Fenghou

"Reporting to Dutong, at first we used oiled paper, but found that it was not good, because it was easy to extinguish in the air. Later, we used long gunpowder barrels, the kind tied to gunpowder arrows. Once it burns to the end, it can ignite the powder keg."

Chen Qing understood, this method is good, it is actually a kind of fuse, a thick tube type fuse, of course, it is not as convenient as a real fuse.

At this time, Chen Qing saw that Li Gang was still watching eagerly, and smiled a little embarrassedly: "I am digressing, let me talk about this car and boat, does Master Xie have a way to crack it?"

Xie Changzhi smiled triumphantly, "I have at least ten ways to crack this kind of ship!"

Li Gang's eyes lit up, "Tell me!"

"To crack this kind of vehicle and boat, we have to start with its outer impeller. There are two key parts in it, one is the shaft and the other is the blade. At first I thought their shafts were made of copper and iron, but later I found out that they are actually If it’s made of wood, the leaves are also made of wood, think about it, Mr. Li, what is wood most afraid of?”

"Burning with fire?" Li Gang reacted immediately.

Chen Qing smiled and shook his head, "Using fire is not the best way. First, it will take a long time to burn it with fire. Secondly, it is in water, so the fire can be easily extinguished."

"You are right. Attacking with fire is one method, but it is not the most effective. There are two most effective methods. One is to destroy him instantly with firearms. This is very effective, but it is not easy to do. You need a small boat to approach it. When the water ghost enters the water, the gunpowder can’t touch the water, and it needs to be ignited, which is more troublesome, much more troublesome than the simplest method I thought of.”

Li Gang said with a chuckle: "Master Li, don't make me want to make people want to talk about it. Tell me quickly, what is the easiest way?"

"Reporting to Mr. Li, the easiest way is to use a fishing net."

Li Gang and Chen Qing looked at each other and laughed together, using a fishing net, this method is really simple and practical, throwing a fishing net on it, the impellers will be twisted together, unable to move at all.

Li Gang couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart and said, "When can I have a try?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Beizhi said just now that vehicles and boats are one of the three key points to defeat the enemy. Doesn't the envoy want to know the other two?"

Li Gang stroked his beard and said: "Chen Dutong, please tell me the other two key points, I will listen all the time!"

"One is that I need decision-making power in wartime. How to plan, how to make decisions, and how to fight are up to me. The envoy only needs to accept the results afterwards."

Chen Qing's governors of the two states are still under the control of the Huguang Xuanfu envoys, especially when it comes to exterminating the Dongting water thieves, Li Gang is the coach, Chen Qing is just a former general of the army, Li Gang still has tens of thousands of troops in his hands, and the Yangtze River Navy also obeys orders Yu Li Gang, not Chen Qing.

Li Gang is not Zhu Shengfei, he is even more enlightened than Zhang Jun. He knows that he is a civil servant, and his combat experience is not as good as Chen Qing. Li Gang pondered for a moment and said: "It is not impossible to give you the command and decision-making power, but I have one condition."

"Xuan Fu envoy, please speak!"

"I don't allow you to kill prisoners of war, you must hand them over to me!"

Chen Qing smiled wryly and said, "The envoy Xuanfu also knows?"

Li Gang sneered and said: "Can I not know? The prestige of Chen Dutong's demons has spread all over the states. Not only the bandits are afraid, but the people are also afraid. I am here today for this matter. If you refuse to listen to me Persuasion, then I will impeach you to the officials!"

"The envoy Xuanfu spoke seriously. This is just for the sake of my prestige. I am not a cruel person, and I am not cruel to the people. Instead, I have strict military discipline."

"I know that your military discipline is very good, so I sincerely welcome you to come, but I cannot accept the killing of prisoners. If you find it troublesome, then leave it to me to deal with it."

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "I can only promise half of the envoy's promise. I can promise not to kill innocent people indiscriminately. If the captives are not stained with the blood of innocent people or raped women, then I can hand them over to the envoy!"

Li Gang still shook his head, "I'm not abusing good people. I can't tolerate the two situations you mentioned, but I will strictly screen them. With all due respect, I don't believe your trial. You would rather kill a hundred people by mistake than Never let anyone go!"

Seeing that Li Gang refused to give in, Chen Qing could only sigh and said, "If the Xuan Fu envoy agrees to my third condition, then I will promise to hand over all the prisoners of war to you."

Li Gang smiled slightly, "You just admit it now, are you actually negotiating terms with me? It's nice to say, two key points."

