The situation seemed like this, but the strange behavior of the Northern Army and the abnormal transfer of Heping Mansion from the town made Monk Zhou Shixiong confused. He always felt that there was something tricky about it, but he couldn't think of what it was, and he couldn't feel at ease.

The Li Chao army, who occupied Ningping City, Nanding Prefecture, surrounded Nanding City again after a little rest. This time they brought weapons and artillery to resist ultra-long-range bed crossbows. Originally, Zheng Zhuang did not intend to expose his secret weapons so early. His idea was to use gunships to directly strike Shenglong Prefecture after occupying Henan Prefecture, quickly disintegrate Zheng Zai's resistance, and seize Shenglong Prefecture, the capital of the Northern Dynasty of Vietnam at the lowest cost.

Unexpectedly, he encountered an army with ultra-long-range lethality in Nanding City, which forced him to expose his secret weapons in advance. Eight small Arab warships equipped with four nine-pound cannons slowly sailed into the mouth of the Red River and docked east of Nanding City. If Zhou Shixiong was on the scene, he would definitely recognize that this was not a garbage warship in the Age of Discovery?

Due to the distance too far, the cannons were fired directly on the ship and could not hit Nanding City. Zheng Du ordered people to dismantle ten artillery pieces and transport them to the gate of Dongcheng. Nanding City, which had never experienced artillery bombardment, failed to withstand the test of artillery. For two days of fierce fighting, some defenders abandoned the city and fled, and some defenders opened the city and surrendered, and Nanding City fell.

It was half a month after Zhou Shixiong saw the battle report. He learned that Zhou Er led 5,000 Langshan troops to evacuate Nanding City safely, deployed new defenses in Henan Prefecture City, and sent people to send Zhou Shixiong the latest battle report.

"It's dangerous." Zhou Shixiong felt that the situation was not good. If Henan Fufu City could not resist the bombardment of artillery, wouldn't Zheng Zhuang sang all the way to crush the opponent? Zhou Shixiong immediately sent someone to send a letter to Zhou Er and inform the other party of how to reduce the lethality of artillery. In order to find a deck that could withstand artillery projectiles, the craftsmen of the craftsmen used their brains to think of many ways. One of the methods of weaving bamboo baskets to fill sand was very effective. If it weren't for the weight, Zhou Shixiong would be happy to hang a circle of sandbags on the outer wall of the chariot.

Zhou Shixiong did not hope that this method could save Henan Prefecture, but only hoped that Zheng Zhuang's artillery threat could be blocked in Shenglong Prefecture. At the same time, he began to consider the issue of increasing troops. Zhou, and these five thousand infantry soldiers were of course fine. The mobility was too poor to raid the enemy. What Zhou Shixiong hated the most was positional warfare. He liked to run around with his army and eliminate the enemy while moving.

Another reason for Zhou Shixiong to increase his troops was that the main combat power of King Ping'an had been hiding in Shenglong Mansion. Among the reinforcements, the most powerful soldiers of the Ruan Phuc family were also stationed in Shenglong Mansion, without any intention of reinforcement in Henan Mansion. In addition, the Beijiang Mansion soldiers and Taiyuan Mansion soldiers were stationed in Jian'an City to defend the northern estuary of Honghe, which was very far away from the battlefield. Only Lang Sang Mansion soldiers were stationed on the front line and fought with the southern mansions on the front line. Ye Bushouying and Ma San's men sent similar information, making it difficult for Zhou Shixiong not to suspect that these two gangs were targeting him.

"Treat me as a soft persimmon!" Zhou Shixiong was very angry. He gave up the fight for them for a while and actually received such treatment. If Zhou Er hadn't been the veterans of all the five thousand soldiers and horses who knew how to protect himself on the battlefield, the new recruits would have died several times in Nanding City.

Even if he is angry, no one will get good results in the internal fight at this time, but since Zhou Shixiong is angry, of course he will not let these guys have a good time. Zhou Shixiong ordered him to lead the night-funded camp to lurk near Ningping City, looking for opportunities to regain Ningping City. Once successful, Zhou Shixiong will send people to defend Ningping City and gain the initiative in this battle of internal and external difficulties.

Blocking the artillery is not as difficult as imagined, but this kind of passive defense can only solve the problem for a while. Zhou Shixiong thought about it for a long time and thought of a way to do it once and for all. That is to seize or destroy Zheng Zhuang's gunship and completely eliminate his big killer weapon.

In the narrow waters of the inland river, eight gunships are invincible. Zhou Shixiong only has ferries and cargo ships in his hands, and he really doesn’t have the weapons to defeat gunships head-on. What should he do!

The trick of the water ghost is a common tactic, and the opponent will definitely be wary of it. If only one gun ship is sunk, it will not have much impact on the entire war. It is very difficult to sink eight gun ships at a time. In addition to requiring a large number of water ghosts, you also need to have enough luck to ensure that the enemy cannot find the water ghost before the eight ships have an accident. Thinking of the water ghost, Zhou Shixiong naturally remembers the diving suit and compressed air. In today's absence of rubber products, it is of course impossible to create a diving suit that isolates the air, and compressed air bottles cannot be made.

Zhou Shixiong scratched his head desperately, trying to find a feasible solution. Suddenly, Zhou Shixiong remembered the most primitive submarine, which seemed to be made of wood and leather. Zhou Shixiong could not suppress his excitement and greeted Gao Fu. He was going to Li's Villa for a few days, then rode his horse and rushed to the marshal camp.

