"That thing!" Jiang Qin also had a little impression of it. Wasn't that the ballista that almost killed him and his master at Wan Cheng? At that time, Jiang Qin's warhorse was shot in the head by that ballista. Jiang Qin did not want to experience that feeling again.
Now, each ship had no less than five ballistas. Among the twenty ships, there were more than a hundred ballistas. Jiang Qin and Lu Su's scalp tingled a little, but Jiang Qin still persisted. "Isn't it just a hundred ballistas? He can only shoot more than a hundred arrows. These arrows can only kill a few hundred of his soldiers. The rest is nothing! "Jiang Qin calmed himself down. He is now the commander-in-chief of Sun Ce's Army. He cannot panic. Besides, the ballista's crosshairs were not very good. It was hard to say if they could hit anything in this big river.
However, Lu Su did not have Jiang Qin's good attitude. These ballistas could only shoot people. Lu Su remembered that a ballista was shot down by a ballista. Although the ballista hit the ballista, if it did not have enough power, how could it hit the ballista?
"It's time to let you taste my anger!" Gan Ning took the command flag from his deputy. The ballistae were all under the command of this small command flag. Without Gan Ning's orders, no one had the right to pull the black cloth and shoot the ballistae from the bed.
"Shoot!" With Gan Ning's order, the scene that Lu Su did not want to see the most happened. Countless ballistas' bowstrings were released in an instant. The ballistas were cut down from trees and poured with molten iron. The ballistas were equipped with arrowheads. These were not the prototype ballistas used by Liu Mang in Wan Cheng. These were the real ballistas that could be used in naval warfare.
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!" More than twenty ships lined up in a row, and the five ballistae on each ship shot out huge bolts.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Sun Cejun's navy was out of luck. More than a hundred ballistas were not aimed at the soldiers, but at the ships. Sun Cejun's formation was relatively dense. Although it could bring a lot of psychological pressure to the enemy, do not forget that the ballista did not need a crosshair. As long as the ballistas were shot, they would hit the ships. Ships were not warhorses or infantry that could be dodged. It was not easy for a fleet to change its formation. Not to mention that the ships were prone to slip, the current of the Yangtze River made it difficult for them to be agile.
More than a hundred ballistas hit the first row of ships of Sun Cejun's navy.
"What!" Jiang Qin and Lu Su widened their eyes. The power of these giant arrows was really great. The several layers of wood on top of the ship could not stop these giant arrows from penetrating. Some of the giant arrows even pierced through the layer of iron covering the ship.
The ships on the periphery were out of luck. Those that were hit by the ballistas were fine. Even if they were hit by the ballistas, only a few soldiers were injured. However, those that were hit by the ballistas were not so lucky. One by one, the ballistas penetrated the ship's belly. At this time, ships did not only rely on their sails. After all, the direction of the wind was related to the heavens. If the direction of the wind was not good, would they have to stop on the water and wait for the wind to blow? Therefore, the ballistas were made to slide from the outside. These ballistas were all manned. Therefore, there were soldiers rowing the ballistas. These ballistas not only penetrated the ballistas but also killed the soldiers rowing the ballistas. Some of the ballistas were so powerful that they penetrated the ballistas and came out from the other side. Once the ballistas were penetrated, a large amount of river water poured into the ballistas. Now that the ballistas were not sealed, they could still repair the ballistas. But now that they were in the middle of the river, there was no other way but to watch the ballistas sink bit by bit.
The warships were still fine, but the unlucky ones were the smaller Bi 'an warships. A single giant arrow could take the life of a Bi' an warship, so they had no room to defend themselves and were shot directly into the river. Fortunately, the navy soldiers were all people who knew how to swim back after falling into the water.
"Let them choose to abandon the ballistas!" Jiang Qin decisively issued the order. He also ordered the surrounding ballistas to rescue the ballistas as well as the ballistas. If they do not abandon the ballistas now, the ballistas will sink to the bottom of the river and will be sucked in by the ballistas.
"Yes!" Jiang Qin's flagship raised its flag and the ballistas behind it came forward to rescue the ballistas. There were more than a dozen ballistas hanging on the ballistas.
