Three Kingdoms

 Jiangzhou Port. When it was still dark, Xu Huang stood on the shore and nodded. The soldiers boarded the ships in order.

When Xu Huang suddenly appeared in Jiangzhou, many people had no time to react.

Po's army was defeated by Xu Huangqing without any resistance.

Perhaps at the moment of death, there was still a thought lingering in the minds of Bo and others...

Isn’t Xu Huang in Nanzhong?

Meng Yan stood at the bottom, looking at Xu Huang's formation, as well-behaved as a child who never peeed or muddled.

After clicking, Xu Huang turned around and looked at Meng Yan, "Jiangzhou's defense can be entrusted to Xiu Ming." 』

Meng Yan bowed down and said, "I will not dare to fail to do my best." 』

Xu Huang nodded, "That's good." 』

 Xu Huang actually disliked Meng Yan very much. It's just that Xu Huang never showed it, he just had a business-like attitude, neither friendly nor distant, but this attitude happened to put great mental pressure on Meng Yan.

 Xu Huang boarded the battleship.

 The whole army went down the river.

Meng Yan stood on the shore until the shadow of the battle fleet disappeared from sight, then sighed slowly. He finally realized what it means to be involuntarily.

 The days of shutting the door and being the overlord of the Southern Middle Kingdom are gone forever.

In fact, this kind of "door" has been closed for thousands of years in Chinese history. Until later generations, some people from the tribes in the Nanzhong region came to a certain program and called themselves "princes", but in fact they were just in a village. He's just the village chief's son.

  Just like many people with skin color bonus in the dark night who say that they are the son of a certain chief.

The position and hereditary stability of these indigenous people are even more stable than that of the Chinese emperor. The reason is very simple. These indigenous people have never seen the market...

 What Zhuge Liang and Xu Huang did in Nanzhong was to let these guys from the mountains see the world.

The road was opened, even if it cannot be compared with the transportation lines of later generations, but at least these people who have been in the mountains for who knows how many lives have begun to have the opportunity to come into contact with the outside world, and know that in addition to the mountain in front of them, there are also things behind More mountains, more rivers, more people…

 As a result, the positions of the local overlords in Nanzhong were not so secure.

  This is a change in the entire Sichuan and Shu, like a torrent.

Neither Bashan nor Nanzhong can resist.

 When these mountain natives see how people in other places live, then these natives who have been exploited for generations will naturally think about it and want to change.

Although the overall ideological trend in Nanzhong is not very turbulent at the moment, those at the top of Nanzhong, such as Meng Yan, have already noticed the shock caused by the changes in the thinking of the people of Nanzhong.

If you want to maintain your position, you can no longer simply intimidate or deceive as before.

There is always a time when lies are exposed, and there is a time when threats are resisted.

 These original leaders in Nanzhong also sought changes as a last resort.

Of course, it’s not like Meng Yan didn’t think about playing tricks.

But after Zhuge Liang noticed the fluctuations in the thoughts of these guys in Nanzhong, he waved his sleeves and left, but a heavyweight guy, Xu Huang, came.

Xu Huang used his battle ax to let many Nanzhong people know what would happen if they provoke Xu Huang...

 If you can't fight, you can only surrender.

 After you vote, you must follow Xu Huang’s dispatch and arrangements.

Just like quelling the chaos in Jiangzhou, Meng Yan is the main force.

Meng Yan knew in his heart that after he did this, his relationship with some local people in Jiangzhou would be completely over, but Meng Yan also knew that what Xu Huang wanted was for his relationship with Jiangzhou to be over.

Sure enough, after Meng Yan led the Nanzhong people and killed all the Bo family, Xu Huang handed over the defense of Jiangzhou to him.

Meng Yan sighed.

 Everything you want to gain has to be paid for.

"Boss, you said people from Jiangdong are coming..." Meng's confidant asked from the side, "Who loses and who wins?" 』

Meng Yan whispered: "Do you think Zhuge is smart in his work?" Is General Xu brave? 』

　　　"Of course...it's smart and brave..." the confidant replied.

Meng Yan nodded, "That's it... Do you understand?" 』

"ah? ” The confidant cannot understand.

Meng Yan was not in the mood to explain. He sighed and waved his hand, "Let's go." There is a lot of work to be done... We still have to clear out other remnants... Someone reported that a bandit in Bo's family has escaped... We are busy..."

