amaotonovel Chapter 405 Zhuge Ke's Show-Off
Chapter 405 Zhuge Ke's Show-Off
Cheng Li was stunned. He couldn't understand why this generation of young people were so crazy, trying to poke a hole in the sky with a pole. Who gave you the courage?
Of course, it was given by Guan Xing. What kind of general leads what kind of soldiers? Guan Xing is good at playing extreme operations and is a hands-off leader. He passes on the task and then doesn't care about it, only looking at the result. The process is entirely up to the generals below to do their own thing.
These temporarily promoted generals had no prior experience in warfare and had no other role models to learn from, so they could only imitate Guan Xing. Over time, they all became just like Guan Xing.
Therefore, when faced with Cheng Li's questioning, Xiao Gui continued with a crazy glint in his eyes: "So what if we mess up? Even if Lü Dai breaks through our defenses, we can use the terrain to slowly retreat and block him layer by layer. I dare not say more, but we can still wear Lü Dai down in the mountains for two days."
"Once Lü Dai breaks through the defenses and enters the Jinqu Basin, we will retreat into the steel plant and hold it to the death. If we delay for another three to five days, General Guan's reinforcements will definitely arrive. With the steel plant's defenses, holding it for three to five days is absolutely no problem."
The city defenses of Wushang County were not much stronger than those of Yushan County and could be breached easily. However, the steel mill was different. After the Luo Tong and Zhang Jing incident, Cheng Li spent a lot of money to reinforce the steel mill's defenses. Now, Cheng Li had built the steel mill like a tortoise shell, with a defensive capability even stronger than the Mei Wu that Dong Zhuo built back then. No matter who came, they would not be able to break through it in a short period of time.
Cheng Li poured all the money he had spent on reinforcing the defenses of Wushang County into the steel mill. Now, not only Xiao Gui, but even Cheng Li himself wanted to test how much attack power the steel mill could withstand.
Despite this, Cheng Li still said with concern, "This is not good. The autumn harvest is just around the corner. What if Lü Dai tramples the fertile fields?"
Xiao Gui replied, "Lord Lü is not Dong Zhuo or Cao Cao, how could he possibly do anything to harm the people? I believe in Lord Lü."
This is somewhat like bullying honest people.
Indeed, a gentleman can be deceived by his principles.
Cheng Li was somewhat undecided, so he turned to Hao Yu and asked, "What do you think?"
Hao Yu nodded and said, "I agree with Captain Xiao's opinion. Now is the best opportunity to capture Lü Dai alive. If we let him escape, we will have to launch a long expedition to Jiaozhou in the future, which will cost a lot of money and grain. Wouldn't it be better to use that money and grain to build bridges and roads?"
These words struck a chord with Cheng Li. It was over a thousand miles from here to Jiaozhou, and the journey alone would consume countless amounts of money and provisions. Once they arrived in Jiaozhou, fighting against Lü Dai would also consume money and provisions. They were so poor that they were almost begging for food; where would they find so much money and provisions to spend?
Even if you do have it, wouldn't it be better to use that money for something else?
Cheng Li was thrilled and immediately said, "Let's do it this way. Captain Hao, leave this to me and Xiao Gui. You immediately lead the troops to retreat into the Dongyang River area and establish a second line of defense."
"Yes..." Hao Yu clasped his hands in acceptance and turned to leave.
Cheng Li and Xiao Gui then used the camp to put on an act with Lü Dai, intending to keep Lü Dai there until the main force came to surround him.
As expected, Lü Dai fell for the trap. Seeing the Han army's defenses crumbling, he cursed, "That damned Cheng Li is indeed deceiving me. If Guan Xing had really beaten Commander Lu so badly, he would have sent reinforcements long ago. How can we let an old man like Cheng Li hold on here? Keep attacking! We must break through the Han army's defenses and enter Wushang before nightfall."
Lu Dai began to dream of storming Wushang and robbing the steel mill, unaware that Guan Xing's reinforcements had arrived one after another and would soon completely surround him.
……
Kuaiji Bay, the Han army's shipyard.
Naval Commander Zhou Xun and Deputy Commander Ji Jie had been training their navy in Kuaiji Bay, ready to lead the fleet north to attack the Wei army at any time. However, instead of receiving orders to attack the Wei army, they received orders to attack Lü Dai.
Upon receiving Xie Chong's message ordering them to march south to Yongning to block Lü Dai's retreat, Zhou Xun and Ji Jie actively prepared. After gathering sufficient troops and provisions and confirming the wind direction and current, Zhou Xun and Ji Jie immediately led their army out to prepare for the first battle of the Han navy.
Unexpectedly, just as the fleet left Kuaiji Bay, they saw a giant ship sailing from the north. The ship was about 24 or 25 zhang long and looked not much larger than the flagship of the tower ship that Zhou Xun was standing on.
Zhou Xun's flagship ship was twenty zhang long, while the giant ship approaching was at most twenty-five zhang long. They were not much different in size, but the difference was obvious when the two stood side by side.
