Chapter 11 6. Zhou Yu's warship

Thirty miles in front of Puqi ferry is Huilong Bay, which is the confluence of Lingzhi River and Yangtze River.This time, Longwan is surrounded by green mountains on both sides of the strait, which is very hidden and hard to find.Deep in the belly of the bay, there are warships, fighting ships and walkers waiting in square formations. But on a huge five-story warship in the middle, the four-character battle flag of "Left General Liu" fluttering on the mast was hunting under the gusts of river wind, like a black leopard unwilling to lie dormant. General tumbling.The ship building of this warship is divided into four floors, each with its own use.Either as a watchtower, or as a meeting place, or as a residence for eating and drinking, or as a storehouse for arrows, it has complete functions and nothing is missing.And the most powerful combat weapon of this behemoth is the thirteen tall poles and sixteen crossbow archery towers. They are distributed on the four sides of the ship on the important positions, soaring into the clouds and condescending, and they are powerful when attacking. .

On the command platform on the top floor of the building, Zhuge Liang and Lu Su stood, and another young general sat.The young general was very tall and straight, his face was like a full moon, his eyebrows were like two swords, his eyes were like cold pools, his lips were like vermilion, and he was dressed in silver scale armor, which made him look more heroic and elegant.At this moment, he is slightly leaning over to caress a piece of brocade silk on the incense table, where the fingertips move, music sounds pour out.Sometimes it looks like a clear brook, sometimes it looks like a magpie singing and chirping, sometimes it looks like a willow silk wrapped in the wind, sometimes it looks like a pile of pines and waves.

"The voice of Dudu Zhou is fluent and smooth, extremely melodious, and it makes people feel like spring breeze." Zhuge Liang seemed to understand it, gently shaking the goose feather fan in his hand, and said with a smile, "Thousands of troops are in front, and Dudu Zhou can actually With a clear mind and a calm mind, as calm as a still pond, the zither under his hands is caressing without any disturbance, and without missing a single rhyme—this kind of calm and unhurried state of mind is far beyond that of Liang et al. It turned out that this young general in silver armor was Zhou Yu, the governor of Jiangdong.Hearing Zhuge Liang's words, he smiled deeply, stood up, looked at the mouth of Huilong Bay with his hands behind his back, and said slowly: "Kong Ming is too famous. In the past, Ximen Leopard Pei Wei used to slow himself down, Dong An Peixian used his own Anxiety, is similar to Yu's caressing selves today to restrain oneself. They are all fake foreign things to alert the inner ears. Trying to change one's own habits is not as good as Kong Ming's usual practice of self-cultivation and light cultivation of desire. "

Zhuge Liang didn't say anything, just flicked the goose feather fan in his hand outwards, and after a while, he said slowly: "The governor of Zhou followed the example of the sages and sages in the past, and he was still able to 'pretend the external things to guard the heart', but now Cao Mengde Relying on the high position and power, the influence of the government and the people, one is not false, and the other is not vigilant, I am afraid that I will come here this time, and I will eventually fall into Zhou Dudu's ingenious plan!" "Oh! How did Kong Ming see that he has signs of defeat?" Zhou Yu asked curiously.

Zhuge Liang flicked the goose feather fan slowly, and said to Zhou Yu, "Liang recently sent people to investigate secretly, and found that Cao Cao is no longer as strong as when he was fighting for the hegemony of the Central Plains. The problems that existed under Yuan Shao in Jizhou, Cao Cao's army There should be some now, but the degree is not so serious. Cao Cao’s subordinates are already full of factions and vortexes. As Cao Cao’s status rises step by step from General Chaqi, Sikong to Prime Minister, the power and glory of the generals around him also Then they rose together. However, there are high and low positions and different powers. How can those Cao family members and generals be willing to fall behind? Therefore, in order to invite favors and win merits, the generals of various ministries have already started fighting openly and secretly.

"Moreover, it's not just the military generals who are involved in the internal struggle. I'm afraid that the counselors and civil servants are no exception. The battle between counselors and civil servants is quite different. As the saying goes: "Since ancient times, famous scholars have come from wealthy families, but Confucian officials have never been in aristocratic families." Behind every wise scholar and civil servant, there are tangible or intangible connections with many interests of a powerful family. In order to win greater benefits for the family behind them, they will also intrigue and chase after each other. It's just that they know better than generals the art of concealment, the skill of speculation, and the way of concealment, so The battles are not as obvious as those of the generals, but they are much more insidious, intense, and cruel. They are all secretly spying on each other, and they are all concentrating on observing Cao Cao's likes and dislikes. All the mistakes are waiting for the opportunity to "kick" their opponents, and they are all trying to make themselves behave better than others to win Cao Cao's favor.

"Because of this, selfish desires are rampant, and Cao's army is not as powerful as it seems on the surface. Sometimes, in order to compete for merit, they even don't hesitate to benefit themselves at the expense of others. This is what gave us the Liu-Sun Allied Army All kinds of opportunities to take advantage of the gap." Zhou Yu nodded frequently when he heard this, and sighed softly: "Although Kong Ming is young, his insight into the state of the world and people's heart is so nuanced, sharp and sophisticated, Yu is very impressed." At this moment, a soldier rushed up from the stairs, knelt down to Zhou Yu and said, "Report to Commander Zhou, the scouts ahead are here to report that the vanguard of Cao Jun's navy has arrived at Puqi Ferry!"

