"Sir, the signal is coming!" His subordinates suppressed their excitement and whispered, waking Zuo Shichang out of his thoughts. He turned around and saw a flag hanging on a small boat in the distance that clearly conveyed his intention. Send it over.
"Sure enough, it's here!" The excited Zuo Shichang jumped up, but he soon calmed down. As a coach, he needs to consider all factors, and the content transmitted by the flag now does not seem to be completely in line with his judgment. He wondered about it with some confusion: "What's going on? Why are there only one hundred and thirty transport ships and only thirty escort ships?"
"Sir, it seems that the Japanese have to divide their troops into several groups for landing operations. Their transportation capacity is limited. Being able to transport 40,000 people at a time is probably the limit, right?" The staff officer beside him reminded the commander, "There is also the same thing over at Zhuzikou. There’s no news yet, maybe it’s possible over there.”
"Well, it's very possible, but we can't wait any longer now. Victory or failure depends on this decision. Pass my order and order each squadron to proceed according to the established plan. The first squadron will entangle the enemy's escort fleet, and the remaining fleets will be completely protected by me. Destroy the enemy's transport ships! Let Hongtianlei concentrate on bombarding the transport ships. I must not let a single transport ship slip through the net! If one slips through, military law will be engaged!" Zuo Shichang took a long breath and issued the order in a deep voice. .
The flag was quickly hoisted on the flagship, and dozens of warships wandering in the sea area quickly entered combat mode. Various commands came and went. For a while, the sails were fluttering. The sailors on the deck quickly tore off the gun jackets and put the latest equipment on them. The mobile thunderbolts were pushed onto the deck, and a small number of firecrackers equipped on each ship began to actively prepare in the hidden places on the ship's side, ready to start their maiden battle.
Ichiro Miyazawa had a bad feeling as soon as he set off from the Cook Islands. The strong northwest wind kept the entire fleet in a headwind state. Although the course and sail angle were constantly adjusted, such a strong northwest wind was at an opposite angle to the direction of travel. Such constant adjustments to the course and sail angle not only greatly extended the voyage. Long also exhausted the sailors. For Ichiro Miyazawa, who has always been somewhat superstitious, this was an ominous omen, but as the commander of the escort fleet, he did not dare to tell anyone about this premonition, especially since the lives of 40,000 army soldiers depended on him. I dare not lie even more.
In fact, he also knew that no one could change this order. The Liberians had already launched a major battle with millions of troops in the north of the Tang Dynasty against the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Both the Si Luo Army and the Kaman Army have made great progress. In particular, the Si Luo Army has cut off the connection between the Tang Dynasty and the Central Continent, and the Kaman Army has even advanced to a place not far from the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Zhongzhou. But the most important Eastern Route Army seemed to be in a stalemate with the Tang Army. At this time, you need to show off your skills with the Army.
This news was learned from the mouth of the expeditionary army commander Ito Tadayo. Seeing Ito-kun's high-spirited expression, Miyazawa Ichiro was also a little envious that the army was finally able to land on mainland land. Although the Crescent Peninsula can be regarded as mainland land, the Dodon people have blocked the road to expand northward, and now the Yamato Army can finally get rid of all constraints and step into the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty with great fanfare. As an officer of the Yamato Navy, although I cannot set foot on the mainland, I am satisfied that I can do my part for the Yamato Army. This sense of pride diluted Miyazawa's sense of foreboding as the fleet set sail.
The biting cold wind blew across the entire sea. Due to the serious shortage of transport ships, a large number of private ships were requisitioned. However, it is obviously impossible to deliver 100,000 people to the mainland at once. 40,000 people have already filled the entire fleet, and even had to reluctantly abandon a large amount of supplies when setting sail. Only in this way can we barely guarantee The ship will not capsize in the face of such a strong northwest wind. Ito Tadashi was also a little worried about the supplies, but he thought that the fertile and fertile mainland land was waiting for him to conquer. As long as he landed on the land, everything on the land would belong to his army. It was the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, and Kamchatka There is no comparison with remote places like the Ryukyu Islands. It is also a great honor for me to be selected as the first batch of troops to land on the mainland.
There was a loud "click" sound. The hearts of Miyazawa Ichiro and Ito Tadashi tightened at the same time. They turned around and saw that the main mast of a transport ship seemed to be unable to withstand the strong wind and suddenly broke. The transport lost power. The ship suddenly started spinning on the sea. Miyazawa Ichiro was secretly annoyed. He had nothing to do about this situation. There were too many soldiers crammed into each ship, which was far beyond the capacity of these ships. He didn't want to He agreed to do this, but under the forced request of Mr. Yi, he had no choice but to agree, and now something is indeed wrong.