"What a pity!" Gan Ning's vice-admiral was no longer as panicked and uneasy as before. The ballistas on the ballistas were also the same. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the basic style of naval warfare was to sail the ballistas on the river. When the ballistas were a hundred paces away, the ballistas would be randomly shot. After that, they would board each other's ballistas and kill each other. Whoever had more ballistas and ballistas would win.
But now, the ballistas were not even a hundred paces away yet. The ballistas had not been shot and there was no boarding battle yet. Seeing this scene, Gan Ning's ships were shot by the ballistae. Five of the ships in front of Sun Ce's ships were turned into hedgehogs. Half of the ships fell into the water while the remaining ship was floating. Sawdust was everywhere in the river. Sun Ce's ships had no choice but to abandon the ship. If Jiang Qin had lined up the ballistas, they would have lost more than just six ballistas.
"There is nothing to pity!" Gan Ning was also a little surprised by the ballistas' power. In just one exchange, they had destroyed six ballistas. If it was before, Gan Ning would have scoffed at this tactic. The enemy did not even touch your hair and you already destroyed six ballistas. You must be dreaming! There were nearly two thousand ballistas on the ballistas. In such a short time, he was sent into the middle of the river to feed the turtles. Did he really think that the enemy was made of paper? But now, the ballistas on the ballistas told Gan Ning that this was not a dream. This was only the first round of shooting. Gan Ning's ballistas were mostly Jiangxia Navy and new recruits. Encountering these old rivals or people who always bullied him, it was inevitable that he would panic. Seven thousand against thirty thousand. Gan Ning himself was not confident, let alone the ordinary soldiers. This volley could only be regarded as a test shot. The ballistas were shot randomly without any calibration. They could only rely on their intuition and fear to release the ballistas and let the ballistas fly.
But the result was not that bad. In one exchange, they had killed two thousand ballistas. What if this was the second or third round?
Gan Ning's heart was now really confident. He no longer had the mentality of a gambler.
"Retreat!" Gan Ning gave the order. The lieutenant nodded and the flag signal was sent out again. Twenty-three ballistas started moving against the current and cruised towards the direction where they came from.
"Retreat?!" Jiang Qin was already prepared to exchange fire with Gan Ning and then rush towards Gan Ning's flagship. But now, Gan Ning actually retreated.
"General Jiang Qin, we must not let them go! Quickly stick to them! "Lu Qiushui said solemnly. Lu Su suddenly said to Jiang Qin in a serious tone. Lu Su did not understand naval warfare, but he knew that ballistas needed time to load. Although ballistas were powerful, do not forget that ballistas were very heavy. If a warship could hold three hundred to four hundred people, then five ballistas could only hold less than two hundred soldiers. Including the rowers in the cabin, the number of soldiers that could fight was only a little more than one hundred. But Sun Cejun's ballistas had more than three hundred people. As long as they stick close to the enemy, Gan Ning will really die!
The advantage of numbers will quickly turn into a crushing effect. Twenty-three ballistas were attacked by nearly one hundred ballistas, only death awaited them.
"Everyone, speed up! We must catch up with Gan Ning!" Jiang Qin also understood this truth. Ballistas were very troublesome to load. Just like the ballistas above Wan Cheng, it required a dozen to twenty ballistas to load and pull the bowstring. If they had that much time, they would have already started fighting. Because it consumed manpower and material resources, and also took up the space of the ballistas to discharge water, ballistas were not used in naval warfare.
In Jiang Qin's view, Gan Ning had indeed brought him a great shock. He had not even touched a hair of the enemy, but six ballistas and dozens of ballistas were already gone. How long had it been? According to this time, the thirty thousand ballistas would be sent to the bottom of the river in the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Now that the ballistas had been loaded by the ballistas, Jiang Qin's opportunity has come. He will catch up, stick close to the ballistas, and stall for time for the main force. Once they stall for time, Gan Ning will not be able to escape.
What kind of boat could run the fastest on the water? Of course, it would be the ballista! The ballista was also known as the Assault Boat, a speedboat. It was narrow on the outside but long on the inside. Its speed was extremely fast because there were many oars on the ballista. Rows of soldiers could pick up their swords to attack when they were boarding the ballista. When they were not boarding the ballista, they would paddle the ballista.
