Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Star Han Brilliant

That boat was under Qian Wenyi's command, and I also saw Qian Wenyi appearing on another boat, yelling something angrily. Now how to do?The boat was a little more stable at this time, but it entered the water much deeper, it must have been flooded in the cabin, and the boat was sinking.The boat was made of wood, so it would not have sunk, but with more than a hundred people on it, plus this weight, I am afraid that this dilapidated boat will not be able to bear its strength. I was waiting for the ship next to me to come over to meet me, when suddenly Zhen Yining came behind me and said, "Control, General Ren Ji, please fight."

Ren Ji's 60 thunderbolt crossbowmen were right next to me. Just now when the snake men attacked, they were all in the water. Ren Ji's thunderbolt crossbows were extremely powerful, but they couldn't catch them. When they shot at the snake men in the river, Their thunder crossbows are of no use at all.However, because of the small number of people on his ship, some more can be allocated.I nodded and said: "Quarantine, order Xing Tiefeng and Yang Yi to cover him from approaching." Zhen Yining said: "Decree." He waved the black and white flags for a while, and the two teams of Xing Tiefeng and Yang Yi made way for the wrecked boat with Ren Ji's boat in between.

The bottom of the ship was probably cut through, and at this time almost all the snake people gathered there, constantly rushing out of the cabin.A hundred or so soldiers on the ship were guarding the hatch, but the snake men faced each other, and the imperial army was far from being an opponent. Fortunately, the hatch was so small that the snake men could not swarm out, they could only rush out one by one. Cope with it, but even if more than 20 soldiers faced the one or two snake men in the hatch, the soldiers were still retreating steadily.Although a few snakemen were beheaded, five or six soldiers had already died in battle.

As soon as Ren Ji's boat approached the ship, several gangplanks protruded from his boat and put them on the broken boat. Ren Ji shouted from the bow of the boat: "Brothers in the Qianfeng Battalion, don't love to fight, come back immediately." The several gangplanks formed a five-six-foot wide avenue, and a team officer on the boat shouted loudly: "Everyone, don't mess up, let the wounded retreat first, and the rest follow me to block these monsters!" Looking over from my boat, this man can't see his face clearly.I looked to the south, Tao Changshi and Liu Shixian were getting together, and the formation was about to be completed.I said: "Zhen Yining, ask the Qianfeng Battalion to prepare. Once these soldiers are brought back, immediately order the Qianfeng Battalion to retreat five feet, and set up a square formation centered on this broken ship."

Zhen Yining agreed: "Yes!" He stretched out his hand and waved the flag a few times.At this time, I saw that the soldiers on the broken ship had already retreated halfway, and Ren Ji's ship scattered to the other ships. There are more and more snakemen on the ship and the number of soldiers of the imperial army is almost equal, and they are even more unable to resist.When he rushed to the edge of the springboard, a snake man suddenly rushed up and slashed at the team officer's leg with a knife. He screamed and fell to the ground. Following his cry, the remaining soldiers lost their fighting spirit, and they rushed to the springboard one after another.I felt a chill in my heart, and I knew something was wrong.At this time, the snake people have already arrived on the deck of the ship. If they capture Ren Ji's ship and use this as a basis to attack the surroundings, it will be like a wildfire, and there is no room for recovery.I shouted: "Immediately order the Qianfeng Battalion to support Ren Ji, and the snake man must not be allowed to rush onto Ren Ji's boat!"

The distance between me and Ren Ji's boat was only five or six zhang, and almost all the soldiers alive on the boat had dispersed.The snake man's attack power was really terrifying, almost one-third of the more than one hundred soldiers in the ship had died in battle, the rest had fled, and there were five or six left behind.When the last one stepped on the diving board, his foot slipped suddenly, and he fell to the ground. The two snake men rushed forward at the same time, their swords fell together, and the soldier was chopped into several pieces without even making a sound. But at this time, the living soldiers had escaped from the wreck.Almost half of the thousand or so snake people in the river boarded the wrecked boat, and the rest of the snake people were also swimming towards here.They must also use this gap to break through our formation.I shouted: "Quick, let our boats also step forward to assist!"

As soon as I finished speaking, the snake man rushed onto the springboard quickly, and the rest of the snake men held down those springboards tightly, preventing Ren Ji from taking them off.They have also learned how to behave. In case we shoot arrows, every snakeman grabs a wooden plank cut from the ship to defend itself.At this moment, there was a sound of strings from Ren Ji's boat, and the two snake men rushing to the front screamed again and again. Dozens of arrows passed through their chests, and their upturned bodies were almost torn to pieces. .The row of arrows didn't run out of momentum, they passed behind the snake men who rushed to the front, and still shot backwards.The snake men behind were gathering together, they were also afraid of us shooting arrows, so they surrounded the boards tightly, but the thunder crossbow was too powerful, under the arrows of the crossbow, these boards were pierced as if there was nothing there.They were so close together that each of those arrows nearly killed a snake man.

Just this row of arrows has already knocked the snake man dizzy.Some of the arrows missed and even flew over the ships towards Tao Changshi and Liu Shixian's fleet. It is not known whether they accidentally injured anyone.Now that the square array is almost completed, if he releases the thunder crossbow again, he will hurt himself instead.I said: "Zhen Yining, tell Ren Ji to step back quickly and stop shooting arrows." The power of the thunder crossbow is too great.I knew before that this weapon must be very useful, and when used in actual combat, its power is beyond imagination.

