The Yingzhou that Yang Zhen was riding on was as tall as a mountain in front of the Japanese slave ships. Even if the ship was not armed with artillery to the teeth and it could just crush it, the Japanese slave ships would be in bad luck.

However, Yang Zhen learned from Lin Chongfan that there might be a fire hazard in the Japanese slave fleet, so he acted more cautiously and did not order to directly crush them with the hull of the ship.

Instead, they ordered the artillery fire from a distance of one or two miles, and directly used the solid projectiles of the Hongyi heavy artillery to bombard the densely packed group of Japanese slave ships parked together.

This kind of heavy artillery bombardment does not need to be aimed at all. As long as it is fired at the Japanese slave ship group, the bullets will be perfect.

The Yingzhou itself is equipped with thirty Hongyi heavy cannons. Although the thirty heavy cannons are distributed on the left and right sides and can only be used on one side at a time, the power of the Hongyi heavy cannons is no joke.

.

The most important thing is that in addition to the Yingzhou, there are other twenty-four 400-material battleships lined up on the sea to the left and right of the Yingzhou, each of which has six heavy red cannons.

Taken together, there are one hundred and forty-four heavy cannons.

Although each salvo they fired could only exert half of the power of their heavy artillery, all four hundred warships lined up in a row, facing the enemy from the starboard or port side, and the seventy-two heavy cannons fired in turn, and the power was extremely amazing.

The whole sea was filled with the sound of cannons and smoke billowing from the gunfire. The huge iron bullets that penetrated the Japanese slave ships and then hit the sea surface made the depths of the bay where the Japanese slave ships were moored seem to be boiling.

The battle in Hirado West Bay can hardly be described as a normal naval battle, because many of the Japanese slave ships crowded together were smashed on the sea without even raising their sails.

The ships in the bay that were closer to the shore had their oarsmen on board and their sails raised, but they were blocked by other ships and trapped inside, unable to escape from left to right.

Although the ships outside have wide channels and are easy to fight, they are far away from the coast, and many Japanese slaves are in chaos, so they will not be able to reach them for a while.

Yang Zhen was on the stern of the Yingzhou, holding a telescope in his hand, looking at the Japanese slave warships crowded together on the shore of the bay, like water boiling, and let out a sigh of relief.

In the final analysis, Yang Zhen, who came from later generations, was still bluffed or misled by various Japanese fans hundreds of years later.

Why was the Japanese slave country the first to open its eyes to the world and learn about Orchid? What was the Japanese slave country whose iron cannons were far more powerful than the Ming Dynasty? What Japanese warriors experienced the Warring States Period and how high their individual soldier quality was? What the Japanese slave country was

One Piece is enough to take over the world and so on.

Hundreds of years later, all kinds of exaggerations by various Japanese blowers made Yang Zhen a little too cautious when facing the Japanese slave country in the early days of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Around 1:00 a.m. on July 17, the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, the naval battle in Hirado West Bay came to an end.

As Lin Qingye, Lin Siye, and Lin Chongfan led their troops to rush down from the dilapidated mountain city, a large number of Japanese slaves who were stuck on the coast gave up their struggle and resisted, and chose to surrender.

As for those Japanese warriors who successfully boarded the ship and attempted to fight back with the ship, some died directly from the long-distance bombardment of Hongyi heavy artillery, but more of them were injured and fell into the water and were killed by Yang Zhen.

Lead the musketeers on the fleet to shoot them one by one on the sea at a closer distance.

The scenes that Yang Zhen was originally worried about, such as close-range fire attacks by Japanese slave ships, or launching close-quarters battles and jumping gangs to seize ships, did not happen at all.

Therefore, the large number of grenadiers that Yang Zhen had previously prepared for the close combat played almost no role in this naval battle.

Including the improved sky cannon ordered by Yang Zhen to be cast specifically for equipping the naval battalion, there was no opportunity to show off its power.

The entire fleet was equipped with hundreds of cannons. Only when the war was coming to an end, when the first echelon led by Yang Zhen had already approached the Japanese slave fleet under the influence of wind and waves, did they fire the first round.

