twin moon

Chapter 69, Act [-], First Battle Part [-]
On the cliff in the northwest corner of Baisha camp, there is a tall sentry tower made of bluestone, named Jieta.This pagoda was built by Duke Dehuan, the first monarch of Ye Kingdom, and led the people to build it himself, and it has survived for thousands of years.To this day, there are still soldiers patrolling the tower every day, rain or shine, day and night, always alert to threats from the sea.

On the top of the tower, there is also a whale that is more than ten feet long.It is said that this huge horn was polished from the long horn of the last horned whale in the world.Back then, the Whale was used as a dowry, and came to Decheng together with Bai Jiangxi's younger sister who married to Ye Kingdom.It was also from then on that Duke De Huan "built towers and built hundreds of boats", and made the development of boat divisions a national policy that Ye Kingdom has adhered to throughout the ages, creating a fearsome and powerful fleet.

This ancient horn is facing the direction of Mulu City. Once it is blown, it can be faintly heard even in Xiyin City dozens of miles away.According to the national history of Ye Kingdom, in the past [-] years, the Whale Horn has only been sounded twice, one time was at the wedding ceremony of Duke Dehuan, and the other time was the death of Duke Dehuan.

Although it has not been used for a long time, the Whale has been carefully maintained by dedicated personnel, and it has been immortal for thousands of years.At this moment, I don't know what happened on the sea, but the guards on Jieta blew the call for the first time.The sound of the horn shook the sky and resounded throughout Mulu City.And the sleeping people in the city were also awakened by this, and panicked, but no one knew what happened outside the city.

Facing the torrential rain from the sky, the drunken Jiangyan untied the Wuchen tied in front of the main gate of Jiayunzhai, turned crookedly and rode on it.The young man clamped his legs slightly, and the black horse galloped along Zitong Street like a sharp arrow off the string.

"Little stammer, where are you going, little stammer? Come back to me, I won't allow you to leave like this!"

Ning Yue also rushed into the rain after her, but she was still a step too late.The girl's hair and clothes were soaked through in an instant, but she stood motionless in the middle of the street like a clay sculpture.Tears mingled with the rain, accompanied by silent crying.

Unknowingly, the rain falling overhead was blocked by something.The girl turned her head in embarrassment, and saw Leng Jiayun holding up an oil-paper umbrella and silently appearing behind her, and then stuffed a roll of reins into her hands:
"Silly girl, if you want to chase after me, I can lend you this horse in the store."

"Sister Jia—little stammer, he has already promised the king that he is going to marry that princess Di Ren! He has never cared about my feelings, what can I do after chasing after him!"

Ning Yue said in a crying voice, not knowing whether it was regret or hatred in her eyes.

"Silly girl, if he doesn't care about you, how can he be drunk like that? When a person is angry, even golden and jade words are just harsh noise. But if you don't even try it yourself If you give up, even if there is still room for redemption, I am afraid it will be difficult to seize the opportunity."

The woman in purple reached out and wiped away the tears on the girl's face.

"But, but I don't know if the timing is right now..."

"When the boat reaches the bridge, you will naturally understand. But before that, you have to take this step bravely. You have to think about many things yourself. Carefully consider what you want to say to the other party, and how to say it. Otherwise, in the end, the one who feels sad and regretful is myself.”

The other party's comfort made Ning Yue gradually stop crying.The girl raised her head thoughtfully, looked in the direction where Jiang Yan was leaving, and clutched the reins tightly in her hands.

The rain finally weakened, and Xiang Baili, who had just rushed to the Baisha camp, slammed the reins of his horse, and flew to the ground next to a boat docked on the shore. Looking at Jiang Yan who arrived one step ahead of him, he said in surprise : "Stinky boy, why are you here?"

The black-eyed boy gave a standard military salute, and took the rein handed by the other party: "This subordinate happened to pass by, but this is a long story..."

"Then we'll talk about it later. Do you know what threat there is at sea that would cause Jieta to sound the whale horn?"

General Tsing Yi smelled the strong smell of alcohol on the child, so he didn't ask any more questions, but turned around and boarded the deck, looking up into the distance.I saw a vague fleet under the dark sea level in the distance.The coming ship didn't light any lights, but the lead ship without friends raised its full sails and was sailing towards the shore at full speed under the westerly wind.

"General Baili, those ships on the opposite side don't seem to be the standard of our country, and they didn't respond to the lights on the shore. I'm afraid the visitors are not friendly..."

Jiang Yan clasped his fists in both hands and stood aside to report.

"Have you ever warned the other party to stop, or taken measures to force him to turn around?"

