Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 703
"...I used to live in Yong'an, and built a large ship named Wuya. It has five floors and is more than a hundred feet high. There are six cypress poles on the left, right, front, back, and fifty feet high. It can accommodate 800 soldiers, and the flag is added on top. The next day was called Huanglong, with 500 soldiers. Since Yu Pingcheng, Kaimeng, etc. have their own differences.” —— "Sui Shu·Yang Su Biography"

In the early Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, wanted to destroy Chen. In October of the fifth year of Emperor Kaihuang of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen took Yang Su, Duke of Qinghe, as the governor of Xinzhou. He managed the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and made military preparations to attack Chen.Yang Su was stationed in Yong'an, Xinzhou, and supervised the construction of large warships.

The five-tooth ship has a five-story structure and is more than 30 meters high.The bottom four floors are equipped with soldiers, and the top floor is the lookout and command platform.There are forty long oars on both sides, and the oars are used to propel.The stern is equipped with two sculls, which can be shaken by multiple oarsmen to control the direction of travel.There are parapets on the decks and sheds of warships, which can hide half of the body.There are crenels on the female wall for archery.There is a transverse bulkhead on the ship, and longitudinal beams are set on the transverse bulkhead, and planks are laid on it.The cabin and combat platform are set above the wooden boards, and earth and rocks are filled under the wooden boards to keep the ship stable.There are six paddle poles on the left, right, front and back of the warship.

What is "shooting pole"?
It is recorded in "Wu Jing Zongyao·Pre-collection·Volume 800·Water Warfare": "Those who shoot poles are applied to large ships. Each ship has five floors, and the building is [-] feet high. Six poles are placed, and Fifty feet high, [-] warriors, and flags attached to it. Every time an enemy ship confronts them, if the enemy ships come close, they will shoot their poles, and the boats and boats will be smashed to pieces.”

The so-called clapping pole, shaped like a big mast, with a huge boulder on it, was manipulated by a winch installed under the deck. It was a powerful weapon in water warfare at that time.When fighting, use a potter's wheel to raise the boulder to the top of the pole, release the boulder, and use the falling boulder to smash the enemy ships approaching the battleship.This boulder can be used repeatedly, and once it gets close to an enemy ship, it can be quickly destroyed.

It is no exaggeration to say that the five-tooth warship is the limit of the cold weapon era. Its combat effectiveness and deterrent power are equivalent to or even surpassed by the battleships of later generations!Not to mention the Sui and Tang dynasties, even if such a behemoth was placed in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it would still be a super killer weapon across the waters!
Wang Shangfang's sailors, who had already changed into pirate costumes, had just sailed into Niuzhuji, and when they saw this super warship docked on the river, they all gasped!
On the river, this five-tooth warship with a draft of seven or eight feet deep is simply invincible!Who is the enemy this time?Since the fall of Xiao Xian and the stability of the south of the Yangtze River, the navy of the Tang Dynasty has gradually declined and is no longer taken seriously. This kind of super battleship built in the former Sui Dynasty has never been built in the Tang Dynasty. The five-tooth warships have been abandoned one after another, and they have not been seen for many years!
Now who can drive a warship of this level, can he wait for his status?
The sailors and soldiers looked at each other, feeling a little guilty in their hearts. It seemed that their equipment was more like a navy than ours...

Standing at the bow of the ship, Wang Shangsang also felt a little bitter.

Although he came from a noble family, he worked his way up to his current position in the navy. He also followed Li Xiaogong from Kuizhou down the river to defeat the Xiaoxiao navy. He has rich combat experience. Terrorist combat power.

If it was a different occasion, he wouldn't want to face the Five Fangs as an enemy if he was killed!

But now that the arrow is on the line, besides going forward and completely defeating Fang Jun here, where is there any other way to go?
Gritting his teeth, Wang Shangshang shouted loudly: "Although the enemy ships are majestic and burly, the soldiers are all lackeys and servants of the powerful clans in Guanzhong. How can they know the art of water warfare? The sons and daughters are imperial court navy officers, and they are familiar with water warfare. The big river is our back garden, how can we allow this group of chickens and dogs to show off their power in front of us? Listen to my order, all the warships rush forward, destroy the enemy's small boats, and then surround the enemy's five-toothed warships. The enemy comes to a boarding battle, let them see who is the navy and who is invincible on the water!"

The drums of war are rumbling, and dozens of warships rush forward!

*****
Fang Jun took some soldiers away, and there were nearly four hundred remaining.

However, the main generals are all absent, and Fang Jun entrusts the responsibility of control to the family general Wei Ying.Although Wei Ying is young, he is clever and versatile. He is also Fang Jun's close bodyguard. No one in the family dares to underestimate them. It is more than enough to control these soldiers. It is conceivable that no one will open their eyes and dare to disobey Wei Ying's command .

