First Minister of Ming Dynasty

"Sir, the trick you gave me is really good, Zuo Junbi, that idiot, really doesn't dare to enter the army!"

Lan Yu was riding on horseback, following Zhang Ximeng, not without admiration, Mr. Surely, it was an exhaustive plan. Zhang Ximeng just took it indifferently, fully embodying the reservedness and mystery that an expert should have.

If Sapphire fails and lets Zuo Junbi catch or kill it, it is nothing more than losing a little boy. When historical materials are recorded in the future, Zhang Ximeng can easily swipe a big pen, rest assured, no one will know. It won't harm his image as a no-brainer.

If Sapphire died sooner, does anyone know about Sapphire?

Zhang Ximeng was thinking about it in his heart.

"Do you know where is ahead?"

Zhang Ximeng suddenly stopped the war horse and looked forward. Lan Yu followed him and looked over. There was a river in front of him that went straight into the big river. On the other side of the river, two mountains could be vaguely seen.

Sapphire looked at it for a long time, naturally it was not clear.

Zhang Ximeng coughed, and said solemnly: "In Ruxukou, there have been countless battles in all ages, right and wrong, unspeakable. But historians have all noticed that it was on this ancient battlefield that determined the rise and fall of Wu and Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. One-third of the world...I don’t understand why the Yuan army didn’t build a city to guard it. Don’t they know, they lost their mouths, the gate of the festival opened, and the Yangtze River was in the sky, no longer in their hands. At that time, my army will be full of vitality and everything will compete. Fa, crossing the Yangtze River with a powerful force of thunder, Jinling City is at your fingertips, and my Patriarch’s hegemony can be prosperous, and the day of the death of the Yuan Dynasty is right in front of you!"

Lan Yu swallowed and spit, he heard confused, "Sir, I think this target is Yuxikou!"

Zhang Ximeng snorted, "Tell you to read more. Yuxikou is the former Ruxukou. This place is the key to Chaohu's access to the Yangtze River. With Ruxukou in hand, you can equally share the natural dangers of the Yangtze River. In the spring and autumn, Wu and Chu both There is endless competition for this place. Especially it was the period of the Three Kingdoms that made Ruxukou famous. In order to preserve the danger of the Yangtze River, Soochow built a city on the east bank of Ruxukou, which is where we are. And Wei State is on the opposite side of Qibao Mountain and The two countries have four wars for this place. No one can do anything about it. Wei attacked Ruxukou, and Wu must be rescued by the country’s soldiers. Wu went north along the Ruxu River and captured Hefei... that is to the left. In the Luzhou of Junbi, the State of Wei must also invest heavily, so that he has the reputation of giving birth to children like Sun Zhongmou and giving away one hundred thousand people to Hefei!"

Lan Yu listened carefully, except that the last sentence didn't seem like a good thing, but the previous ones were understood.

This place, Ruxukou, is really too important.

If the forces in the south of the Yangtze River occupy Ruxukou and lock the Yangtze River, the north will be helpless.

Moreover, if the south wanted to expedite the north, to seize the land of the two Huaihe Rivers, to walk through the waterway to Chaohu Lake, and to attack Hefei, it is the most convenient way, and it is also the most economical way to save food and grass.

Therefore, in the Three Kingdoms, Sun Quan's death in Hefei and Zhuge's death in Qishan are all justified.

Reflecting history into reality, Zhu's army wants to go out of Ruxukou and enter the Yangtze River. It is to break the blockade of the Yangtze River navy, evenly divide the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, choose an opportunity to cross the river, and attack Jinling!

As for the Yuan army, if the Zhu's mouth is well guarded, Zhu's army will be blocked in Lianghuai, and they can even unite with Zuo Junbi to plot Huaixi.

In that case, Zhu Yuanzhang would be in jeopardy.

There is no doubt that this is a crucial battle.

It's just that the cards on both sides are not enough, the main force of the Yuan army is still attacking Hezhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang has to supervise the troops to deal with it. In Ruxukou, there were only dozens of boats led by Manzi Hague, blocking the way to prevent the Chaohu Navy from entering the Yangtze River. With such a force, it was still slightly thinner.

