Less than half an hour,
A large patch of dark Japanese ships entered the water village. Yet fifty to sixty warships still cruised outside the island chain, seemingly as a rear guard?
Zhu Mo had never seen such a scene and asked, "Commander Lin, why are those ships not entering the water village?"
Lin Mingguo smiled and said:
"Scholar Zhu, it has always been very dangerous to anchor ships in water villages. These outer ships are called patrol ships. They need to circle the water village, and finally they should enter the village from the Da Tiao Guo area. It will take about half an hour."
Oh,
Zhu Mo thought: No wonder Yu Da You hasn't arrived yet? He's waiting for the patrol ships to enter the village too. It seems the great battle will start in half an hour…
But at this moment,
He estimated that the Japanese pirate warships that had entered the village first had already reached the harbor. Seeing the mess everywhere, would Muramura Chun Zhong suddenly have any changes? After all, with the fierce bombardment just now, it would be very difficult to rebuild the port. What if the Japanese pirates gave up?
But after thinking about it, there was nothing he could do. Everything could only be left to fate.
…
At this time,
Muramura Chun Zhong had already reached the harbor. He ordered the fleet to anchor in the water village and prepare for defense, and then he disembarked from the flagship.
More than an hour ago,
He led his entire army north. Outside Dashan Island, he saw a vast Ming Dynasty navy, totaling no less than 150 ships. He knew for sure that it was the main force of the Fujian navy led by Yu Da You.
It was only at that moment that he was convinced that the Ming Dynasty navy had not played any tricks. The Ming army had indeed landed in the Shuang He Bi area. Their objective was to turn the naval battle into a land battle, first establishing a foothold on Dashan Island, operating there for a long time, and gradually approaching the port from the island, while Yu Da You's fleet harassed them in the outer sea. This would form a protracted siege of the port.
At that time, he ordered his entire army to surround Yu Da You from three sides. The Ming Dynasty navy immediately headed north, avoiding towards the Cao Song Mountain area. As for the twenty-odd ships on the shore of Hua Gu Mountain area that could not escape in time, they were all sunk by the Françoise cannons. Half an hour later, Yu Da You's main force was also in the Cao Song Mountain area, being approached by the two flanks of his army. At this point, if he pursued with his entire army, and there were no accidents, Cao Song Mountain would be the burial ground for the Fujian navy.
But,
How did all this go wrong?
The moment his main army was pursuing, smoke signals ignited on the island. The rear guards reported it sequentially, and he couldn't believe it. However, this was three smoke signals, something unseen for ten years, indicating that the port camp had been attacked.
But,
How was this possible?
The Ming Dynasty could not have assembled a navy in two months! Moreover, patrol ships were constantly patrolling around the port. If there was a Ming fleet, how could it not be discovered?
Could the smoke signals be fake?
He made a decisive choice: even if he let Yu Da You go this time, he had to return to his base first.
Upon returning to the Heng Dang Mountain area,
He had received definitive intelligence—
More than twenty Ming Dynasty naval ships entered the waterway from Dao Chu Mountain and destroyed the port with artillery fire, then escaped from the Da Peng Mountain area.
Muramura Chun Zhong slapped his thigh hard and yelled eight times—
Yu Da You's sneak attack on Dashan Island was indeed a stratagem to lure the tiger away from its mountain. However, what he did not expect was that the Ming army only sent a little over twenty ships to carry out the sneak attack. And he, being too eager for merit and thinking Dashan was very close, had deployed his entire army. If he had left fifty to sixty ships, would the port have become like this?
At this moment,
The flagship had approached the port, and Mao Lie had also caught up. The two stepped onto the port again, only to see scorched earth everywhere.
The more Muramura Chun Zhong thought about it, the more guilty he felt. He looked up at the sky and suddenly roared—
"Seppuku!"
"I will commit seppuku!"
Mao Lie quickly grabbed him and shouted, "Lord Chun Zhong! We have not lost! We still have three hundred ships!"
Muramura Chun Zhong knelt down with a thud and suddenly burst into tears. After a while, he stood up, supporting his sword hilt, and said in a deep voice:
"Punish the Ming country! Avenge our humiliation!"
The samurai by his side and on the ships behind him echoed loudly:
"Punish the Ming country! Avenge our humiliation!"
"Punish the Ming country! Avenge our humiliation!"
"Punish the Ming country! Avenge our humiliation!"
"…"
But at this moment,
A burst of rumbling cannon fire was faintly heard.
Muramura Chun Zhong suddenly woke up and blurted out, "Eight! We've been tricked!"
Mao Lie also reacted and shouted at the same time, "Return to the village! Return to the village!"
…
But it was too late.
Zhu Mo had clearly seen from the side of Da Peng Mountain that the scattered lights on the distant sea were gradually converging and rapidly approaching from the Da Tiao Guo area. It was now a tailwind, and the speed was obviously extremely fast. Shortly after Muramura's flagship sailed south into the waterway, Yu Da You's main force had arrived.
Zhu Mo ordered loudly:
"Fire! Aim at the large ships!"
Bang bang bang bang.
After a volley of cannon fire from the flagship.
All the gun emplacements on Heng Dang Mountain, Yu Long Mountain, Cai Hua Mountain, and Da Peng Mountain fired successively. The entire sea area was enveloped by the rumbling sounds.
Splash!
Splash!
Crackle!
The three Japanese pirate water villages successively caught fire. The largest Françoise ships were the first to suffer. More than ten volleys were fired in the blink of an eye. The Japanese pirate ships had no time to escape. The ships near the outer perimeter, just about to sail away, were shot at by the shore cannons. Moreover, because there were piles of stakes near the shallow waters around the water villages, the sunken Japanese pirate ships became stranded, trapping the ships behind them in the village and making escape impossible.
But the Japanese pirates indeed numbered three hundred ships, with over a hundred Françoise ships alone, and as many as a hundred other Japanese ships equipped with Françoise cannons. Faced with being surrounded, they were naturally panicked. But after several bombardments, the Japanese pirates also calmed down. Many small boats removed their stakes and opened up waterways. From a distance, there were already three or four groups of ships, about a hundred in total, that had escaped the water village and were trying to find a way to flee.
At this time,
Yu Da You's navy had also arrived. He divided his forces into three teams, blocking from the directions of Da Tiao Guo, Cai Hua Mountain, and Heng Dang Mountain respectively.
Bang bang bang bang,
Amidst the continuous cannon fire, the fleeing Japanese pirate ships were sunk head-on. The rear guard ships turned back again and headed towards the shore of the main island.
The training during this period had paid off. The three detachments were very skilled in their use of artillery fire. They could always concentrate their forces, with seven or eight ships, totaling more than twenty cannons. Outside the range of the Françoise cannons, they would unleash a barrage without hesitation, and then retreat. During their retreat, they would turn their ships around, switch their cannons from the starboard side to the port side, and then unleash another barrage.
Repeating this cycle seven or eight times, the Japanese pirate ships were rendered completely unable to resist.
Zhu Mo did not need to join the battle. Watching from the Da Peng Mountain area, he saw the masts and sails turn to ash. The three hundred Japanese pirate ships, like mountains and clouds, quickly became scattered. Many ships were sinking but not yet sunk, stranded in the water, blocking all navigation channels. The remaining Japanese pirate ships were unable to move. On the water surface, like ants, floating sailors were everywhere…
Zhu Mo counted, and there were about eighty to ninety Japanese pirate ships remaining. He immediately ordered Lin Mingguo to send a coded message: suspend the attack.
The flagship sailed towards the Cai Hua Mountain area and rendezvoused with Yu Da You's main ship.