I

"Boom!"

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, rain shrouded the surrounding areas, and everything between heaven and earth became dark.

All activities on both sides of the war were suspended due to the heavy rain.

Including the soldiers Huang Yao brought behind enemy lines, they also moved into the homes of fellow villagers. No one could withstand the pouring rain.

"It finally rained."

Zhao Han stood in the handsome tent, watching the rain falling on the ground, and murmured to himself: "Governor Li, I am waiting for rain, what are you waiting for?"

In a battle in Jiangxi, whenever the forces of both sides are of sufficient size, the battle that really determines the outcome is the water battle.

The decisive battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang was like this, and the same was true for Wang Yangming's suppression of Prince Ning's rebellion.

Whichever navy can win will be able to occupy the food route and the route of troops. If the navy is not destroyed, as long as the city can still be defended, the infantry can start over no matter how many battles they lose.

This is due to the special terrain of Jiangxi. There are mountains everywhere in the province. The main cities are distributed in the mountain basins and are connected by rivers and lakes extending in all directions.

Although Zhao Han's navy had more than ten warships less than the officers and soldiers, the number of large ships was far less than that of the officers and soldiers. However, due to its terrain advantage, it occupied the intersection of the two rivers first and was still in the upper reaches of the Gan River.

Originally, he wanted to lure the government navy to pass the river mouth, and then encircle and strangle them according to the terrain, so that the opponent's advantage of having more ships could not be used.

Unexpectedly, Wang Siren was not fooled and never allowed the navy to cross the river mouth, resulting in a standoff between the two sides for more than a month.

Then we can only wait for rain and wait for the Ganjiang River to enter the rising water period!

But the weather in the late Ming Dynasty became increasingly weird. Not only was there a serious spring drought this year, it didn't rain in early summer, and it still didn't rain after the summer grain harvest.

Finally, the first heavy rain of the year came, and it rained continuously for two days and two nights.

What Zhao Han was thinking about was not fighting, but whether officials and missionary groups at the county and town levels had actively organized farmers' associations to fight floods and rescue operations.

…

The officers and soldiers had successfully crossed the river before it rained, and were waiting to launch an attack on the next day. That night, they were given a warning by God.

Li Maofang looked at the cannons in front of her and asked, "Can we still fire?"

The gunner replied: "It can go off. The gunpowder is stored well and it is not affected by moisture."

"Okay, there will be rewards for many things." Li Maofang praised.

The army has artillery, nine of them.

Six of the artillery pieces were dismantled from Nanchang City and are antiques from the Zhu Yuanzhang period. A very primitive copper mortar with a thick caliber, short barrel, high power and short range.

The other three are Folang machine guns, products of the Ningwang rebellion era. The two doors were built by craftsmen hired by King Ning. One is Wang Yangming's old friend Lin Jun, who made it at home and had his slaves transport it from Fujian.

These nine artillery cannons are hard to describe. The six mortars are city defense artillery. They are thick, heavy and have a short range. They can only wait for the rebels to attack on their own to achieve unexpected results. Although the three Fran cannons are light and have a long range, their power is actually very small, and the number of sub-cannons is insufficient.

"The officers and soldiers are moving!"

"Let them attack slowly."

More than 10,000 officers and soldiers were dispatched, but Zhao Han stayed in the camp.

Three trenches were dug outside the camp, and the passage left by each trench could only allow three infantrymen to pass parallelly.

In the camp, there are also two trenches.

If you can't hold on, you will delay the time until Gujian Mountain leads the navy to dispatch.

"Look here, headquarter!"

Zhao Han immediately climbed up to the high platform. Because the distance was too far, he couldn't see clearly what the enemy soldiers were carrying. It wasn't until more than ten steps beyond the first trench that the officers and soldiers began to assemble the Fran cannon that he finally understood what it was.

"The entire army retreats into the trenches, with Tengpai holding a shield to protect his head. Those who don't have a shield can find whatever they want." Zhao Han immediately ordered.

Three Fran cannons quickly entered the predetermined location.

