readsfreenovel Chapter 265 Water Battle (Part )
Chapter 265 Water Battle (Part )
Shen Tingyang returned to the flagship and summoned his subordinates to discuss the military. Shen Tingyang said that he must defeat Geng Zhongming's navy and cut off the Yangtze River so that the king would have no worries and could march west with peace of mind.
General Gao Zuhuang frowned and said, "Sir, we have twice as many warships as Geng's army. If we block the front and back of the river, we will be able to annihilate them. But if we forcefully attack the artillery position, I'm afraid the outcome is hard to predict!"
At this time, Zhang Shun suggested: "Perhaps we can lure the enemy and send more than ten warships to cross Guazhou. If we can lure Geng Zhongming and make him send out his navy, we won't have to attack the fort by force."
Shi Han, a general under Ling, shook his head and retorted, "Geng Zhongming is considered to be a Tartar who knows a little bit about naval warfare. He is definitely not that stupid. Even if he sends the navy to fight, he will only hang around not far from the Guazhou ferry and will never go far away from the artillery position."
"It would be good if we could lure a few ships away. Even if we attack by force, there will be fewer enemy ships."
Shen Tingyang listened to his subordinates' arguments and suggestions. After a moment's silence, he said, "After two years of continuous replenishment, we now have 76 large Fuzhou ships, 32 Haicang ships, 47 Cangshan ships, and more than 100 small net shuttle ships, sand ships, and fire ships. Geng Zhongming's Fuzhou ships do not exceed 30, and the rest of the ships are less than half of our army. Although they have artillery forts to protect them, Baiyintu's artillery fort at Guazhou Ferry has only more than 30 cannons. Even if the loss is huge, I will eliminate this trouble for the king!"
After he finished speaking, he looked at the generals and slowly said, "What I said is determination, not a violent attack. What Zhang Shun said may be worth a try."
Afterwards, the generals discussed and decided to send five Fu ships, ten Cangshan ships, and ten Haicang ships to pass by the Guazhou Ferry and bombard the ferry. If Geng Zhongming sent troops, they would go north along the river. There was Shazhou in the middle of the Yangtze River. The vast Shazhou was like a huge rock in the middle of the Yangtze River, diverting the water of the Yangtze River to both sides.
As long as Geng Zhongming pursues and lures the troops, and Shen Tingyang sends warships from Zhenjiang to block the retreat, it will depend on whether Geng Zhongming will sacrifice the chariot to save the king, or will be unable to hold back and send ships for reinforcements.
This is a tactic to lure the enemy deep into our territory and add fuel to the fire. If successful, the enemy will lose a ship, which is also a victory. If Geng Zhongming stubbornly defends the artillery position and refuses to fight, then there is no other choice but to lead the troops to attack.
According to Shen Tingyang's estimation, if they fought with Geng Zhongming under the artillery position smoothly, they could annihilate all of Geng Zhongming's troops and lose 70% of their own warships. This was also the result of no one in the army retreating and fighting to the death.
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September, 18th, sunny.
The sky was clear and the blue sky was refreshing. Twenty-five warships were slowly approaching outside the Guazhou ferry, and the Qing soldiers on the Guazhou artillery position quickly sounded the alarm.
The noisy roars and rapid sounds of gongs and drums made the Qing army in Guazhou extremely nervous. Soon, all of Geng Zhongming's navy had boarded the ships and were on high alert.
The navy was weaker than that of the Zhou army, and Geng Zhongming had no choice but to make many adjustments and supplement it to form the current navy. There was also a navy in Wuchang that was formed under the order of Dorgon. However, that navy could not be transferred to Guazhou at all. They needed to protect the food supply of Prince Su on the battlefield of Huguang and prevent the Ming army or the rebel army from blocking the Yangtze River waterway near Wuchang.
Not long after, twenty-five warships slowly came over. Outside the range of the artillery position, a gun on one of the ships raised its elevation and fired a cannonball. With a whoosh, the cannonball was pushed out of the barrel and formed a parabola in the sky. Although nothing was achieved, it was still more than 300 meters away from the nearest Qing warship.
Geng Zhongming was confused? He couldn't understand the opponent's operation. He came over to shoot him. Was he free? Too bored?
Geng Zhongming restrained his subordinates who were ready to move. Although there were only twenty-five ships on the opposite side, Geng Zhongming always felt that something was wrong. It was too obvious.
Geng Zhongming's navy did not move, but the guns on the opposite side started firing again, this time from two guns, and this time the shells fell closer to Geng's warships. At this time, three guns on the outermost turret began firing, and as expected, the shells missed.
This went on for more than an hour, and the Qing navy soldiers had already let down their guard. They had not taken the city down, so nothing was done except wasting gunpowder and bullets.
Geng Zhongming could not bear it any longer, so he dispatched twelve large warships and more than fifty warships of various sizes, which was almost more than 30% of the Guazhou navy. Geng Zhongming wanted to send his generals to fight, but before leaving, he was a little worried, fearing that his generals would be greedy for merit and be ambushed by the enemy. After thinking for a moment, he decided to lead the troops to fight in person.
As soon as the Qing navy was dispatched, the decoy ships began to slowly move northward. Geng Zhongming was a little worried, but at this time it was against the wind to go north. If there was no threat, there should be no problem going downstream with the wind.
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Shen Tingyang stood on the deck of the flagship, staring at the tragic situation of the enemy fleet being caught in boarding and hand-to-hand combat. Everywhere he looked was the smoke of black powder from the cannons.
Occasionally, a strong breeze from the river blew by, and from the billowing smoke, a scene of fierce fighting was raised. Arrows were flying from both sides, and muskets were fired at each other. From time to time, soldiers were injured, and some fell on the armored squad or fell into the river. The blood on the armored squad was too slippery, and if they were not careful, they would slip to the ground.
The warships of both sides were severely damaged and gradually sank in the flames. Although Shen Tingyang's vision was obscured by the smoke, his hearing became more and more sensitive. The roar of artillery, the rumble of war drums, the fighting and noise of soldiers on the river, the creaking sound of warships' masts collapsing due to burning, and even the sound of the river water dyed red with blood, all of which were audible to Shen Tingyang.
In this era of great navigation, the navies of both sides still pursue the tactics of boarding and hand-to-hand combat. Shen Tingyang observes the battle situation attentively. His eyes are sharp and his commands are confident, just like a naval admiral. Although Shen Tingyang is a traditional scholar, he was born on Chongming Island and edited five volumes of "Maritime Transport Book". As early as the 13th year of Chongzhen, he had transported supplies directly from Dengzhou to Ningyuan. From then on, Shen Tingyang dealt with the navy.
During the Southern Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongguang ordered Shen Tingyang to defend the river with sea vessels. After Nanjing fell, he led his troops to Zhoushan. Emperor Longwu was in Fujian and still ordered Shen Tingyang to be the governor of the navy. The Prince of Lu was also appointed in the same way. When it comes to water warfare, Shen Tingyang is second to none among all the generals of the Zhou army.
The strategy of annihilating Geng Zhongming's Guazhou navy, completely controlling the Yangtze River, and luring Geng Zhongming was decided by Shen Tingyang. Unexpectedly, it went so smoothly. It was truly God's will.
Shen Tingyang, who was watching the battle, suddenly sighed. Looking at the billowing smoke, he showed a nostalgic look in his eyes and sighed, "Marshal Mao, the three adopted sons all rebelled in Dengzhou, and then surrendered to the Liaodong invaders. They have forgotten all the hatred for their family and country." Then he said with a firm expression, "Today I will clean up the mess for Marshal Mao to comfort his spirit in heaven."