The Gorges River is dangerous, and the Shu road is difficult, as difficult as climbing to the blue sky.

The three Gorges dangerous shoals are complex and changeable. The main dangerous shoals in the Three Gorges may show different channel characteristics at different times of the year: some dangerous shoals are reflected in the Yangtze River flood period, some dangerous shoals are reflected in the dry season of the Yangtze River, and some dangerous shoals are reflected in the middle flood period of the Yangtze River. Due to the different reasons of the occurrence of these dangerous shoals, the geographical terrain of the beach head is different, so the key points that endanger boats are also different: some dangerous shoals are flowing rapidly due to large water level drops; some dangerous shoals are swiming due to the towering rocks; some dangerous shoals show accumulation of sand and congestion of river channels.

The Yangtze River flows downstream from the upstream, walks through the majestic Niu Ganma Lung Gorge, enters the steep Kongling Gorge, and flows through the Zigui section. It is a terrifying Kongling Beach. A huge rock stands in the middle of the river, splitting the beach in half, and the waterway is divided into the southern canal and northern canal. The northern canal is full of reefs, interlaced, and the evil waves are rolling, and they are dangerously surrounded by each other; the southern canal is densely populated with bubbles and whirlpools, and the water flow is chaotic and strange, making it impossible for people to judge the location of the dark whirlpools in the river.

"Everyone, is there any way to cross this beach?" Liu Shiyong took a small boat from the mooring place early in the morning to Kongling Beach. After getting ashore, he inquired about several local "scenes" he found yesterday.

"The great commander can see the huge rocks that divide the water in the middle of the river!" The beach master is probably equivalent to the water diversion in the navy. He specializes in grasping the course and guiding ships across the beach. There are many dangerous beaches in the Yangtze River. Experienced water diversion is called the beach master. After a silence, a longest-year-old man stepped forward to salute.

"Well, I saw it. A warship hit a reef and sank here yesterday!" Liu Shiyong nodded and said.

"Master, Kongling Beach is the Hall of Hell on the Water. It is rumored that sailors died here are more rocks than the beach. The boatman often said: Qingtan is not a beach, Kongling is the gate of hell. It is extremely difficult to pass this place..." The old man said.

"Don't exaggerate, shake our morale!" The guard next to Liu Shiyong glared at the eyes of the old man.

"The young one dare not, the young one dare not..." The old sailor shivered in fear and bowed repeatedly.

"Don't be rude, step back!" Liu Shiyong frowned, scolded his personal soldiers with a deep face, and then bowed to the old sailor, "Don't blame me, I apologize, please speak frankly!"

"I don't dare!" The old man also hurriedly replied in a panic when he saw it, "Master, the huge rocks standing in the middle of the river are commonly called "head beads". The ones below are called "two beads" and "three beads" are arranged in the shape of a font at the exit of the two granaries in the north and south. Because they do not often reveal the water surface, people call them the dark chess reefs. They split the beach in two halves and divide them into the north and north troughs. There is an extremely narrow channel beside the head beads and between the reef area, between the whirlpool area. At first, people wanted to hide from the big beads and slide directly into this channel, but in the end they were sucked at the big beads and fell to pieces. I don't know when, later people made up their minds and simply went to the big beads and went to the dead end to find a way out."

"This is a way to survive in death!" Liu Shiyong was shocked when he heard this. He had already seen the chaotic and strange water flow of this beach. Even the most experienced helm master in the army could not judge the location of the dark vortex in the river. Who would have thought that he would drive the boat to the beach and rush directly to the big pearl stone, which would be like fighting the big pearl stone. When he got under the eyelid of the big pearl stone, he turned the rudder and put it back. Who knew that the boat would pass the big pearl stone smoothly. But the opportunity was only a moment. If it was slow, it would hit the big pearl and smash the whole boat to pieces. If it was soon, it would be dragged into the bottom of the river by the whirlpool, and the whole group would feed fish and shrimps. If it was thrilling, it would be shocked to get up in cold sweat.

"What the Grand Marshal said is exactly." Another middle-aged beach master answered, "The boat passed Kongling and was full of dangers. Especially in the flood season, the pearls and stones were buried at the bottom of the river, the waves rolled, and the water columns soared into the sky, which was even more shocking. If the boat deviates, no one could survive. And sailing against the current is even more dangerous. There are countless ships that sank here when they were sailing in the past!"

"Oh, wouldn't it be impossible to go boating along the water at this time?" Liu Shiyong turned his face and asked with a frown.

"Master,... it's not impossible. When the river is dry, the water flows in the south canal is chaotic, and boats are not feasible. However, when you go to the north canal, you can only travel a small boat of hundreds of stones. These large boats of the official army are large boats of more than five hundred stones, and they are definitely not able to get over it." The middle-aged beach master hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Liu Shiyong's sharp eyes, he didn't dare not say anything, lowered his head and gritted his teeth.

"Only a small boat with a hundred stones?" Liu Shiyong felt a sank in his heart and murmured. This western expedition chose to march after autumn because he was worried that the river would be turbulent and difficult to pass through the dangerous shoals. When he made plans, he also considered that the warships dispatched were medium-sized warships and small warships. After arriving in Yiling, a batch of medium-sized baggage ships were recruited to reduce the load on a single ship, but he did not expect that it would still be difficult to pass.

