A lean camel is bigger than a horse.

As the location of the former Lingnan Jiedushi, Guangzhou City has always been the political core in the entire southeast direction. In addition, the prosperity of foreign trade in Guangzhou Port has made Guangzhou City an economic hub.

In recent years, with the rise of Northern Tang, the foreign trade of Guangzhou Port was completely cut off by the Northern Tang Navy, and the ocean trade turned to the Haixing of Cangzhou. Even Jiaozhou Port in Shandong, which is still under construction, Guangzhou's foreign trade has basically shrunk to zero, and commercial activities have suffered a huge blow.

But here is still the most prosperous and prosperous city in the entire southeast direction. Declining always takes a long process.

After Li Ke fled to Guangzhou south and established a small Guangzhou court that competed with the Northern Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou City was also stimulated to a certain extent, and he saw some hope for revival as if he was looking back.

For the relatively closed people here, what they saw and heard were naturally the power of the Guangzhou court, the strength of the army, and the injustice and rebellion of the Northern Tang Dynasty. For them, there were very few channels to understand the outside world, and they didn't know what was happening in this world at all.

But today, their worldview has been hit unprecedentedly.

Everything is because of the four giants outside Guangzhou Port.

Stimulated by Ma De's death in battle, Pan Motang decided to launch a direct counterattack.

His goal is Guangzhou Port, which is the core of the southern ruling power.

There is a navy in Guangzhou.

Earlier, they had a very powerful navy, and they had competed with Pan Motang at sea. Unfortunately, in the battle outside the Zhoushan Islands, this navy was highly expected by Xiang Xun Xiangzhen and his son, hoping to break the North Tang Navy's control over the sea and was destroyed in one battle.

Xiang Zhen’s dream of building a powerful navy was dead, and there was no way to reorganize such a navy again.

The funds required to build a navy far exceed the costs required to build a strong army. For the Confederate, instead of using a huge amount of money to build a naval warship to compete with the Northern Tang Navy, it is better to use this money to form a stronger army.

There are many water systems in the south, so the navy still needs it, but the inland water navy and the sea navy are two completely different concepts. In the inland waters, small boats are enough.

In the face of reality, Xiang Zhen also lowered his head.

From then on, his eyes gradually turned to the construction of a small inland fleet, focusing on flexibility, maneuvering and fast, and no longer pursuing giant ships.

But they are not a sea warship nor any.

When the Southern Navy was destroyed, there were three large ships still under construction in their shipyards. After they were launched, they no longer had the power to use their power.

The remaining last naval forces and these three warships became the last maritime force of the Confederate.

I dare not go out to sea and sail for a long voyage. If I encounter the Northern Tang Navy, I will only be instantly ruined.

But today, they had to go out to sea to fight.

When the warning came, the three Confederate warships, even if they were unwilling to do so, could only go to sea to intercept the Northern Tang Navy warships.

The soldiers have no fighting spirit and will have no fighting spirit.

Even if the Northern Tang Navy did not have artillery, they would only have the chance to be defeated. Moreover, today Pan Motang came with rage. At this moment, Pan Motang only had a feeling in his heart, that is destruction.

Everyone in Guangzhou Port, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people, witnessed with their own eyes how their warships were lightened into a pile of broken wood pieces drifting on the sea by the Northern Tang Navy in a flash.

Like a loud thunder, the rising smoke and the flames rising into the sky, just a moment of contact, the three Southern Alliance warships caught fire and burned. The three warships fled in a panic on the sea with thick smoke and fire were chased by the Northern Tang naval masters and bombarded them, and finally sank into the sea in the eyes of thousands of people.

When they saw the Northern Tang Navy warship driving straight into Guangzhou Port, the people in the entire port area were panicked.

Is the Northern Tang army going to attack Guangzhou?

Ships of all sizes in the harbor were rushing to raise their sails in panic, and then fled to the harbor across the coast. There might be a way out when they go out. Staying in the harbor is definitely a dead end.

Everyone wanted to escape, but there were only a few waterways. Then some ships collided with each other, and no one could move. They could only watch the black shells coming in the air, landing on the ship, and blowing the ship into piles of broken wood.

They were lucky enough to escape to the sea, but they didn't dare to look back. At this time, they just wanted to run as far as possible.

Xiang Xun, who received the notification, had a gray face, but had to quickly mobilize the army to prepare for land operations in case the Northern Tang people took the opportunity to come ashore.

Although the other party only had four warships, this possibility was not without. If these people took the opportunity to get ashore and sabotaged it, it would not only be a huge military defeat for the entire Confederacy, but also a major political blow.

