Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 747 The Arrival of Fighters
It was August, and the Huainan army once again put on a big battle formation. The navy that had been cruising on the upper reaches of the Huai River began to gather at Yingkou, and even boats from Feishui, Shaopi, and even Chaohu Lake in the back road were all there. Mobilized into the Huai River.

For a time, there were a lot of boats on the Huai River, and there were all kinds of boats, big and small, for various purposes. There were more than 2 boats, and the number of boatmen alone was nearly [-].If it weren't for the Huai River breach, the river channel near Yingkou would have been greatly expanded, and so many boats would have gathered on the Huai River, and it would have been inconvenient to steer and sail, let alone fight flexibly.After all, no matter how the Huai River soars, there is still a gap between it and Dajiang.

Many boats gathered, of which only one-third of the warships were fully used for combat, and the rest were completely used for carrying and did not have combat capabilities.As for the soldiers involved, there were more than [-] people.In the previous battle of Yingkou, the Huainan army suffered huge losses. As the Xuzhou army partially withdrew from Xuyi, they had to divide their troops to defend in Wokou.If it weren't for Hefei and Liangjun's successive aids of more than [-] troops to defend various places along the Huaihe River, the Huainan Army alone would not be enough to launch such a large-scale military operation.

Even with reinforcements from the rear, the Huainan army launched such a large-scale navy, and many garrison troops along the Huai River were deployed to a very dangerous situation, but it has a little warning ability. Once the Shihu army comes south again, it will not be able to The power to stop the enemy.

The strength of the Huainan army and water army is by no means just talk.Important ordnance such as warships alone is dazzling and fully functional.

Among the more than a hundred warships, small warships such as Zong, Chima, and Going accounted for more than half.

Among them, the small boat is the most flexible. The boat is equipped with about ten people, and it can carry between two and thirty people. It is convenient to advance and retreat. It is most suitable for use in battlefields with complex water conditions. In addition to the soldiers on board, The prow of the ship is also wrapped with iron armor and sharp thorns. Once it gallops on the water, it can be used to smash the enemy boat directly. The destructive power is far beyond that of a bow and crossbow.

The red horse has a long and narrow hull, a very shallow draft, and the interior space is not too large, so it won't carry too many people. It can play little role in direct water battles, but it is most suitable for penetrating into the enemy's line and spying on the military situation. .Comes and goes like the wind, hard to stop.

Zongge is a general term for small ships, and it is a supplement to medium-sized warships such as fighting ships. They are often towed behind large ships. Ge, used for attack or evacuation.

In addition to these small ships carrying less than a hundred troops, there are also more than twenty medium-sized ships such as fighting ships and flying dragons carrying between [-] and [-] troops.This type of warship is the main force of water warfare, and the hull itself is a sharp weapon. There are sharp wooden stakes at the front and back, one for impact, and the other for separating fire attacks that may be encountered or not fighting on board.

In order to maintain sufficient mobility and maintain combat effectiveness, this type of ship is usually not fully loaded with troops, but also loaded with many equipment for water warfare.A fighting ship usually carries more than [-] troops. Although there are many sails, because the wind direction changes every time, the real wind power is not very strong in seasons with changing climates. Therefore, manpower is mainly used to control the advance and retreat of the ship. And so on, there should be at least thirty or forty equipment, and as many as nearly a hundred.In addition to the usual long-range bow and crossbow, the weapons they carry include hooks, stabs, and bamboo spears, etc., which are used to destroy the opponent's ships and wipe out the enemy's ordnance that fell into the water.

Among these medium-sized fighting ships, some of them are not mainly powered by oars and sculls, but are vehicles and ships with wheels attached to the side of the hull, and relying on pedaling to obtain driving power.

These vehicles and boats were built by Shen Zhezi in the village of Wuzhong. Shen Zhezi had such an idea when he was living in his hometown and called craftsmen to try it out. So far, only a few vehicles have been built. They arrived at Huaijing via Ruxukou. The first official launch into the water.

In fact, the use of pedals as a power source has already appeared in Jiangdong folk. Compared with oars and oars, although the structure of pedal runners is more complicated, it is more efficient for power conversion.However, similar technologies are still very crude and sloppy, and are mostly used in civilian ships and cargo ships, and they are only auxiliary, not the main power method.As for the warship military, the technical requirements are higher. Once there are mistakes in the battle, the entire ship will suffer disaster.

