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

On the river surface where the morning mist had dissipated, Zhou Tai's broad palm slammed heavily on the bronze bell.

The Chu army admiral's eyes widened, and he stared coldly through the firing hole on the third deck to lock onto the Jin army's flagship: "Feng Xunwei, three consecutive stars!"

The giant catapult on the top floor of the huge Fu ship made a teeth-grinding winch sound.

Thirty shirtless strongmen stepped on the waterwheel-like axle, and the animal tendon rope pressed the five-meter-long casting rod into a full moon.

When the vanguard ship of the Jin army advanced to two hundred steps, Zhou Tai cut the fuse hanging in the air, and the burning sulfur powder instantly ignited the incendiary oil on the surface of the stone bomb.

Three red rainbows streaked across the sky.

A fireball was reflected in Yue Yongkang's pupils.

He kicked over the drummer next to him and snatched the drumstick. The drum beats, three fast and two slow, pierced the battlefield - this was the most dangerous "Swallow Carrying Mud" formation in the Jin army's drill manual.

The boats in the front row suddenly dispersed to the sides, revealing the turtle-shell ships hidden in the rear.

The soldiers folded the cowhide shields soaked in river water into an inclined plane, and the bamboo spring machines hidden in the belly of the boat sprang up at the same time, spreading three layers of rattan armor nets above the fleet.

The moment the burning stone bullet hit the defense formation, three waves of fire exploded on the surface of the river.

The top layer of rattan net curled up into ashes in the flames. The second stone bullet pierced through the shield wall built by the turtle-shell ship. When the third one hit the left wing of the Jin army's tower ship, the burning resin mixed with human blood flowed on the deck into a river of fire.

"Switch to the iron thorn bullets! Hit their dragon bones!" Zhou Tai's eyes lit up.

The sound of iron chains rattling could be heard from the lower deck as twelve improved cyclone cannons were pushed out of their firing ports. These weapons, equipped with barbed iron balls, emitted devil-like screams under the action of centrifugal force.

Yue Yongkang wiped the sparks that splashed onto his lips, suddenly snatched the machete from his personal guard and cut off his cloak.

"Raise the bloody flag!"

The blood-stained Jin flag was raised to the top of the mast, and the eighty Jin warships suddenly gathered into a cone-shaped array.

The three-layered ship with an iron-clad bow led the way, and the light boats on both sides were hung with wet quilts, and they were trying to charge at the Chu army's fleet formation under the rain of stones.

"They're going to haunt us."

Chu Ning's white battle armor reflected the firelight. He was about to speak, but Zhou Tai spoke first: "Let the soldiers move another thirty steps closer."

When the vanguard ship of the Jin army approached within a hundred steps, twelve square holes suddenly appeared in the belly of the Fu ship.

With the crisp sound of the mechanism, the racket made of cold iron swept across the river like a giant crocodile's tail.

These five-meter-long weapons were equipped with thousand-pound copper hammers at the ends. The Jin army's proud water boats turned into sawdust the moment they came into contact.

But Yue Yongkang was waiting for this moment.

"Release the Dragon Tooth Boat!"

On the main ship, a seven-colored column of smoke suddenly rose from the Jin army's flagship.

Twenty long and narrow speedboats hidden among the fleeing soldiers suddenly tore off their camouflage, and the three-foot-long iron spikes on the bows shone faintly blue in the sun - the bottoms of these specially made poison boats were clearly crushing the last thirty death warriors of the Jin State.

Chu Ning's expression changed slightly.

He recognized these speedboats painted with pufferfish patterns. Historical records showed that the State of Jin used this method to destroy the Qin navy.

It was these poisonous boats filled with saltpeter that prevented the Qin army from crossing the Cangjiang River.

At this moment, the oars on the huge Fu ship had not been retracted yet, and the Red Horse Boat on the right wing of the fleet had already been entangled with the Longya Boat.

"It's our turn."

Zhou Tai suddenly grinned, and an iron whistle came out of his mouth full of yellow teeth.

As the shrill whistle pierced the battlefield, more than ten strange ships suddenly rushed out from the Chu army's formation.

These "hedgehog ships" with iron spikes on their hulls did not dodge or evade, but went straight into the poisonous spikes of the Dragon Tooth Boats.

The sound of steel tearing was deafening.

When the Jin army's soldiers were horrified to find that their poison spikes were stuck in the iron spikes and they could not get out, countless hooks suddenly emerged from the bottom cabin of the Hedgehog ship.

A ghostly green fire ignited on the top of the long iron-clad pole, which poked into the cabin through the arrow window of the Dragon Tooth Boat, igniting the dead men who were bundled with gunpowder into human-shaped torches on the river.

Yue Yongkang watched with bloodshot eyes as the final killing move turned into a sea of fire, and the drumstick in his hand broke into pieces.

