Chapter 694: The Power of Iron Thunder
Chapter 694: The Power of Iron Thunder
The warship accelerated suddenly, and with a loud bang, the pig iron ram slammed into the small boat in front of it. The powerful impact broke the boat in half, and all ten inspection soldiers fell into the water.
The six warships began to speed up, and the Longyou navy also sped up to catch up. He paddled hard and went downstream, and his speed was not slower than the boats.
They sailed five or six miles in one breath, but the hundreds of enemy ships behind were still chasing them. The leading ship was a warship of one thousand stones with dozens of soldiers on board.
Seeing that the enemy was chasing him relentlessly, Shi Xiaozhen ordered his ships to slow down. The other five warships sped south, but his warship slowed down.
"Catapults ready!"
The crossbow on the ship turned and aimed at the rear. The soldiers placed a 50-jin iron fire bomb and began to aim at the main ship behind.
The pursuing ship was getting closer and closer, and had already entered within fifty steps. Shi Xiaozhen shouted, "Fire!"
Although the Internal Guard Navy had been trained in iron fire thunder shooting, this was still their use in actual combat.
The soldier lit the fuse, which burned with a hissing sound and gradually reached the red line. The red line was only one inch away from the iron shell. This ensured that after the iron fire mine fell to the ground or into the water, the fuse would burn inside the iron shell and would not affect the normal explosion.
"emission!"
"Bang!" With a muffled sound, the Iron Fire Thunder was ejected, and with a loud 'boom! ', the Iron Fire Thunder accurately hit the opponent's command cabin, smashing a big hole in the cabin, and the Iron Fire Thunder shot into the cabin.
In just a moment, there was a shocking explosion, "Boom!" Flames burst out, the middle section of the warship was blown to pieces, and thick smoke, wood chips, and flesh and blood rose into the sky along with the thick smoke.
Only the bow and stern of the Qianshi warship were left, bobbing on the water, with the middle section disappearing without a trace. The more than 30 soldiers on board and the commander Miao Anxin were all blown to pieces.
The warships behind stopped one after another, and the soldiers on the ships looked at this scene in horror. The Sui army ships sped up and sailed away, and no ship dared to continue chasing.
Although there is a better option which is to hide in the city, for example, hiding the 19 officials in a county of a certain prefecture, where Yu Wenzhi can't find them at all. Once Yu Wenzhi is destroyed, everyone will be safe.
This method was a good idea for the officials, but it was a hidden danger for the Jiangnan Road. They worked so hard to hide them, but in the end they made things difficult for Li Yuan. These officials turned around and pledged allegiance to Li Yuan.
Therefore, the best strategy is to transport them all back to Jiangnan Road.
Just three days after the six internal guard warships left Bashu, Li Xiaogong's 100,000-strong army arrived at Jianmen Pass.
At noon, a man in his thirties came to the commander-in-chief's office. His name was Dou Luqing and he was an old subordinate of Wei Wentong. He had followed Wei Wentong for nearly ten years and was highly trusted by Wei Wentong. But what Wei Wentong didn't know was that his other identity was a member of the Guanlong noble Dou Lu family.
This is the power of the Guanlong nobles in the Sui Dynasty. Although their family heads and other leading figures have left the court, their children, family generals and relatives are spread throughout the Sui army, making them impossible to defend against.
For example, this Dou Lu Qing, his name in the army was Dou Wenqing. If he didn’t say it himself, who would know that he was a member of the Dou Lu family?
When Wei Wentong heard that Dou Wenqing had something important to discuss with him, he ordered, "Please ask him to come in!"
Soon, Dou Wenqing walked into the room and bowed, "I greet the Marshal!"
"What's your business?"
"Someone asked me to deliver a letter to the Marshal."
Dou Wenqing took out a letter from his pocket and presented it to Wei Wentong, who asked in confusion, "Who wrote this letter?"
"The Marshal will know it at a glance!"