However, if the vehicle and ship technology is used in the military, the significance is not only to provide another way of boat power, but also to more effective kinetic energy conversion, which not only enhances the mobility of the boat, but also saves a part of the transportation capacity.And this part of the transport capacity, in addition to carrying more soldiers, can also be used to load some large-scale water warfare weapons, such as poles and catapults that can directly destroy enemy warships, which can greatly increase the combat effectiveness of warship units. big boost.

The craftsmen of the Shen family spent several years of hard work and wasted a lot of money in the process. Finally, under the current technical conditions, the craftsmen of the Shen family polished the shipping technology to maturity and created a usable paddle warship.However, how effective it can really be in water battles will only be known after actual combat.

In addition to the boats owned by the Huainan Army itself, Xuzhou Xijian also supported some boats of the Huainan Army out of guilt, including two giant boats.

The two building boats, one named Lianfang, were built by Wang Jun in Shuzhong when China and North Korea were planning to destroy Wu. The boat is 120 steps long and nearly 200 meters long, which is said to have never existed since ancient times.In fact, it is not that exaggerated. Shen Zhezi saw that it was only more than [-] meters long, and perhaps the ship Xuzhou Army sent him was not the largest, but it was a well-deserved colossus at the moment.After the destruction of Wu, such large warships were useless, and many were abandoned in towns along the river.Shen Zhezi didn't know whether this ship was a remnant from China and North Korea, or whether it was built by the Xuzhou Army.

The other building boat, named Chang'an, was not inherited from China and North Korea, but was built in the early years by Sun Quan, the great emperor of Wu.There are five layers of buildings and ships stacked on top of each other. If it is fully loaded with soldiers, one ship can carry three thousand soldiers!

In addition to these warships, there are also some special-purpose ships such as bridge ships and Ge ships.The bridge ship has an extremely long hull, and it is not mainly used for combat, but to build a temporary pontoon bridge channel in the narrow part of the waterway. The ship crosses the waterway, the two ends of the iron cable are connected to the shore, and the floating plates are connected in series. The effective coverage distance is more than [-]. Husband.It can be said that as long as it is not a main water flow such as the Dajiang River and the Huai River, ordinary tributary shoals can be quickly passed by pontoon bridges.

Ships from the south and riders from the north, this is the natural limitation of the north and the south. Generally speaking, in the confrontation between the north and the south, the southerners may not be aggressive enough, but if they want to defend their territory, not all opponents can drive straight in.So even if Shihu did not suffer a major defeat in Yingkou because he underestimated the enemy, it would be extremely difficult to break through the interception of the Huainan navy on the Huai River.Even though Jie Nu is powerful at the moment, his background is too shallow. No matter how many soldiers he gathers, he is still powerless to break through Huaizhong, where the river network is dense, and even go straight to the east of the river.But success always makes people blind, not only Shi Le and Shi Hu, but also Fu Jian, who later boasted that he would throw the whip to stop the stream.

Such a large-scale operation of the Huainan Army cannot be completed in a day or two, and it is difficult to completely conceal it.

While the boats were still mobilizing, a small group of Jiehu scouts appeared in Huaibei to watch from a distance.The Huainan Army also used it to spy on the military situation, and did not send people to drive them away.So a series of actions of the Huainan Army were quickly reported to Shi Hu who was still staying outside Qiaocheng.

"The Southern Thieves are gathering so many boats, what is their intention?"

After receiving the letter, Shi Hu's heartstrings tensed immediately. On the one hand, he ordered to intensify the spying, and on the other hand, he wondered where the southern thief Shen Wei and Zhou Bingfeng were referring: "Could it be that the raccoon slave is planning to take the initiative to attack our army from far away?" County camp?"

To be honest, if Shen Zhezi really went north to Yingshui to attack Chen Jun and other places, instead of worrying, Shi Hu would be right in his arms.It is true that the Huainan water army is powerful, but the restrictions are also great. Once it is separated from the wide waterway of the Huai River, its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

Although the Jiehu army is still a dejected crowd at the moment, it is not enough.However, if the Huainan navy forcefully goes northward to Yingshui, and there are many shoals and bay streams in the upper reaches of Yingshui, and the current cuts off to block its retreat and trap its army in Yingshang, there is no need for a large army to be dispatched, and his own lineage will be able to complete it. this task.

