Chapter 742
Chapter 742
You can say that Ling Cao was someone good at leading the troops. After all, half of his six thousand men were willing to disobey orders alongside him. The other half listened to Gan Ning's orders to stay still.
Ling Cao did not care how many were following him. To him, the people from Liaodong were clowns compared to his men.
“General! Look over there!” An Yixuan's deputy general pointed. An Yixuan was surprised as to why Gan Ning's ship did not move at all but split his troops.
“Are those the transport ships?” An Yixuan was shocked. Did those small ships want to fight against his turtle ships?
“Hahaha! Looks like they don't know the might of the turtle ships!” The deputy general laughed.
“Really?” An Yixuan frowned. It is possible that Gan Ning was pretending to be weak again.
Soon both sides clashed. Ling Cao fired at the turtle ships with the ballista. In his opinion, the turtle ships were both slow and ugly. They were the perfect targets to shoot at.
“Argh!” There were screams and a ship sank. But Ling Cao couldn't laugh. The ship that sank was one of his own. One of the transport ships had advanced too far in front and got within range of the enemies' ballista. Meanwhile, the turtle ships were also riddled with arrows but none of them sank. The Liaodong troops were even laughing at Ling Cao.
“They are so strong?” Even Liang Chen was shocked. Yangzhou's ballista were famous throughout the lands. They were so powerful that towered ships were now useless. Yet Yangzhou's ballista was defeated by this ugly thing. These turtle ships really lived up to their name.
“Captain. Is Ling Cao trying to fight head on?” One soldier asked Liang Chen.
Ling Cao's warship charged towards the enemy. Since they were a turtle, then let us pry their shells open. Dozens of warship formed the shape of a swallowtail as they advanced.
“Are they trying to ram us? Haha!” An Yixuan finally felt at ease. Although he did not know why Gan Ning was so stupid, he would not turn down free merits.
“Haha! It is time for some payback!” The deputy general also laughed. The turtle ship's greatest strength was actually its ramming ability. After all, it is covered in iron. Why would it be afraid of being rammed?
The galleons all had ramming prows. Lu Xun nearly got through the iron chains because of this. These ramming prows were also the reason Ling Cao was so confident in it. Unfortunately, his confidence was misplaced. Right after ramming into the enemy ship, the galleon began to take in water.
“General! Its no good! The ship is going to sink!” The deputy general reminded Ling Cao. It was obvious that the galleons had been defeated by the turtle ships.
“The turtle ships are so powerful?” Gan Ning and Liang Chen both broke out in cold sweat. Fortunately, their Lord had replaced their ships with the Monarch-class. Otherwise, they would definitely be defeated by Liaodong's navy.
Those who sail at the ocean were naturally better than those who sail at the river. The Liaodong Navy who fought at the ocean for years naturally had their own tricks. The turtle ship was one of them.
“Haha! Pass down the order! Sink all of Yangzhou's ships!” The deputy general said proudly.
“No!” An Yixuan stopped his deputy general. He was interested in the galleons. If he could obtain their ballista, his navy would become even more powerful.
“Have the boarding ships come forward! I want to capture those Yangzhou ships!” An Yixuan ordered.
“Shit!” Ling Cao could see that Liaodong's navy wants to capture them. Water has already entered the ship but it was still able to float. If they were hit by the turtle ship again, their whole warship would be completely destroyed. The only reason it hasn't happened yet was because the enemy wants to capture them.
“Brothers! A soldier can be killed but not humiliated! Do you want to be captured by those Liaodong women?”
“No!” Ling Cao's men shouted back
“In that case we kill them! Kill them and then burn the warships after!” Ling Cao shouted. If the enemy comes, they can just burn the warship and die together.
“General! General Gan Ning order you to cover General Ling Cao's retreat!” Liang Chen received this order while he was watching the show. He hoped that Ling Cao would perform a heroic sacrifice. That way, Ling Cao would die, Liang Chen can be happy and Gan Ning can relax. However, Gan Ning still gave the order to rescue Ling Cao, even threatening Liang Chen with military law.
Liang Chen curled his lips unhappily as he passed the order down. The Dahan then moved towards the battlefield, like an adult intervening in a fight between children.
