Chapter 703: Engagement

"Those bastards from Yanzhou!" Jiugui Jing put away his Telescope and spat fiercely onto the ground.

He hailed from the Jiugui Family of Dongying.

He currently commanded twenty thousand Dongying soldiers guarding Ryukyu.

"What are they doing in Ryukyu?" a general beside Jiugui Jing asked.

His naked eye could not clearly see the situation of the Yanzhou Fleet.

"They have come to attack Ryukyu. Warriors of Dongying, prepare for a fight to the death!" Jiugui Jing's gaze was fierce.

He saw the Troop Transport Ships following behind the Warships.

The news that the Dongying Navy had been ambushed by the Yanzhou Fleet had spread throughout all of Dongying.

Now, everyone in Dongying hated the Yan Wang of Yanzhou to the bone.

Every Dongying person was prepared to fight against the Yan Wang's soldiers.

Dongying and Yanzhou were already at war.

"Let these cowards from Yanzhou taste our might."

"I will chop their corpses into pieces, throw them into the sea to feed the fish, and cut off their heads to use as wine cups for the soldiers."

"……"

The Dongying generals began to clamor one by one, filled with murderous intent.

Jiugui Jing's eyes narrowed; this was the first direct engagement between Dongying and Yanzhou soldiers.

He absolutely could not lose the honor of the Jiugui Family.

So he said, "Dongying warriors only die in battle, they do not suffer defeat. Whoever dares to take a step back, I will personally cut off their head."

Having said this, he waved his hand, letting the generals prepare themselves.

Some Dongying soldiers immediately entered the Fort and aimed their artillery at the Warships on the sea.

On the deck of the Flagship, Zhou Yi took in all the activity at the Pier.

With a cold sneer, he sat down at the table and leisurely drank his tea.

Next, he only needed to attract the attention of the Dongying soldiers.

At the same time.

Four Troop Transport Ships, under the escort of the Warships, arrived at the landing sea area.

Two thousand soldiers boarded small boats lowered from the Warships and landed on the beach one after another.

When they went ashore, they did not encounter any resistance.

Only three Ryukyu commoners saw them and fled in a panic.

In less than half an hour, all two thousand soldiers had landed.

After ordering the soldiers to check their ammunition and Hand Grenades, Pan Zhang ordered a march toward the southern Pier.

They had only walked ten li.

A Ryukyu army appeared in front of the marines; the soldiers of this Ryukyu army were wearing Armor and carrying Long Spears and swords.

Archers stood in the front, bows drawn, ready to fire at them.

Pan Zhang frowned; his army was marching in a column.

Seeing this, he immediately had the army transition into a line formation while on the move.

Without a doubt, this army was sent by the Ryukyu Kingdom.

After all, the King of Ryukyu was merely a puppet supported by Dongying.

His interests were naturally aligned with those of Dongying; one could say he was a servant of Dongying.

Therefore, there was no need to be polite to the army sent by the Ryukyu Kingdom.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The marines, now in a line formation, fired forward in a tight formation at a distance of one hundred and fifty meters.

In an instant, six or seven hundred men from the opposing Ryukyu army fell.

The Ryukyu army was clearly stunned.

They had fewer than three thousand men in total, and twenty percent had been lost in an instant.

After a brief silence on the battlefield, the Ryukyu army fell into chaos; the soldiers turned and fled in a rout.

Pan Zhang remained expressionless, directing his soldiers to continue advancing.

Any army using cold weapons was vulnerable before them.

Never mind that the Ryukyu Kingdom had only sent three thousand men; even if thirty thousand had come, he could have resolved the battle and annihilated them all within half an hour.

After marching another ten li to the south, the skirmishers responsible for reconnaissance in the front discovered the Dongying Army.

Clearly, when they landed, those three Ryukyu commoners had first revealed their movements to the Ryukyu army, and then the Ryukyu army had informed the Dongying Army.

"They have a full eight thousand men, everyone carrying a Flintlock, and they are also pulling twelve pieces of Artillery," the skirmisher said.

Pan Zhang nodded, then immediately dispatched two hundred skirmishers to specifically target the Dongying Artillerymen, ensuring they could not play a role on the battlefield.

He also sent out another two hundred skirmishers to harass the advancing Dongying soldiers.

The other soldiers formed up on the spot, waiting for the Dongying Army to arrive.

This time, heading to Ryukyu, they had brought forty-eight pieces of Field Artillery.

When they landed, they had also brought twelve pieces of Field Artillery ashore.

Therefore, he placed the twelve pieces of Field Artillery on the flanks of the formation, loaded them with Grape Shot, and stood ready.

This was the first engagement between Yanzhou and Dongying soldiers; he wanted to fight it beautifully and display their might.

Before long.

He found the Dongying Army walking toward them through his Telescope.

Among them, a Dongying general rode at the very front on a short-legged horse unique to Dongying.

He wore a suit of black armor, with two horn-like decorations on his Helmet, and a Japanese Sword hung at his waist.

This person was none other than Jiugui Jing.

Upon learning that a unit of the Yanzhou Army had landed on the northern coast and was sneaking toward the Pier, he immediately gathered eight thousand soldiers to meet them in battle.

Although Dongying had deployed twenty thousand soldiers in Ryukyu, these twenty thousand soldiers were distributed across three islands.

Zhongdao had the largest force, with twelve thousand men.

However, to prevent the Yanzhou Fleet on the sea by the Pier from taking the opportunity to attack, he kept four thousand men in defense.

Furthermore, as far as he was concerned, eight thousand Dongying soldiers were enough to deal with a mere two thousand Yanzhou soldiers.

The two armies continuously drew closer, and Jiugui Jing also spotted the Yanzhou Army.

When they were five hundred meters apart, he ordered his soldiers to slow their pace.

But just at this moment, he suddenly heard a burst of gunfire from the flank.

Several Artillerymen near the Artillery fell to the ground.