20demayo Chapter 647: Battle of Tsushima (Part 2)
Chapter 647: Battle of Tsushima (Part 2)
The three of them immediately raised their telescopes and focused on the center of the battlefield.
The battle situation has become a one-sided massacre.
The joint fleet of the Park family, Silla, and Baekje had already fallen apart under the overwhelming advantage of the Japanese navy.
Small and medium-sized warships fled in all directions like a school of sardines driven away by sharks.
The few remaining turtle ships were like huge iron coffins floating on the sea, struggling to survive under the continuous harassment and fire from Japanese artillery ships, huddled behind their heavy armor and barely surviving.
The Japanese Navy's flagship, the Yawata Maru, only revealed its hideous face as the core force of the navy at this moment.
The Atakabune is a large near-shore warship. Although it cannot sail across the sea, it has an extremely large size and suppressive power.
This behemoth is over fifty meters long and over ten meters wide, with a towering hull, like a mobile sea fortress.
The sailing speed of this ship is indeed not fast, but its huge hull gives it unparalleled stability and anti-strike capability.
Therefore, the Japanese Navy often used Atakabune as its main warship, and used smaller speedboats such as Kanbune and Kobaya as escorts to form a naval fleet.
At this moment, the 'Yawata Maru' was slowly adjusting its direction with its huge tonnage, with the sturdy bow pointing directly to the center of the battlefield.
Kaifu Yoshihisa stood proudly on the towering rooftop of the "Hachiman Maru", overlooking the Korean ships below that were fleeing like stray dogs, his eyes full of playful laughter like a cat playing with a mouse.
At this moment, he was completely immersed in the fantasy of annihilating the main force of Feng State, and felt that his brother Haibu Zongzhen's caution was completely unnecessary.
"Humph! The Fengguo Navy is nothing but this!"
"They don't even have decent battleships. They're just a bunch of fragile turtle shells!" Kaifu Yoshihisa spat in disdain and smiled at the fawning adjutant beside him. "See? This is what happens when you challenge Yamato!"
"That largest turtle ship must be their flagship?"
"Order! Crash the largest tortoise shell and crush it! I will personally cut off the head of that Fengguo general and offer it as a sacrifice to Amaterasu!"
The adjutant immediately responded loudly, with a flattering smile on his face: "General, you are mighty!"
Kaifu Yoshihisa became more and more proud and could no longer contain his ecstasy. He was eager to reap the greatest results of this battle with his own hands.
Driven by numerous rowing sailors and sails, the heavy 'Yawata Maru' began to slowly accelerate like a moving mountain.
The surrounding Japanese ships and early morning ships made way for the passage and shouted excitedly.
On the other hand, the flagships of the Three Kingdoms fleets.
The deck was in a mess, the hull was hit in many places, the reinforced iron plates were twisted and deformed, and the dome was dented by stone bullets.
There were many dead soldiers and wounded soldiers lying on the deck, and the sounds of groaning and crying were endless.
Li Chunchen's eyes were red and veins on his forehead were bulging.
He stared at the Japanese flagship that was crushing towards him, his mind as clear as a mirror.
His Royal Highness Prince Feng asked him to lead the fleets of the three countries in the vanguard, and he didn't expect them to win at all.
Now, his mission has been accomplished in a sense.
The range and power of the Japanese pirates' artillery, the use of iron cannons, and the coordination between the Kanfune, Kobaya, and Ataka were all recorded.
But this is not enough, far from enough!
The Japanese pirates suffered almost no losses, their main fleet was intact, and their morale was high!
But he, Li Chunchen, was defeated miserably.
They even lost several precious turtle ships of the Park family and the lives of countless soldiers from the Three Kingdoms, but failed to cause any substantial damage to the Japanese pirates.
How could such an achievement catch the eye of His Majesty Prince Feng?
How can I get the opportunity to "join the account and obey orders"?
"Boarding, we must board!"
Li Chunchen was screaming wildly in his heart, like a gambler who had lost all his money and placed all his chips on this desperate gamble.
Only by boarding and letting the turtle ship take advantage of close combat, even if it is just to severely damage or even replace a Japanese pirate's battleship, can he prove his worth!
"Pass on my orders!" Li Chunchen's voice was hoarse like a broken gong. "All the turtle ships that can still move, abandon their defenses and gather together. Ram them and board them! Even if it means death, we will bite off a piece of their flesh!"
"General! Absolutely not!"
"General! Think again!"
Upon hearing this, several generals were so frightened that they tumbled to Li Chunchen's feet and clung to his legs tightly.
"General! The situation is hopeless, let's retreat!"
"Where there is life, there is hope!"
"Our Park family's turtle ships are almost wiped out. We must leave some seeds for the Park family and the Three Kingdoms!"
"If we charge again, we'll die. We can't hit that giant ship!"
"Get out of here!" Li Chunchen's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He kicked away the general holding his left leg, and his long sword in his right hand was already half an inch unsheathed. "Who dares to retreat?! Military orders are as heavy as a mountain. Charge forward!"
"Those who disobey orders will be killed!"
Seeing Li Chunchen's eyes that were like those of an evil spirit ready to devour anyone, the generals kneeling on the ground suddenly felt as if their necks were being strangled.
They knew that Li Chunchen had gone completely crazy!
Everyone looked at each other, and then their expressions exchanged imperceptibly.
Killing people to establish authority can only barely control people's hearts. When the order is passed to the other turtle ships, those generals will definitely not obey it.
The turtle ships of Silla and Baekje had already quietly turned around and joined the fleeing.
Of the few remaining turtle ships in Goryeo, only three belonged to the Park faction.
In hesitation and fear, a general suddenly pounced forward and grabbed Li Chunchen's sword-holding hand tightly.
"What are you doing?!" Li Chunchen shouted angrily.
The surrounding generals looked at each other, then rushed forward one after another, suppressing Li Chunchen.
After all, he was the commander-in-chief appointed by Park Nam-sang, so the other generals only dared to control Li Chunchen and did not dare to kill him.
"Quick! Turn around and run, signal the other warships with flags to buy them some time!" a general roared.
Li Chunchen's eyes were bloodshot: "How dare you!"
"General, I'm sorry!" The general gritted his teeth, "We still want to live!"
The order was issued, but few followers followed.
The rest of the warships either fled or were destroyed, and only the three turtle ships belonging to the Park family chose to carry out this almost suicidal order.
The captains of the three turtle ships were all loyal to the Park family, and their families were in the hands of the Park family, so they had no choice but to follow orders.
He had to muster up his last bit of courage, turn around, and launch a desperate charge towards the crushing 'Yawata Maru'.
"You're such a fool!"
Kaifu Yoshihisa saw it clearly and saw that the three turtle ships dared to try to stop a chariot with their bare hands. He immediately became furious, as if he felt greatly insulted.
"Fire! Blast them to pieces!"