Chapter 610 1 Thunder Dream
Chapter 610 A Thunderbolt Awakens a Dream
The night enveloped the river. A crescent moon appeared and disappeared among the clouds. The water surface was sometimes dark and sometimes bright. On the river about ten miles away from Jiangxia Wharf, a fleet of dozens of ships was slowly approaching Jiangxia Wharf.
Leading the way were two large ships of 3,000 shi in capacity, with soldiers standing on both sides of the ships. They were obviously warships converted from cargo ships, and were far from being as sturdy and strong as real warships.
At the bow of one of the 3,000-stone ships stood several generals, the leading general being Xiao Xin, who had just proclaimed himself King of Liang.
Xiao Xin received a letter from Xiao Cong this morning. The letter made him silent for a long time. No one knew his attitude and decision, but one thing was certain, the letter did not change the decision they made a few days ago.
They launched a surprise attack on Jiangxia and seized more than one hundred warships anchored at the Jiangxia wharf.
At this time, a small sampan came speeding over, and a spy boarded the big ship to report, "Your Highness, the Jiangxia dock is very quiet, and nothing unusual has been found!"
Xiao Xian nodded and ordered: "Full speed ahead!"
Dozens of ships sped up and rushed towards the Jiangxia Wharf, but unexpectedly, several miles away from the wharf, more than a dozen speedboats rushed over and blocked the way of Xiao Xin's warships.
These are the Sui army's river patrol boats, each with a capacity of about 500 stones, and more than 20 people on each boat.
Seeing that the other ship was not big, Xiao Xin shouted, "Sink it!"
Another three thousand stone warship rushed towards the leading guard ship. The ships of the Jiangnan Army were all chariot ships, which were very flexible and fast.
The patrol ship is similar to the missile boat of later generations. Although it is small in size, it is also equipped with a crossbow and five iron fire mines.
The leading patrol ship quickly flew to the side of the ship, and "bang!" the crossbow fired an iron fire bomb, hitting the side of the ship, and the sharp iron nails were nailed on it.
Before the other party could react to what was happening, there was a huge "boom!" explosion, flames burst out, thick smoke billowed into the sky, and the strong impact force blew the cargo ship converted into a military ship into pieces.
When the smoke cleared, only the bow and stern of the ship were left on the river. The hull had completely disappeared. The river was full of broken wood and corpses, and many soldiers were struggling for help.
The Sui army rescue ship sailed up and rescued the surviving soldiers one by one.
Xiao Xin and a group of generals were stunned. They had never seen such a powerful weapon. It completely overturned their cognition.
At this time, another ship was hit and a huge explosion was heard on the ship on the river.
Seeing the leading patrol boat rushing towards him, Xiao Xin was horrified and shouted repeatedly: "Retreat! Retreat!"
Xiao Xin's ships retreated in panic and soon escaped far away.
After returning to Jiangling County, Xiao Xin was still in shock. His mind was filled with images of fire bombs exploding. His own ship was blown to pieces. The enemy only needed one ship to destroy his entire fleet. Wouldn't that have the same effect for siege? After all, the city gate was not much thicker than the ship wall!
The explosion of an iron fire bomb not only blew up the ship, but also woke up Xiao Xin.
Xiao Xin did not sleep all night. The next morning, he summoned all the generals and subordinates to discuss important matters.
"Everyone, I received a letter from the head of the Xiao family in Jiangdu yesterday morning. The King of Jin asked him to pass on a message to me, giving me three choices: either surrender to the Jiangnan Army, surrender to Chang'an, or retreat to Jiaozhi County.
I didn't want to pay attention to it, but the encounter between us and the enemy on the Yangtze River in Jiangxia last night woke me up. My fifty warships, equipped with ten thousand sailors, might not even be able to defeat the enemy's five-hundred-stone patrol ship. The enemy had powerful weapons, like thunder and lightning, which could smash our three-thousand-stone ships into pieces with one blow.
I don’t know what weapon the enemy has, but it can easily smash all fifty of our warships into pieces.”