 …

 …

Xu Huang stood at the bow of the boat.

　　His iconic big ax was placed in the cabin.

 Xu Huang now wears a sword on his body.

 Xu Huang was originally incapable of water fighting.

 He likes mountains, horses, and the earth that is always solid and supports him.

But boats are something Xu Huang has never been exposed to. He really didn't expect that one day he would fight on boats...

However, under the hussar, Xu Huang knew better than to rest on his achievements and sleep on his achievements. There were too many people catching up behind him. If he didn't work hard, he would eventually be surpassed one day.

Xu Huang also wants to become the Grand Governor or Grand Protector of Xiongzhen one day, so if he doesn't know how to fight in water, it will be a huge and obvious weakness after all.

Now, although Xu Huang is not as good as Gan Ning and other generals who are good at water battles, he is no longer afraid of water battles, and he knows how to fight water battles. Just like Xu Huang, not only did he replace his battle ax with a battle sword, but he also knew how to fight water battles. Even the armor on his body was replaced by a leather-iron hybrid armor that was lighter on the water. Even the silk sash that tied the armor on his body was changed.

 The silk ribbon is specially soaked with oil and wax so that it can be easily taken off in case it falls into the water.

 These differences between water battles and land battles are like a sharp change and growth in Xu Huang's life.

 Now is the time to test his sharp changes and growth.

The wind on the river is strong and the water is surging.

 Xu Huang leaned on the railing and looked into the distance.

 Ambitious.

 …

 …

 At this moment, Zhu Zhi had already advanced his troops to the vicinity of Yufu.

Yufucheng is divided into mountain city and island city.

Mountain cities are built on mountains, while island cities are built on islands in rivers.

Some, like Xiangyang and Fancheng, are cities sandwiched by water and connected by floating bridges in the middle.

On both sides of the pontoon, there are military and water forts standing on the two cities, using strong bows, crossbows and catapults to stop the enemy.

Whether they are coming from upstream or downstream, enemies will be attacked from multiple sides. Even if they attack a certain point, they must be prepared for opponents coming out from the other side.

Relatively speaking, of course, the city on the island is relatively weak, with only about 3,000 defenders, and the city walls are relatively short. However, this comparison is only relative. After all, after going to the island, it is not as good as the surrounding mountains and you can cut down trees everywhere. Construction equipment, whether it is a small port or a shoal with accumulated sediment, is not suitable for the deployment of large-scale troops.

If Jiangdong Army is good at infantry, then Zhu Zhi will definitely choose to attack the mountain city first. But what Jiangdong is good at is boats and naval forces, so he must first fight against the island city and capture the water stronghold in Sichuan and Shu, and then in turn attack the mountain city in Yufu.

Of course, Zhu Zhi has some other ideas...

 But even if you want to attack an island city with a small number of defenders, it is not that easy.

 The first thing Zhu Zhi had to face was the catapult set up high on the island city.

 Compared with human drag, the counterweighted catapult has a longer range and a more accurate attack range. With the advent of new technology, all of Yufu's catapults have been replaced by counterweighted catapults.

 This means that Zhu Zhi needs to take greater risks.

Secondly, Zhu Zhi must cut off the pontoon bridge and cut off the connection between the island city and the mountain city. Otherwise, as many island city defenders as Zhu Zhi wounded and killed, the mountain city will be replenished. No matter how hard the previous battle was, it will become useless. Meaningless.

 However, if you want to use warships to attack the pontoon bridge between the island city and the mountain city, you will face obstruction from the Sichuan and Shu armies in three directions. It can be seen from the various crossbows and catapults set up on the shore and the pontoon that this risk is also very high, not to mention that the obstacles and iron cables set up by Zhuge Liang under the water must be removed first.

On the one hand, Zhu Zhi landed with infantry near Yufu, approached the mountain city, suppressed the mountain city's defenders, and forced the mountain city defenders to detach part of the army to defend against land attacks. On the other hand, he set out to dismantle the pontoon bridge. situation, but in fact it was an attack in the east and an attack in the west, making preliminary preparations for the attack on the island city.