But those six mortars moved extremely slowly. After the rain, the ground was muddy and pitted, so they were dragged forward by mules and horses, and they sank into the mud before going very far. In the end, we had to use manpower to lift it, and it took a long time to finally lift it.

"fire!"

Nine cannons fired a salvo, with iron bullets, lead bullets, and stone bullets flying.

Two of them fell into Zhao Han's camp, hit the muddy ground, and stopped after bouncing for a few times. The muddy ground sucked away the kinetic energy of the cannonballs.

Four of them fell outside the camp and had no effect at all.

But there were still three cannonballs, which hit the wall accurately and blasted a big hole in the wooden wall.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Ruolian sent civilian men to fill the ditch outside the camp with earth, and continued to aim the artillery at the gate of the camp.

It took the officers and soldiers half a day to finally fill in the first trench.

The nine cannons also fired several rounds, with various misfires during the period. The gunpowder was finally a little damp.

Directly north of the camp, the walls of the camp were blown down in several places.

Especially those old antique mortars, once they hit the target, they can directly destroy it. This thing itself was used by Zhu Yuanzhang to attack the city.

"ah!"

Half a day later, a shell happened to fall into the trench in the camp, and the first unlucky man in Zhao Han's army appeared.

It was a stone bullet fired from a mortar, which directly smashed the wooden shield and then smashed his head. The soldiers nearby were so frightened that they became weak.

Throughout the day, the officers and soldiers achieved the following results: they filled in two trenches outside the rebel camp and killed one rebel.

That night, Zhao Han did not lead his troops out for a night attack because the officers and soldiers must be on tight guard.

Continue the next day.

"boom!"

A mortar finally exploded. It was a thing left over from the early Ming Dynasty. It was considered to be of high quality after being used for more than two hundred years.

And it is very likely that it was caused by improper operation by the gunner, and he probably accidentally loaded too much gunpowder.

Li Maofang hurriedly scolded: "Don't overfill the medicine!"

"Dudu da da du da..."

Suddenly the sound of a suona sounded, not from Zhao Han's side, but from the Ming Navy navy who was using the suona to warn.

Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Jixiao" contains: "Anyone who holds the trumpet is playing the suona."

Wang Siren is on his ship at the moment. His mission is to guard against the rebel navy. At the same time, if the army is defeated, he will immediately sail to the river to respond.

Gu Jianshan led more than thirty large and small warships, following the rapid current after the water rose. Due to the shortage of large warships, a head-on fight with the officers and soldiers would definitely lead to defeat, but it was different now. There were more than a dozen small fishing boats next to each warship.

It was a small sampan that could only carry two or three people, but now only one person was sitting on it. The boat was filled with dry firewood soaked in grease.

"The whole army retreats!"

Wang Siren's eyes widened, he knew what the rebels were going to do. But he is in the lower reaches. Even if he uses a fire ship to attack, it is the exclusive power of the upstream rebels.

When Wang Yangming defeated Ning Wang Navy, one of the key factors was that Wang Yangming occupied the upper reaches!

In this way, the government navy, which had an absolute advantage in warships and troops, was fiercely pursued by the rebel navy led by Gu Jianshan. Both sides followed the rapid water down to Bailuozhou, where Huang Yao crossed the river, which was the narrowest point of the nearby Ganjiang River.

The river here is divided into two parts by Jiangxinzhou.

After the water rose, the river in the west was more than 100 meters wide, and the river in the east was more than 200 meters wide. However, the area where large warships can pass is only forty or fifty meters, and other areas can easily run aground.

Wang Siren was sitting on a warship nearby. After receiving the military order, he slowed down and concentrated on passing through the deep water area.

But the official and military warships that were too far away were only focused on traveling quickly. The small warships passed easily, but four large warships ran aground in a row, instantly blocking the friendly forces behind them.

"ignition!"

The rebel sailors on the small sampan first lit the torch, then pulled the rope and threw the torch into the pile of firewood.

The torch touched the grease and quickly burst into flames.

