Taiheiki

Chapter 33 Water War
"The crimson-robed thief? What crimson-robed thief?" Zhao Yannian turned around calmly and blocked Yang Zheng in the narrow space between himself and the side of the ship. At the same time, he winked at Diwudeng next to him. Diwudeng understood and came over, and had implicitly surrounded Yang Zheng.

"He's one of General Jiangyi Zhang Bolu's men. This thief is so vicious that the government can't do anything about him!" Yang Zheng didn't notice Zhao Yannian's actions and said anxiously, "The boat with the brocade rope hanging on it is his. Everyone who makes a living on the river knows it. Haven't you heard of it, Zhao? Run away! Our boat is fast, and we still have time!"

"Shut up!" Zhao Yannian lowered his voice and shouted, "What are you talking about, General Crimson or General White? If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll kill you with a knife!"

Yang Zheng was frightened by Zhao Yannian's harsh words. He was about to argue when he felt a slight pain in his waist. He turned around and saw that Diwu Deng had been standing behind him without him knowing when, with a dagger against his waist.

"Just obey orders and I'll keep you safe!" Diwu Deng said with a smile, "Otherwise, I'll cut you with one blow and you'll be eaten by the fish in the river without a sound. Do you understand?"

The tip of the knife against his waist overwhelmed his fear of thieves. Yang Zheng nodded hurriedly. Zhao Yannian made a gesture, and Diwu Deng escorted Yang Zheng back to his post. He stood behind him with the sleeve of his right hand holding the knife hanging down. Others only saw that the two were standing very close to each other but did not know that Yang Zheng's life depended on the man behind him.

"What are you doing?" Yang Zheng asked in a low voice. "Zhang Bolu is not someone you can easily deal with. If he gets on board, we're all doomed!"

"You don't have to worry about this. Just do what I taught you every day. The thieves can't hurt you at all!" said Diwu Deng.

"There are only a few of you. How can you defeat Zhang Bolu?"

"Who wants to fight them?" Diwu Deng raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a sneer. "Why not just ram them? You've been on this boat for so long, haven't you noticed the ram on the bow? With two rows of oars, this boat is flying. What ship can stop it? If the boat sinks, even if Zhang Bolu has more men, can he still stay in the river and fight us?"

Hearing Diwudeng say this, Yang Zheng's eyes lit up. What he feared most was that this group of people did not know their place and would fight with Zhang Bolu, and he would also be caught in the crossfire. But after hearing what Diwudeng said, he felt that this group of people had been prepared for a long time and the plan sounded quite reliable. Besides, no matter how dangerous the crimson-robed thieves were, could they be more dangerous than the knife that was now pointed at his waist?

"I understand, and I will serve you, sir. But could you please loosen the knife on my body? Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll lose my hand when the boat is rocking!"

"Just do your job with all your heart. You don't have to worry about the knife. Nai Gong has fought against the Qiang people for more than ten years. With the knife in his hand, he can kill anyone he wants to kill, and no one can die if he doesn't want to kill him!" Diwu Deng said this, but he reduced the strength in his hands by a bit, which made Yang Zheng secretly relieved.

As they spoke, the distance between the two sides had shortened to just over half a mile. Those with good eyesight could already clearly see the people on the opposite deck. To prevent the approaching ship from escaping, Zhang Bozhi, as usual, divided the five boats into two teams, attacking from both sides and driving them towards the shore. After all, their main target was the property on the boats, not the people. Even if the people on the boats escaped, they wouldn't be able to take the boats or much property with them.

"Master Silang, has that ship lost its mind? Why is it rushing towards us?" As the ship got closer, one of the men asked in confusion, "And this ship is going so fast!"

"It must be trying to rush past us and escape downstream so that we can't catch up with it!" Zhang Bozhi said after a moment of thought.

"Yes, Lord Silang has thought it through!" The subordinate laughed and said, "But the people on this boat are really brave. We haven't seen anyone on the river who dares to come at us in a long time!"

"Yeah!" Zhang Bozhi showed a confident smile on his face: "Let's shoot them a few arrows first to scare them!"

The sparse arrows fell, causing Wei Cong to shrink his neck subconsciously. Although he had armor under his coat, there were still some parts that were not covered. But Zhao Yannian next to him whispered, "It doesn't matter. The thieves were just trying to scare us. They all missed!"