As the Jiangdong warship approaches, the sound of war drums echoes on the river. Whether it is on the warship, on the pontoon, or on the city, and whether it is the soldiers of the Jiangdong Army or the Sichuan and Shu Army, they all hold their breath at this moment. Breathe, hold the weapon in your hand tightly, and wait for the battle to begin.

 The low and slow sound of war drums is like the roar of a giant, or like rolling thunder falling, which is soul-stirring.

　　　咚! Boom! Dong Dong Dong!』

 …

 …

Zhu Ran, who was hiding in the mountains, was looking at the Sichuan and Shu soldiers who were fleeing again. He hesitated a little, but after a moment he gave the order: "Follow them." 』

As soon as the flag was waved, Zhu Ran and others attacked the fleeing Sichuan and Shu soldiers in front.

 In fact, Zhu Ran still doesn’t know who his opponent is.

 Because he thought this was an ordinary encounter.

 In the mountains, with your line of sight blocked, isn’t it normal to suddenly bump into the opponent’s small army?

Zhu Ran originally planned to maneuver the flanks of Yufucheng and deploy his troops behind the sides of Yufushan City, and then wait for the critical moment when Zhu Zhi attacked from the front to suddenly pounce, or find an opportunity to sneak into the mountain city to cause chaos...

But when Zhu Ran was walking back to Yufu, he encountered these small troops of the Sichuan and Shu Army one after another on the road.

At the beginning, Zhu Ran did not struggle with these small troops. After defeating and dispersing these troops, he continued to move in the direction of Yufu. However, after encountering these small troops for the second and third time, Zhu Ran He didn't understand why these troops appeared at all, so he wanted to arrest some people to ask questions.

Zhu Ran did not dare to send people to contact Zhu Zhi rashly, because this area had already entered Yufu's control. If the contact soldiers he sent were encountered by these small troops, then what he wanted to pass to Zhu Zhi The information may in turn be used by Zhuge Liang, so Zhu Ran can only rely on his family ties with Zhu Zhi to do his best.

Advancing along the valley, he soon encountered a small group of Sichuan and Sichuan soldiers. Zhu Ran defeated them, but his worries became more and more intense.

As he continued to move forward, Zhu Ran felt more and more something was wrong, so he sent scouts to take a closer look, only to find signs of an ambush from Sichuan and Sichuan ahead...

what to do?

Before Zhu Ran could figure out how to break the ambush in the front, soldiers from the rear rolled up to Zhu Ran and shouted, "Report!" General, behind you... there are more than a thousand people coming along the valley! 』

"What? ! ” Zhu Ran was shocked.

 …

 …

Jiangdong Navy's tower ships and fighting ships were also equipped with ballistae and catapults.

Of course, at this time, Jiangdong was more accustomed to calling catapults "thunderbolt chariots" because their sound was like thunderbolts and their power was like lightning strikes. But names belong to names, and actual combat still depends on the effectiveness. Compared with the equipment of the Sichuan and Sichuan Yufu defenders, Jiangdong's crossbows and catapults are two points behind.

 One point of range, one point of accuracy.

Hence Zhu Zhi could not exchange fire with the catapults and ballistas on the mountain city and island city, he could only stare at the pontoon bridge and smash it.

But the problem is that it is not easy to find a place just outside the fire coverage of the mountain city and island city to safely smash the pontoon bridge.

 As soon as Zhu Zhijun prepared to launch an array to attack the pontoon, Gan Ning's navy would be dispatched.

Zhu Zhijun turned around and prepared to attack Gan Ning. Then Gan Ning's navy would lead Zhu Zhijun closer to the fire projection range of the mountain city and island city, and the three parties would "challenge" Zhu Zhijun together.

At the same time, the Yangtze River water is in a flowing state. Although large warships are stable, their targets are also large, and they will be taken care of by ballistas and catapults.

Small ships do have smaller targets, but small warships also have fewer manpower and equipment, and it is more difficult to maintain a stable state in the current for accurate shooting.

 One day passed, and both sides remained in a state of testing each other. No one invested a large army, and naturally there was no major damage. It was like two boxers in the ring in the first round, just warming up.

Zhu Zhi found out the locations of fire projection points on some mountain and island cities, and then also found out some iron cables and underwater traps around the pontoon bridge.

 After marking all these fortifications, Zhu Zhi couldn't help but feel heavy in his heart.