At this time, someone on Ren Ji's boat waved the flag twice, and Zhen Yining suddenly said, "Control, General Ren wants me to ask you, do you still want this boat?" There was also some luggage on the ship, but not too much.Can Ren Ji destroy the ship in one fell swoop?I said: "Tell him, if it doesn't hurt the other ships, then he will use whatever he has, otherwise, he will retreat quickly." After Zhen Yining waved twice, he said, "General Ren said he would retreat immediately." Ren Ji's boat was retreating, and they would still have the time to pull back those few gangplanks.I couldn't help being horrified, and I didn't know whether Ren Ji was talking big words or really had a way to destroy the ship, but he didn't use it because he was afraid of hurting other warships.

At this time, the circle array has been formed, those snake men wanted to use this boat to attack the other ships, but they couldn't kill themselves, they gathered on this boat and were surrounded by us instead.The ship is still sinking slowly, and a group of densely packed snakeheads are still protruding from the surrounding water. I don't know what they are thinking. Probably at this time, they also tasted what we tasted in Gaojiu City. taste of despair. It's my first time commanding a battle, and it seems that I have won a complete victory. Zhen Yining said: "Control, now beware of the snake man putting all his eggs in one basket and attacking in all directions."

I nodded and said: "Yes. Let the troops be careful, slowly shrink the encirclement, and attack with arrows once they are within the range of bows and arrows, so as not to let them attack the ship." The snake people died in this battle far more than us.They are in the water and can't shoot arrows. We are almost pressing them to shoot.As long as we don't let them gouge the ship, we're invincible. By this time the deck of the wreck was level with the water.A snake man suddenly swam up to the top cabin of the broken ship and yelled loudly. "God Fuxi!" It's called the imperial language, and the words are correct. If I close my eyes, I'm afraid I won't believe it's the voice of a snake man.The previous snake-man mountain could speak fluent Imperial language, and this snake-man seems to speak as well as it does. With this cry, with the broken boat as the center, all the snake men suddenly plunged into the water and swam around, causing the river to churn.Each snakeman is as long as three people, and there are always seven or eight hundred snakemen left. It seems that there is no room for so many monsters on a river more than one mile wide.These snake people originally fought independently, but this time they combined into a monster with countless huge arms. The Snake Man is desperate.Without waiting for my order, the two ships facing them fired arrows at the same time.There was no need to aim when the arrows rained down, but those snake men didn't realize it, and they still cut through the waves and moved forward courageously, their aura was almost invincible. Facing Xing Tiefeng's fleet, my ship was right behind.The snake man's attack is still aimed at me. I didn't get along well with Xing Tiefeng in the vanguard camp before, but this time I want him to resist the first round of attack for me.I couldn't help but smiled wryly, and said: "Shrink the formation and completely defeat the snake man!" The Fangyuan Formation is good for defense and bad for offense, but the Snake Man's relentless attack, although powerful, is also difficult to defend.If this round of attack can't shake our defense, then the Snakeman has nothing else to do. With a sound of "boom", Xing Tiefeng's ship suddenly turned to one side, and the surrounding soldiers also exclaimed.This round of attack by the Snake Man should not be underestimated. His ship's bow bore the brunt and was gouged by one blow.But this time he was surrounded by boats guarding him. His boat was damaged, and the other two boats immediately came over and held his boat back, while the rest of the boats were still approaching. It will be even more difficult. When the three ships were injured and retreated, finally, the circle formation had been closed, enclosing the remaining snakemen in a small place with a radius of only twenty feet.Now there are arrows pointing at all around here, as long as the snake people come out, five or six arrows will be shot down at the same time, those snake people are rushing here and there, how can they rush out?As they were shot one by one, one after another, it has become our encirclement and suppression of snake people.All of a sudden, there were corpses of snake people floating everywhere on the middle of the river, and sometimes even the corpses of snake people floated up like a burst of arrows, and there were at least seven or eight arrows on each of the corpses of snake people. Arrowed. If we use it this way, our arrows will probably run out before reaching Dongping City.But at this time, all the armies no longer ignored my previous order to save arrows, and just shot desperately.On the surface of the river, there were only splashes, and the river water had turned dark red. Now the siege has come to an end.None of these thousand snakemen could escape, and the densely