Amidst the billowing fog, Qin Ze, positioned at the rear of the fleet, watched the ships ahead sail forward. His expression remained unchanged as he continued exchanging warships and troops.
In fact, Qin Ze did not have clear information about the exact number of ships in Japan.
Although they had tortured Kentaro Miura and obtained some information, once they were at sea, who could completely trust a Japanese pirate?
Therefore, even though the scout ship had already sent back news that it had discovered the Fusang fleet and that they were about to engage in battle, Qin Ze still chose to use the points he was accumulating to exchange for as many warships as possible.
If you can't exchange for large warships, exchange for medium and small warships; the more the better, since nothing is more reassuring than powerful firepower.
A moment later, the sound of horns came from the ships ahead, indicating that they had encountered the Japanese fleet.
Immediately, Zheng He, Yu Dayou, and Li Lin led their respective fleets, spread out their battle lines, and began to speed up their voyage toward the Fusang fleet!
To the left front, on one of the warships, Yu Dayou squinted and coldly watched the Fusang fleet sailing towards them. He stroked his chin, feeling somewhat surprised.
"How strange!"
"We have so many ships. Although the fog is still thick, quite a few ships have revealed themselves. These Japanese pirates should be able to see that we have a lot of ships."
"But they still drove toward us, which is quite a rare decision."
——
"They dare to charge in so brazenly, outnumbered as they are. Do they have some kind of trump card?"
On the other warship, Li Lin pondered for a moment, then looked at the soldier beside him and said:
"We can't let them get too close to us."
"When the Japanese pirates are about to die, they usually charge in a desperate, 'suicide attack' manner. Perhaps their ships have a lot of flammable materials on them!"
"I think they are very likely to try to charge into our fleet and fight us to the death!"
"Once they're within range, fire hard! Destroy their ships!"
——
"Great! Great! Hahahaha!"
Central position of the fleet.
Laughter drifted from the ship. Zheng He's face flushed slightly, his excitement evident. He spread his hands and laughed heartily:
"Small Japanese pirates, with about a hundred warships."
"Seeing our great nation arrive, they were quite sensible and knew to come and welcome us."
"They say that Japan is all about small courtesies but lacks true righteousness, and they're absolutely right, haha!"
Most of the soldiers on the ship were standing in front of various cannons, and they all laughed when they heard this.
Despite their laughter, they did not forget their responsibilities.
The crowd grinned and aimed their cannons at the approaching Japanese fleet.
Zheng He waved his sleeve and then laughed:
"We are a great nation, and we should be even more hospitable to our guests."
"The Japanese pirates have come to greet us. What should we do?"
The soldiers picked up the lead bullets, inserted them into the boring bars, and replied with grins:
"We must send a generous gift!"
Zheng He smiled and narrowed his eyes. He walked to a breech-loading cannon and patted the barrel.
"Well said!"
"This is exactly what I wanted; it's a fine item!"
"I'm sure the Japanese pirates will appreciate it. In that case, let's present this generous gift from our Yan Kingdom!"
"We hope that by sending this generous gift, the Japanese pirates will feel our goodwill and value peace from now on!"
"Without them, there would be no conflict, and only peace would remain!"
As he looked at the approaching Japanese warships, Zheng He's smile gradually disappeared, and his expression turned cold and even ruthless.
Immediately afterwards, his eyes widened, and he suddenly roared:
"Fire the cannonballs! Fire them at all the Japanese warships!"
"fire!!!"
In an instant, all the soldiers' expressions changed, their smiles vanished, replaced by solemn looks, and they quickly lit the fuses!
Clusters of flames ignited, followed by a violent burst of gunpowder in the chamber, and in the next instant, amidst a deafening roar.
"Bang bang bang!"
The breech-loading cannon spat out several lead bullets!
At that moment, the Great General's Cannon also fired even larger lead bullets!
A thunderous roar resounded across the sky!
Large plumes of white smoke rose from the warships, and in that instant, the smoke was even thicker than the fog!
Smoke instantly spread across the sea, and at the same time, hundreds of main battle ships launched a fierce attack, with hundreds of cannons firing shells in succession, all aimed at the Japanese ships in front!
Meanwhile, in the Fusang fleet.
Saigo Jun was directing his soldiers to prepare to fire.
Fifty of the warships in the fleet were equipped with long-range cannons, which had been purchased earlier, but they were so expensive that they could not be equipped on every ship. In addition, these dozens of warships were covered with a layer of iron sheet.
Even so, with these dozens of warships equipped with powerful firepower, they achieved remarkable results in their previous battles against the East China Sea Fleet.
As the distance between the Chaoyan Kingdom's fleet and the enemy ships decreased, Saigo Hayato was shocked to discover that the number of enemy ships was indeed increasing, even reaching several hundred!
This was completely beyond his expectations, but the order had been given, and he couldn't turn back immediately; he had no choice but to launch an attack.
But the artillery has not yet reached its range, yet the enemy has already fired its shells!
At this moment, Saigo Hayato's pupils constricted as he stared in disbelief at the incoming shells. But without a doubt, he clearly understood one fact: the enemy's artillery range was greater than his own!
"Bang bang bang!"
The deafening roar nearly shattered eardrums as cannonballs hurtled towards them, instantly striking several warships at the forefront of the fleet!
Lead bullets pierced the deck, masts, and sails, causing immense damage to the warship in an instant!
The soldiers on the ship were in complete chaos, frantically searching for obstacles to avoid the cannonballs, but the sheer number of lead bullets coming at them was overwhelming, especially those fired from the breech-loading cannons.
Although these lead bullets were not particularly large, there were so many of them that the Franconian machine could fire them continuously at an extremely high speed!
Meanwhile, Saigo Jun had already retreated back to the cabin, and was drenched in sweat as he watched the incoming cannonballs.
Even so, Saigo Jun knew that he could not retreat even a single step in this naval battle!
If this naval battle is lost and the enemy lands in Japan, the consequences will be catastrophic!
There were at least three or four hundred enemy ships in front of them, and behind these warships, more ships kept emerging from the thick fog.
But things had come to this point, and they had no choice but to fight to the death. Saigo Jun could only hope that the iron-clad warships could hold out!
He roared, "Charge! Close the distance and fire our shells!"
Dozens of iron-clad warships continued to sail forward despite the barrage of lead bullets!
On the other side, Zheng He, Li Lin, and Yu Dayou led their warships in fierce attacks from the left, right, and front directions respectively!
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