 He thought about it for a long time by himself under the candlelight, but he couldn't find any flaw in Yu Fu.

Normally, a city has edges and corners, some faces, some places are high and some are low, and there are bound to be some flaws in the layout of facilities, but here in Yufu, Zhu Zhi could hardly find any. A particularly obvious weakness.

Zhu Zhi had always been unwilling to admit that Zhuge Liang was a formidable opponent, but after he arrived in Yufu and saw Yufu's defense system clearly, Zhu Zhi had to face up to this problem and admit that this young man was indeed Has the power to beat him to death on the beach...

However, Zhu Zhi is still trying to find a solution to various difficulties.

The next day, Zhu Zhi arranged most of the warships outside the attack range of mountain cities and island cities, and then dispatched two "specially built" ships and some small boats to fight.

 These two building ships seem to be a little fatter than ordinary building ships.

Jiangdong's warships in the rear served as the rear fire cover for this small fleet. When Gan Ning wanted to harass this fleet, they were suppressed by Zhu Zhi's firepower.

 Just like yesterday, Zhu Zhi's fleet was brought within the firepower range of mountain and island cities by Gan Ning.

Gan Ning naturally had no particularly good way to restrain the progress of this small fleet, but soon the two Jiangdong tower ships rushing at the front entered the attack range of the island city's catapults.

As soon as the Jiangdong building ships entered the attack range of the catapults, the catapults placed by the Sichuan-Shu Army on the island city began to show their power. The craftsmen and soldiers operating them raised their wooden hammers high and hit the hooks of the catapults hard. The counterweight box sank suddenly, and the long wooden tip drew an arc, throwing the stone bullet into the sky, drawing a long arc, and smashed towards Jiangdong's ship.

The stone bullets made a harsh whistle in the air and flew towards the two building ships approaching slowly.

　　　Boom! 』

A stone bullet hit the river water, splashing up a water column two to three feet high and splashing in all directions.

The Jiangdong soldiers on the building were not happy because the Sichuan-Sichuan catapult attack failed, because the impact point of the stone bullets was actually not far from the building, and the splashing water seemed to be stained on the faces of the Jiangdong soldiers on the building.

 The second stone bomb also fell into the water.

The third stone bullet drew an arc in the sky, and then hit the roof of the building ship in front of Jiangdong, making a loud noise.

Zhu Zhi stretched his neck and stared at the building boat hit by the stone bullet in front of him.

The tower ship shook a little, and it seemed that the whole ship was sinking, and a piece of the top of the tower ship seemed to be deflated.

 Zhu Zhi couldn't help but hold his breath.

 Other Jiangdong soldiers also waited with bated breath.

The stone bullet that hit the building ship just now seemed not to hit the building ship, but fell in their hearts, making a shocking loud noise.

While Fei Qian was researching boat technology, Jiangdong was stimulated by Fei Qian and accelerated his research on boats.

 These two "specially built" building ships are Jiangdong's most advanced technological products at the moment.

 This is a battleship with domed armor.

 When someone is leading the race, the people behind will speed up the pace without realizing it.

The craftsmen of Jiangdong Shipbuilding Company may have been inspired by the structure of Wengcheng and installed dome armor on the exterior of the ship.

Although the craftsmen in Jiangdong said that they could withstand the attack of stone bullets,...

 Now is the time for actual combat testing.

If what the Jiangdong craftsmen said is wrong, then not only the battleships and soldiers will be lost, but morale may also be greatly damaged.

 The building boat hit by the stone bullet was shaking...

On the outer armor on the top of the building ship, a huge gap was obviously opened by the stone bullet, but the broken outer plate caused the kinetic energy of the stone bullet to be almost completely released. As the power of the stone bullet was exhausted, the building ship will When falling from the top dome, the flag bearer at the stern of the building ship was ecstatic and raised the safety flag!

 The stone bullet failed to penetrate the roof of the building!

"good! ”Zhu Zhi slapped the railing fiercely.

The soldiers in Jiangdong also breathed a sigh of relief, and cheers rose into the sky.

　　　　 Send the order! Let the ship move forward! Clear the obstacles! Break the pontoon! 』

Zhu Zhi ordered in a deep voice, and immediately felt that he was able to do it again, and his waist could be straightened by three points.