Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

The Great Jing Navy reacted extremely quickly.

Since arriving in the West, they had maintained a state of high alert.

When the military order was issued and the horns at the harbor sounded, all sailors immediately and methodically rushed to their respective posts.

The first to move were naturally the five ironclad ships docked in the harbor.

In less than half an hour, the ironclad ships had already begun to leave the harbor.

The five ships sounded their horns in unison, the sound of the whistles reverberating across the sea!

At the same time, the flag officers on the ships began to signal with flags to the ships floating on the sea.

On the sea, eighty ships began to turn their bows one by one, forming an orderly formation.

Lai Gou'er stood at the bow of the Silent Expanse, his brow furrowed as he looked into the distance.

Beside him were several sailors returning from reconnaissance ships, constantly pointing out directions.

The ironclad ships were very fast, and quickly surged ahead of all the warships after leaving the harbor.

A total of eighty warships, in a triangular formation, cleaved through the waves...

On the vast sea, one hundred and fifty warships were also sailing with soaring momentum.

The main ship's general, Yu Bo, stood at the bow, gazing into the distance.

Listening to the sound of the waves, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement in his chest.

He had followed His Majesty on voyages since he was young, and had climbed to where he was today step by step.

Although all the important people in the army came from Great Jing, the competition was already fierce.

He had watched this invincible fleet being built from scratch.

Having raised soldiers for a thousand days, today was finally the day to put them to use.

Now was the time to serve the Emperor and establish merit!

One hundred and fifty warships were equipped with a total of two thousand five hundred God's Punishment weapons!

Thirty four-masted ships, fifty armed merchant ships, fifteen light sailboats, six medium ships, and six long ships...

The entire fleet was equipped with nearly ten thousand sailors, carrying more than twenty thousand soldiers, not to mention the other supply and maintenance personnel.

Such naval power was absolutely unparalleled in the world!

No country's fleet could compete with it.

Yu Bo firmly believed in this.

Therefore, even after discovering the reconnaissance ships from Holy City, he was not in a hurry to chase them.

A crushing victory was right in front of them; a good meal is never afraid of being late.

After sailing for a while, Yu Bo stood at the bow, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

Suddenly, the silhouettes of ships began to appear before his eyes.

Yu Bo smiled confidently, raised his hand and ordered: "Prepare chain shot, prepare to engage the enemy!"

The ships communicated using flag signals, and the soldiers began to move.

The so-called chain shot was made by connecting two small cannonballs, smaller than the bore of the cannon, with a chain.

After being fired, according to some principle, one cannonball would drag the other cannonball and swing it centrifugally.

Thereby destroying the enemy's sails, even the masts, causing the enemy to lose maneuverability.

This chain shot tactic was researched and explored by the army during long-term training.

It can be said that this tactic was quite effective! Never seen before by the outside world!

The enemy did not know about chain shot and would inevitably be at a disadvantage at the point of engagement.

.....

The two fleets, like torrents on the sea, tacitly greeted each other.

Obviously, Lai Gou'er's side had also observed the enemy; the scale of it really made his heart tighten.

Too many!

He had never seen a fleet of such a large scale; the other side was also heavily equipped with artillery.

This force was enough to roam the sea unhindered; it was really a bit frightening.

However, the ironclad ship under his feet gave him a lot of security.

It was not yet clear how the ironclad ship performed in actual combat, but according to Fang Zheng, its defensive power was amazing.

He didn't know how amazing the defensive power was, but the firearms on this ship were certainly amazing!

One hundred cannons on a ship, and there were also rotating gun mounts on the deck that could rotate 360 degrees to fire; it seemed that a full-scale firepower would be very exciting.

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.

Lai Gou'er raised his hand and ordered: "The gun mounts prepare chain shot, the other ship cannons switch to bursting rounds, the left and right wing fleets detour to outflank them."

....

"Oh?! Not only are they not avoiding us, but they also want to outflank us?" Yu Bo, holding a telescope, almost laughed out loud.

The scale of the opponent's fleet could not be said to be small.

At first, he was also startled when he saw it; it was actually half the size of theirs.

However... it was only half the size of theirs after all.

With such a huge disparity, how could the enemy win?

However, as they got closer, Yu Bo frowned and couldn't help but ask the deputy beside him: "Where are their sails? Why don't the first few main ships have sails?"

The deputy was also holding a telescope, watching intently, murmuring: "They really don't have sails... and the ships on the opposite side seem to be a bit big! Smoke, black smoke is coming out, General! Their ships seem to be on fire."

The enemy ships caught fire before the fight even started? That's nonsense!

A sense of absurdity surged into his heart, and Yu Bo hurriedly picked up the telescope to look again.

After looking carefully for a few minutes, Yu Bo was a little distraught.

That wasn't fire at all! That was clearly smoke coming from the chimneys!

But why would there be such big chimneys on the ships, and where were their masts and sails?

How could ships without sails move so fast?

Clearly the other ships looked normal, only the five in front were strange.

A strong sense of unease rose in Yu Bo's heart.

That might be a new type of ship, a warship they had never seen before!

If there was an unexpected change, they absolutely couldn't rush in blindly; this battle could not be lost!

He immediately ordered: "The main warships slow down and steer to the side, don't collide head-on with the enemy! All other ships change direction and surround them!"

The two sides began to change formations at the same time, forming a pincer-like formation from a distance.

Closer and closer, the distance between the two formations was less than a thousand meters!

A look of horror appeared on Yu Bo's face!

Not because of anything else, but because of those five unusual warships!

Big! Too big! These ships were a whole circle bigger than their largest main warship, and the most important thing was that they could sail quickly without sails; their momentum in cleaving through the waves was unmatched by their own ships.

Moreover, these five ships were surpassing the warships behind them and actively charging into their formation!

This was insane!

The soldiers beside him also seemed a little flustered, and Yu Bo immediately said: "Don't be afraid! They only have five main ships; our army still has an absolute advantage. Fire chain shot as soon as the enemy warships enter range!"

And the five ironclad ships went full speed ahead into the ship formation, not forgetting to change formation in the process.

The warships that were originally advancing in a triangular formation became head-to-tail, following one after another.

Like a swift arrow, shooting into the enemy formation!

Yu Bo was shocked.

What were they doing? They actually abandoned the main force and took the initiative to charge over, throwing themselves into the net?

"Quickly signal with flags, let the left and right flanks surround those five ships! Sink them!" Yu Bo urgently ordered.

In the blink of an eye, they had entered range!

Only, it was the range of the Great Jing ship cannons.

"Fire!!!" Lai Gou'er's cheeks were tense as he gave the order.

The bows of the enemy and our ships faced each other, and the rotating gun mounts of the ironclad ships fired the first shot.

With the sound of a cannon, two cannonballs connected by iron chains rotated and advanced in mid-air.

Under Yu Bo's horrified gaze, the mast of one of his own long ships was shattered...