ps: If you want to hear more of your voices and receive more of your suggestions, search for "qdread" and follow it now to give more support to "Ming Yang Tian Xia"!
***
There was not much time for Ke Chenshu to hesitate. The Dutch warships were already dispersing and fleeing. If he did not make an immediate decision, the enemy ships would soon disappear in the vast ocean at night.
"Chase!"
In the end, Ke Chenshu decided to disperse and pursue the enemy. For him, it was natural to destroy as many enemy ships as possible. After receiving the order, the 22 clipper ships quickly dispersed and locked onto their targets.
The night was pitch black, the waves were surging and rolling in the darkness, the sea was roaring and raging, a huge chase continued on the night sea, the flames were still spurting, the cannons were still roaring, under the heavy sky, it was dark and miserable, and the wind was howling.
On the shattered treasure ship, Xie Chun leaned against the porthole, exhausted. The gun smoke in the gun cabin had not yet completely dissipated, and the overturned cannons had not been dealt with in time, leaving the cabin in a mess.
The wounded comrades groaned in pain from time to time. The military doctors were trying their best to treat them. The bodies of Zhang Kuan and others were still lying in the corner of the cabin. Bloodstains covered the floor. Xie Chun only took one look and his eyes were filled with tears again. He just persisted, trying hard not to let the tears flow anymore.
The birds are silent and the sky is still, the night is long and the wind is rustling. Souls are gathered and the sky is dark, ghosts and gods gather and the clouds are thick. The moonlight is cold and the waves are far away, the stars are dim and the frost is white, the sadness is miserable, and the heart is broken... ... ...
Yang Kun, the deputy military officer, sat down next to Xie Chun and said as if talking to himself, "I am the Emperor of the Great Qin, the Supreme Ruler. I often lead troops into battle. Wars always involve sacrifices. It has always been like this. No matter who is sacrificed, we can only accept our fate.
But. Their sacrifice will not be in vain, even if no one remembers their names, they have exchanged their lives for victory after victory, and the country, relying on victory after victory, has maintained a prosperous and stable situation.
One day, I will probably die on the battlefield. I have this feeling. People may not remember my name, but that doesn’t mean my death is worthless. I think it is like this, it should be like this…”
"Yang Chenshi. I am the most useless. Zhang Paozhang and his men were so brave, but why did they sacrifice themselves?"
"You are also very brave today, braver than ever before. You are worthy of this military uniform and worthy of the Qin Empire."
"I didn't. I was thinking about going home all the time. I was counting the days until my enlistment was over. I was... the laughing stock of our navy..."
"This time, no one will laugh at you. By the way, do you still want to go home now?"
"I don't know. I really don't know."
"You have made great contributions this time. With this military achievement, I can help you apply for retirement from the Navy Department. There is a high chance that it will be approved."
"Mr. Yang, let me think about it. I really don't know now." Xie Chun looked at the almost scrapped No. 1 gun. He felt that he had a responsibility to stay and guard it. He could not forget the scene of his sacrificed comrades cleaning and testing the gun every day and treating it as their life.
Yang Kun listened quietly and carefully guided Xie Chun. Xie Chun's state today was too abnormal, as if he was crazy. As a deputy officer, Yang Kun was not only responsible for recording merits and punishing demerits, but also had to guide the soldiers' thoughts at ordinary times;
In a situation like Xie Chun's, Yang Kun had the even greater responsibility to help him adjust, so before the battle was over, he found a gap to come up and talk to him alone.
"Xie Chun, you should think about it first. You performed very well today. If you decide to stay, you will inherit Zhang Kuan's duties as the artillery commander in the future, so you must be strong..."
"No, no, no... Yang Chenshi, I am timid and I don't know anything. I can't be a gunner. I can't be a man like Zhang..."
"you can."
After Yang Kun finished speaking, Li Gui, Li Erzhu and others echoed him, looking at Xie Chun and saying, "We believe you can do it!"
Xie Chun looked at Li Gui and the others. There was no longer the usual contempt or even ridicule in their eyes, but a kind of trust and encouragement.
Li Gui and Li Erzhu had tears in their eyes. They were the only two left at the No. 1 gun. After Zhang Kuan and others died heroically, Li Gui and Li Erzhu were panicked and at a loss. It was when Xie Chun rushed back to the gun position crying with injuries that they followed him to help.
