Killing system of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 223 Cai Degui's defeat at Xiakou

Su Fei went up the river to prepare the fireboat.Because Cai Mao would definitely run away after being attacked from both sides, so Su Fei needed to go up a certain distance, build a good amount of gas, and find a good terrain to burn Cai Mao's navy.Su Fei's boat brought a lot of small boats, and these small boats were used as fire boats.

Su Fei also needed some time to prepare, Zhang Shun deliberately waited for a day before appearing behind Cai Mao's fleet.

Cai Mao's navy is indeed not a weak soldier, and its combat effectiveness is still good.Liu Biao's ability to suppress the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River has a lot to do with Cai Mao's navy.If it weren't for Cai Mao's navy to cross the south of the Yangtze River and block the support between the four counties along the Xiangshui and other tributaries of the river, it would be impossible for Liu Biao to defeat the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River.

Thinking about it, Liu Biao didn't have a single soldier when he first came to Jingzhou, and it all depended on the support of these big families. If he didn't have some advantages, how could he possibly occupy the entire Jingzhou?In history, when Cao Cao went south to Jingzhou, Jingzhou was almost all in the hands of Liu Biao.Only half of the seven counties were occupied by Cao Cao, but he took another Cangwu County from Jiaozhou and appointed Wu Ju from Changsha as the prefect.Even the governor of Jiaozhou was recommended by Liu Biao as Lai Gong, but Lai Gong and Wu Ju did not get along, so Wu Ju used his military power to expel Lai Gong (the governor did not have military power).

It can be said that Cai Mao's navy is the key to Liu Biao's maintenance of Jingzhou, which is why Liu Biao put most of his military resources in Jiangling and let Cai Mao guard it.Cai Hao is not only Liu Biao's brother-in-law, but also a generation of celebrities himself. He was active in Luoyang during the Ling Emperor period, and had friendship with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others. It can be said that he is a typical example of both civil and military skills.

In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cai Mao and his nephew Zhang Yun were killed by Cao Cao by mistake. In historical facts, Cai Mao lived well, but he was far away from the center of power.

And Zhang Yun is not useless, he found that Zhang Shuncong was approaching from behind.Zhang Yun noticed that Zhang Shun's boat was approaching from behind, and immediately had someone report it to Cai Mao.

When Cai Mao learned that he was being attacked from both sides, he knew that he had fallen for the trick. He immediately ordered: "All ships turn around, stop chasing Li Bao, bypass Zhang Shun's ship from the north, and return to upstream!"

In water warfare, the upper reaches and the upper air outlet are very critical places, which are convenient for attack and retreat.Cai Mao, who has a lot of experience in water warfare, naturally knows the importance of the upstream, so he immediately let the water army shoot the upstream position, so that he can be invincible.

As soon as Cai Mao turned around, Li Bao, who was downstream, knew that Zhang Shun had arrived, and his plan was successful, "The ballista is ready, shoot freely! Cai Mao has been chasing us for several days, let him also taste the taste of being chased." !"

The soldiers below promised with a loud bang. They did not use the ballista to attack in the past two days, and they were passively beaten all the time, only using bows and arrows to fight back.It can be said that the stomach is full of breath!As soon as Li Bao gave the order to fight back, they all geared up to give Cai Mao's navy some flair.

In less than a cup of tea, all the crossbowmen were in position. After adjusting the crossbow, they loaded the crossbow arrows with both hands and feet, then raised the crossbow and pointed it at Cai Hao's navy, and pulled the trigger.

"嗖——" "嗖——" "嗖——"...

Numerous crossbow arrows shot at Cai Mao's navy with screams, and Cai Hao's navy, who was still turning, stopped immediately, and there were screams and screams from many ships.They can't help but not scream, and they can't help them not to scream.

Cai Mao's naval vessels had three types: fighting ships, stern ships, and grasshopper ships.Fighting ships are large ships, and they can be defended by ballistas. As long as they are not shot into the oars and decks, there will basically be no problem.But that's not the case with the stern and grasshopper boats. The stern is a medium-sized ship. Its hull is not thick and can be directly penetrated by crossbow arrows. Not to mention the grasshopper boat, a small ship used for reconnaissance cannot withstand crossbows. , even if you shoot too many bows and arrows, the boat may capsize.Zhuge Liang's straw boat borrowing arrows can only exist in novels, while Sun Quan's straw boat borrowing arrows is just a stop-gap measure.

Those sailors who were shot by the crossbow arrows were directly nailed to the boat, and they couldn't die for a while, and of course they would keep screaming.And the sailors who saw this scene were also terrified in their hearts. Such a long crossbow arrow has exceeded their cognition, how can they not scream?
Zhang Shun saw Cai Mao turn around from behind, and launched the ballista to attack.

Cai Mao was attacked from both sides, the damage of the ballista was too high, the warships and grasshopper boats were shot continuously, and soon the grasshopper boats were directly shot down, and the warplanes were also missed several times.Seeing that there was no solution, Cai Mao immediately ordered: "Let the fighting ships protect the other ships, and we retreat back."

Cai Mao's order worked. Under the cover of the fighting ships, Cai Mao's navy finally broke away from the battle and retreated upstream.Li Bao and Zhang Shun met. Although their boats were much taller, their speed was not as fast as Cai Mao's navy, so they could only fall far behind.

It was not until night that Cai Mao finally got rid of Li Bao and Zhang Shun's pursuit and returned to Xiakou.

Xiakou is a water village at the entrance of the Hanshui River to the Jiangshui River. In the past, Cai Mao once stationed here when he supported Huang Zu to pacify Jiangxia.However, after Jiangxia was pacified, Cai Mao abandoned this place.Historically, when Xiakou was an important town in Jingzhou, it was only after Sun Quan eliminated Huang Zu that Liu Biao lost the barrier of Huang Zu that he began to pay attention to Xiakou.When Huang Zu was still alive, the important frontline town against Sun Quan was Fankou, which is the water village in Zhu County.

After Cai Mao returned to Xiakou, he took the time to rest.Today's battle has dealt a great blow to his navy's spirit. After counting the casualties, Zhang Yun immediately reported to Cai Mao: "Uncle, today our army lost sixteen ships, fifteen grasshopper ships, one There were thousands of casualties among soldiers."

"So many casualties?" Cai Mao was surprised. "It seems that their crossbows are indeed very strong. After this battle, we will also build some crossbows to use."

Zhang Yun hesitated to speak, but Cai Mao asked after seeing it, "Just say what you have."

Zhang Yun said: "Uncle, I saw their crossbows from a distance, they are much bigger than ordinary crossbows, we can't make them!"

Cai Mao said: "Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. As long as we give enough money, we will surely find the person who made the crossbow."

Zhang Yun nodded, and then asked: "Uncle, do we want to report to the lord that Zhang Yijun is too good at fighting, we should make our colleagues mentally prepared."

Cai Mao didn't think so, "We lost in the first battle. My lord will panic if he hears about it. Just send someone to inform Wenpin. He should know what to do."

Zhang Yun nodded, indeed.Their main character, Liu Chao, is not in good health. If something goes wrong, they can't afford it.

(End of this chapter)