As the morning light brought thousands of glittering waves to the Black Ocean, the shipping fleet's voyage entered the early morning of the third day.

The neatly dressed commander marched up to the stern deck, then solemnly picked up the suona hanging in front of his chest and played the wake-up song "Mulan Joins the Army".

The use of suona for military orders was not a poor imitation of the PLA bugle by Mr. Zhao, but a method of passing orders that had always been used in the Qi family army. Qi Jiguang's "Jixiao Xinshu Wubei Zhi" states, "Anyone who plays the bugle is playing the suona."

The high-pitched and cheerful suona sound soon spread to every corner of the Wuwei boat.

Hearing the wake-up call, Chu Liuxiang opened his eyes reflexively and rolled down from the hanging bed.

The new recruit of the artillery crew got up earlier and prepared wet cotton towels for him to wipe his face.

Chu Liuxiang took the cotton towel and wiped his face vigorously, dispelling the remaining sleepiness. The new soldier then handed him his blue turban, black waist armor, blue linen jacket with a front opening, and linen shorts of the same color, and helped him put them on one by one.

This is also the uniform of the security team members. The only difference is that there are two eye-catching red bars embroidered on the front collar of his cotton armor.

Because he has now been promoted to the gunnery chief of the flagship's bow gun crew and has been promoted to second-class police officer.

The rest of the gunners who had been in the army for a year had a red stripe embroidered on their collars, while the new recruits who had just joined the security team had nothing on their collars.

According to the "Security Personnel Rank Regulations" issued by Jiangnan Security Group, the first year of joining the security team is a reserve police officer. After one year and passing the assessment, they can be promoted to a third-level police officer. After three years and passing the assessment, they can be promoted to a second-level police officer.

The security brigade had only been established for a year, and even the earliest security guards were not qualified to be promoted to second-class police officers. Chu Liuxiang was able to get two stripes because he had fired a precise shot during the maiden voyage, which was why he was promoted to the first level.

Don't underestimate this level. The security team has a strict hierarchy. Usually, when subordinates meet their superiors, they should take the initiative to salute and give way, and use honorifics. Moreover, the income of each level has increased significantly. The monthly allowance of a reserve police officer plus the sea subsidy can get 2 taels of silver. The third-level police officer can get 5 taels a month. And a second-level police officer like Chu Liuxiang can even get 8 taels!

A skilled worker in Suzhou City only earns 1500 taels of silver per month. The maritime security team members receive extremely high salaries. Even without the sea subsidies, Chu Liuxiang can get 4 taels of silver per month, which is still an extremely high salary.

Of course, this high salary was not so easy to get. It was the result of them enduring Tong Zigong's perverted torture and persisting under Wang Rulong's strict military regulations day after day. Of the brothers who entered the training brigade at the same time as him, only half of them were able to board the ship in the end, and the rest were sent to the shore to stand guard.

Chu Liuxiang knew that the brothers on the ship were envious of his promotion. He proudly straightened his police rank and recalled the past with deep emotion. "How can I, a hungry peasant from the Yimeng Mountains, be so accurate in firing a cannon?"

Just as he was bragging, suddenly a shrill gong sound was heard from the boat!

Chu Liuxiang was stunned for a moment, and then blood rushed up to his head. He hurriedly shouted to his brothers who were tidying up the house, "Hurry up and get to the gun position!"

That is a signal to be alert when encountering an enemy!

Although most of the time it was an exercise, no one dared to neglect it. Otherwise, in addition to enduring the captain's scolding, they would also have to wash the decks and flush the toilets for the entire ship, and in serious cases, they would even be punished.

Being punished is terrible. If you are punished once, your promotion for the year will be ruined. If you are punished twice, you will be demoted. If you are punished three times, you will have to leave!

~~

Chu Liuxiang led the gunners out of the cabin and climbed onto the bow deck. The gunners untied the fixed ropes and lifted the rainproof felt, revealing the four gun carriages.

The loader and the gunpowderman lifted the wooden floor beside the gun carriage to reveal the built-in shell compartment. Then they lifted the gunpowder barrel from the compartment, untied the rainproof cloth, and then the gunpowderman used a quantitative wooden spoon to load the propellant, and the loader filled the solid pig iron bullet and inserted the fuse.

After the gunpowder officer covered the gunpowder barrel and raised his thumb, the deputy gunner lit the torch. The four main gunners, including Chu Liuxiang, held the fuse and waited for the order to fire.

It took them only three minutes from the time they heard the gong to the time they completed the launch preparations. All the movements were smooth and coordinated, thanks to the physical memory left by day-to-day training.

The order to fire was delayed, and only then did Chu Liuxiang have time to look around to see what the situation was.

He had the best view at the bow, and could see everything around him.

The navigator was standing outside the wheelhouse door at the stern, blowing the whistle rhythmically and directing the sailors to pull the sail cable of the wild fox sail at the stern with all their might to help the 30-meter-long ship turn to the three o'clock direction.

The gunners at the stern and sides of the ship were also in position, although Chu Liuxiang never used the Portuguese cannon as a cannon.

The Marines deployed the bamboo thorn rows to prevent the enemy from connecting the strings, carried sandbags and piled them up on the deck to form a shelter, and finally used tattered quilts soaked in sea water to cover the parts of the ship that were easily attacked and caught fire.

Looking further into the distance, the entire fleet was struggling to change its formation under the command of the flagship's signal flag.

Ten Wuwei ships were heading towards the eastern sea, preparing to form a line to meet the enemy.

Another ten escort ships were sailing a hundred meters away from the Wuwei ship, preparing to form a second battle line.

