Seeing the Bungo navy retreat, the Ming fleet responded with a intensive rain of bullets, which resulted in the sinking of more than a dozen Kan ships, setting two Ataka ships on fire, and killing countless enemies.

The Bungo navy finally returned to Usuki Port and hid in the mouth of the Oita River. Only less than half of the Sekibune and two Atakabune were left...

Zonglin's small wish of sinking or capturing an enemy ship was never fulfilled. After paying such heavy sacrifices, his navy did not even get close to the Ming fleet.

Zong Lin stood blankly on the castle tower, looking at the Oita Bay that was dyed red, the tattered ships on the dock, and the defeated soldiers carrying the dead to the shore. He felt like he was having a nightmare.

"How could this happen? How am I supposed to transport Ouchi Teruhiro across the Kanmon Strait?" He sat down on the floor in a duck position.

Zong Huan, who was standing aside, twitched his mouth and thought to himself that you finally remembered your business.

But now that things have come to this, there is no point in blaming Zong Lin, so he said in a deep voice: "My lord, you should go down and comfort the navy in person, otherwise you will definitely incur resentment."

"Also, my lord, please appoint me as the envoy to entertain the troops and accept the Ming Dynasty's conditions. Otherwise, Usuki Castle will not be able to be saved." He repeated the old tune and sighed, "But this time, the Ming Dynasty's conditions will definitely be more stringent than before."

"Well, go quickly." Sorin calmed himself down and put his mind in order. He was not bragging, but when it came to the ability to withstand failure, Otomo Sorin, who had suffered from the abuse of Lord Mori in recent years, was the strongest.

~~

Not to mention how Ru Zonglin faced the seriously injured naval commander.

Let’s just say that Zong Huan boarded Omura Juntada’s ship, left the dock with a white flag, and headed towards the Ming fleet.

What comforted him a little was that the Ming fleet did not pursue the victory. After the remnants of the Bungo navy were out of range, they simply reorganized into two lines and anchored at the mouth of the bay.

This means that the other party has no intention of killing him, and it is still possible to negotiate. Zong Huan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head to Chunzhong and said, "Please, Lord Chunzhong."

"Alas, Master Sorin is really... unwise!" Omura Juntada had a near-death experience, so naturally he had no good feelings towards Otomo Sorin who had brought humiliation upon himself. This time he also saw clearly the overwhelming advantage that the Ming Dynasty fleet had in the Japanese waters, and his thoughts naturally changed.

In the past, he had a distinction between Japan and Ming Dynasty, thinking that he was Japanese and should fight against the Ming Dynasty together with the Japanese. But as long as the Ming Dynasty fleet did not land, he could only hope that the divine wind would come again to deal with them. And the possibility of a typhoon in Japan in winter was too slim...

Moreover, the Ming people are too close, and the Portuguese are too far away, so it is obvious that the former is a more suitable backer.

Being able to be a dog of the Ming Dynasty is the greatest happiness!

Unconsciously, Omura Juntada had already positioned himself as a running dog of the Ming Dynasty, and of course he was unwilling to help outsiders deal with his master.

"Mr. Zong Huan, I'm in a difficult situation too." He spread his hands and said to Yoshioka Zong Huan: "You have no sincerity at all, how can I speak for you?"

"On behalf of the lord, I can promise to give the Omura family actual protection and notify all of Kyushu that any armed forces that invade the Omura family will be hit hard by the Otomo family!" Zong Huan simply stated.

"Thank you, Lord Zong Huan." Omura Junzhong thanked him. If it was before the Battle of Oita Bay, he might have knelt down and kowtowed happily. But now, he felt that the promise of the Ouchi family was like a clear soup, without much nutrition.

With the master's protection, why would the Otomo family need to do such unnecessary things?

Of course, Omura was a mature lord who would not complain about having too many friends. He said frankly, "But I'm talking about the Ming Dynasty people. You'd better take the initiative, otherwise you will be passive at that time... Do you know? Because I didn't bring back a satisfactory answer last time, I had to give more to the master... Oh no, 100,000 taels of silver to the Ming Dynasty people."

"Ah?" Zong Huan's jaw dropped in shock. "Ten, one hundred thousand taels, so much?"

The Otomo family is naturally larger and richer than the Omura family, but with a large family and a large fortune comes large expenses. This year's fierce battle with the Mori family has exhausted their savings. They are really not as wealthy as the Omura family.

"Lord Zong Huan, do you still want to bargain?" Chunzhong glanced at the sea filled with broken oars, wood, and body parts, and said quietly, "Besides, I paid a tribute of 300,000 taels of silver, not 100,000 taels... I'm already penniless." Although this was nothing to be proud of, his tone clearly revealed pride, which was really puzzling.

"Ming, I understand..." Zong Huan took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face, his mouth feeling very bitter.

~~

Inside a cabin in the stern deck of 101 that was used as a guest room for house arrest.

From the moment the first cannon shot was fired, Mr. Ping and the two priests crowded in front of the porthole, nervously watching the battle outside.

The priest was worried that if the war spread to the shore, their church would be destroyed and that would be the end of it.

