Horse on the World

Chapter 383 Hunting
Zhong Xiang, the general manager of the Bozhou Navy, was ready to go to bed. Although the battle during the day was not going well, he was not overly worried. Even if the top of Lianshan Island was broken, there would be two or three thousand defenders, but his entire navy had nearly 2 troops. There are tens of thousands of people, and there are tens of thousands of people who can participate in the landing operation. It is not a problem to take this island. As time goes by, the will of the defenders on the island will also collapse under the situation of internal and external difficulties. Maybe tomorrow , maybe the day after tomorrow, this fully-constructed base will completely belong to itself and belong to the Bazhou Navy.

After taking off his armor, he was about to take a good rest. He was very tired after commanding the fleet in full armor for nearly a day.Zhong Xiang, who had just laid down on the bed, had not had time to stretch himself, and was startled by a strange whistling sound. It was the sound of a trebuchet firing. He was very familiar with this sound, but just now The sound was very strange, as if the sound of several trebuchets was suddenly amplified countless times when they were launched. He rushed to the side of the cabin, looked at Lianshan Island not far away through the side boat, and in an instant, It was as if his heart had been hit by a heavy hammer. At that moment, he seemed to stop long jumping completely.

In front of his eyes, what unfolded was an extremely magnificent scene. Stone bullets covering the sky screamed from the sky and flew towards the docks and water villages by the sea. Zhong Xiang had worked hard on the battlefield all his life, but he had never seen it before. Such dense trebuchets were fired at the same time, and in the blink of an eye, countless stone bullets blocked his vision, and all he saw were endless round stone cannons.

Accompanied by Zhong Xiang's heavy panting, the stone bullets fell heavily. Among them, a large stone cannon weighing more than a hundred catties hit the ships parked in the dock and water village, and directly penetrated the entire ship. Zhong Xiang could even see the The sea water splashing from those huge holes, the brightly lit water village, and the dock changed from a joyful ocean celebrating victory to a hell on earth in the blink of an eye. From time to time, small auxiliary ships were directly smashed into two pieces, Some even flew high, tossed helplessly in the air, and then fell heavily, splashing a wave.

The screams, roars, and helpless cries for help came from several miles away, but they were still so clearly audible. The officers and soldiers of the Zhongxiang Fleet, who had anchored several miles offshore, were awakened, and rushed onto the deck, watching helplessly. Watching the tragedy that was taking place, stone bullets were constantly flying out from among the lush trees on Lianshan Island, rushing towards the surviving ships.

Zhong Xiang quickly ran to the top of the boat, clenched his fists tightly, clenched his teeth, he didn't notice that he had bitten his lip, and blood was flowing from his mouth. deeply reflected in the mind.

Some surviving ships heaved their anchors in a panic, trying to escape from this sea of ​​death, but in the narrow docks and water villages, from time to time, ships that were trying to escape collided with each other by themselves, and the island extended its shooting target at this time, Part of the stone bombs were changed to block the entrance of the dock and water village. The ships that escaped by chance arrived here, but they still could not escape the impact of the stone rain. One after another was sunk, and some ships caught fire and burned. The entire dock and water village were glowing red. On the surface of the water, corpses were densely floating on the surface, almost covering the surface of the water. Occasionally, there would be a few living people struggling to paddle, some trying to climb ashore, and more But they are desperately swimming out to sea, because there are still a large number of their ships parked there.

With a bang, Zhong Xiang punched the side of the ship, and the severe pain from his hand made his mind a little clearer. A feeling of pain piercing his bones permeated his whole body. Almost one-third of his fleet was destroyed just now. Power, in such an instant, in less than a stick of incense, the entire army was wiped out on this small island that he didn't even look down on.

What kind of docks, water fortresses, what can't resist the panic and escape, are all pretense, all are to lure your own fleet into these places, traps have been preset on the island, and those catapults must have been tested countless times It took three times to hit these targets so accurately, so that his fleet could not escape in time. All of this was a trap set by the opposing commander long ago, just waiting for him to get into it.

Zhong Xiang's heart was bleeding. After this battle, his fleet would not be able to return to its heyday within at least two years.

Cheers came from Lianshan Island, and the enemy's congratulations seemed to sprinkle a handful of salt on Zhong Xiang's wound.

Inside the dock and water village, the burning ships burned for a whole night, until the first ray of sunlight rushed out of the sea and illuminated the tops of the two peaks on Lianshan Island opposite, the fire was gradually extinguished, leaving only wisps of blue smoke skyrocketed.

At this time, the dozens of ships parked in the dock were completely destroyed, and most of the thousands of officers and soldiers were buried in the bottom of the sea. Only a few hundred people were left on the breakwater or on Lianshan Island, gathering together in disheveled clothes. Looking at the ruined dock and water village with horrified eyes, the unarmed people gathered together in horror, their eyes wandering.He was obviously scared out of his wits.

"Attack, attack, the whole army is attacking!" Zhong Xiang thumped the side of the boat and hissed, "I'm going to kill these bastards alive!"

The main force of the Bozhou navy was divided into three groups, and at the same time launched a general attack on Lianshan Island.