Flowering bomb.

Many soaring cannons received the news that the Japanese slaves had surrendered before even firing a shot.

However, the musketeers of the Eastern Conquest Army scattered on various large ships played a big role in the final battle, killing a large number of Japanese slave soldiers floating on the sea, leaving corpses floating in the entire bay.

At noon on July 17, it was not until Lin Qingye and Li Lu who landed on the shore gathered all the surrendered Japanese slaves on the shore and took custody of them that Yang Zhenfang got off the Yingzhou. Surrounded by a large number of musketeers led by Zhang Guogan,

Along the winding mountain road with corpses strewn everywhere, we climbed up to the ruins of the old Hirado Castle camp.

"Congratulations to the Commander-in-Chief on his victory in the first battle against the Japanese slaves in the Eastern Campaign. Congratulations to the Commander-in-Chief on his complete victory!"

"Commander Lin, you have worked hard too. I can do this battle with you, and you are equally indispensable!"

"I don't dare to talk about hard work in a humble position. This is part of the humble position!"

Lin Qingye originally planned to lead a crowd to greet Yang Zhen where the Yingzhou docked, but Yang Zhen refused on the grounds that it was important to wrap up the war and deal with the aftermath.

At this moment, Yang Zhen saw Lin Qingye, who was covered in blood and looked haggard. He thought of his arrangement of ordering him to stay here and act as a cicada to lure the enemy. He felt a little sorry. Not only did he hold him back to prevent him from kneeling down to greet the ceremony, but he also first

This sentence fully affirms their contribution to staying here.

However, Lin Qingye had been ups and downs in the officialdom for many years, and naturally he did not dare to take credit in front of Yang Zhen.

"Haha, okay, okay. How is the situation at Hirado Port in Hirado East Bay?"

Yang Zhen stood on the commanding heights of the former Hirado Castle camp and looked east. He could actually overlook the entire Hirado Port and the Hirado Castle Town within the port.

The sea surface in the harbor was in a mess, with many wrecked ships, driftwood and corpses floating there, and smoke was still rising from some wrecked ships that had been stranded on the shore.

As for the Hirado Castle Town, it is a scorched ruins, and everything is dark.

"Going back to the Governor, just yesterday evening, the head of the Hizen Matsuura clan, Matsuura Shigenobu, transferred all the main force of the Japanese slave fleet to the West Bay to anchor, leaving only a hundred or so ships, and blocked the exit of Hirado Port.

"After the battle started in the West Bay early this morning, the Governor blocked the main force of the Japanese slave fleet in the West Bay. He immediately ordered the ships in the harbor to go into battle. It happened that the heirs of the Beiji led the Ukujima fleet to arrive outside the harbor, and now they have been defeated!

"However, the humble fleet suffered heavy losses in the previous round, and there are few gunboats in the open sea. It is impossible to annihilate them all like the governor did. Some ships may escape back to Matsuura Bay to report!"

"oh?"

After listening to Lin Qingye's thoughtful report, Yang Zhen frowned at first, but then relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Haha, you don't have to worry about this. They have ships to escape, so that's the best. If no one escapes, I will send several of their ships back to report the news!"

However, when he said this, not only Lin Qingye was a little stunned, but Li Lu, Zhang Guogan and others who were following Yang Zhen were also a little confused.

"What does the governor mean?"

"Haha, don't worry about what I mean. Let's talk about our own losses first. How many Japanese slaves and Japanese slave warships were killed and captured? Are there any famous feudal lords from the Japanese slave country among the prisoners?

A big fish like that?”

Yang Zhen paid no attention to the escape of several Japanese slave ships, and even expressed his intention to release several Japanese slave ships, which aroused many people's doubts.

However, Yang Zhen ignored these people's doubts and did not want to answer them at this time.

First of all, there are a lot of talkative people on the scene, and once your secret is almost made public, if there is a big talker, the news will inevitably be exposed in the future.

Secondly, the plan in my mind is not yet mature, and it is hard to say whether it can be put into action. Moreover, this plan is a plan that will die in the light of day. Once word spreads, there will be no chance of it happening again.