The ballista was big and tall. Although there were more people paddling, the resistance in the water was also much higher.
Therefore, under Jiang Qin's command, the ballistas rushed from the rear of the enemy. Their speed was not comparable to the ballistas. In a short time, they caught up with Gan Ning's ballista. Their purpose was to stall Gan Ning and not let Gan Ning escape, so as to buy time for the main force behind.
"You want to stall me?" Gan Ning sneered. "I'm afraid you will be disappointed!" According to the normal way of thinking, Jiang Qin's move was absolutely effective. Not only did Jiang Qin have a lot of troops, but the quality of his troops was also very high. Gan Ning's Jiang Xia soldiers and recruits could not be compared to them. Previously, he did not know the power of the ballistas, so he sunk six ballistas. Now that he knew the power and the weakness of the ballistas, how could he let Gan Ning continue using them?
"Raise your bows and send me some arrows to support our General Jiang Qin!" Jiang Qin sent the ballistas to stall Gan Ning. Gan Ning also wanted to get rid of the ballistas first. The ballistas were small and fast. Gan Ning was reluctant to use the ballistas. What Gan Ning wanted was to send Sun Ce's navy into the river to feed the turtles. If the ballistas were destroyed, the ballistas would be scared and would retreat. At that time, it would be difficult to chase after them.
The ballistas quickly rushed to the center of Gan Ning's fleet. These ballistas were very fast. They wandered around the ballistas. One by one, the ballistas fell on the ballistas. The ballistas were ready to climb up the ballistas. Some ballistas even rammed into the ballistas. The ballista's ballista was wrapped in iron, so ramming into the ballistas would be very difficult.
"Shoot!" Apart from a few soldiers operating the ballistae, the rest of the soldiers on the ships had drawn their longbows and aimed at the Bi 'an. Almost four thousand soldiers on the ships had shot at the Bi' an. Instantly, the Bi 'an soldiers were either dead or injured. There was no room for them to dodge. Gan Ningjun took advantage of the height of the ships and raised his bows to shoot. Although the Bi' an was wrapped in leather, it could not withstand the waves of arrows.
Forty to fifty ballistas were shrinking at an astonishing speed. Not only were the ballistas shot by the ballistas, but also the ballistas of Gan Ning's Ballistas. When the ballistas and ballistas surrounded the ballistas, the ballistas of Sun Ce's Ballistas could not escape. They were devoured by Gan Ning's Ballistas. Another thousand ballistas were lost. Before the real battle even started, Jiang Qin had already lost three thousand ballistas. This made Jiang Qin's stomach burn with anger. He stared at Gan Ning who was on Lü Bu's flagship.
"Your appetite is quite big, but aren't you afraid that you will be full?" Gan Ning wanted to completely eliminate Bi 'an's fleet. Aside from those who rowed and steered the ship, the rest of the crew also attacked. However, this caused Gan Ning's fleet to slow down. Slowly, Jiang Qin's navy caught up with them. In Lu Su and Jiang Qin's opinion, Gan Ning no longer has the opportunity to fire his ballista. Gan Ning's ballista has already been destroyed.
"Go, annihilate them!" Jiang Qin's ballistas approached Gan Ning. The ballistas of the ballistas were already prepared. They were just waiting for Gan Ning's fleet to engage.
"You want to die so much? Then I will send you down! " The ballistas turned around again. Lu Su and Jiang Qin saw that the ballistas that they thought were useless were once again loaded with ballistas.
"Are you trying to scare us?!" Jiang Qin stubbornly held on. He did not believe that there was a bowstring attached to the ballista. To pull a ballista, one would need at least 20 strong men. But from the time Gan Ningjun shot the first wave of bolts until now, Jiang Qin did not see anyone attaching a bowstring to the ballista. A ballista without a bowstring was just a bluff.
"No, no!" Lu Su fiercely shook his head. Lu Su's eyes widened as he looked at the ballista on the enemy's warship. Although he couldn't see whether the ballista was loaded or not, he could see that there were several ballistas stacked together. This was different from the ballista on the walls of Wan City. The ballista on the walls of Wan City was separated from the ballista and not stacked together like this.
