We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 646: Battle of Tsushima (Part 2)

Li Chunchen knew very well that the real advantage of the turtle ship lay in its solid defense.

Only by shortening the distance can we offset the range advantage of the enemy's artillery.

The order was conveyed with difficulty. The remaining Goryeo fleet mustered up their last bit of courage and paddled desperately under the fierce fire of the Japanese pirates, trying to get close to the Japanese fleet and start the boarding melee that they were good at.

However, would the Japanese Navy let them do as they wish?

Kaifu Yoshihisa could see it clearly from the flagship, and the grim smile on his face became even more intense:

"Order, all ships, disengage at full speed and maintain distance."

"Send the flag signal and order the cannon boats to attack!"

The Japanese Guan ships were already more flexible and faster than the bulky turtle ships. After receiving the order, they immediately used their speed advantage and, like slippery loaches, easily distanced themselves from the Three Kingdoms fleet that was trying to approach.

At the same time, dozens of smaller and faster early morning boats, like a school of sharks smelling blood, nimbly emerged from the gaps in the Guan ships and rushed towards the Three Kingdoms fleet, which was in disarray.

Each ship carried a dozen or so arquebusiers, holding Japanese-made matchlock rifles in their hands, aiming at the ship from a distance.

Seeing this, the Korean soldiers on the turtle ship shouted in horror:

"A musket, a musket!"

The Goryeo soldier had seen Fengguo's musket before, and although the Japanese iron cannon had slight differences from Fengguo's musket, their appearance was roughly the same.

bang bang bang-

The range and power of the iron cannon are not as good as the Fengguo flintlock rifle, but at this distance, it is enough to form deadly suppressive firepower.

Dense lead bullets splashed on the flanks of the turtle ship like hail, wood chips flew around the shooting holes, and the crossbowmen who tried to shoot arrows out of the shooting holes were knocked down instantly.

The soldiers on the deck who were preparing to board the ship were suppressed to the point that they could not even raise their heads. The Japanese arquebusiers were well-trained and used a roto-fire tactic, and their firepower seemed endless.

The commander, hiding behind the parapet, roared, "Fight back! Fight back with bows and crossbows!"

The soldiers cried out in despair: "Sir, we can't reach them! Their cannons can fire farther than we can!"

The generation gap in range became an insurmountable chasm at this moment.

The Goryeo soldiers could only hide behind the relatively sturdy hull and passively take the beating, watching the nimble little early boats cruise around them, continuously spraying deadly lead bullets and harvesting the lives exposed on the deck.

At the edge of the battlefield, deep in the thick fog, the clipper ship "Garden".

This Fengtian Army sailboat with smooth lines and extremely high speed floats quietly like a ghost, always keeping a safe distance from the noisy and bloody battlefield.

There was no flag flying on the boat, and three people stood shoulder to shoulder at the bow.

The person in the middle is none other than the eunuch Huai En, the trusted confidant of Prince Feng Li Che.

He was still dressed in a low-key dark-colored uniform, with a fair face and no beard, and his eyes were as calm as water.

It seemed as if the brutal naval battle before his eyes was just an insignificant drama.

On Huai En's left stood two young generals with gaunt faces, but they had exactly the same faces.

They were the twin naval admirals, Li Bao and Li Jie, who were born as pirates in Poyang Lake.

Li Bao held a delicate brass monocular telescope in his hand, rapidly rotating the tube while speaking rapidly to the clerk beside him:

"Record: The Japanese army's main artillery is the mortar, with an estimated effective range of approximately 300 meters. The maximum range may be closer to 400 meters, but accuracy has dropped dramatically."

"The projectiles used were mostly stone bullets and shotgun shells, which had limited power and had little effect on the reinforced hull, but had a significant impact on personnel."

"The main battleship of the Japanese army, the 'Kansen', was a slender ship with a high bow and multiple decks."

"As for speed... observing its turning and disengagement speed, I estimate its full speed to be around seven to eight knots."

"The core of the Japanese army's tactics emphasizes the use of mobility, with the Kobayashi ship as the core assault force, coordinating with the main force of the Guan ship maneuver."

"Artillery is only used as a supplementary weapon for suppressing and creating chaos at close to medium ranges. The core of the tactics remains close range volleys of cannon fire and boarding."

The clerk wrote quickly, and the charcoal pencil made a scratching sound on the special waterproof paper.

Li Jie, who was also observing through a telescope, added:

"The Japanese command signals were relatively chaotic, but the fleet's overall maneuvers were relatively orderly, especially the coordination between the Guan ships and the iron cannon ships, which clearly showed that they had been well-rehearsed."

"Their commander, the one wearing the red haori on the flagship, has an extremely arrogant and reckless command style!"

Huai En had been listening in silence until Li Bao finished speaking, then he slowly spoke: "General Li, in your opinion, do Li Chunchen and his men still have a chance of winning?"

Li Bao put down the telescope, a smile on his face: "Win? Absolutely impossible!"

"The disparity in troop strength and equipment is so great that morale has collapsed. Even if the commander kills many people to establish his authority, he will be powerless to reverse the situation."

"Now I just hope that they can get us more useful information before they completely collapse and are divided and surrounded by the Japanese pirates."

Huai En nodded slightly, obviously satisfied with Li Bao's analysis.

He cast his gaze towards the sea shrouded in gunfire and smoke, and asked, "If the main force of our Fengguo navy were to face the Japanese navy, would it be possible for them to defeat it?"

Upon hearing this, the brothers Li Bao and Li Jie looked at each other and then burst into uncontrollable laughter at the same time.

"Hahahaha!" Li Bao laughed so hard that tears almost came out, and his tone was full of confident ridicule, "Eunuch Huai En, your question is really...hahaha!"

"How can this be compared? This is completely... in His Highness's words, it's a 'dimensionality reduction attack'!"

Li Jie couldn't help laughing and said, "Please look, eunuch."

He took the small notebook from Li Bao's hand, turned to the page that recorded the Japanese artillery data, and clicked the numbers on it:

"The mortars that Japan prides itself on have an effective range of only 300 meters. Even with this range, they are enough to suppress Li Chunchen and his men."

Li Bao restrained his smile and took over the conversation: "And what are the main battleships of our Fengguo Navy equipped with?"

"It's a rifled cannon with a range of up to two thousand meters!"

Two thousand meters!

This number was like a natural barrier, instantly dividing the Fengguo Navy and the Japanese Navy into two completely different eras.

Li Bao continued, "What does this mean? It means that their ships hadn't even come within range of their guns before our shells destroyed a third of their fleet."

"As for their motor boats, they're sitting ducks on the exposed sea!"

"Our shrapnel, buckshot, and chain shot will rip their flimsy hulls apart like paper!"

"Boarding? Boarding? They won't even have a chance to get close to us. The musketeers will show them what real fire suppression is!"

Li Jie added: "Moreover, our warships are stronger, faster, the command is more unified, and the artillery is more accurate."

Huai En nodded slowly, and the doubts in his heart completely dissipated.

He was about to ask for more details when Li Jie, who had been staring at the battlefield, suddenly shouted:

"Eunuch, big brother, look! The pirates' flagship is moving. The enemy commander... seems to be planning something big!"