Chapter 442: Interrogation

Latest URL: "Help, help me..."

Fresh blood stained the seawater red as the Gaoli soldiers struggled and cried for help.

Now, they no longer possessed the arrogance they had when surrounding the Da Song fishermen; every one of them wore a look of terror.

Yet the Giant Ship that had sunk their warship ignored them entirely, passing by them and heading straight to pursue the remaining two Gaoli warships.

"Good, well hit, that is so satisfying."

The Da Song fishermen who had been fleeing stopped their fishing boats.

Standing at the bows, they danced with excitement.

These Gaoli people's hands were stained with who knows how much Da Song fishermen's blood, and finally, someone was dealing with them.

Even though they did not know who the owners of these warships were.

But they knew that these Giant Ships would not harm them.

Some old fishermen even shed tears.

This sea was the sea of Da Song.

They fished and gathered pearls in their own sea, yet they had to be bullied and hunted by Gaoli.

No amount of language could describe this humiliation.

"Thank you, thank you!"

The fishermen knelt on their boats one after another, kowtowing continuously toward the Giant Ships.

On the warship, Zhao Xu saw this scene.

He felt very unsettled in his heart.

These fishermen were all his subjects; on land, they were constantly threatened by the Northern Di, and at sea, they were bullied by Gaoli.

Before, when there were no warships, he was powerless.

But from now on, he would never let them suffer the slightest grievance again.

The debt Gaoli owed them, he would collect in full.

"A trap, a trap!"

While the Da Song fishermen were overjoyed,

the Gaoli warships were plunged into chaos.

Vice General Li's legs trembled uncontrollably, and he muttered to himself.

The thunderous sound had plunged him into complete panic.

That was Artillery; the Northern Di had demonstrated the power of this Artillery to them when they were in Gaoli.

Jin Taixi's face turned pale, but he still maintained his composure, constantly urging a retreat.

"It must be Yan Wang's warship." Jin Taixi's eyes narrowed.

"No matter whose it is, we are definitely no match, let's flee quickly." Vice General Li shouted: "Row faster, row faster!"

But everything was destined to be in vain.

The Giant Ship was very fast, and it caught up to them in the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.

When the Giant Ship sailed alongside them, Jin Taixi and Vice General Li fell into immense panic.

They saw many people appear on the deck of the Giant Ship, standing in a row, aiming their gun muzzles at them.

Immediately, the muzzles of the Artillery on the side of the warship spewed Flame.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The Giant Ship's attack was crisp and decisive.

"Ah..."

"Help..."

"..."

The Cannonballs pierced the hulls of the Gaoli warships; the Gaoli soldiers rowing in the cabins were struck, and flesh and blood flew everywhere instantly.

On the deck, the Gaoli soldiers were equally miserable.

Under the fire of the Flintlocks, bloody holes were punched into the Gaoli soldiers' bodies, and they fell into pools of blood.

On the Sailing Warship, Zhao Xu sat steadily on the deck.

Arrows shot by Gaoli Archers during their counterattack flew past from time to time.

The sound of cannons and guns continued; after one round of firing, the Artillerymen continued to reload for a second round.

However, after only one round of firing, the boatmen in the Tower Ship's cabin were basically all dead or wounded.

"Boom, boom..."

Another volley; the solid Cannonballs pierced through the Tower Ship's hull planks as if piercing through tofu. After the Cannonballs entered the cabin, they destroyed everything inside. The terrified Gaoli boatmen were continuously sent flying by direct hits from the Cannonballs, and blood splattered the entire bottom of the cabin like ink.

"Bang, bang..."

The shooting on the deck continued. At this time, the Gaoli soldiers were in a state of complete panic, being continuously killed by Flintlocks. Some soldiers were so terrified they jumped directly into the sea, others were so scared they hid everywhere, and even more soldiers knelt on the deck and chose to surrender.

"Spare our lives, spare our lives, we surrender." Vice General Li's pants were wet.

Being shelled at such close range, they were almost scared to death.

Jin Zhengxi had been smashed into minced meat by a single Cannonball during the first round of shelling.

He did not want to end up like him!

Zhou Yi had been directing the battle and saw the Gaoli generals and soldiers surrendering one after another.

He reported this situation to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu nodded; he needed to capture a few Gaoli generals to understand the current situation in Gaoli.

"Surrender and you shall not be killed!"

Upon receiving the order, Zhou Yi shouted toward the Gaoli soldiers on the Tower Ship, while at the same time, a banner inscribed with "Surrender and you shall not be killed" was hoisted high.

Seeing this banner, more Gaoli soldiers knelt on the deck and chose to surrender.

Gaoli had always used the script of Da Song; although the soldiers spoke a language different from that of Da Song, those who were literate could still understand the characters.

After several rounds of shelling, the Tower Ship had lost its power and was now just waiting to die.

Before long, Zhou Yi ordered the rope ladders to be lowered and directed his soldiers to take the surrendered Gaoli soldiers into custody on the ship.

"Move, move quickly!"

The crew members held Flintlocks against the Gaoli soldiers, herding them into the ship's hold to be kept under guard.

The two Tower Ships had a total of over four hundred soldiers; now, fewer than seventy of these four hundred remained alive, as the majority of the soldiers had died under the shelling and Flintlock fire.

At this moment, these surrendered Gaoli soldiers were each like frightened rabbits, their gazes dull and their bodies trembling.

They no longer possessed the ferocity they had shown when hunting down the Da Song fishermen.

"Your Highness, the captives are all here," Zhou Yi said, pointing to the Gaoli soldiers kneeling on the ground.

Zhao Xu nodded and asked, "Which of you can speak the language of Da Song?"

Because Gaoli was once a vassal state of Da Song, the Gaoli script and other things were connected to Da Song; Gaoli people recognized Da Song characters, and some could also speak the Da Song language.

As soon as his voice fell, a man who looked like an officer said, "I, I can!"

Zhou Yi immediately brought the Gaoli officer before Zhao Xu.

"Who is the current King of your Gaoli?" Zhao Xu asked.

To him, he could not entrust the commercial lifeline of the North Four Commanderies to his Imperial Father, Zhao Heng, and the powerful clans of Da Song.

After all, Zhao Heng had exposed his own weakness in front of the Beidi envoys last time.

Due to certain considerations of interest, it was not impossible for them to suppress him in trade.

And the powerful clans had already posed difficulties for him regarding trade.

Therefore, he could not place all his bets on the domestic market of Da Song.

It was precisely for this reason that he had established the Armed Caravan.

Now that the fleet was built and the Armed Caravan had its own sharp claws, it was time to contend with Gaoli, Dongying, and the Liang Family for maritime trade hegemony in this region.

Among these three, Gaoli was clearly the fattest sheep closest to Yanzhou.

Once this conflict ended, he would turn Gaoli into an export destination for the North Four Commanderies' commercial goods and a source of slaves.

In this way, the commoners of the North Four Commanderies could be liberated from heavy manual labor in mines, construction, and transportation, and be invested into agriculture and industry.

Just as Zhao Xu was thinking, the Vice General said tremblingly, "Our King's surname is Pu, given name Pu Renxi, and he has been on the throne for sixteen years."

Zhao Xu nodded and continued to ask, "How many men does your Navy have? How many warships do you have?"