packed corpses of snakemen on the river surface.I went down to the top cabin and arrived at the bow. Cao Wendao was still instructing his soldiers to look for the Snakeman that came out of the water, but it was difficult to find a living Snakeman now, and the corpses of those Snakeman almost filled the river. I said: "General Cao, that's enough, let the army stop for a while." At this time, it was almost dark, and twilight shrouded the river, but everyone in the imperial army was extremely excited, especially the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion.Although we also had casualties this time, compared to the casualties of the snake people, it is really not worth mentioning.Killing more than a thousand snakemen is not a small victory, but the boost to morale of this victory is also immeasurable, and I can't help but have a desire to cheer. Hearing my voice, Cao Wendao turned his head, said suddenly involuntarily, and hugged me, and several soldiers beside him also came to grab me and lifted me up.I was thrown into the air by them, and I could only hear their cheers, as if I couldn't express my ecstasy otherwise.All of a sudden, all the ships cheered. However, except for my name on this ship, the other ships shouted "Long live the Empire" and the like. At this time, Zhen Yining ran over and said, "Quickly put down the control, several generals are here." Cao Wendao and the others put me down when Tao Changshi and Liu Shixian walked towards me first, followed by Qian Wenyi, Yang Yi and Xing Tiefeng.When they came to me, they suddenly knelt down together and said: "General Chu, this battle has been won, and the control has already made its first contribution." I also knelt down hastily, and said: "Everyone, please stand up. If there is no unity between the generals, how can we win so easily." Qian Wenyi smiled and said: "General Chu, our army suffered less than a hundred casualties in this battle, but killed thousands of snakes. General Chu has already become a famous general just because of this battle." I couldn't help but smiled wryly.These snake people are no more than a thousand at most, Qian Wenyi said a few thousand more, don't blow the cowhide too much, it will make people think that the snake people are vulnerable and have a heart of underestimating the enemy.I said: "General Ren Ji made great contributions in this battle, and the first contribution should be given to him." I'm not really humble. When the Snakeman broke through the warship under Qian Wenyi's command, I was already in disarray. If Ren Ji's thunderbolt crossbow hadn't stabilized the army's morale, I'm afraid it would be the Snakeman celebrating the victory now. As soon as I mentioned Ren Ji, Xing Tiefeng turned his head and said, "That's right, where did Ren Ji go?" He has always been indifferent to me, and it must make him very unhappy to have him as my subordinate this time, but this time even he has a smile on his face. Yang Yi also turned his head away, and suddenly said: "They are fishing for arrows." My heart brightened, and I said, "Yes, it's better for General Ren to be scheming, get back the arrows quickly, and get as much as you can." Most of these arrows are still floating on the river. This time, the encirclement and annihilation of the Snake Man mainly relied on the power of bows and arrows.Our 60,000 arrows have gone through this battle, and I'm afraid more than half of them have been consumed, so it's really time to get them back.Qian Wenyi said: "Yes, yes, go quickly, whoever earns the most will get first." The arrows of the thunder crossbow are not specially made, they are ordinary arrows.In the past, cleaning the battlefield after fighting on the flat ground would always bring back the arrows, but this time fighting on the river was another victory that had never been achieved against the Snakeman, and no one wanted to take back the arrows. Tao Changshi and they bowed to me and went back one after another.I said to Cao Wendao: "Let's go, let's go too." Zhen Yining said from the side: "Control, the three ships were damaged, and the wounded were treated. Don't we do these aftermath?" I waved my hand and said, "Zhen Yining, didn't you join the army? You are responsible for these matters." What else did he want to say, Cao Wendao and I have already set off the boat.Although Zhen Yining is young, after this battle, I know that he is really capable and has a lot to do. I won this battle, and I don't want to face the loss of my side to break my rare vigor. The river was already full of corpses of snake men, and the arrows that missed were also floating all over the river.Cao Wendao and I took the same boat, let a soldier handle the oars, and we pulled the arrows from the snake man's corpse from time to time. After collecting for a while, there were not many arrows on the river, Cao Wendao looked at the broken boat and said, "Controller, let's go to the boat and take back the brothers who died in battle." Of the more than 100 people on that ship, more than 30 were killed in battle, and their bodies were lying on the deck in disorder.The deck was already level with the water surface, almost none of those bodies were intact and soaked in the river water, and the deck was also