Chapter 373

In the Gulf of Tonkin, the roar of artillery fire broke the silence of the sea.

Having received a request for help from a merchant ship and accepted a generous gift, the Annan navy had only just left home for over sixty li when they were met with a head-on blow.

A three-hundred-ton warship had not yet had time to react when a large hole appeared in its hull.

Seawater poured in rapidly, and the quick-witted Annan naval soldiers jumped ship to escape.

In an instant, the warship was swallowed by the sea.

The sharp artillery fire took the Annan naval officers and soldiers, who were accustomed to close-quarters combat, by surprise.

"Pass the order down: gunners, return fire immediately!

Detach a small boat and return immediately to request reinforcements from the Provincial Military Commander.

This general will eat up this group of pirates and use their heads to tell the world that the Great Yue navy is not to be insulted lightly."

Naval Assistant Regional Commander Ruan Yufeng immediately ordered a counterattack.

The money could not be taken in vain; if the merchant ship could not be saved, at least this group of pirates had to be wiped out.

As a minor hegemon in South Asia, the strength of the Annan navy was not weak.

Although the firepower of the pirates before them was a bit fierce and their warships were a bit tall, this was not a reason for them to retreat.

With a numerical advantage in warships, if he lost to a group of pirates, he, the Naval Assistant Regional Commander, would have no future.

The wrong judgment caused this detachment to lose the best opportunity to withdraw.

If they had been flying the flags of the Yu army navy, Ruan Yufeng would definitely have turned around and run at the first opportunity.

There is a fundamental difference between a regular army and pirates; except for a few pirate groups that have completed a transformation, most pirates are just makeshift troupes.

"Assistant Regional Commander, there are enemy ships flanking us from the side!"

Receiving the warning, Ruan Yufeng secretly thought things were looking bad.

At this time, a southwest wind was blowing, and the suddenly appearing enemy was coming with the wind, moving much faster than normal sailing.

"Western warships?"

"Signal them immediately and tell them this is a misunderstanding!"

Ruan Yufeng hurriedly ordered.

In his impression, there were no Western warships among the pirates, and the Great Dayu navy was not equipped with such warships either.

Only the Franks from the West liked to use sailing warships.

The Great Yue Dynasty was at war with Great Dayu; wiping out blind pirates was fine, but provoking the Franks was not the act of a wise man.

As the distance between the ships closed, the original Portuguese flag was suddenly lowered, and then the flag of the Great Dayu navy was raised.

At almost the same time, the pirate fleet that had been fighting them also raised the Great Dayu navy flag.

"Retreat!"

Realizing they had been tricked, Ruan Yufeng decisively ordered a retreat.

Calculating the time, the ship requesting reinforcements would soon return to port.

Fighting while retreating, they only needed to hold out for two hours, and reinforcements would arrive.

"Send the fire-powder ships to ram them and disrupt the enemy's formation!"

Seeing the distance closing, the Regional Commander of the Two Guangs navy on the flagship decisively issued the ramming order.

Before artillery technology improved, ramming was an important means of attack.

The Two Guangs naval fleet was exactly in a state of transition between the two.

They were starting to equip large-caliber artillery while retaining the original close-quarters combat methods.

According to Li Mu's plan, it is expected that within the next five years, the Two Guangs navy will gradually phase out previous tactics and enter the era of great artillery warships.

……

Annan Naval Camp.

"What?"

"Ambushed by pirates?"

Huang Jinchuan asked in disbelief.

Pirates ambushing the navy sounded like a fantasy no matter how one looked at it.

Whether they could win or not aside, the key was that it was meaningless.

Choosing to be a pirate is for the sake of wealth; provoking the navy has no substantial benefit other than self-destruction.

Now that heroes are rising everywhere on the sea, the kind of behemoth like the Zheng family at the end of the Ming Dynasty has not yet appeared.

Although the Great Yue Dynasty is not as good as Great Dayu, once they are determined to encircle and suppress a certain pirate group, they can still do it.

"Yes, Provincial Military Commander!"

"Our fleet went out for a routine patrol and encountered pirates robbing a merchant ship, so we went up to stop them.

We never expected this group of pirates to be so vicious that they would even dare to attack the imperial navy.

The Assistant Regional Commander is leading the fleet in a bitter battle with the enemy and sent this subordinate back to request reinforcements.

Please, Provincial Military Commander, dispatch troops to wipe out this group of pirates completely!"

The middle-aged general decisively chose to hide the key information.

It is normal procedure for the navy to stop pirates when they see them plundering; there was no need to expose the matter of taking money.

In essence, they were going out to do private business behind their superiors' backs.

Once discovered, everyone in the fleet would be in big trouble.

