Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 350: The Decisive Battle on the East China Sea (Part 7)
When seeing Li Guozhu's 35 large ships coming in an orderly manner from the north, Tokugawa Yoshinao, as a militarist before the time travel, inevitably thought of a very unpleasant thing.
In June 1942, after the Battle of Midway, the Americans were not yet able to launch a full-scale counterattack, and the severely damaged Japan was unable to organize a new large-scale offensive. Therefore, in the next year, the two sides fought many small battles sporadically.
As a result, at the end of the year, both sides sank 29 warships each, with a tonnage loss of approximately 230,000 tons, which was considered a draw.
But at the same time, there is another set of data behind this set of data: in the same year, Japan only launched 23 new ships with a total tonnage of just under 200,000 tons, while the United States launched 89 new ships with a total tonnage of more than 1 million tons.
In war, unless the gap in military technology reaches a desperate level, it ultimately depends on national strength. And in a battle between a small country and a big country, a draw means failure!
In this decisive battle, the Spaniards disobeyed orders and went to the west to pick the easy persimmon. In the core battlefield, it was actually 33 first-class warships from Japan and Thailand against 40 large warships from the Ming Dynasty. Even so, relying on the talent bonus of the Broken Army Star and the heroic fighting of the soldiers of the two countries, after a few hours of fighting, the Japanese side, even though it was 13 to 20, was clearly in the upper hand. On the Siamese side, it is estimated that the situation is better.
But now, all of this has lost its meaning.
"Ah~" After a long sigh, Tokugawa Yoshinao put down the telescope in his hand and said, "Yagyu-kun, both main masts of the Yamato have been broken, right?"
"Hey, Lord Kofuo, the speed of this ship is now close to zero."
"Where are the other ships in this battleship?"
"Of the thirteen first-class warships, two have withdrawn from the battle line, and of the remaining eleven, six had their masts broken . As for the twenty-five second-class warships, many of their gun positions were destroyed because the Ming Dynasty's large ships had just been fired upon by our first-class warships. Therefore, when it was our second-class warships' turn to fire back at them, the enemy didn't fire many chain shells. Therefore, only three of them had their masts broken."
After reporting this, Yagyu Kanbei bowed slightly and said, "Kumō-dono, the situation is critical now. Please evacuate immediately. I have just contacted the follow-up warships. The closest one is the Nagato. They will come to pick you up soon."
"Hmm..." His eyes moved slightly, and Tokugawa Yoshinao said, "Please confirm for me, what is the current situation of the Yukikaze?"
"Hi."
After a while, Yagyu Kanbei hurried over and said, "Kumakado-dono, the rear is reporting that the Yukikaze is unharmed."
"Yoshi, let the Snow Wind come pick me up."
"Koufangdian, the Yukikaze is only a second-class battleship. What if it gets hit by a cannon during its retreat?"
"Hahaha, it's okay. The only thing that can sink the Yukikaze is time! Speaking of time, it's really tight. Please make arrangements quickly."
"...Hi!"
About ten minutes later, the Yukikaze stopped beside the Yamato, and the sailors on both ships quickly set up the cables.
"Yagyu-kun, come with me."
"My Lord, I'm sorry I can't accompany you any further." After saying this, Yagyu Kanbei came to the ground and said, "I was originally just a poor bastard without territory, without salary, and about to be exiled. It was My Lord who selected me and let me command these many warships to gallop on the sea. In my life, it is enough to have such an experience. How dare I ask for more? Now, let me lead these dozen warships that have lost power and fight for your Highness one last time! Your Highness, the Ming fleet is less than a thousand meters away from here, please leave quickly! I will build a barrier for your Highness and try my best to delay time for you."
"…It's all divided. Yagyu-kun, I will take good care of your family, and your martial arts reputation will surely be passed down."
After watching Tokugawa Yoshinao smoothly slide down from the cable to the Yukikaze, Yagyu Kanbei turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Gentlemen, let's fight to the death!"
“Wow~!”
…
From the moment Tokugawa Yoshinao boarded the Yukikaze, this great naval battle entered its final stages.
