Chapter 133: Operation Cut Off The Ships
Jiangling County, seven vegetable delivery ships slowly arrived in front of the water fortress gate. A scout ship came forward to check the bronze token of the vegetable delivery manager. More than a dozen soldiers boarded the ships and carefully inspected the cargo inside. No abnormalities were found. The leading general waved his hand, the water fortress gate opened, and the seven vegetable delivery ships sailed into the water fortress.
It was already the winter of the eleventh month, with a layer of snow covering the riverbank. Although the Yangtze River did not freeze, the river wind was bitterly cold, making people shiver all over.
Hundreds of large warships were moored haphazardly along the shore. The soldiers originally standing guard at the sentry posts on the shore had all huddled together. The vegetable delivery ships, led by the scout ship, arrived at the designated mooring spot. Twenty cookhouse soldiers ran over to unload the cargo, quickly emptying the grain, rice, vegetables, and meat. The seven vegetable delivery ships then left the water fortress under the surveillance of the scout ship.
The seven ships stopped in front of a small village on the Yangtze River. The manager went ashore and entered a mansion in the village.
Ding Feng had been waiting for him in the mansion for a long time. “How did it go? How is the enemy’s alertness?”
The manager cupped his fists and said, “Reporting to the general, the enemy’s defenses are still very tight. We were thoroughly searched when entering the water fortress, monitored the entire time, and had no opportunity at all.”
“How many scout ships in total?”
“Twenty in total, twelve outside the water fortress and eight inside. There are no patrolling soldiers on the shore, but there are four sentry posts.”
“What about the warships?” Ding Feng asked again.
“Hundreds of large ships are moored along the shore. According to this subordinate’s observation, only ten ships are tied to the iron stakes at the dock. The rest of the large ships are linked together with iron chains, interlocked in a ring.”
“Just as I expected!”
Ding Feng excitedly struck his fist into his palm, walked out the door, and ordered, “Everyone rest well. We act at the third watch tonight!”
At the third watch, about three li from the water fortress, twenty-five water ghosts entered the water. Each carried a forty-pound bag of fire oil on their back, with two leather pouches tied to the bags.
The twenty-five men drifted with the current and soon reached the westernmost corner of the water fortress. They were more than ten li from the water fortress gate, a place the scout ships could not reach.
They had loosened two fence posts of the water fortress two days earlier. With two fence posts loosened on the wooden fence, they pulled them upward without damaging the camp palisade. The twenty-five water ghosts swam one after another into the water fortress.
The water fortress was very quiet. There were several scout ships far away on the water surface, but their patrol focus was near the water gate, far from the twenty-five water ghosts.
In just a moment, the soldiers dived into the hundreds of large ships. The soldiers set fire every ten ships apart, fairly evenly spaced.
The weather was cold, and there was no one on the decks of the large ships. The soldiers unscrewed the leather pouch covers, threw the pouches onto the ships, and the fire oil flowed out steadily, covering the ships. Torches were thrown onto the ships, immediately igniting great fires. The fire, aided by the wind, began to spread rapidly.
The sentries’ alarm bells rang out: ‘Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!’ By the time soldiers rushed out from the barracks, the hundreds of large ships were engulfed in soaring flames, thick smoke billowing.
Jingzhou Navy governor Zhang Yun was suddenly awakened from sleep by his personal guard.
“Governor, wake up quickly! Something terrible has happened!”
“What happened?” Zhang Yun asked sleepily.
“Fire! The large ships are on fire.”
“What?”
Zhang Yun pushed away his concubine who was holding him, sat up abruptly, and asked urgently, “How many ships are on fire?”
“It started with just over twenty, but the wind is too strong, and the fire is spreading fiercely. When this subordinate came in, there were already over fifty on fire. I don’t know now.”
“How did this happen?”
Zhang Yun hurriedly put on his military uniform and asked angrily, “Did someone light a fire on the ships to keep warm?”
“This subordinate does not know!”
Zhang Yun grabbed his treasure sword and rushed out, arriving outside the tent. Even he was shocked. Soldiers were running and shouting, and in the distance, firelight soared in the water fortress, thick smoke rolling, the sky reflected red.
Zhang Yun rushed out of the barracks, and the scene before him made him kneel in despair on the ground. Hundreds of large ships were completely engulfed in raging flames. The fire, aided by the wind, burned more and more fiercely, even igniting the four watchtowers on the shore.
Suddenly, a large mass of fire shot into the sky, blown by the wind into the barracks. Instantly, seven or eight large tents were set ablaze.
Zhang Yun turned pale with fright and shouted repeatedly, “Quickly pack up the tents! Quickly pack up the tents!”
All the soldiers were frantically packing up the large tents, but a strong gust of wind blew through. What started with fewer than ten tents on fire instantly became over a hundred tents burning.
Despite the soldiers desperately trying to pack up the tents, they could not keep up with the speed of the fire’s spread. More and more tents were ignited, and more and more soldiers gave up dismantling them, fleeing desperately outside the tents.
At this time, a dozen personal guards carried out Zhang Yun’s concubine, which secretly relieved Zhang Yun. At least people were safe—that was a blessing in misfortune.
The great fire burned until noon the next day before gradually extinguishing. Hundreds of tower ships and doujian were burned into black charred frames. Only dozens of mengchong warships moored on the other side escaped the fire—a blessing in misfortune. Thousands of large tents were completely destroyed, hundreds burned to death, and the twenty thousand navy soldiers had nowhere to live, forced to withdraw to the barracks inside the city.
Zhang Yun could only temporarily return to the city. Before leaving, he ordered a strict investigation into the cause of the fire. Although Xiangyang still had over a thousand medium warships and cargo ships, the Jingzhou Army’s large warships were reduced to just a few hundred, all now destroyed. This meant the Jingzhou Army could no longer contend with the Yuzhang Army on the water.
In the afternoon, several generals reported the investigation results to Zhang Yun. The water fortress palisades were all intact with no damage found. Secondly, the scout ships and water gate guards had detected no abnormal ships. The problem was likely internal—perhaps soldiers used fire oil to light fires for warmth, igniting the warships. Due to the strong wind, the fire spread rapidly, ultimately causing a great disaster.
Zhang Yun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If it was an accident from careless warming, he bore responsibility, but the punishment would not be severe—likely just a stern reprimand. The main responsibility would fall on the duty general from last night, who would be dismissed and investigated.
But if it was a sneak attack by the Yuzhang Army, that would be war, and defeat in war meant holding the commander accountable for negligence.
Zhang Yun preferred it to be an accident. He pondered and said, “Write a written report, add one line: the culprit has perished in the fire. Leave it at that!”
“Understood!”
The investigating general saluted and hurried away. Zhang Yun still felt uneasy. He knew full well that if it was a warming fire, it wouldn’t have burned so fast—there would have been time to unlink all the warships’ iron chains. Last night’s fire clearly started at over twenty points simultaneously, using fire oil, which made it spread so quickly. The possibility of someone secretly setting the fire was high—likely the Yuzhang Army aiming to completely destroy the Jingzhou Army’s naval battle capability.
Though he knew the truth, Zhang Yun dared not say it. He could not bear the responsibility.