Four warships sailed into Guangzhou Port, and some ships that had not had time to escape were crushed into the water by these large ships.

Rows of lines were lined up, and the black muzzles pointed to the port.

"Fire the cannon!" Pan Motang issued a bombardment order coldly.

Within several miles of Guangzhou Port and its surrounding areas, it was immediately affected.

This is the most prosperous place in Guangzhou City. Even though commercial activities are shrinking greatly, it is still the trading center of the entire south.

With the rumbling of cannons, Guangzhou Port turned into a sea of ​​fire.

In order to strengthen the effect of bombardment, Pan Motang ordered the bombardment to turn round shots after a salvo in the first round. Long-term bombardment is a huge test for everyone's nerves.

Pan Motang, who was setting in the west and exhaled a breath of anger in his heart, ordered his return. He left the mess to Li Ke and Xiang Xun from Guangzhou and others.

Kill my brother and I will destroy your lair.

So far today, when I am interested, I will come and take a look.

At the observation deck on the top of the mountain, Xiang Xunning looked at the Northern Tang Navy who was moving away, and his brows were tightly frowned into the character "Sichuan". In the past, he really didn't think that losing the Navy would have a great impact on the Southern Alliance. He always believed that the decisive battle would only happen on land. As long as the land troops were strong enough, all problems could be solved on land.

But today, his view has changed a little.

Such a fierce attack, any defense based on land will be useless. When the land defense line is broken through and a large number of Northern Tang troops come to the sea, what defense will they use?

With such a long sea line, where is the enemy's breakthrough point?

Touching the plates on the watchtower, one question after another flashed through Xun's mind.

A sound of gasping came from behind. When he turned around, he saw that it was his eldest son Xiang Zhen and his confidant Wang You.

"Is this what you call artillery?" Xiang Xun looked at Wang You and asked.

"Yes, Grandmaster!" Wang said respectfully again: "At that time, the general of the Imperial General heard that Li Mi crossed the river, he set up a defensive position on the embankment and wanted to use the river beach to launch an effective attack on the enemy. However, the opponent did not go ashore at all, and directly attacked the Imperial General's position on the river surface. I have never seen a weapon that can attack such a long distance, let alone such a huge power? The troops suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat to the city. The enemy used a small boat to carry heavy artillery to hit Ezhou again, and a large number of young and strong mutinies in the city, which led to the loss of Ezhou."

Xiang Xun nodded: "It seems that the court underestimated the power of this weapon and wronged you."

The king lowered his head again.

If it weren't for his Wang family's power, I'm afraid he would have lost his head long ago.

"The weapons of the Northern Tang Dynasty are so sharp, how do you think you should resist?" Xiang Xun turned to look at Xiang Zhen and asked.

Xiang Zhen sighed and said, "Father, the Northern Tang Dynasty has such sharp weapons. We are becoming increasingly difficult for military personnel. Fortunately, this weapon still has great flaws. Wang once mentioned in the report that this kind of artillery is extremely heavy and it is not easy to carry with the army. Therefore, they do not have a large amount of equipment in the army. But this is just before and in the future, it is still hard to say."

"Is there no way to deal with it? The same weapon can make us surrender?" Xiang Xun was a little angry.

"Father, in the future, our war with the Northern Tang Dynasty will need to be fundamentally changed in the way of fighting. We can no longer rely on the city to defend the city. No city wall can withstand such bombings. If it is not a last resort, we cannot carry out large-scale battles between the two sides. Small-scale wars, erosion wars, rapid maneuvering, and using complex terrain to deal with the enemy, etc., can only be moved by time. Because once a large-scale battle is formed, the Northern Tang army will inevitably call this kind of artillery."

"If such a large-scale battle is necessary, it will be the key to using various tactics to destroy the opponent's artillery positions as soon as possible."

"Next, the court will convene important generals from all sides to gather in Guangzhou to discuss the major plan to attack Li Ze. At that time, you will personally talk to everyone." Xiang Xun nodded.

"Yes!" Xiang Zhen and Wang heard it again, their faces showed joy. This means that Xiang Zhen will once again step into the center of power. No matter what kind of appointment will be given next, this time the appearance undoubtedly shows Xiang Xun's attitude.

"I heard that you are recruiting soldiers after selling all your property?"

"Yes, my son vows to take revenge." Xiang Zhen lowered his head and said, "This is not only a national hatred, but also a family hatred."

Xiang Xun was silent for a moment. He knew that the family hatred that Xiang Zhen mentioned was his smartest granddaughter.
Chapter completed!