On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the wind was blowing from the east. Snowflakes were flying in the sky, falling obliquely in the air. Even in winter, the surface of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was still wide, and the huge ships were riding the wind and waves, as if floating in the vast starry sky; and the snowflakes in the sky were the dots of starlight in the sky.
Guo Shao was standing on the deck at the bow, legs apart, looking at the river. The cold wind blew on his face, which was a bit biting. His scarf and cloak were blown away, but his tall and strong body was standing there with his sword, very stable. Looking far ahead, behind, left and right, there were warships everywhere. There were countless large ships and hundreds of small boats, covering the entire river. The scene was extremely spectacular.
However, the same scene, seen in different moods, is not quite the same. When Guo Shao saw the fleet on the river a while ago, he was aroused by ambition; but now, he suddenly felt that the torrent was difficult to turn and the direction was difficult to control. When will he be able to realize his dream
It's windy outside, the lord has been standing there for too long. Zuo You's voice sounded behind him.
Guo Shao glanced sideways, did not answer his question, and only said: Today is against the wind, but fortunately it is with the current.
Zuo You said: This place is close to the East China Sea, and there is often an east wind. Guo Shao said again: We are against the wind, and Han Tong and his men are with the wind.
The two exchanged a few words, and Guo Shao looked at a large ship on the left front side. In the dim light, it seemed that there was a general standing on the ship's deck. If it was a general, it should be Li Chuyun; the main general who presided over this naval battle was Li Chuyun, and the deputy general was Gao Yanchou. Although Guo Shao was on the ship, he was not responsible for commanding the battle. He was there to boost the morale of the troops. Because he had no experience in naval battles, he gave full authority to his subordinates.
From a distance, the ships of Li Chuyun and other generals could not be seen clearly, even the people on board could not see clearly, because there was a layer of white steam on the water surface; the clouds in the sky were also thick, the light was a little dim, and there was snow in the air. Snowflakes fell on the misty water surface and quickly disappeared. The ships passed through it, and it really felt like they were sailing in the clouds. Today's weather was indeed not suitable for fighting; but more important than the weather was the Southern Tang Navy in Hukou constantly approaching from behind, so the weather was not the only factor to consider in the war.
The fleet has already set out in full force, and now Guo Shao can only wait for the result. What he expects is naturally a victory. After the assassination, Guo Shao feels Li Yu's deep hostility even more.
For a moment, Guo Shao couldn't help but ponder Li Yu's hatred for him.
What a man fears most is that someone else is eyeing his power, wealth and women, especially the latter; he will feel greatly threatened and will not be able to sleep or eat in peace. Guo Shao's desire for the land of Southern Tang naturally posed a serious threat to everything Li Yu had. It was understandable that Li Yu was hostile to him.
However, Guo Shao did not think that there was anything excessive about these things. Unifying the nine provinces is the general trend. If Li Yu cannot unify the country, naturally other powerful countries will come out to do it. This is also good for the world and cannot be resisted.
The most direct hostility was probably directed at Zhou Xian. In this era, women had a low status, and compared to power, they were really nothing to ordinary people. But this was people's weakness, as if it was a symbol of dignity. If someone stared at Fu Ermei, Guo Shao would find it difficult to tolerate it, and would immediately determine that this person had the ambition to replace her, so he had such courage; this was a weakness that no one could escape.
But Li Yu took the initiative to send Zhou Xian to assassinate him. Even if he was an ancient man, Guo Shao could not figure out his mind. Could it be that the other party already thought that women were completely unimportant
Guo Shao thought for a long time but could not figure it out. The only thing he figured out was that hatred had already been formed. When someone hates you to the core, the only way is to completely eliminate them and cut off their resistance. This time, he must completely eliminate Li Yu's power to avoid discomfort on his back.
At this moment, suddenly, a loud drum sound was heard from the warship in front.
Dong, Dong, Dong! Guo Shao woke up with a start. He looked in the direction of the sound and soon found that in the dim light, the river in the distance ahead was full of sails like clouds, heading towards him.
A general in the back shouted: The enemy ships are coming, and the surroundings suddenly became noisy.
The Zhou army's fleet was sailing against the wind, so they had no sails, but the Southern Tang army had a favorable wind, so they had all their sails fully spread. On the vast river, the huge and tall sails were more conspicuous than the ships themselves, making them easier to be discovered. Guo Shao looked into the distance and felt that the Southern Tang navy with sails was even more imposing.
The warships were already busy, with catapults, trebuchets, bows and crossbows all ready, and torches shining brightly. This was not the era of hot weapons, but black smoke billowed from the warships, which were the torches and burning materials that had been prepared. The warships were all made of wood, and both sides attached great importance to fire attacks, and catapults, arrows, and kerosene were all ready.
