Chapter 18 Rookies pecking each other
"Quick! Connect the boats horizontally to block the waterway! That white goose thief is trying to escape!"

"Don't let the thief go!"

At the mouth of the canal, Zhang Feng stood on the shore and shouted loudly. More than a hundred people on each bank were working hard to cut reeds, which could be tied into rafts to fill the canal.

As long as the pirates' large ships dare to come, the surface of the canal mouth will not only be filled with densely packed reed rafts, but also with old small boats fixed among them. These small boats are tied together with ropes in groups of three or two, and anchors are dropped, making it difficult for large ships to break through.

Once the big ship stops, all the people on both sides need to do is set fire to the reed rafts. How long can the thieves' big ship resist?
Zhang Feng urged urgently, and the boats at the canal mouth were piled up together. The people on both sides of the river who were working to cut reeds had no time to make stronger and larger reed rafts, so they could only throw bundles of reeds into the water at the canal mouth.

Some people who had experienced water battles were even more anxious. Now they knew they had shortcomings and mistakes, but they were just a group of poor people fleeing together. Where could they get so many straw ropes and hemp ropes to use?
It's spring now, and there are no suitable bundles of grass around to make ropes!
The dead grass that remained from last year was so dry and brittle that it was impossible to twist it into ropes!

Around 400 strong men raced against time to block the water surface at the canal mouth in one fell swoop...even if they couldn't block it, it would be fine as long as it looked like the waterway was silted up and impassable.

The longer they delay, the more siltation obstacles they can create on the water surface of the canal!
Until it's really blocked!

Not only Zhang Feng, some leaders were also very anxious and urged their relatives and fellow villagers around them.

As long as the canal entrance is blocked, it doesn’t matter whether the white goose thief is killed or not, it doesn’t matter whether he can prove his innocence, and it doesn’t matter even more whether the thief abandons the ship and escapes.

What’s important is the cargo on the ship!

Deep in the main canal, Zhang Ding commanded the transport ship to gradually accelerate, followed by the second, third and black-sailed boats.

Zhang Ding is responsible for clearing the obstacles and debris on the river surface. His boat will only get faster and faster, so the three boats will also distance themselves from each other.

In order to avoid collision failure, our ships collided with each other in a chain reaction.

Zhang Ding has also experienced naval battles. He cannot be said to be very experienced, but he has enough knowledge.

The closer we got, the more we saw that the other side was creating obstacles to block the waterway while also towing several boats to the shore and loading and tying up bundles of reeds onto the boats.

This is a primitive and crude fireboat, and the opponent must counterattack with fire!
It was clear to them that if they could not break through directly, the enemy would push down the fire ships on both sides and wrap around the large ship from both flanks to burn it!

Once a fire breaks out and smoke fills the air, sailors will panic, rowing order will become chaotic, and the boats will lose control.

The boats caught fire and the sailors scrambled for their lives, becoming easy prey.

Therefore, there is only one chance to attack. If you fail to break through, you will have to face fire attack. If this ship is attacked by fire, it will become the biggest obstacle!
Zhang Ding thought of this and immediately held a short blue and red flag in each hand and made a cross signal to the rear. After Xuanliang responded with a flag signal, Zhang Ding immediately shouted, "Slow down!"

The three ships slowed down and stopped three miles from the canal mouth.

Hei Xiong and Xuan Liang also grabbed the mast rope and jumped to the front ship, and together they climbed onto the wooden platform of the sparrow room to observe.

He looked up at the weather vane on the top of the mast. It was a light southeasterly wind, more easterly.

Xuan Liang also observed the wind vane and the obstacles at the mouth of the canal. He turned his head and asked Zhang Ding: "Why not do it in one go?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to rush through and get caught in fire, which will implicate Commander Qu."

Zhang Ding's tone did not take the obstacle in front of him seriously, and he only said what he saw as the key point: "If the boats are blocked, it will ruin the general's plan. Even if we kill the bandits, it will not help."

Xuan Liang nodded after listening to this. He didn't think that the rabble of four or five hundred people on the opposite side had any decent fighting power.

As long as one's own leader can control the ghosts and gods, powerful Taoist soldiers will appear everywhere and completely defeat the enemy.

It can appear out of thin air, disappear and then reappear from somewhere else... In Xuan Liang's eyes, this may be a magical power of flashing and appearing mysteriously, or it may be a necessary invisibility spell used to travel and overcome obstacles.