"The other side has iron fire mines!" Xiao Jianli walked into the hall and said, "We also have paper fire mines, but their power is much smaller than the other side's. I can't develop the other side's iron fire mines, but it won't scare you to death!"
Xiao Jianli glanced at everyone with a dignified look and continued, "Our goal is to seize Jingxiang and rebuild the Liang Dynasty. We are just getting started now. I don't want a fire bomb to blow up your dreams!"
There was dissatisfaction in Xiao Jianli's tone. He had already guessed what Xiao Xin meant. He wanted to accept King Jin's third condition and lead his army to Jiaozhi County.
Xiao Jianli is not only Xiao Xin's master, but also his grandfather. Xiao Xin's father, Xiao Xuan, is the elder brother of the head of the family, Xiao Lin. Xiao Xuan died early, so Xiao Xin was adopted and raised by his grandfather.
At present, Xiao Jianli is the national teacher of the New Liang regime. The New Liang regime was created by him. He himself was unwilling to show up, so he pushed his grandson and apprentice Xiao Xin to be the King of Liang.
But Xiao Jianli had absolute control over the Xinliang regime, and his five hundred disciples were deployed in various links of the army and government offices.
Xiao Xin was not just a puppet. His contribution to the Xinliang regime was second only to his master Xiao Jianli. He also spent a lot of effort to establish the Xinliang.
Now Master Xiao Jianli broke into his meeting hall and reprimanded everyone, not giving him any face at all. Xiao Xin was a little impatient, but he finally suppressed his anger and said respectfully, "Master, we are here to discuss important matters, not to surrender or give up our foundation. We want to face serious challenges and leave ourselves a way out."
"Don't talk so nicely!"
Xiao Jianli interrupted Xiao Xin rudely, not giving him any face, "What do you mean by leaving a way out? You are just a coward. You dare not face the Jin King's army and want to escape? Don't dream. You will never succeed as long as I am here!"
Xiao Xin's face turned red and white, he could no longer bear it, and said to everyone: "That's it for today, everyone go away!"
Everyone dispersed, and when everyone had left, Xiao Xin snorted, turned around and left.
Xiao Jianli originally thought that Xiao Xin would communicate with him alone, but he didn't expect that he would also leave and ignore him. Xiao Jianli was furious, staring at Xiao Xin's back and gritting his teeth, "Now that you have power, don't you take me seriously?"
Xiao Xin returned to his official room and angrily threw the teacup to the ground. "Bang!" The teacup was smashed to pieces. He walked to the window with his hands behind his back, his chest heaving with anger.
At this time, military advisor Cen Wenben walked into the official room. Without saying a word, he squatted down and picked up the broken porcelain pieces one by one. Xiao Xin watched the military advisor pick up the porcelain pieces, and he slowly calmed down.
After a while, he sat down and said, "Military Advisor, what should we do?"
Cen Wenben said calmly: "The conflict between the prince and the national teacher is not only about the development direction of the Liang Dynasty, but also about the boundary of power. I believe the national teacher would also agree to leave a way out, but the prince did not discuss it with him in advance, so he angered him. This is the crux of the problem."
Xiao Xin let out a long sigh. Cen Wenben was right. The root of the problem still lay in the issue of power distribution.
"Military Advisor, do you think the Imperial Advisor will agree that I should send troops to Jiaozhi County?"
"He definitely won't agree!"
Xiao Xin was a little confused. "But didn't the military advisor just say that the national advisor also agreed to leave a way out?"
Cen Wenben smiled and said, "If it was a strategy that the prince had considered himself, the national teacher would agree. However, going to Jiaozhi County was obviously not the prince's own idea, but a choice given by the Prince of Jin, so the national teacher would not agree."
"Then what should I do? I know I am no match for the King of Jin. I do want to accept his third plan and establish a regime in Jiaozhi County. Just as the King of Jin said, he will let me go in the future and let me be the king of Champa. I know very well that this is a clear and feasible path for him to point out to me because of our past friendship."
Cen Wenben pondered for a moment, "Your Highness should have a good talk with the Imperial Master and give him enough face. After all, he is your grandfather."
(End of this chapter)