The Ming Navy, except for the ten warships that served as advance probes, all other warships were parked more than a hundred nautical miles away from the Japanese mainland.
The ten warships that served as the vanguard and launched a tentative attack had now arrived very close to the Japanese mainland.
The commander of these ten warships is Zhang Dingbian, who can definitely be considered an old acquaintance of Gong Yu. After all, they met in Chen Youliang's army more than ten years ago. With this relationship that is not really a relationship, Gong Yu naturally wants this so-called one of his own to make the first contribution in this expedition to Japan.
How could Zhang Dingbian not know Gong Yu's good intentions?
As for naval battles, whether it was Zhang Dingbian or the other generals, they had only undergone countless trainings before. As for actual combat, even Gong Yu had never truly experienced it.
Not far away, the Japanese port was faintly visible, densely packed.
A young general beside him said, "It's strange. The war is about to begin, why are their warships still parked at the port? Aren't they afraid that we will block them there?"
Zhang Dingbian thought for a while and said: "There is nothing strange about this. The Japanese have many ships, and this small port cannot accommodate so many of their ships. Even if we block this port, warships from other ports will come to rescue. When the Japanese attack us from both sides, we will be the ones who suffer."
The young general thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency is right. However, we have been ordered to come here this time, so we have to fight a few times. It would be best if we can sink a few Japanese warships. Although this is not a decisive battle, it is the first battle. It concerns the reputation of the Ming Dynasty. Even if it costs our lives, it may not be worth it."
Zhang Dingbian nodded: "I know, and I know even more that this is not only about the face of the Ming Dynasty, but also about the face of our queen. The queen is our biggest supporter in the Ming Dynasty. If we lose face in front of the queen in this battle, I am afraid the queen will definitely not let us go."
"Pass the order down, have the soldiers guard the surrounding waters and don't let the Japanese accidentally surround us. Also, have the soldiers beat the drums to lure the Japanese warships to come and fight."
…
A moment later, drums began to sound on the more than ten warships led by Zhang Dingbian. In fact, there was no need for the sound of war drums at this moment. The Japanese in the harbor not far away had already discovered Zhang Dingbian and others. More than ten warships of this size could be seen by anyone except a blind person.
But seeing is one thing, and seeing only means that you have the possibility of a sneak attack. But beating the drum is different. If you beat the drum, it means that this is not a sneak attack at all but an open attack. The meanings of the two are very different.
On the surface, the Japanese Navy claims to have never been defeated in the past few decades. If they are suppressed by a dozen warships and dare not fight, it will greatly affect their morale.
…
The rumbling sound of war drums naturally quickly attracted the attention of Yamamoto Ningji, because he was also preparing for war at the port at this moment, and he was the first to discover the movements of the Ming Navy.
Yamamoto stood on a high ground and looked around. He saw more than ten warships. He couldn't help but curse inwardly.
But then, he became a little frightened again. Although he was still far away, as the Grand Marshal of the Japanese Navy, he naturally knew about warships.
He only took a glance and knew that the Ming warships were far larger than the Japanese warships.
This can be seen just by looking at the height of the Ming warships.
Yamamoto thought for a moment, then said to a warrior beside him: "Kojima, what do you think?"
The man called Kojima, whose full name is Kojima Mitsuru, is a capable subordinate of Yamamoto.
Xiaodao Manyan said: "The Ming Dynasty's warships are very large. These more than ten warships are larger than any warship under our command."
"If the Ming Dynasty can really produce 200 such warships, our navy's chances of winning will be hard to say."
Yamamoto cursed in a low voice: "Baka, how can there be two hundred ships? How much manpower and material resources are needed to supervise the construction of such a warship? I think we know better than anyone else."
"The Ming Dynasty was only established for six or seven years. It had been in civil war for decades, and the Mongols had been tyrannical for more than a hundred years. How could a newly established country like Wang Chao have such strong national strength?"
"If you ask me, the Ming Dynasty has fewer than 50 warships of this size, let alone 200."
"These ten or so ships in front of us should be the warships they are most capable of showing off. They came to provoke us this time, most likely with the intention of bluffing."
Xiaodao Man thought for a while and said: "Marshal, if we want to gather most of our navy, it will probably take two or three days. During this period, we cannot lose our momentum."
"I am willing to fight. Even if I cannot sink all of the more than ten warships of the Ming army, sinking three or five would be good too."
"This small victory before the decisive battle is also very important."
Yamamoto hesitated for a moment and said: "Well, General Kojima is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, so you can lead twenty warships and fifty gunboats to fight, and try to keep all these more than ten Ming warships here."
"Even if we cannot sink all of them, if we can sink three or five of them, I will write to the Emperor to ask for credit for you."
After hearing this, Kojima Mitsuru immediately smiled and said: "General, I will definitely live up to my mission."
…
Man Xiaodao was still very confident. The advance team of the Ming Dynasty Navy had only ten large ships. Although they were large in size, they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers.
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