After wiping out all the Japanese pirates entrenched near the Zhoushan Islands, Hu Zongxian did not rush to return to the court, but chose to let the soldiers rest for a day before setting off.
"Weigh anchor!"
As the order was issued, the Ming army warships docked near the port began to move in an orderly manner, and then formed a tight formation and headed in the direction they came from.
In the cabin, Hu Zongxian was holding an idle book in his hand, reading it with relish.
The plot in the book has ups and downs, making people immersed in it. Just when the mood of the book reached its highest point, Hu Zongxian turned back and found that the back was empty, with only four big words: "Waiting for the next volume."
"What a crappy book!" After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he threw the idle book in his hand on the ground angrily. Perhaps out of frustration, he stepped on it a few times.
At this moment, Qi Jiguang's voice came from outside the cabin: "Your Excellency, Wang Zhi explained some situations."
Upon hearing this, Hu Zongxian quickly picked up the idle book on the ground, then sat upright and said calmly: "Come in."
"Mr. Governor, here are some of the situations that Wang Zhi explained!" Qi Jiguang said, respectfully handing Wang Zhi's confession to Hu Zongxian.
"Well, let me take a look." Hu Zongxian said and began to browse the content above.
After a long time, Hu Zongxian put down Wang Zhi's confession and said in a deep voice: "I didn't expect that Wang Zhi not only converted to paganism, but also colluded with those Hongyi people!"
"Hongyi people? I heard that their cannons are very powerful. Not only are they powerful, but they also have a long range. Our Fran cannon is copied from the Hongyi cannon! What do these Hongyi people look like?" Qi Jiguang Seeing Hu Zongxian suddenly mention the Hongyi people, he asked immediately.
"Actually, I can't tell the difference clearly. These Hongyi people all look the same! They have blue eyes, curly hair, and white skin. In addition, they also speak a language that is incomprehensible. The last time the Weaving Bureau sold silk , I have met a few Hongyi people." Hu Zongxian said and began to recall.
"Report to the Governor, an unidentified fleet has been spotted ahead!"
At this moment, some soldiers hurriedly entered the cabin and reported.
"What?"
After Hu Zongxian and Qi Jiguang looked at each other, they came to the deck one after another.
"Give me the monocular!" After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he took the monocular from the hands of the soldiers on the side and began to observe the fleet in the distance.
In the distance, a fleet of twelve large two-masted ships was seen approaching. The clothes of the people on board were obviously not the style of the Central Plains region.
"Send the order and have the fleet prepare for war!"
After Hu Zongxian put down the monocular, he issued the order.
"yes!"
After Hu Zongxian's order was issued, some soldiers climbed up the mast, waved the flags in their hands, and conveyed the order to the rest of the ships.
Soon, thirty-six ships were lined up in a line, and the cannons mounted on the ships were also aimed at the enemy fleet. They could fire as soon as they came into range.
"Mr. Governor, the fleet opposite is probably a ship from Japan!"
After Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang also put down his monocular and said in a deep voice.
"Oh, how can you see that?" Seeing that Qi Jiguang was so confident, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but want to take the exam.
"According to the official's observation, the clothing of the people on the boat is obviously not the style of the Central Plains area. It is obviously the style of clothing from Japan! Moreover, this sea route leads to the Zhoushan Islands, and we have just finished wiping out the Japanese pirates there. The answer It’s ready to come out.”
"This fleet is with Wang Zhi!"
Qi Jiguang paused for a moment and then replied.
"Well, not bad, I think so too."
Hu Zongxian was quite satisfied with Qi Jiguang's answer and nodded, agreeing with Qi Jiguang's idea.
On the other hand, Nobu Maeda was not so calm. A week ago, he set out from the Zhoushan Islands and transported the collected goods to Kyushu, Japan for sale, making a huge profit!
Currently, he is leading the fleet back to Zhoushan Islands for repairs.
