"Okay, I promise you!" Wang Rulong agreed without hesitation: "Come on!"
"Commander-in-chief, you're crazy!" Mei Ling immediately became anxious and shouted in a low voice: "Do you think you are still the same as before? Don't you know what your body is like now?"
"Of course I know, otherwise I would have led the team to charge!" Wang Rulong said confidently, "But he's so angry, if I don't put him down, where will I put my face?!"
"Dad, didn't you just say that I must always take myself as the priority on the battlefield and not be led by the nose by others?" Wang Duoyu imitated his tone.
"Stop talking nonsense to your father. That's war, this is fighting, they're two different things!" Wang Rulong rolled his eyes at his son and said, "Remember, war requires strategy, fighting requires martial ethics!"
"I finally understand that you are right..." Mei Ling muttered depressedly.
"I'm glad you know." Wang Rulong grinned and crushed his cigar on the railing.
~~
The duel venue was on the open deck of Kaiyuan.
In full view of the coast guard officers and soldiers, the Marquis of Santa Cruz took off his armor, put on a light Peninsula warrior robe, a gray bowler hat, and entered the field holding the hilt of his sword.
Wang Rulong had already taken off the armor that was in the way, and was waiting on the scene with his hands leaning on his golden sword.
The Marquis of Santa Cruz took a deep look at the enemy commander who defeated him on the battlefield and was slightly stunned. He did not expect that he was an old man who was older than himself and had a sickly face.
He took off his hat and bowed apologetically to salute Wang Rulong. Old Wang just nodded slightly as a response.
The Marquis of Santa Cruz then drew out his two-handed sword, grasped the hilt with both hands, and pointed the tip of the sword at the opponent.
Wang Rulong also slowly drew out his sword, a pool of autumn water dazzling the eyes. He opened his hand posture, with the tip of the sword pointed diagonally at the opponent.
Although both of them were old, they were still first-rate fighters in the East and the West. They were both calm and composed, showing a relaxed yet tight stance, with ample room for advance and retreat.
The old tiger is still powerful!
However, the coast guard officers and soldiers watching the battle were secretly worried for the commander-in-chief, wondering if his body could withstand such a high-intensity life-and-death confrontation.
It was too late to say anything at this point. The two men's swords lightly hit each other, and the duel began!
The Marquis of Santa Cruz roared and rushed forward with his sword in tow. Experts all knew that only masters would dare to raise their wrists higher than their swords, just like "seizing the upper hand" in a naval battle. This was a preemptive and aggressive posture!
Sure enough, the Marquis's arms were bulging with muscles, and he wielded the two-handed sword with a strength that was not in line with his age, slashing at Wang Rulong from front to back and from left to right. Although his moves were not gorgeous, they were all killing skills honed in the army, combining offense and defense, concealing murderous intent, and extremely practical!
The Marquis planned to take advantage of the fact that his opponent was not familiar with his moves, take the initiative by attacking, and then force his opponent to reveal his flaws to win.
Wang Rulong was indeed not familiar with Western martial arts, but he was well versed in the fundamental principles of swordsmanship, which were all about how to deal with the sword. The opponent's moves were real and fake, but they all remained essentially the same, and in the end, they would all turn the fake into the real, ending with a slash or a stab.
He stared at the tip of the Marquis' sword with sharp eyes, and coordinated his steps and dodging, always using the most energy-saving method to make the Marquis' attacks fail.
When two experienced masters face off, the outcome often depends on a missed move or miscalculation. The opportunity is fleeting, and it all depends on you to take advantage of it without thinking.
However, before the opportunity comes, there must be a grueling process. Both sides keep attacking and countering each other, which consumes a lot of physical strength and mental energy. There is no time to think and they can only rely on instinct to attack the enemy.
The parties involved felt that this period of time was very long, but the onlookers felt that it was very short. When they saw the two people's moves gradually becoming chaotic, the insiders knew that the most critical moment had arrived and the winner could be decided at any time!
Although Wang Rulong's physical strength was not as good as his opponent's, he never made a move, but consumed less energy. The Marquis was old, and he could not defeat him after a long attack. His breath was a little unstable, and he was half a beat late when he took back his move, so Wang Rulong cleverly knocked the sword out of his hand with the scabbard.
With a clang, the two-handed sword fell on the deck, and the coast guard officers and soldiers cheered excitedly.
The Marquis gasped with a deathly pale face, ready to take up his stance and fight the enemy with his bare hands.
Wang Rulong stopped and said, "Pick up the sword. It's not easy to come all the way here. I'll give you another chance."
There was a burst of cheers immediately, the coast guard officers and soldiers loved this old pretentious guy so much.
In retrospect, Cervantes saw this move as extremely vicious.
When the fight comes to this, all you can do is hold on by your breath. You are overwhelmed by the opponent in momentum, so what's the point of fighting?
Sure enough, when the Marquis of Santa Cruz picked up his sword and got ready again, he was already in a state of confusion.
He was anxious to save face and regain his momentum with a fierce attack. He ignored defense and held the sword with both hands, slashing like crazy.
This was exactly what Wang Rulong wanted - he had long discovered the weakness of this two-handed sword: it was too long and too heavy, and once too much force was applied, it would reveal a flaw.