dripping with blood.I nodded and said, "Okay, but the boat is too damaged, let ten people go up to recover the bodies of the brothers who died in battle." The soldiers on this ship are all remnants of the Southern Expedition, and I still recognize one from the Fifth Battalion of the Frontier, and I also took it with me.They had long been prepared to die on the battlefield, but perhaps no one thought that they would still die at the hands of the snake man after going through untold hardships and fleeing back to the imperial capital in just a few days. Cao Wendao directed the soldiers to collect the corpses of the war dead, and we couldn't find his arm in one corpse.That person was probably known by Cao Wendao. He turned around on the deck cursing and looking around, and the blood was kicked up under his feet.I looked around and saw that the thirty-odd corpses had been emptied, and all the luggage that could be used in the cabin had been removed, so I said, "General Cao, let's go back, if we can't find it, we can just forget it." Cao Wendao said: "Damn it, these monsters must have eaten them. These things..." His eyes were bloodshot, almost dripping blood, and suddenly he walked up to a snake man, drew his knife and chopped at a snake man's corpse go.With just two or three cuts, he chopped off a large piece of snake man's corpse, and he cut one and stuffed it into his mouth to chew, while cursing vaguely: "Don't think you cannibals, I have eaten you too! " I also ate the meat of the snake man, but it was boiled, how can I eat it raw like Cao Wendao?This piece of snake meat is bloodshot in white and has scales on the outside, which also looks disgusting.I shivered and couldn't speak, but I heard the sound of knives and chopping, and other soldiers on the deck also followed Cao Wendao's example, cutting off the meat from the snake man's body to eat raw. As if it was contagious, almost all the people in the Qianfeng Battalion began to cut up snake-human flesh to eat, and everyone on the boat was stunned. As if frightened. Those of us who have experienced the defeat of the Southern Expedition, in the eyes of others, are almost strangers.I couldn't help but secretly smiled wryly, but didn't dare to say more.They have been holding back the anger in their hearts for too long, and it is really time to vent it.But what about the anger in my heart?It seems that I have never been so desperate. Maybe, I'm already a person who thinks too much. I raised my head and shouted: "Send down the order, all the officers in the vanguard battalion will follow me ashore and bury these soldiers." Cao Wendao said: "Yes. Somebody, bring me a bowl." I don't know what Cao Wendao wanted the bowl for. At this time, a soldier had already fetched a bowl from the boat. Cao Wendao took the bowl and walked up to a snake man who was still moving slightly, and stabbed it under the head with a knife. He cut a big mouth, and some blood flowed out of the mouth, he cut a few more, accumulated more than half of the bowl, handed it to a soldier, and said: "Commander, there is no wine in the army, so use the blood of the snake man as a sacrifice." Sacrifice these brothers who died in battle." I looked at him a little dazedly.I remember that when we knew that snake people cannibalize people, we were a little scared, and when snake people saw us eating them, would they also feel scared?If so, there is no essential difference between us and the snake people. After transporting more than 30 corpses to the shore, all the officers above the centurion from the Qianfeng Battalion came. Tao Changshi, Liu Shixian and Ren Ji also went ashore and stood behind me.I picked a dry highland, dug more than 30 holes with others, and buried the dead. Cao Wendao handed over the bowl of snake man's blood. The blood was blown by the wind and a little congealed.Snake blood is different from human blood in that it has no heat, but it looks the same, and it will dry out and congeal after a long time.I took the blood, only to smell a bloody smell coming out of my nostrils.Cao Wendao and a few soldiers lit a fire in front of these graves, threw the corpses of several snake men into it and burned them until they were scorched.I was holding the bowl of blood, and the bonfire in front of me spewed sparks in front of me from time to time. Suddenly, my heart ached and I poured blood into the fire. The fire made a "hissing" sound, as if it was being poured with oil, and the tongue of flame sprayed several feet high.I hissed: "The soul is back, and I will keep my relatives forever!" Shouting these eight characters, I threw the bowl aside, my knees softened, and I knelt down in front of the grave.As I knelt down, behind me there was a "plop plop", people knelt down one after another, and they all shouted loudly: "The soul is back, and I will keep my relatives forever!" I don't know why I didn't say "Yizhan Jiabang" or "Yizhan Mountains and Rivers" at this moment, but I shouted the words in the third paragraph that are not valued by others.However, I seem to understand all of a sudden that these soldiers who regard death as home, they risk their lives to fight, are not actually for the empty family state or mountains and rivers, what they think in their