"Pass the order down: let the Central Army Assistant Regional Commander and the Right Army Assistant Regional Commander lead their respective troops to rescue the Left Army Assistant Regional Commander's unit!"

After a brief hesitation, Huang Jinchuan immediately issued the order.

Regardless of the reason, pirates attacking the navy is not allowed.

……

On the sea.

Warships loaded with gunpowder rushed toward the Annan navy, their hulls like wild horses breaking free from their reins, cutting across the sea at the fastest speed.

"Bad!"

"Quick, dodge!"

In the panic, Ruan Yufeng hurriedly issued the order.

Unfortunately, by the time he realized it, it was all too late.

To avoid the ramming of the fire ships, two Annan warships unfortunately collided, which then affected a third warship passing by.

The unlucky warship in the middle was directly overturned by the impact, while the other two unlucky ones shot toward their other companions like sharp arrows.

At the same time as the chain collisions occurred, the fire ships loaded with gunpowder also rammed into them.

With a loud bang, the firelight instantly swallowed the night, also casting fear into everyone's hearts.

The shockwave from the explosion kicked up huge waves, as if the sea itself were trembling for this explosion.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, more than ten more Annan warships were swallowed by the sea.

By now, the fleet led by Ruan Yufeng had suffered over fifty percent combat losses.

After the formation collapsed, the remaining warships scattered like birds and beasts.

Through the sound of artillery fire, one could vaguely hear the shouts of officers urging them to speed up.

The great battle had turned into a hunting game; the time to compete for speed had arrived.

The slower warships were soon caught up by the Yu army and became meat on the chopping block.

Some generals could not bear the pressure and could not help but raise the white flag, but they were still met with shell after shell.

It was not that the Yu army didn't take prisoners, but the current situation was special.

The Yu army had to finish the battle before the enemy reinforcements arrived and then withdraw from this sea area.

The warships that chose to surrender were all ships that had lost their mobility.

Carrying these dead weights would seriously affect their speed of action.

If left alone, the enemy navy would pull the ships back, and after some emergency repairs, they could continue to be used.

The sky gradually darkened, and the bloody battle came to an end; the blood-stained seawater attracted countless underwater predators.

"Stop the pursuit and return to Lianzhou Port."

Seeing the vague appearance of ship shadows in the distance, Li Wenhe immediately issued the order to retreat.

This operation was to take advantage of the situation, not to fight the Annan people to the death.

Being able to eat up an enemy detachment with minimal losses is a huge profit.

There is no need to fight another battle with the enemy's reinforcements for the sake of a few remnants.

Don't look at the fact that the battle just now only destroyed dozens of enemy ships; these were the main elite of the Annan navy.

The strength of one detachment is equivalent to one-fourth of the Annan navy's strength.

For any unit, losing one-fourth of its strength is enough to hurt its bones and muscles.

When we go back and exaggerate the battle results, the pirate groups hovering nearby should be ready to perform.

Annan's coastline is so long; once pirates land and plunder everywhere, the bloodied Annan navy will have plenty to keep them busy.

……

"Boss Duan, just received news.

The Two Guangs navy disguised themselves as pirates and ambushed the Annan navy in the coastal waters of Annan, sinking dozens of large and medium-sized warships."

The one-eyed man reported excitedly.

In order to plunder the Annan country, after the meeting at the Provincial Military Commander's office that day, the pirate leaders all went back to recruit men and form teams, forming three major pirate alliances.

The man called Boss Duan before them was the leader elected by one of these pirate alliances.

"Oh!"

"It seems the promise of the Marquis of Hanshui still holds.

The Annan navy has suffered heavy losses; now everyone can rest assured!"

Duan Zhengze said with a chuckle.

Robbing the Annan people is a significant challenge for the pirates.

Looking purely at the number of warships, the pirates have dozens of times more than the Annan navy.

But ships are not all the same.

Most pirate ships are converted from merchant ships, and their combat power is far inferior to warships.

A single large naval warship can take on a dozen pirate merchant ships as if it were child's play.

Even large pirate groups don't have many warships.

The greatest wish of countless pirate leaders is to have their own shipyards so they can build all kinds of ships to their heart's content.

Even the most awesome Pirate King has only achieved half of the goal, which is: owning his own shipyard.

Wanting to build all kinds of ships is impossible.

On one hand, it stems from the imperial court's technological blockade, and on the other hand, building large warships requires not only a large number of craftsmen but also the cooperation of the industrial chain.

Having only craftsmen and wood can at most build some ordinary ships.

Some pirates seek amnesty precisely for the sake of warship manufacturing technology.

The most typical example is Zheng Zhilong at the end of the Ming Dynasty; before accepting the court's amnesty, although he was also a giant pirate on the sea, he still had many competitors.

