Outnumbered? I'll conquer America with an unlimited number of suicide soldiers.

Chapter 175 Bring the ship closer! The advantage is on my side!

The Merrimack.

Pendergrast stared wide-eyed, not even noticing the binoculars he was holding fall to the ground.

"My God, this is impossible! This is impossible!"

The enemy ship was at least 3.5 nautical miles away from the Susquehanna. He had served in the navy for decades, and before today, he would have sworn to guarantee that no cannon in the world had that range.

But today, magic has appeared.

After just three rounds of firing, the Susquehanna was reduced to a pile of rubble on the sea.

It took no more than a minute.

"Sir, those ships over there must be controlled by the devil!"

The first mate trembled, his worldview shattered: "You saw it, the flames on the Susquehanna, they're green! That's the color of hell and demons!"

"Sir, let's retreat! Humans can't defeat demons!"

"Fuck! Calm down!"

Pendergrast took a deep breath, slapped the first mate across the face, and roared, "We have God's protection! Even if there's a devil, we'll send him back to hell today!"

"Signal with flags, order the fleet to advance at full speed, and bring the ships close enough to engage! We have more ships and cannons; close-range combat gives us the advantage!"

The first mate, clutching his swollen face, hurried out to relay the order.

The signalman quickly waved the signal flags to relay the order to the other warships.

Thick black smoke billowed from the Merrimack's funnels, and its paddle wheels churned the seawater wildly. Three single-masted warships adjusted their sails and desperately surged forward alongside the flagship.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Shrimp-class destroyer.

"Oh? Instead of running away, you're actively approaching us?"

Farragut chuckled and ordered, "Then grant their wish."

"Full speed ahead! Hard port!"

The Shrimp drew an arc on the sea surface. The combination of the three-expansion engine and the propeller made its forward movement extremely smooth and fast, like a sharp knife swiftly stabbing towards the US fleet.

The right flank of the US fleet was a single-masted warship called the USS Portsmouth, which was currently one nautical mile behind the USS Merrimack.

The sailors on board watched in disbelief as the Mantis Shrimp made a beautiful wide turn on the sea, appearing two nautical miles away like a dancer performing a waltz on ice.

To make matters worse, their bow cannons couldn't hit the enemy at all.

The bow cannon's maximum range was less than two kilometers. Even if it fired, it was uncertain whether the shell would even graz the hull of the opposing ship. The mantis shrimp's side was directly facing the bow of the Portsmouth.

The bow and stern gun emplacements had already been turned around during the move, and the four 180mm main guns firmly locked onto the Portsmouth's direction.

"Three rapid shots, fire!"

The four main cannons roared with earth-shattering force, and the terrifying shriek rang out once again.

This time the distance was even closer, and the shell hit the bow precisely. The high-explosive shell tore a hole large enough to fit several horses at the waterline.

Green flames burned inward along the large hole, and seawater began to pour in wildly at the same time.

The Portsmouth struggled for less than two minutes before capsizing, and the sailors jumped into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot, then began waving and calling for help to the transport ships behind it.

"Damn it, this speed is definitely more than fifteen knots! How can a ship of at least three thousand tons be so fast?!"

On the Merrimack, Pendergrast slammed his fist on the compass stand, his eyes filled with despair.

Speed, firepower, and range are the most important attributes of a warship, and the enemy has a far superior advantage in all of them.

He watched helplessly as the Shrimp effortlessly cut across the fleet from one side to the other, while his fleet couldn't keep up at all. The entire fleet was like a flock of sheep being driven by a tiger in the mountains, left only to wait for their doom in despair!

"Sir, they're attacking our transport ship!"

Pendergrast strode onto the deck and looked toward the transport ship.

An opening appeared on the right flank of the fleet, completely exposing the six transport ships inside.

It was called a transport ship, but it was actually a requisitioned merchant ship, crammed with army soldiers they had transported from the east all the way to San Francisco in preparation for an attack. They were powerless to resist at sea.

The enemy began shelling, and soon a transport ship was hit and caught fire. The soldiers on board jumped into the sea in despair, and the surface of the sea was covered with heads.

"Run! Run!"

Pendergrast closed his eyes, his last ounce of will remaining. "Inform the fleet to scatter and escape. Every ship that can get away will do. The Merrimack will buy them time!"

Upon seeing the signal flags, the two single-masted sailing warships and the remaining transport ships quickly turned around, attempting to escape the terrifying warship's firing range.