Maeda Nobu is a retainer of the Otomo family. He has served the Otomo family for generations since his grandfather's generation! The contemporary head of the Dayou family, Dayou Zonglin, valued him very much and put him in charge of the smuggling business with Wang Zhi.
"Asshole! Where did the fleet on the opposite side come from?"
After finishing speaking, Maeda Shin picked up the monocular and began to observe the Ming army ships in the distance.
"Master Nobu Maeda, that seems to be a warship of the Ming army!"
"What? The Ming Army! This sea route is the only way to the Zhoushan Islands, and that huge fleet is returning. Does it mean that the Ming Army has..."
After listening to the report from his subordinates, Maeda Nobu suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.
"Could it be said that the Ming army has completely annihilated Wang Zhi and the others?"
Just as Nobu Maeda was thinking about the possibility, the splashing water around him brought him back to reality.
"Asshole! What the hell is going on?"
"Master Nobu Maeda, the other side is firing! The other side is really too powerful, should we..."
The subordinates on the side saw this and cautiously spoke to comfort him.
"Yes, that's right. Order the fleet to turn around and escape as quickly as possible!"
Maeda Nobu adopted the opinions of his subordinates and immediately issued the order.
"Sir Governor, those Japanese pirates are turning the ship around and trying to escape!" Qi Jiguang took off the monocular and reported to Hu Zongxianhui.
"Order the entire ship to maintain formation, speed up sailing, rush up to entangle them, and don't let them escape!" Hu Zongxian held a monocular and was still observing the situation in the distance.
"yes!"
After Hu Zongxian's order was issued, it was conveyed through the flags waving in the hands of the soldiers as before.
Soon, the Ming army's ships accelerated to catch up without losing their formation!
"Hurry up, hurry up, the Ming army is almost catching up!"
Seeing that his side was turning the ship so slowly, Nobu Maeda couldn't help but urge.
At this moment, a cannonball exploded near the ship he was commanding, causing waves five meters high!
"These Ming soldiers are really bastards. Fight back! Fire! Fire!"
At this time, Maeda Nobu's whole body was already soaked. Seeing that the distance between the two sides had been shortened, his fleet was being bitten by the Ming army, and there was no possibility of escape, Maeda Nobu gritted his teeth and gave the order to fight back.
It’s just that the cannons carried on the ships of this group of Japanese pirates are countless times worse than those on the ships of the Ming army. Whether it is the accuracy, power, loading speed of the cannons, or even the proficiency of the gunners, they are far weaker than those of the Ming army!
One consequence of this is that Nobu Maeda can only be beaten passively, because the cannons on their ships have a range that is not as far as that of the Ming army! In order to attack the Ming army ships in the distance, Maeda Nobu could only order all ships to approach the Ming army fleet.
In this process, the ships of the Ming army were able to hit the warships of the Japanese pirates without any effort.
'Boom! With a loud noise, the cannonball fired by the Ming army hit a Japanese two-masted warship.
The hull of the two-masted warship that was hit began to tilt slowly. Because the previous shell hit the cabin where the gunpowder was stored, a second round of explosions was triggered! The entire ship disintegrated rapidly, and the few survivors on board jumped off the ship and swam to nearby ships in an attempt to be rescued.
"Okay, good job!" Hu Zongxian said excitedly as he took off the monocular.
As the battle progressed, a second sunk warship soon appeared on the Japanese side.
"Ahhh, what a bastard! Shoot, shoot!"
Looking at the slowly capsizing ship not far away, Nobu Maeda's heart felt like a knife was cutting into his heart. All this money was in vain!
'Bang bang bang' Soon, there was another volley from the Ming army! This time, it did not sink the ship, but caused higher waves.
'Bah, bah, bah' Nobu Maeda leaned on the side of the ship in embarrassment, spitting out the seawater, his mouth full of salty and bitter taste.
With the efforts of Nobu Maeda, the Ming army's ships finally entered its attack range.
'Bang bang bang' After a salvo, no Ming warships were hit.