Sure enough, after a few moves, he took advantage of the opponent's old moves and approached again, using the move of "single toast" to poke the Marquis' wrist with his scabbard. The Marquis was afraid that the sword would be knocked out of his hand again, so he hurriedly withdrew his move, and as a result, his body staggered slightly from the side, revealing a flaw on his chest.
But the Marquis was not too panicked, because after Wang Rulong made his move, he turned his shoulder away from him, and then nothing happened. He only felt a chill in his chest, and then the opponent's strange sword pierced his ribs and pierced his heart.
It turned out that Wang Rulong seized this fleeting moment and pierced his heart with a sword through his armpit.
From beginning to end, Wang Rulong only used this sword.
In fact, he was almost exhausted from countering all the attacks, and he only had the strength to launch this one strike...
Three and a half points, winning or losing.
The Marquis of Santa Cruz knelt softly on the deck, Wang Rulong leaned on the ground with his sword, and clenched his left fist and raised his arm.
The thunderous cheers echoed throughout the Kaiyuan!
"Damn it, he's pretending again..." Meiling spat with a wry smile, and pushed Wang Duoyu, who was full of admiration, and said, "Go and help your father!"
Wang Duoyu woke up from his dream and rushed forward to support Lao Wang. He immediately felt all the strength of his father's body pressing on him, and then he realized that his father had lost his strength.
~~
By noon, the fighting in Surigao Strait was gradually coming to an end.
Most of the Spanish warships hoisted the white flag after losing the possibility of escape.
The ships also launched reconnaissance balloons and carefully searched the sea surface to hunt down any fish that had escaped the net.
By the evening, the preliminary statistical results were summarized on Kaiyuanhao.
"After two days and one night of fighting, our army sank 10 Spanish warships at the cost of two destroyers and three frigates, captured 120 ships, and another 9 escaped, half of which were small fast sailing ships." Meiling suppressed his excitement and reported to Wang Rulong, who was lying on the bed and unable to get up, "The specific casualties and the number of enemies killed need further statistics."
"Hahaha, it's so enjoyable!" Lao Wang laughed and said, "No regrets!"
"Yes, this result far exceeds the most optimistic deduction prediction. The commander-in-chief can proudly report to the commander-in-chief that we have successfully completed the mission!" Meiling said happily.
"Help me up, I need to write a victory report to the commander-in-chief..." Wang Rulong tried to get up. Wang Duoyu quickly helped him sit up and put a blanket on his waist. He also took a map stand and placed it on his legs as a table.
Meiling prepared a pen and paper for him. Wang Rulong took the pen with a smile. He just wrote the title when his head suddenly tilted and the pen in his hand fell to the ground.
“Father, father!”
"Commander-in-chief, commander-in-chief?!"
In the command cabin, two people shouted in panic.
~~
Yongxia, theater headquarters.
During this period, Zhao Hao sat or stood on the balcony on the second floor all day, staring absent-mindedly at the Leyte Gulf in the south.
When a bird flew by in the sky, he would turn his attention to it to see if it was a carrier pigeon that had landed in the headquarters’ pigeon loft…
In fact, things were fine at the beginning. Although he was anxious, he did not show it. He was able to act like a real big shot, following his schedule every day, inspecting everywhere and calming people's hearts.
But on the 19th, the Combined Fleet sent a letter reporting that the Invincible Fleet did not appear within the range of Skynet as expected.
Now Zhao Hao couldn't sit still anymore and started to have all kinds of random thoughts the whole day.
Although the deduction results indicate that even the worst outcome will be a big win, the direction of the war is actually unpredictable. He can think of ten examples from ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, of people who were clearly in a very advantageous position but still lost.
Like…well, I’m not in the mood for bullshit.
As time went by, his pressure grew. Finally one day, he decided not to pretend anymore and locked himself upstairs to see no one. I was just nervous. What's wrong?
If I hadn't had to stay in Yongxia City to calm people's hearts, I would have gone to war with the combined fleet long ago. Why would I have to endure this torment? !
Finally, on the 25th, more pigeons flew from the south and landed in the pigeon house in the headquarters courtyard.
Zhao Hao's heart tightened again. He lay on the balcony, watching the signalman in the backyard, who ran and delivered a small bamboo tube downstairs.
After a while, perhaps as long as a century, Zhao Hao suddenly heard thunderous cheers erupting from downstairs of the headquarters, as if they were going to blow the roof off.
Zhao Hao's heart started beating wildly, and he quickly picked up a cigarette from the ground, wanting to take a few puffs to calm himself down. However, his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't light the lighter.
As he was struggling with the lighter, he seemed to hear crying again.
Zhao Hao thought, maybe she was crying with joy?
He finally lit the cigarette, put one hand on his waist, looked at the sparkling Yongxia Bay, and took two deep puffs.
At this time, hurried footsteps were heard and Jin Ke came outside asking for a meeting.
"Come in." Zhao Hao did not even turn his head, still maintaining the posture of a great man, so as to be worthy of such a historical moment.
"How is it?" he asked, suppressing his excitement.
"We have won a great victory and annihilated the Spanish Armada!" Then Jin Ke answered in a voice that didn't know what to do:
"But we lost General Wang Rulong..."