Chen Qing blushed, and said with a cheeky smile: "It's still the Xuan Fu envoy Gao Ming, I can't hide anything from you!"

"Stop talking nonsense, let's talk! What's the third condition?"

"I want fifty two-thousand-stone warships, completely under my command."

Li Gang looked back at Balingshui behind him and said with a smile, "You already have more than 100 warships here."

"These warships are too small, I need large warships to transport troops to Junshan Island!"

"Okay! I'll give you fifty warships of three thousand stone and five thousand sailors under your full command, but it's agreed, you must change the killing order to surrender and not kill."

Chen Qing said helplessly: "I just promise the Xuanfu envoy!"

Li Gangsheng was afraid that his words were duplicity, and said again: "You don't even know that not all of Yang Yao's subordinates are water thieves. It was later. At the beginning, many people were forced to ruin their families by taxes, so they had no choice but to follow Zhong Xiang, Yang Yao rebelled, these people don't deserve to die."

Chen Qing shook his head, "Emissary Xuan Fu don't try to persuade me, I promised to hand over the prisoners of war to you, just because you gave me decision-making power and navy ships, this is an exchange.

My philosophy is different from yours. As long as you become a water thief, whether it is forced or voluntary, you have to pay the price. Even if you don’t kill him, you have to serve three years of hard labor. I will never accept release without punishment. Otherwise, even if the banditry is wiped out for a while, it will reappear in the future. "

Li Gang waved his hand, "Since we can't convince each other, then don't argue about this matter, as you said, this is an exchange, and I don't want Lu Yihao's grandson, you can stay in the army yourself! No If I don't give you face, the old grudge is hard to get rid of."

Chen Qing had learned about Li Gang's uprightness, he nodded, "Okay! I'll settle him down."

Li Gang then smiled and said: "When are you going to send troops?"

"You hand over the water army and warship to me. I will train for ten days and then dispatch troops."

Li Gang's eyes widened, "I don't allow you to change generals, whoever is disobedient, you tell me, I'll change, this army is only lent to you, you are not allowed to annex him!"

Chen Qing laughed loudly, "I will go back to the northwest in the future. It is useless to ask for a navy army. I promise not to annex this army."

Only then did Li Gang let go of his heart, "Then I will wait for your good news!"

Chapter 286 The First Battle

The navy of the Song Army controlled the Yangtze River. Most of their warships were three-thousand-stone sea-going ships, some of which were old warships, and some of them were new ships built in the past two years. They were originally moored in Runzhou to prevent Jin soldiers from crossing the river. .

However, the Song Army scouts found that there was no sign of the Jin soldiers crossing the Yangtze River on the north bank of the Yangtze River. After Li Gang's repeated requests, Zhao Gou agreed to transfer the fleet to the Dongting Lake area and first control the Yangtze River waterway.

Yang Yao's warships are all around Qianshi. Although they are small in size, they are flexible and fast. They can feel like a fish in water in the Dongting Lake they are familiar with.

But in the Yangtze River, facing the huge warships of the Song Army, and the Yangtze River waterway is not as wide as Dongting Lake, there is not much room for movement. Go to Dongting Lake and wait for the Song army to enter the lake for a battle.

Near the mouth of the Yangtze River in Balingshui, there are fifty huge warships moored in a row. These are the fifty three-thousand-stone warships allocated to Chen Qing by Li Gang, and there are more than one hundred small warships behind the warships. battleship.

In addition to fifty warships, there are five thousand elite water troops, and one of the five thousand stone warships was selected by Chen Qing as the commander-in-chief.

At this time, Xie Changzhi was directing dozens of craftsmen to install small catapults on the sides and bows of several warships. The fire oil ball, about the size of a volleyball, was thrown fifty paces away.

The kerosene ball is actually a spherical clay pot filled with gunpowder and sulfur and coated with kerosene on the outside. It is thrown out during burning. Once it hits a ship, the pottery body shatters and a large amount of gunpowder pours out, resulting in a large area of ​​rapid fire. combustion.

There is also a kind of kerosene ball that is as big as a basketball, with a kerosene tank inside, and the kerosene will splash out after it breaks. Chen Qing believes that this kind of kerosene ball is more practical than gunpowder against warships.

In addition, soldiers still have a lot of gunpowder arrows to deal with sails. In the age of firearms, various firearms and kerosene have been widely used in water warfare and have played a huge role.

This is also a contest of national power. Only the Song Dynasty could produce such a large amount of gunpowder and kerosene. Although Yang Yao had a sharp warship, he could not produce a single firearm, or a barrel of kerosene, and even various resources were scarce. Poverty, this is the performance of weak strength.

