Ming East India Company

"You brat, isn't the Tokugawa family obviously trying to get something for nothing?" Bai Ling muttered in dissatisfaction.

"They're trying to bribe us with territories from four countries that don't belong to them, yet they're asking us to send troops. They've really got a clever plan."

Bai Wenye saw through the Tokugawa family's intentions and couldn't help but shake his head.

Bai Ye remained remarkably calm.

"Even without the Tokugawa family's so-called territorial promises, I will still launch this war."

"Why?" Bai Ling and Bai Wenzheng asked in unison.

"Because of this."

Shiro casually tossed a stack of documents onto the table.

"This is the list of the main Japanese military commanders currently in Korea."

Bai Ling and Bai Wenzheng looked at the names of Japanese daimyo listed above: Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Shimazu Yoshihiro...

"Most of the territories of these daimyo are located in the west, which is within the scope of the Ryukyu Plan's expansion. Therefore, sending troops to attack them is actually helping ourselves."

"It's much easier to annihilate them on the sea than on land."

A meaningful smile appeared on Shirono's face.

……

In the winter of the 26th year of the Wanli reign, the wind from the Tsushima Strait, carrying ice shards, lashed against the black iron hulls of the Ryukyu Navy's galleys.

Standing on the stern of the flagship "Sea Falcon No. 7" was Wang Sanshi, the commander of the Ryukyu rowing fleet.

His eyes were fixed on the distant sea. Ever since Shirane issued the order to intercept the main force of the Japanese army returning home and prevent them from returning, Wang Sanshi had ordered the oar-sail fleet to break up its organization and set out in groups of one ship to intercept the Japanese army.

Captain Zhang Chun, who was with him, was very puzzled by this behavior:

"Minister? Why have we divided the fleet into such a fragmented group? If something happens, the vast ocean will make it difficult for us to contact each other!"

Last time, Wang Sanshi risked seizing Jeju Island without Bai Ye's consent, which displeased Bai Ye, but merit is merit and demerit is demerit.

Within a year, Wang Sanshi's fleet perfectly executed Hakuno's blockade strategy and achieved many victories. As a result, Hakuno recently established a naval ministry in addition to the three departments of Ryukyu, and Wang Sanshi became the first naval minister.

Wang Sanshi, nominally in charge of all the navy on Ryukyu Island, has recently been radiant and working exceptionally hard.

Wang Sanshi turned his head and asked in return:

"Have you calculated the size of the Japanese navy we recently intercepted?"

Zhang Chun did some quick calculations:

"Two yesterday, one the day before yesterday, and one the day before that... There's nothing wrong with that!"

"What's the difference between this and when we were carrying out the lockdown mission?"

Zhang Chun thought for a moment:

"It seems that the scale is getting smaller and smaller. In the past, every time we encountered a fleet of Japanese ships, there were at least twenty or thirty ships, and sometimes forty or fifty. Now they are all in twos and threes."

What are your thoughts on this?

"To be honest, Minister, I think the Japanese have acted very unwisely."

Before this, the Japanese fleet we encountered was large, and it was difficult for our four galley ships to completely annihilate them; some always managed to escape.

But now, whenever we encounter a lone Japanese navy vessel, we attack it ship by ship, not letting a single one escape. This is much more satisfying than before.

"You're confused." Wang Sanshi pointed at Zhang Chundu's head.

"Have you ever considered that if the Japanese navy on the other side were to break into smaller units like this, wouldn't the probability of them encountering us as a whole be lower?"

What is the overall probability of encountering us?

"That's right. The sea is vast, and there is no difference in size between a fleet of three ships and a fleet of ten ships, but we have a limited number of galleys to carry out blockade missions."

If the Japanese break up their navy, although every Japanese ship we encounter will be unable to escape, the overall number of Japanese ships we destroy will be less. In the long run, our blockade will become unsustainable.

At this moment, Zhang Chun suddenly realized:

"Minister, now that you mention it, I understand. We've certainly had a lot of fun fighting lately, but the results and reports of victory are actually fewer than before..."

Wang Sanshi said:

"That's why I'm spreading out our fleet; that way, we'll increase our chances of capturing them."

Zhang Chun was very happy:

"The minister is wise..."

Before the words were even finished, a sailor on the lookout tower of the Fujian ship ahead shouted at the top of his lungs, "General! Masts are visible to the northwest! Countless!"

Wang Sanshi picked up his binoculars and looked out. At the horizon, a dark fleet of ships, like a flock of crows that had swallowed coal, was fleeing north along the coastline of Tsushima Island.

Leading the way were several Ataka-sen (boats with towering superstructures) flying flags bearing the names "Konishi" and "Kato." The fleet also included even larger vessels—Nihon-fushun (boats with a Japanese hull).

