Chapter 127: Iron chains blocked the enemy, fire attacks burned them, and the losses were heavy!

"Crash-"

At the battle site where the Jingzhou navy was blocking the imperial navy fleet, an explosion of a main battleship loaded with cannons and gunpowder caused an uproar and set off huge waves.

The imperial navy fleet was downstream, and now huge waves were surging towards it one after another.

In the face of the might of nature, even large warships and tower ships were vulnerable, not to mention that there were many medium-sized and small ships in the vanguard fleet of the imperial navy.

"Immediately give the order to temporarily withdraw to Sanjiangkou!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Taishi Ci made a prompt decision to temporarily avoid the limelight.

The explosion not only caused huge waves, but also caused whirlpools to appear in the surrounding terrain. These are very deadly. If you are not careful, you will be swallowed by the whirlpool, and the ship will be destroyed and people will die.

"Fuck it! We lost a main battleship, and we are just retreating like this?!" Zhang Fei was extremely unwilling to see the order to withdraw.

However, at this time, the Jingzhou naval commanders Cai Mao and Zhang Yun decisively ordered to pursue the victory, taking advantage of the upstream advantage, and launched a series of fire ships in a suicide attack.

Throughout the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River, densely packed small speedboats, burning with flames, were speeding towards the downstream.

This scene is truly shocking!

After seeing this situation, Zhang Fei decisively ordered the troops to withdraw!

If approached by these fire ships, the gunpowder and other flammable materials on the main battleships would be the best "death warrants"!
It has to be said that cannons and gunpowder are an advantage, but sometimes also a disadvantage.

The imperial navy fleet retreated immediately!
They wanted to retreat back to Sanjiangkou to avoid being at this downstream disadvantage and being pressed upstream by the Jingzhou navy!
And today's wind direction is not favorable to them, it is blowing from the southeast!

Located in the lower reaches and downwind of the Xiangjiang River, the Jingzhou navy can exert influence on them by directly launching fire attacks!
It will be disadvantageous to continue fighting, so we should temporarily avoid the attack!
This is a matter of assessing the situation.

The imperial navy fleet immediately turned around and retreated, but before they had retreated for long, the Jiangdong navy fleet arrived!
There is no way forward and there are pursuers behind!
A normal fleet would panic if faced with such a situation.

But when Zhang Fei saw this situation, he immediately vented all his anger on the Jiangdong navy.

They went upstream to Xiangyang and fought downstream against the Jingzhou navy.

Now it is retreating from Xiangjiang River to Sanjiangkou, which means it is flowing downstream from the upper reaches.

In this way, the Jiangdong navy was downstream of them.

The imperial navy fleet actually has a geographical advantage!

They did not use fire ships to attack downstream, but directly cleared the way in front of the main battleships, preparing to bombard with cannons!

There is nothing that can't be solved with one shot, if there is, use two shots!

"Crash-"

The main battleship rode the wind and waves, while the medium and small ships gradually retreated to both sides, and then followed closely behind the main battleship.

It was like an aircraft carrier fleet commanding many battleships, advancing rapidly from upstream to downstream.

At this time, the muzzle of the gun had already begun to adjust, aiming at the oncoming Jiangdong navy.

"spread!!!"

After dozens of battles, the Jiangdong Navy also figured out the combat methods of the imperial navy, as well as the attack range and firing distance of the cannons.

The Jiangdong navy immediately dispersed. With this kind of battle formation, even if one or two ships were hit by cannons, it would not affect the entire navy fleet.

And facing the imperial navy fleet, they came up with a way to counterattack -

Iron chain block!

The warships of the Jiangdong Navy were connected by iron chains, which were floating under the surface of the river due to their weight, making them difficult to see clearly.

They planned to use this iron chain to connect the main warships of the imperial navy fleet, and then use fire attack to cause them to catch fire!
"Rumble--"

The Imperial Navy fleet and the Jiangdong Navy each had their own plans. Once they came within range, they immediately opened fire and launched a massive bombardment!

The cannons sank one ship after another, and the huge waves caused by them on the river also affected the Jiangdong navy.

But because the ships are connected by iron chains, they are stabilized and the impact is not that great!

After two rounds of bombardment, the Jiangdong Navy approached the imperial navy fleet.

Zhang Fei gave the order to charge forward directly!
The imperial navy fleet originated from the "Ming Navy", and its main warships were very large, far superior to the Jiangdong Navy.

however!
When Commander Zhang Fei's fleet rammed into the enemy, it was blocked by iron chains of the Jiangdong navy, and its forward speed was immediately affected.