hearts is just to protect their parents and relatives. It was already dark, and the tongue of fire kept spewing sparks into the sky. In the sky, the half-circle moon had risen to the middle of the sky, as if covering everything with a thin layer of ice. Rolling through the woods, there came bursts of boundless roars, as if responding to our bursts of whistling screams, and then went away. The snake man's attack delayed the fleet's journey for half a day.It was almost dawn when we repaired the wounded ship and set off again. Standing at the bow of the boat, eating dry food and looking at the semicircular bright moon in the sky, I felt that I was exhausted again.Commanding the armies to fight, although I have never charged into battle, it seems to be more exhausting than fighting by myself.The snake man's attack is unavoidably worrying.Our current position is in the lower reaches of this river, there are still more than 600 miles away from the big river, and we can reach Dongping City in roughly two days and one night.However, I really can't figure out why the snake people launched an ambush in this place, and when they discussed with the generals after the battle, they couldn't explain why. From the point of view of military tactics, the water surface of this place is open, so it is not a place to launch a sneak attack. Our fleet can advance and retreat, and we can calmly deploy the formation, while the snakemen attack from the water surface, without the advantage of the terrain. From the very beginning, the Snake Man was already on the losing side.It is said that they are still some strangers and do not understand the art of war, but they are really very clever in using troops to attack our fleet.I can't figure it out, the leader who commands the snake man sometimes looks brilliant, and sometimes he looks stupid.It was the same when defending the Gaojiu City. The snake people attacked the city recklessly at first, even if they attacked the enemy's strengths with their own weaknesses, but later they became strict in law and took turns attacking the city, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner. . I asked Cao Wendao to pay attention to his surroundings and not to be careless. I couldn't support myself anymore, so I went back to the cockpit to rest for a while.Unexpectedly, as soon as my head touched the pillow, I heard a commotion outside.I rubbed my eyes and walked out of the cockpit, only to see many soldiers looking at something at the bow.I walked over and said, "What happened?" Zhen Yining was also huddled among the soldiers. He heard my voice, turned his head and said, "Guan Zhi, look, someone is building an embankment over there." There used to be some residents on both sides of the strait, but now that there is a military turmoil, all these residents have moved to the north, leaving only pieces of wasteland. How could anyone come to build embankments?The biggest possibility is that the snake man did it.Hearing this, my tiredness was swept away, and I walked to the side of the boat to look. These two embankments made of stones and soil extend from the bank to the center of the river. They are very roughly built. Both sides are only more than ten feet long.I said, "What's the use of this?" Zhen Yining looked at the two dykes, and suddenly said: "The soil is very new, I'm afraid it was newly built. Commander, are those snakes man-made? Do they want to use this to fight?" I was confused and didn't know how to answer.Most of the river is more than one mile wide, but this section is particularly narrow, only about one hundred feet.Maybe, the snake man wants to build two river embankments here, and then set up a stronghold on these embankments to intercept us?Indeed, if they make the embankment longer and leave only twenty feet of space between them, we won't be able to set up formations on the water, and at most we can only have two ships abreast.In this way, the snake people can take advantage of the terrain, and a thousand of them can really block our 30,000 army.No wonder, when the snake men ambushed us, I found that their tools were very difficult. There was no chisel or anything, and all they held were knives and guns. It must be so.I just felt a chill in my heart, and my face turned a little pale.This victory was really a fluke, if it wasn't for Wang Changqing's advice to us to go first, the brigade would arrive a few days later, when the fortification of the Snake Man was completed, then we probably wouldn't even be able to reach Dongping City.And once the snake people built fortifications here, the luggage transported from the rear to the front line would definitely not be able to reach the city safely as it is now. What the hell are snake people? Zhen Yining probably saw that I was so uneasy, and whispered: "Commander, would the snake people really do that?" I nodded and said, "These monsters are very smart, and they seem to be getting stronger constantly. It's very possible. Well, maybe, they see us as monsters too." I remember that when I met that strange swordsman outside Fudun City, he once said very strangely, "It was really a mistake for the Emperor of Heaven to choose you as masters before" and so on.According to that statement, the