Chapter 64 water battle

When we got to the river embankment, we found that the situation had changed drastically.Just now, the water villages were connected in an orderly manner by the river, and some of them have been split into groups of warships.Led by the large and medium-sized main battleships of 400, 250 and 100, they sailed away from the river bank one after another with their sails set.And farther away, on the surface of the smoky river, bursts of smoke were rolling up, and there were rumbling explosions and faintly audible shouts of killing.Huang Zongxi had already arrived at the gate of Mucheng just now, but was stopped by Zhang Dai, so he never officially reported for duty, so he couldn't help being distracted right now.He didn't care to look any further, he didn't even care that Huang An was leading the horse and waiting by the side, Guan Zi took three steps in parallel and ran quickly towards the gate of the wooden city.

Rows of antlers were erected around the wooden city as usual, leaving only a narrow passage.When Huang Zongxi ran to the gate made of wooden fences out of breath, he found a group of soldiers in full armor and holding knives and guns standing there.Seeing someone coming, the soldiers showed vigilant expressions, raised their swords and guns and blocked him horizontally. "Who is it? What are you going to do?" A schoolboy asked, looking suspiciously at the uninvited guest in front of him. "I belong to the Yuyao army. I was ordered to watch the battle. Here are the documents!" Huang Zongxi breathlessly replied, took out the documents from his arms, and handed them over.

Who knows, the small school didn't answer the connection, just shook his head and said: "There is an order from above, after the war, without permission, no one will be allowed to enter or leave!" When Huang Zongxi heard this, he couldn't help becoming anxious, and said loudly: "Didn't you let me watch the battle? Why are you not allowed to go in? How can you watch the battle if you don't go in?" The little principal said expressionlessly: "If the elder wants to come to watch the battle, he should have come earlier. He only came here at this moment. There is an order from above, so no wonder Xiaojun."

This makes sense.In addition, Huang Zongxi knew he was wrong, so he was rendered speechless for a while.At this moment, the sound of war drums and shouts of killing on the river became louder and louder.The raging sound indicated that the battle had entered a tense and intense moment.This made Huang Zongxi even more impatient, and could not help but secretly blame Zhang Dai for delaying himself for so long.Therefore, although he knew that Zhang Dai had also come behind him by the sound of hurried footsteps, he did not look back angrily. "Since that's the case," after a pause, Huang Zongxi had no choice but to ask again, "Then can you send someone to report to the superior, saying that the lower official is late due to other things, and ask him to let me in?"

The schoolboy shook his head: "They have all gone to the wooden city, and they can't be found right now." Seeing that the other party had no room for accommodation, Huang Zongxi couldn't help feeling discouraged.Just as he was about to turn around, he heard an angry shout suddenly: "Nonsense! I can't find anything?" Then, Zhang Dai squeezed forward.I saw that this young man who was always cheerful and easy-going raised his brows, his round eyes shone with a frightening light, his small face turned deep purple, and the two mustaches on his lips also curled up.

"What can't be found?" He yelled again, "Tell you idiots! This master was sent by Lord Jian Guo to watch the battle! Lord Jian Guo, do you know? Even Zhang Ge sees me and I want to give you a gift." Three points! How dare you not let me in? If you don't let me in, I'll cut off your dog's head!" After finishing speaking, he turned his head and said to Huang Zongxi: "Let's go!" Then he walked straight towards those shining knives and guns. The soldiers didn't expect this official to lose his temper so violently, and they heard that it was an imperial envoy sent by the Lord Jian, so they were frightened for a while. Seeing that Zhang Dai's body was coming directly, they had to hurry Take back the sword and gun, obediently get out of the way, and let them enter the wooden city.

Huang Zongxi breathed a sigh of relief.In a hurry, he didn't have time to say anything to Zhang Dai, so he hurried along the wooden ladder to the top of the wall. On the top of the wall of the wooden city, people were already densely packed.Among them were Zhang Guowei and his staff, as well as representatives from various rebel forces watching the battle.They all turned their faces towards the river that was screaming for murder, watching the battle intently.Although Zhang Dai was showing his prestige in front of the soldiers guarding the door just now, he must be a little guilty of being late.Huang Zongxi is even more so.Therefore, the two of them dared not make any further announcements, and quickly found a space by the parapet wall and settled down.

