On the sea, nearly a thousand Parthian warships were rapidly approaching the Han fleet.

As they drew closer, the massive line of warships at the head of the Han fleet instilled a sense of dread in many Parthians.

Although they had heard about the terrifying nature of the Han warships from their fellow pirates on more than one occasion, they still couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines after witnessing them up close.

At the front of the Parthian fleet, Daruk, the commander in charge of this naval battle, also had a gloomy expression, and he hated the ministers who had instigated the king to go to war with the Han navy.

Daruk, as one of the few naval commanders in Parthia, was highly experienced in naval warfare.

However, his experience only applied to the Romans.

In detail, whether it was Parthia or Rome, their naval tactics were unremarkable, basically consisting of the most primitive ramming, followed by jumping ship for close combat, and in the end, it was a contest of the sturdiness of the ships and the bravery of the warriors.

As a commander, the only thing you need to do is direct your ships to break through the enemy's defenses and disrupt their formation.

However, all of that is based on the premise that both fleets are at the same level.

Faced with warships that were more than five times larger than their own, Daruk really didn't know what to do.

Charging forward would be suicidal, and boarding the ship for close combat was even more impossible. His own soldiers didn't have wings, so how could they possibly jump onto such a tall warship?

"Those damned ministers, they know nothing! Do they really think that having more people is useful? They should come and see for themselves how foolish their thinking is!!"

Thinking of the potential consequences of losing this battle, Daruk couldn't help but curse.

"General, let's retreat!" one of Daruk's trusted confidants stepped forward and said in a low voice.

Daruk glanced at his confidants, then turned to look at the soldiers behind him. Almost all the soldiers looked terrified. The entire fleet had little confidence that they could defeat the Han fleet, which was like a sea monster.

"You need to understand, if we retreat without a fight, those damned ministers won't let us off the hook. They'll definitely cut off our heads and hang them on the city walls for everyone to see!"

Despite knowing that the chances of winning this battle were slim, Daruk had no intention of retreating. He knew that if he retreated, the consequences would be far worse than being buried in the sea.

"General, how should we fight?" the confidant asked.

"Pass down the order: send out fifty suicide squads, set their ships on fire, then ram them and burn their warships!"

This was the best solution Daruk could think of. In his eyes, although the Han warships were enormous, their speed was certainly not as fast as their own.

Under Daruk's orders, the Parthian fleet began to move. Although they were still afraid, the officers dared not disobey Daruk's orders.

Soon, a suicide squad of fifty slave ships arrived in front of the fleet, set fire to their bows, and charged toward the Han warships.

On the deck, watching the Parthian warship charging towards them with its bow ablaze, Chu Qian couldn't help but sneer, then turned to look at Cheng Pu beside him.

"General Cheng, the rest is up to you!"

"Rest assured, Envoy Chu, this mere thief is not worth mentioning!"

Cheng Pu completely disregarded the Parthian fleet's suicidal charge.

From the very beginning of the Imperial Navy's formation, it had been conducting various naval combat training exercises in the inland seas. The Parthians' suicidal fire attack and ramming were merely the most basic tactics.

Immediately, Cheng Pu looked at the messenger beside him and ordered, "Pass down the order: have each ship attack the approaching targets on its own, and have the crossbowmen prepare to fire arrows!"

"Here you go!"

The messenger responded loudly and ran to the command tower, waving the command flag in his hand.

As the signal flags were raised, naval commanders such as Huang Gai and Ling Cao, who were on the other warships, immediately organized their soldiers to pick up crossbows, light arrows, and aim them at the approaching Parthian ships.

The soldiers behind them also began adjusting the aiming devices of the crossbows.

At the beginning of the navy's formation, the Research and Development Department developed and modified the crossbows used in the army to create a crossbow specifically for attacking moving targets at sea.

Although it couldn't compare to the cannons of later generations, this kind of crossbow, which could fire thirty-pound stone projectiles, was still quite lethal to ordinary warships.

Although the accuracy of these ballistae was not very high, each warship was equipped with at least fifteen ballistae, and the Imperial Navy could use its numerical advantage to launch a comprehensive attack on the enemy.

"Ballista, fire!!"

Amid the rousing shouts of the naval officers, twenty warships and nearly three hundred ballistae fired almost simultaneously.

Seeing the three hundred stone projectiles flying rapidly towards them and hearing the whistling sound of them cutting through the air, even the slave soldiers of the suicide squad felt a fear that came from the depths of their souls.

"My God, the Han people actually mounted ballistae on their ships?"

"It's unbelievable that naval warfare can be like this?"

The Romans at the rear of the fleet were stunned when they saw the stone projectiles fired by the Imperial Navy.

In Rome, ballistae were the most formidable siege weapons among the various legions. What shocked them was not that the Han Dynasty possessed such weapons, but that the Han Dynasty was able to mount them on ships.

However, the Romans soon came to terms with it; it was not surprising that the Han dynasty, capable of building such massive ships, would also be equipped with ballistae.

Amid gasps of amazement, the stones flew overhead to the Parthian suicide squad. One by one, the stones fell into the water, creating jets of water that violently rocked the ships. Many Parthian soldiers lost their footing and fell into the sea.

More than a dozen unfortunate ships were directly hit by the stones, their hulls riddled with holes, and seawater began to bubble up. The unfortunate soldiers on board were smashed to pieces, their bodies mangled and torn to pieces.

Within the area covered by the stone projectiles, columns of water surged forth one after another, and the Parthians in the distance were filled with deep fear as they watched the scene unfold before them.

Before long, the sea returned to calm, and less than half of the fifty suicide squad ships sent by the Parthians remained. The flames that had been burning on the bows of the ships were all extinguished by the churning seawater.

Even Daruk, a commander with extensive experience in naval warfare, was taken aback.

He never imagined that the Han Dynasty could concentrate the kind of crossbows used for siege warfare on land into naval battles.

This fighting style, which was beyond everyone's comprehension, completely robbed all Parthians of the courage to continue fighting.