"Asshole, what do these losers do? They can't even hit a single shot!"
Seeing that he paid such a high price but failed to hit even a single shot, Nobu Maeda became furious and cursed angrily.
Perhaps they found the feeling, and the Ming army quickly fired another salvo. This time, two more warships from the Japanese pirates were hit, and their speed was greatly reduced!
Just when the two ships wanted to speed up and escape from the battlefield, they were quickly hit by artillery shells flying from nowhere. The entire ship soon began to leak and tilt, and after a while, it completely sank into the sea.
"Lord Nobu Maeda, let's escape quickly. If we continue to fight like this, there may not be a few ships left in the fleet!"
Less than an hour after the two sides started fighting, one-third of Maeda Nobu's fleet had already been sunk. Such a tragic loss almost made Maeda Nobu lose his mind.
"Assholes! You are a bunch of cowards. When you encounter an enemy, you just want to run away. You can't even fight back. Do you have the nerve to call yourself a samurai?"
Maeda Nobu pushed the subordinate who came to admonish him to the ground, and then issued the order: "Continue to fight, no retreat!"
While talking, two more warships were sunk by Ming army's artillery shells!
"You bastards, give me the order and aim at the warship over there!"
Seeing that two more ships were sunk, Maeda Nobu was about to lose his mind. He was now eager to damage the Ming army's ships. Even if he only hit one gun, it was acceptable.
Maeda Nobu's order was quickly conveyed. On the Japanese pirates' side, the remaining six warships began to gather firepower and concentrate on targeting a warship on the Ming army's side.
Just a "bang" sound was heard, and the hard work paid off. The Japanese pirates' cannon finally hit a Ming army ship.
Seeing this, Maeda Nobu couldn't help but cheer on the deck, and kept shouting: "Blessed by Amaterasu!"
However, the sinking of the battleship that Maeda Nobu expected did not happen. Because the power of the cannons carried by the Japanese pirates was too small, it was not able to sink the Ming army's battleship, only damaging it.
And soon, the injured ship, under the cover of the remaining ships of the Ming army, calmly withdrew from the battlefield.
"What a bastard! These bastards of the Ming army!" Nobu Maeda couldn't help but cursed after observing this scene through the monocular telescope.
Soon, there was another volley from the Ming army, and two warships from the Japanese pirates were hit again! And Maeda Nobu also gradually woke up from the previous violent mood and regained his sanity.
After Maeda Nobu regained his senses, he began to reflect on his previous actions.
"What have I done?"
Eight of the twelve warships were sunk, leaving only four warships. Most of the gold, silver, jewelry, etc. previously obtained through selling goods were also lost! When the time comes to return to Kyushu, he will inevitably be severely punished by his master.
"It's better to escape first!"
At this time, Maeda Nobu finally made up his mind and prepared to run away.
"Send the order, all remaining ships will turn around and retreat at full speed!"
Maeda Nobu's order was quickly conveyed, and the captains of the remaining three ships also breathed a sigh of relief and began to turn their ships around to get away from the battlefield.
"Catch up, don't let them run away so easily!"
Hu Zongxian saw that the Japanese pirates had lost the will to continue fighting, so he quickly issued an order.
"yes!"
Soon, Hu Zongxian's order was passed on by the soldiers, and the Ming army also increased the coverage of artillery fire. Fortunately, they sank another Japanese warship that failed to turn its bow in time.
"This group of shameless bastards, I, Maeda Nobu, have taken note of this grudge."
Seeing that another warship of his own was sunk, Nobu Maeda looked at the huge Ming army fleet behind him. After saying a harsh word, he led the remaining three warships and left in despair.
After pursuing for a while, the Ming army returned the same way.
After this battle, Maeda Nobu was very sure that he would never set foot here again in a short period of time!
Ps The author failed to reward himself, so he got up from the bed in anger and wrote 3000 words of anger code!
(End of chapter)
