Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1246 A Broken Heart

The hole blown into the bottom of the ship could not be plugged at all. Warships were very heavy, carrying not only cannons but also ammunition, sailors, and so on. Once water leaked, the warship sank very quickly.

Many pirate soldiers climbed over the ship's side and jumped into the river.

They have given up on the idea of ​​repairing the ship.

Even the warships that weren't bombed were trapped in the middle by many half-sunken ships and couldn't move.

Mizukawa Hide stared in horror at the scene before him, unable to recover from the shock for a moment.

Meanwhile, the water ghosts of the Zhenxi Army at the bottom of the river swam rapidly downstream, skimming along the riverbed.

Two quarters of an hour later, they were more than two miles away from the pirate warships by water.

Each water ghost was calculating the time in their minds. After swimming for half an hour, they began to approach the riverbank.

Finally, it abandoned the heavy object and began to float to the surface.

They poked their heads above the water, observed briefly, determined their direction, and then plunged back into the water.

Zhenxi No. 2 and two small warships also stopped at this time, then slowly turned their bows and rushed back.

Just as the pirate warships were clustered together and unable to break free of their square formation, Zhenxi No. 2 had already entered the range of the cannons.

The ship came to rest sideways in the water again, and anchor was lowered to secure it.

The gunners inside the ship's hold were already adjusting the gun distance, while the rangefinder casually reported the data.

At Captain Cao's command, amidst the roar of cannons, each of the eight cannons spewed out bursts of flame.

The large number of pirate warships were entangled together, making them too large a target to be accurately aimed at; all the cannonballs fired simply fell into the group of warships.

The pirates, who were still struggling with how to plug the loopholes, saw the nearby ships being blown to pieces, with splinters of wood flying everywhere, mixed with limbs and blood.

They immediately abandoned the boat, covered their heads, and jumped into the water.

The cannons bombarded the fifty pirate warships in turn, and the violent explosions caused a fire. With the help of the wind on the river, the fire spread very quickly.

Even ships whose hulls hadn't been blown open had to abandon their course because they couldn't shake off the tilting warships on all sides, and the sailors and soldiers on board jumped into the water as well.

Mizukawa Hide was at a loss; his orders simply could not be carried out.

Only the command ship at the rear, and three or five warships behind the formation, were slowly retreating and turning back.

Let's try to save as much as we can for now; the rest is beyond saving.

Zhenxi No. 2 and two small warships began to approach the pirate fleet. Dozens of pirate warships had lost their ability to fight back and could only watch helplessly as the surrounding ships slowly sank into the water.

The Zhenxi Army's three warships attacked only with cannons at the bow, thus not affecting their forward movement.

However, the massive fleet of pirate warships blocked the advance of the Zhenxi Army's warships, making it impossible for them to continue pursuing the fleeing pirate ships.

After approaching the pirate fleet, Zhenxi No. 2 continued to attack the unsunken ships with ballistae and bows and arrows.

Two small warships also circled around to the sides and kept firing at the pirates who had jumped into the water.

The warships, half-sunken, and the pirates in the water were powerless to fight back and could only passively take the beatings and flee in all directions.

Soon, the pirate warships that had not had their hulls blown through were also bombarded in turn by the three warships of the Zhenxi Army and blasted into pieces of wood.

In less than half an hour, there was no trace of warships left on the entire river. Even the corpses, broken pieces of wood, and various other debris had been washed away by the current.

Everything returned to calm.

Of the fifty pirate ships, only one command ship escaped, while four others followed behind the formation.

The sailors on the warships jumped into the river and fled desperately downstream. Many others sank to the bottom of the river with their ships, while many more were shot to death in the river by the Zhenxi Army with arrows.

Lin Feng ordered them to continue advancing and try to drive the pirate warships at Danzhou Wharf out of the Qingxi River estuary before nightfall.

Shuichuan Xiu, who had retreated to the Danzhou Wharf, was deeply saddened to see the bodies of pirates floating downstream and a piece of ship wreckage.

He couldn't understand how, with so many warships, the battle had turned out this way.

How exactly did the Zhenxi Army manage to do this? What did they place underwater beforehand?

The scene was chaotic, and he focused all his attention on the Zhenxi Army's warships, neglecting the water ghosts who had secretly climbed onto the riverbank.

I still can't figure out where I went wrong.

Soldiers from the garrison in Danzhou Prefecture came to inquire about the situation and saw that of the large number of warships, only a few remained.

Looking at the soldiers on the ship, each one listless and dejected, one could tell that the battlefield situation was not optimistic.

Mizukawa Hide didn't have time to think about the outcome of the battle; he immediately arranged for people to begin evacuating the cargo ships from the dock.

He knew very well that the warships on the river could not hold off the Zhenxi Army for long.

Next, the Zhenxi Army's warships will turn the corner and appear in front of the dock.

Fifty warships failed to stop the enemy, and the five warships in front of them could only temporarily withdraw from Danzhou to await reinforcements.

Mizukawa Hide was quite wise; amidst the chaos, the numerous cargo ships on the dock slowly sailed away from the dock and headed downstream.

Because it was downstream, the boat was moving very fast.

In less than half an hour, the Danzhou Wharf was completely empty.

When the Zhenxi No. 2, led by two escort warships, rounded the bend in the Qingxi River and appeared at the Danzhou Wharf, there was no sign of any other ship in sight.

With this battle, the Zhenxi Army shook the Taisho court and the pirates who occupied the eastern prefectures of Dazong were terrified.

They racked their brains but still couldn't understand why the Zhenxi Army, with only one large and two small warships—three in total—had defeated Mizukawa Hide, who possessed fifty warships.

The commander of the garrison at Danshu Castle was Toyotomi Saburo. He was sent by the Emperor to take over the leadership of the Mizukawa family after the pirates were defeated and retreated from Danshu Castle.

At the same time, he kept Mizukawa Hide, because he had high hopes for his performance in naval battles.

Who would have thought that the Zhenxi Army would sink 90% of their warships in one battle? Even a pig wouldn't have managed to win a battle like that.

In the command post of Danshu Castle, Toyotomi Saburo smashed a teapot against the wall, looking at the shattered porcelain pieces on the floor, which resembled his broken heart.

"Bastard, bastard, that Mizukawa Hide is a bastard!"

He was so angry he didn't know what to say next.

Several lieutenants, standing in the corner of the room, dared not utter a sound. They hung their heads, nervously pondering how to comfort their leader.

Where did Mizukawa Hide go?

After catching his breath, Toyotomi Saburo roared angrily.

"General, Mizukawa-kun led the fleet out of the Cheonggye River, saving all the cargo ships."

A deputy general reported this.

"What use is this pig now that the Zhenxi Army has already occupied the Danzhou Wharf? Cargo ships can't get in at all."

"General, we might be able to transport supplies along the coast, thus avoiding the waterways."

Someone else offered a suggestion in a low voice.

"Bullshit! The Zhenxi Army has nearly 30,000 troops outside the city. How do you expect me to send people out of the city to transport grain?"

Toyotomi Saburo's veins bulged as he glared angrily at the general who had spoken.

Seeing his violent expression, no one in the room dared to speak.

"Go, send someone to tell Mizukawa Hide that he either has to take back the Danzhou Wharf for me, or he should commit seppuku to atone to the Emperor."

Seeing that the messenger hadn't moved, he immediately cursed.

"Are you fucking deaf, or have you had enough of living?!"

The messenger shuddered, immediately shouted "Yes!" and turned to run away.