“Huh?” An Yixuan furrowed his brows at the interruption.
“General. It does not matter. These small ships are not needed. Since the big ship is here, let us go for it!” The deputy general suggested. He was very confident because the turtle ships were all nearby. Once the order is given, the turtle ships can surround the huge warship. No matter how big the Monarch-class was, they would be powerless once they were surrounded.
“Yes.” An Yixuan nodded. He was originally thinking about how to keep the three warships here. He did not believe he could stop them if they decide to run away. He never expected for one of the huge warships to just deliver itself to them. Thinking this, he ordered the boarding ships to withdraw while the turtle ships were ordered to surround the Dahan.
An Yixuan felt excited. Soon, this huge warship would become his. What a glorious sight it would be for him to command such a huge warship.
“General look! The Dahan is coming to save us!” One soldier shouted just as soon as Ling Cao was prepared for death.
Since they were allies, they were obviously reinforcements. The feeling of escaping death was very refreshing.
“Hmph!” Ling Cao could not help but snort when he saw the Dahan. He also felt ashamed for not listening to Gan Ning. If he had, he would not be in this mess.
“Save us? I'm afraid they would have trouble saving themselves!” Although Ling Cao phrased it badly, he was actually worried since he saw the turtle ships moving to capture the Dahan.
“We cannot let the enemy succeed like this!” Ling Cao knew how important the Monarch-class was to Yangzhou. Each ship costs hundred of thousands of gold and losing even one would be a huge slap in the face to Yangzhou.
Ling Cao also knew who the captain of the Dahan was. It was Liang Chen who had always been at odds with him. If it weren't because of Gan Ning, the two of them would have already come to blows with each other. Liang Chen always wished for Ling Cao to die early so that he would not harm others. In other words, the Dahan was ordered by Gan Ning to come and rescue them. Ling Cao did not want to owe anything to anyone, especially Gan Ning.
Ling Cao gritted his teeth and resolutely gave the order. “Pass down my order! Everyone is to set the ship on fire!”
“General?” The others were dumbfounded. If it was before, they would willingly do it because they had no way out. It was better to die than to be humiliated. But now, they had a chance to live.
“Do you want the Dahan to die with us?” Ling Cao asked and then pointed. “Look at the turtle ships!”
The turtle ships had given up on Ling Cao's ship and were advancing towards the Dahan. It was obvious that they wanted to trap the Dahan at the ocean.
“General! What do we do now?” The others began to panic. They had not only harmed themselves but others as well. They have become sinners.
“What else can we do? Pass down my orders! Even if we die, we are not allowed to become a burden to others! Burn the warship!” Ling Cao shouted.
Some of them were silent. They did not want to die especially when they could see hope right in front of them.
“Did you not hear what I said? Are you all cowards afraid of death?” Ling Cao roared.
“General! We are not cowards! We are not afraid of death!”
“Haha!” Ling Cao sneered.
“General! We are not afraid of death! We are simply afraid of dying with humiliation as cowards!”
This caused Ling Cao to become speechless since all of this was caused by him disobeying orders. He felt extremely guilty.
“No. We won't die as cowards. It would be cowardly if we die and the Dahan gets captured. If we die, the Dahan won't have to save us. Only if we die, can they live! Pass down my orders! Set the ship on fire!” Ling Cao shouted.
Soon the ship was set on fire. Liang Chen who saw this smiled. “This Ling Cao is still a man!” Since there were no enemies nearby, it was obvious that they set their ship on fire. Liang Chen's impression of Ling Cao improved and his resentment for having to rescue Ling Cao dissipated a lot.
“General. Should we signal them to stop the fire?”
“No need.” Liang Chen was not so kind. He still think it was better to feed Ling Cao to the sharks.
“Is Yangzhou trying to finish themselves off now that they know they cannot escape?” An Yixuan's deputy general asked sarcastically. He had no interest in the small ships now that the big one had shown itself.
An Yixuan shook his head. “Yangzhou's navy is filled with real men!” He added with respect. He knew that these ships set themselves on fire to remind the Dahan not to save them.