"Are you all ready?" On Gan Ning's ships, the officers personally went up to the deck to supervise the soldiers. Each ship had five ballistas. Each ballista was fired by two soldiers. These soldiers were not originally part of the navy. They were selected by Liu Mang from the Lvbu's Army. They were good at shooting. Although they could not be said to be godly shooters, they were still capable of shooting. One was responsible for firing the ballistas while the other was responsible for observing the angles. Ever since the ballista was created, these people had been training. Their existence was to make the ballista, which had no aim, more accurate.
The first wave of ballistas did not have a proper aim because the battle had just started. Everyone was not confident. Coupled with the urging of the others, they closed their eyes and felt the general direction of the ballistas. Fortunately, the ships were densely packed together, so the ballistas did not fall into the water.
But now, not only did the first wave of arrows hit the ballistae, it also struck fear into the hearts of the soldiers on the ships. Didn't you see that? The enemy could not even touch their hair before they were shot to the bottom of the river. The soldiers had a sense of confidence in the ballistas' power. This time, it was not just six ships. This time, it was seven ships, eight ships, nine ships, or even ten ships.
"Each ship, aim at one ship!" Gan Ning ordered the vice-admiral to pass down the order. Firing together can form a large scale ballista, but the damage will only be concentrated on the ships in front. But if they are separated, the damage will be different. They were now in the middle of the river. The two sides of the river spanned hundreds of meters or even thousands of meters. Gan Ning had been to the estuary of the Admiral, but he couldn't see the end of the river. Wan Cheng's section was also not small, it was at least a kilometer long. The width of the ships was only seven or eight meters. This time, Jiang Qin had placed almost half of the ships in the first row to encircle Gan Ning so that Gan Ning would not be able to escape.
"Each ship, aim at one ship?" The vice-admiral cupped his fist and said. "General, is this not enough power?" Just now, the ballistas only sank six ships. If each ship is aimed at one ship, then they will be able to kill more than twenty ships at once. This was too out of the ordinary!
"Hmm?" Gan Ning was also deep in thought. When he discussed the ballistae with the young lord, in theory, five ballistae from a turreted ship would be enough to sink an enemy ship. However, that was under the premise that all of the ballistae hit the target and penetrated the bottom of the ship. If the ballistae were shot too high or off target, the damage wouldn't be as great. "Two ballistae, aim for one! Let them shoot on their own! "Gan Ning changed the order for the sake of stability.
"Yes!" The vice-admiral sent out a rain of ballistas. One ship may miss, but two ships will double the accuracy. Even if only half of the ballistas hit the enemy ship, it will still sink.
Two ships aiming at one ship? The signal was sent out. Although Gan Ning's marines have only been in the army for a short time, they know how to cooperate. Two ships that are relatively close to each other cooperated with each other. One ship will take the lead and the other will follow. Whichever ship in front will shoot, they will shoot.
"Whoosh!" The ballistas once again soared. This time, the ballistas were much more accurate than before. The ballistas pierced through the air and made a buzzing sound as they flew towards the Jiangdong Navy.
As one of the warships fired the first arrow, the ballistas on the other warships roared as well. The great thrust of the ballistas slowed down the speed of these warships.
"How is this possible?" Lu Su and Jiang Qin's jaws dropped so wide that an egg could be placed inside. A ballista that does not need to be pulled? A ballista that can shoot continuously? This is a nightmare.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" One by one, the arrows pierced the ships of Sun Ce's Army, creating a big hole in the ship. The river water began to flow into the hole.
If it was just the penetration of the arrows, then it would be fine. After all, they could only sink the ships, so the damage to the Jiangdong Army would be limited. However, some of the Gan Ning Navy's ships used their brains and wrapped the arrows in cloth. This was not to reduce the number of casualties, but to ignite the cloth and fire it with the ballista.
Fire arrows had always been the best way to deal with warships in naval battles. At this time, warships were made of wood. Once they caught fire, they would be in big trouble. Ordinary fire arrows were enough to give people a headache. Now that these huge arrows were burning, they were even more frightening. They plunged into the ships and set them ablaze. With the help of the wood and the wind, the ships on the river were ablaze. The red fire ships were dazzling on the surface of the river.
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