Chapter 78: Battle Of Queyue
In the early morning, Gan Ning’s fleet arrived at Wankou. He was the last batch to withdraw, with only five thousand troops and one hundred warships. The remaining ships and troops escorted the citizens and money and grain supplies to withdraw in advance.
At that moment, a scout came to report that a fleet of Huang Zu was speeding along the north bank of the Yangtze River, only fifty li from Wankou.
Gan Ning was stunned and asked again: “What kind of ships are they, and how many are there?”
“All medium mengchong warships, about five hundred ships.”
Mengchong warships have two models: one medium warship and one large warship. The two differ only in size, with identical appearances.
The shape of mengchong warships resembles black canopy boats but is much larger. The cabins are extremely sturdy and solid, covered with cowhide, unafraid of arrows or boulders.
Since the opponent consists of medium mengchong warships, each carries twenty-four men: twelve oarsmen and twelve crossbow spearmen, divided into upper and lower decks. The lower deck has positions for oarsmen, with five oar holes on each side, ten long oars rowing together.
The upper cabin is slightly shorter, with positions for combat soldiers inside. Each side also has five holes: shooting with crossbows from afar, stabbing with spears up close.
Additionally, two spearmen are deployed respectively at the front and rear cabin entrances. Even if enemy troops board the front and rear decks, they can handle them.
The characteristics of mengchong warships are extremely fast speed and great flexibility. Huang Zu particularly favors mengchong warships. Over eighteen years, he has successively built over ten thousand large and medium mengchong warships—this is his substantial foundation.
Gan Ning immediately understood that this must be Huang Zu’s army coming to reinforce Wan County, probably over ten thousand men. With only five thousand troops himself, how to deal with this army? Gan Ning pondered for a moment, called Zhang Tai over, and gave him a few low-voiced instructions. Zhang Tai nodded repeatedly and immediately went to deploy.
Gan Ning then divided his one hundred large ships into two groups. Wang Ping led fifty tower ships to withdraw into the Wanshui River, while Gan Ning personally led fifty ships into the Yangtze River.
At noon, countless black dots appeared on the river surface, like a pack of wolves. Five hundred mengchong warships sped in, one after another rushing into the Wanshui River.
When the last mengchong warship rushed into the Wanshui River, Gan Ning’s fifty tower ships also appeared, encircling from behind and entering the Wanshui River.
Gan Ning’s thinking was very clear. Mengchong warships are flexible and fast; in combat on the Yangtze River, the enemy has ample room to maneuver. His one hundred tower ships are relatively slow and cumbersome, certain to suffer heavy losses.
But in the Wanshui River, it was different. The narrowest section of the Wanshui River is only a dozen zhang wide; three tower ships can block the entire river surface. The enemy’s mengchong warships are like fish caught in a fish tank—speed and flexibility mean nothing, forced to fight head-on. His tower ships are much larger than the enemy’s mengchong ships, a zhang higher, with his troops holding the high ground. This is like a contest between cavalry and infantry.
From Wankou to Wan County is still one hundred sixty li, requiring two days of navigation, but the five hundred mengchong ships had just entered thirty li into the Wanshui River when they were caught in a pincer attack by one hundred tower ships from front and rear.
The fierce battle between the two armies erupted instantly. Yuzhang Army warships held the high ground, occupying geographical advantage. The spears of the mengchong warships had no use; they could only shoot at the exposed enemy troops on the tower ships from afar or seek opportunities to destroy the opponent’s oars.
Soldiers on medium mengchong warships generally do not come out to fight. Once they do, they need to use boarding ladders to climb onto the opponent’s large ships. With the enemy holding the high ground, their losses would be severe.
Thus, medium mengchong warships have two roles: first, rapid troop transport over long distances, delivering troops hundreds of li away in two or three days; second, in naval battles, escorting doujian. Doujian are the main force large ships, whose task is to board enemy ships for combat.