The Merrimack, meanwhile, sped off at full power, heading straight for the location of the Shrimp.

On the bridge of the Shrimp, Farragut saw the Merrimack's movements and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Trying to use your flagship as bait? You've got guts, but I'm not playing along."

He opened the copper cover of the microphone and ordered, "Right rudder 15 degrees, heading 220, full speed ahead to bypass the US flagship."

The target: a ship fleeing south.

The bow of the Shrimp cut through the waves, bypassing the Merrimack's charge route and cutting past the fleet from the other side.

It's like an adult facing a child rushing at them and simply dodging to the side, then continuing to do their own thing.

Pendergrast watched as the enemy ship glided effortlessly past the edge of the Merrimack's firing range without firing a single shot at him.

Ignoring him was the greatest contempt, and a surge of humiliated anger welled up from the bottom of my heart.

After the anger came a profound sense of powerlessness.

"Lord, we, the wretched sinners created by You, cry out to You for help in this immense suffering. Please save me."

"Let us be saved from destruction—"

The Shrimp, naturally unable to hear the prayers from the other side, quickly caught up with the fleet that was fleeing south.

Two single-masted warships were sailing south against the sea wind in a zigzag pattern. The sailors on board were pulling hard on the sail ropes, trying to adjust the sails into the best arc to give the ships more power.

But compared to the Shrimp, their speed is like a tortoise crawling.

The shelling resumed.

The gunners on the Pipi Shrimp calmly adjusted the muzzle angles, each salvo firing as precise as a scalpel.

Less than two minutes later, another single-masted warship was hit in its ammunition magazine, exploding from the inside. Fragments of wood were thrown dozens of meters into the air, and the flames on the ship roared in the sea breeze.

Two more transport ships were hit and turned into piles of marine debris. The sea was covered with corpses, and the survivors cried out among them.

The remaining ships stopped moving, lowered their national flags, and slowly raised the white flag.

"Let's lower our flag too."

Seeing this, Pendergrast lost all his strength.

"We've already lost this battle. Letting a few hundred more young men die with me in the Pacific Ocean is pointless."

Righteousness. This isn't courage, it's foolishness.

A few minutes later, the Stars and Stripes were slowly lowered from the top of the Merrimack's mast, and a white flag was raised to the top of the mast.

The cannon fire from the Shrimp-class destroyer has ceased.

Pendergrast wrote a surrender document and walked off the bridge.

A small boat was lowered from the side of the Merrimack, and six sailors rowed it, carrying their fleet commander toward the Shrimp.

As the small boat approached the side of the Shrimp, Pendergrast looked up at the ship.

From the waterline upwards, the copper cladding is smooth and flat, the teak along the deck edges is neat and dense, and the rivets on the hull are arranged in a neat pattern.

This is a warship that is meticulous in every detail.

He climbed the gangway onto the deck.

Farragut was already standing on the deck, waiting for him.

"David? David Farragut?"

Pendergrast looked at him, first in shock, then realizing something, his voice changing from disbelief to anger.

"David Farragut, Captain of the United States Navy! You surrendered, fine, but you're still standing on the deck of an enemy ship!"

"Go ahead and command the enemy to fire on your own countrymen?!"

Farragut remained unmoved: "Colonel Pendergrast, where is your letter of surrender?"

Answer my question!

Pendergrast roared, "You served in Norfolk for twenty years, three generations of your family have been in the U.S. Navy! And you just now, you personally killed thousands of American sailors!"

"So what?"

Farragut sneered, "Colonel Pendergrast, you now have two choices. First, surrender unconditionally, including yourself, all the officers and men on the Merrimack, and all the surviving ships and personnel in your fleet."

"Secondly, I order the bombardment to continue until your entire fleet sinks to the bottom of the sea!"

Pendergrast's eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving violently, and he wanted nothing more than to rush up and kill Farragut.

But several sailors beside Farragut had already taken a step forward, their revolvers pointed at his head.

A few dozen seconds later, Pendergrast handed over the surrender document.

Farragut took the surrender document, unfolded it, glanced at it, folded it, put it in his coat pocket, ignored him, and went straight back to the bridge.

"Send men to take possession of our spoils, and while you're at it, also salvage the American sailors from the sea."

Xiahai City, Xiahai Bay.

The San Jacinto and two thousand-ton single-masted sailing warships approached the mouth of the bay. Captain Bell stood on the bridge, observing the situation in the harbor through his binoculars.

Contrary to the intelligence reports of a natural harbor, an artificial pier has been built here. Several merchant ships are moored at their berths, their drafts shallow.