After obtaining amnesty and getting the Ming Dynasty's official shipyards, artillery technology, and a large number of craftsmen, the Zheng Zhilong group achieved a qualitative leap.

"Boss Duan, that's being too formal.

With you, brother, taking the lead, how could we brothers not be at ease!"

The burly man with a thick beard replied immediately.

If everyone weren't a witness, no one would have thought that he had been the most fiercely opposed before.

There is no other reason; he simply didn't trust the imperial court, thinking the imperial army wanted them and the Annan navy to fight until both were exhausted, and then jump out to pick the peaches.

Now that the Two Guangs navy has taken the lead and severely damaged the Annan navy, everyone's worries have vanished.

Everything else can be faked, but battle cannot deceive people.

With their abilities, they can verify the truth of the information at any time.

The Annan people couldn't possibly use their own naval fleet to cooperate with the Yu army in this play.

"Since everyone has no objections, let's pick a good day to land and pull off a big one.

However, how to fight specifically still requires technique.

Since the Annan navy has gathered in the north, we will start robbing from the south.

If they rush to the south to rescue, we will come back to rob the north.

Of course, if conditions are ripe, it's not impossible to unite with the other two families to eat up the Annan navy.

Plundering a country, the shipyards, craftsmen, artillery, gold, silver, jewelry, and beauties we want will all be there.

I, Duan, am not a person who eats alone; as long as you brothers are willing to put in the effort, everyone will have a share of these spoils!"

Duan Zhengze immediately painted a picture.

Knowing that some of these people lack trust in the imperial court and don't want to accept amnesty, he simply used the spoils to tempt them directly.

Compared to the Great Dayu Dynasty, the Annan people's technology might be a little behind, but for the pirates, it is still very useful.

……

Zhennan Pass.

"My Lord, the Regional Commander of the Two Guangs navy, Li Wenhe, sent a battle report saying that they severely damaged the enemy navy in the Annan waters three days ago.

They sank over eighty large and medium-sized enemy warships and annihilated over three thousand enemy naval soldiers."

Lan Linjie said happily.

The pacification of Annan is the greatest strategy of the Li Mu group at the moment.

Success will establish a foundation for a hundred years.

No matter how the world situation develops in the future, they will have a place of their own.

If the plan fails, at best, the reputation of Li Mu, the undefeated god of war, will be greatly damaged; at worst, he will be plunged into countless court disputes.

He has read history books and is very clear that the noble group has now reached a crossroads.

Looking at the entire history, one cannot find a second example of such large-scale factional strife as in the Great Dayu Dynasty.

In the past, factional strife was a game played by a few great families plus dozens of secondary aristocratic families.

As long as one controlled the heads of these families, one could use these families to influence the politics of the entire country.

With the development of the imperial examination system, the aristocratic clans declined, replaced by a new gentry group.

Compared to the traditional aristocratic clans, the gentry group is larger in number, and controlling them has become more difficult.

Originally, there might have been only a few factions in the court; now, it has developed to the point where there are factions within factions.

Taking the Qingliu group as an example, the Chu Party, Zhe Party, Jiangnan Academy, etc., have appeared below it...

If subdivided further, within these small groups, there is a distinction between radicals and conservatives.

The most critical point is that where an imperial official stands in which faction is not constant but changes constantly with interests.

Faction leaders have influence over their subordinates, but the number they can directly control is very small.

Most officials have their own positions; when something really happens, they cannot guarantee that they will all be consistent with their affiliated faction.

This kind of differentiation is the result of the continuous efforts of successive Great Dayu Emperors, successfully weakening the power of the ministers.

In the entire Great Dayu Dynasty, there has never been a case of a powerful minister monopolizing power.

In another dynasty, a political novice like Emperor Yongning wanting to seize power from the hands of the regent ministers would inevitably involve blood and carnage.

But in Great Dayu, the transfer of power was basically completed peacefully.

Although there were many political struggles during this period, the intensity was much lower.

Except for the unlucky Zuo Guang'en, who was convicted and executed, the other regent ministers basically retreated unscathed.

Two were accidentally tossed to death during the period, but those were accidents; afterwards, they were still given grand funerals, and there was no further liquidation.

However, this was the situation in the past; now the situation is undergoing subtle changes.

The rise of the noble faction has encroached on the interests of the civil official group.

Now that they need to use them, the civil official group has not reached a unified position because of their respective interests.

Once the world is at peace, the military generals will become their common enemy.

As a private secretary, he has been labeled with Li Mu's tag; both sides share the same fate.

To stand in an invincible position, one must prepare in advance.

(End of chapter)