Therefore, even in the face of everyone's doubts, he just laughed pretending to be profound, and then turned the topic to the battle losses and gains that he was most concerned about at the moment.

Sure enough, when Yang Zhen asked, everyone's attention was immediately attracted by Yang Zhen's question, and they involuntarily turned their attention to Li Lu and Lin Qingye.

The results of the just-concluded naval battle were mainly counted by Li Lu, the right-wing commander of the advance army marching eastward, who was in charge of commanding the grenadiers who had been watching the battle.

"When I returned to the governor, after Zhang Tianbao and his colleagues interrogated and counted the Japanese slave prisoners, they found that there were 962 Japanese slave ships of various types, including large and small customs ships, small morning ships, etc. in Hirado West Bay.

"Now, the ones captured by us are still in good condition and can be used. There are 231 of them, which have not sunk but need to be overhauled before they can be used. There are still more than a hundred, and the rest have been destroyed by us in the sea!"

Facing Yang Zhen's inquiry, Li Lu escaped from his arms with a wooden signboard, looked at the memo carved on it with a knife, and reported to Yang Zhen one by one.

"As for the Japanese slaves gathered in the West Bay, about half of them were camping on the boats and the other half were camping on the shore. We have killed all the Japanese slaves who were camping on the boats. There were 5,300 Japanese slaves who were camping on the shore.

They both surrender!

"Just now, I and Commander Lin learned from a bullshit feudal lord named Terasawa Kengo of the surrendered Japanese slave kingdom Karatsu that the total number of Japanese slaves assisting the Matsuura clan in counterattacking Hirado Island this time was as high as

Fifteen thousand people!

"According to what Terasawa Kentaka said, they will not only help the Matsura clan regain Hirado Island, but they will also go south to the Goto Islands to help the Goto clan restore the feudal hall on Fukue Island, and then use Fukue Island as a springboard to seize the island.

Where is our Yingzhou Island!"

"oh?!"

After hearing what Li Lu found out from the interrogation of Tangjin Domain Lord Temple Ze Jiangao, Yang Zhen was really a little surprised this time.

As expected, the people on Yingzhou Island have not done anything to them yet, but they have already begun to plot against Yingzhou Island.

"I asked why after Qiu Guangyi and Qiu Shen occupied Fujiang Island, there was no movement from the Japanese slaves! It turns out that they have secretly made preparations to seize our Yingzhou Island!"

Following Yang Zhen's sigh, the generals who followed Yang Zhen heard the words and immediately started complaining.

"Haha, you little Japanese slaves are so courageous. You dare to plot to seize Yingzhou Island?! It seems that not only did we hit them right this time, but we also had to hurt them and subdue them before we can stop. Otherwise, as soon as we retreat, Yingzhou Island will be destroyed.

I’m afraid there will never be peace on the island!”

"Yes, that's the truth! Now that the war has begun, we must fight to the end! If we can't work together to occupy Kyushu Island this time, the Japanese slaves may counterattack Hirado Island and Goto Island in the future

archipelago!"

"Yes, Governor, since there is Iki Island to the north of Hirado Island, and there is Tsushima Island not far from Iki Island, we might as well take this opportunity to occupy them all, otherwise they will definitely threaten us in the future.

!”

"That's how it should be. As the saying goes, if you cut the weeds without eradicating the roots, they will grow again with the spring breeze. Since we have the upper hand this time, we must fight until they can no longer threaten us!"

"Yeah yeah!"

"I totally agree!"

…

Li Lu, Qiu Guangyi, Yan Shengsan, Zhang Guogan, Lin Qingye and others successively spoke and expressed their suggestions to Yang Zhen for the army's next actions.

Everyone present was very angry when they heard that this Japanese slave fleet actually had plans to seize Yingzhou Island.

When Yang Zhen decided to come to fight the Japanese slaves, some of them actually couldn't figure it out and felt that fighting the Japanese slaves was not within the scope of Jinhae Town's responsibilities.

But now, those generals who originally had reservations about fighting Japanese slaves no longer have any disapproval in their hearts.
Chapter completed!