Horse on the World

Chapter 384 Fire
On Lianshan Island, the mad Zhong Xiang drove more than 3000 sailors to land and fight. Zheng Zhiqiang had less than [-] soldiers who could actually fight, and the rest were craftsmen who operated trebuchets and other equipment from a long distance. He is very skilled, but if he really wants to fight in close quarters, he won't be able to do so.The Bozhou Navy, which opened up a long formation of skirmishers, avoided the attack of the trebuchets as much as possible, and finally attacked the first circular defensive line at noon.

Zheng Zhiqiang immediately ordered the destruction of the trebuchets in this area, and then withdrew these people to the rear. Each of them distributed weapons and prepared to use them as a reserve team. If Zheng Zhiyuan's fleet did not come for a long time, they would sooner or later be on the first stage of hand-to-hand combat. line.

The entire defense line was pushed back about 100 meters, and the ring defense line was smaller, but tighter and stronger.If you retreat further, you will be at the top of the peak. On the other side of the peak, there is a steep mountain wall. The Fuzhou Navy did not leave any retreat for themselves.

Zhong Xiang's attack regardless of cost achieved a breakthrough in the evening, the second line of defense was breached again, and Zheng Zhiqiang was forced to retreat to the top of the mountain, where there were their last reliance, two bastions with mutually horns.At this time, the Marine Corps has been reduced to less than a thousand people, and the craftsmen finally put on their armor, raised their spears and crossbows, and walked up to the wall of the bastion. This will be their last fight.

Standing on the top of the bastion, Zheng Zhiqiang looked at the boundless sea, brother, where are you?

The peak is not so easy to attack, because of the limited terrain, Zhong Xiang can't deploy too many attacking teams at one time, and can only send two to 300 people to attack each time, and facing this kind of intense attack, the bastion is very easy. You can handle it, and it won't cost you too much.

After attacking for more than half an hour, Zhong Xiang finally realized that Dingzhou's bastion offensive and defensive tactics, which are the best in the world, had indeed been perfectly applied. After another defeat, Zhong Xiang stopped this unnecessary refueling tactics.Standing in front of the bastion, Zhong Xiang pondered for a moment, looking at the big trees all over the mountain, he finally got his attention.

Zhong Xiang stopped attacking, and Zheng Zhiqiang had a rare time to catch his breath. He seized the time to recover his strength, but at the same time, he kept sending several soldiers with loud voices to stand on the top of the bastion, laughing and angrily cursing Zhong Xiang. Eighteen generations of ancestors have been dug out, counted over and over again.Zheng Zhiqiang hoped to make Zhong Xiang become angry from embarrassment and attack again, slowly consuming the opponent's strength, as long as he firmly pressed the opponent to the shore before the elder brother returned.

Some trebuchets were moved up and arranged in front of the bastion, which was a part that Zheng Zhiqiang hadn't had time to destroy, but Zheng Zhiqiang didn't care. The design of the bastion can effectively protect the stone bullets of the catapults.

But to Zheng Zhiqiang's surprise, what was thrown from the catapult on the opposite side was not stone bullets, but bundles of firewood and thick logs. Watching these things pile up more and more under the two bastions Gao, Zheng Zhiqiang suddenly understood what the other party wanted to do, and his face turned pale. Damn, he wants to set us on fire.

Zhong Xiang looked at the piled up wood branches and leaves, and said with a sinister smile, "I'm not afraid that your tortoise shells are hard, I will roast you one by one into roast suckling pigs today."

Rockets shot at the branches that had been piled up to the top of the bastions. After a few breaths, the fire burst into flames, and with waves of smoke, it rolled straight towards the two bastions along with the sea wind.

"Quick, wet the water with a cloth and cover your mouth and nose!" Zheng Zhiqiang shouted.Although the fire could not reach the bastion for a while, the bursts of smoke were even more unbearable.

The fire became more and more intense. Gradually, the fire overwhelmed the billowing smoke, and the outer wall of the bastion was baked to a dark red color. At this time, the inside of the fort was extremely hot, and the stone wall several feet thick did not dare to lean against it. , once the exposed muscles touch these stone walls, there will be a crackling sound immediately, and the smell of burnt meat is floating in the bastion.

More and more soldiers fell down. They either accidentally leaned against the wall and were burned, or they were choked by the billowing smoke. Seeing the catapults on the opposite side continuously throwing new wood into the fire, Zheng Zhiqiang was desperate. At this time, he was sweating profusely and almost lost his strength. If it wasn't for the fire that blocked Zhong Xiang's attacking team, it only needed a small group of soldiers to rush in to wipe out all the people in the bastion.

A smile finally appeared on Zhong Xiang's face, and victory was close at hand.After these nasty Fuzhou soldiers captured them, they would hang them upside down on the top of the mast and light their sky lanterns.

"Boss, look at the sea!" Satisfied, Zhong Xiang heard the trembling voice of a soldier beside him. Zhong Xiang still seemed to fall out of the ice cellar,

My whole body trembled.

On the surface of the sea, dozens of ships and ships came with the wind, and the open sails were bulging by the wind. At a cursory glance, this fleet has four or five large ships of five thousand materials, and the other ships are It is even more difficult to count, and they are rushing towards Lianshan Island. On the mast, the Dingzhou military flag fluttering high shows the identity of the comer.