The usually calm man in Tsing Yi frequently touched his chin with his hands, and frowned slightly, as if he also smelled a disturbing and strange smell from the oncoming sea breeze.

"Before the general came, I sent someone to notify the warlord, and ordered the stone cannons on both sides of the camp to be in place, and fired a salvo at the channel in front of the incoming ship, with the intention of deterring the other party."

"How effective is it?"

"The incoming ship still went its own way, never lowered the sails and slowed down, let alone changed its course."

While speaking, the fleet in the sea had already traveled to a place only six or seven miles away from the pier.Finally, Xiang Baili no longer concealed his nervousness, raised his finger and pointed at the hazy black shadow and ordered decisively:

"Immediately order all the stone cannons on the shore to fire another volley, use fire bombs, and be sure to sink them outside the port, and no boats are allowed to continue approaching the camp!"

"But general, the other party has never had any offensive momentum so far. If a dispute arises rashly—"

After the military order was issued, Jiang Yan still hesitated.General Tsing Yi waved his hand immediately, preventing him from continuing:

"Among the [-] vassal states, only Ye Kingdom and Peng Kingdom in Jizhou can send such a large fleet! If it is allowed to break in like this, all the warships anchored in the port may be lost!"

The Pengguo kerosene mentioned in Xiang Baili's mouth is also called Lan Yan.According to legend, it is a kind of black oil discovered by Yinghuai, the Duke of Peng, under the moon marsh at the east foot of the Qingying Mountains at the beginning of the Dasheng Dynasty.The flame created by this oil is blue-purple in color, and it will never go out when blown by wind or poured by water, which is unique and unparalleled in the world.

The formula of Lan Yan has been the top secret of the Peng Kingdom for thousands of years, and only the successive Dukes can know it.It is said that the process of making oil is also extremely complicated and expensive.However, because of its great power, Fang started large-scale refining with the support of the imperial court after the Shodi Rebellion ended 60 years ago.

Every year, countless crude oils collected from dozens of oil mills in the size of Moon Marsh are sealed in oak barrels and transported in batches by water and land to Zeyin City for refining, and then distributed to the boatmen and land in the major cities and towns of Pengguo. Each battalion of the division has become a powerful weapon that the big and small princes are quite afraid of.Therefore, even though the six southeastern countries have been fighting fiercely for more than ten years, even Wei Liang and Cheng Guo, the most powerful national powers, dare not rashly invade the north.

At this moment, the stone bombs used by the stone cannons on the shore are all tied with oil-soaked canes. After the fire is lit, each stone bomb, with dazzling light and thick black tail smoke, goes straight to the nearby city. Flew over the top of the fleet.After a round of salvo, dozens of arc-shaped light marks appeared in the night sky, like meteors all over the sky.

The enemy flagship, which bears the brunt, was pierced through the thick cloth sail on the spot.The ignited stone bomb then fell, crashing through the watertight compartment below the deck.Sure enough, as Xiang Baili expected, a burst of blue-purple flames rose from the invading ship.And as more ships were ignited by flames one after another, even the sky above the outer harbor was reflected in a strange purple, and the entire bay suddenly became brighter, as if it were daytime.

The fire quickly spread across the ships.After only a short while, a few loud bangs were heard, and the entire fleet unexpectedly exploded violently under everyone's gaze!

However, no one expected that boxes of barbed wire were still stuffed in the hull of the opposite fleet.In the sound of explosions, hundreds of feet of giant ships turned into large and small fragments, and the barbed wire wrapped in blue flames flew in all directions like a torrential rain, as if ignited in the dark night, countless weapons used to kill people fireworks.

Just like a rain of fire falling from the sky, countless barbed wires fell straight to the shore from the midair.Fortunately, the order to attack Baili was issued in time, the explosion was still far from the camp, and [-]% of the caltrops fell into the sea, and only a few walking boats and buildings moored in the dock were slightly affected.Otherwise, right now, the entire harbor may have fallen into a huge disaster.

The blue-purple fire burned on the sea for a whole night, and it was not gradually extinguished until dawn as the enemy ship sank.Before that, Xiang Baili had already sent General Yan back to the palace.He himself stood on the shore all night, looking at the sea of ​​fire in the distance in a trance.

As soon as it was dawn, General Tsing Yi sent Mi Ziya, the deputy general of the Baisha Battalion, to lead thirty soldiers with excellent water skills on a boat to search for clues in the sunken wreckage.Right now, he was waiting anxiously on the shore, and when the other party returned to land, he immediately went to meet him.

"The general's expectations were correct. These ships were indeed prepared for a sneak attack at night. Except for the wooden barrels filled with blue flames and barbed wire, no other weapons were seen in the cabin. From the wreckage that sank to the bottom of the sea, at last It will also be found."