The sailor drew his knife and cut off the rope that tied the sampan, and then climbed onto the ship along the rope. More than two hundred burning sampans rushed towards the navy along the fast-flowing river.

This is also the reason why Zhao Han is waiting for rain. Only after a heavy rainstorm can the water speed meet the requirements for a fire ship attack. Otherwise, the navy of the army could easily push away the slowly advancing fireships with only long poles.

In the narrow part of the river, the large warships of the army were slowing down and gathering in the deep water to pass.

This speed difference was enough for the fire ships to catch up. Soon several official warships were set on fire, and the official sailors quickly jumped off the ships and fled. However, the water speed is too fast, and even a man with excellent water skills will not be able to swim ashore easily. He will probably be drowned by the river water.

The army and navy were in complete chaos, and Wang Siren could not suppress them at all.

The warship that had sailed through the narrow river did not care about the safety of its teammates and fled towards Fengcheng County. The same was true for the small warships. They fled in a swarm and had long forgotten where the commander's ship was.

"kill!"

Gu Jianshan let his large warships anchor and stopped, and personally led the small warships that were not afraid of running aground, following the fire ships to kill the enemy.

Many of the more than two hundred fire boats hit the shore and capsized, most drifted through the shallow water, and only a few dozen ignited the six large ships of the officers and soldiers.

To be honest, as long as the officers and soldiers did not mess up, they had only set off six ships, and they still had an absolute advantage.

But how can there be no chaos?

Half of these officers and soldiers were Poyang Lake bandits who had been recruited!

Gu Jianshan carried the two-handed war sword on his back, stepped on the bow of the small warship, and quickly caught up with a slow enemy ship.

"Flying hook!"

Dozens of flying claws with ropes were thrown towards the side of the ship.

When Gujian Mountain was about to climb up and seize the ship, someone on the enemy ship suddenly shouted: "But it's Lao Gu?"

"Fan Er?" Gu Jianshan asked.

"I am Fan Er," the other party shouted, "You go and seize the ship elsewhere, I will kill the captain and surrender!"

As he said this, the guy raised his knife and shouted: "Brothers from Poyang Lake, follow me to kill the officers and soldiers!"

For a moment, the water bandits who had been recruited turned around and killed the real officers and soldiers, and soon beheaded a navy commander.

Gu Jianshan quickly looked for the next target. The small warship he was riding was very flexible, and the 400-ton ship of the officers and soldiers completely became the prey.

"Lime!"

Just as Gu Jianshan led his troops to climb, the enemy's large ship dropped lime from above.

Fortunately, Gujianshan had already taken precautions. All the sailors were covered with gauze, even their eyes were covered with gauze. Although the visibility is not very good, the impact of lime can be reduced as much as possible.

"Rockfall!"

Stones as big as heads were smashed down from the ship by officers and soldiers, instantly knocking down several rebels.

"Cut the rope!"

More than thirty ropes of Fei Claw were cut off one after another, and the rebel sailors fell down one after another.

However, six small warships besieged this large warship, and the officers and soldiers on board were distracted by one thing.

With only the strength of his arms, Gu Jianshan quickly climbed up and stabbed a spear in front of him. Gu Jianshan dodged in the air, grabbed the gun barrel, and directly pulled the officers and soldiers down.

The man quickly rolled over the side of the ship. Before he even stepped on the deck, he drew his sword and killed an officer and soldier in the air.

Due to the charge of Gujian Mountain, more and more rebel sailors climbed up, and officers and soldiers knelt down and surrendered one after another.

"Full sail!"

After seizing the ship, Gu Jianshan drove the big ship and rushed towards the navy in front.

Over there at the camp.

During the raid on Gujian Mountain, Zhao Han laughed. If God hadn't stopped raining, this water war would have broken out long ago.

The opposite was true for the officers and soldiers. Seeing that their navy was retreating, Li Maofang and Li Ruolian quickly ordered the withdrawal.

"kill!"

Zhao Han climbed out of the trench and directly ordered the charge horn to be blown.

If he didn't want to defeat the officers and soldiers, Zhao Han would have gone out to fight long ago!