As long as the fire is big enough to form a fire, it is very terrible. Wildfires can burn all the trees that have not dried. On the river, the river water seems to have turned into a big pot of kerosene, and the whole sky is burning, with the momentum to burn everything.
The huge flames spread to the west in the wind. The huge fleet seemed vulnerable to the fire. The ships that did not have time to escape were quickly engulfed by the fire and ignited with blazing flames. The air was filled with smoke and black dust flew everywhere.
However, the sails on the giant raft were quickly engulfed by the fire. Without the help of the sails, the rafts drifted westward very slowly. If you didn't look carefully, they seemed to have stagnated on the river. Even so, the soldiers of the Southern Tang Army were terrified.
Ah, there was a loud shouting on the flagship where Chen Qiao was, and he himself was panicked.
Although the fire had not yet spread to the ship, the flames were raging towards this side due to the wind direction. It was close, and the temperature on the ship's upper deck was very high. The air was so hot that the flags on it were ignited by the flames, and the flagpoles were burned bare.
The overwhelming fire caused chaos on the ship. People were terrified and ran downstairs with their heads covered, screaming in pain.
Humans are not fish, and they can only rely on the boats they ride on in the water. Many people are wearing armor and dare not jump into the river in a hurry; but when people encounter danger, their reaction is to run away. The soldiers ran around in a mess, leaving the ship's tower and deck, and instinctively hid in the cabin. With the wooden boards separating them, they could at least temporarily escape the scorching heat. The heat waves from the air were like they were going to melt people alive.
The most reliable way to escape was to sail the warship away from here. The giant raft moved slowly, while the warship moved faster. But everyone was just running around.
My lord, come this way! The personal soldier grabbed Zhu Lingyun's arm and shouted.
Chen Qiao also hurriedly followed the crowd and left the exposed rooftop first. The panicked soldiers behind him pushed and shoved everyone to the staircase. Chen Qiao was almost pushed off the boat at the staircase, and he immediately shouted: "Be patient, don't push!"
A soldier in front of him, Zhu Lingyun, drew his sword. In the chaos, the shining sword was right in front of Chen Qiao. His face suddenly changed. The soldier holding the weapon shouted: "Don't push me!"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a loud snap, followed by a loud scream. Chen Qiao turned around and saw that the guardrail on the stairs was broken, and a figure jumped straight down the boat. A moment later, he fell into the rolling river with a splash.
Someone shouted: General Zhu fell into the water
Chen Qiao's heart skipped a beat, and he didn't bother to hide his face from the burning pain. He looked down and saw nothing but the river water. Zhu Lingyun seemed to be wearing two layers of heavy armor, with dozens of kilograms of iron on his body. Falling into the water like this was no different from tying a big rock to the river and throwing it.
Chen Qiao shouted, "Hurry up and throw the rope down."
But at this moment, the army was crowded and chaotic, and there was no way to find a rope. Someone shouted frantically: Aren't you holding the lord? How can you jump down? Save him!
One of the soldiers of the shoveling team chopped down a soldier behind him with a knife, causing a scream and blood to splash in the crowd. But killing did not stop the chaos. Under the fire and panic, the place seemed to be about to explode. More people were pushed off the boat, and some climbed up the railing, screamed and jumped onto the armor plate below, where they were thrown half to death.
Someone yelled: The coach fell into the river and drowned
The warship was sailing westward. After a while, the broken railing was no longer where Zhu Lingyun fell into the water. Looking for someone at this location was like looking for a sword on a boat. Chen Qiao looked back and saw no one. How could he save someone when the waves kept coming one after another
But the commander-in-chief was gone on the battlefield, which was a very serious matter. Chen Qiao shouted anxiously: Quickly order the helmsman to turn the direction.
Turn around and head towards the fire. Besides, even the helmsman was nowhere to be found. No one listened to Chen Qiao, the civil servant. The warship was still heading west, but Zhu Lingyun had disappeared.
On the river, the warships of the Southern Tang army fled westward one after another, and no one could control the thousands of ships. Even the land soldiers on the river bank were in chaos, and countless people stood on the river bank, watching the fire on the river.
After a long time, the ship docked and Chen Qiao went ashore. Zhu Lingyun's drowning had become a fact that had to be accepted. Although Chen Qiao disliked Zhu Lingyun, he had prestige in the Zhennan Army and was the commander-in-chief of the army, and could lead the entire army. Now that he was dead, who would lead the army? Chen Qiao did not think that he, a civilian official, could control the army.