When he arrived at the Jiangzuo Camp, Tieyong was surprised at the dusty master of the palace, "Sir Ji, what did you come here in person?"

"Iron Master, I thought of a boat that can sail underwater. Of course, I hope that all the craftsmen will help you build it." Zhou Shixiong is not familiar with the internal structure of the submarine, but his appearance is very clear. I don't know what the submarine looks like. There are probably not many modern people.

Zhou Shixiong quickly drew the submarine pattern and marked various requirements, such as being able to sail underwater, being able to dive into the water, being able to surface, being able to breathe underwater, etc. Tie Yong had already summoned a group of carpenters and cobblers to wait for Zhou Shixiong to send him outside the house.

"Everyone, I'm going to trouble you again." These craftsmen have worked with Zhou Shixiong, familiar with Zhou Shixiong's habits, and nodded, saying that they are just a little helping to do things.

"Sir Ji, what is the difference between drawing this thing and pickled pickles buckets?" After reading the drawings, a craftsman asked a question. To be honest, although Zhou Shixiong's painter is very good, people who have never seen a submarine will definitely associate the things drawn on this picture with the pickles buckets. It's really no different!

"The pickle bucket is round, my one is flat, and all the pickle buckets are made of wood. My one is only made of wooden skeletons. The outer layer must be wrapped with impermeable leather, otherwise it will be troublesome if it is too heavy and cannot float." Zhou Shixiong explained with a smile, instructing the carpenter to make the skeletons and the cobblers to find suitable leather.

According to the experimental rules, the first one is definitely the model. There are no special requirements for the size, so of course it cannot be too large. The oval skeleton is easy to make, and it can be made by any carpenter. However, there is support wood in the middle and no support wood, which makes the carpenters quarrel. In the end, Zhou Shixiong designated that supporting wood must be used, and the middle gap must be left to facilitate the people inside to do things.

As the skeleton gradually improves, more and more troubles have emerged. What is the power used for sailing underwater? Rowing or paddle? Not to mention that the carpenters can't think of the answer, Zhou Shixiong can't give the answer. He knew that there was a propeller propeller, but how to install it to avoid water leakage, Zhou Shixiong didn't know. In addition, the problem of power Zhou Shixiong only thought of bicycles and used similar gear transmission methods to provide power. At present, it seems that part of the gears and bearings can be achieved.

Zhou Shixiong rushed to the craft camp with great enthusiasm and left in a dilemma two days later. His sudden idea of ​​submarine plan completely failed in the face of various unsolvable technical problems. In the end, Zhou Shixiong left only a drawing of an underwater respirator and asked the craftsmen to make it as soon as possible. This thing is not technically difficult, and the slightly difficult part is to make a water-impermeable pipe. I believe that these skilled craftsmen will not be able to defeat them.

When he returned to Lang San City, what was waiting for him was good news and bad news. The good news was that Henan Prefecture had defended it, and the bad news was that Heping Prefecture announced its surrender. The letter of surrender sent by Heping Prefecture to the new master was nearly 10,000 soldiers from Shanluo Prefecture to support him.

"Is the head of the Heping Mansion in the head? What kind of nerves do you feel when surrendering!" Zhou Shixiong's fresh swear words made Gao Fu look beyond the reach of the world, but Zhou Shixiong who he knew didn't know. It turned out that Heping Mansion was the old nest of the Zheng family. Zheng Yiguan, the owner of the Heping Mansion, was Zheng Zhuang's uncle, and of course, Zheng Zai's uncle. However, this uncle has always regarded himself as a successor of Confucianism and hates the lord-killer of the king. Zheng Zai's father Zheng Du is the type that Master Zheng Yiguan hates the most.

As for Zheng Zhuang's way of changing emperors at will in the Li Dynasty, Mr. Zheng Yiguan was very pleased. He believed that this was his nephew Zheng Zhuang's ability, which was essentially different from Zheng Du, who killed his brother and seized the throne. After Zheng Zhuang captured Nanding City, he rushed to Henan Prefecture, but unexpectedly, the invincible cannon was restrained by sandbags. He attacked the city for nine days in a row but failed to break a gate. In desperation, he had to withdraw back to Nanding City.

The eastern road was frustrated, and Zheng Zhuang planned to find a breakthrough on the northern road. He received a letter from his uncle, inviting him to talk to Heping City. Zheng Zhuang left 20,000 troops to guard Nanding City, led 10,000 elite troops to Heping City, met with his uncle at the city, and finalized the Heping Mansion to abandon the secret and turn to the light. In order to help his nephew and grandson relieve the pressure, Lord Zheng Yiguan, who hated the betrayer the most, handled the story of luring Shanluo reinforcements into the encirclement and the two armies joined forces to encircle and suppress Shanluo's army.

It is said that Luo Gengyun, the head of Shanluo Mansion, learned that Zheng Yiguan surrendered to the enemy and used his 10,000 troops as a gift. He was so angry that he became seriously ill and vowed to take the head of Zheng Yiguan in his lifetime to comfort his clan.

The Dai leader, who had always been brave and fighting, actually used his vow to delay time. It can be seen that Luo Gengyun also saw that the Northern Vietnamese Dynasty was in trouble. If he had to take revenge at this time, the ending would be very miserable.

After reading these mixed information, Zhou Shixiong didn’t know what expressions to express his mood. This is so messy. My cousins ​​are fighting each other, and my uncle comes out to support the scene. What are you messing with here?!
Chapter completed!