As the lieutenant general spoke, he raised a fist-sized metal bowl to Xiang Baili's eyes.The buckle bowl has been burned in the fire and has been slightly deformed, but the general shape can still be distinguished.

"The fine iron rudder chain is indeed made by skillful craftsmen in Mizhou. It seems that the leading ship is indeed the Five-Year Ship of the Peng Kingdom. It's just that the Peng Kingdom is far away on the east coast of the mainland. Even if we want to fight, we should use it Cheng Guo is the opponent, so why bother to go all the way around Lancangyang and go south to come to Ye country for a sneak attack that has no chance of winning..."

General Tsing Yi stared at the strangely shaped bowl and gradually lost his mind, muttering to himself.

The so-called rudder chain is a kind of mechanism installed on the rudder blade of the ship.Using it, the height of the rudder position of the sea-going ship can be determined according to the depth of the waterline.The boundary between Pengguo and Chengguo is the Lingshui River, the third largest river on land originating from Tuori Peak.However, the bed of the Lingshui river is relatively shallow, and the moon marsh is surrounded by river branches and bays and lakes. In order to facilitate the entry of sea boats into the river, only skillful craftsmen made such a unique device.When the water is deep, lower the rudder blade to control the wind and waves, and when the water is shallow, pull it up to sail into rivers and lakes.

After pondering for a moment, Xiang Baili continued to ask: "Have you ever caught someone alive?"

"General, the last general not only salvaged the hammerhead shark pattern flags flying on these ships, but also found a lot of items bearing the family crest of the Ying family in their cabins. It's just——even a prisoner, even a No body was found either. Moreover, there was no food, grass, or fresh water left in the cabin by the Peng Army."

Mi Ziya's answer made Xiang Baili, who has always been steady, stare involuntarily:

"You mean, these ships are unmanned at all, empty ships?"

"The other party deliberately planned to sneak attack at night, maybe they all disembarked early?"

"It's impossible. The southeast wind was blowing in the first half of the night yesterday, and it didn't turn to the northwest until after midnight. How could the other party raise the full sail in the absence of anyone, not only bypassing the long coastline just right Floating near the coast, can they still sail towards our harbor accurately against the wind? Besides, only one five-toothed ship can carry more than [-] people. Ships are not easy..."

Shaking his head to Baili, it seems that the means of this sneak attack has exceeded his cognition.

Seeing this situation, the expression on Mi Ziya's face also became serious: "General Baili, the last general noticed one thing, I don't know if I should say it or not."

"But it doesn't matter."

"There seem to be many scars on the fragments of the ship that can be found, as if they had just experienced a fierce battle not long ago, so they were so easily pierced by stone cannons. Even among the soldiers who will go to search at the end, there are some people Rumors spread that this is actually caused by sea monsters. Although the last general has stopped, the rumors are hard to suppress, and I am afraid that it will shake the morale of the army."

"This matter is indeed a bit tricky, especially at this time..."

There was also a hint of uneasiness on Xiang Baili's face.However, before he finished speaking, he saw a black crow fluttering down in front of him.The dark red bird's feet are marked with black and gold double strands of silk thread. It is the letter crow used in the palace to deliver the oracle.

Reaching out to Baili, he took out a roll of silk from the thin bamboo tube beside the bird's feet, turned his back and unfolded it, glanced at it, and immediately ordered someone to bring over Mo Yuntaxue who was tied to the side:
"The news spread really fast. Immediately order the three battalions of Shiyu, Benhai, and Hussars to be on alert, repair the damaged ships, and be ready for battle at any time!"

"Go to war—could it be that the lord already knows?"

There has been no war in Ye country for a long time. Although the young lieutenant often leads a team to patrol the sea, he has never fought a decent battle so far, and he can't help showing a little worry on his face.

"My Lord Overseer did not know where he got the news that the attacking ship belonged to the Peng Kingdom's boat division. He reported to the King this morning, and proposed to attack the Peng Kingdom by land and water at the same time to pre-empt strikes. But now Now there are a lot of doubts, if the surprise attack last night was done by someone under the guise of the Peng Kingdom, lightly speaking of war will definitely drag the Ye Kingdom into a quagmire of eternal doom! I will rush into the palace to argue with him, but if I can’t convince the lord , the army may move out at any time!"

While speaking, Xiang Baili got on his horse and galloped away without looking back.

It wasn't until this moment that Mi Ziya realized that the incident was far more serious than he had imagined, and immediately went back to the camp to count the soldiers and horses.With the sound of military drums, the entire Baisha camp under the gate, like a giant beast awakened from sleep, started to move around the corner.

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(End of this chapter)