Thank you to the alliance leader darkin2014 for the huge reward. I bow my head in gratitude!
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On the endless sea, mountains and islands stood tall, waves surged, and 18 Qin army gunboats and 54 small and medium-sized warships, with their sails filled, were desperately rushing northward.
The bow of the ship plowed through streaks of white waves, which splashed directly onto the deck.
Zheng Sihai was extremely anxious and kept looking at the sea with a simple telescope.
Floating wooden boards and ship debris can be seen on the sea from time to time. Many of the wooden boards have signs of burning, and even swollen corpses can occasionally be seen floating.
It seems that the thing I was most worried about has happened.
After receiving the news that Gu Rong was urgently chasing Kalante northward, Zheng Sihai realized that something was wrong. Gu Rong's strength was much weaker than Kalante's. Once the two fleets were separated too far and could not support each other, Gu Rong and his men would likely be severely damaged by the enemy's superior forces.
So after Zheng Sihai left 4 gunboats and 45 small and medium-sized warships to Chen Hui to pursue Jiadiel, he rushed north desperately, hoping to catch up with Gu Rong.
However, they were a whole day's journey behind, and it would be difficult to catch up unless they stopped.
Further ahead is the sea off Chaozhou. The further north we go, the more worrying it becomes, as this shows that Gu Rong was unable to hold back the enemy.
Kalante had wanted to go north before, but he and Gu Rong had blocked him. Considering that once the enemy reached Zhejiang, it would have a huge political impact and the pressure on the navy would be very great, they would try their best to block him every time and seek a decisive battle with the enemy.
This time, due to the storm, Zheng Sihai's original anchorage in Yangjiang lacked a safe haven and could only hide in Leizhou Bay, giving Karant the opportunity to seize the opportunity.
"Report, Admiral, the outer warships sent a message with flag signals. Admiral Gu and the enemy fleet have been gone for ten hours."
Ten hours is almost a day. Zheng Sihai became even more anxious after hearing this.
It seems that the battle between Gu Rong and the enemy near this sea area did not delay the enemy for long, so he had to order his troops to speed up as much as possible to catch up.
Zheng Sihai was anxious, and so was Kalante. He led the main force northward, and did not think that he could defeat the huge Qin Empire with his own fleet. His goal was to lure Gu Rong northward and then divide and annihilate him.
As long as we defeat the Qin navy and gain control of the sea, we can force the Qin Empire to compromise, control trade with Qin, Japan, and Korea, take back the Chiwan Bay, and seize Luzon. In short, the fruits of victory are infinitely tempting.
In his expectation, once he went north, Gu Rong would definitely try his best to stop him, thus giving him the opportunity to annihilate Gu Rong completely.
But this is not the case now. During the battle off the coast of Chaozhou, Gu Rong did not rush into a decisive battle.
On the flagship, McCauss pressed the map with a ruler, then opened the porthole of the command room to let the sea breeze in and drive away the stuffiness in the cabin.
He took a long breath and said, "Commander, I have discovered that whoever is eager to fight will become passive."
Indeed, they avoided fighting the Qin army, which was eager to fight, and led the Qin army to move around. Then they sent a squadron to attack the coast, which made the Qin army exhausted.
Now, on the contrary, when it was his turn to be eager for a decisive battle, Gu Rong always lingered on the periphery, looking for opportunities to attack the small boats on the periphery, just like a ferocious shark, biting hard a few times and then retreating. Instead, it was his turn to be passive.
Karant said suspiciously, "Strange, isn't Gu Rong afraid that we will go north?"
"Commander, I guess Gu Rong knows that he is not as strong as us, so he wants to wait for Zheng Sihai to join us before engaging in a decisive battle with our army."
Karan nodded. Now it seemed that this was the only explanation. But for some reason, he still felt a little uneasy.
This vast empire, with its advanced civilization and strong national strength, is unmatched by any country in the world.
Especially the newly established Qin Empire, the color black they worship, their black clothes and armor, are like layers of iron curtains, always giving people a feeling of mystery, coldness, and unfathomable.
Calant also heard a story like this: When the Spaniards first arrived on the east coast of Africa, they boasted to the local natives how big their ships were and how exquisite the things they brought were, in order to cheat the natives out of their gold and silver.
As a result, the local natives were dismissive of the Spanish ships and goods. They said to the Spaniards, "Your ships are as big as houses. This is nothing. We have seen many ships as big as villages."
The Spaniards certainly did not believe in a ship as big as a village. The natives were very dissatisfied with the Spanish attitude and took out exquisite silk, porcelain, various items, and even copper coins from the Ming Empire to show off to the Spaniards.
The Spanish had to believe that more than a hundred years before them, a huge fleet from the distant East had already arrived in Africa, and it was heard that their fleet was so huge that it could be described as overwhelming.
Calant still cannot imagine what the ship as big as a village that the natives talked about looks like, but according to the British envoy Clauswell, the Qin Empire is indeed building such a giant ship. When he saw the ship with his own eyes, the shock was beyond words and a chill went down his spine.
Thinking of this, Karanth felt even more uneasy.
