Deng Ming's ship was a large river warship. Yuan Zongdi's big ships are the main warships of the water battalion, usually carrying important generals, and shouldering the responsibility of engaging enemy ships and protecting friendly forces in the event of a water battle, but at this time, like those small boats, they are full of soldiers who have retreated hastily from the shore.

The Qing army ships rushing out of the Jialing River were densely packed, and Deng Ming saw that in front of him were large river boats of similar size to his own boat, followed by countless small boats.

There were still four large ships in the Ming fleet that did not pass through the fork of the Jialing River, and three were located in front of Deng Ming's ship. After seeing the Qing army coming, the three large ships in front began to turn, trying to block the route of the Qing army's attack. It's just that the Ming fleet is now lined up along the river, and the big ships are also full of soldiers, and their actions are far less agile than the enemy ships. Yuan Zongdi's boat and another large ship had already passed through the fork, and it was even more difficult for them to turn around in the Yangtze River, which was full of ships, and return to the battle.

The big ships of the Qing army bypassed the three large river boats that tried to block them, rushed directly into the column of the Ming army's water camp, condescendingly fired arrows at the Ming army's boats, and then rammed against the Ming army's boats. Some small boats full of soldiers were already struggling to navigate the river, and the water was already close to the side of the ship, making it impossible to avoid it effectively. Just in Deng Ming's field of vision, several small boats that were hit capsized in the center of the river at once. Then another small boat, which was trying to dodge, was rammed by the enemy ship and stern, and instead of capsizing in the middle of the river, as had been the case with the previous ones, the boat did not capsize in the middle of the river in circles.

The small boats that followed the big ships of the Qing army also killed the Ming army fleet at this time, and they attacked the Ming army's ships while wantonly attacking the Ming army struggling in the river. In the course of the battle with these brisk enemy ships, the Ming ships could not maintain the kind of smooth and steady navigation just now, and from time to time Ming soldiers were thrown out of the violently shaking ships and fell into the boiling river.

Due to the transportation of Tan Wenbu's soldiers across the river, Deng Ming's boat arrived at the retreat site relatively late, and it was the last big ship in the entire queue, responsible for pressing the fleet, and most of the soldiers had already boarded other ships when they set sail, so they carried relatively few people.

There were a lot of small boats of their own side around, and they knew that they had no combat ability, so they slowed down and avoided to the sides, allowing Deng Ming's big ship to pass. These troop carriers wanted to cooperate with the big ships, but they could only move slowly so as not to capsize the overloaded ships. Although Shui Ying Qian urged repeatedly, the speed of the warship still couldn't get up.

The Qing ships divided the Ming army's fleet into two, and the Ming army, which did not pass through the fork of the Jialing River, could no longer see Yuan Zongdi's big ship and the flag on it, and lost its command and commander, and the situation of the Ming army became more sinister. The large ships of the Qing army gathered together and began to besiege the large ships of the Ming army, which were at the forefront and tried to protect the friendly forces. Suddenly, there was a loud sound of artillery around the Ming ship, and Deng Mingyao saw countless rockets passing through the air, flying on the river like fireworks.

The battle between the big ships was very long, and the artillery used by the two armies was not the naval guns that Deng Ming had seen in the Age of Exploration movies before, but more similar to the large firearms. The river boats were not too large to compare with the seagoing ships, but the firearms of the two armies were able to inflict very limited damage. These firearms are capable of killing or injuring enemy sailors, but many rockets may not set fire to enemy ships even if they are dropped on them.

Seeing that the enemy ships began to besiege, a Ming warship behind immediately pulled its sails and accelerated in the middle of the stream, but the heavy load made the speed of reinforcements very sluggish, and it did not seem to be more flexible than the friendly ships in battle. The battleship in third place and the ship Deng Ming in the second place also tried their best to move forward, but the distance between them did not close significantly.

As more and more flames rose from the first Ming warship, the sails and masts began to burn, and the battle of great disparity in strength came to an end.

After beating the Ming warships to the point of incapacitation, the Qing army began to sweep away the unprotected Ming troop carriers around it, slaughtering the officers and soldiers of the Ming army who fell overboard. Later, the main force of the Qing army waited for the second Ming warship and surrounded it for a second round of attacks. There were more troop carriers dodging behind this battleship than the previous one, and despite knowing that they were outnumbered, this battleship bravely met the battle.

