Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1188 Bombardment of Jingnan Prefecture

Lin Feng waved his hand: "The warships will sail ten zhang away from the dock and await orders."

Someone immediately went to the cabin to relay the order.

The next moment, the huge warship began to slowly move towards the center of the river, and anchored about ten feet from the shore.

"Artillery ready, everyone else prepare to fire."

Lin Feng gave the order again.

Of the sixteen cannons in Zhenxi No. 2, eight were removed, leaving four cannons on one side.

A window on one side of the ship was opened, and four cannon barrels, gleaming with an eerie light, slowly emerged from the window.

Two hundred guards placed their shotguns on the side of the boat, aiming them at the riverbank.

Before long, large groups of warhorses arrived with a roar, forming square formations on the riverbank.

Lin Feng nodded: "Nangong Ting is quite good at leading troops."

Next, infantrymen, carrying spears, swarmed forward and lined up on the riverbank, while archers stood at the rear, nocking arrows and awaiting orders.

Finally, a lone rider arrived and immediately stood at the rear of the group, coldly watching the large ship in the river.

Lin Feng discovered that this person was not Nan Gongting, but a long-faced man around forty years old with three long tufts of beard under his chin and a stern expression.

The large army column parted to the sides, making way for the general to ride his horse to the front of the riverbank.

"On the ship opposite, who is the regent? Please come out and speak."

The general shouted loudly.

Lin Feng rested his elbows on the edge of the boat, leaned forward, and scrutinized the man. He was a complete stranger to him and he was certain he had never seen him before.

Seeing that Lin Feng remained silent, Ye Liangcai immediately stepped forward and asked loudly.

"Come and register."

The general pondered for a moment: "The garrison commander of Jingnan Prefecture is General Wei Nanji."

Where is General Nangong Ting?

"General Nangong has been transferred to Shanglin Prefecture. We request that the Regent speak on his behalf."

He spoke politely and did not immediately turn hostile.

Is Prefect Zhao Chuanzhi here?

"This concerns the city's defenses; Lord Zhao need not intervene."

Ye Liangcai turned to look at Lin Feng, who was still frowning and not speaking, so he had to call out.

"How could you possibly persuade a prince to come? Why are you intercepting the Zhenxi Army's warships?"

Wei Nanji sneered: "I suppose there is no regent. I advise you to disembark and undergo inspection. This river has been secured with iron chains, so you can't escape. You'd better obey orders."

"We are warships of the Zhenxi Army, and you want to inspect us too?"

"Whether it is a ship of the Zhenxi Army or not can only be determined after inspection. At present, pirates are rampant, and every ship must be thoroughly investigated. We dare not be careless in the slightest."

Ye Liangcai was at a loss and had no choice but to turn to Lin Feng for instructions.

Lin Feng observed for a long time and realized that it would not be easy to pass through this dock, so he gave the order.

"Let the ship move back another thirty zhang and bombard the city of Jingnan Prefecture."

Someone immediately ran to relay the order.

Wei Nanji waited for a moment, and seeing the huge warship slowly moving towards the center of the river, he frowned and shouted.

"If you continue to disobey orders, don't blame me for burning the ships."

As he spoke, he waved his hand.

The archers at the very back of the line immediately replaced their feathered arrows with arrowheads wrapped in cotton cloth and soaked in oil. Someone on one side lit a fire, preparing to ignite the fire arrows.

Clearly, they came prepared.

Seeing that the situation had reached this point, Lin Feng turned and walked towards the third floor of the warship.

At the same time, take out the cloth and plug the ears.

For some reason, he was terrified of the sound waves from artillery explosions, which would cause him great discomfort.

The Zhenxi No. 2 moved more than 30 zhang towards the center of the river. At this time, it was about 40 zhang away from the riverbank. Even if there were rocket attacks, they would not be able to hit the ship easily.

Upon seeing this, Wei Nanji immediately gave the order.

"Men, bring ten warships close to the enemy ships and fire rockets."

At the same time, Lin Feng was also waving his hand to give the order.

"fire."

On the dock, ten warships had just received the order to attack and were still hurriedly adjusting their equipment when they felt a violent jolt.

Everyone looked up at the giant ship in the river.

Amidst the burst of flames, a deafening thud was heard.

The next moment, a burst of fire erupted outside the city gate of Jingnan Prefecture behind the large group of soldiers, sending shattered stones and wood chips flying everywhere.

The violent tremors startled the warhorses, causing them to raise their front hooves high and some to thrash about wildly. The ranks of the soldiers standing on the riverbank were immediately thrown into disarray.

Wei Nanji stared wide-eyed at the giant ship in the river in astonishment.

He couldn't believe that the other side would actually dare to fire.

He had already made it clear that the river was blocked by iron chains and there were thousands of soldiers and cavalry lined up in front of him. How could he not be overwhelmed by their imposing presence?

To everyone's surprise, the other side opened fire so readily.

After firing one shot in turn, the four cannons temporarily ceased firing.

This remains a warning.

Lin Feng stood at the highest point of the warship, looking down at the situation below.

Many ships were seen sailing out of the dock, heading straight for Zhenxi No. 2.

"Sink them."

As the order was given, the ballistae on the warship deck were uncovered, and the soldiers began to adjust their direction and distance.

These ballistae have also been improved, with large bolts now carrying explosives, making them no longer the traditional ballistae.

This explosive charge uses the impact force of a crossbow bolt hitting a target to ignite gunpowder and explode, with a destructive power equivalent to that of an artillery shell.

The soldiers of the Zhenxi Army on the ship had undergone countless training sessions and their movements were skillful and swift.

In no time, the ballista was positioned, and then, at the leader's roar, the trigger was pulled.

The ballista has a firing range more than twice that of a bow and arrow, making it very convenient for shooting at small boats on the river.

With the twang of the bowstrings, more than a dozen crossbow bolts flew from the crossbows and instantly struck the large warship more than thirty feet away.

Explosions rang out again, and nearly ten large warships were blown apart, with splinters flying everywhere and soldiers falling into the water.

Nine of the ten warships were destroyed in an instant, and the remaining one immediately turned around and began to row desperately outwards.

This scene left Wei Nanji, who was standing on the riverbank, dumbfounded.

Some generals involuntarily shrank back, fearing that the enemy's second volley of fire would hit them.

There were still many small warships at the Jingnan Prefecture dock, but Wei Nanji dared not send any more out. They were so vulnerable that sending them out would only be embarrassing and increase casualties.

However, the Zhenxi Army's warships were forty zhang (approximately 33 meters) from the shore. Without warships, how could they attack the enemy?

Lin Feng leaned against the gunwale of the third floor of the Zhenxi No. 2 ship, looking at the ranks lined up on the riverbank. Although the soldiers were panicked, they did not retreat and stood there stubbornly, confronting their own warships in the river.

"Lower the cannon barrel and blast them to pieces."

At a command, the cannons inside the ship's hold began to drop downwards. Because the distance was too short, the cannons had to be lowered considerably, making the adjustment quite difficult.

"Cannon distance adjustment complete."

"Cannon distance adjusted..."

The reports were relayed up to Lin Feng on the third floor of the ship.

Lin Feng smiled and looked at the large group of soldiers on the riverbank, giving his orders in a calm manner.

"Let's test the rangefinding method with one shot."

His orders were passed down through the ranks.

A gunner held a burning torch to the fuse of a cannon.

There was a hissing sound, then the ship suddenly shook, and a burst of fire erupted from the muzzle of the cannon.

A beam of light shot straight down the river to the riverbank, where a large group of soldiers stood in neat rows.