In short, these hundreds of people couldn't even get together a dozen or so sets of decent armor, and their weapons were mainly farm tools... They didn't even have bamboo spears, which were cheap, easy to use and easily obtained. Enemies of this level were not even as good as the Shanyue, so it was really difficult to attract Xuan Liang's attention.

Our commander Qu is going to Xudu to do great things, so he naturally has to keep a low profile along the way.

But this group of thieves are so ignorant of their own life and death. I have never seen anyone seeking death so actively.

Black Bear observed for a moment and said, "Zhang Ding's judgment is reasonable. I don't want to lose a ship. So, get some fish oil, firewood, and two pieces of coarse linen, and make some torches for me to set fire to. Instead of waiting for them to set fire to my ship, it's better to let them collect more reeds so that they can burn them all!"

There was no need to recruit sailors to act as arsonists. After nightfall, he had plenty of ways to burn the reeds on the water and the enemy's fireboats placed on both sides of the river!
But as the sky gradually darkened, a cold wind blew and it started to rain.

Raindrops fell on the deck, and Xuan Liang and Zhang Ding turned their heads to look at their own commander.

The black bear just raised his eyebrows and didn't think it was strange.

There is no need to panic. The worst that can happen is that he can abandon the boat and break out. There are black servants to cover the rear, and black warriors to follow and lead the way. He is not afraid of anyone when walking in the dark at night.

Unless Cao Cao's army was stationed nearby, they would be surrounded and killed by elite officers and soldiers.

The rain became more and more intense, reaching the level of light to medium rain.

The four or five hundred people at the canal mouth had nowhere to shelter from the rain and were just soaked in the rain. Some people who were unwilling to get wet carried bundles of reeds in the rain to build shelters. They rowed through Pengcheng overnight, made a few repairs, and then chased the transport fleet.

They only rested for a short while when they were following behind the fleet. They had not eaten lunch, and their stomachs were empty as they raced against time to cut reeds to block the waterway... Hungry and tired, they immediately felt resentful and regretful.

Zhang Feng saw it but there was nothing he could do. Who could have thought that it would suddenly rain on such a cloudy day?

The rain had made it impossible to launch a fireworks attack, and they were even more passive as they lacked ropes and equipment to board the ship.

The rain fell heavily in the manor, and all the men and women in the manor had been armed.

The rapid collapse of Chen Deng's forces also brought some benefits to Xuezhou, as he took away enough armor and weapons!
The young men of each family waited in their houses, while the people in charge gathered in the hall of Xuezhou's compound, eating dog meat and drinking wine, waiting for the rain to stop. The manor also raised more than a dozen horses, which traveled back and forth in the rain to report the information they had gathered to Xuezhou.

It was normal for the white goose thieves to chase the fleet, and Xuezhou and his group did not worry about this group of white goose thieves.

What kind of decent foundation can this newly emerging group of people have?

To be honest, in terms of equipment, there is no essential difference between his group and Liu Dai's troops stationed in Xia Pi!

As night fell, the rain obscured the view and the mounted scouts in the manor had to conduct reconnaissance at close range.

If this fleet suddenly breaks through the siege and escapes, wouldn't the people in the manor miss out on this windfall?
A young scout was riding his horse slowly in the mud and got lost for a moment. Just as he was approaching the reeds beside the canal and was about to figure out the north and south directions, the black warrior suddenly appeared. The horse neighed in surprise and the rider was unable to react and fell into the mud and rain.

Just as he was about to get up, the black warrior swung the ring-handled sword in both hands and chopped him down, and a head fell to the ground.

The black bear then recalled the card. At this moment, he was wearing a straw raincoat and a hat and looking around. Anyone who approached the boat would be attacked.

He clearly did not respond to Xue Zhou's call to stay when he left, and his behavior was very rude and impolite.

No matter how well-mannered this person is, it is impossible for him to send someone to care about my safety. Since he has taken such initiative, I might as well not leave.

There's really nothing to be afraid of when it comes to exacerbating conflicts.

With his understanding of the Black Warriors and the panic people feel when facing death, he has come to understand how terrifying these Black Warriors with no morale fluctuations are!
As long as you don't have a base and keep wandering and fighting, the longer time passes, the more invincible you will become!
Xuan Liang and Zhang Ding have fought for more than ten years, and they know how terrifying the black warrior who can turn invisible and fight through obstacles is!
No matter how strong the city is, as long as you sneak up to the city gate and summon the black knights, what does it mean when these black knights suddenly appear on the city walls?
This is true for cities, fortresses, strongholds of the powerful, and mansions of landlords.

