Thinking of this, he ordered a temporary halt. After all, he was somewhat unwilling to be chased and attacked by the enemy's dozen or so warships; if the enemy's strength were not so great, he would have taken the initiative to strike.
As soon as he stopped, a sudden change occurred.
Aside from the large Fuchuan he was on, all medium and small boats suffered attacks of varying degrees!
“Not good, there's something underwater!”
The first thing Zuo Menggeng thought of was that the Ming Army had arranged an ambush underwater.
He just couldn't understand how an ambush could be arranged underwater. By deploying people? But ordinary people would find it difficult to pose any threat to a warship.
Zuo Menggeng stepped onto the deck. The waves were heavy at this moment; even atop the Large Fuchuan, he could feel the violent swaying.
At this moment, the warships guarding the sides of the large Fuchuan were swaying even more violently; he even saw some of the warships being overturned.
Seeing more and more ships being overturned, Zuo Menggeng couldn't help but ask, "What's going on? What happened?"
He hurriedly looked at the water's surface, but because it was night, even with the torches reflecting off it, nothing could be seen on the surface, he could only vaguely see massive shadows swimming beneath the water.
"A water monster! It must be a water monster!" someone cried out in terror.
Zuo Menggeng immediately said, "What water monster? How could there be a water monster in Leitai? You are shaking the morale of the troops! Seize this man and take him away!"
Leichi, being a strategic location, is essentially a shallow lake, with its deepest point reaching only about thirty meters. How could there possibly be an environment for a water monster to grow in?
But if it wasn't a water monster, what kind of thing could possess such immense strength to directly capsize a warship?
Seeing that the tower ship was also becoming unstable, Zuo Menggeng could only say, "Retreat!"
At this moment, he no longer had any way to probe the true strength of the Ming Army; being able to return to the harbor safely was already good enough.
And at this very moment, Zhu Ci also held his eyeglasses and said in shock, "What's going on? Why did the Zuo Army's ships suddenly capsize?"
The other generals beside him had also seen some of it; although they were far away, the commotion caused by the other side was simply too great. Even without eyeglasses, they could see the Zuo Army struggling in the water after those ships capsized.
However, no one could answer Zhu Ci's question; no one knew exactly what had happened.
Zhu Ci held the binoculars and watched for a long time. Under the light from the Zuo Army warship, he faintly saw massive fish occasionally swimming beneath the water.
That fish was massive; because it was underwater, it was impossible to judge its true size, but Zhu Ci guessed it was at least five meters long. It was incredibly large, with a dorsal fin on its body and something extremely sharp on its head, though he wasn't sure if it was the snout.
What kind of fish is this?
Zhu Ci didn't recall ever seeing this kind of fish before.
Just because of a single fish, most of the Zuo Army's small warships had capsized, few medium-sized warships were left standing. It was unknown whether those who fell into the water were eaten or drowned; the scene was one of utter chaos.
Zhu Ci handed the monocular telescope to someone else to take a look and said, "Let's go, retreat to Wangjiang!"
They weren't very far from the enemy army; what if that strange fish came looking for them?
The person who grabbed the eyeglasses took a look and couldn't help but blurt out, "An elephant-nose fish?"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Fish? What fish? Where are there fish? Two cat-like searchlight eyes staring intently at the water surface. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 123
Elephant-nose fish?
Zhu Ci asked with some curiosity, "You know about this kind of fish?"
The man said with a complex expression, "A thousand-jin cured meat is like a ten-thousand-jin elephant; that 'ten-thousand-jin elephant' refers to the elephantfish."
"A thousand-jin dried meat, ten thousand-jin elephant; the Huang rafts are nothing like it.." As the other person spoke, Zhu Ci recalled this proverb.
He remembered that this used to be a Sichuan fishing proverb, ten thousand jin elephant.. which one was it again?
Zhu Ci tilted his head and thought for a moment, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him—White Sturgeon!
Could it really be a White Sturgeon?!
Zhu Ci immediately snatched the monocular back and picked it up to continue watching.
Unfortunately, they had already quickly retreated at this moment, not to mention that it was not yet light out, a light mist had also risen over the water, making it impossible to see that fish at all.
Zhu Ci put down his monocular with a hint of regret.
No wonder he had no impression of this kind of fish; it had already gone extinct before he was even born. The only places to learn about it were the descriptions in books and specimens in museums.
He never expected that he would actually see a White Sturgeon in a place like this.
Strange, hasn't this kind of fish always lived in the Yangtze River basin? How did it end up all the way in Leichi? It couldn't have gotten lost, could it?
Zhu Ci couldn't figure it out, so he could only light a candle for the Zuo Army Navy.
He remembered that although the White Sturgeon might not reach the legendary ten thousand catties, it could likely reach a hundred kilograms, the fish just now was not small.
To a White Sturgeon, a vessel like the Red Dragon Boat, which is less than ten meters long, might be nothing more than a toy, capsizing it would require very little effort.
After retreating to Wangjiang, Zhu Ci originally intended to immediately arrange for scouts to investigate the situation of the Zuo Army, but to his surprise, Fu had actually already planted spies within the Zuo Army.
In Fu's view, they would have a battle with the Zuo Army sooner or later.
The spy's news took five or six days to arrive, when it did, it was a bombshell: Zuo Liangyu was dead.
Zhu Ci's eyes lit up upon hearing the news: "He is finally dead!"
Hmm?
The naval commanders looked up at their Emperor, feeling as though his words implied that the Emperor had known all along that Zuo Liangyu was going to die.