But today, these five hundred medium mengchong warships were in for heavy losses. Trapped in the narrow river channel, they could not exert their flexible and rapid advantages. In contrast, the Yuzhang Army fully demonstrated their high-ground superiority.
Arrows rained down on the river surface, with soldiers constantly hit and falling, but the truly terrifying thing was the blazing fire.
Every Yuzhang Army soldier had a fire bottle strap around their waist, with five fire oil bottles inserted at the small of the back.
“Light the fire, throw!” a battalion commander shouted.
Soldiers pulled out the wooden stopper, stuffed in the oiled cloth, lit it with a fire starter, and once the fire oil inside ignited, hurled the fire oil bottle down fiercely.
“Pa!” The fire oil bottle shattered on the front deck of a mengchong warship, splashing fire oil that instantly became a sheet of blazing fire. The flowing fire oil quickly seeped through deck seams into the ship, burning inside.
“Again!”
Several soldiers threw three fire oil bottles in succession, and the entire front deck of the mengchong warship was engulfed in blazing fire.
For mengchong warships, the greatest threat is not fire itself, but thick smoke. Thick smoke billowed on the ships, seeping everywhere. The twenty-four soldiers hid in the relatively sealed cabins, but the smoke soon filled them.
Soldiers coughed desperately, several suffocating and fainting from the thick smoke. The two soldiers guarding the cabin door could no longer endure it, kicked open the door, and rushed to the rear deck.
But as soon as they reached the deck, they were immediately shot down by enemy crossbow bolts.
This was not the case for just one warship. In the fierce battle, all mengchong warships approaching the Yuzhang Army tower ships faced the same desperate situation: either suffocated by thick smoke or shot dead by enemy crossbow bolts on the deck.
The only way was to raise hands in surrender and walk out, kneeling on the deck to preserve their lives.
But many soldiers jumped directly into the river, swimming toward the shore. However, Zhang Tai had already led two thousand soldiers waiting on the shore; once ashore, they became prisoners of war.
The facts prove that fire attack is the sharpest weapon in naval battles, with not only terrifying blazing fire but also billowing thick smoke. Whether the famous Battle of Chibi, Sun Ce’s great defeat of Huang Zu at the Battle of Sha Xian, or the later Battle of Yiling, all were classic fire attack campaigns.
As time passed, more and more mengchong warships were burned by the blazing fire. In the narrow river channel only one li long, over two hundred mengchong warships were engulfed in flames, and the other mengchong warships ultimately could not escape destruction by fire.
The fire grew larger and completely out of control. Not only mengchong warships, but over a dozen Yuzhang Army tower ships were also engulfed in flames. Huang Zu’s soldiers cried and shouted, jumping into the water to escape.
Huang Zu Army commander Kan Huang swam ashore with dozens of men. Before he could catch his breath, a dozen spears were already pointed at him from front and rear. Kan Huang had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender.
……….
Until dusk, the last dozens of mengchong warships were still burning. The other warships were burned to black charred frames and sank into the water.
Gan Ning’s fleet had already turned back, fully loaded with soldiers and prisoners of war, heading toward Pengze County.
Gan Ning positioned Chaisang County and Pengze County differently. Chaisang County focuses more on commercial trade, while Pengze County emphasizes military functions, mainly because Pengze County has a river bay very suitable for anchoring warships, where hundreds of warships are moored, and over ten thousand troops are stationed on the shore.
Three thousand troops are stationed inside Chaisang County town, able to defend against sneak attacks on the county town. Once Chaisang County lights the beacon tower, troops will quickly come from Pengze to reinforce.
Gan Ning did not stay in Pengze County. After disembarking the prisoners of war, he immediately led the twenty thousand troops and over four hundred warships assembled in Pengze County, grandly setting off.
Gan Ning had just received news that Huang Zu was launching an all-out attack on Wuchang County, and Ding Feng was urgently requesting aid from him.
Southern Jiangxia Commandery is a strategically vital area that Gan Ning values greatly. It is the gateway from Yuzhang Commandery to Jingzhou, which Gan Ning absolutely cannot lose.