In addition to trebuchets, Chen Qing also installed a thousand bed crossbows brought from the northwest on more than a dozen warships. The boat soldiers inside were also one of Xie Changzhi's ten ways to deal with vehicles and boats.

The five thousand water army originally had a commander, but Li Gang considered it more carefully. In order to allow Chen Qing to command the water army better, he did not send a commander over. Instead, three commanders led the five thousand water army and fifty warships. , Chen Qing personally served as the commander of the navy.

"When will the commander-in-chief plan to send troops? Brothers are gearing up, and we can't wait any longer!" A commander named Li Feng asked with a smile.

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Don't worry, starting tomorrow, everyone will have to practice a few more times on the Yangtze River, and you can only go to the battle when you are at least [-]% sure."

"It will take more than ten days before we can go to battle!" Li Feng's face revealed a look of disappointment.

Seeing that the three commanders were a little impatient, Chen Qing simply stopped and said solemnly to the three of them: "You have to understand that the water thieves we are facing are not a mob. They are really nothing on the shore, but in the water, they are one Jiaolong, we will lose if we underestimate the enemy!"

All three of them showed shame on their faces, bowed together and said: "I understand!"

Chen Qing smiled and comforted them again, "Don't worry! I'll send people to watch their every move. When the time comes, we will send troops immediately!"

At this time, Xie Changzhi came over with his lame leg and said with a smile, "Dutong, I actually found a good thing."

"What good stuff?" Chen Qingrao asked with great interest.

"Come with me, please!"

Chen Qing followed Xie Changzhi into the cabin with several generals. Xie Changzhi pointed to a long and thick wooden pole on the corner and said, "That's it!"

"This is... a mast?" Chen Qing was taken aback for a moment.

"At first I thought it was a mast, but after a closer look, I found out that it was wrong. This is called a smashing stick, a water warfare weapon in the Sui and Tang Dynasties."

Chen Qing glanced back at the three commanders, and Li Feng said in surprise, "This was moved from an old ship. We thought it was a mast, but we felt that it was a bit soft and unusable, so we left it here. As far as I can remember, at least five or six years."

Xie Changzhi laughed and said: "This is much more valuable than a mast. It is the same thing as the throwing pole of a thousand-step gun, but it is much thicker. It costs thousands of dollars to make such a pole. It takes more than ten years. The oil needs to be soaked ten times, soaked for more than half a year each time, then dried in the sun, and then soaked in oil, it is extremely tough, if you don’t believe it, you will chop it a few times to ensure that there is no trace.”

Chen Qing stepped forward and took a closer look. It was indeed the same as the throwing pole of the super trebuchet in Fort Ganquan. It should have excellent toughness, and there was a round hole at the bottom, which should be used for a shaft.

"How does it work?"

"It is installed on the side of the ship, and the front end is equipped with a hammer head. When the enemy ship is approaching, it is pulled down suddenly. This hammer can directly smash a thousand-stone ship into a big hole."

"Is it just a saber?"

"Yes! A sharp weapon for close defense."

Chen Qing nodded, "Find a way to install it on Shuai Chuan, as Shuai Chuan's personal saber!"

"Don't worry, it's not difficult. You can go to the warehouse to find a hammer, and you can install it at night."

……

After installing the weapons, the Song army immediately conducted tactical drills in the Yangtze River. Seven drills were performed within fifteen days.

In the early morning of this day, Chen Qing received an eagle letter from Changde Mansion. When he opened the letter, there was only one sentence on it, "The first dog has returned to his lair last night!"

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Pass my order, the whole army set off!"

……

Half an hour later, 100 large ships and more than [-] small boats sailed into Dongting Lake from the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Junshan is not far from Hukou, Yang Yao was shocked when he received the report, why did Chen Qing choose to attack at this juncture?

Is it a coincidence or premeditated?

Yang Yao had no way of knowing, but he had no choice, so he immediately led more than 100 warships out to fight.

Since the other party insists on coming to die, I will fulfill him!

The warships of Yang Yao's army are not big, there are more than [-] vehicles and boats, all of which are thousand stone warships, and then there are ships of about two hundred stones and five hundred stones, and there are more than three thousand bandit troops in total.

Yang Yao admits that he is no match for the Song Army on land, but he has strong self-confidence in the water. This confidence comes from his repeated victories. He has defeated the Song Army three times, and the Song Army suffered heavy casualties.

