A barrage of exploding shells was hurled by the five whaling ships opposite.
Whether it was Duke Huang Liangji's bad luck or the five whaling ships' good fortune, one exploding shell landed not far from Duke Huang Liangji's flagship, creating a wave that rocked the vessel and sent the Duke tumbling head over heels.
This greatly alarmed Duke Huang Liangji's personal guards.
This was clearly an inauspicious start. Duke Huang, leading over fifty warships to disrupt Zhu Jingsong's territory, had yet to break a single pane of glass, and the Duke himself had lost a front tooth.
The guards rushed forward, helping Duke Huang Liangji up, bombarding him with questions: "Your Grace, what should we do now? Your Grace, should we counterattack? Your Grace, are you alright?"
Duke Huang Liangji was going mad—the enemy had only five warships converted from whaling ships, while he commanded a fleet of over fifty. To break a tooth while facing five times the enemy was an utter disgrace!
"Duke Zhenguo of the Great Ming," Duke Huang Liangji roared, pushing the guards away, and commanded, "Counterattack! Counterattack!"
In truth, Duke Huang Liangji's order to counterattack was not strictly necessary. After all, Duke Huang commanded not only the regular navy of the "Great Ming Court" but also a large contingent of pirates who roamed the seas.
While the regular navy might await Duke Huang's orders, the pirates launched their counterattack immediately. Some warships even attempted to evade the frontal cannon fire and outflank the enemy.
The crucial point was that the cannons aboard the five whaling ships were not only rapid-firing and accurate but also possessed a significantly longer range than those on Duke Huang's warships.
For every three volleys fired by Duke Huang's warships, the five converted whaling ships could unleash five volleys. Duke Huang's cannons could not reach the enemy vessels, yet their cannonballs landed and exploded against his own ships.
Even when Duke Huang's fleet attempted to outflank the enemy, the five enemy warships merely retreated a short distance.
Compared to the enemy's firepower, Duke Huang's counterattack seemed more like a desperate, futile rage.
Duke Huang even felt as if he were being led around like a dog.
Only after more than ten volleys did the five whaling ships turn and flee, leaving a furious Duke Huang in the wind.
For Duke Huang, this inexplicable naval battle was incredibly frustrating.
If not for the fact that the enemy only had five converted whaling ships while he commanded over fifty warships, his own fleet would likely have been the one in trouble.
Fortunately, the enemy fleet probably did not carry many cannonballs, or they would not have fled after only a dozen volleys.
Watching the five whaling ships retreat, and touching his mouth where a front tooth had been knocked out, Duke Huang roared in anger, "Pursue them! Annihilate these rebels!"
However, to Duke Huang's despair, the five whaling ships ran farther and farther away, their speed clearly a notch faster than his own warships.
Duke Huang's personal guard cautiously asked, "Your Grace, the direction they're fleeing seems to be towards Xuejia Island or Fushan Garrison. Should we continue the pursuit?"
Between Fushan Garrison and Xuejia Island lay Huangdao. Behind Huangdao was the former naval base of the Great Qing. It was uncertain whether any warships remained in the naval base, but there would definitely be numerous shore batteries.
If his fleet were drawn to the vicinity of the naval base, wouldn't that be akin to walking into a trap?
Duke Huang Liangji, however, snorted coldly, "Pursue! Why not pursue? Commander Zhu has only these few warships. As long as we eliminate them, I can come and go as I please along the Shandong coast!"
As for the possibility of the five warships luring his fleet into an ambush and bombarding them with shore-based artillery, Duke Huang was not worried at all.
Even if there were an ambush, so what? His fleet consisted of over fifty warships, each equipped with dozens of cannons. A single broadside could unleash hundreds or even thousands of cannonballs. Could Zhu Jingsong possibly have a thousand cannons hidden on shore?
Besides, his objective was not to engage in direct amphibious assault but to capture one of Commander Zhu's warships. There was no need to engage in a gunnery duel with shore-based artillery.
Having made up his mind, Duke Huang led his fifty-plus warships in hot pursuit of the five whaling ships.
Then, Duke Huang Liangji witnessed what true firepower saturation meant.
It was true that Duke Huang commanded over fifty warships, with some equipped with dozens of cannons and the fewest with over ten or twenty. In theory, his fleet should have had a superior firing capability.
But let's not forget that Zhu Jingsong suffered from severe firepower deficiency syndrome. With this in mind, the number of cannons equipped by Zhu Jingsong's forces was undoubtedly the highest among armies of the same period. Especially for shore defense artillery, these powerful weapons had a longer range, higher accuracy, and faster rate of fire than ship-mounted cannons.
Compared to the firepower of Zhu Jingsong's forces, the firepower of Duke Huang's fleet was like a child's play.
The solid shot cannonballs of Duke Huang's warships might not even reach Zhu Jingsong's artillery positions, while Zhu Jingsong's artillery positions could calmly, elegantly, and one by one, unleash a barrage of fire upon Duke Huang's fleet.
With just one volley, Duke Huang's fleet lost three warships. After two volleys, the number of warships lost by Duke Huang's fleet had reached ten.
At this point, even Duke Huang couldn't help but feel heartache.
These over fifty warships represented nearly half of the entire naval strength of the "Great Ming Court." The loss of ten warships meant that the "Great Ming Court's" navy had suffered a crippling blow.
