Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 530: Chasing the Bandits
"Don't worry, folks! My Great Chu will definitely seek justice for everyone. I will go after the pirates now!" Ling Tong comforted the Baekje tribe in front of him, and at the same time organized a fleet to go west to chase after the pirates who had plundered this place not long ago and even abducted many people.
Baekje was a tribal state established by the Buyeo people who moved south in the central part of the Korean Peninsula and south of Daifang County in Youzhou.
It is called a country, but it is similar to the Chinese countries during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The "savages" outside the city still have a tribal system.
Moreover, Baekje was founded by the Buyeo people. The ruling aristocracy was almost all Buyeo people, while the lower-class people were Koreans who were born and raised in the southern part of the peninsula...
Therefore, it was expected that Baekje would not react attentively when being robbed by powerful pirates.
It was originally a rule of almost slavery. Although there are robbers now trying to rob their "slaves", but... since the robbers are too strong, why should they sacrifice their own strength to fight against the objects of slavery?
After Baekje experienced the power of pirates, it became numb to the plight of the lower-class Koreans. Even many of its own aristocrats had secret deals with pirates.
The Baekje nobles didn't care, and the Marquis of Yan, who usually bullied Baekje, was even less likely to care - Gongsun's bottom line was that pirates could not cause trouble in Daifang County, which he ruled.
However, for these lower-class Koreans, living by the sea is their way of survival. Even if they knew there were pirates, they couldn't just move away, let alone seek refuge in Daifang County.
In contrast, the Chu navy would patrol from time to time, and would try their best to rescue any pirates or ships carrying slaves they encountered.
Especially with various wild theater troupes lurking among the people, they lead the rhythm and publicize the achievements of Da Chu, and they can blow even a single point out of proportion!
And because Chu had no direct interest in Baekje and the Three Han, the uneducated people at the bottom of the Seafood Peninsula were also deeply moved by the actions of Chu, the light of righteousness.
Even some knowledgeable people began to gradually accept the argument advocated by the "Ministry of Enlightenment" that only Chuxue could save the Peninsula.
Of course, to "brag" you have to have something to "brag" about. The Chu Navy did do a lot of things in Bohai Sea. Countless pirates were sunk in Bohai Sea, and most of them were due to the Chu Navy's efforts. This greatly dampened the popularity of pirates and increased their costs!
Let them know that no-cost business is not really no-cost.
Moreover, Ling Tong was personally leading a fleet of nearly 2,000 navy ships, including two main battleships, a dozen frigates, and various auxiliary warships, to chase a group of notorious pirates called "One-eyed Shark"...
After collecting clues and appeasing the Baekje tribe that had just been looted, Ling Tong left some dry food behind and set sail again amid the kneeling thanks of the local Koreans.
Ling Tong was not worried about the battle, he was just afraid that the other party would escape again!
However, considering the time, Ling Tong felt that he could definitely catch up with this notorious pirate group this time.
Ling Tong would naturally not personally go out to fight against ordinary small pirates. This time, the "One-eyed Mermaid", as one of the strongest pirate groups in the Bohai Sea, with a total number of more than 5,000 people, dispatched most of its main forces to "hunt" in the southern part of Chaohaixian Peninsula, and the news was received by the Chu Navy.
The comparison of "quantity" in naval battles is more about the warships than the number of people...
Ling Tong only brought less than two thousand navy men, but two battleships with "Ten-Ox Crossbows" and a dozen frigates with "Five-Ox Crossbows" were enough to defeat the One-Eyed Mermaid.
After all, in the entire One-eyed Shark Pirate Fleet, there was only one main ship equipped with the "Yellow Dragon Cart".
As for the others, most of them were armed small boats, ranging from dozens to hundreds. They looked intimidating, but in fact they lacked decisive long-range weapons that could play a role in heavyweight naval battles. Ling Tong did not take them seriously at all.
And the "Yellow Dragon Chariot"... Whenever Ling Tong thought of this, he was filled with indignation towards the State of Wei, and he was looking forward to the day when he could destroy the pirates and the Wei navy together.
Although each pirate's main ship had its own modifications, how could Ling Tong not see it? They were all modified based on the prototype of the "Yellow Dragon Ship" produced by the Wei State's Craftsmen Camp!
The Huanglong warship was the result of the Wei State's craftsmen's camp imitating and improving the Chu State's main warship. In addition to some different details, the most significant difference is that the Huanglong ship is more equipped with "Huanglong chariots"...
It is clearly an improved version of the "white bus"!
Compared with the giant crossbows of the Chu Navy, both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The giant crossbow has a longer range, and the giant arrows are easier to carry than stone bullets, and have stronger penetrating power, but they have little destructive power on ships.
The improved version of the "Yellow Dragon Cart", on the contrary, has cumbersome stone bullets, a shorter range than the giant crossbow, and a projectile attack. However, if it hits the deck or the hull, it will cause greater damage to the ship.
At this time, the Chu State's purely mechanical weapons had basically been learned. Although there were some differences, Ma Jun also made his own improvements...
Ling Tong estimated the enemy's return route and chased them for a day. Finally, the reconnaissance ship sent back news that the one-eyed mermaid's fleet had been discovered!
Then Ling Tong gave orders again, corrected the course, and chased in the direction where the one-eyed mermaid was found.
The speed of the Huanglong warship is not slower than the standard main ship of the Chu State. After all, they are still powered by sails . Although... the design of the ship is a bit cumbersome, Ma Jun has now begun to use the "wheels" as auxiliary devices for steering, making them as small as possible so as not to be too cumbersome. At the same time, it also meets the requirements put forward by the officials in the court.
The reason why Ling Tong was able to catch up was because the opponent's speed was slowed down by those "small boats" - after all, the speed of the fleet was determined by the slowest ship.
However… just when Ling Tong thought he could take the One-Eyed Shark’s flag back for collection, the sentry on the tower suddenly shouted, “General! There’s a One-Eyed Shark detachment ten degrees east by south!”
"Oh? Could it be that we can catch them all this time..."
Ling Tong had just opened his mouth, and before he could finish the "beep", he heard...
"There is a one-eyed shark fleet in the south... the main ship has been spotted!"
"Seven degrees north by east, the One-eyed Shark's main ship has been spotted!"
The successive reports made Ling Tong's heart tighten - where did the one-eyed shark get so many main battleships? This is unscientific.
"General, the fleet in the south seems to be the fleet of the White Shark Pirates...but they are flying the flag of the One-eyed Mermaid!" A deputy general who had fought with the White Shark Pirates recognized the true identity of one of the parties.
"Not good! Those big pirates seem to have united to lure us over here!"
" Don't panic, look at the flag and meet the enemy!"