The second Ming battleship that was attacked soon lost its combat effectiveness, its bow sank, and it began to spin uncontrollably on the river. Because of its fierce resistance, the small boats behind it bought some time, and many of them were able to distance themselves from the enemy ships and hide behind the last two Ming warships.

When the second Ming warship began to break its mast and sails, Deng Ming's boat had just caught up with the battleship in front of it, and these two warships were the only two big ships in the entire Ming army's naval division.

The general manager of the water camp looked around, and now the rear team of the water camp of the Ming army was a column dominated by the last two big ships, and what was waiting in front was a wolf-like enemy, who used tricks and came prepared, and had an overwhelming advantage in combat effectiveness. In addition to the sailor soldiers, the big ship of the Ming army was also filled with infantry brothers who were temporarily on the ship, and there were dozens of troop transport ships behind the ship loaded with at least a thousand soldiers, all waiting for the sailor to kill a bloody way home for everyone.

If you can't defeat the strong enemy forces in front of you, then all the ships will not be able to return to the base, and the brave sacrifice of the first two battleships to buy some time is only a little delay in the result of the destruction of the whole army.

"Two against seven," Mr. Shuiying Qian said loudly the comparison between the enemy and the enemy of the battleship, shook his head and turned to Zhou Kaihuang and said: "Water battles cannot be won by courage, hurry up and let the brothers abandon the ship and go ashore." ”

The enemy forces began to readjust their formations and prepare for a final attack. It's December, and even if the drowning man is not attacked by the Qing soldiers, the icy Yangtze River is deadly, so it is necessary to let the ships dock and let the soldiers land safely.

Mr. Mizuying quickly gave the order to let another warship move closer to him, and ordered the rest of the boats to turn around and land on the south bank with the soldiers as soon as possible. Under the orders of the general manager of Shuiying Qian, those small boats rowed towards the south shore one after another. The Qing soldiers were all on the north bank, and the south bank was separated from Chongqing by the Yangtze River, so it was not easy to be pursued by the Qing soldiers, and it was relatively safe in comparison.

Shui Ying Qian said to Zhou Kaihuang: "You have to take the risk, everyone except the sailors jumped on that boat, hurry to the south shore, as fast as you can, brother, I can probably buy you a little time." ”

Seeing that Deng Ming and Zhou Kaihuang were both silently looking at themselves, Shui Ying Qian first showed a wry smile, but after a while, this wry smile turned into a laugh: "Throw away all your burdens, maybe I will fight my way out and return to Dachang earlier than you." ”

Deng Ming's ship dropped all its sails, and the soldiers of the water battalion threw down the iron anchor from the bow of the ship to stop the ship as soon as possible, and another large ship had also come to the side of this boat, and the two boats threw countless cables at each other, and the soldiers who received the orders on the ship held these ropes and boarded the other large boat.

At this time, the Qing army seemed to notice the movement of the Ming army, and they rushed over to this side with sails.

Deng Ming looked at the young Shuiying Qianzong in front of him, he didn't even know his name - he had only known a few people these days, and many of the Ming soldiers in the same battalion were still almost unfamiliar to Deng Ming, and in his mind they were just some ancients who had died hundreds of years before he was born.

Seeing Deng Ming staring at him in a daze and not leaving immediately, Mr. Shui Ying Qian showed a smile on his face and urged in an exaggerated sarcastic tone: "Hurry up, go quickly, a dignified seven-foot man, how can you be this kind of childlike state?" ”

Most of the soldiers had already boarded the neighboring boat, and the Qing boats were approaching, and the sailor soldiers who remained on the boat were holding their weapons in their hands, watching the last few who were about to leave. The soldier standing under the sail held the rope tightly in his hand, ready to raise the sail to meet the battle.

Zhou Kaihuang and Zhao Tianba both bowed heavily to the Shui Ying Qianzong with their fists, and Deng Ming also gave him a big salute, his waist bent deeply, and his fist-hugging hands almost touched the ground. After standing up straight, Deng Ming ran to the side of the boat with Zhou Kaihuang and Zhao Tianba without saying a word, and he tightened his mouth tightly, for fear that a mouth would make a choked sound.

