Chapter 674 Forgot to Row
The coalition forces of the South China Sea countries were no match for the New Song navy that was heading south. When these ships from various countries, which had gathered together with different intentions, saw the tall warships flying the flag of the New Song coming across the sea, they were so frightened that they forgot to row. Only the Zhenla fleet remained stable in an organized manner in the center of the battle formation.
Yi Shuigui saw this scene through the telescope and said with a disdainful smile: What big deal can a few tiny wooden boats cause? Let's just rush straight at them and destroy the Zhenla fleet first.
Soon, thirty frigates were arranged in two rows and fired intensively at the enemy fleet.
The commander of the Zhenla navy immediately felt the uniqueness of the New Song navy. The fleets of both sides were still far away, but the enemy's shells were hitting the soldiers at close range like stones, and they were very accurate, specifically hitting their Zhenla fleet.
The guy was stunned when he saw the warship burning and sinking.
What is going on?
Before he could see the warships of the New Song Kingdom clearly, they fired cannonballs over his head. The catapults on his warships could not reach the warships of the New Song Kingdom. How to attack?
The fleets of the surrounding small countries were so scared when they saw this situation that they turned their boats around and ran back. The fleet of Mayi Country took the lead and ran in the front.
However, Yi Shuigui would not negotiate a ceasefire just because they did not dare to fight. He just waved his hand coldly, and the warships on the left and right sides attacked quickly, firing at the enemy ships as they went.
This was too much. The Zhenla commander was furious when he saw that he was surrounded and bombed not long after leaving the port. He ordered his ships to go up first and rush forward to fight with the New Song fleet so that they would not be bombarded.
As expected, the Zhenla fleet rushed forward.
Yi Shuigui laughed when he saw this scene. It was really a bold move, and the ignorant were fearless. He didn't even look at it, and just said: Kill these bastards.
The New Song fleet immediately changed its formation. The two rows of frigates in the front fought while withdrawing to the two wings. The warships in the back had already taken over the battle positions. Stone bombs, splitting bombs, incendiary bombs, and blooming bombs were fired at the same time. All kinds of shells continued to hit the Zhenla fleet like hail.
The Zhenla commander saw the naval warships of the New Song Dynasty in front of him moving towards both wings, just like the curtains being drawn up one after another on a stage to perform a series of wonderful plays, while behind them were still a large number of New Song warships firing. His mind finally came to his senses, and he raised his flag and ordered a retreat.
Seeing that the range of their catapults could not reach the fleet of the New Song Dynasty, the surrounding warships had already turned around and fled.
However, escaping also comes at a price.
Before the Zhenla fleet could escape back to the port on the shore, the warships of the New Song Dynasty had already caught up with them. What was even more terrible was that the Ma Yi navy blocked the waterway into the port, preventing them from returning.
The commander of the Zhenla navy was also the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces of small countries.
This guy knew that he was betrayed by the Ma Yi Kingdom. The navy of the New Song Dynasty only attacked him and no one else. They didn't even bomb the port on the island. He had no choice but to flee south along the coast.
Yi Shuigui's fleet had already rushed to the shore, bombing every ship they saw and capturing every person they saw. The warship of the Zhenla commander was sunk and disintegrated in the sea before it could run far. The expeditionary fleet of the New Song Dynasty quickly landed, and a large number of marines rushed up to take over the docks and ports.
The fleets of various small countries scattered and surrendered one after another, and the South China Sea Coalition ceased to exist.
The king of Mayi country was delighted and was already standing at the dock with a smile to welcome the imperial army from the Celestial Empire.
Yi Shuigui ignored Lord Ma Yi and first divided the fleet into several teams, led by the deputy generals to follow the warships of those small countries to visit the South China Sea countries. After he finished the arrangements, he went ashore and was cordially received by Lord Ma Yi to the palace.
Yi Shuigui was neither humble nor arrogant. He bowed and greeted the king, then asked him: Now that the navy of Zhenla has been destroyed and the South China Sea is at peace, is there anything else the king needs to discuss?
When King Ma Yi saw that Yi Shuigui was dignified and polite, and not as rude and eccentric as the Zhenla commander, he felt a sense of respect for him and was still thinking about which of his daughters to marry him.
Suddenly I heard Yi Shuigui asking a question and I didn't know how to start for a moment.
Yi Shuigui clasped his fists and saluted again, saying: "I have been ordered to march south to fight against the bandits. I have recovered Lusong Island and wiped out the Zhenla pirates. The New Song Kingdom has established the Lusong Prefecture Protectorate on Lusong Island. If your country has any business in the future, you can go to Lusong Island to do business."
King Ma Yi was stunned.
That guy thought that the navy of the New Song Dynasty would go to Southeast Asia to completely wipe out the remnants of the previous Song Dynasty, and then return to the capital as in the past. However, he didn't expect that they would not leave after they came, and wanted to put down roots here.
Yi Shuigui asked him: According to the agreement between the two countries, Ma Yi is already a vassal of the New Song Kingdom and should provide a place for garrisoning for the upper country. Where is it? This time the upper country's navy has 30,000 people and 500 large ships, and they have to find a place to anchor and go ashore to rest.
I am busy with military duties and need to go back quickly.
King Mayi was stunned. He originally thought that he had fooled the New Song Kingdom into sending troops to deal with the remnants of the Song Dynasty and drive away the Zhenla warriors, and everyone would be happy. However, he never expected that the New Song Kingdom would keep its word and actually station troops in Mayi Kingdom.