His vehicles and boats are fast and very flexible, just like a pack of wild dogs on the prairie. After destroying the power of the Song army's big ship like digging out their anus, they sent water ghosts to scuttle the big ship, causing the entire Song army to feed the fish in Dongting Lake. shrimp.

On the vast lake, Chen Qing stood on the handsome boat and saw the group of black dots in the distance, he turned his head and smiled at Yang Zaixing: "It's the same as last time, let them learn your arrow skills!"

Yang Zaixing nodded, "I'll deal with the water ghosts, unless they don't show their heads for a breath!"

Zhao Ping, the commander next to him, quickly said: "The water ghosts of the bandit army really don't show their heads. They usually carry a half-foot-long bamboo tube. They use this bamboo tube to breathe. It's not easy to find on the water."

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Don't worry, our General Yang's eyes are sharper than eagles, no one can escape."

"Dutong, they are coming!" shouted the watchman overhead.

Chen Qing stared at the lake, under the sun, more than 30 thousand stone warships lined up, rumbled towards this side, at a very fast speed, their tactics were exactly the opposite of those of the Song army, their big ships were ahead , while the boat full of soldiers was behind.

After the vehicles and boats destroy the power of the big boats, the lake is dominated by small boats.

There are two sources of power for a big ship, one is the sails, and the other is the stern rudder. On the one hand, the stern rudder is used to control the course.

The car and boat use its flexibility to destroy these two places.

The Song army went up to thirty small boats with canopies. This kind of canopy is not the canopy of ordinary civilian ships. It is a military canopy. Its function is a shield. When the situation is critical, soldiers of the Song Army can enter the canopy to avoid the enemy's arrows. arrow.

Thirty tent boats were fast and approached the enemy vehicles and boats quickly. The fishing nets were hidden in the boat tents. The bandits did not notice any abnormalities. He even aimed at the boats and rammed them head-on.

Chapter 287 The First Battle

The waves on the lake were undulating, the bandit soldiers on the vehicles and boats shouted, dozens of arrows swished towards the black boat below, and the black boat passed by the vehicles and boats like arrows, and the two soldiers caught a round of arrows behind them. When there was a gap, a fishing net was thrown out, and the fishing net covered the impeller, and was immediately sucked in, and the impeller immediately couldn't move.

The impeller on the other side was still rotating, causing the vehicles and ships to spin in place. At the same time, 32 of the 27 vehicles and ships encountered the same fishing net tactic. This tactic is very simple and effective. The thieves on the boat yelled anxiously.

Several thieves jumped into the lake, trying to cut the fishing nets with knives, but just as they climbed onto the impeller, they were shot by the arrows from the black boat and fell into the lake screaming.

At this time, the large warships of the Song Army were dispatched. They approached the vehicles and boats and continuously fired fire oil balls. The fireballs fell on the deck of the vehicles and boats and shattered immediately. The kerosene and gunpowder poured out and began to burn rapidly on the ship. The cabin and the impeller also burned, and the bandit soldiers on board were terrified and jumped into the water to flee for their lives, but the Song army did not save them, but arrows rained down, killing countless bandit soldiers in the water.

Yang Yao led five vehicles and boats behind, the impeller was lucky not to be entangled by fishing nets, he was a little stunned, his own boats moved differently in a blink of an eye, but the fireball of the Song Army was so sharp, none of the 27 warships that were fixed With one exception, a raging fire burned.

At this time, general Sun Dinghai pointed to a warship of five thousand stone and said: "General, that ship has a command flag, it should be their handsome ship, and Chen Qing must be on it. I would like to lead the water ghost to scuttle it." !"

Yang Yao stared at the big boat with extreme hatred, this damned Chen Qing killed himself by surprise as soon as he made a move, he was his nemesis and enemy, Yang Yao gritted his teeth and said: "The pierced big boat, let him meet the Dragon King of Dongting! "

"Follow the order!"

Sun Dinghai jumped into the lake with fifty elite water ghosts, and quickly swam towards Song Jun's handsome boat...

These fifty water ghosts are all one out of a hundred. They are like fish in the water. Each of them breathes with a small bamboo tube, and they basically don't come out of the water. They are extremely fast and swim towards Chen Qing's boat from all directions.

Chen Qing saw the water ghost entering the water from a long distance away, and he immediately guessed that the other party was coming to deal with his big boat, and this was their only chance to turn the tables.

Chen Qing snorted, and shouted to Yang Zaixing: "Lao Yang, let me compare and see who has more prey!"

"What do you use?" Yang Zaixing didn't see Chen Qing holding a bow and arrow.