The powerful and wealthy who have no security to rely on in their daily lives are naturally vulnerable.

A powerful person who is fragile and can be easily wiped out is not a powerful person.

As the dark warrior's form dissipated, the fleeing horses turned back and trampled the mud around the Headless Knight.

Suddenly, two black warriors reappeared, one on the left and one on the right, and stabbed their ring-handled knives into the horses' necks. The hot and fishy horse blood spurted out and splashed everywhere. After a struggle, the surroundings were dyed red.

As the horse fell and the resistance became less intense, the armored black warrior stepped forward and delivered the final blow.

The black bear also released two black magic powers, and the body of the Headless Knight melted and disintegrated, leaving behind clothes, leather armor, a raincoat, a small shield, a ring-handled sword, and a pair of rough shoes stitched together with wild boar skin.

Another piece of black magic power merged into the dead horse's body and then bounced back into the black bear's hand. Then three more pieces of black magic power were thrown out together, and they were still bounced back after a moment of fusion.

Seeing that the three black magic powers were unable to refine the horse corpse, Black Bear gave up and looked around. Even if there was any movement in the reeds, he would flick the card over and summon the Black Warrior to investigate.

There were two fish oil lamps burning in the cabin below him. New and old sailors were resting in their leather armor, and the atmosphere was depressing.

Chen Yang lacked command experience, so he moved the bow back to the middle transport ship. He was wiping the leather armor that had been stitched and coated with several layers of lacquer. The base material of the leather armor was not good, it was uneven crocodile skin.

The lacquer on the surface is not applied evenly and the quality of the lacquer is not good, making this leather armor look unrelated to words like excellent and reliable.

As a disciple, Chen Yang also participated in several battles.

But every time I just followed the team in advancing or transferring, I never experienced fighting, and mostly did physical work like carrying things.

The only killing was biting the former master to death.

Even so, he was not prepared to sit there and wait for death.

At the mouth of the canal, there was no reliable fuel for making a fire, nor any sturdy shelter to shelter from the rain.

Zhang Feng and the seven or eight leaders he had found huddled under a rain shelter made of reed bundles. Everyone was in low spirits and reluctant.

Except for some people who brought dry food before setting off, most people were starving.

This was very different from the expected plan. The original plan was very simple, which was to stay behind the fleet, eat and replenish energy before nightfall, and then attack and seize the ship at night.

I didn't expect that the fleet would turn into a dry canal in the afternoon, and I didn't expect that it would rain this moderately heavy rain.

The enemy's large ship was standing there unable to move, but what could we do?
Unable to climb up, the threat of fire attack was also lost.

No one spoke for a while, and a leader who had a good relationship with Zhang Feng advised: "Now many people are resentful, and the White Goose Thieves are hiding in the cabin to avoid the rain and drink. How can we be their opponents when the rain stops at dawn? If the rain continues, are we just going to hold on like this?"

As soon as he spoke, someone followed up: "I am worried about my wife and children. The people of Liang and Xu Huai will only get more and more people if they join forces. I am afraid that I will not get anything and I will not be able to protect my wife and children."

Zhang Feng was exhausted, "Anything else to say?"

"Brother Zhang, don't talk about tomorrow. Tonight won't last long. You led the brothers to chase us down for money and goods, but if some of the brothers are dead or sick, and those who can be dispersed have also dispersed, what is the point of getting money and goods?"

A leader who was later attached to the group said, "Let's retreat now and go back to say some good or bad things. It would be best if the Liang and Xu Huai people could also suffer a little."

Zhang Feng was about to speak, but in the dark, no one could see each other clearly. Another leader was standing in front of him, and he was not sure. He said with a little doubt: "I seem to have seen the man from Lu named Zhang Jun. He might be an old official of Marquis Lu Wen, or a student of the Chen family. This man must be using a false name. There are many soldiers of Marquis Lu Wen and the Chen family among the people of Xuhuai. If they unite as one and use the people of Liang as their pawns, I am afraid our wives and daughters will no longer belong to us."

"Since you brothers have decided to withdraw, I will not embarrass or force you brothers."

Zhang Feng's voice changed color: "Let's retreat together while the rain is still strong."

(End of this chapter)