Sure enough, the nearest arrow was more than ten feet away. Wei Cong breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Yannian, what should we do now?"

"Catch the leader first!" Zhao Yannian answered without hesitation: "As long as we sink the largest pirate ship first, the remaining pirates will naturally be terrified. Whether they escape or defeat them, we will have the initiative!"

"Alright!" Wei Cong's blood boiled, and he shouted, "Sail at maximum speed and sink the Yoshino!"

"Yoshino?" Zhao Yannian was stunned when he heard this, and then thought he had misheard. He quickly sent his men to pass on the order, and then said to Wei Cong and Cao Cao, "Please take shelter in the cabin for the time being to avoid stray arrows. Leave the rest to me!"

"Well, then everything depends on Yannian!" Wei Cong also knew that there would be chaos next, and standing on the deck with Cao Cao would only cause more trouble, so he and Cao Cao retreated to the stern cabin for temporary shelter.

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Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo—the horn blew long!
"Paddle at top speed!" Yang Zheng shouted, and at the same time, he quickened the pedals beside him, which activated a clapperboard inside the cabin, and the rowers in the lower deck followed the same rhythm. The oars then matched their speed, and leaves whirled across the water, stirring up a white mist. The Yuhuang cut through the waves like a flying fish, its stern glaring a dark red as it pointed towards the largest and most ornately decorated pirate ship. "Quick, turn around and avoid it! It's a trap!" When the distance between them closed to less than fifty meters, Zhang Bozhi finally realized something was amiss. From this distance, he could clearly see the enemy ship—two banks of oars on each side, a long, narrow, straight hull, no sails, not even a mast. A sharp protrusion beneath the bow gleamed like a cold metal in the sunlight. Most importantly, the enemy's speed was astonishing; he couldn't even remember ever seeing such a swift ship.

The pirate's helmsman tried his best to avoid the oncoming collision, but this backfired and exposed his own weak side. Another pirate ship that was on the same route as Zhang Bozhi didn't realize the enemy's intention at first and only shot arrows sporadically, which was of no avail.

"Aman, hold on tight and grit your teeth!" At the moment of collision, Wei Cong grabbed the handrail on the door and clenched his teeth to avoid biting his tongue in panic. He only felt a violent shaking under his feet, and then heard a loud tearing sound. He put his face close to the wall and looked out through the gap. He saw that the bow of the Yuhuang was like a giant axe, deeply wedged into the hull of the pirate ship, almost tearing it into two pieces. He could see a man who was almost cut in half, howling in despair, and rolling into the river from this huge crack, while more people had lost the ability to shout. They were frightened by this sudden blow.

"Quick, have everyone row and separate us from the bandits! Otherwise we'll be surrounded!" Zhao Yannian was the first man to regain his senses. He patted Yang Zheng's shoulder vigorously and said, "Back off, and we'll deal with the next target!"

In the bottom cabin, most of the rowers only felt a violent vibration. The huge noise outside was completely distorted in their ears after being blocked by the hull. A new order came from the metronome. Days of training made them swing the long oars in the opposite direction in an orderly manner. They felt another new vibration from the hull - they didn't know that it was the Yuhuang trying to get rid of the severely damaged pirate ship.

Zhang Bozhi grabbed the side of the boat and finally stood up, keeping himself upright. He felt his ears buzzing and his mouth was full of salty and fishy taste. He spat out a mouthful of saliva and found that his mouth was full of blood - he didn't know when he had bitten his tongue. He drew his sword and wanted to ask a few people to go to the bottom cabin to see how his brother was doing, only to find that the deck under his feet was tilting to one side - he realized that the strange ship was retreating, and his own ship was slowly cracking and capsizing. The river water flowed in from the huge crack. Anyone who was not blind could see that there was no hope. He stomped his feet and rushed towards the enemy ship as fast as he could.

boom!
Diwu Deng cranked the crank, and the freed rollers spun instantly. The released crossbow string sliced through the air with a muffled thud. A dozen paces away, the river thief charging towards him was instantly shot through. Diwu Deng shook his head, wondering if this river thief had lost his mind. The boat was nearly broken in two, and he still wanted to board it. Did he think his own ship was full of dead men?
Until this time, the other four pirate ships recovered from the huge shock of their leader's ship being taken away by a clean and neat blow. While they were still hesitating whether to rescue people first or attack the attackers first, the Yuhuang had retreated more than 30 meters, then adjusted its direction and rushed towards the nearest pirate ship. It was obvious that she was going to repeat the same trick.

