Chapter 752: The Endgame

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

Across the five-mile-long battlefield, the muzzle flashes from the Rifled Muskets looked like scattered sparks.

The Eastern Japanese soldiers, driven out of the trenches by the Prince's Personal Army, covered the entire coastline.

If one could look down from the sky, they would look like a swarm of chaotic ants at this moment.

They were fleeing, and the Prince's Personal Army was in pursuit.

In the trenches, they had still been able to crouch down and withstand the fire from the Prince's Personal Army's Rifled Muskets.

But now, they were all exposed to the muzzles of the guns.

Under the dense gunfire, the fleeing Eastern Japanese soldiers fell one after another.

At the same time.

The Artillerymen quickly moved the Howitzers forward, raining Howitzer shells onto the Pier and the beach.

From time to time, Eastern Japanese soldiers were blown into the sky by the shockwaves.

This made the Eastern Japanese soldiers even more terrified, and they scrambled desperately to climb onto the Merchant Ships.

They even fought each other to grab a spot.

"Hmph, you're still far from matching the courage of our Prince's Personal Army!" Chang Wei spat.

He was very satisfied with the performance of the Prince's Personal Army soldiers.

During the charge, not a single Wangfu Army soldier was a coward; every one of them dared to fight and kill.

Even in hand-to-hand combat with the Eastern Japanese soldiers in the trenches, they showed no fear and fought with reckless disregard for their lives.

The entire battle was, in fact, a victory of the Prince's Personal Army's hand-to-hand combat that shattered the morale of the Eastern Japanese soldiers.

Because fighting at close quarters with one's life on the line is the ultimate test of a soldier's courage.

Hiding in trenches and shooting at each other, by contrast, carries little psychological pressure.

Precisely because of this, the Eastern Japanese soldiers were terrified.

A cold sneer played on the corner of Zhao Xu's mouth.

In his view, the country of Eastern Japan, whether in the present day or here, had the same temperament: bullying the weak.

They often bared their fangs when the Central Plains dynasty was weak.

Using their strongest to strike the weakest naturally made them appear very formidable.

In reality, this was nothing more than an illusion.

If they dared to do this during the peak of a dynasty, they would often be beaten until they lost their bowels.

Even in the late Ming Dynasty, when the Great Ming was declining in all aspects, the Ming Dynasty still gave them a sound thrashing on the Chaoxian battlefield.

Therefore, Zhao Xu currently held Eastern Japan in complete contempt, which was also one of the reasons he decided to join the war.

He wanted to tell the Eastern Japanese clearly on the Gaoli battlefield—you are no good!

"Clean up the aftermath," Zhao Xu said to Chang Wei. "Send those who surrender to mine ore and lay the Railway; as for those who don't surrender, kill them without mercy!"

Having said that, Zhao Xu looked out at the sea.

In truth, compared to here, what he worried about most was Zhou Yi's fleet.

Although the south wind provided them with a certain advantage.

But in the "crossing the T" game of Sailing Warships, they were not necessarily guaranteed to hold the upper hand.

However,

His worry was unnecessary.

While he was thinking, the situation at sea was tilting in favor of the Yanzhou Fleet.

After routing the Wu fleet, Gong Ying held tightly onto the British Fleet.

This left the British Fleet caught between Zhou Yi and Gong Ying.

Discovering this situation, Zhou Yi weighed his options and made a difficult decision.

He prepared to pay the price of potentially sacrificing several Warships to withstand the attacks of the British Warships, in exchange for the two fleets on the left and right flanking the British Fleet.

To destroy the British Fleet with numerical superiority.

"All Warships, stop heading north, turn the helm to the left, and aim the gun ports at the British Fleet," Zhou Yi shouted.

Ever since joining the navy, he had been prepared to sacrifice himself at any moment, just like his father.

Without the courage to dare to draw one's sword, what right did he have to be the Commander of the Yanzhou Fleet?

Once the order was given, the Warships that had been heading north turned around one after another.

Wolf noticed the movements of the Yanzhou Warships and frowned deeply.