Hearing the news, Zhou Yu's eyes lit up immediately, and he said, "Very good. I didn't expect Cao Jun's navy to come here to die by himself in such a hurry—" As he spoke, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Zhuge Liang, As if asking very politely, "Zhuge joins the army, do you have any tricks to help Zhou?" Zhuge Liang arched his hands, and the smile on his face was still as light as autumn water: "The governor of Zhou has already had a plan in his chest, and his wisdom is in his hands. How dare Liang show his ugliness?" "Why is Zhuge so self-effacing when he joins the army?" Zhou Yu laughed loudly, and as soon as the laughter stopped, he ordered directly to the soldiers, "Generals Huang Gai and Gan Ning each lead their own fleets to attack first!"

"Report to Governor Cai: A fleet is found ten miles ahead!" Cao Jun's scouts reported to Cai Mao. "Fleet? What is the banner they are playing?" Cai Mao's heart tightened suddenly after hearing this! "The flag on their boat is 'Lord Liu'." It turned out to be Liu Bei's sailors!Cai Mao felt relieved secretly, and fell into deep thought.There are indeed 10,000 sailors under Liu Bei, but he is still a little unclear about their combat effectiveness.Could it be that Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and other northern troops who went to contain and encircle Xiakou City from the direction of Hanshui didn't block his navy?At this juncture of being attacked on both sides, Liu Bei actually still has the strength to send this navy to the Yangtze River to intercept his mighty Jingzhou navy. He is indeed impatient!

For this famous Uncle Liu Huang, Cai Mao has complicated feelings.Needless to say, the fate of this Uncle Liu was turbulent. Not only did he fight for most of his life with few victories, he was even so miserable that he didn't even have a piece of territory.Even after six or seven years in the tiny place of Xinye City, he was always jealous and guarded by his fellow imperial relative, Liu Biao.In the past, when Liu Bei went to Xiangyang Mufu to ask Liu Biao for relevant matters, he had met him several times.This Uncle Liu has a series of official titles such as General Zuo, Tinghou of Yicheng, and Mu of Yuzhou. Didn't he nod and bow respectfully like the servants?Thinking about his situation, it is really miserable.This is exactly why I and Kuai Yue have always been disfavored about Liu Bei—except for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun who are brave and foolish, who would want to follow his ill-fated uncle Liu Huang?His poor fortune, declining fortune, and weak power cannot support the prosperous future of our famous families like the Cai family and the Kuai family in Jingzhou.Now, he is actually beyond his control, and dares to send a navy to stop us.There is no way, this is a "big dish" delivered to our door by himself, and I, Cai Mao, have to take them all in one pot, and bring them to Prime Minister Cao to exchange for a bright future for my Cai family.

Standing on Cai Hao's left hand, Yu Jin, the commander of Cao Jun's navy, looked at the cloudy expression on his face, and asked hesitantly, "Does Captain Cai have any concerns?" Cai Hao glanced at Yu Jin, thinking that he was a trusted and beloved general beside Cao Cao, and hurriedly said politely and in a negotiating tone: "Well... that's how it is, General Yu, since Liu Bei's navy is attacking, Cai Mao hastily and politely said in a negotiating tone. A certain self-confidence is still somewhat certain to dare to fight him. It's just that our army has been plagued by the epidemic recently and its combat power has been weakened. It is not appropriate to devote the whole army to this battle at this moment. In Cai's opinion, it is better to allocate a forward fleet A total of 380 warships and 9,400 sailors will attack Liu Bei's remnants head-on! What do you think of the general?" After hearing this, Yu Jin didn't answer immediately, but secretly thought about Cai Mao's words in his heart.He is a "Navy Supervisor" in name, but in fact, like the Cao Jun "Navy Guards" stationed on every Jingzhou warship, he was sent by Prime Minister Cao to perform the duties of supervision in this navy. "Eyeliner".He himself is very clear that those so-called "Navy Guard" officers and personal soldiers are Cao Jun's young Xu Lu soldiers who entered the water and stationed in the boat, although they are also known as "Zhuque Pond", "Xuanwu Pond", Yingshui They have received water warfare drills in other places, but in fact, they can hardly even stand on the windy and rough river. Many soldiers still vomit as soon as the boat leaves.Some local naval officers and academies in Jingzhou even reported that these Cao Jun officers who actually exercised the function of supervising the army have used their power to ask them to slow down their sailing speed in order to weaken their seasick reaction.In addition, many people in the Jingzhou navy suffered from an acute epidemic. If the whole army were to go into battle, they would only be able to exert at most 60% of their combat effectiveness.On the contrary, Cai Mao's strategy at this time was more practical and prudent, with more than 9,000 navy soldiers and more than 300 medium-sized warships as the vanguard of the army to fight first, one can detect the truth, and the other can advance or retreat. Thinking of this, Yu Jin nodded heavily: "Okay! Just follow the order of Governor Cai!"