Chapter 116 108. Battle of Dongting Lake (IV)
Although the ship had great momentum thanks to the wind, the countless hooks on both sides, like a classic force analysis scene, dissipated a lot of the kinetic energy of the fire ship where Zhou Qian was.

At the same time, in addition to the grappling hooks, many ships also took out the fire-proof forks mentioned earlier, which were specifically used to deal with this type of small fire ship.

More than a dozen soldiers worked together, and the power of Zhou Cang's boat, which had originally been greatly reduced due to the hook, was stopped effortlessly at this moment, and it only moved forward a few meters relying on a little bit of inertia.

"Everyone on the boat, surrender immediately! Otherwise, we will shoot you with arrows!"

The Han army's small boats surrounded them, and the soldiers bent their bows and drew their arrows, aiming their arrows directly at the Eastern Wu soldiers on the fireboats, including Zhou Qian.

"Captain Zhou...what should we do?"

The soldiers on the same boat with Zhou Qian couldn't help but sweat profusely. On the one hand, there was a fire behind them, so it was very hot. On the other hand, they were in a dilemma and didn't know what to do.

There was no way forward. Since the small boat had been stopped by the Han army, even if it could move again by chance, it would be a dream to rush towards the Han army's large ship, unless Zhou Qian could stop time or all the Han army became fools.

If they retreated, it would take some time for the Wu navy behind them to arrive. This time was enough for the Han army on the opposite side to kill their group more than a dozen times.

Zhou Qian was silent for a moment, then he raised his hands high, stood on the edge of the boat and shouted loudly:
"Brothers! Today's situation is under my sole responsibility! Those who are willing to surrender can surrender, and those who are unwilling to surrender to the Shu army can join me in a bloody battle!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Qian jumped into the water with a splash.

The Han army was stunned. They thought he was going to surrender. The first half of his sentence seemed to indicate surrender as well, but the second half suddenly said this, catching the Han army off guard.

"Shoot! Shoot! Don't give them a chance to escape!"

Fortunately, the Han army was no longer the same as before. When they saw Zhou Cang suddenly jump into the water to escape, they were only slightly stunned. They immediately shot arrows at the remaining Wu army without hesitation, to prevent them from jumping into the water like Zhou Cang after they reacted.

The Han army was stunned, and the Wu army soldiers were also unable to react. The entire process from Zhou Cang speaking to diving took less than five seconds, how could a normal person react in that time?

The Wu army was still pondering what Zhou Qian had just said when the Han army shot arrows at them.

“Swoosh—Puff, puff. Ugh!”

For a while, the sound of bowstrings, the sound of arrows piercing flesh, and screams could be heard on the river. The fireboats had no defense capabilities, and the back of the fireboats was already burning fiercely. The Wu soldiers could only squeeze into the small distance at the bow of the boats. At this moment, the sound of the Han army's bowstrings was like thunder, and countless arrows rained down on these defenseless Wu soldiers.

After most people were shot dead, less than ten lucky people who survived suddenly woke up from their dreams and immediately jumped into the water, following Zhou Qian's example.

Although Wu Jun didn't understand physics, he knew that a bow and arrow would lose most of its kinetic energy after entering the water, as they had lived in water for half their lives.

The Han army was not at all surprised to see the Wu army's behavior. Many soldiers simply dropped their grappling hooks, picked up their sickle spears from the boats, and looked underwater in the light of torches.

The soldiers of the Wu army's navy were all born and raised by the sea. Their ancestors had made their living by the sea for generations, so it goes without saying that they are very good at holding their breath and riding the waves.

At this moment, Zhou Cang was underwater. He pulled out a short knife from his waist, held it in his mouth, and slowly paddled the water with his hands, approaching the nearest small boat of the Han army.

"Plop! Splash!" Zhou Cang took advantage of the Han army's unpreparedness and dived out of the water. He shook the side of the Han army's boat hard, making the soldiers on it lose their footing instantly.

"There's a water ghost! Stab him quickly!"

The Han army was only slightly panicked. The sergeant on the boat held the edge of the boat and shouted loudly. Immediately, soldiers holding hook-sickle spears came to the side of the boat and stabbed down.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian quickly dived into the water.

Zhou Qian was a good swimmer, although he didn't quite understand the principles of light refraction in modern physics, but he knew that people on the water would have deviations when looking at underwater objects. Now that he had dived vertically, the possible attack surface was narrow, and there was a great chance that the Han army would miss the target and stab him from behind.

However, things turned out to be beyond Zhou Qian's expectations. Three Han soldiers rushed towards him with hook-sickle spears, but only one of them missed. The hook-sickle spears of the other two stabbed directly into Zhou Qian's shoulders and arms. A stream of scarlet liquid suddenly burst out from the already rippled surface of the lake, which was particularly conspicuous under the light of the torches.

Feng Xi integrated the knowledge from two thousand years later. The refraction of light is something that is even taught in junior high school physics during the nine-year compulsory education. Because the refractive index of liquid is different from that of air, it will cause refraction when light passes through.

People on shore see objects in the water lower than they actually are.

Feng Xi taught Zhang Nan this simple truth on the first day he took over the navy. At first, Zhang Nan didn't believe it.

Feng Xi was too lazy to talk to him any more. He took him to the water's edge, pointed at a white stone in the river, and asked Zhang Nan to poke the stone with his spear.

In Zhang Nan's opinion, isn't this just like eating and drinking?
As a result, when Zhang Nan fired the shot, he found that the gun body changed its position as it entered the water and fell directly on top of the stone.

Feng Xi didn't say anything. He snatched the spear from Zhang Nan's hand and stabbed it downwards. The tip of the spear pierced straight into the white stone, which surprised Zhang Nan.

From then on, this simple truth was spread throughout the navy under Zhang Nan's order and treated as basic common sense.

Now this common sense came true immediately. Zhou Qianfu, who wanted to rely on visual dislocation to conduct guerrilla warfare, was stabbed as soon as he entered the water.

The two Han soldiers felt the sensation of the hooks penetrating into flesh, and immediately called upon their comrades to come and help. Several hooks were thrown down, and then suddenly lifted up, with the sharp tips directly piercing into various parts of Zhou Cang's body, causing Zhou Cang to open his mouth and scream in the water, causing the lake water to pour directly into his mouth and nose.

Fortunately, the Han army did not torture Zhou Cang too much. After hooking him, several soldiers holding hook-sickle spears stabbed him repeatedly like stabbing a fish fillet, turning his body into a corpse with blood holes all over.

In this life, Zhou Chu's father died in the Battle of Dongting Lake before he was born. It is unclear whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.

The Han soldiers pulled up Zhou Cang's body and regarded it as a military achievement. These soldiers did not know who Zhou Cang was, and thought he was just a minor official, so they did not pay much attention to it.

At the same time, the Han army also followed suit with other soldiers who jumped into the water. They threw sharp hooks into the water and stabbed them with sickle spears. No one escaped with his life.

The main force of the Wu army, which was still on its way from afar, was still some distance away from here, and Zhou Qian's troops, who had launched the first fire attack, had already been completely wiped out. Those fireboats were also blocked by the Han army and burned to ashes on the lake.

(End of this chapter)