He glanced ahead, then glanced behind.

He knew that if he ordered the fleet to turn at this moment.

They would certainly be able to aim their gun ports at them ten minutes earlier than the Yanzhou Fleet.

This would be enough for him to sink five or six of the enemy's Warships.

But at the same time, the fleet behind would catch up and complete the pincer movement.

By then, even if he could win, it would definitely be a pyrrhic victory.

It was more likely that his entire army would be wiped out.

After all, the enemy's Warships were three times his own; the disparity was too great.

After some thought, he returned to the cabin and ordered the fleet to head toward Eastern Japan, abandoning the pursuit of the Yanzhou Fleet.

The colonies in the East Land Southern Region were their foundation.

If the fleet stationed in the East Land were to perish here.

There was no guarantee that other countries would not take advantage of the situation to loot.

Furthermore, if Yan Wang decides to retaliate and orders the fleet to head to Tianzhu.

They will find the losses outweigh the gains.

Currently, their primary objective is to utilize the Eastern Japanese and the powerful clans of Da Song to contain Yan Wang.

Unless the advantage is overwhelming and they can ensure the destruction of Yan Wang's fleet, he is still able to take action.

If it is disadvantageous to them, there is no need to fight to the death.

Moreover, the British homeland is currently dispatching Steamships and Sailing Warships to Tianzhu.

It will not be too late to wipe out Yan Wang in one fell swoop once they have gathered enough Warships.

Yan Wang can build Sailing Warships, but he absolutely does not believe Yan Wang knows how to build Steamships.

This thing has only become popular in the Western Lands in recent years.

It can be said to be the highest technology currently in the Western Lands.

The south wind was still blowing, and twelve columns of smoke rising from the Steamships drifted upward.

The British Fleet gradually disappeared into the distant horizon.

Zhou Yi did not order the fleet to pursue, because they could not catch up even if they tried.

Looking toward Gong Ying's left squadron, he ordered to rendezvous with them and return to the Qinghe Sea Area.

He knew in his heart that it must have been his "life-for-a-life" fighting style that frightened the British.

That is why they chose to leave.

And with the British Fleet gone, their harassment mission this time was a perfect success.

Now, they must take advantage of the absence of the British Fleet to destroy as many Eastern Japanese Merchant Ships transporting soldiers and Wu Warships as possible.

When they returned to the Qinghe Sea Area, the Wu Warships on the sea had basically all scattered and fled.

Only a small number of Eastern Japanese Merchant Ships were fleeing in the direction of Dongying.

He immediately dispatched a portion of the Warships to pursue them.

At the same time, he ordered the Flagship to enter the bay.

At this moment, there were not many ships left in the bay.

While they were chasing and being chased by the British Warships, a day had passed without them realizing it.

At this time, the setting sun dyed the sea a flushed red.

The earth was covered in a layer of black gauze.

Occasionally, a gunshot rang out, accompanied by a flash of fire.

"Is the battle over?" Zhou Yi smiled helplessly.

The Rifled Muskets of Yanzhou are very easy to distinguish from ordinary Flintlocks by the sound of the gunfire.

As soon as he heard it, he knew it was the sound of a Rifled Musket.

Approaching the Pier, he indeed saw soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army wearing green uniforms patrolling.

There were also quite a few soldiers from the powerful clans squatting on the ground, seemingly taken prisoner.

On the sea surface near the Pier, quite a few corpses of Eastern Japanese soldiers were still floating.

Many of the corpses had no wounds and appeared to have drowned.

In his mind, the image immediately appeared of the Eastern Japanese soldiers being driven to the Pier, scrambling to climb onto Merchant Ships to escape.

"Serves them right," Zhou Yi cursed; this was the Eastern Japanese seeking their own deaths.

The internal strife of Da Song clearly had nothing to do with them, yet they insisted on getting involved.

Now they are still jumping around everywhere, organizing the Eastern Land Alliance, and dragging Westerners in to bully Da Song.

If that isn't "serves them right," then what is?

Thinking this, his Warship docked at the Pier, and he climbed down the rope ladder.