Zhu Ci met their gazes, realizing he had let it slip in his excitement. He cleared his throat and said, "In years past, I met Zuo Liangyu once. I observed that his physiognomy indicated he would face a great life-or-death calamity after the age of forty-five, now that has come to pass."
Everyone's expressions instantly turned strange. The Emperor.. could also read physiognomy?
After Zhu Ci finished his bluff, he immediately said, "Prepare for the attack at once!"
As he spoke, he wrote a letter to Zhao Jia, telling him to lead his men to provide support from the shore. As for Li Zicheng.. he and Ajige were still in a standoff, so there should be no danger in the short term.
Moreover, the worst possible consequence would be nothing more than losing Huangzhou; if lost, it could simply be retaken, whereas the opportunity to strike the Zuo Army is a rare chance that cannot be sought at will.
The Zuo Army must be in total chaos right now. Not only did Zuo Menggeng suffer a crushing defeat, losing tens of thousands of elite naval troops, but they also lost many warships.
After hearing this news, Zuo Liangyu was consumed by rage, combined with his prolonged illness, he passed away.
In this situation, Zuo Liangyu's subordinates would certainly harbor doubts toward Zuo Menggeng, they might not necessarily nominate him as their new leader.
If Zuo Menggeng cannot lead, it means everyone else has an opportunity.
It was a pity there wasn't much time left. He had to be careful of Li Zicheng and Ajige; otherwise, Zhu Ci could easily have spies stir up trouble and sow discord within the Zuo Army. It would be much easier to deal with them once they had fractured and started fighting among themselves. Even if they didn't fight now, it wouldn't be a problem; they could always fight later.
Zhu Ci felt a sense of regret in his heart as he went ashore.
Before, he had only experienced how a navy fought, after that experience, he could only say that one shouldn't obsess over fields they are not skilled in.
Fu's subordinates might not be particularly formidable, but their abilities were not bad; theoretically speaking, there were no issues.
Moreover, the tactics they devised involved the navy doing their best to drive the Zuo Army onto the shore; once they reached the shore, the land would belong to the Great Ming.
Just as Ajige's right eye had been sentenced to death, leaving him with an irreversible lifelong disability, while Li Zicheng was still hesitating, they simultaneously received new news: the Great Ming had incorporated the forces under Zuo Liangyu's command.
Ajige, who already hated Zhu Ci to death, nearly went mad on the spot upon hearing this news.
The Great Ming army was never easy to deal with to begin with, now that they had gained Zuo Liangyu's million-strong army, their strength had increased significantly. How could this be fought?
Even Ajige didn't believe that Zuo Liangyu truly commanded a million troops, but he must have at least tens of thousands, right?
Most importantly, the naval forces under Zuo Liangyu were the most formidable; this development was equivalent to plugging the Great Ming's weakest link, so how could Ajige not go mad?
Li Zicheng, on the other hand, fell silent for a long while after learning of this before sighing and saying, "He truly has the skill to match his audacity."
In this situation, this kid actually dared to go and attack Zuo Liangyu; Zuo Liangyu likely never expected him to actually strike.
And another point was that before the news of this great victory arrived, he had received no news of any Ming Army troop movements or departures.
This level of control over the army and the cohesion among subordinates would make even Li Zicheng feel envious.
However, he still found it somewhat strange—just how exactly had the Great Ming army won?
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that this battle had been won in a very strange manner.
Two days later, he finally learned the full story of what had happened.
When he learned that Zuo Menggeng had been defeated by Zhu Ci upon setting out on his expedition, only to suffer heavy losses later from an attack by a large fish, he waited a long time before looking at Song Xiance and asking, "Is this truly the will of Heaven?"
A bitter smile appeared on Song Xiance's face.
This was the most accurate divination he had ever performed in his life; most other times, the conclusions were very vague, some were pure nonsense.
However, this was also the first time he wished the results of his divination were not so accurate.
The Mandate of Heaven meant that the Emperor he followed was not the Ziwei Imperial Star capable of dominating the world.
However, compared to Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing and the others had already begun to waver.
It was mainly because this man was too incredible. You couldn't deny that he had strength, but since he also had luck on top of that strength, why bother fighting to the bitter end?
Seeing that Li Zicheng was somewhat hesitant, people had already approached He Gang to express their willingness to lead their subordinates to defect to the Great Ming, even stating that if the Emperor of the Great Ming had any other instructions, they could fulfill them.
As for what these other instructions were.. besides killing Li Zicheng, what else could they be?
He smiled and comforted them while making a note of these people, all while feeling in his heart that his Emperor was truly prophetic.
Zhu Ci had already warned him before his accident that if anyone were to betray Li Zicheng to defect, he must make sure to record it.
He didn't dare to use such a person. Of course, there might be other factors involved, but that was something to be investigated later.
Li Zicheng was well aware of these movements. Looking at Song Xiance, the only one who remained loyal to him, he sighed and said, "The trend is truly irreversible; just surrender."
If he surrendered, he might at least keep his life; if he continued to delay, he feared someone would try to use his head to secure their own future!
When the news of Li Zicheng's surrender arrived, Zhu Ci was looking at the memorial and sighing.
This time, the Grand Secretary and the Left Censor submitted a memorial together.
Because of the fact that the high-level leadership of the Zuo Army had been completely wiped out.
Zhu Ci had already decided when he moved against the Zuo Army that whether it was Zuo Menggeng or any other Zuo Army generals, not a single one of them was a good person.
After raising his army, Zuo Liangyu arrived in Jiujiang and invited Yuan Jixian, the Governor-General of Jiangxi and Huguang, to board his ship, then even produced some "Secret Imperial Decree of the Crown Prince" to force Yuan Jixian into an alliance with him.