At this moment, the vanguard ships of the two armies were already engaged in a tug-of-war, and the strangely shaped warships of the Chu army finally showed their fangs.

The "Thunder Chariot" with a bronze wheel on the bow swept the Jin army's boats into the water.

The "hook-shaped ship" with iron arms extending from both sides directly tore the enemy ship in half.

The most terrifying ones are the three "fire dragon ships". The dragon-shaped statues on the bows can actually spew out three-meter-long columns of sulfur fire.

"Turn! Turn!"

The roar of the Jin army's deputy general came to an abrupt end.

The huge Fu ship finally completed its turn, and its five-story-high steel body took advantage of the river current to rush straight towards the main camp of the Jin army.

The Taotie beast head on the bow suddenly opened its huge mouth, and the battering ram hidden in it popped out and knocked Yue Yongkang's flagship in half.

The governor of Jin State who fell into the water grabbed a piece of driftwood and watched his navy, which had fought for half its life, being defeated by the new ship formation of the Chu Army.

In his gradually blurred vision, he suddenly noticed strange bubbles rising near the waterline of the huge Fu ship - that was definitely not a sign of a normal warship.

The river wind brought Chu Ning's clear shout, and a white figure was bending a bow like the moon on the top of the ship.

Yue Yongkang used his last bit of strength to reach for the signal tube at his waist, but found that the river water had already soaked the gunpowder.

Before the darkness engulfed his consciousness, he vaguely saw thirty empty ships floating upstream, and the fire dragon patterns painted on the hulls were faintly visible in the morning light.

He had already delayed for a long time, and his thirty fire dragon boats must have arrived at the Chu army dock.

As long as the fire starts, the Chu army will be in chaos.

Now all his hopes are placed on Yan Feng.

As long as they succeed, the Jin navy still has a chance to turn the tables in this battle.

"Grand Commander! Grand Commander!"

"Someone, come and rescue the Grand Commander!"

"Oh no! The ships from Chu are coming."

"Hurry up and bring the Grand Commander up, bring him up."

When Yue Yongkang fell into the water, the Jin navy went crazy.

When Yue Yongkang choked on the third mouthful of river water, he heard the last battle drums of the Jin army.

Seventeen damaged Jin warships were tearing through the curtain of fire against the current of the river, with the burning corpses of the Chu army hanging on the bows of the ships, and they were actually using their flesh and blood to plow a path in the sea of fire.

"Save the governor!"

On the Jin army's fighting ship with a broken mast, thirty soldiers jumped into the river hand in hand.

They bit their daggers with their teeth, used their shields to block the rockets fired by the Chu army, and managed to build a human bridge in the boiling river.

When Yue Yongkang's silver armor flashed among the waves, the sergeant in the front suddenly straightened his back - three Chu army crossbows pierced his chest, but the blood pushed the floating governor half a foot closer.

Suddenly, several columns of water exploded on the surface of the river.

The only five remaining armored ships of the Jin army formed a lotus formation, with hundreds of iron chains extending from the belly of the ships to form a net.

The barbed iron net scraped across the copper-clad bottom of the Yunmeng, making a teeth-grinding sound and actually slowed down the speed of this steel behemoth.

"Damage the boat!" The Jin army captain, his face covered in blood, roared and jumped into the river.

Three hundred warriors held reeds in their mouths and axes in their arms and sneaked towards the Chu army's warships.

When Yue Yongkang was pushed onto a piece of floating wood by the waves, he saw his own guard battalion evaporating before his eyes.

The three Chu army's fire dragon ships spewed out sulfur fire crosswise, burning the Jin army's warships that came to support them into red iron frames.

The soldiers dancing in the flames maintained their charging posture until their death, their charred hands still pointing in the direction where the governor was drifting.

"Hurry!" The remaining Jin army's tower ship suddenly rammed into the Fu ship.

When the two ships collided, the Jin soldiers on the deck stabbed their shoulder blades with iron hooks and built a human rope bridge in the sea of fire.

As the rain of arrows pierced their shaking bodies, the blood-like messenger finally crawled to Yue Yongkang's side.

"Thirty... Fire Dragon Boats..."

The boy's fingers, swollen by the river water, pointed westward, with half a signal flag still wrapped around his fingertips.

"Grand Commander... hurry..."

Before he could finish his words, the Chu army smashed down with their clubs, and the young man and the floating wood turned into blood foam.

Yue Yongkang was sinking in the overwhelming darkness, and in a trance he heard the sounds of Jin calls coming one after another.

The sea ghosts he had trained himself were knocking on the planks with their broken spears and guiding him with their dying war songs.

When the last bronze axe fell to the bottom of the river, thirty lines of fire suddenly lit up on the four banks.

The sails of the thirty fire dragon boats were finally lit.