Heavenly Emperor chose the snake man as the master now? I looked at the sky.The sky was fine, it was almost dawn, but there was a little light in the east, and there was still a night sky overhead.In this boundless sky, there are many stars. The starry sky thousands of years ago will be the same as it will be thousands of years later.Bright, dim, every star is crystal clear like tears, like the desire of children, the hope of parents. Even if God chooses the snake man, I will never give in.I gritted my teeth secretly, looked at the starry sky, and thought silently. Seeing me looking up at the sky, Zhen Yining probably thought there was something strange, so he also looked up at the sky.When I lowered my head, he suddenly said: "What a beautiful star." I smiled and said, "Is this the first time you see a star?" He was a little embarrassed and said: "I never paid attention to it before. Commander, tell me, what are our chances of winning this trip?" I thought about it, and although I was reluctant to admit it, I still said: "At most, it's only 30%." "Thirty percent?" His eyebrows also twitched, "Commander, you are too pessimistic, we have more than 3,000 people, we can kill the thousand snake people, and the snake people outside Dongping City are no more than 20,000 to 30,000 at most. However, we already have 70,000 troops approaching, even if we can't win as easily as now, there is always a 50% chance of winning." I sighed and said: "The thousand snake men here, I doubt they are here to ambush us at all. Our speed is more than twice as fast as that of the large group. I think they seem to be building fortifications on the river. They used fortifications to block us. I didn't expect us to come so fast. I'm afraid it was the thousand snake people who were ambushed. Have you ever noticed that when the snake people attacked us, they used all land weapons, as if There are no tools for shipwrecking." When we went to recover the arrows, we also brought back some of the snake man's weapons, but most of those weapons were just knives and guns, but there were some saws and axes.Zhen Yining turned around to look at the corpses of snake people floating in the river behind him, and sighed: "Snake people are really so powerful." "These monsters must not be underestimated." I whispered, as if speaking to Zhen Yining, and as if admonishing myself.Overhead, the starry sky is brilliant, and thousands of stars are shining on the dark sky.The sky before dawn is the darkest night, but the stars at this time appear brighter than usual. There is a legend in the empire that everyone has a corresponding star in the sky, but there are big and small ones.But no matter how small a star is, it will have its own light. Which one will my star be?The emperor calls himself the sun, but why can't I be the sun? As if I saw something weird all of a sudden, I was petrified by my own thought.I looked at the sky, the sea of ​​stars is vast, and the farther to the east it becomes thinner.The sun is about to come out, and those faint stars have been swallowed up by the sunlight from the horizon, and they can no longer be seen clearly. On the eastern sky, the morning light is faint, and the sun is faintly erupting, like a cloud The fire that burns everything will melt even the steel in an instant. Still be a star.I can't help but want to laugh.People who want to be the sun, of course, don't have only one emperor, but only one sun is enough. Although we were delayed for most of the night because of the snake man's ambush, the boat traveled very fast this time, and it seems that we can still arrive tomorrow night. Standing on the boat until dawn, I couldn't hold it any longer, so I went to take a nap.Today is March 13th, and we left the brigade in the early morning of the 11th. It seemed that we could reach Dongping City in four days.Although the waterway itself is a straight line and much closer than the land way, we are really proud of being able to achieve this speed. Walking out of the cockpit, I happened to see Zhen Yining also coming out of the steerage.He probably didn't rest well, and his face was pale.Sleeping among the soldiers, of course, you have to get used to it before you can sleep, otherwise the snoring is enough to make you sleepless all night.When he saw me, he saluted and said, "Commander, good." "Didn't sleep well? Otherwise, you'd better live in my cabin and let someone make another berth." He shook his head and said, "You have to get used to it, Commander, thank you, but I'll live below." His temper has a kind of stubbornness different from his appearance, I feel a little ashamed.Ever since I joined the army, I have been quite famous for my bravery, but I have always loved quietness. The most uncomfortable thing in the past was letting me live among the soldiers, so I would rather live outside alone after the Gaojiu City was captured.Compared with Zhen Yining, I, a commoner from a poor background, feel ashamed.I sneered and said with a smile: "Zhen Yining, is this what your father taught you? Your father is really amazing." He also smiled and said, "The commander-in-chief laughed." He didn't seem to want to bring up the topic of his father anymore, looked at the river and said, "General Chu, I