Chapter 929: Contending for Supremacy on the Angry Sea

"General, we have discovered the trail of the Western Fleet; they are heading toward the port of Wanghai City."

Just as Gong Ying was deep in thought, a naval soldier delivered intelligence regarding the Western Fleet.

"Prepare for battle!" Upon hearing this, Gong Ying put on his military cap and headed toward the port.

He would personally lead twelve Sailing Warships and twelve Steamships to meet the enemy.

Making this decision, he was naturally not acting on a hot-headed impulse.

In this battle, he would not clash head-on with the Coalition fleet, but would instead cruise around them, looking for opportunities to move in and take a bite.

In this way, they would be unable to focus on harassing Yizhou or the southeastern coast.

If they came to attack with full force, he would run, wearing them down.

Time was on their side; once reinforcements arrived, it would be the end for the Western Lands Allied Fleet.

Arriving at the port, Gong Ying boarded his Flagship.

The Steamships towed the Sailing Warships as they set sail, heading toward the southeast of Yizhou.

Within an hour, he had spotted the massive Western Lands naval fleet through his Telescope.

"They have the momentum, but I don't know if they can take a beating," Gong Ying spat.

Over a hundred warships sailing on the sea was indeed intimidating.

But this was not his first naval battle, and he was very calm at this moment.

At the same time.

Maluofu also discovered the approaching Great Song Navy through his Telescope.

Noticing the number of ships in this fleet, he revealed a smile.

"How pitiful, to have only this many warships guarding Yizhou, though their courage is commendable for daring to initiate an attack." Maluofu put away his Telescope, feeling smug that his plan had succeeded.

To him, the Great Song Navy must be in a state of panic right now.

Even the Yan Wang of Great Song likely had a very ugly expression on his face.

"Compared to us, you are nothing but fragile infants." Maluofu muttered to himself again.

Immediately, he ordered the fleet to split into two and flank them.

If the Great Song Navy did not flee, he would certainly sink them all; this was revenge.

He had not forgotten the British soldiers who died in the Dongying naval battle.

"They are reaching out two hands to grab us; how greedy." As the Western Lands Navy changed formation, Gong Ying immediately judged their intent. "Since that is the case, we cannot fall for their trick; we will charge at one hand and focus on striking that one hand."

Having said that, he ordered the Flagship to raise the signal flag to convey the command.

The Steamships towed the twelve Sailing Warships and immediately headed toward the northeast.

"Remember, fire as soon as you are in range, and focus on hitting their Steamships; ignore their Sailing Warships." While observing again, Gong Ying issued another order.

He was very clear about his fleet's advantages—Rifled Cannons and Conical Explosive Shells.

In the battle of Dongying, they had confirmed one point.

The range of their Rifled Cannons exceeded that of the enemy's Artillery.

Combined with Conical Explosive Shells, the enemy would be either dead or wounded if hit.

Moreover, at that time, due to insufficient production, their warships only had a small number of Rifled Cannons.

But things were different now; their Naval Cannons had all been retrofitted.

Eighty-six cannons across two sides would provide powerful firepower.

At this moment, the distance between the two sides was about thirty li.

In the span of two quarter-hours, the distance between the two sides rapidly shrank to about ten li.

Seeing the Great Song forces charging straight toward the warships on the north side, Maluofu did not change his strategy.

He knew that this might lead to losses for the northern fleet.

But as long as the southern fleet could circle to the rear of the Great Song fleet, they would have won half the battle.

For this, even losing a few warships was worth it.

However, he immediately regretted his decision.

Just as the two fleets were eight li apart, the Great Song fleet suddenly deployed into a line abreast and launched an artillery barrage at them.

Fire flashed, the sound of cannons rumbled, and after a short flight, the Cannonballs landed in front of the northern fleet.

Some Cannonballs exploded in mid-air, but more fell into the sea and exploded, kicking up massive sprays.

However, this first barrage did not hit any warships.

The Cannonballs only exploded near the Western Lands warships, and many even exploded a full li in front of the ships.

Yet, the naval commanders Maluofu and Keweiduo had expressions more grave than ever before.

They knew that this first barrage was merely the Artillerymen testing the range.

The subsequent barrage would be far more lethal.

"God, what kind of enemy have we encountered?" Suddenly, Maluofu felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet.

Just now, the Great Song forces had fired Explosive Shells to a distance of eight li; that was four thousand meters.

The normal engagement distance for their Western Lands Navy was five hundred meters.

Although their Naval Cannons could fire Solid Shot out to eight li.

But at that distance, the Solid Shot had almost no power.

The reason Western Lands warships engaged within five hundred meters was to ensure the Solid Shot could pierce the enemy's hull.

This was the same as the British line-of-battle tactics.

The range of a Flintlock was two hundred meters, but they usually chose to endure casualties beforehand and fire the first shot within fifty meters to ensure sufficient power and accuracy, thereby crushing the enemy in one wave.

But what was the Great Song fleet doing?

They no longer relied on the impact force of the Cannonballs; they only needed the Cannonballs to be able to explode on the hull of the Warship.