Chapter 772: Target: Changqi

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Gunfire continued incessantly on Wufeng Island; as time passed, the sound of Rifled Muskets grew more frequent, while the sound of the pirates' Flintlocks gradually thinned.

Although the pirates had obtained Flintlocks and Artillery, the Shogunate had given them the worst batch of firearms.

After all, since the Wufeng Pirates' warships had been completely destroyed, they had lost their former utility, so they were just given some junk to send them away.

Armed with such firearms, how could they fight against the Marines?

Before they even touched the Marines, a large swath of them was killed.

Furthermore, these pirates were all desperate men; they were usually more boastful and aggressive than the next, but it was difficult to control them when ordered to train in formations.

Once the battle began, their habit of being brave in private fights but cowardly in public warfare emerged.

Upon contact, there were numerous casualties, and the pirates immediately lost their formation, running around like headless flies and fighting on their own.

The Marines, however, were methodical, constantly pushing into the island; by the time all thirty thousand men had landed, the Wufeng Pirates were even more pathetic.

In less than half a day, the ten thousand or so men were either killed in battle or had surrendered.

By noon, Pan Zhang sent word that the entire island had been occupied, and Zhou Yi landed on the main island of Wufeng Island—Nanfeng Island.

"General, there are barracks and fields on this Wufeng Island; it really is a good place to station troops." Seeing Zhou Yi, Pan Zhang pointed to the lush green wheat fields and the pirate camp not far away, where there were many wooden houses.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi revealed a satisfied smile.

They now had Jinyin Island, and now they had occupied Wufeng Island.

This meant they had two support points on the route from Yanzhou to Dongying, and supplies were no longer an issue.

"Not bad. You now send men to clean up the pirate camp, arrange barracks for the soldiers, and at the same time check the warehouses and such on the island," Zhou Yi said.

Then, he had Pan Zhang and the Military Scribe of the Marines place the island's residents under military control, just as the Prince's Personal Army had done when they went south.

After resting on Wufeng Island for two days, Zhou Yi set his sights on Changqi City, which was only fifty li away from Wufeng Island.

Because Dongying's maritime trade was prosperous, a situation of southern wealth and northern poverty had formed across Dongying's long and narrow territory.

The south, being keen on maritime trade, was more prone to accepting Westerners and Western technology and culture.

Conversely, the north tended to be conservative.

Back then, Watanabe's unification of Dongying also relied on the four domains that had become rich and strong due to maritime trade in the south.

Among them, Changqi City belonged to the Hizen Domain, one of the four domains, and was controlled by the Masheng Family; its level of wealth did not lose to Edo, which was controlled by the Watanabe Family.

Therefore, Zhou Yi naturally drooled over this piece of fat meat right at his mouth.

In the Edo naval battle, Watanabe's attitude showed that he was not yet willing to give up and was prepared to continue wearing them down.

This was also as the Yan Wang had anticipated.

Since that was the case, they would let Dongying taste the experience of being plundered.

This was also retaliation for the Dongying Pirates raiding the coast of Da Song all these years.

Having decided on this matter,

he left two thousand men behind to garrison Wufeng Island.

On the third day, the fleet set out from Wufeng Island and headed toward Changqi.

They set out in the early morning and arrived in the waters off Changqi in less than an hour.

Through a Telescope, Zhou Yi looked toward Changqi City and said to Pan Zhang, "In this landing operation, you must not have a shred of womanly mercy. Think of how many men, women, and children of our Da Song have died miserably under the butcher knives of the Dongying Pirates over the years; to be merciful to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself."

Upon hearing this, Pan Zhang nodded heavily.

At this time, Zhou Yi ordered the fleet to deploy in formation and shell the Changqi Pier, destroying all of their Forts.

He was full of confidence in the victory of this attack.

The number of Dongying's troops was limited.

According to intelligence gathered by the Four Courts, the total military strength of Dongying was no more than six hundred thousand.

In the battle of Gaoli, Dongying lost one hundred and fifty thousand elites, leaving only four hundred and fifty thousand, with two hundred thousand stationed in Edo city alone.

The remaining two hundred and fifty thousand had to guard the twenty-six large cities along the coast, as well as over fifty medium-sized cities.

And that did not even include the many small cities.

One could imagine how many troops each city could be allocated from the remaining two hundred and fifty thousand Dongying soldiers.

Even if Dongying blindly expanded its army, they could not provide enough firearms in a short time.

Then the recruited troops could only fight them with swords and blades.

Most importantly, they had no idea which city would be attacked by them.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Not long after Zhou Yi's order was issued, the warships launched an attack on Changqi Pier.

Dense Cannonballs fell onto Changqi Pier like raindrops, interspersed with Explosive Shells.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

These Explosive Shells landed and emitted bursts of loud noises, and huge fireballs rose up on the shore.

Zhou Yi could see Dongying soldiers running back and forth between the Forts, only to be killed or wounded by the Cannonballs.

Forty-eight Sailing Warships fired simultaneously, and Changqi Pier immediately turned into a sea of fire.

Changqi City.

The moment Changqi Pier was shelled, Masheng Zhiren ordered the city gates to be closed tightly.

Arriving at Nanmen and looking toward the pier from afar, he paced anxiously, "How unlucky, how could the Yan King Army have chosen Changqi?"

During this time, news of the defeat in the Edo naval battle had spread throughout all of Dongying.

He had also received orders from the Shogunate to be diligent in patrols and to guard against attacks by the Yanzhou Army.

Because of this, the entire Changqi City was in a state of panic; after all, only thirty thousand Dongying soldiers were stationed in Changqi City.

Even though he had temporarily obtained the authority to recruit troops and had seized many young and able-bodied men into the army, he had only managed to scrape together twenty thousand men in such a short time, and they had no firearms.

As he was thinking, he suddenly noticed many small boats on the sea, filled with soldiers, heading toward the pier.

And at this moment, there was no longer any sound of gunfire at the Changqi Pier.

In just a short time, the opponent had destroyed all of their Forts.

Seeing this, a wave of fear gripped his heart; having witnessed the power of the Yan King Army with his own eyes, he finally understood why Gaoli had been defeated.

"Tell the soldiers they must hold on; the messengers for reinforcements have already departed. As long as the reinforcements arrive, we can drive away the Yan King Army," Mashō Naoto swallowed hard and said to the general beside him.

"Yes, Domain Lord." The general acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Changqi Pier was no more than three li away from Changqi City.

The Yan King Army soldiers could arrive in an instant.

Changqi Pier.

Pan Zhang led the soldiers in rowing boats across the sea for a while, then successfully landed on shore.

During the landing process, they did not encounter any resistance.

This made him keenly realize one point: Changqi City must be short on troops, forcing them to concentrate their forces to defend Changqi City.

Thinking this, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

While waiting for the soldiers to land, he also inspected the Forts on the shore.

The Artillerymen in the Forts were basically blown to death, their corpses strewn about in disarray.

In one hour, all thirty thousand marine soldiers landed, and at the same time, they transported the Howitzers and Rifled Field Guns ashore.

Immediately, he led the thirty-thousand-strong army in a grand march toward Changqi City.