The eighty grain transport ships were moving closer together, preparing to form a dense defensive formation. The sound of gongs and drums, shouts, and calls resounded through the sky, and the calm sea surface became a mess.

Is this just an exercise, or did they really encounter pirates?

Chu Liuxiang was full of questions. He picked up the monocular telescope issued to the bow gun crew and looked in the direction of the enemy.

A small island appeared in the camera. Chu Liuxiang had already taken this route for the fourth time, so he knew that it was Marado Island, 15 miles away from Jeju Island, and an important landmark on this route.

But usually, you should turn north, not east...

While he was daydreaming, he suddenly saw through the telescope a row of tiny black dots moving rapidly towards his position from the direction of Marado Island!

"Sure enough, there is an enemy!" Chu Liuxiang's blood rushed to his head again. This time, I'm going to be promoted to a first-class police officer!

~~

In the stern tower wheelhouse, Wang Rulong stood in front of the command desk with a stern expression, watching the approaching unidentified fleet through binoculars.

It was the lookout on the mainmast who discovered the ambush a moment ago.

The visibility at sea is very clear, and the lookouts are equipped with high-powered telescopes, so normally they would have discovered the enemy earlier.

However, the other party cleverly used the cover of Marado Island to hide their tracks.

It was not until they sailed out from the back of the island and seized the upwind position that the lookout suddenly discovered the enemy and rang the gong to sound the alarm!

But at this point, the opportunity to turn quietly before the enemy discovered it no longer existed. The enemy had already seized the upper hand, and running away was the worst option.

What's more, Wang Rulong has been fighting for half his life and has never escaped without a fight.

Therefore, the only option is to fight!

The flagship captain Helgo standing nearby was also holding a telescope, nervously looking at the enemy situation.

Now we can clearly see the number and type of enemy ships.

"Wow, there must be sixty or seventy ships..." Haierge took a breath. He was the captain of the navy of Qi's army. He had fought against Japanese pirates along the coast many times, but he had never seen such a big battle.

"Seventy Japanese ships." Wang Rulong said in a deep voice.

The shipbuilding level of Japan at that time was about the same as that of the Song Dynasty. The styles were basically carved out of the same mold, with a house on the boat, just like the pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River. The only difference was the size.

"The flagship is an Ataku ship, surrounded by a dozen Kan ships, and the rest are smaller Zao ships." Wang Rulong frowned and concluded, "It must be the Mishima pirates!"

"How did they know about our sailing arrangements?" Haierge said with a gloomy face: "It seems that someone has tipped off the Japanese pirates!"

"Never mind that for now!" Wang Rulong put down his telescope, stretched his neck, and grinned: "My favorite thing in my life is to fight the Japanese pirates. I'm going to have a good time this time!"

As he spoke, he walked to the door of the wheelhouse and shouted at the bow turret: "Chu Liuxiang, do you see the biggest ship? It's the only one with a sail!"

"I see it!" Chu Liuxiang answered loudly. The large ship that looked like a tower ship was very conspicuous.

"When we're within range, just bomb them!" Wang Rulong ordered loudly, "Let the pirates on that ship have a taste of the power of our Coast Guard!"

"Great!" Chu Liuxiang got even more excited when he heard that the enemy was Japanese pirates. He was always envious when he heard his superiors bragging about their glorious deeds of killing Japanese devils. He always felt deeply regretful that he didn't get the chance to execute a few Japanese pirates with cannon.

Unexpectedly, the opportunity suddenly came.

He turned around excitedly and shouted to his brothers: "Did you hear that? Those are the Japanese pirates coming. We can't lose face for the captain!"

"Ah!" The gunners howled. They all grew up listening to the stories of Qi's army, and naturally had a natural contempt and hunger for the Japanese pirates.

Chu Liuxiang raised his finger to measure the distance, but it was still too far, so he could only whisper, "Hold your breath first, get closer before firing."

"Well." The gunners who were planning to light the fuse stopped.

The Coast Guard still followed the Ming army's traditional naval warfare thinking and concentrated its main firepower on the wide bow of the ship.

Chu Liuxiang and his gunners operated four cannons in total. The four cannons were similar in style, with a slender barrel and a slightly thicker breech. The two in the middle were larger, 1.7 meters long and weighing 1,000 kilograms. The barrel had three hoops, the muzzle had a sight, the lugs were located in front of the third hoop, and the firing port was equipped with a powder pool and a firing port cover.

A large iron ring was cast at the end of the gun breech, and a thick cable was passed through the large iron ring to fix the gun carriage on the deck to offset the recoil when firing. It also made it convenient for soldiers to quickly pull the cannon out of the firing position and drag it back when loading ammunition or cleaning the barrel, so as not to delay the battle.

This is what the mainstream European naval guns looked like at that time. Although other guns were made of bronze, these knockoffs made in Foshan were made of iron. But the gun bladder was made of wrought iron, and iron hoops were added to the outside to greatly reduce the risk of bursting. It can be said that there was nothing wrong with it except that it was heavy.

Of course, being heavy is its biggest flaw. The two bronze snake cannons on the side, although they look much more delicate, are actually only slightly smaller in caliber, and their range and power are not much inferior, and they almost never explode.

There is no way, the bronze cannons of this era are better than iron cannons.

Chu Liuxiang kept measuring the distance. When the distance between the two sides reached 1.2 kilometers, he shouted sternly: "Prepare to shoot!"

The gunners lit the matches.

"Fire!" Chu Liuxiang ordered without hesitation.

The match lit the fuse, and with a roar, four shells whizzed out!