The neighboring boat was weighed down by the weight because it was loaded with too many people, and after Deng Ming flew over with a rope in one hand, countless hands immediately stretched out from the opposite side and grabbed him. The many soldiers on the deck were shoulder to shoulder, and Deng Ming struggled to gain a foothold and turn around from the crowd.

On the boat Deng Ming was on, soldiers were cutting the ropes that connected the two boats. Mr. Mizuying walked to the side of the boat, looked condescendingly, and said goodbye to everyone with both hands clenched into fists. The boatload saluted him with their fists clenched, their hands raised above their heads, and stared at him in silence. Mr. Shuiying Qian's eyes swept over Deng Ming, who was looking up, and a mischievous smile appeared on his young face: "Mr. Deng is not a little bold, I wouldn't dare to sit on the boat with so many people in the Yangtze River." ”

After saying this, Shui Ying Qian turned around suddenly, and when his figure disappeared from the side of the boat, Deng Ming heard his calm and powerful voice coming over: "Brothers! Raise our sails! ”

……

The ship staggered toward the shore, and a moment later there was a sound behind it, then another, and soon a dense rain of fire. Deng Ming turned back several times, but no matter how he stood on tiptoe, he couldn't see the battle situation on the river through the black pressed head. The side of the boat was almost level with the river, and every time it swayed, the river poured in, and soon Deng Ming felt that the water had submerged to the surface of his feet, and at this time the height of the river had exceeded the side of the ship, and the water began to pour into the hull of the boat.

Just when the icy river water was below his ankles, Deng Ming felt the hull of the ship shake violently and strongly, as if it had hit a reef. The boat stopped suddenly, and the dense crowd of people in the boat rushed forward, and from the direction of the bow there was a pop, puff and puff falling into the water.

"Get off the boat."

"Get off board!"

Several loud voices rang out at the same time, and the soldiers jumped out of the side of the ship. Deng Ming couldn't see the surrounding situation clearly, so he reached out and pressed on the boat gang, raised his leg and jumped over the side of the boat. He felt himself fall into the river, but his feet could reach the bottom of the river, and he immediately struggled forward hand and foot. The water was cold and biting, and soon the skin felt like pins and needles stinging. Fortunately, it was not far from the shore, the current was not fast, and the stranded river boat behind him blocked the current, so he quickly went ashore and got out of the Yangtze River. At this time, Deng Ming stood in the crowd and looked back at the scene on the river.

Some of the small boats had already docked, but there were still a dozen boats that were moving very slowly and were desperately rushing towards the shore, and not far behind the boats were the sailors of the Qing army. After sending off his comrades, Deng Ming's original big ship lightened its load and resumed its freedom of movement, and this boat fought alone, facing the seven Qing ships and countless small boats that had approached, it did not look like it was dodging at all, but rushed left and right on the river, trying its best to block the rear of the Ming ships, so that the enemy ships could not approach and attack the Ming ships.

Although the Ming warship was far away in the middle of the river, Deng Ming could still hear the shouts from the ship from the rumbling cannons and the sound of whizzing arrows piercing through the air. More and more rockets flew onto the Ming warships, and Deng Ming saw that the sail on the top of the foremast began to burn, and after being hit by the cannon projectile, it burst out into a cloud of mist-like hull debris. The wounded Ming warship continued to rampage, and the hull made a wide range of maneuvers, like a warrior on the battlefield with a spear in his hand, trying to drive away the surrounding enemies and disperse the enemy troops who wanted to rush past him.

However, such a maneuver was obviously not something that the damaged Ming warship could withstand, and as soon as it was halfway through, the mast could not help but break with a roar of the wind, and the mast flew into the air with some ropes and was thrown far away on the river.

The last few Ming boats approached the shore, and the Ming army on the shore reached out to pull the soldiers in the water up. After coming ashore, the Ming soldiers stood on the shore at this time, paying close attention to the fate of the last Ming warship on the river. Having lost its midmast, the foresail was also burning, and the warship was like a drunken man, swaying on the Yangtze River. The surrounding enemy ships were like wolves coveting their prey, and they fired all their power at it - there was no second target on the river.

