Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 914 Dawn
"Gujiaer, you have made a great contribution this time!" Heba Yun said with a smile: "According to the agreement, you have the right to choose your share from the spoils!"

"Your heart is as broad as the sea!" Gu Jiaer bowed deeply to Heba Yun. "I suggest you weigh anchor now, so that you can arrive at the port of Sanghapura City at dawn and catch the Linyi people by surprise!"

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Sanghapura, a slum area near the dock.

Before sunrise, the cat woke up on the top floor of the bamboo house he shared with his companions.

She was always the first to wake up. The climate in Sanghapura was warm. Even in November, a thin blanket was enough to keep out the cold. Cat could hear the gentle breathing of her companions. She turned over and sat up, groping for her coat. Aka murmured in sleepiness and turned her back. Cat felt her clothes and got out of the blanket. The morning breeze blowing in from the window gave Cat goose bumps. She shivered and put on her clothes.

"Cat, help me, it's a bit cold outside, find my clothes for me!" The one who spoke was Arroyo, a brown-haired girl. She was a lazy girl who liked to order the cat to do things for her. The cat found the clothes and threw them to Arroyo, who twisted her body under the blanket and put on the clothes. Then she and the cat dragged Aka out from under the blanket, and Aka complained to his companion with sleepy eyes.

When the three of them climbed down from the top of the bamboo house, Zhanbo and his "sons" had already followed Zhanbo onto the boat behind the bamboo house. As every morning, Zhanbo yelled and urged the girls, while the boys helped the girls get on the boat. Mao'er was the last one. She untied the rope on the wooden stake and threw it to her companions on the boat. Zhanbo tried hard to paddle, and the distance between the pier and the deck gradually became farther. Mao'er ran over and jumped onto the deck.

After that, she had nothing to do for a long time, just sitting and yawning, letting Zhanbo and his "sons" row the boat in the darkness before dawn, passing through the intricate small waterways. Today seemed to be a rare good day, fresh and refreshing, the long rainy season was finally coming to soak, the sky was pink and blue at dawn, and there was a unique salty smell of seawater in the air. This kind of weather is what Cat likes the most.

The boat entered a wide river, and to the south was the fish market. Maoer sat cross-legged, stroking Arroyo's hair with his right hand. The boys and girls on the boat had different hair and skin colors, which was not surprising. As the largest maritime trade center within hundreds of kilometers, Sanghapura City was also the largest brothel within hundreds of miles. Merchants and sailors from China, the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Japan, Funan, Sindhu, Arabia and other places brought all kinds of goods, and also sowed their own seeds on the women here. A large number of illegitimate children were the by-products of maritime trade. The people of Sanghapura City called these children "Kam" - children without fathers.

Champo's boat passed by the granite dome of the Shiva Bhadrashura Temple along the long canal, and then passed the golden dome of the Ganesha Temple and the Indra Temple, and then crossed the huge stone bridge in front of the palace and came to a city called Puyala. The buildings here are almost all bamboo and wooden buildings. Later, the waterway here will be blocked by small boats and bamboo rafts, but now it is empty. Champo likes to arrive at the fish market before the sun rises completely, so that he can get the freshest and cheapest catch, and sell it at a good price when he takes it back.

By the time Zhanbo's boat had moored, the stone steps were already filled with people carrying all kinds of fish, oysters, seashells, scallops, and shrimps. Zhanbo took his "sons" ashore and limped between the boats, examining the various shellfish, and occasionally knocking on wooden barrels or bamboo baskets with his rattan stick. "This," he would say. "Yes." Ta-ta. "This." Ta-ta. "No, not that one. It's here." Zhanbo was a man of few words. The boys carried the wooden barrels or bamboo baskets that Zhanbo had knocked onto the boat, while Zhanbo sat on the stone steps next to the dock, holding a wine glass in one hand and the rattan stick that he never let go in the other.

