Tiger Owl

Chapter 78 The Battle of Queyue (Part 1)

At dawn, Gan Ning's fleet arrived at Wankou. It was the last group to retreat, consisting of only 5,000 troops and 100 warships. The rest of the ships and troops escorted the civilians and supplies to safety beforehand.

Just then, a scout reported that Huang Zu's fleet was speeding along the north bank of the Yangtze River, only fifty li away from Wankou.

Gan Ning was taken aback and asked again, "What kind of ships are they, and how many are there?"

"They are all medium-sized warships, about five hundred in total."

There are two types of warships: a medium-sized warship and a large warship. The only difference between the two is their size; they look exactly the same.

The warship Mengchong was somewhat similar in appearance to a covered boat, but much larger. Its cabin was very sturdy and covered with cowhide, making it resistant to arrows and falling boulders.

The enemy ships were all medium-sized warships, each carrying twenty-four people: twelve oarsmen and twelve crossbowmen. They were divided into two levels, with the oarsmen's positions on the lower level. There were five oar holes on each side, and ten long oars were used to row together.

The upper deck was slightly shorter and contained the positions of the combat soldiers. There were also five holes on each side, for shooting with crossbows at a distance and stabbing with spears at close range.

In addition, two spearmen were deployed at the entrances to the fore and aft cabins, respectively, so that they could deal with the enemy even if they jumped onto the fore and aft decks.

The characteristics of the Mengchong warship are its extremely high speed and great maneuverability. Huang Zu was particularly fond of the Mengchong warship. Over the past eighteen years, he has built tens of thousands of large and medium-sized Mengchong warships, which is his substantial wealth.

Gan Ning immediately understood that this must be Huang Zu's army coming to support Wan County, numbering about ten thousand. He only had five thousand troops. How could he deal with this army? Gan Ning pondered for a moment, then called Zhang Tai over and whispered a few words of advice to him. Zhang Tai nodded repeatedly and immediately went to make arrangements.

Gan Ning then divided the hundred large ships in two. Wang Ping led fifty large ships to retreat into the Wan River, while Gan Ning personally led fifty ships into the Yangtze River.

Around noon, countless black dots appeared on the river surface, resembling a pack of wolves. Five hundred warships sped towards the river, rushing into the Wan River one after another.

As the last warship charged into the Wan River, Gan Ning's fifty tower ships also appeared, flanking from behind and entering the Wan River as well.

Gan Ning's thinking was very clear: the characteristics of the Mengchong were flexibility and speed. When fighting on the Yangtze River, the enemy would have a lot of room to maneuver. His hundred tower ships were relatively slow and cumbersome, and would definitely suffer a great loss.

But things were different on the Wan River. The narrowest part of the Wan River was only a dozen or so feet wide. Three tower ships could block the entire river. The enemy's warships were like fish caught in a fish tank. Speed ​​and agility were meaningless. They could only fight head-on. His tower ships were much larger and a dozen feet taller than the enemy's warships. His army had a commanding position. It was like a battle between cavalry and infantry.

It was still 160 li from Wankou to Wanxian, a journey that would take two days. But the 500 warships had only been in the Wan River for 30 li when they were attacked from both sides by 100 tower ships.

The fierce battle between the two armies broke out instantly. The Yuzhang army's warships, with their high ground, had the advantage of terrain. The long spears of the Mengchong warships were rendered useless. They could only fire at the enemy ships that were showing their heads from a distance, or look for opportunities to destroy the enemy's oars.

The soldiers of medium-sized warships generally do not go out to fight. Once they do, they need to use ladders to climb onto the enemy's large ships. Since the enemy has a superior position, they suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, the medium-sized warships have two functions: one is to transport troops to distant places. They are extremely fast and can deploy troops hundreds of miles away in two or three days. The other is to cover the fighting ships in naval battles. The fighting ships are the main force ships, and their task is to jump onto the enemy ships to fight.

