Chapter 349: Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation

Huh?

The momentum looks quite fierce.

But why isn't it exploding?

Over there, Jiang Xuan and a few others standing by the big tree were also stunned.

Jiang Xuan even exclaimed: "Damn, that's a lot of force!"

Liu Zheng almost spat out what he was drinking.

Indeed.

A lot of force...

But it didn't detonate!

This torpedo plunged headfirst into the big tree, that's right, the force was truly something to behold, it nearly pierced right through the tree...

No, that's not right.

The water-release mechanism he made was quite good...

Something is wrong!

Suddenly, Liu Zheng shouted: "Jiang Xuan, get down, get down!"

At this moment, Jiang Xuan had already gone over to check on the tree and was about to walk right up to it; hearing Liu Zheng's words, he hurriedly dropped to the ground.

Boom!

Boom-rumble!

Boom-rumble-rumble!

That big tree exploded at this moment. A small mushroom cloud instantly shot into the sky, and the shockwave was extremely intense, directly blowing Jiang Xuan and the others—those who were relatively close to the tree—to the side...

The wood chips from the big tree slowly descended from the sky.

Looking back again.

That big tree was completely gone.

Damn?

Liu Zheng stared in a daze.

Xie Zhen stared in a daze.

Jiang Xuan also stared in a daze.

How did this end up with a delayed detonation? This is just... is it this advanced?

"Viscount?"

"What is this?"

"This, this, this..."

Everyone was dumbfounded.

That big tree was at least fifty years old in girth, and it was just gone like that? And the most critical thing is, this thing is really too fast! It's so fast that the Jingzhou army couldn't possibly react, and furthermore, since this thing was drilling underwater, they basically had no chance of discovering it!

This thing is simply the nemesis of the Tower Ship!

Just think about it.

When a Tower Ship is blasted with a hole by this thing, the entire ship is immediately written off! It doesn't matter if you have a boarding pole or whatever Close Quarters Combat Technique you have, none of it is of any use!

Liu Zheng was also very satisfied and said with a smile: "How is it?"

"Too, too, too, too lethal!"

Jiang Xuan ran over eagerly, exceptionally excited.

Liu Zheng laughed heartily and patted his head: "Then why don't you hurry up and call people over to manufacture them for me?"

"Yes!"

Xie Zhen's head was still buzzing at this moment.

Is this the Prefect Liu?

In just seven days, he produced something with such immense destructive power? This is not ordinary gunpowder! Can gunpowder fly in water? In this era, these Tower Ships still have defenses against gunpowder, and in water, the offensive performance of gunpowder drops significantly.

But this thing...

It seems the more water there is, the faster it flies, and it doesn't affect its lethality in the slightest.

On the ship.

There were plenty of wine bottles, and soon, a Yinzhou warship became the workshop for producing these torpedoes.

Working overtime through the night.

And in Chuan Shu.

Qin Zhangfeng was also very confused.

Seven days have passed, so where exactly did the Barbarians go? On the first day, he tightened security and waited for the Barbarians; on the second day, the defensive fortifications were even more solid, but he still didn't wait for the Barbarians; on the third day, they still didn't come... By the fourth day, he couldn't even be bothered to prepare, and the Barbarians still hadn't come. By the fifth day, he even started to suspect: could it be that a great talent had emerged within the Nanman Army?

Trying to make him slack off and then launch a surprise attack?

That's not right.

Where would the Barbarians get such brains?

What he didn't know was.

The Barbarian army was currently lost...

That's right, they were lost!

Agutuo was looking at the canyon in front of him with a dark expression, roaring frantically in a language that the Longyan found very difficult to understand: "What is going on, what is going on, who will give me an explanation!"

"Chieftain..."

"We have already gone around in three circles and returned to the same spot again..."

"Useless, useless!"

Agutuo was about to go mad.

Were the mountains of Chuan Shu really this difficult to traverse? If he had known it would be like this, would it not have been better to just stay honestly in Jiangzhou! He had to come here, to reinforce what Shuzhou, to court what kind of bad luck.

"Continue! Keep searching for me, remember the markings, the markings!"

This army of one hundred and fifty thousand could not actually find a way out!

If word of this got out, would his, Agutuo's, great name not be dragged through the mud?

He did not know.

At this moment.

Right here in this mountain, not far away, a waterfall flowed straight down. And behind that waterfall, a waterfall that no one could see, sat two old men.

These two old men were currently playing a game of chess.

A bottle of wine, two wine cups, one chessboard, two old men.

They were currently enjoying their game.

One of them laughed and said: "Master Situ, the precious blade has not yet arrived, and this Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation of Master Zhuge, which has spread throughout the Longyan Dynasty, is already an incomplete formation. I did not expect that in the hands of Master Situ, it could already trap an army of one hundred and fifty thousand!"

The other person shook his head and said: "Master Gao, you flatter me too much."

He sighed: "A mere petty skill, relying on heaven and earth. Chuan Shu is in great chaos and the common people are suffering; we old fellows should also come out and do our part."

"The mist in the mountains has been quite heavy these past few days, which is why it has had such miraculous effects."

"If the mist clears tomorrow, these Southern Barbarians should be able to get out in a few days."

That Master Gao laughed heartily: "Enough, enough, a few days is sufficient. This Longyan Dynasty should still be a Longyan Dynasty of the young; I think that Prefect Liu is quite interesting."

"More than just 'quite interesting'?"

The two old men looked at each other and laughed.