Even if it was a new defeat in fear earlier, Shi Hu still secretly ambushed his troops near Yingshui, preparing to ambush the Huainan army's long-distance attack.Although the various ministries are still centrifuged, the situation has improved slightly compared to the beginning of the new defeat.

Those generals from far away and Hu Qu commanders before that had no shortage of leading troops to strengthen themselves. Although they were still under orders on the surface, in fact Shi Hu could not command at all.

In order to reverse this situation, Shi Hu also used both kindness and power. First, he firmly controlled the large supply camp in Chen County, defended many important retreat routes, and ensured that these soldiers would not disperse in a hurry.Then, in the name of cleaning up the place, the miscellaneous beards were allowed to sweep the countryside, and all the captives were returned to their army. They used the lives of these Jin people in southern Henan to strengthen the morale of the army that had fallen to the bottom.Even Pengcheng, Peiguo and other places were not spared. In addition to strengthening the morale of the army, Shi Hu also used this to strengthen his sons who were active in Qingzhou.

But even so, the morale of the army has not been substantially improved.Those Hu chiefs were keen on plundering, but when Shihu ordered the crowd to discuss how to do military affairs in the next step, they either refused to come, or they came silently, which was not useful at all.

In terms of Weikou before, Shi Hu also felt the withdrawal of the Xuzhou Army and the deployment of the Huainan Army. He even wrote to Shi Kan in Huaiyin, hoping that the two sides would join forces to take down Weikou, but Xuzhou has not yet done so. reply.It is conceivable that Guo Ao, who fled to Xuzhou, should be the hindrance.

Only relying on Shi Hu himself, he did not dare to launch an attack directly.He seems to have a crowd of 10,000+, but he is also caught in the predicament of insufficient troops. On the one hand, he has to defend Chen County, and on the other hand, he has to deter the army near Qiaocheng. The damage is much more serious than the loss of love.

But it is not a long-term solution to be stuck here like this. Although the army is not available, it still needs to be supported, and the daily consumption is an astonishing figure.And judging from the time, even if he didn't report the war situation himself, the middle school should have known it by now.

The lord is becoming more and more defensive towards him. Shi Hu doesn't believe that the lord will be indifferent to this battle. He will definitely target him, and even remove his military post directly and transfer him to Shi Kan. It is possible to hold an army.Although Shi Hu would not obediently obey orders, once such a situation happened, it would undoubtedly cause greater damage to his prestige.

Therefore, the battle situation must be reversed, and it is imminent!

Soon, the latest movement of the Huainan army came from the frontline scouts, not to advance in Yingshui, but to go up the Huai River and go westward.

After Shi Hu got the news, he was overjoyed. As expected, when the critical moment came, his old friend was still reliable.Presumably Taobao put a lot of pressure on the southern thieves. In addition, Shen Weizhou, the raccoon slave, was fainted because of his victory.

Therefore, Shi Hu sent someone to inform Taobao Da Xu Chongnuo, hoping that Taobao could contain the southern bandits as much as possible for a period of time, and at the same time informed Chen Jun's navy to prepare for a large-scale southward move.

Although he was defeated in Yingkou's battle, he had accomplished his tactical goal, making Yingkou no longer an obstacle on the Huai River.Previously, because they were afraid of the strength of the Nanren navy, they did not dare to go south in a large scale. However, if the Nanren navy were invested in Runan, the internal defense would be empty.

After Yingkou failed, Shi Hu adjusted his mentality, and did not intend to use the short to attack the long, and compete with the Southerners for victory over the waves.However, if a large number of Nanren boats are pinned to Runan, the blocking force on the Huai River will inevitably be weakened.Boats can rush in southward and transport the army across the Huaihe River!And as long as you set foot on the real soil of Huainan, you will have a lot to do no matter whether you are fighting in the field or attacking fortifications!
Moreover, as the army has been active in southern Henan for a long time, it has learned more about the situation in Huainan. The large concentration of southern goods in Huainan is undoubtedly a great temptation for those miscellaneous followers who have no desire to fight.Even if they don't fight bravely for themselves, if they talk about looting and looting, they will not fall behind!As long as they can use this as a temptation to send them across Huainan, there is no need to act in advance, and these people will scramble to rob them and cause trouble!
However, Shi Hu also learned a lot of wisdom, worried that the Nanren's move might have evil intentions, so he personally went south to Linhuai to wait and see. He couldn't decide that the Nanren's waterway army had indeed gone to Runan, so he still didn't dare to take it lightly. move.

(End of this chapter)