As a poor imitation of the Ming Dynasty and Ryukyu's sealed ships, the Japanese sealed ships were actually of very poor quality. Not only did they lack watertight compartments, but the quality of their sails was also not good, and their speed was average.

At the same time, the poor length-to-width ratio also made Japanese junks, like early European carracks, prone to sinking on long voyages...

However, Japan inadvertently did one thing right during the naval siege: it concentrated its artillery fire.

Unlike Atakebune, which only had one or two Kunikatsu cannons installed on each ship, the Japanese Hōbune had dozens of Kunikatsu cannons on board, making them extremely powerful.

The gun emplacements were very full, allowing firing from all directions, which completely negated the maneuverability advantage of the oar-powered sailboat.

Previously, he could outmaneuver the old turtle by maneuvering, but now he's finding it harder to fight against a real hedgehog.

Even more critically, the ship's superstructure was taller than Atate, resulting in a smaller blind spot for firepower and a larger area of ​​impact for the oar-powered sailing ship.

Today, Shirano encountered the main force of the Japanese army that was retreating from Korea to the Japanese mainland: the remnants of Konishi Yukinaga's First Army, Kato Kiyomasa's Second Army, and Shimazu Yoshihiro's Shimazu family fleet, totaling more than 500 ships of various sizes, carrying tens of thousands of remnants of the army and looted goods, trying to slip back to Nagasaki under the cover of winter fog.

During the previous phased retreat, although a few "escaped" soldiers managed to escape, the Japanese army as a whole still suffered heavy losses. This time, the remaining Japanese troops simply gathered at Busan Port and set off together to gamble on their luck.

Unexpectedly, they stumbled upon Wang Sanshi's lone fleet.

Even more critically, because Wang Sanshi had dispersed the fleet, the ships could not exchange information. What he did not know was that the blockade fleets of other ports except Busan had already gained nothing.

At this moment, Wang Sanshi was sweating profusely. Theoretically speaking, he could have simply left now, since Bai Ye wouldn't have blamed him for letting such a large fleet escape.

However, Wang Sanshi also knew that this was probably the entire main force of the Japanese army in Korea. If they were to escape, it would mean that the strategic objective of intercepting the Japanese navy returning home would have completely failed.

To fight or not to fight? Wang Sanshi was making a painful decision.

Zhang Chun was also taken aback by this "grand scene" and couldn't help but say to Wang Sanshi:

"Minister, should we retreat first? We can't possibly win against such a large fleet!"

At this moment, on the Japanese side, Konishi Yukinaga stood on the castle tower of the "Kanpaku Maru" Atakebune, his hand on the katana at his waist, his face darker than the winter fog.

The lookout ran to report:

"My lord! Ahead are Ming Dynasty ships! They're all long oars, no sails in sight!"

"Those 'centipede warships'!" Konishi Yukinaga gritted his teeth. In previous naval battles, the Japanese had already torn apart countless warships by these kinds of vessels.

"The entire army should retreat! Seal the ships and place them outside, while keep the ships in the interior to block the enemy."

Following Konishi Yukinaga's flag signals, the Japanese troops began to rapidly change formation.

Konishi Yukinaga's thinking is very simple:

Since the Guanchuan and Aotai ships can't beat the enemy's galley ships anyway, it's better to retreat the entire army and let the tall Fengchuan ships tank the damage on the outside. Maybe that will scare the enemy away!

On the cumbersome sealed ship, the Japanese soldiers kept changing the sails, trying to adjust the direction, while the nearby Sekisen and Ataka ships also began to desperately squeeze into the sealed ship.

As with countless previous formation changes, during this process, the towering hull of the ship repeatedly scraped and collided with nearby small boats, and many of the ships and boats were even wrecked and sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Wang Sanshi keenly observed all of this through his binoculars...

"Minister, let's go! If we don't leave now, it will be too late."

As the oar-powered sailboat was about to approach the range of the enemy's Fengzhou Guopo, Zhang Chun was extremely anxious.

Wang Sanshi put down his binoculars and made his final decision:

"The Ryukyu navy has no reason to flee at the sight of the enemy. Pass down the order: raise the sails and fight the enemy whenever we encounter them."

Zhang Chun could hardly believe his ears, but before he could question it, Wang Sanshi said in an even more unquestionable tone:

"Did you hear me? Raise the sails, rowers, pull the oars full speed, and charge in!"

Zhang Chun dared not resist any longer and could only order the entire ship to advance, launching a desperate attack.

Zhang Chun steered the ship from the front, adjusting it to a crosswind direction. The sails were billowing and the oarsmen rowed with all their might, propelling the ship toward the Japanese fleet at top speed.