Moreover, the news about Zhu Lingyun spread quickly. The commander's affairs were of concern to all the soldiers in the army, and the news of his death spread quickly. The army was in a panic, especially the navy, which was in chaos. It took a while for the generals from all the divisions to be found.
Chen Qiao called on the generals present to call other generals and elect a temporary commander.
But the Zhou army did not give them a chance. The Zhou army reacted to the situation very quickly. Before noon, Chizhou dispatched troops, with cavalry in the lead and infantry following, to attack the Southern Tang army stranded on the road. The Southern Tang army had no time to unify the military orders, and each unit fought on its own. Although the Zhou army's vanguard was small, it was not besieged by the Southern Tang army's superior forces. Moreover, the Southern Tang army was in a panic at this time, and was soon defeated.
The troops behind were affected, and some places actually fled in an organized manner. The army was said to have 150,000 soldiers, and looked majestic, but it was completely weaker than Chen Qiao had imagined. The army was like a big house falling apart.
The road to the west was full of retreating soldiers. On the river, boats were scattered all over the place, each retreating.
At midnight, Guo Shao received an urgent report from Luo Yanhuan in the water fortress by the river. He took a closer look and his face soon turned red. It was late at night and there was no one else around to celebrate with him, but he still couldn't suppress his excitement. For the time being, he could only be happy alone.
Luo Yanhuan described the battle situation in detail, and said that the troops in Wankou and Chizhou were weak and could not expand the results of the battle; but after the Southern Tang army was in chaos, it was not easy to redeploy, and the purpose of delaying the enemy reinforcements had been achieved.
But in Guo Shao's opinion, Luo Yanhuan had unexpectedly achieved extraordinary success. The Southern Tang army suffered a great setback, and how to revive the morale of the army was not to be mentioned. Up to now, the threat of that army has been very small.
Guo Shao thought: I felt that Luo Yanhuan was brave and resourceful during the Tokyo mutiny. It seems that this person has great potential. Luo Yanhuan did not have many elite soldiers, mainly a group of local garrison troops, and few warships. Under limited conditions, he was able to plan a way to attack the Southern Tang army, which was very impressive. After the fire was successfully set and the army was demoralized, Luo Yanhuan boldly sent troops to attack with a weak force, and seized the opportunity very well.
Luo Yanhuan, Luo Yanhuan Guo Shao said twice and walked back and forth in the cabin.
He put down the military newspaper, walked to the window, opened a corner and looked out. The lights on the water were bright, and the sound of the waves became even louder when the window was slightly opened. It turned out that on the Yangtze River, there was no midnight bell or passenger ship. It didn't matter how many people there were, the sound of the waves was noisy enough.
The atmosphere was very impetuous and noisy. But there was no danger here: yesterday, Han Tong's navy had entered the Yangtze River. That navy was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guards Ma Bu Division and was a member of the Imperial Guards. It had many men and ships, and the officers and soldiers were elite. They were dispatched from Tokyo, which was enough to put pressure on the Southern Tang Army. In addition, Guo Shao also had a large number of warships and navy, which formed a pincer attack on the Southern Tang Army in Jingkou.
The enemy soldiers at Jingkou were now trapped in a jar, with no way out except to go ashore. However, the boats could not reach the shore, and the reinforcements from Hukou could not arrive. It was only a matter of time before they were wiped out. Guo Shao was sure that he had won the battle.
Guo Shao sat down at the table. There was a map of the situation under the lamp, and there was a light ink in the inkstone next to it. He sat for a while, then poured a lot of water from the iron cup into the inkstone, diluting the ink very much. Then he picked up the brush, dipped it in the light ink, and colored all the borders of the Southern Tang Kingdom, which was within the sphere of influence of the Great Zhou Dynasty, on the map.
On the entire map, the large area in the middle has changed color. Guo Shao stretched out his fingers and touched the large area of Southern Tang. Although it was just a piece of paper, he could truly feel the great increase in strength.
Countless wealth, countless people, vast territory
Guo Shao suddenly felt something touched. When he was insignificant, it was very difficult to make a little profit. But now, the huge benefits were unstoppable and came too fast.
He still felt out of control, as if a torrent appeared before his eyes, but fortunately the torrent was in his direction. And he still had the ability to adjust its direction. Guo Shao let out a long sigh, closed his eyes and felt the river water flowing under the boat.
Last night, when I was writing the second chapter, I lay down to rest and accidentally fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, the sun had already risen... I'm so sorry.