But Fang Jun was careless...

Fang Jun took Li Ke's warning very seriously, so he brought almost all the main force. Although the number was only a small number, they were all aggressive.Even if the Shanyue people really gathered together a rebel group to attack, they could abandon the ironworks and quickly retreat to the riverside. At that time, they could board the five-tooth battleship, advance, attack, retreat, and defend, and be invincible.

But he didn't expect that there were so many Shanyue people, and they were so brave under the leadership of Zongshuai Wu Duohai.What's more, I didn't expect that there would be an imperial navy to support the Shanyue people, trying to wipe out his fleet and cut off the retreat...

The uppermost floor of the Five-tooth battleship is the observation deck, the river is mighty, except for Niuzhuji standing in front of it, the sea and the sky are vast.The soldiers in charge of the lookout saw dozens of warships rushing towards the river like arrows from a distance, and they were shocked and immediately sounded gongs and drums as a warning.

Wei Ying hurried to the porthole to look into the distance, and was startled.

Not long after the fleet was established, most of the soldiers on board were not familiar with water warfare. Although they sailed all the way down the river and trained without interruption, so many landlubbers could not even stand still in battle. The training effect can be imagined.

Seeing the menacing approach of the opponent, Wei Ying sweated a lot, and then made a decision that turned out to be very wise—ordered all the soldiers to abandon their ship and gather on the five-tooth battleship.

When the soldiers saw the enemy ships galloping across the river, they were already panicked and confused.If it were on land, this group of brave and fearless "mercenaries" would certainly be happy and fearless even in the face of an enemy several times their size, and even dared to make a counter-charge with howling and holding a horizontal knife.

But on the water...

All became soft-legged shrimp.

Hearing the sound of gongs and drums from the flagship, these landlubbers finally remembered what it meant, and hurriedly yelled and leaned the boat towards the five-tooth warship, abandoning the boat one after another and boarding the big ship.As soon as they set foot on the five-tooth battleship, these landlubbers suddenly felt confident, and their feet were steadfast!The larger the boat and the deeper the draft, the more stable it will be. The soldiers who were dangling in the small boat were finally able to have roots under their feet and their spirits lifted.

The five-tooth battleship was customized with a full crew of 800 people. These soldiers boarded the ship, which immediately made the whole ship look a bit better, and the soldiers running on the deck seemed to be full of fighting power.Wei Ying hurriedly directed the soldiers to take their positions according to the tactics during the training.

Dozens of oars protrude from the lower part of the hull, dipping into the river in a uniform manner, and paddling vigorously.The huge hull moved slowly and crossed the river, with the bow facing the invading enemy ship, ready to meet the enemy.

Wang Shangfang originally wanted to ignore the most powerful five-toothed battleship and concentrate his forces to clear out the surrounding small boats. On the one hand, it can distract the enemy's army and morale, and on the other hand, it can weaken the enemy's number.

Unexpectedly, before the battle, the leader of the enemy ship gave up all the small boats, gathered all the troops on the five-tooth battleship, and made a posture of "I am timid, everyone leans together to be bold".

This is too cowardly!

Wang Shangfang gritted his teeth with hatred. Although he didn't know whether it was the enemy general's clever tactics or a decision made by a cowardly man, he had to admit that the current situation was the last thing he wanted to see - the five-tooth warship was too powerful !

But the matter has come to this point, Wang Shangshang can only bite the bullet and give an order-to attack the five-tooth battleship with all his strength!
All of a sudden, the warships under his command gave up their original targets one after another, sat on the bow of the river and adjusted, and rushed towards the tall and wide five-tooth warship.

"boom"

A small boat close to the five-tooth battleship was hit by the hard ram of the enemy ship's bow on the side, broke in two immediately, and sank quickly while spinning on the river.

The "novices" in water warfare on the five-tooth battleship swallowed their saliva in unison. If they still guarded these small boats to fight against the enemy, they would have sunk to the bottom of the river to feed the fish at this moment...Compared to the enemy's manipulation of the warship Technology, they are scum!

However, guarding the five-tooth warship now has offset the gap in water warfare experience and technology to the greatest extent. As long as the big guys stick to the five-tooth warship and prevent the enemy from boarding, then relying on the power of the five-tooth warship can stand firm. The land of defeat!

These soldiers were unsure of their feet on the small boat, but standing on the stable five-tooth battleship, the information skyrocketed. Those who were in charge of manipulating the shooting pole were all guarding their positions, and those in charge of long-distance attack were all standing on the side of the boat with their bows and arrows. The rest held a shield in one hand and a horizontal knife in the other, covering the archers.

The enemy ships are approaching menacingly like lightning, and the boarding battle is imminent!
　Don't go away, the excitement will continue later!
　
(End of this chapter)