Several main gunboats faithfully carried out Zhao Liuliang's orders.
Faced with the oncoming enemy ship, the gunner quickly took aim.
"fire!"
There is no need to wait for orders; the gunners of each gun attack autonomously.
boom!
boom!
The ship's guns emitted bursts of deafening roars, and shells shot out from the gun barrels.
A shell hit the enemy ship accurately, but there was no explosion.
"Dumb!"
The observer yelled.
...
...
"Reload, quick!"
Without complaining or cursing, the loader reloaded the shells.
Zhao Liuliang had already told them about the dud.
This is a situation that is bound to happen.
Fortunately, they still had a lot of shells.
While the No. 3 gun position on the port side was reloading, the No. 2 gun position had already fired a shot.
However, because the enemy ship was moving at a faster speed, the shells did not hit the target.
But the next moment, the shell fired from the No. 1 gun position hit the target accurately.
"boom!"
Accompanied by a loud explosion, the enemy ship rushing towards them was immediately thrown to the ground. A big hole was blasted on the side of the bow of the enemy ship, and sea water poured into the enemy ship frantically.
At the same time, the gunboat also moved to the side of the damaged enemy ship, exposing the enemy ship as a larger target.
After completing loading, the No. 3 gun position quickly aimed and fired.
boom!
This time, there were no surprises.
The shells accurately hit the side of the enemy ship. The already damaged enemy ship was directly torn apart and began to capsize at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"The enemy ship capsized!"
The observer roared with excitement.
"Quick! Find the target again!"
The warship commander quickly gave the order.
Zhao Liuliang also noticed the overturned enemy ramjet, but sighed inwardly.
It took four shots to destroy an enemy ramming boat.
Moreover, this was the first time the enemy faced a weapon such as naval guns and they had no means of protection and no effective countermeasures.
This result is not bad, but it is definitely not good.
Once the enemy adapts to their weapons and finds a way to deal with them, the effectiveness of their attacks will likely be greatly reduced.
Still need to practice hard!
Soon, several enemy ramjet boats that rushed towards them all caught fire and capsized.
The closest assault ship to them had already rushed into a range of less than fifteen feet from them.
This also made Zhao Liuliang break out in a cold sweat.
The manufacturing cost of their main gunboats is not comparable to that of the enemy's ramming boats.
Even if the enemy exchanged five ramjet boats for one of their gunboats, they would still suffer a huge loss.
"General Zhao, we should send out the whale tooth ship to cover the main gunboat."
Noticing the situation at sea, Takeshi Sanada gave timely advice: "If the enemy ship approaches our main gunboat, immediately ram the enemy warship with the whale tooth ship!"
“That makes sense!”
Zhao Liuliang nodded and immediately ordered the whale-tooth boat to cover the gunboat.
The whale-tooth ship can be sunk, but the gunboat cannot.
At the same time, Minamoto Nagamasa's face looked extremely ugly.
Six ramming boats failed to sink even one enemy warship?
There wasn't even a chance to get close!
Damn it!
How could the enemy's warships have such powerful weapons?
"General, let's retreat!"
The staff member anxiously suggested, "The enemy fleet is too strong. We have already lost more than 20 warships. We can't fight the enemy head-on anymore!"
They are not attacking at all, they are committing suicide!
If they continue fighting like this, they will most likely be wiped out.
Minamoto Nagamasa was unwilling to accept this, but he had not completely lost his mind.
After suppressing his anger and thinking for a while, Yuan Changzheng immediately ordered: "Order everyone to retreat to Turtle Island!"
Turtle Island?
The staff was slightly stunned, but soon understood Minamoto Nagamasa's intention.
There are many reefs near Turtle Island. Their warships are smaller and do not draft that deep. Moreover, they are very familiar with the conditions on the seabed there, so their warships can pass through that area.
But the enemy's warships are huge, have a deep draft and are unfamiliar with the situation there. As long as the enemy is lured into the Turtle Island area, many of their warships will run aground!
As Minamoto Nagamasa's order was issued, the Yu country fleet quickly began to move to the side.
Zhao Liuliang noticed the movement trajectory of the enemy fleet at the first moment and immediately determined that the enemy was about to retreat.
He was about to order a pursuit, but suddenly stopped and quickly ordered someone to bring the nautical chart that Takeshi Sanada had presented earlier.
“No need to look at it!”
Sanada Takeshi snorted, "The enemy must be trying to lure us into the reef area of Turtle Island!"
Minamoto Nagamasa is familiar with the waters here, so why shouldn't he be familiar with it too?
In fact, he might be more familiar with it than Minamoto Nagamasa!
When he was driven to the sea by Minamoto Nagamasa and fled everywhere, he often visited this area.
While Takeshi Sanada was speaking, Zhao Liuliang also found the location of Turtle Island on the nautical chart.
Just southeast of them!
The location of Turtle Island is also marked with a striking "X" symbol, indicating that it is a dangerous area.
"What do you think we should do now?"
Zhao Liuliang took the initiative to ask Takeshi Sanada.
"Don't worry about them!"
Sanada Takeshi smiled, "We will follow the original plan and head straight to the Northern Gulf! It is impossible for that bastard Minamoto Nagamasa to watch us land from the Northern Gulf. He will definitely find another opportunity to attack!"
The Dewa region, less than a hundred miles away from the northern bay, is the base of Minamoto no Nagamasa.
The families of Minamoto no Nagamasa and many of his generals were in the Dewa region.
Including the various materials and treasures looted by Minamoto no Nagamasa, a large portion of them should also be stored in Nagaha.
Under such circumstances, there is absolutely no way that Minamoto Nagamasa would just watch them land.
Based on his understanding of Minamoto Nagamasa, Minamoto Nagamasa would definitely look for other opportunities to attack.
“That makes sense!”
Zhao Liuliang nodded and smiled: "Then do we need to send out a small number of warships to pretend to pursue them?"
"Need not!"
Sanada Takeshi shook his head and said, "We just need to send more patrol ships to keep a close eye on the situation on both wings and warn the army behind us to be careful of Minamoto Nagamasa's surprise attack from behind."
Zhao Liuliang thought silently for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then I'll listen to you!"
After saying that, Zhao Liuliang quickly gave the order.
Then, Zhao Liuliang enthusiastically pulled Sanada Takeshi aside and said, "You must have made the greatest contribution in this battle. From now on, I will have to rely on you for support!"
"General Zhao is joking."
Sanada Takeshi chuckled, "It should be General Zhao who promoted me."
“No, no!”
Zhao Liuliang waved his hands repeatedly and lowered his voice to ask: "This bastard Yuan Changzheng will probably kill your king, right?"
"ah?"
Takeshi Sanada looked at Zhao Liuliang in confusion.
Minamoto Nagamasa killed...
Suddenly, Sanada Takeshi reacted and nodded immediately: "Of course! The Genbu thief has always wanted to replace the king. Maybe the king has been killed by him. The current king is probably his puppet!"
“It should be!”
Zhao Liuliang laughed and said, "We should be the first group of people to land in Yu Country. When the time comes, you can recruit soldiers and horses under the banner of killing the Yuan thief to save the country. Together we will attack the Yuan thief's lair!"
"this……"
Sanada Takeshi frowned slightly, "How can I recruit soldiers if I have no money or food?"
"I wonder why you are so stubborn!"
Zhao Liuliang smiled at Sanada Takeshi, "The money and food of the Genbu thieves are the money and food of you and me, right? This time there are too many wolves and too little meat. If we don't seize the time to gain military merit, when the people behind us land, we will probably be out of luck!"
Sanada Takeshi was slightly stunned, then nodded suddenly...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