"That is, even small boats have to unload the cargo on the boat, or transport it to the beach with small boats or manpower, and wait for the empty boat to be reloaded!" The middle-aged beach master mustered the courage to report again.

"If you can lead the official warships across the beach, I will not hesitate to reward you more, and you will all reward you with a hundred taels of silver!" Liu Shiyong thought that there would be a brave man under the heavy reward, so he loudly offered the reward.

"The general, the young man hopes that the official army can recover Sichuan and Shu, but it is really hard to obey. Although the reward is high, it is not life-saving to spend it!" Several beach masters looked at each other, all shook their heads and smiled bitterly, and no one dared to take it.

"It is recorded in the book of the General Secretary that there was a large ship that could be connected to the previous time, but can't it be possible at this time? You must have collaborated with the enemy and deliberately blocked the official army into Shu!" Liu Shiyong's face changed suddenly and pointed at the several beach divisions and shouted sternly.

"Master, please spare me, I can't wait to do my best!" Several people were so scared that they knelt down and shouted for wrongdoing, and they were mourning for a moment.

"Master, the young man knew that there was indeed a 500-stone boat that flowed upwards during the autumn season, but he had to unload heavy objects and sailed on an empty boat." At this time, a young beach master shouted loudly in frightened.

"Oh, get up and reply!" Liu Shiyong's expression was slightly slower when he heard this, pointing at him.

"Mr. Xie for not killing..." The Master Tan kowtowed quickly, but after walking between life and death, his legs were so scared that he became weak. The two personal soldiers picked him up, but their legs were shaking like sieve chaff.

"I remember that the water level of the river was similar to this year. A huge merchant was in a hurry to go home and was also a big boat. In desperation, he ventured to sail. Although it passed, the boat gang was also scratched by the reefs on the shore, and it was only after repairing it!" The young beach master said slowly.

"Li Gou'er, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. That year, the beach I took the boat to pass by. The water level was almost the same, but there were not many big rocks in the river. If you missed the commander, how many heads would you cut off!" The old beach master tilted his head and scolded loudly after hearing this.

"Master Qian, you are dead at this time, and if you don't speak, you are dead. You can only try it!" Li Gou'er said with a sad face.

"Why do you get up and reply?" Liu Shiyong knew that the matter was serious and there could not be any mistakes, otherwise the army would have to return without success, so he pointed at Master Laotan and said.

"Oh, what the Grand Marshal just said was true that a large ship could flow upwards, but that was something that happened decades ago." Laotan Master sighed before he said, "I was young and had sailed on the river with the old man. At that time, even a large ship with a thousand stone could be unobstructed. But later the river bank collapsed and countless huge rocks fell into the river and blocked the river. It was not until more than twenty years later that the huge rocks were washed away by the river water that he could barely sail the boat. The boat that he said was hard to pass through five hundred stones was also true, but two years ago, the rocks slipped down and blocked the waterway. It was not that the young man refused to do his best!"

"In your opinion, just remove the huge rocks that docked in the waterway and can you pass through the big ship?" Liu Shiyong said in front of his eyes.

"If the huge rock can be removed, the old man dares to use his life to guarantee that the royal ship can pass through." Lao Tan said, patting his chest, but his face turned dim, "Master, the huge rock is heavy and tremendous, so it is not possible for human power to do it. Even if the fire is used to burn gravel, the river water cannot be surging."

"I have a way to remove the huge rocks. If you can safely lead the fleet across the dangerous shoals, the bounty I said will be fulfilled as soon as I first do, and I will never lose my words!" Liu Shiyong looked happy at this moment and said with a smile.

"You little man dare not do your best!" Several beach masters looked at each other, but they still didn't believe it in their eyes, but their lives were finally saved and they bowed in unison.

However, they soon believed it. Liu Shiyong certainly knew that even if it could be used to drill stones with manpower, it would not be possible to expand the waterway in a short time, but now that they had gunpowder in their hands was different. He immediately mobilized the baggage military engineer battalion to dig the gun holes on the huge rocks, then filled the gunpowder, and exploded the stones to open the way.

With the arrival of the engineers, the project began immediately, and even so, the project volume was still quite large. In order to ensure the success of one blast, more than a dozen gun holes were dug on each boulder, the deepest one was several feet, and the diameter was several inches. Liu Shiyong knew that the water conditions were changing very quickly. Once the water level dropped again, it would be difficult to pass even if the boulder was removed, so he ordered that the construction must be completed tomorrow.

As a result, the bonfire was bright on Kongling Beach, and the sound of carving stones continued until midnight. At dawn, with the continuous explosions resounding through the valley, more than a dozen huge pets in the waterway turned into gravel rains, and went east under the wrapping of the river water. When the explosion stopped, the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, and the waterway suddenly became clear and the water flow became relatively stable. A new waterway of five meters wide was formed on the Beicao water surface.

However, the three-pearl stone is still there, and it still poses a great threat to the ship. Moreover, although the huge rock has been eliminated, it also makes the situation under the water uncertain. Whether the warship can pass by safely still makes everyone feel unsure of it, and a look of sorrow can't help but appear on their faces...
Chapter completed!