Chapter 222: God’s Scourge
“Your Highness, what do we do now?”
Chaos reigned on the deckhouse of the “Dragon King Maru.” The samurai of the Masamune Family were fiercely debating whether to continue engaging the Wanjin Navy, and only Masamune Tokitada could make the final decision.
However, Masamune Tokitada’s mind was a mess, and he couldn’t make a decision for the moment.
This naval battle was too far beyond the norm; he couldn’t accurately assess the situation. After all, in the Japanese Medieval Period naval battles, being skilled in fire attacks was considered expert level. Normal combat primarily involved boarding actions. If one wanted to employ tactics, at most it would be a “decoy ship” strategy, where the deck of a kobaya ship would be removed, causing opponents who boarded to fall directly into the hull, and then destroying the ship from three miles away. He had never seen anything like this.
The nature of warfare has changed!
Masamune Tokitada knew that a decision had to be made now, even a wrong one was better than no decision. Without orders, the “Dragon King Maru” and the ships of the Hyakushu Water Bandits were still steadfastly heading towards the “Chita.” At such a moment, time was extremely precious; a decision to fight or flee was necessary.
He was a seasoned veteran of many battles. He had been a bit overconfident earlier and was flustered by the unprecedented situation. Now, with danger looming and his life threatened, he quickly calmed his mind, steadied his breathing, and began to think hard.
The situation looked a bit grim. The enemy’s weapons were unexpectedly powerful. If they retreated now, it would be difficult to create distance at sea in a short time, and they would likely be pursued and attacked from a distance…
Rather than being attacked unilaterally, it was better to fight the enemy. Moreover, the enemy had only fired once and then stopped, suggesting their reloading speed was slow. This was a good opportunity to charge forward.
If they could capture the enemy’s “Golden Ship,” losing a dozen ships wouldn’t be a loss. Even better, if they could capture the enemy’s “ship-destroying” weapon…
Then, for the Masamune Family to unify the world’s sea areas would not be a pipe dream; at least their influence could further expand…
Furthermore, the enemy’s front was only one clumsy large ship, while they had over a hundred warships forming a pincer attack. One hundred against one, the advantage was still theirs!
With this thought, Masamune Tokitada’s eyes turned bloodshot. He roared, stopping the chaos among his attendants, and ordered, “Continue to advance, launch signal flares, and order Hiryu and Gōkimaru to speed up and quickly surround the Yuan Ye Family’s ‘Golden Ship.’ Make sure to engage them—and issue another order: even if the ‘Dragon King Maru’ sinks, do not mind it. Today, we must crush the Yuan Ye Family!”
Facing danger was not frightening as long as there was a leader. Masamune Tokitada’s prestige was sufficient. The commotion on the deckhouse of the “Dragon King Maru” immediately subsided. Regardless of whether they supported continuing the engagement with the Wanjin Navy, everyone obeyed his orders. They immediately waved their flags, fired signal flares, and ordered the kobaya ship fleet chasing behind the “Chita” to continue speeding up, even if it meant paddling until they bled, they had to quickly contain the enemy.
Masamune Tokitada did not wait idly. Seeing that morale had somewhat recovered, he beckoned a vassal and ordered, “Hirakawa-kun, you are in command now. Try your best to capture the enemy’s ‘Golden Ship.'”
Hirakawa instinctively replied, “Yes,” then asked bewilderedly, “Your Highness, you intend to…”
“I will personally go to the front lines and organize the attack!”
After saying this, Masamune Tokitada didn’t say another word. He and a few attendants quickly descended from the deckhouse of the “Dragon King Maru” and headed straight for the stern, preparing to transfer to a nearby kan-sen ship. The enemy’s new weapon’s reloading speed was unknown, and the “Dragon King Maru” was too large and conspicuous. They might not be lucky enough to dodge it next time, so it was safer to command from a different location.
He wasn’t foolish; if he couldn’t withstand rocket projectiles, couldn’t he at least dodge them?
With over a hundred ships, given the enemy’s demonstrated reloading speed, even if they anchored and remained stationary for the enemy to attack freely, it would take the enemy a long time!
Although Masamune Tokitada lacked any sense of honor and had no resolve of “the ship lives, I live; the ship sinks, I die,” and intended to retreat early, the reloading speed of the “Wanjin rocket projectile” was faster than he had imagined. Just as he ordered the water bandits to lower a small boat and before he could slide down the rope, a large cloud of white smoke erupted from the front deck of the “Chita” again. Twelve pointed iron rods, aided by the power of gunpowder, soared into the sky once more.
In this volley, Yuan Ye and his companions learned from their previous lesson. They calculated the distance and wind direction, accounted for lead, and waited for the moment when the “Chita” was relatively stable after breaking through the waves before firing. This was a technical improvement in actual combat. The rocket projectiles did not disappoint their expectations, trailing arrogant wakes, and within ten seconds, they were close to the “Dragon King Maru.”