Seeing the helpless look on Miyazawa Ichiro's face, Ito Tadashi was also a little frustrated. This can't be blamed on him. The superiors required that 40,000 soldiers must be sent to the mainland one by one. He was forced to have no choice. They were all excellent soldiers under his command. He is not willing to take risks, but there are so many ships. If he wants to reach the destination at once, he has to take risks.
Now we can only temporarily abandon the ship. Delaying the landing time will be fatal. Although the Tang Navy is not strong enough in this area, Miyazawa Ichiro is still unwilling to take even a little risk. These 40,000 army troops are at sea. They don't have any combat power at all. Once they fall into the water in such cold weather, that fool knows what is waiting for them.
Miyazawa Ichiro knew that the Tang Dynasty's navy was developing very fast, especially since the number of their large warships continued to increase with the help of the Milanese. Although the strength of a navy cannot be determined solely by the number and size of its warships, But equipment is absolutely important to the navy. Fortunately, the focus of the Tang Dynasty's navy seems to have been on their navy in the Atlantic Ocean. Although the Atlantic Navy was established, they mostly used some remaining ships of the original Tang River Imperial Navy, and only recently began to add new warships. , it will take quite some time to become familiar with the ships and allow these sailors and warships to form effective combat capabilities.
Now the navy on the treasure island has effectively attracted the attention of the Tang Navy and the Milan Navy. Jiangnan will always be the most important to the Tang Dynasty, and the intelligence here shows that the number of the Tang Navy has been reduced to an insufficient number. To the extent that it poses a real threat to himself, this is the main reason why Miyazawa Ichiro dared to take such a risk. Otherwise, he would have allowed his fleet of only thirty warships to escort more than a hundred transport ships with no combat effectiveness at sea. Fleet, he would not dare to take on such a heavy responsibility no matter what.
Leaving behind the huge transport ship that was still spinning in place, the huge fleet continued to advance eastward. This accident once again cast a shadow on Miyazawa Ichiro's heart. Fortunately, the target was getting closer and closer. As long as there were three more hours, After crossing the Liugong Islands in front, we will basically enter a safe area. Even if we encounter the Tang Navy there, Miyazawa Ichiro is confident that he will hold back the Datang Navy fleet and allow the army transport ship to land smoothly.
The shrill police whistle suddenly brought Ichiro Miyazawa back to reality from his fantasy. He hurriedly turned his head to see who had issued the highest alert whistle. The lookout whistle on the mast was blowing the whistle crazily as if possessed by a demon. , that shrill and piercing scream almost penetrated into Miyazawa Ichiro's heart and made him vomit. Suppressing the tension in his heart, Miyazawa Ichiro wished he could shoot down this damn lookout with an arrow. Perhaps it was too much stimulation that made this lookout only blow the whistle, and even forgot to blow the whistle on the ship. The commander reports what exactly happened.
When the lookout finally woke up and reported the observed situation to Miyazawa Ichiro, Miyazawa Ichiro almost fell down on the deck. More than fifty warships appeared on the Liugong Islands line. What exactly is this? What's going on? Desperate eyes were exchanged between Miyazawa Ichiro and Ito Tadashi. What went wrong and they were ambushed by the Tang Navy here? And how could the Tang Dynasty Navy have such a powerful fleet appear here? Then who is the Tang naval fleet that appeared in Quanzhou and Yuhang
At this moment, Miyazawa Ichiro has vaguely understood that he is almost certain that the ships that appear in Quanzhou and Yuhang under the banner of the Tang Dynasty's Eastern Fleet must be the Nanyang that Datang secretly transferred from Eastern Samoa and Ludao. fleet, and what appears here now is the main force of the Atlantic Fleet, but what can we do now that we know it? The unspeakable bitterness made Ichiro Miyazawa almost lose his ability to think. What should he do now? It is impossible for bulky transport ships to escape the pursuit of these naval fleets, and the thirty ships in their hands will be their only hope. However, since the Tang naval fleet dares to ambush here, it must be absolutely sure. Thinking of another fleet setting off from the Ryukyu Islands, Miyazawa Ichiro could only lament his unlucky fate, but was caught by the Tang Dynasty's Eastern Fleet, and now he could only fight with all his strength and use all his personnel.
A series of flags quickly rose in the fleet, and the entire fleet quickly dispersed to prepare for the upcoming battle, while the clumsy transport fleet could only slowly follow the dispersed fleet, changing formations and sail angles in order to maximize This allowed the fleet to avoid chaos in the battle, and all this relied on the escort fleet being able to withstand the all-round attack of the Tang Navy.
The largest naval battle since the founding of the Tang Empire finally broke out on the Liugong Islands!