The envoy next to him immediately went up and whispered: Your Majesty, we can't afford to offend you. The 500 warships of the New Song Kingdom are at least equivalent to the 1,000 large ships of the Zhenla Kingdom, and their firearms are so good that they are amazing.
If the king is reluctant to give up this excellent seaport, just give them an uninhabited island for them to live on.
When this girl saw Yi Shuigui sitting in the hall in a majestic manner, she dared not call their little emperor "Your Majesty" directly, and quickly changed it to "Your Majesty" for fear of violating the rules and offending the majesty of the superior country.
King Ma Yi thought about it and realized that this was the truth. He said with a little embarrassment that so many troops from the Celestial Empire had arrived at once, and his country, Ma Yi, was too small to accommodate them. How about asking the general to look for a suitable uninhabited island along the coast and let his country build a port?
This was exactly what Yi Shuigui wanted to hear. He glanced at the guy with a hint of dissatisfaction and paused for three seconds, which frightened King Ma Yi so much that he shuddered violently.
He said: Good, if that's the case, wait until the army has selected you and then confirm it, and sign the document as proof.
I will take my leave, then stand up and stride out.
King Ma Yi hurriedly ordered his attendants to contact the navy of the upper country to select a station, which was actually to perform the duty of supervision.
The mastermind beside him was a minister who was on his first diplomatic mission to New Song. Although he held a grudge against New Song, he knew that New Song was a powerful country and did not dare to neglect it.
This guy carefully reported to the king, first drive all the navy to the deserted island, and then pretend to be enthusiastic and send some rice, noodles, grain, oil and meat to reward and comfort them. In this way, they will see our goodwill, and at the same time, they will be bitten by the huge mosquitoes on the deserted island and retreat.
King Ma Yi nodded. After seeing the neatly dressed officers and soldiers of the New Song Navy, he also had doubts. He thought to himself that these soldiers were used to a comfortable life, so how could they be willing to live on a wilderness island?
Yi Shuigui had no intention of making such plans with King Ma Yi. His logistics and military supplies had already been purchased at the dock for food and fresh vegetables.
The general in charge of logistics brought the quartermaster of the Song army to Song Island. They skillfully found merchants engaged in maritime trade to make requests for military needs and started a business by open buying and selling.
The merchants and common people of Ma Yi pushed large and small carts and carried them on their shoulders to deliver the food and fresh vegetables needed by the navy. The New Song navy used hard New Song banknotes for fair trade, and a large amount of supplies were purchased and loaded onto ships by the Shenwei Army.
While King Ma Yi was still wondering where the New Song Navy should stay, the port's customs officer had already stumbled into his small palace with an urgent report.
The envoy to the city reported happily: This is incredible, Your Majesty, the New Song Navy is purchasing military supplies, and it is a fair trade without a penny difference. The taxes collected in just half a day are equivalent to the income of three months.
The little emperor suddenly sat up straight, staring at him with wide eyes in surprise and asked him: What? Say it again.
The military supplies purchased by the navy of the New Song Dynasty could be equal to three months' worth of taxes in just half a day?
Shi Boshi looked excited and agreed with a "hmm", nodding vigorously with a smile on his face. He told him that the new Song soldiers would not bargain, they would pay whatever the common people asked for, very straightforwardly.
Mom, this is what a living is, hahaha.
The young emperor was so happy that he wanted to do business with the navy of the new Song Dynasty himself. He suddenly thought that the navy was about to leave and move to a remote island. Wouldn't such a good business be gone?
No, he had to keep the New Song navy near his capital so that he could earn money from the garrison.
This guy immediately changed his attitude. He ran out regardless of the hot weather and came to the navy's flagship sweating profusely to meet Yi Shuigui. He shamelessly said that he had not thought it through. The navy of the upper country came all the way to Mayi and they should eat and live well. He requested the navy not to leave and to stay here.
I will immediately drive away all the people nearby and make room for the Celestial Empire’s army.
Yi Shuigui glanced at King Ma Yi coldly and said: That won’t work. The Shenwei Army has military discipline and will not harass the common people for their own comfort. They would rather be exposed to the sun and rain than leave the common people without a place to live.
The general has decided to go south to find a place to live.
The little emperor Ma Yi was confused.
This was equivalent to being taught a lesson by Yi Shuigui. The Shenwei Army cared for the people and did not compete with them for profit. He saw such a clause in the charter of the vassal state, which required the lords of the vassal state to love the people and be fair and seek welfare for the people.
This guy was bored, and after returning, he was thinking about how to make money from the garrison of the New Song Kingdom.
At this time, Ma Yi's second wave of envoys, who had delivered the documents from Lusong Island, quickly returned to the palace.
The young emperor was delighted to know that he could carry out his mission on the island of Lusong. He immediately ordered his envoy to go to Lusong Prefecture again and ask the country to station more troops in Mayi.
The mastermind was stunned immediately, looking at his emperor stupidly, wondering what was wrong with this guy.
I remember the last time he was sent as an envoy to the New Song Kingdom, because he straightforwardly agreed to become a vassal state of the New Song Kingdom in Chengdu, he was kicked hard by the emperor and scolded for being a traitor.
Today, why is he asked to ask the superior country to station more troops? Isn't this even more treasonous?
