I drew the captain's saber, cut two large branches, and sat on them. Bingbing hugged my waist, and we slid directly down the dam's embankment. This giant slide was incredibly thrilling. By the time we reached the water, the giant catfish was already in position, lifting us up. After picking up Wang Shoujie, who slid down behind us, the giant catfish went into sprint mode, quickly catching up to the tide. As the head of this water dragon, it roared and charged downstream!
It was the right decision not to bring the old man down; it was too bumpy. The three of us had to tie ourselves together with ropes and then grab the catfish's whiskers to ensure we wouldn't fall off.
Charging against the wind, taking the lead, in no time, the city of Wusancheng appeared before us. The guards on the city walls, due to their high vantage point, were the first to spot us and the flood. They reacted quickly, waving their flags and cheering with joy.
The enemy troops outside the city probably hadn't seen us yet. By the time we were less than five hundred meters from the city gate, the rebels finally came to their senses, but it was too late for any organization or mobilization. The flood was swift, instantly more than doubling the width of the river. All the enemy camps were within the flood's impact zone. Even here, the flood peak's momentum had slightly reduced, with the waves less than three meters high, but the impact force was still terrifying. Wherever it passed, the enemy camps, their men and horses, and their armaments all crumbled at the slightest touch.
The giant catfish slowed down. I asked it to swim towards the north gate. When we reached the gate, it was wide open. Zheng Baobao led out the fleet of warships from inside. After we three were pulled onto a warship with ropes, I turned to the water spirit, which had performed a great service, and shouted, "Giant Catfish, it's dinner time!"
This was my promise to it. Since I wasn't allowed to feed it personally now, it was more convenient for it to go downstream and eat buffet-style!
The giant catfish opened its huge mouth, laughed heartily, dove into the water, and began its pursuit and hunt.
Zheng Baobao's warships exited the north gate one by one. Under her command, they divided into three routes and followed the flood, also launching a pursuit.
As expected of professional naval forces, Zheng Baobao's weapons were different from those of land troops. Their primary weapons were bows and arrows, but not ordinary ones. They were heavy crossbows, with each bolt over a meter long, the shafts thicker than a finger, the arrowhead equipped with large barbs, and two ropes, one thick and one thin, tied to the tail.
The soldiers shot the bolts into the water. Whether they hit a vital spot and killed the enemy directly, or struck their armor, they could hook the enemy. The soldiers on the ship would then use the thick rope to pull the enemy out of the water. Once they were pulled onto the ship's side, they would be dealt with by spears. After that, they would pull the thin rope, which controlled the arrowhead's barb. A pull would loosen the barb, the enemy would fall into the water, the large bolt would be retrieved, and after a simple cleaning of the arrowhead, it would be fired again.
It was somewhat similar to whaling operations!
I was not skilled in this; I merely stood on the warship, admiring the pursuit.
As the chase continued, the lookout on the mast reported to Zheng Baobao that they had spotted the enemy commander Hal's ship!
Zheng Baobao immediately turned to pursue. Near the left bank, they caught up to a simple boat crudely pieced together from wooden planks. A tall and imposing demon, clad in full armor, stood at the bow, directing the soldiers on his boat and another of our warships nearby in a duel. The intense arrow fire forced our warship to keep its distance.
Zheng Baobao was not intimidated. She ordered her soldiers to crouch low and raised full sail. With an accelerated charge, she directly used her ship's bow to crush Hal's small boat.
After a deafening roar, I saw countless splintered planks and enemy corpses floating on both sides of the ship's hull.
The soldiers searched around but couldn't find Hal's body, much to their surprise.
Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I had marked this guy's aura beforehand, and I could still see his aura even after the collision.
"Baobao," I said, pointing directly below our ship, "you have watertight compartments down there, right?"
"There are seven compartments. What's wrong?"
"One of the compartments was probably broken just now, and Hal must have gotten in."