another the official and military warships broke through the blockade of fire ships and artillery bombardment. However, after such obstruction by the official and military forces, the fleet was scattered back and forth and out of formation. Yang Chengxiao immediately seized the opportunity and ordered the formation to be ready.
The front troops lined up to attack, forming a formation on the left and right to attack the scattered enemy warships.
"Hey...yo!" the strong men rowing on the warship shouted in unison, their naked arms revealing their powerful muscles, and the sound of the oars splashing real white waves on the water. People were full of confidence, riding on the warships
The ships moved forward in unison towards the chaotic enemy fleet. The sound of cannons was still roaring, and the landscape was full of excitement and vitality. Yang Chengxiao looked at the scene in front of him with satisfaction.
However, the official and military warships did not turn around and ran away, and seven or eight large ships scattered and rushed towards them. I saw that the ships were tall and big, with four water wheels on them. The water wheels turned very fast; there were also water wheels in the middle.
The two propellers of the boat moved at the same time, and it ran very fast. When the two armies were approaching, the two sides of the boat were compared, and the Jiujiang Army's boat seemed as slow as a snail.
An official warship rushed straight towards the Jiujiang military fleet like a mad bull. When it was about to approach, the oars on it suddenly retracted, and some sharp and sharp iron plows like plowshares were stretched out.
The iron plow warship rushed in from the middle of the two densely arranged ships, and suddenly there was a "crackling" noise, and a tooth-aching friction sound; the oars on one side of the two warships of the Jiujiang Army were almost
All of them were broken, and the hull was also scarred by iron plows.
"Bang, bang, bang..." Soldiers on both sides fired at each other with firearms on the side of the ship. Suddenly, smoke filled the air, and screams broke out. During this period, the firelight flashed, and some fire crows the size of firecrackers "swish, swish" and screamed irregularly.
The trajectory of the gunpowder burning smoke was flying in the air; it seemed to be the divine fire crow of the navy, which was also a common thing on Zheng He's naval fleet. From time to time in the chaos, there was a sound more powerful than a blunderbuss.
There was a loud explosion, it was the officers and soldiers throwing mines into the ship again, causing a mess on the deck.
The ships of the two armies passed side by side. The short time was only enough for two rounds of musketry, but the scene on the water was already very different from before. Two Jiujiang Army warships caught fire and became a mess, and more than a dozen ships were on fire.
The oar was badly damaged, the deck was in a mess, and it was impossible to move while lying on the water.
Some other Jiujiang Army warships that were not attacked drifted out of a line formation and were surrounded by the government warships rushing up from behind. They could not escape and could not outrun the government warships at all. The government warships relied on their speed
The superior force first charged into the corner and knocked the Jiujiang Army's ship into pieces, then hooked the side of the ship and built a ladder to engage in a side-to-side battle. The ships of the two armies were entangled, and the distance between the two sides was only about ten steps. Firearms were like rain of lead bullets.
As we pressed against it, wood chips were flying on the deck and the smoke was filled. There were various debris floating on the water, and the water waves hitting the side of the ship began to turn red.
Guns and guns were firing in front, firelight was flashing, and smoke was rising; behind, a ship suddenly turned around slowly and left the fleet. Soon, Vice Admiral Wu Zhongxun noticed something strange, and immediately pointed and asked loudly: "What's going on over there?"
What is the boat going to do?”
Admiral Yang Chengxiao had been commanding the ship and had not issued any orders to the ship. He immediately understood: they wanted to escape from the battlefield. No need to be questioned by the deputy general, Yang Chengxiao himself was also annoyed and shouted: "Immediately send a shuttle boat to chase them and order them to
Return, general!"
Lieutenant General Wu Zhongxun reminded: "Bring the order flag over. If the general does not obey, he will be punished for escaping from the battle!"
The boat sent out soon came back and reported: "They didn't let us get on the boat, and they even used firearms to threaten us." After hearing this, Wu Zhongxun said angrily: "You were kicked back like this? What do you do for food?
!If anyone comes, behead them all!”
At this moment, suddenly the giant ship guarding the Chinese army on the left wing was turning around inexplicably. Yang Chengxiao raised his voice angrily and shouted: "Who told you to move? Come out and answer my questions!"
Unexpectedly, someone actually stood up to answer. The two boats were not far away, and I could only hear a shout from the other side: "If you don't leave now, you won't be able to leave soon."
"I'll fuck you, mother!" Such a light word immediately made Yang Chengxiao furious, and he yelled, "It's He Er who's the one who fucks you! How do I always treat you, you ungrateful thing!"
The other side shouted again: "Brother Yang, I'm sorry for you. You can also advise 'that' adult. Why are we fighting in this battle? It's best for everyone to leave as soon as possible!"
Yang Chengxiao was reminded and noticed his situation again. Standing next to him was "that lord" Wu Zhongxun, and the nearby guards were all his people.
Wu Zhongxun looked at him coldly: "General Yang, don't even think about that way. If this battle is lost, no one here will survive. There are more than 8,000 navy soldiers, and even if we fight to the end, we will not be able to let go of anyone."
An enemy ship is passing by!" He paused and then said: "Immediately give an order, and the supporting battleships will block the escaping ship. If they don't listen to the orders, attack them! The situation must be controlled."
Another clipper ship was sent out from beside the main ship to convey the order, but this time no one came back to report. Together with the clipper ship that conveyed the order, and several warships from the rear alliance fleet, they also fled westward.
"Damn it!" Wu Zhongxun could no longer suppress the anger in his heart, "What do you call an army? They run away as soon as they are beaten. Military orders are like farts!"