Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

On the appointed day, there was a thick white fog over the Cangjiang River, making it impossible to see anything.

On the west bank of the Cangjiang River, hundreds of ships set out at the same time, with Fu ships leading the way, and the momentum was tremendous.

The dragon flags fluttered and the war drums sounded, shaking the heavens and the earth, breaking through the fog.

When the surface of the river turned pale, Chu Ning's white scales were already covered with dewdrops.

He stood on the top of the ship with his sword in hand, looking at the hundreds of ships looming in the morning mist below.

These newly built warships had a very deep draft, and the kerosene tanks hidden in the belly of the ship glowed faintly in the mist.

"Weigh anchor!" The command flag fluttered, and the squeaking sound of the iron chain capstan pierced the surface of the river.

Countless black sails suddenly emerged from the reeds on the west bank, the large flags with the word "Chu" fluttered, and the bronze rams on the bows split the turbid river water, drawing hundreds of silver lines in the morning light.

From the other side came the dull beat of drums.

On the eastern skyline, the red sails of the Jin army were like blood-stained clouds looming over the border, and Yue Yongkang's black general flag was hung high on the main mast.

This famous general of the Jin State navy stood on the ship tower, sweeping the river surface with a telescope in his hand, and suddenly stopped at the place where the fog was the thickest.

There was a vague outline of a huge object, which was more than ten feet taller than the three-story ship.

The two fleets were moving towards each other like arrows shot from a bow, but they simultaneously lowered their sails when they were a hundred feet apart.

At this moment, the river wind suddenly rose, and the thick fog was torn apart like a veil by an invisible hand.

There was a sudden cry of surprise from the Jin army, and the boats in the front row even began to turn sideways - they finally saw clearly that what was moored next to Chu Ning was not a warship at all, but a moving steel city.

The five-story ship was covered with bronze armor plates all over its body. On the bow was a Taotie beast head holding a bronze water spike over a meter long. Its twelve pairs of oars were thicker than the mast of the Jin army's main ship.

The most terrifying thing was the crossbows lined up on the three decks. The cold iron arrowheads glowed blue in the sunlight, clearly having been tempered with a deadly poison.

"This... could this be..." The command flag in the hands of the deputy general of the Jin army fell to the ground.

On the deck, Yue Yongkang's knuckles were clenched white.

Such a huge creature can actually stand steadily in the water. If a war were to break out with it, the Jin State’s ships would probably be smashed to pieces.

What’s even more terrifying is that there is not just one such ship, but dozens of them.

Looking around, it was so dense that it blocked his view and made it impossible for him to see the situation behind the Chu army.

It turns out that this is the secret of the Chu Army’s shipyard.

The Chu army built new ships!

At this time.

Chu Ning on the opposite side gently stroked the cloud-thunder pattern on the side of the boat. The cool bronze touch reminded him of the rainy night half a year ago.

He ordered Su Tingmei to build a ship here and gave her the blueprints.

Today, the Fu ship has been completed, with twenty-four pedal-operated oars hidden under the deck and the bottom of the ship cast with iron from the South China Sea.

At this moment, the Jin army's light boat looked as small as a river carp in the shadow cast by the giant ship.

In today's battle, he must defeat the Jin army in one fell swoop!

Thinking of this, Chu Ning looked up at the Jin army not far away and said with a faint smile:

"I personally led the army here today. Who is the general from the Jin army?"

The sound was like a loud bell, resounding through the sky, and ripples appeared on the river surface, which had been calm.

When the Jin army in the distance heard that the Crown Prince of Chu had arrived in person, they immediately showed looks of horror.

Everyone knows that the Crown Prince of Chu, Chu Ning, is extremely cunning. In addition, the ships of the Chu navy today are so huge that their momentum is suddenly greatly diminished.

Yue Yongkang noticed that the atmosphere around him was not right. He turned around and saw that many soldiers had frightened looks on their faces.

His heart sank and his face turned extremely pale.

Before the battle even started, his soldiers were already getting scared.

Once the fight starts, defeat is inevitable!

No wonder Chu Ning wanted to fight him to decide the outcome, it turns out that the Chu army has a trump card.

He was fooled!

Fortunately, he had made arrangements in advance, and thirty fire dragon boats had sneaked into the Chu army's dock during the heavy fog.

As long as the Chu army's shipyard is burned, the Chu army on the front will definitely come to support.

Then, it will be their chance to counterattack.

However, we must now delay Chu Ning and the Chu army!

Thinking of this, Yue Yongkang took a deep breath and said loudly: "I am Yue Yongkang, the Grand Admiral of the Jin Navy!"

"It turns out that it's the Grand Commander himself!"

Chu Ning laughed loudly: "I thought you would only command this decisive battle in the camp."

Such teasing words immediately won the Chu army's laughter.

Yue Yongkang narrowed his eyes, and a cold look flashed across his face: "Even your Chu crown prince has come in person, how can I hide in the camp and command?"

"Everyone says that you, the Crown Prince of Chu, are very good at talking. After seeing you today, I find that your reputation is well-deserved."

"I just don't know how you will respond to my Jin navy after the war begins."

The Jin army, which had regained a city, also burst into laughter.

Before the battle even started, the two had already begun competing.

In war, what matters is momentum.

They all wanted to mobilize the morale of their soldiers before the battle.

But in the face of the Jin army's ridicule, Chu Ning smiled slightly: "It seems that General Yue is determined to win today's battle."

"But unfortunately, there is only one winner of today's battle, and that is me."

"As for you..."

Chu Ning pointed to the broad river and laughed, "It's only good for feeding the fish!"

"Hmph, arrogant!"

Yue Yongkang shouted angrily, "The navy of our Jin State is invincible. Your navy of Chu State has only been in existence for half a year and has not experienced a major battle. You are so arrogant as to say that you want to defeat our army. This is simply ridiculous!"

"Today, I will let you see the power of our navy!"

After he finished speaking, he waved his right hand and said, "The left wing's fast boats charge forward, the center army's bows and arrows provide cover, and the right wing is on standby at all times!"

At a command, more than 20 speedboats emerged from the left wing of the Jin army.

They were extremely fast, and under the cover of the archers in the middle, they rushed madly towards the Chu army formation.

The speedboat roared past, and the oars constantly stirred the surface of the river, forming waves of ripples that formed into splashing water.

The archers in the central army kept drawing their bows and shooting madly at the Chu army.

Seeing this, Chu Ning waved his right hand and said, "General Zhou Tai, I'll leave it to you next."

The tall Zhou Tai chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. These few ships won't survive our army's first round of attack!"

"Someone, throw stones!"

The Chu army on the Fu ship, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately shook the catapult, and huge stones were thrown out.

Suddenly, a strange scene formed in the air.

The huge stones formed a huge net and roared towards the twenty small boats of Jin State.

"not good!"

"Go back!"

The Jin army was shocked and shouted immediately.

But, it's too late.

The sudden fall of the rocks directly smashed the boat into pieces, and the Jin soldiers on the boat fell into the river one after another.

Some unlucky people were even smashed to pieces by the stones, screaming in agony.

Of the twenty clipper ships, eighteen were lost in the first wave of attack!

The remaining two ships no longer dared to move forward and quickly retreated.

The surviving Jin navy in the river were in trouble as they were used as sitting ducks by the Chu archers.

The whistling sharp arrows shot them into sieves. The bright red blood dyed the surface of the river red, symbolizing the beginning of this battle!

Chu Ning nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Well done, today I will crush the Jin navy!"

"Pass the order, charge!"

"Target, the center of the Jin army, Yue Yongkang's main ship!"