don't know how the battle in Dongping City is going." After this confrontation with the Snakeman, I have not dared to slack off in the slightest. Before, I only sent four people and two boats to explore the way. This time I sent twelve people to explore the way, in groups of four.Last time, the two pathfinding boats that did not come back must have been killed by the snake people without anyone noticing. This time they are divided into three groups. Once the situation changes, we will know immediately.However, the snake man didn't seem to have placed a second layer of ambushes, and it has been very calm today. It was getting dark.Today's unusual calm seems to indicate that the next more intense battle, the army is a little restless.I don’t know who suggested that there was a ship that grilled meat on the bow, and the aroma was blown by the wind. Suddenly, many ships followed suit. Cao Wendao also came over and suggested to me that the soldiers should eat barbecue on the bow. In Dongping City, fresh meat can only be boiled into a big pot for everyone to share, so these soldiers should take this opportunity to enjoy it for the last time.To barbecue in the bow, the iron stove is moved to the deck, and the deck is covered with a layer of sand to prevent fire.I thought about it and agreed. The morale is booming now, and the soldiers cannot lose their vigor.Perhaps our vanguard of 3,000 men is of no practical use for the defense of Dongping City, but if we can win a battle outside Dongping City, it will be a big boost to the morale of the defenders in the city. It was getting dark, and there were balls of fire dancing on the bow of the ship. Where the wind passed, the smell of meat was overflowing, and the laughter of the soldiers was everywhere.After killing this group of ambushed snakemen, both the vanguard battalion and the wolf soldiers, their self-confidence was unprecedentedly high, and the wind was full of cheers from the soldiers, mixed with ditties in southern accents and northern accents, and I don't know what to sing. I watched everything around me from the side of the boat, Zhen Yining ran over, stuck a piece of roasted meat in his hand with a thin wooden stick, and said, "Guan Zhi, why don't you go? I'll give you this piece." He is still young after all.I can't help but smile a little.His age is probably only one year younger than Qi Lie, usually he is calm and stable, but now he is the same as people of the same age. I took the meat, but I couldn't help but feel a pain in my heart.When Qi Lie was my guard, he used to bring me a piece of barbecue like this, but it seemed like a long time ago. I took two bites of the barbecue, only to feel that my eyes were a little blurry.I turned around and wiped away the tears from my eyes while Zhen Yining was not paying attention. March 13th also passed safely.On the morning of the 14th, the weather was not very good, with dense clouds, and it looked like it was going to rain again.Although the rainy season is over now, it rains every five or six days. Since we set off on the evening of the 10th, we have always encountered sunny days, which is rare. What should you do if you are ambushed by a snake man in a rainy day?This coming spring rain made me a little more worried, but seeing that the morale of the soldiers was still high, I didn't want to be complacent, but I just asked Zhen Yining to send out a signal to remind the ships to be careful. Before the rain came, the wind was stronger, and the speed of the fleet was much faster.From this point of view, we will be able to reach Dongping City before dark. The sails of the fleet are fully stretched, and the oarsmen are also rowing with all their strength.Everyone knew that they were about to face the Snake Man head-on, and the wolf soldiers were fine, but the forward battalion, which had been very excited along the way, suddenly became much quieter.The Vanguard Battalion is composed of the remnants of the Southern Expedition Army. For them, they have to face this batch of monsters that once wiped out the entire Southern Expedition Army. They were not the only ones. Every time the boat sailed south, I became more and more frightened.This time I was ordered to reinforce Dongping City. Although I can be regarded as an army commander, I really don't have any confidence. It was past noon, the wind was stronger, and the sky was getting darker.The dozens of warships on the river were all fully sailed, and the ships almost seemed to be flying close to the water.I was looking ahead from the bow, when Cao Wendao came over and said, "Guanzhi, brothers are all ready." Maybe the defenders of Dongping are fighting bloody battles now, maybe we will go into battle as soon as we arrive in the city.I looked around, and now the soldiers who hadn't disembarked and oared were standing on the deck with their weapons and guns ready.I nodded and said: "Send the order, keep the speed, don't mess up the formation." Originally, we kept advancing in frontal formation. I also read in the half of "Victory Strategy" copied by Wu Wanling that "soldiers are impermanent, but they should not be invisible." When marching, even if you can't maintain a strict formation, you must There is a trend of formation, so