Chapter 19 Nuclear Powered Horse
In the rain, the bundles of reeds piled on the water surface of the canal mouth were untied one after another, and drifted slowly towards the transport ship along the gentle water flow.

First a few bundles of reeds came into view, followed by more and more bundles and scattered reeds.

An idea suddenly occurred to him, and he wanted to order the black warrior wandering on the west bank and his four black servants to go to the canal mouth for a visit.

But the other party was dismantling the obstacles. If we went there now, we would not be able to solve the problem except by killing people. In the end, our own people would have to get off the boat to clear the obstacles.

A mounted spy from the Xue family had already been killed. Regardless of his ability to ride a horse or his qualifications to be a spy, it showed that the man was very trusted and had a high status.

Even if they don't kill them, as long as their own people get off the boat to clear the obstacles, their weaknesses will be exposed.

It is like showing your back to tigers and leopards, and stretching your neck to vampires.

Even if Xue Zhou really wanted to be a country hermit, it would probably be difficult for him to hold back.

I don’t want to get into too much trouble now. The most important thing is to go to Xudu safely.

The black bear was patient and restrained, and saw that the drifting reed bundles had blocked the area around the boat in front, and were piling up more and more.

Zhang Ding grabbed the rope and swung over, wearing only a straw raincoat, without a hat or a red scarf on his head, and went straight to the wooden platform of the sparrow room: "Captain Qu, the thieves are breaking through the fence and trying to escape."

"I know. I want to wait until they tear down the barriers before I attack."

Black Bear also had concerns, and said to Zhang Ding: "You control this ship, I will take Xuan Liang to the front ship, and the back ship will be handed over to Chen Yang. Xuan Liang is experienced, so he will be the helmsman."

"Yes, I'll go call Chen Yang right away."

Zhang Ding turned around and entered the mahjong room, went down the stairs and called out to Chen Yang. Chen Yang grabbed the rope hanging from the mast of the rear ship and jumped off the ship. Soon after, Xuan Liang, who had been notified, also jumped onto the ship.

Soon, Hei Xiong and Xuan Liang arrived at the front ship. After Xuan Liang went to the living cabin to check the sailors, he transferred five veteran sailors from the back to increase the inertia of the front ship when it impacted.

This canal is neither very wide nor very straight, and there is a fear of ships crashing into the shore when sailing at night.

In order to eliminate this hidden danger, Black Bear personally came to observe the changes in the waterway.

However, at this moment, there were too many bundles of reeds piled up on the surface of the canal, some blocking the front of the boat and some on both sides, hindering rowing.

So a dozen sailors went onto the deck and pulled the ropes to slowly raise and unfurl the hard sail.

The east wind mixed with rain blew on the hard sail, and the transport ship began to move forward slowly.

It was almost midnight at this time. Black Bear had just obtained two new black mana cards. He combined the three drops from before and threw them at the dead horse on the shore.

Five drops of black magic power seeped into the dead horse's body, causing it to melt and shrink. In a moment, it turned into a card and fell into the black bear's hand.

"Dry horse, clumsy carriage horse, can be strengthened and combined."

Without caring about Xuan Liang beside him, the horse immediately condensed and took shape.

It was not very tall. Considering Black Bear's current height of nearly seven feet, the horse's back was at his chest. The horse's skin and flesh were dry and tightly attached to the skeleton.

The black bear tried tapping the side of his abdomen where the ribs were lined up, and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and show joy... It was indeed empty.

The horse's stomach is actually empty, without any internal organs or intestines, which means that after the armored black warrior rides on it, he can cross not only lakes but even the Yangtze River!
Based on the previous observations of the Black Warrior and the Black Servant, this Yin-dried horse is stronger than the Mongolian nuclear-powered horse!
Nuclear-powered horses still have to eat grass, but these shade-dried horses don't drink water, don't sweat, require no maintenance, are silent throughout, and never get angry.

It is a must-have horse for every household and for killing and robbing.

It's just a little expensive. If you want to upgrade it to the next level, you will need about ten points of black mana.

Xuan Liang, who was standing nearby, was startled by the sudden appearance of the horse and said hastily, "The bandits are like grass, why bother with your valuable life?"

"That's fine."

Black Bear waved his hand to dismiss the horses. At this time, the drummer in the living cabin under his feet beat the drum. The sailors rowed the boats according to the drum beats, and the four strong sailors in the sparrow room rowed the stern oars.

The boat began to move forward, and the stacked reed bundles blocking the bow were broken apart and squeezed to the sides, forcing people to either push ashore or drift downstream.