After another moment, the Ming warship, which had lost all power, burned even more violently, was wrapped in raging flames, and slowly drifted downstream along the river, and the enemy ships did not even pursue. Deng watched intently, and followed along the riverbank for a while, until the burning wreckage overturned into the river.

Several Qing boats followed, cruising for a while at the site of the sinking into the river, but no survivors were found. The Qing ships drove towards the south bank again, and the Ming army took refuge in the dense bushes, and the Qing army sprayed some fire aimlessly, and without seeing any movement, they sailed proudly in the direction of Chongqing.

After the Qing ships left, the Ming soldiers came out of the woods and grass. Deng Ming's two old acquaintances, Zhao Tianba and Zhou Kaihuang, got together again. When two people and several soldiers found Deng Ming and walked to his side, they found that he was in a daze at the river.

Deng Ming looked at the enemy ships that were gradually moving away, and for the first time felt that those people were his enemies, and now, Deng Ming seemed to be able to hear the wild laughter of them as they shot arrows to the shore. In the past, Deng Ming was in the Ming military camp, but he did not hate the Qing army in the camp opposite, he always felt that it was some ancient people who had long passed away, and he just came here by chance.

Within a few steps of the shore, you can see the corpse of a Ming soldier, and on the river, there are countless corpses floating downstream, and many more floating corpses have washed down from the upstream, some of which turned out to be headless corpses.

Most of them were soldiers belonging to Yuan Zongdi's subordinates, and some were Tan Wen's subordinates. After defeating the unsuspecting Tan Wen Ministry, the Qing army in Chongqing and Tan Yi drove a large number of routs down the Yangtze River, and as for the corpses of the Ming soldiers who were killed on the shore, the Qing soldiers cut off their heads to receive rewards, and then threw them into the river. Nearly 7,000 of Tan Wen's subordinates, who were Tan Yi's allies only a day ago, were also descendants of the Ming court, except for more than 1,000 people who were able to escape to the south bank of the Yangtze River because of Deng Ming's kindness, there are probably very few others who can escape.

"Oops!"

Not far away, a sudden exclamation erupted, followed by a cheer of overjoy.

Deng Ming, Zhao Tianba, and Zhou Kaihuang, who were alarmed by this sound, all ran over, and a Ming soldier picked up what looked like a corpse from the shore, motionless and motionless—it turned out to be Yuan Zongdi's Shuiying Qianzong.

"Alive, alive!" The Ming soldiers cheered at this discovery, but then the soldiers' voices were low again.

Mizuying Qian always had two feather arrows stuck in his body, and although he struggled to swim to the shore with his extraordinary water nature, because he was bleeding too much, the last bit of strength went with him. Before being found, Mr. Mizuying had been lying on the shore, without the strength to call for help, nor did he have the strength to move his fingers, but he kept shivering, and now his body is no longer shivering.

Zhou Kaihuang took a step forward, hugged the pale Shuiying Qianzong, and shook him vigorously.

Shuiying Qian vaguely recognized Zhou Kaihuang in front of him, and knew that he had no hope, and he wanted to say a manly remark at the end: "My father followed King Chuang to kill the dog officers and soldiers, and I followed General Yuan to kill the Tartars, our father and son both hoeed the strong and helped the weak, and both died in battle, and they were worthy ......of the world and the conscience of the ancestors."

Mr. Shui Ying Qian used all his strength to open his mouth, but these words could not be spoken, and the last few words he barely spit out were: "Cold, really cold......"

Deng Ming stood beside Zhou Kaihuang and watched him gently stretch out his hand and gently close his wide-open eyes for Shui Yingqian. Deng Ming suddenly asked: "Those Qing soldiers, are they all Han Chinese?" ”

Zhou Kaihuang hung his head and did not answer Deng Ming's question, but hugged the deceased and let out a whimper.

"Are they also Han Chinese?" Deng Ming raised his voice and asked loudly again.

Mr. Mizuying and his subordinates made a final struggle to ensure that most of the brothers could escape, thinking that their sacrifice had saved the brothers from danger. Unbeknownst to them, Tan Hong had defected, and were setting up camp downstream, waiting to kill every Ming soldier who had escaped from Chongqing, so that they could ask for merit from their new master.