Straight ahead, the enemy ship was fleeing in panic, but the number and length of its oars were completely disproportionate, and the distance between the two sides was closing in. Just when Cao Cao thought the Yuhuang would collide directly with the enemy's stern, the two sides passed each other. The rowers on the starboard side of the Yuhuang raised their oars just before the collision, but the enemy's starboard oars were broken like matchsticks by the passing Yuhuang.

"Well done!" Wei Cong high-fived. He glanced at Cao Cao, who was still bewildered, and explained with a smile, "With only one oar, the boat can't do anything. We can turn the boat around and ram it in the middle to sink it later!"

At this time, the three pirate ships that had circled ahead to intercept them finally turned back. Zhao Yannian's face flushed red as he shouted, "Paddle at the fastest speed!"

The pedals hammered at breakneck speed, a long, frenzied, relentless hammering. The Yuhuang practically took flight, its rams splitting the water like milk. Three enemies lay ahead, the river thieves standing on the foredeck, weapons in hand, faces savage. "Turn a little further, a little further, expose the broadside!" Zhao Yannian prayed to the gods.

The gods must have heard his prayers. The Yuhuang's ram slammed into the enemy ship on the left, smashing it to pieces with such force that even the men on the enemy deck were thrown into the river. At the moment of impact, Yang Zheng's teeth snapped shut, nearly biting off his tongue. He spat out a mouthful of blood. "Next time, remember to keep your mouth shut, you idiot." After twenty years of living on the water, this was the first time he had actively rammed another ship. Suddenly, he heard a soft sound and turned to see the pirate ship's archers firing in his direction.

"Back off!"

Upon hearing Zhao Yannian's command, Yang Zheng reversed his oars on the Yuhuang, and the river water rushed into the gaping hole he had just created. The pirate ship shattered before his eyes, and scores of people fell into the river. The living struggled for life, while the dead drifted silently. The agonizing cries of the drowning men lingered in his ears.

The Yuhuang's strike had a decisive effect, forcing the two remaining pirate ships to simultaneously turn and flee—in two different directions. This unprecedented method of combat shattered their courage to resist—traditional naval warfare methods like boarding, stone throwing, and archery were rendered a mockery by the ramming power of this unique ship type. Courage, martial prowess, and numbers were meaningless in the face of this novel attack method. Victory depended on only two factors: the larger and faster ship, generating greater momentum and the ability to maximize the damage done by a single collision; and the better coordination among the commander, oarsmen, and helmsman, enabling them to use the ram to strike the enemy's vulnerable broadside while protecting their own.

"Catch up with that one, the one on the left!" Wei Cong walked out of the cabin at the stern and issued his first order. About half a cup of tea later, the fleeing pirate ship lowered its sails. The pirates in brocade robes stood on the deck, and the crowd was like a small mixed forest.

"Meng De, the pirates have no integrity. You must not be careless!" Cao Cao also emerged from the stern cabin, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Even after watching Wei Cong and his men practice numerous drills before the battle, he had never imagined such a brilliant victory. He could declare without shame: in a battle with a one-to-five odds (of course, the Yuhuang had a much larger crew than any of the pirate ships), his side had sunk two pirate ships and captured two without firing a single arrow or losing a single man. Such a brilliant victory would allow him to overshadow all his peers, including the Yuan brothers, when he returned to Luoyang the following year. The thought of this made him feel like he was about to take flight.

"That's all right!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "Yannian, tell them to lower the sails and throw all the weapons into the river!"

"My dear, wouldn't it be better if we could seize those weapons?" Zhao Yannian hesitated.

"It doesn't matter. We don't lack weapons, we lack people to use them!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "Besides, seizing two ships isn't enough. Don't be too greedy!"

"As ordered!"

In response to Wei Cong's calls, the pirates on the boat argued, but soon they obeyed. Ultimately, swords, bows, and crossbows couldn't withstand the impact of the ramming horns on the river. Furthermore, throwing weapons into the river to prevent them from falling into enemy hands could be considered a form of passive resistance.

　Many thanks to Yue Weiyang qd and Galaxy host eating steak for the rewards. In addition, the follow-up data is still not good enough. Everyone, please stop supporting the book and don’t keep the tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)