The rain hit the bamboo hat on his head. Black Bear held a white feather arrow in his hand and aimed straight ahead. As long as the arrow head shifted slightly to the left or right, Xuan Liang on the side would notify the four people on the stern oar to make corresponding adjustments to avoid hitting the shore.

A row of torches was inserted at the stern of the ship to provide guidance for the boats behind to ensure safe navigation.

To avoid accidents, the following boats did not raise sails and followed by paddling.

After another dozen breaths, the lead ship suddenly penetrated the obstacle and the speed of the ship increased immediately. Xuan Liang asked anxiously: "Captain Qu, should we lower the sail?"

"Wait a moment, wait for my order!"

The black bear stared towards the canal. As he got closer, he could see busy figures on both sides of the canal. He felt that these people were in a panic.

Seeing that there were not many ships at the river mouth, only about a dozen, it would be easy to ram them, so he immediately shouted, "After the collision, lower all sails!"

"Yes!"

The two sailors responded loudly and tied ropes around their waists to avoid falling.

The wind and rain are quite strong tonight. If Mansail successfully breaks through the canal, it is very likely to crash into the south bank of Si Shui!

Anyone who has passed the driving test, even the old grandfathers and grandmothers riding electric bikes in the countryside, know the principle of slowing down at intersections!

"The White Goose Thief is coming!"

"Run!"

Faint shouting sounds reached my ears, and in the blink of an eye the bow of the boat hit the center of a small boat. The untied hemp ropes of the three nearby boats broke immediately, and two people were knocked into the water along with the small boat.

The big ship continued to move forward and collided with other ships one after another. The men who were freeing the boats in the river jumped into the water to avoid the collision.

People from both sides also threw stones at the boat. The nearest stone hit Black Bear's hat, but the stone was not big and bounced away.

The black bear was motionless, staring at the surging Si River ahead, with the tip of the white feather arrow in his hand raised upwards. Xuan Liang beside him shouted to the room: "Slow down!"

The four people rowing in the sparrow room heard the orders shouted by the sailors rowing in the living cabin. The drummer at the wooden ladder immediately changed the melody of the drum, and everyone began to row backwards.

Seeing the boat speed slow down, Black Bear adjusted the white feather arrow to a horizontal direction, Xuan Liang and the four people rowed the boat and shouted, "Two points to the left! Two points to the left! Three points! More!"

In the darkness, the first boat just entered Sishui and slightly adjusted its bow when it was swept away by the strong current and accelerated out of the canal. Then came the second boat, the third boat, and even the black-winged boat, which was still tied with ropes and towed to Sishui.

The entire fleet returned to Surabaya, but the sailors were still rowing backwards before new orders were given.

Xuan Liang gasped for breath. This was the first time in his life that he sailed on a dark and stormy night. It was too exciting, even more terrifying than fighting in a battlefield.

It’s not that I’m afraid of death, but this kind of thing is no longer a battle of strength or wits against humans, but a battle against the vicious and dangerous nature.

Sailing and fighting in a stormy night was something we had never dared to think of before!

After calming down a bit, Xuan Liang looked up and asked, "General Qu, the enemy and I have changed our offensive and defensive positions. Should we intercept and kill the bandits? Or should we swim upstream and attack their families and rear guard?"

Without thinking, Xuan Liang instinctively determined that the other party's women, children, the elderly and the weak were upstream.

By capturing the old, weak, women and children of the enemy, and taking advantage of their weak points, we can naturally force the young and strong to surrender.

Then he selected the best and strongest men and trained them as his troops. He was already familiar with the process of conquering Jiangdong.

"I don't want to get involved, and I don't want to suffer this loss in vain."

As Black Bear said this, he threw the card towards the north bank. Four black servants followed by two black warriors appeared on the bare banks of the canal.

The black warrior rushed towards the figure with a sword in hand, but his shouts were difficult to be heard by the fleet over the rain and the sound of the rapid Si River.

In the black bear's sight, some outlines could be vaguely seen through the rain. The black servants were stumbling clumsily in the mud, and some of them even slipped and fell.

These have no killing power even if they get close. They can only attract the enemy's attention for the Dark Knight, making it easier for him to defeat the enemy quickly.

In a one-on-one situation, the opponent can be defeated in one or two moves; in a one-on-two situation, the opponent will be blocked or restrained, and it will take three to five moves to succeed.

When there are more people on the opposite side, it is basically difficult for a black warrior to launch an effective attack.