It was unknown how long or how much manpower and material would be needed to replace this loss.
Duke Huang, who had been so calm moments ago, now felt a desire to retreat.
However, when Duke Huang ordered a retreat, the five whaling ships, which had been fleeing desperately like "stray dogs" back to the naval base, charged out from behind Huangdao again, unleashing several volleys of cannon fire at Duke Huang's fleet. When Duke Huang ordered his ships to stop and counterattack, the five whaling ships turned and fled once more.
This nearly made Duke Huang vomit blood from anger.
What was going on? Why were Commander Zhu's warships so fast? Why were Commander Zhu's cannons so long-ranged and accurate? Why was the detonation time of their fired cannonballs so consistent?
Duke Huang began to reminisce about the days when he used to bully Lin Shuangwen. At least Lin Shuangwen's warships were inferior to his own, and he could easily defeat them.
Duke Huang felt extremely frustrated, and his "Great Ming Navy" officers and the pirates recruited by Duke Huang felt even more so.
In the past, bullying Lin Shuangwen was smooth sailing. Now, it was completely reversed; they were the ones being bullied.
If they wanted to fight, their firepower was inferior and they couldn't win.
If they wanted to retreat, those five warships would occasionally sneak attack, making it difficult to withdraw.
If this continued, wouldn't all fifty-plus of his warships be lost here?
Duke Huang knew that this situation could not continue. He immediately sent orders to the naval commanders, demanding that they capture one of Commander Zhu's warships, by any means necessary.
Duke Huang knew very well that if he couldn't understand why Commander Zhu's cannons were so accurate and their range so great, he would continue to suffer such unfair losses in the future.
If he could capture one of Commander Zhu's warships, it wouldn't be a significant loss even if all fifty-plus of his warships were lost here.
However, after receiving Duke Huang's orders, the naval commanders of the "Great Ming Court" did not take his command seriously.
If you're so capable, why don't you go yourself?
And they must capture one of Commander Zhu's warships by any means necessary?
Not to mention anything else, could their own warships catch up to Commander Zhu's warships?
If they could catch up, then everything would be fine, but if they couldn't even catch up, what was the point of talking?
After a long period of silence, Ning Chengfu, the admiral of Duke Huang's First Fleet, turned to his personal guard and ordered, "Relay my order: pursue, but do not close in too tightly, lest Commander Zhu's fleet resort to desperate measures."
Upon hearing their admiral's words, Ning Chengfu's personal guards understood the situation.
Pursuit was certainly necessary, as Duke Huang had personally issued the order. Not pursuing would be disobedience and a lack of respect for Duke Huang, which would be detrimental both militarily and in their business dealings.
However, how to pursue was a matter of great tact. Since their Ming fleet was not as fast as Commander Zhu's fleet, it was understandable that they couldn't catch up, right?
While the regular naval commanders under Duke Huang were relatively better, the pirates had no such scruples.
One pirate leader, looking at the retreating figure of Duke Huang's personal guard, instructed his men with a sneer, "Brothers, prepare yourselves. We'll pursue as well."
"But listen closely, none of you are to get too close! You're all someone's children. If you feed the dragon king like this, don't say I didn't warn you."
...
While Duke Huang was experiencing frustration on the sea near Fushan Garrison, Grand Tutor Ruan of the "Great Ming Court" was in a furious rage.
Grand Tutor Ruan slammed his fist on the table, cursing, "This is utter arrogance! I kindly sent an envoy to persuade him to surrender, yet that fellow surnamed Zhu detained the envoy. Does he not take the Great Ming's million-strong army seriously!"
It was understandable that Grand Tutor Ruan was so enraged. Zhu Erdan, that unfilial wretch, was truly overbearing. Out of consideration for the shared surname Zhu, Zhu Zhongqu had offered Zhu Erdan the title of Prince, specifically a first-rank prince like the Prince of Qi.
Of course, such first-rank princes were not the legendary "one-rank parallel princes," which likely never existed. It mainly referred to royal titles like Qin, Yan, Han, Qi, Chu, Han, Zhao, and Wei, which were naturally more noble than other princely titles, having a history of prominence.
Typically, due to the First Emperor's association, the title of Prince of Qin was not conferred lightly, and if it were, it would be given to a direct son. The same applied to the Prince of Yan, as Emperor Zhu's father was the Prince of Yan. Therefore, no Great Ming court would easily bestow the title of Prince of Yan.
Excluding the princes of Qin and Yan, among the remaining titles of Qi, Han, Chu, Han, Zhao, and Wei, Zhu Zhongqu considered himself the legitimate heir of the Ming. Therefore, the title of Prince of Han was also not conferred due to Zhu Gaoxu's circumstances. Consequently, the titles of Prince of Qi and Prince of Han were considered the most prestigious.
However, Zhu Erdan did not accept Zhu Zhongqu's enfeoffment. Instead, he detained all the envoys, releasing only a lowly servant who could carry a message back to Zhu Zhongqu's Great Ming court.
The message was: "Either surrender, or die."
This was simply too much!
After Grand Tutor Ruan's impotent outburst, Dai Changsheng, the head of the Dai family in Zhejiang and the "Great Ming's Duke of Assisting the Nation," asked, "Brother Ruan, do you have any good news from the allied forces in other regions?"