Just when everyone in the Longyan Dynasty was wondering when this Liu Zheng would finally make a move on Yongan Port.

Just when Liu Zheng had been stationed by the river for ten days, the mighty Liangzhou Army finally moved!

Declaration of war!

First, Xie Zhen sent a Han to inform the other party that Yongan had been the legitimate territory of our Chuan Shu since ancient times. In previous years, because the Prince of Xiang had begged to borrow it, his father the Prince had a kind heart and lent Yongan to Jingzhou.

Who knew that the dove would occupy the magpie's nest, and so on and so forth.

Today, Chuan Shu is in great chaos, and Chuan Shu must naturally take back Yongan to secure Jiangzhou.

Of course.

This Han was like a stone sinking into the sea.

The Jingzhou Army, which had been waiting for a long time at Yongan Port, was excited at this moment.

What invincible, world-conquering Liangzhou Army!

We have been waiting for you for a long time!

Today, we shall let the people of the world see the prowess of us Jingzhou men who are as nimble as white fish in the waves. Let us see who is the true Overlord upon this Jiangshui!

The Jingzhou Navy commander on this side looked from afar at the approaching Yinzhou ships and laughed: "I wondered what kind of brilliant strategy the world-renowned Prefect Liu could have. His Yinzhou ships are thick-skinned and sturdy; if he had used iron chains to link them together like Caocao did back in the day, I might have felt some fear..."

The crowd laughed heartily, their contempt growing.

"General, this subordinate requests to fight! Give me two Tower Ships and five thousand soldiers, and I will beat this Liangzhou Army until they are scurrying in defeat!"

"Good!"

"Jingzhou Navy!"

"Present!"

"Everyone, provide cover for General Wang!"

"Yes!"

The one hundred thousand Jingzhou Navy troops lined up their Tower Ships in sequence, a grand formation. For a time, seeing the Yinzhou ships getting closer and closer, the shouting here could not be stopped at all. It could be said that in terms of momentum, this Jingzhou Navy occupied a huge advantage.

"Kill!"

"Come on!"

"Landlubbers!"

Taunting the enemy.

This was a type of psychological warfare used by both sides in ancient times.

As the Yinzhou Army drew closer and closer, the taunts here became fiercer and louder.

Some Jingzhou Navy soldiers, stripped to the waist, were already eager to try, waiting for close-quarters combat.

Their dark skin and developed muscles glistened under the sunlight. Many of them even deliberately showed off their muscles, shouting insults.

Closer and closer.

Closer and closer.

Who knew.

The Jingzhou Navy side was lively and bustling, wishing they could even start a lion dance. But the Liangzhou Army side was deathly silent, without the slightest response.

This made the Jingzhou Navy furious.

Had they been shouting into the void for nothing?

Preposterous!

The navy commander finally could not hold back any longer and shouted: "Attack!"

"Yes!"

Although it was an active offensive, these ordinary warships usually sortied in connected formations; while only two ships were said to be attacking, the other ships would also follow their movements to facilitate support. After all, naval warfare is different from land warfare; only by positioning themselves first can support arrive in time.

And so.

One ship went out, then two, three, four; the ships of the Jingzhou Navy finally assumed their battle formation.

Liu Zheng, Xie Zhen, Jiang Xuan, and the others watched all of this quietly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Qi was below deck at this moment, using his eyes to measure the distance to those Jingzhou Tower Ships.

"Twenty li..."

"Fifteen li..."

"Thirteen li..."

"Twelve li..."

The warships of both sides were about to begin their true collision.

A group of soldiers held those simple Torpedoes in their hands—which Liu Zheng and his men had spent three days rushing to produce, only fifty in total.

These soldiers knew the value of these items.

Therefore, they strove to hit the mark with a single strike!

"One li..."

Just at this moment.

Almost all the Liangzhou Army could hear the insults and mockery from the Jingzhou Navy.

Xiao Qi shouted loudly: "Release!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

One by one, the Torpedoes dove into the water and then sped off in different directions toward the Loulan of the Jingzhou Navy.

"Accelerate!"

As the Commander of the naval forces, Xiao Qi also knew what should be done at this time.

The Yinzhou Army accelerated with their full force.

"Hahahaha, they are charging over!"

"Where on earth do they get the guts?"

On the side of the Jingzhou Navy, everyone was laughing until they were rolling on the floor.

Come on!

We were just waiting for you to come!

Once you get over here, we will let you taste the close-quarters combat of the men of Jingzhou!

Who would have known.

Their laughter had not yet faded.

Those Torpedoes, hidden deep in the water with excellent stealth, had already reached the bottom of their Tower Ships. With a violent impact, the Torpedoes quickly breached the hulls.

And then...

Boom!

Boom!

Boom-rumble!

Boom-rumble-rumble!

The high spirits, joy, and mocking insults on the faces of these Jingzhou Navy soldiers came to an abrupt halt in an instant.

The violent explosions, one after another for each ship, seemed to trigger a chain reaction. The massive shockwaves blasted the shirtless Jingzhou soldiers into pieces, one by one, while those further away were all flipped into the water.

That Jingzhou Navy...

The Tower Ships they relied on for their arrogance began to fall apart in an instant.

Even those that were not hit accurately were enough to cause these ships to begin sinking rapidly.

"This..."

"What is the situation?"

"What the hell!"

"What happened!"

The entire Jingzhou Navy fell into panic in a split second!

【Author's Note】

Today's burst of updates is finished, continuing tomorrow.