Wei Wentong took the letter and took a look at it. He was so shocked that he almost jumped up. "From Li Yuan, the King of Tang of the Great Sui Dynasty, the Prime Minister of Internal History, and the Grand Marshal of the Army of the World, to General Wei Wentong, the former general of the Great Sui Dynasty"
It turned out to be a handwritten letter from Li Yuan to him. He opened the letter and read it, and found that it was indeed advising him to surrender.
Wei Wentong looked at Dou Wenqing in surprise and asked, "Who are you?"
Dou Wenqing smiled and said, "My real name is Dou Luqing, and I am a descendant of the Dou Lu family."
Wei Wentong widened his eyes and reached out to grab the sword.
Dou Luqing said calmly: "I have followed the Marshal for ten years. How many decades are there in a lifetime? Marshal, do you still not believe in me?"
Wei Wentong slowly put down his sword, nodded and said, "It was too sudden, I was not prepared!"
Dou Luqing waved his hand and said with a smile: "Marshal, please continue reading the letter!"
Wei Wentong read the letter again from the beginning. He felt different the second time. Li Yuan clearly promised him in the letter that if he surrendered, Li Yuan would confer on him the title of Duke, General, and grant him a fief of a thousand households.
Although he is now also a general and Duke of Qi, this was a title conferred by Yu Wenzhi and has no value at all. Even Wei Wentong himself despises it.
Dou Luqing continued, "The Marshal often tells us that there are only two or three opportunities in life. Once an opportunity comes, we must seize it. Have you forgotten, Marshal?"
Wei Wentong had already surrendered in his heart, but he was a little embarrassed. He was silent for a while and sighed, "I'll write a letter, you can give it to Li Xiaogong!"
The next morning, Li Xiaogong led tens of thousands of troops to the pass. Jianmen Pass was opened, and Wei Wentong led his army out to meet Li Xiaogong's army.
It is so ironic that Wei Wentong accepted the other party's surrender and captured Jianmen Pass without bloodshed. Less than half a year later, he did the same thing and handed over Jianmen Pass to another army without bloodshed.
The most important defense of Jianmen Pass has never been the terrain, but the people's hearts.
When Li Xiaogong's army entered the pass, he immediately appointed Wei Wentong as the vanguard and led his 30,000 troops all the way to Chengdu.
The army was unstoppable and the troops in counties and prefectures along the way surrendered one after another. After just ten days, Li Xiaogong's army arrived in Chengdu and laid siege to the city.
At the same time when Li Xiaogong captured Jianmen Pass, on the Three Gorges Road, an army of 30,000 was marching westward. This was the 30,000 Sui army led by Zhou Faming, the governor of Nanjun. In the Yangtze River beneath their feet were 50 warships and 3,000 naval forces led by Shen Guang, the Tianjinglang general. Behind them were hundreds of cargo ships, which were the supply ships of the Sui army.
The 30,000-strong army marched lightly and arrived at Wushan County in the afternoon. In fact, they were marching in the territory of Badong County. Fifty miles further forward, they would reach Renfu County, the seat of Badong County, which is Fengjie County.
There are three thousand troops stationed in Wushan County, but what is interesting is that this army is not Yu Wenzhi's army, nor is it the army of the former court Western Sui Dynasty. It is led by General Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan was a powerful man in Badong County and a descendant of Zhang Ren, a powerful man in Badong County during the Three Kingdoms period. His father Zhang Jingshan was the governor of Badong County. They did not submit to anyone and were actually an independent warlord.
However, due to population and terrain limitations, this independent warlord was not very strong, with only 3,000 troops, which was already the maximum that Badong County could sustain.
Of course Zhang Yan knew that his county town could not withstand the attack of 30,000 troops. In fact, he had been retreating continuously. Initially, his army was in Zigui County. When he heard that 30,000 Sui troops were coming, he led his troops to retreat from Zigui County to Badong County, and then from Badong County to Wushan County. Further retreat would lead to Renfu County, the old nest of the Zhang family.
With no way to retreat, Zhang Yan had to lead his troops out of the city and surrender.
(End of this chapter)