At the easternmost end of the battlefield, Yan Siqi led sixty Jinling-class warships into the battlefield. Sun Guozhen's battleship, which had been reduced to only seventeen warships, was quickly freed. Then the two sides worked together to sink twelve of Siam's remaining thirty-eight (47 before the war) second-class warships, while the loss of their own side was only six. The remaining twenty-six warships fled north. After Yan Siqi separated thirty warships to follow and pursue, he led the remaining warships and continued to move towards the central battlefield.
In the original battle, the one that fought the hardest was actually the battle line from 日21 to 日40 led by Inukai Toji.
They were fighting against 20 Siamese first-class battleships. Since the Inukai battleships were inferior in quality, and the sailors and gunners had only received the warships for a short time, they could not compare with the Siamese navy, which was already very familiar with the ships, and had the bonus of the Broken Army Star. Therefore, when Yan Siqi's fleet arrived, four Inukai battleships had been sunk, and six had left the battleships and were dying on the sea. The remaining ten ships were also injured and smoke was billowing. On the Siamese battleships, only one ship was sunk, and four had left the battleships. Although the remaining fifteen large ships were all injured to varying degrees, their overall situation was much better than that of the Inukai battleships.
After seeing so many second-level warships suddenly appear on the sea, Siamese commander Chamrat immediately knew that something was wrong. However, his side was full of first-level warships, and the speed could not match that of the enemy. Therefore, Chamrat did not dare to disband the formation and let them break out on their own. He could only lead his own fleet to retreat northward while maintaining his own battle line.
In this situation, Yan Siqi of course led his own fleet to float on the periphery and continuously shoot at them to slow down their escape speed. However, the second-level warships still did not dare to confront the first-level warships in formation. Therefore, the situation gradually became stalemate.
At five o'clock in the afternoon of that day, when the winter sun was about to sink into the sea, the main fleet led by Li Guozhu finally arrived. After two ships of the Siamese main fleet were quickly sunk and three ships withdrew from the battle line, two warships had already raised the white flag on their own. However, at this time, the sun had completely sunk into the sea. The remaining eight large ships took advantage of the darkness of the night to force their way out, and finally six warships succeeded in breaking through.
…
"I, Sun Chengzong, the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, report to the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Regent that on February 15, the 46th year of the Wanli reign, the Royal Army fought with the navies of Japan, Siam and Spain in the Ryukyu Sea... At first, Yu Zigao, the general of Funing Town, used himself as bait and led his troops to do his best to deal with the navies of the three countries. During this period, although our side was at a disadvantage, the naval officers and soldiers were brave, loyal and righteous, and fought selflessly. Moreover, many generals, led by General Yu Zigao, were seriously injured but still held their positions. In this way, the morale of the bandits fell day by day, and our morale gradually rose. After the two sides had fought for a long time, Yan Siqi, the general of Zhaoqing Town, led a team and attacked from the right to the left. Li Guozhu, the commander of Dinghai Guard, led a team and attacked from the left to the right. At this point, the morale of the three bandits was greatly depressed and collapsed won a great victory!
In this battle, the three bandits had a total of 50 first-class warships and 120 second-class warships. The royal army sank a total of 23 first-class warships and 63 second-class warships of the three bandits. Two first-class warships and six second-class warships were captured. In addition, 17 first-class warships and 18 second-class warships of the Spanish were all detained in Quanzhou Port, awaiting the court's decision!
In this battle, the 40 newly built first-class battleships and 40 second-class battleships of the royal army were all unusable after this battle. Of the remaining 35 first-class battleships and 80 second-class battleships, three second-class battleships sank and six were seriously damaged. The rest were all fine.
In this battle, the king's army, including Lieutenant General Wang Mengxiong, lost a total of one Lieutenant General, six guerrillas, fifteen garrisons, seventy-three captains, and more than 2,700 soldiers of all levels. From General Yu Zigao of Funing Town and below, more than 4,300 people were injured and no longer fit to board the ship. The great military achievements of the king's army were due to the soldiers' selfless dedication and loyalty to the king.
After this battle, our dynasty has completely controlled the East China Sea, and it will not be long before the South China Sea becomes accessible again. On the day the memorial was submitted, I had ordered the Third Army Commander Zhao to lead his entire division to go out to sea under the escort of Yan Siqi, and they are about to land in Taiwan...
This is submitted by Sun Chengzong, the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang. February 17, the 46th year of the Wanli reign.