"Listen up, everyone in front of you are your daimyo, samurai and magistrates in the East!"

If you are captured by them, you will become slaves again. If you want to stay peacefully as rowers in Ryukyu, then row like your lives depend on it.

To be honest, Shirono didn't treat these cheap slaves he bought from the "Kanto Talent Market" very well, but he was satisfied with them being fed and clothed. After all, the rowers were the source of power for the oarsmen, so they had to be guaranteed a basic supply of body heat.

Unexpectedly, these slaves actually thought that following Shirayuki was a good job, as rowing at sea was much better than farming for the samurai lords on land.

Zhang Chun also took advantage of this to encourage his slaves to work themselves to the bone.

This mobilization was effective; the slaves exerted all their strength to help the oarsmen move forward.

Standing at the bow of the ship, Konishi Yukinaga waved his command flag and gave instructions:

"Fire immediately! Use the 'National Collapse Cannon' and blast these Ming people to death!"

The outer flotillas opened fire, and countless shells were fired at Wang Sanshi's "Sea Falcon No. 7".

"Splash, splash, hiss." Shells kept falling into the water near the oarsman.

"Keep rowing, don't listen." Even though they were already within range of the bronze cannons at the bow, Wang Sanshi still ordered the fleet to continue forward.

Kato Kiyomasa's "Kotetsu Maru," hiding in the middle of the fleet, saw the galleys and, with bloodshot eyes, shouted, "Archery crew! Fire at them like crazy! Go around to their flanks!"

Hundreds of musketeers crouched on the ship's side, pulling the triggers at the Ming warships. However, the effective range of the muskets was less than 100 meters, and the freeboard of the Calais was extremely low. The cannonballs flew past the top of the ship, not even touching the hem of a rower's clothes.

With a loud bang, a cannonball landed on the side of the galley, instantly severing the three oar blades. Had the oarsman not been strapped to his seat, he would have been thrown out.

A flying piece of wood struck Wang Sanshi's right arm, and a sharp pain caused him to fall to the ground.

Blood filled the cabin, but Wang Sanshi continued to shout:

"Charge in, charge into their fleet!"

Then a sharp pain struck, and Wang Sanshi collapsed to the ground, falling into a coma.

At this moment, Zhang Chun understood Wang Sanshi's intention.

Now that the main ships are on the outside and the smaller ships are on the inside, once we rush in, the dense Japanese fleet will limit the effectiveness of firearms, which will actually benefit the oar-powered sailing ships.

Zhang Chun took over command from Wang Sanshi and continued to charge towards the enemy fleet.

Finally, the galley broke through the firepower blockade of the two large outer ships and successfully cut into the center of the Japanese fleet.

As expected, the Japanese troops stopped firing on the ships at this point, and the small boats in the center of the fleet were in complete chaos.

In previous naval battles, the Japanese army had witnessed the formidable fighting prowess of galley ships and knew that these small boats were no match for them.

Even more critically, due to the special status of the shogunate, the Japanese army concentrated its firepower on the shogunate, and Atate and Sekisen no longer have many matchlock guns.

Therefore, the galleys were like tigers among sheep, and the small boats could only frantically try to avoid them.

"Fake it, bombard them, wipe these Japanese pirates out!" Zhang Chun shouted, issuing the battle order.

"Boom!" The bronze cannon of the Sea Falcon No. 7 fired the first roar of this naval battle.

A Japanese warship, only a dozen meters away, was instantly torn open at the waterline.

The whirlpool it created almost affected even a nearby oared sailboat.

Because the shell pierced through the Atake ship directly along the waterline, the sea rushed in from both sides, and in a short while, the Atake sank to the bottom of the sea.

"Boom, boom!" The Sea Falcon No. 7 continued its slaughter. Because there were too many targets, Zhang Chun didn't even bother to waste ammunition on the small ships. He just focused on the slow-moving and numerous Ataka ships and reaped them like crazy.

The affected Japanese fleets began a mass exodus. In their desperate attempt to escape, the ships rammed into each other, and some even resorted to using matchlock guns to kill one another.

Meanwhile, Konishi Yukinaga, who was far away, also had red eyes. He knew that if things continued like this, the entire fleet would be destroyed by this galley.

He shouted angrily:

"Open fire! No matter how many of the ships in the fleet are your own, use the 'National Collapse' weapon to destroy that damned centipede."

"Boom, boom!" Konishi Yukinaga's ship began firing at the countless small boats in the formation.

Because the ships in the formation were so densely packed, Konishi Yukinaga's cannonballs were almost entirely wasted—they all hit his own men...