A muffled rumble came from afar, and Cat stopped and looked towards the source of the sound. She was still young and could only help the boys. She could see groups of red light rising from the river in the east and jumping on the horizon.

"Is this sunrise?" Arroyo asked.

"I don't know!" The cat shook his head. "But what's that noise? Sunrise shouldn't make such a loud noise!"

"Thunder? Is Indra (the god of thunder) angry?" Arroyo guessed with blinking eyes.

"No, it's fire!" Zhanbo stood up, and his face, which usually wore an indifferent smile, became serious: "It's the enemy, the enemy fleet's surprise attack!"

Zhanbo's voice caused a panic. The older fishermen had heard the story of this man. His injured leg was left during the war with the Funan people. People dropped their catch in fear and ran to their boats. Zhanbo called the oldest boy: "Assancho, you take your brothers and sisters back!"

"Yes!" the boy asked, "What about you?"

"I'm going to see what's going on!" Zhanbo replied.

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"Ready, fire!"

As the officer swung his sword down, a row of flames spurted out of the side gunports of the "Thresher". The hot gas produced by the explosion of black gunpowder ejected the lead bullets wrapped in linen in the bronze gun barrel, forming a huge fan. About a hundred meters away, there was a sudden wailing from the two rowing longboats, and the broken bodies fell into the sea, immediately dyeing a large area red.

"This, this is--" Wang Bo clenched his fists. He didn't notice that his body was shaking violently.

"The secret weapon of the Prince of Hejian is the same as the flintlock rifle!" Heba Yun said with a smug smile, "Mr. Wang, now you understand why Brother Xutuo is so sure, right?"

Wang Bo took a deep breath and finally calmed himself down a little: "The Prince of Hejian is far-sighted and worthy of being the pillar of the Tang Dynasty!"

"Of course!" Heba Yun smiled and waved his hand: "Gujiaer, make sure there are no reefs or sandbanks in the channel ahead!"

"Don't worry!" Gugar said with a smile, "I come here twice a year. I know the waterways here very well!"

"Very good!" Heba Yun turned around and said, "Captain, tell the ships behind to line up in a single column. The distance between two ships should not exceed 200 steps. Only use the minimum sails. Any ship that attempts to approach will be regarded as an enemy and destroyed!"

"Yes, sir!" the captain responded loudly, and the flag bearer immediately informed the ships behind of Heba Yun's order in the form of flag signals. The Tang fleet was like a giant snake, led by the "Long-tailed Whale", slowly sailing towards the city of Sanghapura, while the other merchant ships that came with it were like jackals following a lion, smelling the bloody scent and approaching the remnants of their prey with salivating.

"What a big ship! It's divine!" Zhanbo stood at the bow, looking at the strange ship coming towards this side in the distance, and couldn't help but exclaimed. To be honest, he had seen bigger ships than this one before. For example, the royal ship of the King of Funan was bigger, and some ships of Tang merchants heading south were no smaller than these. But anyone who is not blind can see that these ships are not for show or to carry cargo. Their sharp bows, narrow and sharp hulls, staggered masts and slender cables are telling everyone that these ships were not built for peaceful purposes. "Look, the guard's ship, stop it quickly, these guys are in trouble!"

Hearing the excited conversations behind him, Zhanbo's face was not smiling. More than 20 long-paddled speedboats rushed out from the dock on the rocky shore. Their boat heads were painted with ferocious gods, just like wolves, strong, fierce and hungry. The long oars on both sides flew up and down, like dragonflies gliding on the water. With a loud horn, these speedboats divided into several groups and surrounded the nearest few ships of the attackers.

"Surrounded on all sides! Hehehe!"

"I can't run away. This is going to be a good show!"

"To be honest, these ships look pretty good. It's a pity that the commander is too stupid to come to such a narrow river. If they were on the sea, the outcome would be hard to predict!"