“Unfortunately, it is already too late!” An Yixuan sighed. The turtle ship was already close to the huge warship. It was no longer possible for the huge warship to escape.
“General! The Dahan is still coming towards us!” One soldier reminded Ling Cao.
“What?” Ling Cao picked up his telescope and saw that the Dahan was still approaching. “What is that idiot Liang Chen doing? Does he not know we will all die together like this?”
“Report! The enemy is now less than two kilometers away from the Dahan!” The lookout shouted to Liang Chen.
“Two kilometers? That is still quite far. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when they are at least one kilometer away!” Liang Chen stretched and yawned.
Later, Liang Chen continued to wait until the enemy was about two hundred meters away. It was at this time that the Liaodong Navy was extremely. This is because the turtle ships had already completely surrounded the Dahan.
Ling Cao was in despair as it was his fault that the Dahan was also doomed.
An Yixuan's deputy general congratulated An Yixuan for the victory. Though An Yixuan replied back humbly, he felt uneasy. This is because Gan Ning hasn't done anything to stop this.
“General. Shouldn't we provide assistance to the Dahan?” Yang Chen asked worriedly.
“No need. This merit is not worth it. Let him have it.” Gan Ning replied.
“Merits?”
“How many turtle ships are there?” Gan Ning asked back.
“About thirty.” Yang Chen gave an appoximate number.
“There are more than a hundred cannons on the Dahan. If we add in those boarding ships, it would be just enough.”
“Huh?” Yang Chen was confused. But soon, the extremely thick skinned Liang Chen taught Yang Chen a good lesson on how to fight wars. And he did it all while lamenting Liaodong's stinginess.
“Only thirty boarding ships came together? How stingy!” Liang Chen commented when he received the report on the number of enemies approaching. How happy would he be if the entire enemy fleet came over to be shot at. However, An Yixuan was a cautious man.
“Forget it. Even if it is just a mosquito, it is still meat. Fire!” Liang Chen ordered resentfully. The cannons open fired with thundering sounds.
“Thunder? Quick, it is about to rain! Keep your laundries!” The spectators over at Liaodong port shouted. In this era, the sound of thunder meant that rain is coming. It was a sign to keep their laundries.
“No! Look!” One person pointed out at the ocean. He was shocked by what he saw.
More than a hundred cannons fired. In just two salvos, the thirty turtle ships were wiped out. This is mostly because the distance was near.
The destruction of the turtle ship also dumbfounded the sailors of the boarding ships. They did not expect the turtle ships to be destroyed so easily. On top of that, these boarding ships could not even defeat the transport ships without the help of the turtle ships. What else can they do here? The quick witted ones had already begun turning to escape.
“You still want to run? The appetizer have only just begun!” The Dahan pursued the enemy while firing in short bursts. They no longer fired in volleys as it would affect maneuverability.
An Yixuan's expression turned dark. His deputy general could not believe his eyes even after rubbing them. But the truth was right in front of him. The turtle ships was blown to pieces.
“Pass down my orders! The entire fleet is to retreat!” An Yixuan ordered. He could not figure out what those thundering weapons were. Now that he knew he could not win, it was better to retreat.
“General! You cannot retreat! The enemy only have three warships! We can still fight!” The deputy general shouted. They had just suffered heavy losses. They had lost over seventy warships while the enemy lost only a few transport ships. Would they dare to go back like this? An Yixuan aside, Gongsun Kang would likely kill the rest of them.
“We cannot retreat? Then you tell me how to fight them!” An Yixuan sneered. He did not know what weapons the enemy was using at all. Although he did not lose his forty warships with ballista, they were clearly no match for their opponent. An Yixuan's many years of experience told him that it was better to retreat. Except for the Liaodong Port, there were reefs at the other coastal areas of Liaodong's ocean. It would not be a problem for An Yixuan's ships to pass through those but Yangzhou's huge warships definitely cannot pass through those. At that time, they could still use terrain to gain an advantage.
“Pass down my orders! We retreat!” An Yixuan ordered again.
In fact, even without An Yixuan's orders, some of the warships have already begun to retreat.
“Now it is our turn!” Gan Ning said with a smile while Yang Chen was still shocked. Winning was so easy with these ugly iron lumps?