In addition to despising the Yuan army’s strategic vision and execution ability, Zhang Ximeng also brought sapphire and hundreds of soldiers to come over to watch the battle. It can be regarded as a reward for sapphire. Let him feel the atmosphere of the ancient battlefield. !

I don't know if Lan Yu can appreciate Zhang Ximeng's painstaking efforts. His eyes are wandering around. Suddenly, he sees a small boat, swiftly moving forward along the tumbling river.

"It's Chaohu Marine Master!"

Zhang Ximeng was also attracted, and sure enough, there was a boat.

There were not many people on it, only a dozen or so. They were holding shields and spears and knives. They descended quickly along the river, and went straight to the Yuan army's big ship.

Zhang Ximeng looked in his eyes and was taken aback for a moment. He was really such a brave navy in Chaohu!

But he soon felt something was wrong, the current was too fast, and they couldn't look back at all.

With torrential rains in the past few days, the river surges, and the flow rate is extremely fast. This kind of boat is difficult to maintain stability in the water and can only go down the current. As for the Yuan army, they anchored at the bottom of the river to stabilize the ship, so they were not satisfied, and they used chains to connect the warship to form a wall on the water to prevent the navy from rushing out.

This boat was undoubtedly a scout released by the Chaohu Navy. They also knew that the trip was dangerous, but no one hesitated.

Resolutely rushed up with moths fighting the fire.

When the Yuan army was a hundred or ten steps away, the bows and crossbows were fired on the big ship.

The sailors on the boat can only squat down and cover them with shields. The soldiers in charge of making the ship adjust the direction with difficulty and avoid as much as possible.

The wide river channel, the surging river water, the sky full of crossbows, the small one-leaf boat... Zhang Ximeng's expression gradually became dignified, and even Lan Yu gathered his daunting expression, staring wide-eyed, and watching carefully.

They hope that the boat can win, but water warfare is far more cruel than land warfare. The boat is so powerful that it can really do whatever it wants.

Under the chaotic arrows, there were already a few soldiers hitting arrows. They were still holding them, but they couldn't hold them anymore. One soldier was shot through the neck by a sharply angled arrow and turned over and fell into the river. Several heavy arrows were quickly shot from this gap, and the other two soldiers were also injured and fell into the water.

There were less than ten people on board, and it was precarious.

Seeing that the leader has no choice but to grit his teeth.

"Rush, rush up! Fight with them!"

The boat was getting closer and closer to the big ship. At this moment, the Yuan army on the big boat immediately started to move. There was a huge wooden pole on the bow of the ship. On the other end of the ship, with a large rock tied to it, it smashed towards the boat.

Lan Yu was stunned to see this scene.

"Then, what is that?"

"It's a pole!" Zhang Ximeng recognized it. This is a very ancient water warfare weapon. On the five-tooth boat of the Sui Dynasty, six rods can be mounted on it. The power is quite powerful. Once hit, the boat will be broken to pieces.

The so-called rod can be roughly regarded as a catapult on a ship, but due to different vehicles, the shape and usage are slightly different.

The racket rod on the ship is usually a pole with a crossbar on it, one end of the crossbar is tied, and the other end is loaded with stones and other things.

When using it, the soldier can first fix the stone at a certain height by using a potter's wheel, and then suddenly cut the rope, the heavy object at one end will drop quickly, and then use the principle of leverage to throw the stone out.

Since the shooting rod is used on a ship, the deck below is not as stable as the ground after all, so the distance of the shooting rod is not far, and it can even be regarded as a melee weapon. It can only be effective when it is close.

On the other hand, because it is installed on a ship, the rod can be made very large, and the stone bombs thrown are several times larger than that of the catapult, even larger and heavier.

Once it hits an enemy ship, the smaller one will be crushed immediately. Sui Jun had been in a water battle, smashing more than a dozen Chen Jun’s ships in succession, and the results were outstanding.

Seeing the Yuan army shot the pole, Zhang Ximeng knew that the sailors of the boat were finished.

But unexpectedly, these men who had lived in Chaohu since childhood, under such unfavorable circumstances, managed to steer the boat and avoid the huge boulder attack.

They were close to the big ship, and two soldiers had clenched their hooks and were ready to rush up and fight in close combat. Although they were few in number, they had to fight Yuan Danzi!

At this moment, another soldier of the ship hit an arrow and fell into the water with his head up. The ship lost control and suddenly crashed into the bow of the big ship.