"Retreat, back to the boat!" Zhong Xiang roared hoarsely. The Bazhou sailors who were cutting down trees and adding bricks to the fire spread their feet and ran towards the sea.

The sailors staying on board raised their sails and anchored in a panic without Zhong Xiang's orders, but what made them panic was that most of the sailors were still stranded on the peak, not a short distance from the seaside, and looking at each other The speed at which the ships came, even if they returned to the ship in time, it would be too late to go to sea to meet them.

Zheng Zhiyuan looked at the peak of Lianshan Island, where the smoke was billowing and the flames were raging, and he was very anxious. Could it be that Lianshan Island had already fallen, and he kept ordering the sailors to speed up, and then speed up.

Zhong Xiang and his sailors finally ran back to the pier out of breath, and got back on their boats, but the tragedy is that the Fuzhou navy just arrived at this time, and the pier was directly in front of them. Under the attack, it was too late to turn the bow, and the densely packed Bozhou navy ships on the pier immediately hit the target.

"Rush out, rush out!" Zhong Xiang shouted with bloodshot eyes.The five-thousand-material ship he was on accelerated, and after overturning several small boats of his own side, he finally rushed out of the narrow dock despite the rain of arrows, stone cannons, and lit grease bottles on the sea.

The Fuzhou Navy immediately dispatched a warship of [-] materials, and three warships of [-] materials came to besiege.

As night fell, countless torches were lit on board the Fuzhou navy, and above the pier, the flaming ships illuminated the pier brightly. The wailing and screaming sounded endlessly, indicating that the Bozhou navy was doomed.

Two hours later, the heavily scarred Zhong Xiang ship broke through with difficulty, and behind him, several ships were chasing after him. At this time, the other ships of the Bozhou Navy had basically lost their combat effectiveness.More and more sailors were unwilling to stay on the boat and be beaten, but it was difficult to fight back. They simply parked the boat on the shore, but they ran to the shore, threw away their equipment, covered their heads with their hands, squatted on the ground, and surrendered.

The battle was over, Zheng Zhiyuan stepped on the ground with both feet, and immediately ran towards the peak of Lianshan Island at a fast pace, and just when he was halfway up the mountain, he saw a group of teams with scorched faces, only two of them were exposed. Two soldiers with rolling eyes supported each other and walked down the mountain step by step. In front of them was the little brother he was worried about, Zheng Zhiqiang.

Seeing the eldest brother, Zheng Zhiqiang, who had just turned around in front of the gate of the King of Hell and came back, ran over quickly, hugged him suddenly, and two lines of tears rushed out two white marks on his face.

The boy does not cry easily, but it is not when he is sad.

Lianshan Island became a sea of ​​joy that night. Although the Marine Corps suffered heavy casualties, in terms of the overall battle situation, it achieved a huge victory. The Bozhou Navy, one of the three major naval forces in the south, After this battle, he was dead in name only and no longer posed the slightest threat to the Fuzhou Navy. Seeing the soldiers busy cleaning up the wharf, checking the trophies, and looking for the sunken ship, Zheng Zhiyuan could no longer hide his joy.

"Report the victory to General Manager Zheng, and report the victory to the Commander-in-Chief. The advance team of the Fuzhou Navy wiped out the Bozhou Navy. Except for Zhong Xiang's escape, the [-] Fuzhou Navy has disappeared since Zhongli."

When the good news reached Dingzhou, Li Qing was entertaining his current ally, Xiao Weiran, Xiao Haoran's younger brother from the Luoyang court Xiao family.

Xiao Weiran came to Xingshi to inquire about the crime.

Tian Feng was escorted all the way to Dingzhou by Zhong Jing and others, and was warmly welcomed by Li Qing, and while meeting Tian Feng, Li Qing immediately wrote a letter to Xiao Haoran, begging him for Tian Feng's family.

Xiao Haoran is heartbroken about the great changes in Qinzhou. He absolutely does not believe Tian Feng's rebellion, but he will never tolerate the other party killing his grandson. If Tian Feng can surrender, maybe he can let Tian Feng go He only took the life of a dog, and only took Tian Xinyu who killed Tianci, but Tian Feng's escape made him furious. What this veteran did was a fatal blow to the morale of Qinzhou soldiers. Li Qing The letter added fuel to the fire.Xiao Weiran came here with only one purpose, which was to ask Li Qing for Tian Feng, and to escort Tian Feng back to Luoyang.

Li Qing entertained Xiao Weiran with a smile, but he was noncommittal to the other party's request.Tian Feng is the statistics and investigation department who worked hard and did not hesitate to expose the branch in Qinzhou to get him out. How can he be easily handed over to the opponent? Moreover, thousands of troops are easy to get, but generals are hard to find. A wise and brave man like Tian Feng Well, since such a brave guy like Tian Xinyu falls into his hands, it makes sense to return it.

"Lord Xiao, Tian Feng trusted Li and came here to vote for him from a thousand miles away. How could I hand him over to you without faith and righteousness? I am very sorry about this, so in order to make up for your loss, we in Dingzhou are willing to pay a certain price for Tian Feng's life."

Xiao Weiran's face was very ugly. Although this result was expected before coming, but now that Li Qing said it face to face, he still finds it hard to accept.

"Marshal Li, Tian Feng is our traitor, but you accept him, Marshal. This makes us feel very difficult to accept. Marshal, what price can you afford to make up for our loss?" Xiao Weiran calmly face said.

(End of this chapter)