Chapter 68 Wu State Marine Division
The next day, on the river.
Hundreds of Wu army warships of all sizes were spread out on the river, with flags covering the sky and a huge momentum.
On the other side of the Wu army's warship fleet was a larger Chu army's warship fleet.
There are several major types of warships, including large wing, medium wing, small wing, surprise attack, tower ship, and bridge ship, all of which can be used for naval battles!
At this moment, the Chu army's main general Shen Yinshu was standing on the tower of a ship, looking at the aggressive Wu army warships in the distance.
He suddenly noticed something strange and couldn't help but frown!
"General, give the order to attack!"
The generals around him all asked to fight.
"No, no hurry."
Shen Yinshu waved his hand and said, "I wonder if you guys have noticed anything unusual about these Wu warships?"
"Strange?"
Mi Ji and other generals were stunned for a moment, then they looked around and examined it carefully, and they really noticed the clues.
"General, what you want to say is that although the fleet of the Wu army is large in scale, it lacks the unique features of large wings and tower ships?"
"good."
Shen Yinshu nodded slightly and said, "As we all know, the Wu Kingdom's warships are as strong and powerful as our Chu Kingdom's, and they are the best in the world! But what you have seen now is that the Wu army has very few tower ships and large warships, which are far inferior to our Chu army. How can we fight?"
"this……"
Upon hearing this, all the Chu army generals nodded in agreement.
Mi Ji was even more suspicious and asked, "General, could it be that the Wu army is cheating?"
"Most likely."
Shen Yinshu pondered and said, "Under the whole world, the only country that can compete with our Chu State in terms of fleet is Wu. Now Qingji dares to go to war with such a small number of tower ships and large wings. There must be something fishy!"
"What the general said is very true. However, I think there is another possibility!"
Mi Ji frowned and said, "Now Wu is surrounded by enemies and in national crisis. It is understandable that Qingji cannot mobilize so many warships at once and is eager to reinforce Zhenzi."
"Yes."
Shen Yinshu also thought of this.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
At this moment, a burst of war drum sound filled with murderous aura suddenly rang out.
The Wu army's warships moved quickly and rushed towards the Chu army's navy in a cone formation.
"Shoot!"
When the enemy's warships came within the range of the bows and arrows, the archers of the Wu army immediately drew their bows and arrows. After a series of "click" sounds that made people feel their teeth ache, they pulled their bows like a full moon.
Following an order from a general in the front, one powerful arrow after another was thrown upwards like a swarm of locusts, and then fell onto the deck of the Chu army like hail!
“Seize, seize, seize!”
“Puff, fuss!”
"Uhhhhhhhhh!"
The arrows fired by the Wu army archers were extremely penetrating. Whenever they hit an enemy, the latter would always wail and run away in panic.
Under the attack of rockets from the sky, even if they did not hit the Chu soldiers, they could still penetrate the deck of the warship and cause flames.
What made the Chu army even more terrified was that the Wu army's round after round of arrows were all rockets, which hit the sails of the warships and immediately ignited a huge fire!
"Quick! Put out the fire!"
“Fight back!”
"Shoot!"
The Chu army reacted soon and sent some soldiers to put out the fire, and also sent archers to shoot at the Wu army.
Their targets were the animal skins, canvas or other fabrics on the masts of enemy warships, that is, the sails!
As a last resort, the warships of the Wu and Chu armies could only fold their sails and rely on the rowers to row hard to push the warships forward.
"Order! Da Yi is in the middle, the sudden attack, the bridge boats provide cover, and charge forward!"
"promise!"
After receiving the royal order from Qingji, the flag bearers standing on the tower immediately stretched out their arms and waved the flags in their hands quickly.
Through this kind of flag signal, the Wu army can convey orders more quickly and carry out the next action of the troops!
It is worth mentioning that the warships of the Wu State were divided into several categories : large wing, medium wing, small wing, Tumao, tower ship, and bridge ship.
Among them, the big wing was "15 feet 2 inches wide, 12 feet long, with 26 guest warriors... a total of 91 people."
The three wings were powerful weapons in the naval battles in the Wu Kingdom’s internal rivers, and the large wing was the most powerful weapon. The ship was slender, had many rowers, and was fast, making it a fast warship.
A Tumao is an attack warship with a ram on the bow.
The tower ship is tall and is the main battleship in naval battles!
A bridge ship is a small warship used in naval battles. It is flexible and light, and often takes the lead in naval battles.
In addition, the Wu State also had a magnificently decorated ship on which the king rode, which was the flagship in naval battles!
Qin, Jin and other countries in the north also had their own naval forces, but they were far inferior to those of the southern countries.
The most advanced technology of an era is always used in the military first, and the same is true for ships.
As early as the Shang Dynasty, ships were used as a means of transportation to suppress rebellious slaves, and "King Wu attacked Yin and first went out of the Yellow River. Lü Shang was the general and he crossed the Yellow River with 47 boats."
At that time, ships were used in wars mainly to transport troops and food supplies. Direct naval battles were not carried out, and most of them were temporarily requisitioned civilian ships. There were no dedicated warships.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the wars for hegemony and annexation among the various vassal states expanded from the vast land to the vast rivers, lakes and seas, and the main combat equipment for naval warfare - warships - developed rapidly.
At this time, the four countries of Wu, Yue, Qi and Chu, which relied on rivers and seas, all established huge "naval forces", which were the earliest naval forces in history!
Among all the countries, the warships of the Wu State, located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, were the most famous.
Not to mention the tower ships, the Wu State's large-wing warships were over 27 meters long!
Compared with civilian ships, warships are faster, have stronger hulls, and are equipped with protective facilities such as low walls, railings, and battle grids. The outer walls of some hulls are even covered with leather or nailed with bamboo strips.
The main warships are generally taller and larger than civilian ships. For example, a tower ship has three or four floors!
But frankly speaking, although warships developed rapidly in this era, they were still in the initial exploratory stage.
The birth of warships in ancient Western countries such as Egypt, Persia, Phoenicia, and Greece occurred several centuries earlier than in China, and their development was also very rapid.
Compared with Western warships of the same period, ancient Chinese warships had a certain gap in tonnage and navigation performance.
If there is an opportunity, Qingji must consider strengthening Wu's navy and innovating its navigation technology.
"kill!"
At this time, the armies of Wu and Chu were fighting amid flying rockets.
A large number of warships began to approach, long ladders were laid out , and the soldiers began to fight each other.
“Swish!”
A Wu soldier swung his sword and wounded the enemy, causing blood to gushed out, but the latter still endured the severe pain and insisted on falling into the river holding the Wu soldier, dyeing the river water blood red.
Some Wu soldiers who did not engage in close combat with the enemy threw stones and wood at the Chu soldiers not far away, causing considerable casualties to them!
The naval battles in the Spring and Autumn Period were fought in such a simple and crude way.