Guo Shao left the bow under the persuasion of the officers and soldiers and went to the deck to watch the battle. The flagship was located in the front center of the fleet, and there were hundreds of large ships in front of it. Guo Shao did not have to make any decisions, but even so, the atmosphere made him nervous.
The entire fleet was divided into three echelons. The soldiers in the front who directly faced the enemy ships had very different feelings from those at the back.
Old man Li was very unlucky. He was in the front warship. He was in the cabin below the deck, climbing on the pedal of a waterwheel and pedaling the waterwheel according to the order of the supervisor. There was a group of people next to him, some of whom were pedaling the waterwheel, while more were sitting in two rows, shouting and rowing the boats.
The deck above his head was clattering with the footsteps of the messy people. From the footsteps and shouts, Old Man Li knew that the battle was about to begin. He didn't have to do anything but pedal the waterwheel. He didn't even have armor on him. There was a spear on the ground next to him. He ordered them to fight with this short spear if the enemy rushed into the cabin.
With many years of experience in marching and fighting, Old Man Li felt that the javelin was useless. If they were defeated to that extent, it would be difficult for anyone to resist.
There was a splash of water, and Old Man Li looked through the hole where the oars were extended, and saw a small boat being lowered into the water from the deck with a rope. Then he looked through the hole and saw three or two people grabbing the ropes and getting on the boat.
The man who was working the waterwheel beside him asked quietly, with a northern accent. He was obviously a temporary laborer, most likely a civilian.
Old Man Li had a long military career, but he had always been in the north, because this was the first time in all these years that the Central Plains Dynasty had fought in the middle of the Yangtze River. But after all, he was old and had seen a lot of people and heard a lot of things. He kindly replied: The big ship was not flexible and tall, so the small boats were needed to help with some work. Also, in such a cold day, if someone fell into the water, they would freeze to death, and the small boats could help save people.
The man shrank his neck after hearing this. But seeing that it was still snowing outside, if the boat sank and they fell into the water, they didn't know what it would feel like. Old Man Li thought of this, and the two looked at each other and stopped talking.
At this moment, half a face and a mouth suddenly appeared above the head in front of me. The mouth opened and shouted: Command, full speed ahead!
There were two supervisors in the cabin, who immediately started to curse and yell at everyone to work harder. Old Man Li and others who had been moving slowly just now grabbed the handrails and stepped on the pedals. They only cared about speed and not direction, and the cabin was in a commotion. After a while, the sound of drums started to rise above their heads, and the sound of the drums seemed to shake the walls of the boat apart; the waterwheel outside the hull was also gurgling in the river, and the sound of wood grinding was so annoying.
The strong man next to him kicked hard for a while, and then he was panting like an ox, with a full forehead. When he turned his head to look at Old Man Li, he saw that Old Man Li was staring at a moderate pace, but he did not breathe a breath, and was very steady. The man immediately showed admiration. After all, Old Man Li was a little old, with wrinkles all over his face, but as long as he did not compare explosive power, he was not worse than the young and strong.
Stop, stop. The mouth above my head is shouting again. Stop it all.
Everyone was shocked and stopped talking, looking confused as to what had happened.
Old man Li had already found a hole in the boat, so he leaned back a little and looked out. Suddenly, he saw the scene outside the hole. Under the gloomy sky, the shining arrows were flying around on the river like fireflies. Amid the noise, the fight had just started outside, but no one in the cabin knew about it.
The flanks of the ship were approaching, and the fireballs were rolling in the air, probably thrown by catapults, and black smoke was billowing in the wind and snow. Old man Li also smelled a very strange burning smell in the cabin, which seemed to be the smell of burning fierce oil that the Southern Tang Kingdom was good at using.
The group of people working below all looked confused. The supervisor yelled, "Don't bother with others, just do our job. Work when you're told to, and stop when you're told to."
As soon as he finished speaking, the hull shook slightly, as if it had hit something. The feeling was not strong, and no one reacted, but immediately someone on the top shouted hoarsely: The fireboat with fierce kerosene has nailed our ship!
Those on the boat, hurry over and open the fireboat!
No, the wind is blowing in our direction.
Then a mouth came down from above and shouted anxiously: Row faster and change direction immediately, hurry up
The warden was also panicking and yelled: "Hurry up! If the boat is burned, no one will survive. If not burned to death, they will drown."
Everyone hurriedly worked hard, even Old Man Li was out of breath, and worked hard. As an old soldier, Old Man Li knew that it was useless to be sneaky and sly. If the whole army was finished, he would die faster.
In the cabin, Old Man Li could clearly feel the ship turning violently, and he was afraid that the helmsman had already turned the rudder. The shouting and yelling made everyone's ears buzz, and everyone was very excited. Old Man Li and others opened their mouths and gasped, using all their strength.