Chapter 911

Noon.

A gentle sea breeze blew over the city wall of Nagitsu. The sun shone especially softly in the azure sky.

On the rippling blue sea, Great Yu Empire warships gathered. If not for the confrontation between the two countries’ soldiers on the beach, all of this would appear exceptionally beautiful.

“General, the Japanese soldiers who have arrived here total over two hundred thousand. Shall we continue to wait?” On the pier, Liu Chen asked Yue Yun.

“No need to wait.” Yue Yun had the flag signalman reply. From intelligence gathered by the secret guards, he learned that the current Japan was in fact composed of twenty-six feudal states controlled by daimyo. Yamada Nobunaga was merely collectively elected by these daimyo as the supreme ruler of Japan.

In Yue Yun’s opinion, if all twenty-six daimyo were to assemble, the power Japan could unleash would still be somewhat troublesome. After all, intelligence indicated that the twenty-six daimyo controlled a Japanese population of twenty-six million. If they were to mobilize all their forces, they could muster hundreds of thousands of additional troops.

Although any number of cold weapon troops were nothing but cannon fodder to them, their purpose this time was to quickly defeat Japan, make Japan surrender and sign a treaty, thereby turning Japan into a market for Great Yu Empire goods and a source of profit. Prolonged warfare with Japan was not what they desired, as it would hinder the Great Yu Empire’s development and delay their goal of catching up with the comprehensive national strength of Western powers. Of course, they had no intention of letting Japan off easy; rather, they intended to be like silkworm farmers, letting the silkworms spin their silk before harvesting it.

Therefore, he needed to provide Japan with sufficient deterrence, but without getting bogged down in a quagmire of war.

Upon receiving Yue Yun’s order, Liu Chen excitedly licked his tongue. During the period of Japanese reinforcement, they had already perfected their trenches.

Completely unafraid of the Japanese cavalry’s charge, they also had the firepower of hand grenades and field cannons to deal with infantry charges.

However, what surprised Liu Chen most was that this time the Japanese army did not stay hidden in the city, but chose to assemble outside the city, as if to drive them into the sea.

It was then that he suddenly realized the roles between the Great Yu Empire and Japan had been reversed. Now they were the invaders, and Japan wanted to drive them away.

“Interesting. Today, your Grandfather Liu will feed you all with cannonballs and bullets.” Liu Chen said excitedly.

No sooner had his words fallen than cannon fire suddenly erupted from the sea, which greatly surprised him. “Now is not the time for bombardment…”

He did not finish his sentence. His gaze suddenly saw Japanese Atakabune (warships) rushing out from the inland river to engage their warships.

At the same time, the Japanese soldiers in front of Nagitsu City began to advance towards them.

“Brothers, even without naval artillery support, we can still eliminate them! Load your bullets! Place your hand grenades before you! Prepare the artillery!” Liu Chen methodically deployed his forces.

As he spoke, the situation at sea grew more intense.

When Yue Yun discovered this batch of Atakabune, he ordered twenty-six steamships to head towards the river mouth, leaving the remaining warships to support Liu Chen.

Although the current Atakabune were equipped with cannons, he intended to use his twenty-six steamships to destroy the Japanese navy.

So, he allowed the Japanese warships to charge out from the inland river, instead of stopping them within the river.

After more than half of the Japanese warships entered the sea, Yue Yun led his flagship into a battle line, forming a “T” formation with the Japanese warships.

Although the British had supplied Japan with many weapons, they had not taught Japan their naval combat skills. Yue Yun immediately saw that the current Japanese navy had made no progress.

Moreover, utilizing the high maneuverability of the steamships, he easily seized the advantageous position of the “T” crossing.

“Sink all enemy ships!” Yue Yun said coldly.

“Boom, boom, boom…” Following his order, the twenty-six steamships roared. At this moment, the Japanese warships could not even aim their cannons at the Great Yu Empire’s warships.

Facing a sudden barrage of shells, the Japanese soldiers fell into despair. They had already learned the formidable power of the Great Yu Empire’s shells, and understood that now, with their advantage lost, they were doomed.

Indeed, explosive shells striking the leading Atakabune exploded, and the massive Atakabune gradually sank amidst the explosions.

The first warship, being sunk, blocked the path of the second warship. Immediately, the Japanese warships’ formation fell into disarray. Coupled with the Great Yu Empire’s artillery bombardment, the Japanese warships suffered even more, turning into seas of fire one after another.

The samurai flag-leaders on the Nagitsu city wall watched everything on the sea. Their scalps tingled, and a shadow of gloom enveloped their hearts.

“Stop the attack!” Takasugi roared from the city wall.

At this point, they racked their brains to figure out a way to disperse the Great Yu Empire fleet, precisely to coordinate with the land attack. However, to their disappointment, only twenty-six warships were sent to deal with them, and fifty warships remained at the pier. Charging now would still be suicide.

On the position, the excited Liu Chen’s face suddenly darkened. The Japanese soldiers suddenly stopped charging.

“Artillery, hit them hard for me! We must annihilate these two hundred thousand men today!” Liu Chen shouted loudly.

As his words fell, field cannons began firing at the Japanese soldiers outside the city. Exploding shells, like flowers of flame, erupted in front of Nagitsu City. Japanese soldiers fell in swathes.

Watching this scene, Takasugi’s face turned pale. This was the first time he had experienced the Great Yu Empire’s combat power. The other daimyo were the same. These exploding shells made them feel waves of panic.

However, an even more terrifying scene appeared next. Flames suddenly erupted from the warships on the sea. After a while, a black barrage of shells once again appeared in their eyes.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

Two thousand shells struck the front of Nagitsu City wall and on the city wall itself. The sky was filled with flames like flowers of hell. Heat waves rolled, and shrapnel flew.

Accompanied by the shaking of the city wall and the wails of soldiers, the entire area in front of Nagitsu City’s gate instantly became a Shura hell.

Liu Chen was also dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected the navy to be able to fire shells to a distance of nearly five li. This was probably the maximum range of the naval guns.

This time, to defeat Japan, the navy had brought out all its capabilities.

This round of bombardment utterly terrified Tokugawa Ieyasu. At this point, he realized that the Great Yu Empire had treated him very leniently on the first day.

“Takasugi-kun! Takasugi-kun!” Tokugawa Ieyasu snapped back to reality. He only saw blood flowing from Takasugi’s mouth. When he looked closely, a shrapnel had lodged in Takasugi’s chest, now gushing blood.

Before he could even breathe, brilliant flames once again erupted from the sea. Another round of shells flew towards Nagitsu City wall. At this point, he no longer cared about Takasugi’s life or death and, along with other daimyo, scrambled and rolled to escape down the city wall.

And just then, the entire Nagitsu city wall collapsed with a roar. The soldiers inside the city were exposed before the Great Yu Empire soldiers.

Liu Chen blew a loud whistle, triumphant. Today, the navy had displayed its true strength. Facing Nagitsu, now without the protection of its front city wall, he said to his soldiers, “Everyone assemble! This time, we will teach the Japanese soldiers what three-stage firing is!”