The Dahan was pursuing the enemy while firing their cannons. The Huaxia and the Yanhuang were also moving to intercept An Yixuan's warships from different sides.
“General. Do we still need to burn our warship?” Ling Cao's men asked.
“Of course not you idiot!” Ling Cao suddenly cursed back. His mind was now occupied with the strength of the Monarch-class ship and Liang Chen's arrogant expression. He was extremely jealous. Why can that rubbish Liang Chen take command of the Monarch-class ship when he himself could not? Ling Cao believes that he was better than Liang Chen.
Soon, Ling Cao was also rescued and boarded another warship.
“General. We cannot advance any further!” The lookout on thre three Monarch-class warships reported. Gan Ning and the others frowned from the bad news. There were too many hidden rocks and reefs nearby. One mistake and they could end up stranding the warship. However, they still could not allow An Yixuan to escape.
“General! We cannot retreat! Absolutely not!” Meanwhile, An Yixuan's deputy general was still shouting.
“We cannot win at all! If we do not retreat, we will be wiped out here!” An Yixuan replied earnestly.
“No! We haven't even fought yet! Our main fleet is still here! How can we lose? Yangzhou only have three warships that can fight!”
“Who the Commander here? I am giving the order to retreat!” An Yixuan shouted angrily. This deputy general is so shameless.
“General! You are the Commander and even a close friend of Gongsun Kang. That is why you can retreat! But the rest of us cannot!” The deputy general sneered.
Gongsun Kang had given the order for them to wipe out Yangzhou's fleet. If they could not do so, they would be beheaded. Everyone was forced to sign this military order. If they were to go back like this, Gongsun Kang would definitely execute them just to vent his anger. However, An Yixuan who was the commanding officer and a close friend would be spared.
“Dongfang Ming! Are you trying to rebel?” An Yixuan angrily yelled at his deputy general.
“General! If you want to call this a rebellion, then a rebellion it will be!” The deputy general, Dongfang Ming, sneered. “Men! Take An Yixuan away!”
“I want to see who dares!” An Yixuan drew his sword in anger. The other officers were all hesitant. Some sided with Dongfang Ming while some sided with An Yixuan. All of them had also taken out their swords and were pointing it at each other.
“Everyone! Stop and think for a moment! Is there anyone here that will survive if we go back like this?” Dongfang Ming asked his men.
The soldiers all lowered their heads. Gongsun Kang was well known to be wilfull and pigheaded. He was someone who liked seeing military merits but was afraid of seeing failure. When they attacked Buyeo with Goguryeo, there was a general who was ambushed and lost thousands of men. However, this general was a fearless man who killed thousands. Despite this Gongsun Kang still chose to execute this general. With such a devastating defeat here, Gongsun Kang would definitely kill them.
“No! I promise Young Master Gongsun Kang will not kill you!” An Yixuan shouted to his men but he himself was not confident that Gongsun Kang would not do so.
Everyone eventually sided with Dongfang Ming. An Yixuan knew that he could not persuade everyone turned to Dongfang Ming. “Dongfang Ming. Even if you don't retreat now, you won't have a chance of winning. In the end, the whole army will be wiped out and everyone will die! There is still a chance to survive if we retreat!”
Dongfang Ming frowned at An Yixuan's words and looked back at the Monarch-class ships. The sound of thunder was still coming from the enemy ship
“That is thunder! Only the deities can make thunder! Could it be that His Highness the King of Shu is really destined to be the Emperor?” Dongfang Ming had to admit that An Yixuan was good at fighting naval battles. He would admit that An Yixuan was better than himself.
“Dongfang Ming! It is still not too late! I will not pursue this matter! Retreat with me!” An Yixuan persuaded. He was really afraid that Dongfang Ming would make the mistake of challenging the Yangzhou Navy.
But Dongfang Ming smiled and replied. “General An. You don't have to defeat the Yangzhou Navy to survive.”
An Yixuan was confused. What did Dongfang Ming mean by that? How can they explain themselves to Gongsun Kang without defeating Yangzhou?
But to begin with, there was never a need to explain themselves.
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