Chapter 676: Wrapping Up

"General, all the Dongying warships have sunk."

The war began at dawn and lasted for two hours.

As it was almost noon, Gong Ying reported to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi nodded; he had been watching the battle situation and was naturally aware of this.

His gaze swept past the sunken warships toward the dense buildings near the port, and he said indifferently, "Since we are already here, let us give them one more gift. Destroy every building in the port."

Acknowledging the order, Gong Ying turned and left.

At this moment, the thirty-two warships turned their bows and sailed a distance toward the Dongying Pier.

Immediately, they once again faced the Fukuoka Port with their broadsides.

The roar of the Artillery rose again; this time, the warships' Artillery aimed at the restaurants, warehouses, shops, and other buildings in the port.

Incendiary Shells flew out, tearing through the air and slamming into these buildings.

These flimsy buildings were not as sturdy as the hulls of warships; the Cannonballs easily pierced through the doors and windows of the buildings, their momentum undiminished as they rampaged inside, destroying everything in their path.

Upon striking flammable materials, the high heat of the Incendiary Shells ignited them instantly, and the houses began to billow thick smoke, burning just like the warships.

These burning buildings then ignited adjacent ones, and the fire spread across the port.

Other buildings had their beams and pillars shattered by the Cannonballs, collapsing instantly and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Under the continuous bombardment, the area near the port also turned into a sea of Flame.

The Eastern Japanese screamed as they fled from the buildings, looking toward the Yanzhou Warships in the sea, their eyes filled with terror.

"General, will provoking this Yan Wang be a mistake? He is simply as brutal as the Westerners."

Fengchen Xiu was being pulled by the Navy generals, having fled further into the depths, when one of the Navy generals said this.

"Baka! Is the Great General's strategy something you can question?" Hearing this, Fengchen Xiu turned and slapped the general across the face.

"Hai!" The Dongying general's face bore five finger marks, and he immediately bowed his head.

Scanning the Navy generals around him, he said, "Has this small failure shattered your courage? Do not forget the Great General's grand plan. As Shogunate generals, even if we lose everything, we must defeat Da Song and make Dongying the hegemon of Dongtu."

"Yes, Great General," the Navy generals said in unison.

The bombardment continued for another half hour before gradually ceasing.

At this moment, under Fengchen Xiu's hateful gaze, the thirty-two Yanzhou Warships slowly turned their bows and headed south.

"It is over, the Five Peaks Island Pirates are finished too." Fengchen Xiu suddenly realized something and violently drew the Samurai Sword at his waist, chopping down a small tree beside him.

Since the Yanzhou Fleet had attacked them, they would naturally not spare the Five Peaks Island Pirates.

Having destroyed the Dongying Navy, the Yanzhou Fleet would dominate the Dongtu seas for the foreseeable future, which would be extremely disadvantageous for Dongying.

"You will immediately accompany me to the Shogunate to plead guilty to the Great General," Fengchen Xiu said.

At the same time,

he had to remind the Great General to protect the thirty-six Sailing Warships currently under construction.

As long as these thirty-six Sailing Warships were launched, they would be able to reclaim hegemony on the seas.

However, what comforted him was that the Great General Watanabe was clearly a very cautious man; he had chosen to build the warships on the Edo River, an inland river.

In this way, their warships would be safe before they were launched.

Thinking of this, he glanced once more at the departing Yanzhou Warships and muttered, "Your good days are about to end."

"Hahaha..."

While Fengchen Xiu was fuming, on the flagship of the Yanzhou Fleet, Zhou Yi and Gong Ying laughed heartily.

The first step of the surprise attack plan had succeeded; now the entire Fukuoka Port was a ruin, and even rebuilding it would take more than a year.

"Next, it is time for the second step of the plan: to eliminate the Five Peaks Island Pirates." Gong Ying's gaze looked toward the south, as if he could pierce through space and see the warships of the Five Peaks Island Pirates.

Zhou Yi nodded, "According to the map given by His Highness, the journey from Edo to Fukuoka takes three days, and the journey to Wufeng Island takes two days."

"Based on our observations, since the Dongying Navy in Fukuoka planned to head to Jinghai today, the Five Peaks Island Pirates likely departed yesterday."

Gong Ying nodded, "Let us return to Jinghai immediately. Our ships are fast and theirs are slow; we should be able to arrive at Jinghai before them, and perhaps we might even encounter them on the way."

Zhou Yi laughed, "If we can meet them on the way, that would be best; we can just wipe them out while we are at it."

Having said that, he ordered the fleet to proceed at full speed.

After two days of sailing, they arrived in the Yanzhou sea area.

To their disappointment, they did not encounter the Five Peaks Island Pirates on the way.

Immediately, they returned to the Jinghai Wharf.

After resting briefly at the port, Zhou Yi was pondering how to find the Five Peaks Island Pirates.

At this time, a Cavalry soldier arrived at the port and handed a letter to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi looked at the Flame mark on the envelope, his pupils dilated slightly, and he immediately tore the letter open.

Then, he immediately gave the order for all crew members to board the ships.

"What is it, General?" Seeing Zhou Yi's serious expression, Gong Ying could not help but ask.

"After departing from Wufeng Island, the Five Peaks Island Pirates headed to the Qingcheng Pier in Qi, and they are currently docked there," Zhou Yi told Gong Ying.

This letter was sent by someone from the Four Courts; their intelligence would not be wrong.

Without a doubt, Qingcheng Pier was the rendezvous point for the Dongying Navy.

It was no wonder they had not found any traces of the Five Peaks Island Pirates in the Yanzhou sea area.

Gong Ying raised his eyebrows, his expression excited.

The two boarded the Flagship, and the fleet set sail once again.

After two days of sailing, they arrived in the sea area near Qingcheng, Qizhou.

This time, Zhou Yi did not choose to launch a surprise attack, but instead openly let the fleet charge directly toward Qingcheng Pier.

If thirty-two warships could not even defeat one hundred warships of the Five Peaks Island Pirates, they might as well all jump into the sea to feed the fish.

It was noon, the sky was clear, and the moment the Yanzhou Fleet appeared, it was immediately spotted by the Wufeng Pirates.

The crew immediately notified Xiangtian Tailang, who was inside the Qingcheng Guild Hall.

"What! The Yanzhou Fleet." Upon hearing this, a layer of fine sweat beads instantly broke out on Xiangtian Tailang's forehead.

Not long after returning from the South Sea region of Dongtu, he had received the order from General Watanabe to launch a sneak attack on Jinghai.

According to the plan, they were to rendezvous at the Qingcheng Pier and then head to Jinghai under the cover of night to launch a sneak attack on the Yanzhou Warships docked there.

Calculating the days, he had expected that the Dongying Navy from Fukuoka should also arrive today.

But he had not expected that what he would wait for instead was the Yanzhou Fleet.

However, this was not the worst of it.

He had just received news that the Yanzhou Army entering Qizhou was capturing cities and seizing strongholds along the way, as if entering uninhabited territory.

Currently, a unit of the Yanzhou Army was only ten miles away from Qingcheng and could reach Qingcheng in less than half an hour.

He was just preparing to lead the people in the Dongying trading house to retreat to the warships, and after the sneak attack succeeded, return to Dongying.

He had not expected to suddenly fall into a desperate situation.