Of course, if the enemy has their backs to you, no matter how many enemies there are, you can kill them all with one sword.

This is the situation now. The other side scattered, and the black warriors pursued and killed them. The blood was washed by the rain into the rivers and the Si River.

No one dared to approach the black servant because he was relying on the power of the other. In just seven or eight breaths, the black warrior chopped down more than a dozen people and disappeared with the black servant.

Zhang Feng's sword was knocked off his chest by a blow of the sword. As he retreated, he was stabbed in the waist and abdomen by the opponent. His feet slipped and he fell down on his buttocks, then lay on the muddy ground, unable to make a sound due to the pain.

His eyes were wide open with fear, as the night raider who had just stabbed him suddenly disappeared!
Besides being horrified, he also felt extremely unlucky... If he had retreated just one foot further, just that little bit of distance could have saved him from this fatal blow.

Fortunately, the knife failed to penetrate and caused very little bleeding, so little that Zhang Feng felt uneasy.

After a long time, Zhang Feng came back to his senses and heard someone crawling around using his hands and feet. The ground was slippery with mud and water, and he could hear the person panting.

"help me!"

Zhang Feng made a sound, and the man next to him approached with a hoarse voice: "Brother Zhang? Where is the thief? Why did he suddenly..."

While asking the question, he approached Zhang Feng and grabbed Zhang Feng's hand, then stood up and pulled Zhang Feng. Zhang Feng gritted his teeth and insisted on standing up despite the pain in his abdomen.

Just as he stood up, the dagger in the opponent's hand stabbed into Zhang Feng's waist and rushed Zhang Feng to fall backwards.

Zhang Feng's face was distorted with horror due to the severe pain. The dagger was twisting in the other party's hand. Zhang Feng was in so much pain that he couldn't cry out. He just whimpered, his whole body tense for two or three breaths, and then he collapsed.

"Pooh!"

He spat and slapped Zhang Feng in the face. The man crawled towards the canal in the dark, while the panicked people by the river were still fighting.

You couldn't see anything in the dark night. You had already been soaked by the rain, and you didn't know how many enemies you had when you were attacked.

In order to protect himself, he could only helplessly and madly attack any figure that appeared around him.

After suffering such a great loss, Zhang Feng would not live until dawn unless he died tonight.

The melee lasted for a while, and finally someone ignited the preserved reed tinder, and then ignited the bundles of reeds used to build the thatched hut.

The precious firelight illuminated both sides of the canal mouth, but the large ship that had escaped through the siege was no longer visible.

The firelight calmed the panic, and the remaining people gathered around the fire one after another, dragging bundles of reeds from the shore over.

Some people also took a boat and sailed into the Si River under this faint light, and were then swept downstream by the rising and turbulent Si River.

There was no shelter, and the rainy night and the cold took too much toll on the people.

Compared to the dozen or so people killed by the Black Knight, those who drowned at night, those who were frightened to death, those who were killed in the chaos, and those who died of illness after wind, rain, and typhoid fever, any one of them was more ferocious than the Black Knight!

Fleet, Black Bear looked back at the outline of the fire burning at the mouth of the canal: "The bravery of the other leader is beyond my imagination."

Don’t you know that before marching out to encircle an enemy city, the first thing to do is to set up camp for the night?
Let alone fighting, even when going hunting in the mountains, you have to consider the two issues of staying overnight and lighting.

But many of the other side’s reeds were washed away by the water, and the rain wet many reeds on the shore. How long could the fire burn?
Unless, enough fish oil is poured before the fire goes out.

After thinking about what was happening over there for a while, Black Bear carefully observed the Sishui River and put away the white feather arrow in his hand.

Perhaps we can make a steering rudder directly between the bird room and the wooden platform, like a steering wheel.

Rotate the steering wheel yourself to cause the disc in the bird room to rotate... The oarsman in the bird room can directly observe and make adjustments.

Simple mechanical structure, a bicycle flashes through my mind.

The steering wheel of the wooden platform is like the sprocket of the pedal, and the wooden plate of the bird room is fixed with ropes... just like the rear wheel sprocket of a bicycle.

This is the case for transport ships. In the future, if we command warships and tower ships, we can also apply this improved command system.

It can even be made into a gear lever to directly command the rowers in the cabin... No, the correct procedure is to convey the gear information to the drummer in the cabin, and the drummer will command the sailors in the cabin to move forward or reverse.

If we train well, maybe we can overturn the boat and put it into storage?

(End of this chapter)