Chapter 1813: Seizing the Warship

The battle was intense, and the ambushed French Fleet was somewhat flustered.

They had never expected the Longyan Army to adopt such a suicidal combat strategy.

In their view, such behavior was no different from throwing one's life away.

The Longyan sailing ships were made of wood; such close-quarters combat would cause the Longyan Army's sailing ships to sink.

As for this style of fighting by the Longyan Army, it was a pirate tactic that had long been obsolete; since the rise of the Cannon and the Steam Engine, naval warfare no longer relied on such close-range assaults.

It relied on sturdy ships and powerful cannons.

Upon learning of the Longyan Army's combat method, the French commander directly mocked, "Those yellow-skinned monkeys are still using such backward combat methods."

"To have the most powerful troops in the world and yet come up with such a battle plan is simply ridiculous."

Although this reckless fighting style was sneered at by the French Fleet, it still caused them great trouble.

This combat method directly created a temporary vacuum of artillery fire on the French Fleet's ships.

The Longyan Army's sailing ships carried several times their number in troops; these troops attacked on the French ships, leaving the French sailors struggling to cope.

They also needed to attack the Longyan sailing ships.

The Longyan sailing ships were now battered and tattered.

They would likely collapse completely before long.

But just at this moment, the commander of the French Fleet noticed something amiss as the number of Longyan Army soldiers on the ship increased.

At first, they were evenly matched with the Longyan Army, but now they were being heavily suppressed.

The Longyan Army was attacking toward the cabin, where the French Fleet's most important firepower was located.

If that place fell, the French warship would also lose control.

Realizing things were going wrong, the French commander hurriedly ordered: "Quick, sink that Longyan sailing ship, and have the other two ships provide support; we must not let the Longyan Army occupy our ship!"

The French ships wanted to adjust their direction, but at this moment, they encountered a fierce attack from the Longyan Yinzhou ships, and they simply did not have enough strength to deal with these attacks.

A Cannonball struck, slamming directly into the French ship.

A muffled sound came from the ship, and the powerful explosion caused the French warship to sway violently.

The French captain braced his hands against the console to steady himself; he let out a muffled

groan, as the Longyan Army would absolutely not allow the French ships to rush over to provide support at this time.

Through his Telescope, he watched the Yinzhou ship controlled by Cao Xi, which was relentlessly pursuing and attacking their ships.

Cao Xi seemed to notice the French captain's gaze, turned his head to look over, and sneered.

"Hit them hard! Do not let the French Fleet get any closer to our sailing ships; we must intercept them here!"

"Understood!"

The six Main Cannons equipped on the Yinzhou ship fired wildly as if the Cannonballs cost nothing!

They were determined to sink the French warship!

Seeing this, the French captain gritted his teeth; naval warfare was the most expensive of all battles, and the production of Cannonballs and warships was too costly.

But now, the Longyan Army's Yinzhou ship had the momentum to sink them even at the risk of overheating their gun barrels. Exit the transcoding page, please download the Aiyue app for the latest chapters.

They launched the most intense attack directly.

"Return fire!"

"Return fire!"

……

The French Fleet also erupted with fierce artillery fire.

And at this moment, one of the French warships suddenly turned, and its cannons were aimed right at the French ship.

Boom!

The cannons fired in a volley, and the French Fleet was caught off guard by this sudden attack and blasted into chaos; the French captain also fell during this explosion.

He stood up and shouted coldly: "What happened again? Who can tell me what happened again!"

A soldier pointed in the direction from which the Cannonballs had come, and the French captain looked in the direction the finger pointed.

His eyes twitched, and his expression changed drastically.

The French Fleet's own ship had launched an attack on them.

He hurriedly took out his Telescope and looked over; on that French warship that had launched the attack, a burly old Longyan general was holding a head in his hand.

It was the captain of that very warship.

The French warship had changed hands and become a warship of the Longyan Army!

They ignited the Main Cannon that had long been aimed at them!

The French captain scrambled to dive, shouting urgently: "Attack that French warship, quick!"

The French Soldier was stunned and, before he could react, a huge Cannonball had already slammed over.

The powerful explosion destroyed everything there.

One of the two French warships was occupied by the Longyan Army, and the other was sunk by the Longyan Army.

And the loss of these two warships directly determined the failure of this battle.

The remaining two French warships retreated.

This

battle directly declared the victory of the Longyan Army.

Cao Xi looked at the situation on the battlefield through his Telescope; although they had won this battle, they had paid a huge price.

All three Yinzhou ships were severely damaged.

One of the Yinzhou ships had one of its three sets of steam power destroyed directly by a Cannonball and required emergency repairs.

Their Cannonballs were also nearly exhausted.

Personnel casualties were even more severe.

The Longyan sailing ships, originally loaded with supplies, were battered into wrecks from close-quarters combat with the French Fleet, leaving them with absolutely no possibility of continuing the voyage.

Fortunately, however, most of the supplies on the ships were preserved.

Cao Xi summoned the captains of the four ships for a meeting.

Having experienced this battle, they had already realized that this fight was not as simple as they had imagined.

This time, the French forces had spared no expense and had left no room for them at all.

In this battle, the damage was extremely severe.

However, the gains were also quite substantial; this maneuver by the Longyan sailing ships directly earned them a French warship with almost no damage.

With this warship, their journey to Tasmania would be faster.

"Cao Xi, what kind of commander are you?" the old General Li of the Longyan sailing ship cursed.

"And you even told me to retreat?"

"I have fought for half my life and have never once retreated!"

Although Cao Xi was the commander-in-chief, he was being scolded like a grandson by this old general, yet he dared not utter a single word of rebuttal.

Although this old general was not the commander, his seniority and status were well-established.

More importantly, if not for him today, it would have been impossible for them to obtain the French warship so easily.

"Old Li, please calm your anger; this was only so that the Longyan Soldiers on your ship could reach the battlefield a little faster."

"You also know that my mission is to escort you," Cao Xi said with an apologetic smile.

Old General Li snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Cao Xi chuckled; although Old Li had disobeyed orders in this matter, the other party had been able to make a more accurate judgment.

This was something Cao Xi did not possess.

But just at this moment, a Longyan Soldier arrived with an urgent report: "A large-scale French fleet has been discovered within the area twenty nautical miles ahead."

Upon hearing this news, Cao Xi was stunned; the situation was not simple.

Their all-out war with the French was about to arrive.