Chapter 1146: [Air Raid] (Part 2)

Jiang Zhengyang felt increasingly pleased the more he thought about it. At that moment, he suddenly heard a pattering sound. He looked up and saw a large expanse of black clouds approaching from the western sky. Because of the snowfall, his visibility was somewhat impaired. By the time he realized the clouds had already reached above them, Jiang Zhengyang found it strange. Suddenly, something fell from the sky and landed squarely on his helmet. He reached up to feel it, only to find a splat of bird droppings.

Seeing his hand stained with bird droppings, Jiang Zhengyang could not help but feel both amused and exasperated. Left Xingjian beside him quickly offered a silk handkerchief; he was quite perceptive, well versed in the art of ingratiation.

Jiang Zhengyang didn't stand on ceremony with him, wiped his hands, furrowed his brow, and said, 'Strange, why are there suddenly so many birds?' As soon as he finished speaking, the flock overhead suddenly dove downward.

Tens of thousands of birds went berserk, hurling themselves at the soldiers on the ship, pecking and scratching with beaks and claws. In an instant the deck descended into chaos, and Jiang Zhengyang hurriedly shouted, 'Fire arrows! Fire arrows!'

Having received Jiang Zhengyang's order, his soldiers drew their bows, nocked arrows, and aimed at the birds above, beginning to shoot. Wave after wave of dense arrow rain flew upward, striking down many birds that could not dodge in time. Yet their shooting did not scare the birds off; instead it provoked an even fiercer counterattack. Above the fleet, the birds wheeled and gathered like dark clouds pressing down, and some formed neat ranks, sweeping across the deck like black smoke. Soldiers unable to evade were struck by the bird swarm and flung off the deck like severed kites, flying toward the lake's center.

Ruan Jingwu on another ship was also stunned by this sudden attack. Having sailed the Yunze waters for many years, he had never witnessed such a bizarre phenomenon; these birds had gone mad and were actually attacking them on their own initiative.

Jiang Zhengyang, shielded by a few soldiers, fled in disarray toward the cabin, shouting as he ran, 'Fire arrows! Hurry and fire arrows!'

The archers were clearly unprepared for this avian assault; they retaliated in panic, but there were simply too many birds, and their arrows were quickly exhausted. The soldiers on deck drew their longswords and short blades, vainly chopping at the air. That was all they could do to oppose the birds' frenzied onslaught.

Inside the cabin, Jiang Zhengyang heard the constant pounding on the hull outside, and his face involuntarily changed. Even now he had not realized that the birds' attack was a man‑made scheme.

Left Xingjian came rushing in, his face covered in blood, still shaken, and stammered, 'Sir… sir… we're about to run out of arrows…'

Jiang Zhengyang was equally at a loss. He peered out through a gap in the porthole and saw birds everywhere; the soldiers were still desperately fighting the avian horde.

Clang! A long beak thrust through the gap in the lattice window, nearly piercing Jiang Zhengyang's eyes. He flew into a rage, seized the beak, and snapped it off with brute force. Blood spattered the lattice window.

On the deck, several thousand soldiers were engaged in a melee with the frenzied birds, their arrows exhausted, leaving them only to fight desperately. Many soldiers lit torches, using them to drive the birds away. To their surprise, some birds actually flung themselves at the torches; the torches ignited the birds' feathers, and the birds let out shrill cries, spreading their burning wings as they shot into the night sky.

The soldier who had set the fire on the bird gloated with a loud laugh, but his laughter was cut short when the flaming bird, mid‑flight, slammed into the ship's sail.

The flaming bird ignited the sail with a boom, and countless more birds, drawn by the fire, heedlessly hurled themselves onto the burning sail.

The soldiers who had endured the grueling battle on board were dumbfounded. Although Jiang Zhengyang had brought seven thousand troops, most of them were infantry, unskilled in naval warfare, and they had no idea how to cope with the situation.

Ruan Jingwu shouted, 'Brothers, quickly lower the foresail! Quickly lower the foresail!'

Hearing Ruan Jingwu's voice, the men finally came to their senses and hurriedly lowered the foresail; nevertheless, more than ten ships caught fire.

In the night sky, Xia Zhangming rode his Snow Eagle, looking down from above. A faint smile touched his lips, and he whistled; the Snow Eagle circled once above, changed direction, and flew off into the distance.

At the same time, seventy warships slipped out under the cover of night. Li Yongfu waved his command flag, the fleet formed a goose‑formation, and all the archers took their places on the gunwales, ready and waiting. As Li Yongfu waved the flag, a whistling arrow trailed a comet's tail and shot into the dark night sky.

The wings of the goose formation spread out; the seventy warships lined up in a single file, and three thousand archers lit their handheld rockets, aiming them at a forty‑five degree angle toward the night sky.

Fire!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…

Just as the birds had scattered, Ruan Jingwu saw countless meteors flash across the distant horizon; he thought it was an illusion and blinked, but when he saw thousands of sparks diving down from high above at great speed, he finally realized what was happening and bellowed hoarsely, 'An ambush! Meet them!'