There was no need to hide the trebuchets on the island at this time, and they started to attack the ships on the sea at the same time. The calm sea suddenly boiled, and the waves splashed one after another when the stone bombs fell. The sea seemed to be boiled by fire. .

Zheng Zhiqiang has also calmed down from the previous carnival. He knows that the most difficult time has come. The catapults that have lost their concealment pose little threat to the ships of the Bazhou Navy. The next step will be a cruel ground battle. He, at least until sunset today.

The hand holding the waist knife couldn't help but tighten. "Come on, old guy, I'm waiting for you!" He murmured.

Of course, Zhongli, who was hundreds of miles away, could not have known what happened on Lianshan Island. At this moment, he was very excited, and the enemy he was chasing after him appeared less than ten miles away in front of him. And last night, the panicked opponent actually fled overnight. Although it was the first time for him to sail before night, he did not chase the opponent away, but kept biting the opponent's tail tightly. There were many people on board. It can be operated in shifts, but the opponent is obviously unable to do so. After running all night, the enemy on the opposite side is obviously exhausted. The speed of the boat is gradually slowing down, and he is getting closer and closer.

"Major General, an island appeared in front of us!" A school officer reported loudly to Zhongli.

Spreading out the sea chart and finding the location of this island, Zhong Li said: "This is a volcanic rock island. The other party obviously wants to use the islands here to avoid our pursuit. Send an order to speed up and tell the brothers to catch up and annihilate the enemy. Each of them will be rewarded with ten taels of silver!" In order to beautifully annihilate the opponent, Zhong Li did not hesitate to reward him heavily.

The sailors were excited. Their yearly silver was only 20 taels, but if they won this battle, they would be rewarded with ten taels of silver. Yes, as long as you catch up to the enemy and destroy them, it's a matter of flipping hands.

The speed of the ship suddenly increased.

Yuan Gang looked at the enemy ship that was approaching behind him. At this time, the nearest ship was only three or four miles away from him, and those with good eyesight could even see the enemy's face.

"Why are you chasing so fast, are you in a hurry to report to the ghost gate?" Yuan Gang muttered in a low voice, and ordered loudly, "Left full rudder, march around the island in a straight line!"

Seeing that Yuan Gang, who was already in his pocket, not only did not enter the island, but instead formed such a strange formation, Zhongli couldn't help being surprised. Is the other party going to fight to the death? It doesn't make sense. Why don't they use the complicated situation here? What about waterways dodging their own attacks?
Before Zhongli could react, the sudden situation in front of him made him suddenly realize, and at the same time, he was dismayed. Ships suddenly sailed out from among the volcanic islands, and Yuan Gang's Black Eagle was on the left. After traveling several nautical miles, he made a big circle, intending to get behind him.

"Ambush, so they have an ambush here!" Zhongli's face paled, one, two, three, four, five, the other party just had five of the five thousand ship that he was in now, and the three thousand ship There are dozens of warships, this battle is impossible to fight.

"Turn the rudder and evacuate at full speed!" Zhongli's voice was trembling and his words were incoherent. In fact, he didn't need to give an order. When he saw a large number of ships appearing opposite, the soldiers operating the ships had already turned the rudder and started to retreat.

In the blink of an eye, the predator becomes the hunted.

Zhongli wanted to escape, but there was no way to escape. After chasing the Black Eagle all day and night, the soldiers of the fleet were already at the end of their strength, and the courage inspired by the bounty had disappeared at this time, and the huge shadow of death shrouded They, weak hands and feet, not only failed to speed up their escape, but the speed of the boat was getting slower and slower. Zhongli saw in despair that the opponent's huge fleet surrounded him.

Eight cattle crossbows screamed and pinned the ship with long ropes. Two [-]-material enemy ships were staring at his ship, and the other [-]-material warships were stared at by such large ships. Only to be beaten, seeing the opponent's blow like a storm, Zhongli pulled out his waist knife in despair, and shouted loudly: "Everyone is ready, take over the ship and fight!"

There was no suspense in the battle at all, and within an hour, the battle ended, and the Bazhou Squadron under Commander Zhong Li was completely wiped out.

"General Zheng, we have won a big victory!" Yuan Gang boarded Zheng Zhiyuan's Izumo, excitedly, looking at the large and small ships floating on the sea, except for some small boats that were burned and sunk, everyone Most of the ships were intact, but their masters were either killed or captured alive.

Zheng Zhiyuan nodded with a smile, but his eyes turned to the direction of Lianshan Island. If there is no deviation in the strategy, Zhongxiang's Bozhou Navy lost one here and one in Lianshan Island. Now the strength of the two armies has basically been leveled.The time is ripe to wipe out the opponent.

"Yuan Gang, you stay here and deal with these captured ships. These ships are not bad. They can join our army with a little repair. The old crocodile Cai on the volcanic island has already been executed."

"Yes, general, but these prisoners of war?" Yuan Gang pointed to the captured Bazhou navy on the ship.

Zheng Zhiyuan said: "We don't have the time and energy to screen them, you know what to do!" With a slashing movement in his hand, Yuan Gang's heart trembled.

(End of this chapter)