On the deck, seeing that the flames on the Parthian suicide squad's ships had been completely extinguished by the seawater, Cheng Pu's lips curled up slightly.
"Order all warships to launch at full speed and ram them!!"
At Cheng Pu's command, the messenger began waving his command flag.
Upon receiving the signal flags, the warships began to hoist their sails and accelerate, charging towards the Parthian suicide squad.
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat now!!"
Seeing the massive warship hurtling towards them, the surviving soldiers of the Parthian Suicide Squad screamed in terror and began to maneuver their ships around, preparing to flee the area.
Although these suicide squad soldiers were prepared to die in battle, that was only if they had the strength to fight. No one would do something like waiting to die.
Soon, the suicide squad's ships scattered and fled like startled sardines.
"Continue accelerating, charge straight for the enemy's main force!!"
Cheng Pu didn't even glance at the fleeing suicide squad members, but instead focused his attention on the main force where Daruk was.
"Retreat! Retreat now!!"
When Daruk saw the Han warship heading straight for him, he finally came to his senses and screamed in panic.
On the sea, a bizarre scene unfolded: the Parthian fleet, which had lost only twenty-odd suicide ships, began to turn around and flee at full speed.
Cheng Pu had not expected that a single crossbow barrage would force the Parthians, who had a numerical advantage, to retreat.
However, what Cheng Pu didn't know was that for the Parthians, who were used to ramming and boarding, the fear brought by this long-range ballista attack had already made them lose their will to fight. The main reason was the enormous size of the Han warships, which instilled despair in them.
Few people can muster the courage to continue fighting when they know defeat and death are inevitable.
"General, inquire with the other warships: should we continue the pursuit?" the messenger asked Cheng Pu as he approached.
Cheng Pu's face darkened: "Chase them! They dare to offend the might of the Great Han Dynasty! Even if they flee to the ends of the earth, we will annihilate them!!"
"Here you go!!"
The messenger responded loudly and then issued a flag signal.
After receiving the order, the officers on the other warships also began to direct the sailors on board to steer the warships forward at full speed.
"How...how is this possible? How could their ships be so fast?"
Daruk, who had already turned around, glanced back at the massive warship rushing towards him and couldn't help but tremble with fear.
In his mind, the larger the ship, the greater the resistance, and the slower the speed should be.
However, the speed of the Han Dynasty's massive warships was no less than that of the warships beneath their feet.
What Daruk didn't know was that all of the Han Dynasty's warships had keel structures at the bottom, and the bottoms were all V-shaped to facilitate breaking through waves. With hundreds of oars working at the same time, their speed was no slower than that of small boats.
"General Cheng, I think it would be better to slow down and let them escape further away!"
Just as Cheng Pu was about to command the fleet to pursue at full speed, Chu Qian walked over from behind.
“Envoy Chu, judging from the size of this enemy force, it must be the main force of the Parthian navy. If we wipe them out, we will surely cripple Parthia and prevent them from taking any further action. Why did you release them?”
Cheng Pu looked at Chu Qian with a puzzled expression, not understanding why Chu Qian would let the tiger return to the mountain.
Chu Qian smiled and said, "General Cheng, you misunderstand. I have no intention of letting them go."
Given the sheer size of this Parthian navy, their naval base must also be quite large.
The reason we were previously blocked at sea by the Parthians and unable to resupply was because we did not have our own naval port in this area.
With these Parthian naval personnel leading the way, we're saved the trouble of finding and building a new naval port ourselves!
Upon hearing Chu Qian's words, Cheng Pu suddenly realized what was going on.
Now that the Han Dynasty and Rome have established relations, Parthia will certainly not stand idly by and watch the two countries travel freely to each other.
Even if we destroy this Parthian navy today, it is hard to guarantee that Parthia will not form a new navy in the future.
If the Han Dynasty wants to ensure the smooth flow of this sea route, it must establish a naval port base here.
However, finding a suitable location to build a naval port in this unfamiliar and remote place would definitely require a large investment of manpower and financial resources, as well as a great deal of time and energy.
The Parthian navy before us has nearly a thousand warships and a force of almost thirty thousand men, so their naval port must be quite large.
Therefore, in Chu Qian's view, the Imperial Navy only needed to follow the Parthian Navy from a distance to find their naval ports and then take them over.
Soon, the Imperial Navy warships slowed down little by little, gradually increasing the distance between themselves and the Parthians.
Daruk, who was fleeing all the way, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the Han warships were slowing down, and then ordered the fleet to speed up and escape from here.
Only after the Han fleet was out of sight did Daruk lead his navy toward a naval port.
As the Parthian fleet receded into the distance, Chu Qian dispatched several small assault ships to follow them from a distance.
These assault ships were specifically used by the fleet to scout ports and sea routes. Due to their flat shape and small size, they were difficult to spot on the sea surface unless the ships were within 100 meters of them.
Thus, after half a day of fleeing, Daruk led his 30,000 Parthian sailors to a port.
"General, if we flee without a fight this time, His Majesty and those ministers will certainly not let us off easily. What do you think we should do?"
As soon as they landed at the port, Daruk's confidant stepped forward with a worried expression and asked.
"What should we do?" Daruk's expression hardened, and he frowned, deep in thought.
Daruk, as the commander of the Parthian navy, wielded even greater influence in the navy than the Parthian king. Many naval soldiers knew only Daruk and not the Parthian king.
Many ports along the Parthian coastline were also under Darul's control.
During his years commanding the Parthian navy, Daruk also constantly sent soldiers to impersonate pirates, attack passing merchant ships, and extract high taxes from passing caravans in various ports.
Daruk pocketed most of the profits.
Therefore, he and his navy had long been a thorn in the side of those ministers, who all wished they could get rid of him as soon as possible.
Those ministers who encouraged the king to send them to besiege and kill the Han fleet were actually up to no good.
If those guys find out that I fled without a fight, they might accuse me of treason. In that case, not only my wife and children, but my entire family might also suffer the same fate.
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