But today, these five hundred medium-sized warships are going to suffer a great loss. They are trapped in the narrow waterway and cannot make use of their advantages of flexibility and speed. On the contrary, the Yuzhang Army has the advantage of being on high ground.

Arrows rained down on the river, and soldiers fell one after another, but what was truly terrifying was the raging fire.

Each soldier of the Yuzhang Army wore a fire bottle belt around his waist, with five oil bottles inserted into the lower part of the belt.

"Light it, launch it!" a village headman shouted. The soldiers pulled out the cork, stuffed the tarpaulin inside, lit the tarpaulin with a tinderbox, and once the oil inside was ignited, they threw the oil bottle down hard.

"Crack!" The kerosene bottle shattered on the foredeck of a warship, spilling a slick of oil that instantly turned into a raging fire. The flowing oil quickly seeped into the ship through the deck gaps and began to burn inside.

"Come again!"

Several soldiers threw three bottles of kerosene in succession, and the foredeck of the entire warship was engulfed in flames.

For the warship, the greatest threat was not fire, but thick smoke. Thick smoke billowed from the ship and seeped into every nook and cranny. The twenty-four soldiers were hiding in the relatively enclosed cabin, and the thick smoke quickly filled the cabin.

The soldiers coughed desperately, and several soldiers fainted from suffocation due to the thick smoke. The two soldiers guarding the hatch could no longer bear it, kicked open the hatch, and rushed to the aft deck.

But as soon as they rushed onto the deck, they were shot down by enemy crossbow bolts.

This was not a situation encountered by just one warship. In the fierce battle, all the warships that approached the Yuzhang Army's warships encountered the same desperate situation: they were either choked to death by the thick smoke or shot to death by enemy crossbows on the deck.

The only way was to raise your hands in surrender, walk out, and kneel on the deck; that would save your life.

However, many soldiers jumped directly into the river and swam towards the shore, but Zhang Tai had already led two thousand soldiers to wait on the shore, and they became prisoners of war as soon as they reached the shore.

As it turns out, fire attack is the most effective weapon in naval warfare. It not only produces terrifying flames but also billowing smoke. Whether it is the famous Battle of Red Cliffs, the Battle of Shaxian where Sun Ce defeated Huang Zu, or the later Battle of Yiling, all are classic battles that used fire attack.

As time went on, more and more warships were destroyed by the fire. In the narrow river channel that was only one mile long, more than two hundred warships were engulfed by the flames, and the other warships could not escape the fate of being burned.

The fire grew larger and larger, completely out of control. Not only the warships, but also more than a dozen warships of the Yuzhang Army were engulfed by the flames. Huang Zu's soldiers cried out and jumped into the water to escape.

Huang Zujun's commander, Kan Huang, led dozens of men ashore. Before he could catch his breath, more than a dozen spears were already poking him from both sides, and Kan Huang had no choice but to surrender.

..........
As dusk fell, the last few dozen warships were still burning, while the rest were reduced to charred skeletons and sunk in the water.

Gan Ning's fleet has returned, fully loaded with soldiers and prisoners of war, and is heading towards Pengze County.

Gan Ning had different roles for Chaisang County and Pengze County. Chaisang County focused on commerce and trade, while Pengze County focused more on military functions. This was mainly because Pengze County had a river bay that was very suitable for mooring warships, where hundreds of warships were moored, and more than 10,000 troops were stationed on the shore.

There are 3,000 troops stationed in Chaisang County to defend the county from a surprise attack. Once Chaisang County lights the beacon, troops from Pengze will quickly come to its aid.

Gan Ning did not linger in Pengze County. After releasing the prisoners of war, he immediately led his 20,000-strong army and more than 400 warships assembled in Pengze County to sail away.

Gan Ning had just received news that Huang Zu was launching a full-scale attack on Wuchang County, and Ding Feng urgently requested Gan Ning's assistance.

The southern part of Jiangxia Commandery is a strategic location that Gan Ning values ​​highly. It is the gateway from Yuzhang Commandery to Jingzhou, and Gan Ning must not lose it.

(End of this chapter)