This shot was at a more direct angle. The bow of the “Dragon King Maru” was hit first, followed by the towering deckhouse. These two thick iron rods struck, immediately causing the hull to vibrate violently, and the flying debris from the hull triggered a chorus of screams.
Masamune Tokitada, a seasoned water bandit, did not hesitate. He completely disregarded his dignity and jumped directly into the sea from the stern, swimming away without even getting into a small boat.
His choice was extremely correct. Before he had swum a few meters, the entire deckhouse of the “Dragon King Maru” exploded. It only didn’t collapse immediately because it was large enough, but it was engulfed in flames. Subsequently, the rocket projectile that hit the bow also detonated, blowing off half of the bow. The “Dragon King Maru,” which was moving forward with great force, plunged into the sea headfirst, its stern rising high into the air, resembling some creature of code 0.
Yuan Ye was wealthy and had an engineering background. He never cut corners. The cost of one rocket projectile, calculated at market price, was over 160 guan. It was packed with gunpowder, and its power was not much less than a modern RPG. The only limitation was that the technological level was insufficient, making the rocket projectiles larger than missiles, and they were somewhat inaccurate.
The power of money was fully displayed. The “Dragon King Maru,” a large wooden oar-and-sail ship, sank after being hit by only two rocket projectiles. A large amount of the hull was blown into the air, and it was now raining down on the sea and surrounding ships. Some fragments were even still oily and burning, causing several small fires.
In an instant, the Hyakushu Water Bandits, acting as the “anvil,” were thrown into great confusion. The “Chita” also unleashed its maximum potential. Its 118 oarsmen, sweating profusely, propelled the “Chita” to a high speed of 4 meters per second—comparable to a human jog, but exceeding the “Chita’s” theoretical maximum speed, reaching nearly 7 knots. After all, one couldn’t expect too much from a clumsy, large atakebune ship; this speed was already quite good.
With this rare agility, the “Chita,” followed by two groups of over sixty kobaya ships, charged into the forty-odd ships of various sizes belonging to the Hyakushu Water Bandits with unstoppable force. The close-quarters combat, almost unavoidable in medieval naval battles, erupted.
At this point, the “Wanjin rocket projectile” no longer needed to be aimed; enemies were everywhere, so they just needed to reload and fire. Yuan Ye no longer paid attention to the firing squad. He took the short-barreled matchlock gun handed to him by A Qing and began to load it silently. A Man, clad in bamboo armor, had already drawn her sword and was shouting orders for the guard unit to raise the anti-arrow bamboo curtains and move into position, disregarding the fact that A Qing was actually the commander of the guard unit.
In fact, she didn’t need to shout. The Wanjin Army was not an army that relied solely on Yuan Ye to fight. It was well-organized with strict military discipline. Officers and non-commissioned officers at all levels had clear responsibilities. The matchlock gunners, who formed the main defensive force, had fought many fierce battles on land, with over 70% being veterans and possessing considerable combat experience. Furthermore, the Wanjin Army, having started by defending cities, was not inferior to anyone in the Japanese Medieval Period when it came to defensive combat.
Well, it was a naval battle, but it was essentially a siege.
The deck of the “Chita” was much higher than the surrounding ships, and it was equipped with parapets resembling castle battlements and semi-enclosed firing slits. Even if the water bandits wanted to board, they would have to climb for a while. The Wanjin Navy could fire from a superior position, relatively safely, making it almost indistinguishable from a siege.
At most, the castle was a bit shorter, but a short castle was still a castle.
When the “Chita” was first built, its objective was to be a “sea fortress.” It was originally designed to be besieged. Otherwise, why build such a clumsy and slow ship? Even to prevent technological leaks, they could have built hundreds of light and agile kobaya ships and also employed fire attacks and boarding tactics. In that case, casualties would have been difficult to control. The Wanjin Army had high compensation for injuries and deaths, and Yuan Ye did not want to spend that money unless absolutely necessary.
The bow of the “Dragon King Maru” was blown off, and it plunged into the sea. Even if it hadn’t completely sunk, it was essentially finished. However, the water bandits did not lose their fighting spirit, or rather, they were forced to fight. After all, the enemy had charged into their midst, and even without orders, they would spontaneously launch attacks, not to mention Masamune Tokitada’s prior command.
At the same time, their forward path was blocked, and they kept bumping into things, causing the “Chita’s” speed to drop instantly. The kobaya ships following behind the “Chita” successfully completed their encirclement and began their attack. However, due to Masamune Tokitada’s prior order to try and capture this “Golden Ship” as much as possible, they did not launch their signature fire attacks directly. Instead, they chose to prioritize destroying the “Chita’s” oars to disable it, and then deal with it slowly.
Over a dozen relatively brave kobaya ships moved in and began using long poles to damage the outer bamboo curtains protecting the oars.
Just then, the “Chita,” which had gradually fallen silent, suddenly emitted a piercing bamboo whistle. From the gunports on the sides and hull of the “Chita,” bursts of neat white smoke erupted. Countless lead shots formed a net of fire that instantly swept across these dozen or so kobaya ships. Those who dared to poke the bamboo curtains with poles were particularly targeted, and they trembled under the powerful impact of the lead bullets.