The big ships of the Yuan army were equipped with horns on the bows, and the boats immediately shattered their bones, and all the sailors on it fell into the river, swallowed by the whirlpool, and disappeared without a trace.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Ximeng only felt that his heart was hit hard!

The equipment is not as good as humans, it is a big loss!

At this moment, more and more navy ships appeared in the field of vision.

Some people even witnessed the tragic condition of their own ships, and the big guys were all very sad.

There was a Yuan army blocking the way, how would you rush to it?

At this time, Yu Tingyu pressed his saber in his hand, looked at the leaders in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "At this moment, we have to advance or retreat, and we will live or die! Although the Yuan Army ships are big, as long as we can get close, There is hope!"

The navy chiefs nodded one after another, and in a blink of an eye, another fifty warships were separated, with their sails puffed up, and down the current, attacking the Yuan army.

Although there was a record of using firearms in water warfare as early as the Song Dynasty, the water warfare technology in the Yuan Dynasty did not develop fast, and the Chaohu Navy was indeed not as good as the Yuan army, so it still relied on traditional ship-to-board warfare.

Soldiers with shields were in the front, defensive arrows, the soldiers behind were holding long hooks. As long as they collided with each other, they would immediately grab the opponent with the hooks. The following soldiers swarmed up and rushed into the enemy ship.

Of course, if you don't want the opponent to approach, you can also use the hook and sickle against the opponent's ship. In short, how to use it depends on the needs of the battle.

And this time, there is no doubt that it is to get close to the Yuan Army.

The navy of Chaohu all played their lives, the big guy mustered up the courage, braved the arrow rain, and struggling forward. Soldiers continued to fall into the river, but there was not a coward who lived to death, rushed out of the mouth of the moustache, and into the Yangtze River. go with!

The two sides got closer and closer, and the Yuan army’s rods were once again fierce. Ships were hit continuously and soldiers dropped into the river, but the subsequent ships quickly replenished them.

The big guy lurked for the follow-up, and finally, someone hooked the Yuan army ship gang with a hook and sickle spear.

"Go up, go up!"

The navy soldiers struggled up, but in comparison, the Yuanjun’s ship was too tall and it was not easy to climb up. At this moment, the Yuanjun also rushed over. They shot randomly with their bows and arrows. With the heavy casualties of the Chaohu navy, he rushed over!

"I come!"

Liao Yongzhong took a long spear in his hand and took the initiative to fight. He wanted to lead the elite of the Liao family and fight it!

It was Yu Tingyu's decision to join Zhu Yuanzhang, and their Liao family could not lag behind.

Although there are more ills than good luck, but I can't take care of anything.

But just as Liao Yongzhong was about to set off, a young man suddenly came to the shore, with a few soldiers from the Zhu family behind him.

"Zhang Shizheng said, Yuan army iron cable Hengjiang, quickly attack with fire!"

"Fire attack?"

Liao Yongzhong was stunned, and then he thought about it, yes, the Yuan army used iron ropes to connect boats to block the mouth of Ruxu. Isn't it a good opportunity to set fire to it?

He immediately ordered ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ to select twenty small boats, which were filled with fire-lighting objects and sprinkled with fish oil. Then choose the best soldiers to make ships.

With the wind and the water, went straight to the Yuan army to kill.

Just a hundred steps away from the Yuan army, someone made the soldiers of the boat set firewood on the boat and jumped into the river.

But the raging boat rushed forward, and the Yuan army wanted to block it and attacked desperately with a pole, but the boats they wiped out were far fewer than the boats they attacked.

In addition, many soldiers of the Chaohu Marine Division, not afraid of flames, continued to climb boats and attack their lives.

Bang!

One fire ship succeeded, and the fire burst, followed by the second ship, and the third ship...The Yuan army was frightened and fled. The ship that was not on fire tried to escape, but was caught by the chain. They were anxious and angry. He hurriedly split the iron chain, trying to escape, but in a hurry, he bumped into himself, and people kept falling into the water, making a mess.

But at this moment, Liao Yongzhong led the fleet and slammed up again. They surrounded the Yuan army's big ship. At dusk, the blockade of the Yuan army was gone. The Chaohu navy broke through the barrier and went out of the Yangtze River smoothly!