Pinto was worried that if there was a problem with the double-line combat experience he taught, he would be skinned alive by Master Zhao.

Fortunately, the church was fine in the end and there were no mistakes in the operation.

Pinto walked back to the table first, poured a glass of port wine, took a few sips, and let out a long sigh.

His expression was quite complicated. On the one hand, the good performance of the Ming Dynasty people indirectly proved that the previous battle of Futianpu was not due to his poor command or cowardly surrender, but because the strength of the enemy was too different from ours. This finally made him no longer have to endure the contempt that the two priests always inadvertently brought out.

But on the other hand, the performance of the Ming people was better than he had imagined. The learning ability of this race was so terrifying. They absorbed the knowledge of others like a sponge, and were able to 'better than their teachers'.

"Take the path of others and leave them no way to go." Pinto thought of another saying that Mr. Zhao often said, smiled bitterly and raised his glass to Domingo in Macau, saying that his good days were over.

At this time, two missionaries also came over.

"Port?" Pinto asked.

His fellow Portuguese nodded, but Father Coelho, the vicar general from Rome, preferred a stronger grappa.

Pinto casually took out a bottle of grappa from the wine box and poured a glass for the deputy parish priest... These wines were originally Colonel Pinto's collection, and after he surrendered, Zhao Hao returned them all to him.

After taking a sip of the strong and straightforward grappa, Father Coelho exhaled and said, "Colonel, as an experienced naval commander, what do you think of this battle?"

"In this battle, the Ming people showed a new level of tactical literacy and seamanship skills... Although their artillery skills are still as bad as before, the rockets that whizzed all over the sky are enough to make up for their lack of artillery skills." Pinto picked up a cigar, but then remembered that fireworks were strictly prohibited in the cabin, so he had to put it down reluctantly and continued:

"And I want to remind the two priests that this fleet has only been in existence for less than a year. They have the support of the powerful Ming Empire. If nothing unexpected happens, I'm afraid an invincible fleet in the East will be born."

"So what you mean?" Father Coelho looked at the Portuguese colonel, who had changed into Ming dynasty style attire, with some displeasure.

"Give up the fantasy of turning the tables by force, seriously consider Mr. Zhao's advice, and write to Commander Domingo in Macau, suggesting that he handle the matter in a low-key manner and renegotiate a treaty with the Ming people." Pinto tapped his fingers on the rosewood round table and emphasized:

"Anyway, according to the original contract with the Wufeng ship owner, our Portuguese merchant ships can only trade with him in the Ryukyu Kingdom. Now we are just returning to our original position, so there is nothing to worry about."

"This is absolutely intolerable! Spreading the glory of the Lord throughout the Eastern world is the unshakable and lofty mission of our Jesuit Order!" Father Coelho slammed his fist on the table and said sternly: "Japan is now in a turbulent time. Without the protection of the warships, the achievements made by our two generations of missionaries in Japan will be wiped out!"

"Yes, Colonel, the reason why we Portuguese can share the world with the powerful Spanish Empire is because of the protection of His Holiness the Pope." His fellow countryman Father Luis also said:

"The Spanish consider themselves pioneers in protecting Christianity. They have made great contributions to spreading the gospel of God in America. And we want to retreat when we encounter a little setback. Are we worthy of the kindness of His Holiness the Pope?"

"That's right." Father Coelho sighed, "Fifty years have passed, and we still can't even set foot in that unbelieving country, let alone preach there..."

"I want to remind the priest that the people of the Ming Dynasty, at least Young Master Zhao, know much more about our church than the ignorant Japanese!" Pinto said seriously, "You have also seen what Father Torres looked like. He was exposed by Young Master Zhao in front of him about the affairs of America, and he fell ill out of shame."

After a pause, he sneered and said, "It can be said that it is the good things that the Spanish did in America that made the Ming Dynasty people so wary of us!"

"Alas..." Father Coelho and Father Luis were speechless. Hypocrites are most afraid of having their image exposed, which makes them feel ashamed to be raping in the street.

'It's a bit exciting to think about it...' Father Louis thought to himself.

"Okay, let's not talk about these depressing things." Father Coelho took a few more sips of liquor and said, "Can't we fight for it again? We finally got rid of the 'Pure Sea King Contract', and we really don't want to be bound by a new contract again."

"Yes, we have never been so weak in our journey to conquer the world," Father Louis also said.

"Otomo Sorin thought the same thing, and you saw what happened to him." Colonel Pinto pointed out the window and said, "Wake up, priests. This is the gateway to the Ming Dynasty, 10,000 leagues away from Europe. We can't compete with an empire with a population of 200 to 300 million, which has ruled East Asia for 2,000 years. Although its military level is slightly behind ours, it has a strong learning ability! Especially after they have shown that they are strong enough to compete with us."

"If we want to keep our achievements - Macau and Japan!" he said with emphasis, "we should learn to be humble and change our attitude when dealing with this empire!"

Finally, he refilled the two men's glasses and added, "I know the two priests are still having a hard time coming to terms with this. Let's see how much more the Japanese have to pay than before, and maybe they will wake up."

ps. Still two more chapters...