If it weren’t for the flying flesh and blood accompanied by inhuman screams, it would have almost resembled some strange street dance.
Immediately after, the falconet cannons on the deck and within the hull’s gun positions also opened fire.
Yuan Ye had also managed to produce these primitive cannons, and this weapon did not involve leaking later scientific technology. In 1517, there were records of falconet cannons in the Great Ming. In 1522, the Ming army captured over twenty of them in the Battle of Xinhui. By the Jiajing Era, the Great Ming had fully equipped its forces with falconet cannons and had developed over thirty different models.
Since the Great Ming already had them, Yuan Ye naturally wanted to use them. However, he was not a metallurgy major, and casting cannons and chemistry were not his strong suits. Even though he knew the principles of these primitive cannons, he encountered numerous problems in their production, many of which remained unresolved.
For example, he initially used the common clay mold casting method for the cannon barrels and breech blocks, but the quality of the cast was not up to par, the barrels were rough, and the airtightness was very poor, making them difficult to use.
Afterward, he pondered for a while and switched to the lost-wax casting method for the cannon barrels. This solved the problem of rough barrels and improved accuracy to a passable level, but the cost skyrocketed, and the process was complex. Out of ten workers, fewer than one could perform this task, and they couldn’t cast cannons of too large a caliber, so the yield could not be increased.
He was currently working on the iron mold casting method and steel drilling for the inner bore, aiming to reach the level of the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty. However, there were still many technical challenges to overcome, and it would take some time to achieve.
Perhaps he was too stupid, or perhaps his transmigration was not done correctly, and he didn’t bring a search engine with him. Whenever he encountered a technical problem, he would get stuck for months. There was nowhere to research and no one to ask. As a result, over two years had passed, and he hadn’t produced many cannons.
The cannons mounted on the “Chita” at this time were experimental products he had developed over the past two years. To ensure accuracy, their caliber was small, generally around 10 cm. Historically, they would be considered medium-sized falconets, not capable of long-range firing, with a typical range of only 500-600 meters.
The only advantage was that they were light enough for a few people to carry around. Their firing rate was also very fast, but the fast firing rate had little to do with him. Falconets themselves were divided into breech and chamber units. The rear-loading chamber units were very simple. As long as there were enough pre-prepared chamber units, the firing rate was inherently faster than matchlock guns.
However, even these imperfect experimental products were sufficient to deal with primitive people like the Satomi Water Bandits, who had few pieces of armor, sat in wooden boats, and played with fire attacks using bow and arrow and gunpowder bottles. Over a dozen falconets fired at full power from various angles of the “Chita,” expending all their chamber units at once, creating a veritable storm of metal.
The God of War was not just a title; even a juvenile, incomplete version of the God of War… perhaps a demigod, was not something mortal flesh and blood could withstand.
In an instant, the “Chita” seemed to transform into some kind of deep-sea monster, spewing flames from all angles. The entire ship was enveloped in gunpowder smoke, making it appear even more mysterious and unfathomable. The Satomi Water Bandits were witnessing such powerful firepower at sea for the first time and were caught completely off guard. The kobaya ships in the front were riddled with holes, and the ground was littered with corpses, blood flowing everywhere, with not a single living person in sight.
The ships in the rear were not much better off. Various stray rounds would take away several lives from time to time. Decks, boxes, wooden buckets, and the like were hit, sending wood splinters flying everywhere. It was impossible to stand on the deck. Even if someone tried to counterattack with a bow and arrow, they were quickly eliminated by experienced Wanjin non-commissioned officers who organized several matchlock gunners to fire in volleys.
Masamune Tokitada had just boarded a kan-sen ship on the outer edge of the battlefield when he saw the “Chita,” this “moving fortress at sea,” madly reaping the lives of his subordinates by virtue of its height, size, and firepower. His subordinates, trapped on their ships, had few places to take cover and could barely dodge.
His eyes immediately turned red, and he began to deeply regret why he had come to expel the Wanjin Navy. He couldn’t understand how the Wanjin Navy’s firepower could be so strong. “If you’re going to be water bandits like this, you’ll consume thousands of pounds of gunpowder for one battle. Can you even break even?”
Who is this rich fellow?
If you’re all so wealthy, why are you still out here being water bandits?
He was heartbroken, but he couldn’t just let his subordinates be beaten like this by the Wanjin. He quickly rushed to the bow and ordered the captain of this kan-sen ship to fire signal flares, demanding that his subordinates launch a fire attack to burn the enemy’s ship.
At the same time, he kicked his subordinates, ordering the “Satomi Water Ghost Team” to deploy and dive to sink the enemy ships.
He no longer cared about capturing spoils of war. Their own forces were blocked by the net of fire and could not inflict much damage on the enemy ships.
If this continued, the Satomi Navy would be finished!