They usually laughed at Xie Chun who only wanted to go home, but at that moment, they suddenly realized that they were not stronger than Xie Chun. He was bleeding profusely from his legs, but he was unaware of it. The power he burst out at that moment was amazing. Eight shots hit the enemy ship, which was the most brilliant record of the No. 1 gun, at least for now!
Li Gui and Li Erzhu said nothing more and sat down next to Xie Chun. All the blood and fire of friendship were in their eyes.
Although the two huge treasure ships did not completely lose their combat effectiveness, they were frequently damaged and scarred in the fierce bombardment. In addition, their speed was difficult to compare with the clipper ships. After Ke Chenshu ordered to disperse and pursue the enemy, the two treasure ships fell behind.
The cannons ahead were still roaring. It was the Clipper warships that were using their extraordinary speed to chase the enemy ships and bombard them. Of course, the enemy would not surrender and would fight back desperately. On the sea at night, the bloody battle was still going on.
Based on the gunfire coming from the front, it can be judged that the Dutch are about to turn northwest and sail against the wind to escape. This is not difficult to understand. If the Dutch warships continue to flee with the wind, they will definitely not be able to escape the pursuit of the clipper ships. Only when the wind is against them, the speed advantage of the clipper ships is not obvious, and the Dutch warships have a chance to escape the pursuit.
The two treasure ships that fell behind, according to Ke Chenshu's order and the sound of artillery fire in front, turned in advance and also headed northwest.
Staff Officer Liu Qingshan reminded Ke Chenshu, "General Ke, the enemy has obviously planned to disperse and flee this time, and they are not completely defeated. I think we should be more cautious and beware of other traps set by the enemy. Our warships should not be too dispersed, so as to avoid being divided and surrounded by the enemy and defeated one by one."
Time was tight and Ke Chenshu didn't have time to think much about it. After listening to Liu Qingshan's reminder, he felt it made sense.
However, it was a dark night with artillery fire everywhere. The twenty-two clipper warships had dispersed to pursue the enemy and were fighting fiercely with their prey. Some were already nearly ten miles away. How could it be so easy to gather all the warships back at this time
Liu Qingshan then suggested: "General Ke, I suggest that we temporarily give up the pursuit. In fact, in a one-on-one bombardment, the clipper battleships may not be able to gain much advantage. It is better to temporarily give up the pursuit and just follow the enemy. After dawn, we can gather the enemy ships and destroy them."
The clipper ship has a big flaw. Its mast is very high. The mast is 40 meters high for a 60-meter-long ship, which is two-thirds of the ship. This allows it to hang more sails and thus obtain more powerful power. However, when sailing against the wind, most of the sails of the clipper ship cannot be used, so the speed advantage is not very obvious.
The enemy now chooses to flee against the wind, obviously knowing the weakness of the clipper battleship.
At this time, another staff officer said, "Although what Staff Officer Liu said makes sense, we should not forget that the enemy ships are completely in chaos under the pursuit of our warships. It is even more impossible for the enemy ships to gather together. How can they set any traps?"
This sounds reasonable at first, but Liu Qingshan thought about it and said quickly: "No, we have 22 clipper ships, and the Dutch still have more than 50 warships. We can only chase one at a time. In other words, the other 30 or so Dutch warships can quickly gather together according to the pre-arranged agreement if there is no threat. We will become scattered sands by chasing a small part of the enemy's ships, while most of the enemy's ships can take the opportunity to regroup and divide and annihilate our scattered warships. At that time, we will be the fish on the chopping board and the situation will be reversed."
As the commander of the army, every decision he made could affect the outcome of the war, so Ke Chenshu had to be extremely cautious. What Liu Qingshan said was indeed very reasonable. After listening to it, Ke Chenshu decided to adopt Liu Qingshan's opinion and temporarily give up the pursuit.
Of course, giving up the pursuit does not mean letting the enemy ships disappear. We still have to chase them. In any case, we cannot let the Dutch fleet disappear in the vast ocean again.
As long as we survive this night and wait until dawn, it may be the best time to defeat the Dutch fleet. (The novel "Ming Yang Tian Xia" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the public account "qdread" and follow it, hurry up!) (To be continued..)
...