Ming East India Company

In April of the 25th year of the Wanli reign, on the sea west of Busan Port, a salty sea breeze churned up fine waves that continuously lapped against the flagship of the villager of Heukdo.

This fleet of more than twenty Japanese ships, including Atakebune and Sekibune, was fully loaded with provisions, matchlock gun ammunition, and infantry, and was rushing to Busan to provide reinforcements to the Japanese forces on the Korean land battlefield.

Over the past month, they have endured numerous hardships, including turbulent waves, insufficient fresh water, and food shortages, and have been constantly worried about possible attacks by North Korean fleets. Now, they have finally seen the distant horizon of Busan Port.

For the villager of Heishan, the anxiety that had been building all the way was finally relieved. Once he reached Busan Port, his mission would be complete.

Kuroshima Villager handed over the lookout duty to his subordinates, then returned to his cabin to prepare some rice wine to refresh himself.

Suddenly a shout came from outside:

"My lord, something terrible has happened! An unfamiliar fleet has been spotted ahead."

The villager from the black island immediately turned over and stepped out of the cabin, shielding his eyes from the sunlight as he gazed into the distance.

On the sea, as the sun rose, the sea fog gradually dissipated, and a strange fleet sailed toward the Black Island fleet in the distance.

The ship was long and low, without any towering oars, but with a dense array of long oars on both sides of the hull, swaying in layers like centipedes floating on the sea. The bronze cannons at the bow reflected a gleaming light in the sunlight, and the three masts on the ship were fully loaded with sails. The entire fleet sped toward the Black Island fleet.

Although he didn't know the origin of this fleet, Kuroshima was very clear that these were definitely not ships owned by the Japanese.

Kuroshima immediately ordered the fleet to form a defensive formation, with the Atakebune in the center and the boarding ships on both sides as guards. The Japanese arquebusiers on board took their positions, and the sailors took out their grappling hooks to prepare for close-range boarding. The few kokubune guns on the Atakebune were also brought out and put into a state of readiness.

This is a common tactic used by the Japanese against the Korean navy. Since the main force of the Korean navy had been annihilated by the Japanese in the Battle of Chilcheon-ryang, the Korean navy that could be encountered now was generally not large. As long as the fleet was large enough and did not give the enemy a chance to pick off a single ship, the Korean navy would retreat before long.

Even if the North Korean fleet dared to launch an attack, with the Atakebune's tall superstructure behind it, the North Korean fleet would gain no advantage by boarding or jumping onto the ship. The Atakebune, with its superior position, could easily teach its opponents a lesson.

However, what puzzled the Japanese navy was that the enemy fleet did not retreat after seeing them form a battle formation. Instead, they continued to charge forward with their sails billowing and oars in full swing.

At a distance of twenty to thirty feet from the Japanese fleet, the fleet slowed down and ceased its charge.

Cheng Keqin held a telescope he had acquired from the West, observing the Japanese fleet. Despite the vast disparity in strength, the enemy had not disbanded their fleet and scattered to escape, but instead was engaging him head-on in a fierce battle.

That's courting death. Cheng Keqin shook his head, then gave the order:

"Order the entire army to load and fire."

As the flagship raised its red command flag, the four galleys began loading ammunition.

The crew pulled the Kövlin cannon backward from the carriage rails, and the gunner first loaded the gunpowder, followed by the heavy iron ball.

"Boom!" The bronze cannon at the bow roared.

The first shell accurately hit the Japanese ship on the outer perimeter. The rolling iron ball entered from the starboard side and flipped out from the port side, directly piercing through the ship.

The Japanese soldiers encountered along the way were torn to pieces by the ruthless iron balls. In an instant, the cabin was filled with severed limbs and the screams of the wounded were incessant...

At the same time, the other three galleys also launched a cannon barrage. Due to the close proximity, the cannonballs had an exceptionally high hit rate, and the outer barges suffered heavy damage.

"Thump, hiss!" With a cannonball piercing the waterline of a ship, seawater gushed into the cabin.

The surviving Japanese soldiers rushed to plug the leak, but the cork-made ship was extremely fragile and lacked watertight compartments to prevent water from entering. Such a large gap was clearly beyond human capability to repair.

The boat quickly began to list and capsized and sank into the water a few minutes later.

Then came the second, the third... one after another, the outer perimeter guard ships were sunk.

Throughout the entire process, the Japanese soldiers were unable to do anything. Their prepared matchlock guns, bows and arrows, and boarding grappling hooks were completely useless. The whole process was just a live-fire exercise on a rowboat.

The remaining ships retreated to the side of the Atakebune, attempting to rely on the taller Atakebune to avoid enemy fire, as they had done in the past.

Cheng Keqin's rowing fleet continued forward and soon rushed to the front of the Japanese Atakebune.

By this time, the villager from Kuroshima was drenched in sweat; it was the first time he had ever seen such a strange ship.

Despite being about the same size as Guan Chuan, its firepower is exceptionally terrifying, and what's even more deadly is its agility and speed, which are simply frightening.

Kuroshima Murao directed the Atakebune to keep turning, trying to align the ship's hull with the incoming enemy vessel.

The Japanese Atakebune also had two or three cannons on board, but because they lacked sliding rails and hinges, they were difficult to move. Generally, these cannons were used to deal with large targets such as Fukusen and enemy Atakebune.

Now, this narrow and "small, fast, and agile" device appears unusually cumbersome.

During this process, the sekigashima ships that were close to the Atakebune were unlucky. The Atakebune turned around on the spot, and many sekigashima ships were unable to avoid it and were rammed and sunk into the sea.

The sea was now filled with crew members struggling to survive, but the villager of Kuroshima obviously had no time to help them.

"Quickly, fire the cannon!" Kuroshima Villager watched as the bronze cannon muzzle on the other side drew closer and closer, and hurriedly ordered a return fire.

The collapse of the Japanese ship at Atakebune finally marked the first "effective output" of the Japanese forces since the start of this naval battle.

However, although the shells were fired, they only splashed on the water's surface; not a single shell hit the other side.

The reason is simple: at this time, the galleys were always facing the enemy head-on, and the long and narrow hulls effectively reduced the exposed area. In addition, the Japanese gunners had not received professional training in naval artillery firing, and the hit rate of the artillery was quite poor under the turbulence of the wind and waves.

The other two Atakebune also began firing, but like Kuroshima Murao's flagship, they had difficulty hitting the hull of the galley. At most, they could scrape the wide side of the oars and destroy a few blades.

"Raise the muzzle. Change to belt ammunition."

At Cheng Keqin's command, the gunners on the oar-powered sailboat quickly took out chain ammunition from their pouches, preparing to launch an attack on the large atatake.

At the same time, as the oar-powered sailboat broke through to a distance of about ten zhang from the Ataka ship, Ataka's national collapse also entered the firing blind zone.

Kuroshima knew this was his last chance, so he quickly gave the order:

"Get on board, prepare to board."