I would also like to take some time to help resolve any confusion that might have occurred due to Zhang’s talk with Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang had said that he did not wish to fight while pointing out that if Zhang had not been so quick witted or if he got the impression that Zhang was an idiot, then he would have attacked once he returned to the Southern Fleet.
Zhuge Liang then said if Zhang was confident in winning then Zhang should go ahead and attack. To which Zhang said had Zhuge Liang not entered his ship and fell under his mercy then he would most likely not attack and retreat, however now that Zhuge Liang was within his grasp he could kill Zhuge Liang and cause the Southern Fleet to lose it’s commander.
He then offers to give Zhang the world, but zhang said you can give what you don’t own. Then they go back on forth for a bit and Zhuge Liang leaves. :D
“Master Zhuge Liang, what will we do now?” Huang Xiao asked as his men rowed their lifeboat back toward the Southern Alliance's fleet.
“I will relay orders to our men once we return to the ship, my lord. But I will have to leave it to you master to persuade the others.” Huang Xiao said.
“What an interesting person. Perhaps after this we can all sit down and have a fun chat.” He thought as he remembered his dialog with Zhang. Much like Sima Yi, he felt that Zhang was someone who could be said to be equals with him in terms of wit. To be able to meet others like himself, was a rare occasion for Zhuge Liang and one that he found very enjoyable.
Thus when Zhuge Liang and Huang Xiao returned to their fleet a meeting was called for and all of the generals present were to attend.
Late in the night, while most of Zhang’s men were fast asleep, the Southern Fleet was wide awake and busy at work. From what Zhang’s lookouts could see, it appeared that the Southern Fleet was doing something to their boats.
Once the sun rose, a massive structure created by binding four hundred warships to one another was finished and begun moving over the water’s surface.
However by the time all of Zhang’s men were up and ready for battle the Southern Fleet had already made it around the reef.
“No, we will engage them.” Sima Yi said as he arrived besides where Gan Ning was.
By chaining their ships together, they’d be able to create a more stable foothold for their men, while gaining the ability to swarm soldiers onto the enemy ships, also the ability to carelessly ram into other ships. Since the individual ships could only hold so many people, the soldiers on this massive platform that was created would surely outnumber any regular sized ship.
“ Move the troop carrier ships back, move our commanding vessel to the front and have our men move the ballistae to the upper decks. If we sink enough of their ships, they’ll be rendered immobile, afterward it would take them some time to unchain the ships, allowing us ample time to move past them and directly to Dark Sea City.” Sima Yi said.
“You heard the man! Move our carriers back and arrange formations. Inform his highness that we will be engaging the enemy and ask him and the madams to move onto one of the carriers.” Gan Ning roared while his eyes glinted. After hearing, Sima Yi’s plan, he now viewed the massive fortress in front of him as his prey and path to obtaining riches.
Atop one of the carriers, Zhang and the beauties were seated atop the golden throne that Zhang had looted from the Sai Empire, awaiting for the battle to begin. Zhang did not object to what Sima Yi and Gan Ning were doing because he had somewhat figured out what Zhuge Liang was going to do already.
Once the spear sized bolts were loaded and the mechanisms on the ballistae were released, hundreds of bolts pierced through the air and embedded themselves in the boats of the Southern fleet. There were also a few unlucky people who were pinned to the deck when a bolt shot through them.
Although ballistae have been around some time and were not a new creation, no one had ever thought of placing them onto ships and using them for battle at sea.
“Have the ships positioned on the wings of our formation move forward and fall into the crane wing formation.” Sima Yi said to Gan Ning. This formation would allow their ships to surround the enemy from three sides and allowing them to dispense more damage.
“To think that they had those up their sleeves.” He said to Huang Xiao as they both witnessed the battle from the crow's nest of their ship.
“Are the preparations complete?” Zhuge Liang asked.
“Good, all we have to do now is wait.”
“Tie the pots of oil to the bolts and fire!” Gan Ning ordered his men. Although they did not have a large amount of oil lying around, he figured that all they needed to do was light a few ships on fire and it would spread to the other ships.
“Fire arrows!”
However as quickly as the fires started, they were just as quickly put out. The sailors aboard the ships of the Southern Fleet, tossed hundreds of buckets down into the waters and quickly extinguished the flames.
It was then did a sudden breeze start to pick up. Fairly fast winds blew from the south and was blowing toward the north. That was when Zhuge Liang’s eyes glinted and he looked toward Huang Xiao and nodded.
Moments later Huang Xiao pulled out a flare from beneath his arm and shot it into the air, signalling to his men. Once the flare was let an unbelievable chain of events occurred. Thousands of Zhuge Liang’s men who were clad in blue armor marched to the upper decks with bows and arrows, while hundreds of them appeared with axes.
With the chains no longer bounding their ships to the rest of the platform, Zhuge Liang’s oarsmen began rowing and creating distance between themselves and the rest of the Southern Fleet. While all of this was happening, the people on the platform watched in confusion.
“Take cover!” Some of the men on the platform screamed.
If anyone was on the upper decks of these ships they would notice a slick coating on the wooden beams and the planks that made up the floors. If they were to go down to the lower decks, they would see hundreds of barrels filled to the brim with black powder.
Fire then made it’s way into the lower decks and sparked the hundreds of barrels of black powder, setting of a massive explosion causing the surrounding ships to blow into bits. But that was not the end of it, the exploding ships would send fire and debris flying everywhere, causing even more of the ships that Zhuge Liang had left also to ignite on fire.
With the winds blowing toward the north, serving as a fan, the flames burned ever more fiercely. In mere minutes Zhuge Liang had sank nearly three hundred ships, sending them to the bottom of the sea.
Zhang could not help but be surprised as he witnessed what Zhuge Liang had done. Although he had a vague sense of what might occur, when it did happen, it happened in a much more explosive manner then he would expect.
“To be able to kill thousands without losing a single soldier, this man is a true genius.” Yuying said as she looked at the floating corpses and scattered debris that was all that was left of nearly three hundred ships.
“With this the southern seas are as good as ours, they probably scraped together every available warship that was at hand to stop us.”Ling said.
Zhang’s men were filled with disbelief and joy as they watched the Southern Fleet disappear right before their eyes and once Zhuge Liang surrendered they could not help but break out in cheers. This was because once Zhuge Liang surrendered, there was no one else to stop them, meaning that they would not have to fight any battles for a while, meaning that many of their brothers in arms would be spared from a trip to the Underworld.
Thus marked the end of the first and perhaps last battle that the Red Mist Naval Fleet had to fight. A battle that will forever be remembered in the history books, the battle that showed how one genius was able to wipe out an army without losing a single soldier. A battle that would allow Zhang to control the southern seas.
In the depths of the Underworld, the Yama could be seen with a scowl on his face as he was forced to work more due to the massive increase in souls that have been arriving.
From the soldiers who were commanded by the Jin Clan of Red Mist City, to the members of the Yu Sect, to the soldiers of the Heavenly Sword Army, countless other encounters and also the sailors and soldiers of the Southern Fleet whose deaths were somewhat related to Zhang.
“If I don’t get grandkids soon, I’m going to have to pay you a visit… You damn rascal, too busy out causing deaths than to spend time with my precious daughter.” The Yama said with furrowed eyebrows.