It was only then that Huang Zongxi could fully see the battle scene on the river. It turned out that the scale of this water battle was really not small. Looking farther into the distance, one could see warships of various sizes scattered in groups of east and west along the river for ten or twenty miles from south to north.At first glance, they seem to be crowded together inexplicably, but if you look closely, you can find that they are actually engaged in a fierce struggle.Because countless flying arrows with flaming arrows are flying between the ships like a meteor shower, some ships are already on fire, and billows of black smoke are coming out from between the canopy and the sails.As for the other ships, they were obviously colliding violently with each other, so that the entire hull, including the sails, were violently shaking from side to side.And when the officers and soldiers on board shouted like thunder, shot arrows with fire and non-fire even more vigorously, and waved the sickle hooks, hooks, and knives in their hands more frantically, the sun burst out from time to time. dazzling light...

Because the mind of being blocked at the Yuanmen has not yet calmed down, for a while, Huang Zongxi just looked at it blankly, only feeling that the wind on the wooden city was very strong, and the banners nearby were whistling.On the other hand, there is chaos on the surface of the river. I don't understand how the battle started, and I don't understand how it is progressing now.Is the situation in front of us beneficial to the enemy, or to our own side?He didn't even know which ship was the enemy and which ship was his own.So, he tried his best to restrain his mind and try to identify the flag on the ship.Gradually, he began to understand: Among the tangled battle groups, some of his ships were besieging the Qing army, and some of his ships were being besieged by the enemy.However, since the two sides are in a stalemate, and the scene is quite chaotic, it is still impossible to tell the obvious winner.During the half-day of standing on the side of the female wall, Huang Zongxi only saw a Qing army ship sinking rapidly while being burned, and the Qing soldiers on the ship stopped fighting and jumped into the water one after another to flee for their lives.But before they were allowed to swim far, they were hacked and stabbed with Ming sabers who rushed over by a fast boat, killing all of them...

"Ah, hit! Hit again!" After a dull bang, among the people standing by the parapet watching the battle, several excited voices suddenly shouted. Huang Zongxi hurriedly searched for it.Sure enough, on the river not far from the front, a large warship flying the flag of the Qing army trembled violently as if it had been bitten severely.Then, the huge sail that had been hoisted arrogantly, together with the broken mast, slowly hung upside down.Then the whole ship lost control and lay sideways in the water, unable to move anymore.At the same time, the Qing soldiers on the ship became like ants on a hot pot, in a mess...