Moreover, the iron chains blocked the way, which was equivalent to dragging the Jiangdong navy's ships at both ends, creating a kind of resistance!
It was like a person walking forward, but being held back by two people from both sides. Even if these two people were children, it would have a huge impact, slowing down the person's forward movement!

"What happened?!" Zhang Fei felt the main battleship slowing down and was suddenly a little surprised and confused.

"General, there seems to be an iron chain blocking the water surface!"

"what?!"

Zhang Fei immediately ran to the side of the boat. Under the bottomless river, there seemed to be an iron chain floating up and down.

"Fell into a trap!"

Zhang Fei made a prompt decision and said in a deep voice: "Immediately order all the soldiers to prepare for a boarding battle!"

However, this time, Zhang Fei misjudged it!
The Jiangdong Navy's iron chain blocking was not an attempt at boarding combat, but a suicide attack!
"Bam—"

After the Jiangdong navy officers and soldiers ignited the flammable materials on the boat, they jumped into the river to escape, and the blazing flames exploded with a bang.

"Turn the boat around immediately!"

When Zhang Fei saw this scene, he was horrified and ordered the ship to turn around.

However, they were connected by iron chains of the Jiangdong Navy's ships, as if there was a rope around their feet, and they could not move forward or backward, and their movements were slow and sluggish.

The flame burned very quickly, gradually affecting Zhang Fei's main battleship, heating up and burning... If it continued like this, it would obviously affect the gunpowder in the cabin, causing an explosion!

“Abandon Ship!!!”

Zhang Fei was extremely unwilling, but thinking of His Majesty's benevolent ideas of governing with leniency and loving the people like his own children, he made a prompt decision to abandon the main battleship and ordered all the soldiers to abandon the ship and jump into the river.

For Liu Bian, a damaged warship can be rebuilt, but if the people are gone, there is no way they can survive!
Therefore, Liu Bian has always emphasized that we must never reach the point where "the ship is alive and the people are alive, but the ship is destroyed and the people are dead". We should abandon the ship when we should!

Seeing that the situation was beyond redemption, Zhang Fei decisively followed orders and did not choose to put out the fire by force.

“Plop! Plop! Plop!—”

Hundreds of soldiers immediately jumped into the water to escape, but soon after they left, the burning flames suddenly surged, affecting the sealed gunpowder, causing an explosion.

"Rumble--"

Huge waves appeared on the entire surface of the river.

Zhang Fei and other soldiers who jumped off the boat were floating on the surface of the river, but were not submerged by the water.

Because they are wearing "life jackets"!
Strictly speaking, the armor worn by Zhang Fei and other naval officers and soldiers was not made of gold or iron, but rattan armor!

These rattan armors can withstand the attacks of swords and guns, and can be used as life jackets to float in the water. They are almost perfect!

The reason why it is only close is that the rattan armor also has a weakness, which is that it is afraid of fire!

However, because they are naval soldiers and are often in contact with river water, this weakness is weakened and can be used as a life jacket to great effect!

Well, this is a batch of “rattan armor” that Liu Bian won in the daily lottery.

"Rumble--"

Not only the main battleship commanded by Zhang Fei, but many other warships were affected, and explosions occurred one after another, or they were burned and sunk by fire ships.

The Jiangdong Navy suffered repeated defeats against the Imperial Navy fleet.

But Zhou Yu was a top commander who was good at planning and strategizing, and he came up with the method of "blocking the enemy with iron chains" and "attacking the enemy with fire".

The Jiangdong navy officers and soldiers have been through hundreds of battles, and their first practical operation was quite perfect!
At least hundreds of soldiers including Zhang Fei jumped into the river and abandoned their boats!
In this battle, this vanguard fleet lost more than half of its troops, which had a huge impact!
and!

Although they escaped the explosion of the warship, they became sitting ducks. The soldiers on the Jiangdong Navy fleet immediately opened fire on them.

This also caused considerable casualties among the imperial navy officers and soldiers.

Fortunately, the fleet commanded by Taishi Ci saw the situation was not good and avoided it in advance, and was not affected by this iron chain boat formation.

Zhang Fei and other soldiers immediately swam towards the surviving ships and were successfully rescued by their own soldiers.

When Zhang Fei boarded Taishi Ci's fleet and looked around, he discovered that their vanguard fleet, which had nearly a hundred warships, now had only forty or fifty ships left, with more than half of them destroyed. He was furious and his eyes were bloodshot!

"Fuck him!!!"

No matter how angry Zhang Fei was, it was of no avail. After this battle, they were immediately at a disadvantage.

At this time, the Jingzhou navy upstream and the Jiangdong navy downstream surrounded them again.

They were in a tough battle again!
(End of this chapter)