There was no one rowing on the small boat anymore. Everyone put down their gear and watched the ensuing battle excitedly. In their opinion, the outcome was already decided. The guard's boats had surrounded the attacker's boats. On such a narrow river, the large sailboats would definitely not be able to defeat these flexible and light rowing boats.

Suddenly, a row of flames shot out from the attacker's boat. The next second, everyone heard a rumbling sound. Now Zhanbo knew what he had just heard in the fish market!

"Oh my god, what is this?" someone exclaimed.

"Oh my god! Am I seeing things? Why is the boat slowing down?"

"It didn't slow down, it sank. Didn't you see clearly? Everyone on the ship is dead, killed by the fire just now!"

"So far away? Could he have been shot to death by an arrow?"

"How is that possible? The garrison's ships all have shields, so it's hard for them to be hit by crossbows!"

Hearing the exclamation coming from behind, Zhan Bo turned around calmly and shouted, "Turn around and go back!"

"Go back? Why go back?" someone asked in confusion.

"Of course we are preparing to escape!" Zhan Bo was particularly patient this time: "You don't think these ships are making such a big scene just to rob a few merchant ships, do you?"

The people on the boat fell into silence. The next second everyone understood what Zhanbo meant. They returned to their seats without saying a word, picked up the oars, returned to the dock as quickly as possible, and then dispersed, each going their own way.

On the river, the Tang army had easily defeated the counterattack of the Linyi navy. Due to the immaturity of shooting science and cannon casting technology, Wang Wenzuo equipped the ship with only a bronze short cannon. From the outside, this short cannon looked like an overturned bowling ball, which could fire shotgun shells or solid bullets. Its range was much shorter than the red cannon of later generations, but both the difficulty of casting and the safety of firing were much better. The most important thing was that since the enemy basically did not have firearms, the gunners of the Tang army could completely shorten the distance of the engagement to within 100 meters, and then fire shotgun shells to clear the deck of the enemy ship and kill people. This could ensure the hit rate without destroying the main structure of the enemy ship, and completely capture the ship and the cargo inside, which was a two-pronged approach.

"Very good." Heba Yun smacked his lips with satisfaction. The effect of the new firearms was much better than he expected. The Linyi people's water power had been almost completely destroyed by him, which meant that he was basically invincible. So he should execute his next plan next.

"Gugar!"

"I'm here!" Gugar stepped forward and said in a deep voice.

"According to the original plan! After clearing out the Linyi people's water forces, the rest will be left to you. Is that ok?"

"Please leave everything to me!" Gugar said with a smile, "You can continue to sail west, and then turn north. That is where merchant ships from various countries are anchored. They must have heard the noise by now and are preparing to escape. Please don't let them go!"

"Well, then let's do as you say!"

For Heba Yun, the biggest danger of this raid was that after the Tang army ships entered the narrow port area, they would be attacked by enemy fire ships. Then, after landing, they would be besieged by enemies with an absolute numerical advantage in street fighting.

Gugar said he was willing to lead his ships into the port first and let his men lead the way. Heba Yun readily agreed to this suggestion. Fire ship attacks were a one-time thing, and Gugar's men and ships stepped on mines in front, and the price was just a little spoils after breaking into the city. He certainly wouldn't be stingy.

As the drums sounded, the messy ships that had been following the Tang fleet sped up and rushed towards the port area of ​​​​Sanghapura City, while the Tang fleet slowly followed behind, like hunters letting go of hounds to chase prey. Heba Yun looked at the balls of fire rising at the dock with satisfaction. He turned his head and asked Gu Jiaer: "By the way, I remember you once said that the King of Linyi spent the wealth of two kingdoms to rebuild the temple of Shiva and Bhadrapura, right?"

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Temple of Lord Shiva Bhadrapuri.

The hurried footsteps stepped on the marble floor, and the sound echoed in the corridor. The waiter stepped forward quickly and blocked the way of the visitor: "Your Majesty, please stop, the high priest is praying to the gods! Outsiders are not allowed to disturb him!"