Chapter 576 Fierce Battle in Wancheng

"good!"

Zhang Jia said ambitiously: "Now the first two steps of our army's plan have been completed as promised - Zhengfang led the army to defend Yuyang for three days, buying time for our army and frustrating the Jingzhou army's spirit; Ling Ming led five thousand cavalry to join the army Go south from Guan, as long as you wait until the Jingzhou Navy arrives and follow my command, you will definitely be able to defeat it!"

Fazheng was the first to speak: "I would like to follow the general to defeat the enemy."

The generals on the left and right, headed by Li Yan, stood up one after another, clapped their fists together, and said loudly: "I am willing to follow the general to defeat the enemy!"

Above the Han River, there is a huge naval warship, including hundreds of small and medium-sized frigates such as 艨艸, zouge, etc., surrounded by a three-story fighting ship in the middle, sailing majestically in the river.

The sharp bow is like a long sword cutting through the waves. The oncoming river water is divided into two halves when it encounters the battleship. The flags and banners planted on the battleship are fluttering in the wind. The hands of the Jingzhou Navy officers standing on the deck are Holding a sword and a spear, he looks majestic.

On the bank of the Han River in front, a ranger was surprised when he saw such a huge naval warship. He had obviously never seen such a huge thing chopping waves in the water. However, the ranger quickly reacted and immediately turned his horse's head and rode away, apparently to report the military situation.

"Director Cai, there is a Nanyang soldier ranger ahead who saw our army and ran away."

"It doesn't matter." Cai Mao waved his hand and said: "Our army's morale is like a rainbow. Now we are only a short distance away from Wancheng. It doesn't matter if the enemy knows it. As long as we take Wancheng in one go, Nanyang's situation is determined!"

Cai Mao was very confident in capturing Wancheng, because Wancheng, like Yuyang City, was built on the bank of the Han River, but the Nanyang Army did not have an organized navy fleet, while the Jingzhou Navy had Zongheng Jiang and Han, relying on the help of naval battleships, took Wancheng easily.

The Jingzhou navy marched all the way, and gradually the outline of Wancheng finally appeared in front of tens of thousands of Jingzhou soldiers. Compared with Yuyang County, which is lightly defended, Wancheng is much stronger and taller. After all, Wancheng is the seat of Nanyang County, and it is one of the few large counties. The tall city wall is more than two feet high. , there is an arrow tower every ten steps, and the top of the city is covered with fully armored Nanyang soldiers, ready to attack.

Cai Mao was so arrogant that he waved his command flag and shouted loudly: "The whole army is ready. First, we will use naval warships to cover Wancheng with arrows. After the infantry lands, we will attack the city immediately. There must be no mistakes!"

"Zhongye, you will lead the team yourself, do you understand?"

Wen Pin hummed, and then said: "Director Cai, the soldiers under the general's command suffered a lot of casualties during the siege of Yuyang, and they are full of resentment. I hope that Governor Cai will reward me with money and food so that I can teach the soldiers to fight with all their heart."

Cai Hao frowned: "If you capture Wancheng, you will be rewarded."

"Director Cai!" Wenpin insisted without taking a step back: "With heavy rewards, there must be brave men. It can be seen that it is not a bad thing to reward soldiers before the battle to boost morale. Moreover, the soldiers conquered Yuyang City but gained nothing. Please give Governor Cai a reward." A good one."

"Humph, your eyes are open when you see money." Cai Hao snorted dissatisfiedly and had to say: "Okay, in that case, each soldier will be rewarded with a hundred coins, and there will be another reward for conquering Wancheng."

"Thank you, Governor Cai."

Wenpin retreated, and Cai Mao couldn't help but snorted.

"Hmph, they are really a bunch of poor people who want money at every turn. It's really rude."

"Haha, Zhongye is a capable general. It's worth paying him some money to fight hard." Zhang Yun said with a smile: "As long as Wancheng is captured, won't we have as much money and food as we need?"

Cai Hao nodded gloomily, noncommittal.

On the top of Wancheng City, Zhang Jia, Li Yan and other generals all appeared on the top of the city. They looked at the Jingzhou Navy Fleet showing off in the Han River outside the city with emotion.

"Jingzhou Navy is indeed extraordinary." Zhang Jia sighed: "Since I was young, I have only seen dozens of warships at most. This three-story warship is really unheard of."

"Haha, the general is from the north, so of course he doesn't know it." Li Yan said with a smile: "As the saying goes, a boat in the south is a horse in the north, and people from the south operate boats just like people from the north ride horses. The land of Jingzhou has always been crisscrossed by rivers and lakes, and the network of lakes is crisscrossed. Many people travel by boat. Liu Jingsheng is in Jingzhou, and the navy under his command is naturally of extraordinary strength. I am afraid that the Jingzhou navy on this expedition is less than one-third."

"One third?" Zhang Jia was slightly surprised: "So, the Jingzhou Army has three to four hundred warships?"

"That's right." Fazheng stepped forward and said: "The navy in Jingzhou is not small in number. Huang Zu of Jiangxia supervised a navy, and Liu Jingsheng will definitely leave some naval guards in Xiangyang. Cai Mao's navy this time will definitely not exceed One-third of the Jingzhou Navy, or even less."

"It's a pity that if we had a naval fleet, we would have to keep all these warships." Zhang Jia sighed: "It's a pity that most of our troops are from the north. They are good at riding horses and archery but not sailing boats."

Fazheng smiled and said: "Haha, don't worry, general. Hasn't the general already supervised the construction of the Xuanwu Pond in Luoyang to train the navy? Wait another year and a half, when the general pacifies Hebei and herds horses to go south, he will definitely Order us to supervise the construction of the navy."

"Okay!" He opened his jaw and said proudly: "On that day, I will go south with you to herd horses and drink from the Yangtze River!"

"The enemy navy warship is coming, please retreat immediately!"

Li Yan stepped forward and explained: "The last general had experienced the tactics of the Jingzhou army when he was defending in Yuyang. The Jingzhou army advanced on land and water, and the naval battleships covered the city with arrows in the water, and the arrows were as dense as rain. , extremely lethal, please retreat for now."

"Okay!" Zhang Jia said calmly: "Zheng Fang has experience fighting with the Jingzhou Army. What he said is not wrong. I will retreat for the time being." Many generals and soldiers of the Nanyang Army immediately obeyed the order and retreated to the Nuqiang. Later, at this time, the Jingzhou Navy fleet was already approaching the head of Wancheng with great momentum.

"Director Cai has an order, shoot the arrow!"

Thousands of crossbowmen from the Jingzhou Army and Navy stood on the decks and on various floors, aiming their bows and arrows at the top of Wancheng City. As the bow strings holding the arrows were loosened, the dense rain of arrows was like the sky. There was a big change, and a heavy rain fell from the sky, washing the top of Wancheng City fiercely, wishing to turn Wancheng into a hornet's nest.

Whoosh whoosh!

Thousands of arrows fell from the sky at this moment, like a heavy rain sweeping down, covering the entire city. Almost every gap was covered by the huge rain of arrows, and there were no arrows inserted between the gaps in the city wall bricks. It was filled with so many arrows that if someone had just stood in it, they would have been shot with blood and flesh in an instant, and even three layers of heavy armor could not withstand it.