The massive ship before us was tall and imposing, looking exceptionally heavy and giving off a sense of oppression, like a mobile fortress at sea.
In comparison, the flagship of the tower ship seems rather fragile. To put it another way, if the giant ship is compared to a tiger, the flagship of the tower ship is at most the alpha wolf. If the two collide, the tower ship will definitely be the first to fall apart.
Upon suddenly seeing the giant ship, Zhou Xun and Ji Jie's expressions changed drastically, and they instinctively wanted to order a defense. Only after seeing the large flag fluttering on the ship did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Two large flags fluttered on the giant ship. The front flag had large Chinese characters written on it, while the secondary flag, which was half a meter shorter to the left of the front flag, had the characters "Yuan Xun" written on it. It was even written in seal script, clearly the work of a famous calligrapher. The more Zhou Xun looked at it, the more he felt that it resembled the handwriting of Zhu Zhi.
Yuanxun was Zhuge Ke's courtesy name, so it goes without saying who the visitor was.
Damn Zhuge Ke, it's one thing to name a warship after yourself, but was it really necessary to ask Zhu Zhi to write the secondary name? Zhu Zhi is currently by Guan Yu's side, aren't you tired of running so far?
The giant ship sailed 500 meters away and lowered its sails to stop. A young man jumped off the ship and boarded a small boat to sail towards the flagship of the tower ship where Zhou Xun was. His figure looked a lot like Zhuge Ke.
As the small boat drew closer, Zhou Xun finally saw clearly that it was that bastard Zhuge Ke.
Zhuge Ke successfully climbed onto the flagship of the warship and walked up to Zhou Xun excitedly, saying, "Old Zhou, what do you think of my Yuanxun? Isn't it magnificent?"
Zhou Xun said sourly, "It's magnificent. Is this the treasure ship that General Guan Xing asked you to build? It's so fast!"
He knew that Guan Xing had ordered Zhuge Ke to build the treasure ship, but he didn't expect it to be completed so quickly, in just a few days.
Zhuge Ke said excitedly, "With money in hand, everything goes quickly, but it's also quite difficult. To build this treasure ship, the manager, Lin Jin, even invited his seventy-year-old grandfather to come out of retirement. A group of old men discussed the blueprints left by General Guan for a long time and finally built the treasure ship. How about it? Don't you feel like the whole ocean is mine?"
The shipbuilding technology of Dongwu was unparalleled in the world. Such excellent technology naturally required outstanding shipwrights. The shipwrights of Dongwu had passed down their skills from their ancestors. If they couldn't handle something themselves, they could ask their ancestors for help. With Guan Xing's bold ideas and the joint efforts of three generations of shipwrights from Dongwu, the treasure ship was born.
Zhuge Ke, like a child who had received a new toy, was extremely excited and beaming with joy, but he pretended to be modest and said, "It's a pity that we've only built a treasure ship that's a little over twenty feet long. The forty-four feet long treasure ship that General Guan mentioned is still a bit difficult to build for now."
He spoke modestly, but the upturned corners of his mouth infuriated Zhou Xun. He said in a flat tone, "Congratulations, congratulations. So you came here to deliver a boat to us?"
The salt seller drinks bland soup, the mat weaver sleeps on a cool bed, and you, the shipyard manager, are only in charge of manufacturing and not using. Now that the ship is built, it has nothing to do with you anymore. Quickly hand over the treasure ship to me and get out of here.
Zhuge Ke shook his head decisively and said, "Of course not, I just came to share my joy with you. Don't forget that this treasure ship is called Yuanxun, it's my personal vehicle, Zhuge Ke, how could I give it to you?"
Then what are you doing here? Showing off?
Zhou Xun, though unwilling to pay attention, still wanted the treasure ship. After a moment's thought, his eyes darted around, and he put his arm around Zhuge Ke's shoulder, revealing a charming smile, and said, "Yuan Xun, this is not right of you. What kind of status and position do you have? How can such a small boat be worthy of the name Yuan Xun? The Yuan Xun should be a large ship of at least forty zhang."
"You know, you only have one chance to name a ship. You can't name all the treasure ships 'Yuanxun,' right? That doesn't make sense, does it?"
"Just imagine this: once the treasure ship, which is over forty feet long, is built, your Yuanxun will look half its size when it stands in front of them. Would you feel good about that?"
Zhuge Ke mentally simulated the scene of the Lower Yuan Xun ship and the forty-zhang treasure ship docking together, and his expression immediately turned ugly.
Seeing that there was a chance, Zhou Xun continued to entice, "So you must cherish this one and only chance to name it. You can't just name any old ship Yuanxun. You must build the biggest one, the one and only, and hang it there. In the future, when hundreds or thousands of treasure ships are lined up together, your Yuanxun will be in the very center of the fleet, the tallest, the biggest, the most powerful, with its flag flying the highest. That should be the goal of the Yuanxun."
“You are destined to conquer the sea and become the Marquis of Zhenhai. You must possess the best. This little broken boat is not worthy of you. Give it to me, and I will take this junk for you.”