"Hurry up and beat it! Hurry up and beat its mother hard!" The previous voices sounded again. "Yes, rush up!" "Kill them! This is an opportunity!" "Don't let them escape!" More voices echoed. Naturally, the warships of the Ming army in the great river might not have heard this call, but they did turn the sails skillfully immediately and rushed over with the force of the wind.They were obviously very experienced, and they did not rush forward immediately, but surrounded them from a distance, those who shot arrows, those who threw fire bricks and smoke balls, and those who threw fire bricks and smoke balls. The boat stirred up poisonous smoke, and the fire broke out in all directions.As a result, soon, the Qing soldiers on board who had completely lost their ability to resist ended up in the same fate as those companions in front... "Well, it seems that Wang Zhiren's navy is really capable. Compared with the battle that we took the lead last August, they are much cleaner!" Looking at the navy's soldiers from afar, they were like chopping melons and vegetables. Huang Zongxi felt relieved and excited about encircling and annihilating the enemy.To be honest, just now he blamed the various drawbacks of King Lu's regime in front of Zhang Dai, although these are the painful theories he came up with after repeated thinking these days.But in fact, he also knows that in the face of the enemy and Tucun has become the overwhelming target, it is impossible to implement all those reforms at once.But at the very least, King Lu's regime should not be satisfied with favoring a corner of the east of Zhejiang, let alone favor and indulge Fang Guoan and Wang Zhiren, warriors who support their own self-respect and have their own interests, so that the local militias are in a predicament of running out of food and wages.Originally, relying solely on the two prefectures in eastern Zhejiang, it was undoubtedly difficult to feed an army of 100,000 people, but as long as they made up their minds to fight out and expand their territory to the north of the Qiantang River, and even wider areas, it would be much easier to raise food and salaries.However, it has been nearly a year since the King of Lu regime was established. Fang Guoan and Wang Zhiren, the regular troops who usually boast about their bullshit, always aim their attacks at the heavily guarded city of Hangzhou, and they don't even consider starting from Haining, Haiyan, etc. These areas where the Qing army's defenses were weak were obviously intended to preserve their strength, and they did not intend to really make a difference at all.Under such circumstances, Lu Wang and Zhang Guowei still pinned their hopes on them, which really made Huang Zongxi feel that he could not understand.Just now, he was anxious to come in to watch the battle because of his mission; as for the battle itself, it can be said that he didn't have much enthusiasm and interest.However, the facts in front of him were beyond his surprise, because it seemed that Wang Zhiren's navy was not only well-trained, but also quite effective. "Well, when it comes to Li Zhi's matter, it goes without saying that Wang Zhiren always vents his anger with Fang Guoan. However, he is quite upright in his mind and is not as vicious as Fang's. So..." He stared at Xiang with agitation. The enemy's Ming warships are making the final charge, thinking mechanically and uneasily. "Ah, the boat is coming again! The boat is coming again! There are so many boats!" Zhang Dai who was standing beside him suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Huang Zongxi was stunned for a moment, followed his directions, and found that in the upstream direction, at some point, there appeared a large group of warships, fifty or sixty at least, sailing forward with great power. come along.It's just that the distance is still far away, but it's hard to tell whether it's the enemy or one of our own for a while. However, the people standing on the wooden city watching the battle have already discussed nervously: "Come from upstream—could it be Fang Jingguo's ship?" "I don't see it! Qitiaosha's line is also very tight. How can Fang Jingguo allocate troops to take care of the downstream!" "I heard that Zhang Cunren has been demolishing houses on the outskirts of Hangzhou, collecting wood, and saying that he wants to build warships. There is a lot of trouble, and people's resentment is boiling. Could it be that these boats were built?" "That's right, I've heard about it too. If so, then it seems that this is the main force of the Tartars! But it's only at this time that they are dispatched. Hey, I'm afraid that those who come are not good, and those who are good will not come!" "Don't panic, let's find out whose ship it is..." Listening to these discussions, Huang Zongxi couldn't help feeling tense again.He stared intently at the warships rushing towards him like dark clouds, and at the same time, he heard a sudden noise on the river.He glanced around, and found that the warships that had been wrestling together and fighting hard, for some reason, interrupted the fierce fighting and dispersed one after another.The warships of the Qing army, whether they were besieging the Ming army or being besieged by the Ming army's warships, all withdrew from the battle group one after another and moved closer to the new batch of warships.And between this one and one minute, the new batch of warships had rushed into the battlefield, and then, countless sharp arrows were like flying locusts, pouring towards the warships of the Ming army, among them, rumbling The gunfire, the billowing poisonous smoke... "Ah, it really is a Tartar warship!" Huang Zongxi thought in surprise.Now, it can be seen more clearly: not only are the flags of the Qing army flying clearly on the masts of those ships, but also the hulls of each ship are painted with shiny tung oil and colored paint, which are obviously new ships that have just launched. battleship. "Well, can we, can we beat them?" Zhang Dai's worried voice sounded from the side. Huang Zongxi didn't say anything.To be honest, although he was very dissatisfied with the status quo of King Lu's regime and was rather pessimistic about the overall situation of the war, he was not willing to allow the situation to collapse like this.He watched intently the new battle that was unfolding rapidly, and saw that under the fierce attack of the enemy's new force, the sailors of the Ming army seemed to be in a hurry and were at a loss to fight. sweat. "Hey, you must hold on! You must hold on no matter what! Don't collapse! You must not collapse!" He shouted loudly in his heart, and at the same time he heard the surrounding spectators screaming and screaming. However, it didn't work.It seems that this fresh force of the Qing army, composed of all new warships, is indeed powerful.During the brief stalemate, the warships of the Ming army could not get close to the opponent at all, let alone stop the opponent's attack.On the contrary, the arrows continued to catch fire, or were hit and sunk by the opponent.Fortunately, the ships of the Ming army were not gathered together, but scattered and shot at the enemy with bows and arrows, so they were not implicated by the fire, and only one or two small boats were sunk.But despite this, the strength and weakness have become obvious.After a stalemate for a while, the warships of the Ming army finally couldn't resist the enemy, turned around and fled downstream... "Oops! They are new ships, but we are old ships, how can we outrun them!" Zhang Dai exclaimed again in surprise.However, Huang Zongxi was in no mood to speak up.He only felt that something in his heart was suddenly broken, and his whole body suddenly became limp and weak.He closed his eyes in despair and pain, turned around, and squatted down on the edge of the parapet.However, perhaps because the fiasco on the river was so heart-wrenching, the vast majority of people in Mucheng, including Zhang Dai, were still strongly attracted, so that no one noticed Huang Zongxi's actions, so no one came to ask him. . After a long time like this, Zhang Dai suddenly called out "Tai Chong! Tai Chong", and then bent over to approach him, and asked in surprise, "Hey, Tai Chong, what's wrong with you?" Seeing Huang Zongxi shaking his head, he became excited He hurriedly urged: "Hey, get up, get up quickly! What a show! There's a good show to watch!" At first Huang Zongxi was still immersed in desperate thoughts, quite tired of his friends yelling.However, his heart suddenly moved: "What? Is there a good show to watch?" So he hurriedly stood up, opened his eyes wide and looked at the river, suddenly, he was startled by the unexpected miracle in front of him, and couldn't help being stunned. up. It turned out that in this short period of time, a large number of warships appeared on the river—the warships of the Ming army at a glance.As if they had fallen from the sky, they appeared behind the new batch of warships of the Qing army.And the warships of the Ming army that had retreated downstream seemed to turn around, intercept the warships of the Qing army again, and start fighting.Judging from the latest batch of Ming warships, the sides of these ships are obviously covered with thick cowhide, which looks like big bags.Huang Zongxi knew that this kind of equipment could effectively resist the attack of firearms, but it also prevented him from firing firearms.In fact, it seemed that these warships were not planning to attack with firearms. One by one, they were fully sailed, and they were rushing towards the enemy ships under the strong southeast wind.And those enemy ships were originally chasing and defeating the retreating warships of the Ming army. At this moment, they probably did not expect that the defeated generals would turn around and fight again. They had already stopped and seemed a little at a loss.Taking advantage of this moment of hesitation, the batch of Ming army warships covered in cowhide that followed from behind rushed over like thunder and lightning, and they were approaching the enemy ship in a blink of an eye! The next battle was indeed straightforward.I saw that the new force warships of the Ming army began to rampage among the enemy ships by virtue of their huge hulls and strong wind.They are all protected by cowhide, and the enemy's firearms cannot attack them at all.Instead, they rammed and sank enemy ships one after another.For a while, the river was full of overturned hulls, scattered sails, and Qing soldiers who fell into the water... Seeing this situation, the people watching the battle couldn't help cheering enthusiastically.Huang Zongxi breathed a sigh of relief, and vaguely felt that a new mood and thoughts were growing between his chest and diaphragm.He turned back to look at Zhang Dai, and found that his old friend was also turning to look at him, with teasing in his eyes.This meant that Huang Zongxi remembered the gaffe just now, so he couldn't help but blush. "Hmph, the Tatars think that new boats are reliable, but in fact, new boats are the easiest to fall apart and enter the water without being soaked in the river. It's no match for old boats that are forbidden to collide!" Amid embarrassment, such a sentence came from the side. This reminded him, so he quickly took over the conversation, and asked in a flirtatious manner: "Hey, brother Zongzi, do you think that new boats are not more collision-proof than old ones?"