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On the deck of the Qingzhou battleship, Lu Fei was holding a telescope, observing the troop deployment on the city wall of Pengzhou.
When he saw the soldiers holding swords and sabers, he felt somewhat relieved, because there wasn’t a single cannon on the city wall of Pengzhou. Such a deployment allowed him to boldly let the warships patrol along the Bian River in front of Pengzhou City. For him, as long as there were no cannons, there was no threat to the three warships in the river.
“Are you afraid?”
Lu Fei said jokingly to the soldiers beside him. Among the Southern Expedition Army, only the Cangzhou Army had been on the battlefield before. Most of the soldiers from Laizhou and Yizhou had not seen blood. As for the Firearm Battalion, they had only attacked the imperial city in Chang’an and had not experienced a truly brutal encounter.
“No, sir!”
The young soldier beside Lu Fei said. Beneath his tender face, the soldier was no older than sixteen.
“Good, courageous lad. When I fought back then, I was a year younger than you. Once you’re on the battlefield, as long as you focus on killing the enemy, you won’t be afraid.” Lu Fei chuckled.
The soldiers on the warship looked at Lu Fei with admiration. In the fief, although Lu Fei’s official position was not as high as Niu Ben’s, his reputation in the army was renowned. Therefore, upon learning that Lu Fei was commanding this army, the soldiers were all a bit excited. The story of Lu Fei’s three thousand iron cavalry routing the barbarian soldiers was still a celebrated tale in the army.
Upon hearing this, the soldier’s knuckles, gripping the flintlock gun, turned white from the force, and then he nodded heavily.
“General, should we give the Pengzhou army a show of force, and let them know how formidable we are?” At this moment, a cavalry commander behind Lu Fei suggested.
Lu Fei nodded. “To attack a city, first attack the heart. These Pengzhou soldiers have never seen cannons and firearms. We will let them understand what kind of army they are about to face. Immediately order the warships to head towards the city gate.”
“Yes, General!”
The cavalry commander received the order, turned and left. Soon, the warships began to move along the river towards the city gate of Pengzhou City.
Inside Pengzhou City.
Mi Wenyi, who had learned of King Qi’s army’s attack, quickly reached a consensus with the powerful families of Pengzhou City. At this time, the Mi family’s banquet had dispersed, and the heads of each family had returned home to gather their private armies to assist the Pengzhou army in defending the city.
Mi Wenyi also changed into a suit of armor and headed towards the city wall. When he ascended the city wall under the protection of soldiers, he saw three warships approaching the city gate.
At this moment, he couldn’t help but frown. In his eyes, these three warships were no different in appearance from ordinary merchant ships, and there were only about two thousand soldiers on board. Was King Qi’s army planning to land these two thousand men on the ground in front of the city gate to attack the city?
“Chief Clerk Mi, all the cable bridges on the Bian River have been dismantled.”
Mi Kuang, the governor of Pengzhou, said to Mi Wenyi. This Mi Kuang was also from the Mi family. Because the Mi family was powerful, the Prince of Wei greatly valued them. The local government and military largely relied on members of the Mi family. Precisely because of this, the military and political power of Pengzhou City was, in fact, controlled by the Mi family.
Mi Wenyi glanced at the empty surface of the Bian River. Previously, there was a cable bridge extending to the opposite bank directly in front of Pengzhou City. Normally, common people and merchants would enter Pengzhou City via the cable bridge. Once the cable bridge was dismantled, the over hundred-meter-wide Bian River became Pengzhou City’s natural moat.
“Hmm, immediately have the soldiers prepare rolling stones, fire oil, and other items to prevent a sudden enemy attack,” Mi Wenyi said. These three warships were quite an eyesore in his mind now.
Without these three warships, it would be very difficult for King Qi’s army to cross the one-hundred-meter-wide Bian River and reach the city. But now, these three warships provided convenience for King Qi’s soldiers.
Mi Kuang nodded. Like Mi Wenyi, he also had some thoughts about these three ships. He said, “Chief Clerk Mi, why not send out the Lu family’s navy to directly sink these three ships? As long as we control the Bian River, unless King Qi’s army grows wings, they will not be able to attack the city at all.”
Mi Wenyi said, “The Lu family has already gone to gather their warships to prepare for battle. We just need to watch the show from the city wall now.”
“Chief Clerk Mi is right. As long as the Lu family is willing to put in the effort, sinking these three ships will be an easy task.” Mi Kuang looked at the three warships in the river with disdain.
Mi Wenyi frowned upon hearing this; he was somewhat worried. Having served under the Prince of Wei, he knew that King Qi possessed a type of warship equipped with cannons. When he learned that three warships had appeared, he was initially shocked, but now, seeing these three warships, he didn’t see any cannons on them.
Thinking of cannons in connection with warships, Mi Wenyi’s face darkened somewhat. The Prince of Wei had obtained very few cannons and matchlock guns from Qingzhou. Now, these cannons and firearms were all kept by the Prince of Wei for the army in Jinling City, leaving them with no advantage at all.
Just as he was thinking, the Pengzhou Navy appeared in the direction of the three warships. Thirty Pengzhou warships were now facing the three Qingzhou warships.
Seeing this scene, Mi Wenyi felt a little relieved. Although the Pengzhou warships were not very large, they made up for it in sheer numbers. These crescent-shaped, two-decked warships were packed with soldiers holding swords, sabers, and bows and arrows.
As soon as the Pengzhou Navy appeared, the soldiers on the city wall immediately cheered.
“Beat them! Beat them hard!”
“Sink them into the river to feed the fish!”
“Slaughter them all!”
“…”
These shouting soldiers were either surnamed Mi or Lu, and some belonged to other major surnames, members of the powerful clans in Pengzhou City. These past few years, they had also been influenced by the powerful clans and were highly vigilant against King Qi from the north.
As the Pengzhou Navy appeared, the three Qingzhou warships suddenly adjusted their direction, turning their broadsides towards the approaching Pengzhou Navy.
On the warship, Lu Fei paid no attention to the approaching navy. Naval combat was naturally for naval commanders to direct. He was responsible for land warfare. When a burst of cheers erupted on the city wall, he said, “Where is the rifled gun squad?”
“Here, General!” Sixty soldiers with rifled guns on their backs shouted in unison behind Lu Fei.
Lu Fei nodded. In front of Pengzhou City gate was a hundred-meter-long sandbank, and beyond that was the Bian River. From his current position to the city wall was only about one hundred fifty meters.
“Shoot a few of them down for me. Let’s see who among them still dares to act so arrogantly.” Lu Fei’s fiery temper had somewhat mellowed, but it was still fiery.
The soldiers equipped with rifled guns immediately began to load, then they aimed their gun barrels at the soldiers on the city wall.
Lu Fei scanned the city wall with his telescope. When he saw two generals standing together, he suddenly said, “You two, shoot in this direction.”
This time, before Lu Fei’s departure, Xiao Ming specifically had Lu Fei bring this group of soldiers carrying rifled guns and loaded with conical bullets. According to Xiao Ming, even if they didn’t hit, they could still scare a few into wetting themselves.