Dense rockets swooped down from high altitude, striking the grain‑transport fleet—hitting decks, masts, cabins, and rigging, and some even pierced straight through the bodies of soldiers on deck. One volley finished, another immediately followed.

Ruan Jingwu nearly screamed madly, 'Everyone scatter! Everyone scatter as fast as you can!' The five hundred supply ships were all bunched together, undoubtedly a huge and conspicuous target, but in this chaos his orders could not get through; these river bandits were not trained naval sailors, and in the panic several vessels collided, leaving the scene in utter disorder.

Although Hu Xiaotian's side had only seventy warships, they were all well‑trained naval elites. Under Li Yongfu's command they advanced in orderly fashion to attack the enemy fleet, not rushing to close range but using rockets for long‑distance strikes.

In contrast, Jiang Zhengyang's side had expended all its feather‑arrows in that earlier bird assault, losing its long‑range weapon. Under the enemy's rocket barrage they were completely on the defensive. Jiang Zhengyang had no time to worry about the rockets still falling outside; he grabbed a shield and daringly climbed onto the cabin, looking all around. He saw that nearly every nearby ship was already ablaze, and he stood there dazed, unaware of why this had happened or even who was blocking him. Left Xingjian stood at the cabin door shouting, 'Sir, come in, sir—' Clang! A rocket struck the door squarely, making Left Xingjian jerk his head back in fright.

Jiang Zhengyang said, 'Get out of here, get out of here…' Not far off, a large ship was completely engulfed in flames, slowly sinking into the lake. On its deck, burning figures leapt into the water—a horrific sight.

Jiang Zhengyang bit down hard on his lower lip, not even noticing when he drew blood. Grain… his grain.

Hu Xiaotian and Xia Zhangming stood shoulder to shoulder on the bow, gazing at the distant lake ablaze with fire. The flames reddened the horizon and lit their faces brightly. Hu Xiaotian glanced at Xia Zhangming; the scene before them was truly gruesome. He worried that Xia Zhangming might feel pity, but seeing Xia Zhangming's expression remain calm as ever, Hu Xiaotian could not help feeling curious, and he deliberately sighed, 'What a tragedy!'

Xia Zhangming said, 'The law of the jungle—survival of the fittest—is an unchanging principle of this world.'

Hu Xiaotian was surprised by his composure, then suddenly recalled that Xia Zhangming's identity was that of a Beast Tamer. As a Beast Tamer, he naturally understood these natural laws thoroughly; perhaps in his eyes the slaughter among humans and the law of the jungle among beasts were no different, which accounted for his calm.

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, 'Exactly! The law of the jungle, survival of the fittest—has always been the law of the forest!'

The five hundred grain transports, unable to fight back, were almost all set ablaze by the rockets. Unable to raise their sails and relying only on oarsmen, they moved slowly and could not escape the pursuing fleet; within half an hour, half of the ships had sunk.

Li Yongfu issued another order, and ten warships surged out of the fleet. These were the newly remodeled small armor‑piercing vessels; though their scale and power could not match Da Yong's armor‑piercing ships, they were more than enough to deal with the river bandits' craft. The ten armor‑piercing ships plunged through the waves toward the enemy fleet, smashing everything in their path; the huge blades on their bows ruthlessly tore through the enemy hulls, delivering a devastating, crushing blow to the surviving vessels.

Jiang Zhengyang watched as one grain ship after another sank around him, and he felt utterly dazed. His helmet had fallen off at some point, his hair hung loose, his face smeared with blood, and he muttered, 'Heaven has doomed me… heaven has doomed me…'

A feathered arrow shot straight at his chest, but fortunately his nearby guards raised their shields in time to block it. Two guards each took hold of his arms and urged, 'Sir! Hurry up! Sir, hurry!'

Jiang Zhengyang's spirit had already left his body; he hardly knew where he was. Supported by the two guards, he reached the lifeboat, which had already been lowered. Left Xingjian leapt in first, and seeing Jiang Zhengyang being helped along by the guards, he shouted to the nearby soldiers, 'Go!'

The guards beside Jiang Zhengyang shouted loudly, 'Left Sir, wait for us, wait…'

At this life‑or‑death juncture, Left Xingjian could not even look after himself, let alone Jiang Zhengyang, and he kept urging, 'Never mind him, let's go!'

Hearing Left Xingjian's voice, Jiang Zhengyang suddenly snapped to clarity and roared, 'Left Xingjian, you treacherous, faithless wretch!'

Before his words had finished, an armor‑piercing ship slammed into the starboard side of their vessel with a thud, tearing a large hole in the right hull. Lake water poured in, the shock knocked Jiang Zhengyang off his feet and he crashed to the deck. The ship quickly began to list, and he slid down the sloping deck.

Only ten hours remain until the Double Monthly Ticket ends; please cast your monthly votes for the Medical Union! (To be continued…~^~)