"This saves us the trouble of securing the beachhead."

Bell lowered his binoculars and began giving orders: "Open fire on the docks to intimidate the enemy. Then send the transport ships over and seize the docks before they can react."

The first mate asked, "Captain, aren't we going to conduct hydrographic surveys?"

Bell shook his head and said, "The merchant ships that are moored are about four or five hundred tons, similar to our transport ships. If they can stop there, our ships can too, so there's no need to measure them."

The San Jacinto and two other single-masted sailing warships slowly adjusted their course, aiming at the dock with their sides.

The gunner pulled the fuse, and more than a dozen cannons roared at the same time, with shells falling one after another between the dock and the merchant ships, kicking up clouds of dust.

Amidst the gunfire, the mast of a merchant ship was broken, and it slowly collapsed on the dock.

Taking advantage of their shallow draft, the four transport ships rushed into the harbor. All the army soldiers on board had already boarded the deck, bayonets fixed to their rifles, and backpacks strapped tightly to their shoulders.

According to the plan, as soon as the transport ship docks, they will jump onto land immediately and establish a beachhead.

The lead transport ship was called Endeavour, and its captain was an impatient man. He stood at the bow, urging the sailors to push harder.

Soon, the Endeavour rushed into the port channel, less than 800 meters from the dock.

boom!

Suddenly, a muffled, loud bang came from the bottom of the ship. The entire ship jolted upwards, and the shockwave from the explosion instantly tore through the hull, flooding the cabins with seawater.

"What happened?"

"Mines! Mines have been planted in the water!"

Before he could finish speaking, a second mine struck the hull and exploded with a loud bang.

This explosion was even more devastating; the Endeavour tilted noticeably, and many of the soldiers on deck plunged into the icy sea.

Several nearby transport ships tried to slow down and turn in a panic, but it was too late.

boom!

Another transport ship was blown open, and seawater was pouring in from the bottom. The army soldiers on board were ashen-faced and cried for help.

On board the San Jacinto, Bell witnessed this scene and his face darkened.

"Those cunning bastards! No wonder I didn't see any defenses; they've laid mines in the shipping lanes!"

The first mate said worriedly, "This is troublesome. Should we send small boats to clear the mines?"

Bell pondered for a moment, then nodded: "That's the only way. Signal them to drop anchor and stay put to avoid running into mines again. Once the underwater threat is cleared—"

Before the words were even finished, a sharp whistle blared from the watchtower, and the observation post shouted, "More than ten ships have appeared behind us and are approaching at high speed!"

Bell whirled around, raised his binoculars, and looked toward the southern sea, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Twelve gunboats emerged from the shadows of the coastline.

They are not large, each weighing only two or three hundred tons, with a very shallow draft and a low hull, so they are also very fast.

Amidst the billowing black smoke, they dispersed in twos and threes, like a group of sharks attracted by the scent of blood, surrounding them from different directions.

"Prepare for battle! Load all side guns! Don't let them get close!"

When the gunboats approached to a distance of about three thousand meters, they dispersed again, splitting into three groups.

Four ships on the left flank, nestled close to the reefs along the coastline, circled around to the side and rear of the fleet. Instead of attacking the San Jacinto, they aimed their cannons at the two single-masted sailing warships.

Four ships on the right flank sped toward the transport ship, taking advantage of the backlight. The army soldiers on board fired their rifles haphazardly into the sea. The bullets clanged against the hull of the gunboats, but caused no real damage.

The four ships in the center kept their distance, patrolling back and forth near the San Jacinto.

The San Jacinto's side guns opened fire repeatedly in an attempt to sink the gunboat.

But those gunboats were too small and too agile. They darted through the spray of falling shells at speeds of at least fifteen knots, and the gunners of the San Jacinto could not keep track of them at all.

Once the gunboats had reached their designated positions, they opened fire.

Two kilometers apart, the bow cannons of the twelve gunboats began to fire rapidly.

Within three minutes, hundreds of shells rained down on the fleet. The enemy didn't even have time to raise a white flag before being reduced to wreckage in the barrage.

Emerald flames burned on the sea surface. The Indian captain of the gunboat withdrew his gaze and reported to the commander: "Chief, the white warriors..."

All ships were sunk.

"it is good."

Chongyue, who was attacking the US military camp in Arizona, said: "The same old rule applies: capture those who survived by chance and those with minor injuries, and don't waste our medicine on the seriously wounded."

"yes!"