If countless warships as huge as villages cover the sea, what a terrifying scene it would be. Can his fleet still withstand a blow
"Your Excellency the Commander, Your Excellency Si Jinguan."
McCauss called out twice before Calant came back to his senses. He gritted his teeth and said, "Order, sail to Quanzhou at full speed."
Quanzhou is one of the most important and busiest trading ports in the Qin Empire. Attacking Quanzhou will definitely force Gu Rong to fight a decisive battle with him.
Once Calant's order was issued, hundreds of warships of all sizes spread out over a dozen miles and sailed towards Quanzhou in a mighty force. The scene was very frightening, but who knew what the commander of this huge fleet was afraid of
The southeast wind blowing from the sea fills up the white sails. From a distance, it looks like large white clouds flying close to the sea.
On the sea, waves were plowed up by the bow of the ship, and flocks of seabirds were circling in the sky, flying into the sea from time to time with graceful and swift movements.
As soon as this huge joint fleet passed Jinmen Island, a black cloud appeared on the small island on the right. No, it was not a black cloud, it was the Qin army's warship.
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!"
On the outer Sulu warships, soldiers were shouting in panic. The further north they went, the more islands there were, and the Qin army became more elusive, often attacking their outer small boats with their fast eagle ships and bluff ships. In such a complex and unfamiliar sea area, the Sulu soldiers had been attacked many times.
Zheng Zhibao led 30 eagle ships and bluff ships, and attacked from the right side of the combined fleet at a very fast speed, like a shark in the raging sea.
The gunboats of the combined fleet were all in the middle, sailing northward in two columns. The outer area of several miles was full of small boats from Sulu, Boni, and Zheng. Zheng Zhibao's target was these small boats.
The wind was strong, the waves were surging, and the sea was vast. Zheng Zhibao was as familiar with this sea area as his own backyard. It was near here that they had fought bloody battles with the Dutch more than once.
He attacked unexpectedly and rushed in quickly from the right side. At a distance of 200 steps, rows of gunshots from the Qin warships rang out densely, and bullets rained down on the enemy's boats.
Soldiers on the enemy ships were shot with bloody holes, screaming and falling down. The lookouts were shot and fell from the tall masts, breaking their skulls.
"Go ahead!" Zheng Zhibao roared. At a distance of 200 steps, although the enemy's bows and arrows could not hurt him, the enemy hid against the side of the ship, and the lethality of his rifles was limited.
Under Zheng Zhibao's command, 30 Qin warships continued to rush towards the enemy ships. Once they got close, a rain of arrows began to rise from the enemy ships, some of which were rockets, like meteors with tail flames, shooting towards the Qin warships.
The enemy hid beside the ship and fired continuously. The accuracy of the Type 68 rifle was enough for them to accurately shoot and kill the enemies on the ship within thirty steps.
The enemy fought back desperately, and rain of arrows whizzed onto the ship. Some Qin soldiers in armor were responsible for putting out the fire, while other soldiers screamed as if they were enjoying a feast. Shot after shot, bullets chirped, and the figures on the enemy ship exploded with bloody holes, and screams continued.
"Don't waste bullets, aim and shoot, shoot their sail controller, quickly!"
The lower-level officers of the Qin army kept shouting, the sound of gunfire continued, the ship was filled with smoke, and the smell of blood on the enemy ship could be smelled from afar.
"Quick, press on and sink them!"
This is called arrogance.
Bang!
Some Qin warships took advantage of their size to bully the smaller ones, and plowed directly over the enemy's small boats from their superior position. With a loud bang, they smashed the enemy's small boats into a pile of floating broken planks. The soldiers on the enemy boats screamed like a group of frogs and jumped into the sea, creating a lively scene.
This was still good, after all, they wouldn't die immediately if they jumped into the sea. The worst were those who were bombarded by thunder bombs. For a small boat like the Sulus, seven or eight thunder bombs were thrown at it, boom! boom boom boom! A series of violent explosions could immediately flatten the entire boat, and not even a mouse on the boat would be spared. The scene was so tragic that it was thrilling.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" The enemy general Sanyanli shouted in despair. Seeing the Qin army approaching in a rain of arrows, and the horrifying scene that a string of thunder bombs could flatten a small boat, Sanyanli did not bother to shoot any more arrows and ordered his flagship to hide inside desperately.
The small boats on the outermost edge were not so lucky. As the Qin army continued to rush in, a series of thunder bombs arrived as expected. Boom! Boom! Boom! There were bursts of violent explosions, flames, shrapnel, and the Sulu soldiers were blown to the sea one by one, like dumplings.
The enemy ships nearby were frightened and fled, but to avoid them someone had to rush to the deck to control the sails. The chirping bullets whizzed in and shot the sailors who dared to rush to the deck with blood holes and screams.
This is a raging massacre, a feast of death...
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ps: I was on IV drip for a day. I not only had a cold and fever, but also pneumonia. The doctor warned me again that I must quit smoking. I tried to quit several times before. When I was not typing, I actually didn’t smoke much. Once I started typing, I couldn’t help but smoke one cigarette after another... Every chapter was really written with my life...
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.(To be continued..)
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