that once attacked, they can set up the formation as quickly as possible, so as not to become chaotic.Now the speed of the ship is extremely fast, it must be impossible to maintain a strict formation of frontal arrows, but this formation must never disperse.After Xing Tiefeng's ship was destroyed by the snake man, he replaced it with a newly built warship.He is somewhat similar to Pu Anli. Although he has never been very obedient to me, he has been able to fight more and more courageously. That time when the snake man broke into the ship, he commanded his subordinates without any chaos, and the casualties were minimal. This is also his strength. . Back then, the Qianfeng Battalion was really a master of all refinements.If Xing Tiefeng obeyed orders like Cao Wendao, I am afraid that the current vanguard battalion may not be inferior to Lu Gongxing's vanguard battalion.Thinking of this, I can't help but want to smile a bit.Although the current striker battalion cannot be said to be a mob, it is after all pieced together from bits and pieces.These soldiers were all killed out of the heavy siege of the snake men. Naturally, everyone's personal combat effectiveness can be said to be outstanding, but the command is a big problem, especially the three commanders of the vanguard battalion are all centurions in the old vanguard battalion. But the soldiers were from other troops at first, like Cao Wendao, he was quite obedient to me, but if he was transferred to Xing Tiefeng's command, Xing Tiefeng might not be able to command well. 这支前锋营虽然首战立功，但要成为强兵，还有很长的路要走啊。 天越来越暗了。现在按理离天黑还有好些时间，可是因为天空中密布阴云，几乎已同黄昏来临。邢铁风的前军去势很猛，现在船队已经到了最高速度，船只之间速度的差别也体现出来了，新船大多在前面，而一些由老船改装而成的战舰却拖在后面，整个阵形也被拉长。 我回头对甄以宁道：“甄以宁，你发信号，让邢将军注意后面的船只，不要行得太快了。” 甄以宁答应一声，上高处去发信号。因为天色越来越暗，他也改用了灯语。看他把红黄二灯挥舞了几下后，忽然从最前面邢铁风座船上也发了一串灯语。 那串灯语打得很急，我没在高处也看到了。 难道又出现事情了？我心中一凛，三步并作两步，上了船顶。这时甄以宁正在四处张望，一见我上前，他叫道：“统制，邢将军说，据探路士兵报告，前面有厮杀声。” 我们离东平城大约不过百余里了，但如果是东平城的厮杀声，绝对不可能传到一百多里地以外。我心头一沉，道：“让他加紧防备。再让陶刘两位将军注意两翼，将阵势变成方圆阵，任吉将军的船调到我们前面去。” 如果按最坏的情形，东平城正于此时失陷，溃兵正在从水路逃来，那我们势必就要担挡起阻挡蛇人追击之责了。任吉的雷霆弩威力很大，但不利近战，一旦蛇人靠近，雷霆弩的威力便无从发挥，因此我把他们调到前面，由任吉担挡第一轮攻击，而后再借方圆阵利守之势，在近战中阻住蛇人。 甄以宁点了点头，又打了两下灯语。我走下船头，刚踏上甲板，曹闻道手持长枪走过来道：“统制，蛇人又要攻来了？” 我道：“还不清楚，小心吧。” 变为方圆阵后，船队速度减慢了。各船上都发出了一阵喧哗，他们也已知道情形有点异样了吧，不过倒没有惊慌。 河上，风已越来越大，此时渐已起雾，看样子一场暴雨就在眼前。虽然取得了一次胜利，但我仍是惴惴不安。蛇人的大举进攻，我也见到过，前一次胜利与其说我用兵有方，不如说是雷霆弩初发于硎，打了蛇人一个措手不及，那次胜利倒有八分靠的是运气。这一次，单凭三十具雷霆弩，能不能击破蛇人的攻势，实在是个未知数。而且我也听说过，雷霆弩因为设计精巧，一旦弓弦受水，威力便会大减，如果战事一起，雨偏偏在这时起来，恐怕雷霆弩就只成为摆设了。当初在高鹫城中，也是因为雨季，城中的弓箭威力大为减弱，往往十几箭命中，还是射不死一个蛇人。 船队虽然减速，但速度依然很快。又行了一程，此时已经可以隐隐听得前面的厮杀声了。 此时，我们恐怕已经接近了大江与这条河的交界口。东平城就在河的入江口上游约摸一百里的地方，按速度，我们再有四个时辰便能到达东平城。可是这阵厮杀声只怕就是从交界口传来的，难道，真的是最坏的预计发生了？ 曹闻道脸色也有点发白，小声道：“楚将军，会不会是……” 我斩钉截铁地道：“东平城有四万大军，要真是全军撤退，声音不会这么轻的。听这声音，最多不过万人，只怕是和小股蛇人发生的冲突。” 话是这么说，但我却对自己这番推论也不敢如何相信。蛇人的攻击力我们都是有切身体会的，当初拥兵十万的南征军，最后得以生还的只有现在前锋营的一千三百余人，那么东平城被破后，逃出一万人也已是奇迹了。 这时，从前面突然又传来了几下灯语，象是被针刺了一下，我几乎要跳起来，扭头道：“甄以宁！甄以宁！” 甄以宁不知什么时候已站到我身后，他看着灯语，面色凝重，低声道：“统领，邢将军已要接战了，他要我们让开路，让人退下。” “他说是什么人么？” 甄以宁面有难色，道：“统领，这个用灯语可说不了的。” 一共也只有二十几种符号，用灯语只怕也只能发布一些靠左靠右之类的意思吧。我道：“好吧，你马上发令，让所有人准备战斗。” 邢铁风的船已经减慢，后面的船只正不断靠拢，此时喊杀声越发响亮，直上云霄，邢铁风一定已开始接战了。我看看周围，这里正是河流的入江口，特别宽大，在这儿，倒是一个绝佳的水上战场。 没想到，还没到达东平城，我们便要碰到两场硬仗了。我心里也不知是什么滋味。 这时，从前方突然爆发出一阵呼喊，我被这阵声浪一惊，甄以宁在边上也一下变了脸色，道：“统领，这是怎么了？” 我看着前面。前面，便是大江了，江上雾气比河上还大，隔个四五十丈便已看不清。我道：“这声音并不惊慌，不是坏事。放宽心吧，反正生死都是百年的事，不过早晚而已，甄以宁，你怕么？” 甄以宁一咬牙道：“怕也要顶上。” 尽管心里很沉重，我不禁又有了些笑意。曹闻道在我问他这问题时，也说怕的，甄以宁倒也是说实话的，我第一次上战阵也没人问我怕不怕，我也从来没跟别人说过，但是直到今天，每次上阵，我心底总还有些恐惧，生怕这次不能生还。不过当战斗正酣时，这些事自然也不会多想了。甄以宁说的也是，现在就算怕也要顶上。现在已经不是为了自己的生死，而是为了我们的父老，为了千千万万的人在战斗了。 那阵呼喊声已渐渐轻下去，突然间，头顶一道闪电划过，象是一下将江雾也划破了一角，借着这光，我看见前面邢铁风的几艘船左右一分，空隙里露出两艘比我们的快船大一些的船。这两艘真可说残破不堪，能在水面上漂着也是奇迹了，看旗号，正是东平城的船。我心头猛地一沉，喝道：“快，全军上前接应。” 难道那就是东平城最后剩下的人马了？这两艘船虽然比我们的船大一些，但也恐怕每艘只坐得两百人，只剩两艘，难道邵风观守军和二太子的援军共四万人现在只剩这四百人？可是现在已由不得我多想了，首要之事，便是将这两艘船救出来。 这时，又是一个闷雷响过，雨倾盆而下。我们这三十几艘船的阵形已经布成了，下一步，便要看到底挡不挡得住蛇人的攻击。我正想让诸军攻击，曹闻道忽然叫道：“统制，你看！” 他指的是前面邢铁风的座船。邢铁风冲在最前面，他让过那两艘破船，自己的船已在这阵势的最前方，此时他的船上忽然发出了一阵大呼，整艘船也象搁浅了似地一动不动。 那自然不是搁浅，在他的船周围水面上，密密麻麻的都是蛇人的头。那些蛇人只有头冒出水面，手中也是些刀枪，正不断地向邢铁风船上攀来，看上去，这船就象一只爬满了黑黑虫子的长形水果。 这副景象与其说是恐怖，不如说是恶心。我沉声道：“冲上去，解救邢将军！” 邢铁风的船是在最前面的，蛇人猛攻这船，那是要给我们一个下马威啊。雨正下得大，船的两边胸墙上因为尚满了雨水，又是艘新船，很是光滑，蛇人爬得很是困难，但它们似乎根本不在乎，一个个以手中的刀枪拼命砍凿，又借力向上爬。邢铁风的船是艘新船，蛇人看来一时三刻也根本击不破船板，但是有几个蛇人已经爬上了甲板，正在甲板上和士兵死战，如果不能及时将它们打退，那么势必会有越来越多的蛇人爬上来，到时只怕这艘船便要被蛇人夺去了。 这和上次蛇人的战略如出一辙啊。它们都是首攻一点，单个击破，再借此为基础，向周围进攻。看着那些在邢铁风船帮上爬得到处都是的蛇人，我不由浑身发毛，但心中却也更增了一份信心。 看来，蛇人虽然会水，却并不惯水战，它们也是要和我们正面交手时才能占得上风的。我们已经胜过一仗了，这次的蛇人看上去虽多，但它们主攻邢铁风一船，总数只怕比上回还少，倒也不用如何害怕。只是蛇人已经紧贴在船上，任吉的雷霆弩措手不及，却没办法再用了。我回头道：“甄以宁，让任吉在外围等候，其余船只靠上去接应邢铁风，将他们船上的伤兵替下来，务必要将攻上来的蛇人全歼。” 甄以宁答应一声，又奔上了望台去发信号，曹闻道递给我一支长枪道：“统领，这回你还是上去指挥吧。” 我看了看天，天空里，雨正倾盆而下，我摇了摇头道：“不必了，现在天气这样，灯语别的船也未必看得清，我们不如接舷一点，给别的船做做表率。” 曹闻道怔了怔，又大笑道：“楚将军，你果然不负龙锋双将之名。好，我姓曹的就把性命托付给你。”他转头大声叫道：“前锋营的兄弟们，统制身先士卒，大伙儿也上吧，别给统制丢脸！” 他的声音嘶哑，但也很是响亮。随着他的喊声，周围突然爆发出一阵吼叫，象雷声一样，一波波地滚过去，此时只怕连狼军也在为我们叫好了。 天空中，又打了个焦雷，仿佛此时天公也来为我军助威。我只觉心头象有一团火燃起，忍不住仰起头大吼道：“冲啊！” 我们的船本来就距邢铁风的船不远，不过一转眼，已靠近了邢铁风的座船。两船相接，眼看便要相撞，我大吃一惊，只道这回弄巧成拙，反而会使两船互撞，但我们的船却突然间船头一侧，紧紧贴着邢铁风的船擦过，两船接近处，只怕不到一丈，现在我在船边都能看到爬在邢铁风船帮上那些蛇人的眼鼻了。 两船已近，几个人在向邢铁风的船铺设跳板，那些蛇人只怕也知道一旦我们两船相连，那它们在邢铁风船上这点优势便不存在了，忽然同时转过身，几个离跳板跳近的蛇人齐齐用力，“哗”一声，我们的跳板刚搭上对船，便被它们推落水中。曹闻道怒道：“他妈的，再铺！” 每艘船都有六七块跳板，邢铁风的船上只怕现在腾不出手来铺跳板，两船虽近，却也有一丈多远，根本跳不过去的。难道就眼睁睁地看着它们这般各个击破么？ 我心头一急，眼角瞟去，脚边正有一卷缆绳堆在船顶上。刚才降速前近，把几张副帆下了，这卷缆绳本是拴副帆的，此时却已松着。我一把捞起那卷缆绳，扭头叫道：“甄以宁，一旦我回不来，你传令，前锋营由钱文义将军负责。” 不等他回话，我将这卷缆绳套在臂上，枪交左手，人猛地向船边跳去。