Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2649 Fire Ships Stand in a Row, Shunchen is at a Loss

"ignition!"

On the warship, as he was about to charge into the enemy fleet, Jiao Mo's lips curled into a bright smile.

The sailors, who were already prepared, rushed to light torches and throw them into the cabin.

These dozens of warships had already been filled with large amounts of oil.

Or rather, each warship actually carried a large amount of oil.

Li Shimin deliberately opened up the coast to force their navy to split up, and kept an eye on their navy at the crossing points, intending to devour them piecemeal.

However, Han Xin and Zhang Liang also had their eyes on the Li Tang navy.

Without a navy, their main army could land on Li Tang territory with impunity.

Moreover, without a navy, they wouldn't have to worry about any problems with their logistics routes.

For this, we are willing to pay any price!

They were even willing to pay a price greater than the gains they achieved.

After all, as long as they can capture the enemy's navy, no matter how great the cost, they have already won strategically.

Therefore, from the very beginning, when Han Xin made his plan, he was prepared to pay a heavy price. What he sought was not the gain or loss of a single city or battle, but rather the shift in the overall tide of the war.

In fact, Han Xin believed that there was only one way to defeat Li Tang's navy, and only this one chance.

Having fought Li Shimin for so many years, he knew very well how formidable his opponent was.

If you don't seize the opportunity, you may never have another chance.

Against an opponent like Li Shimin, it would be good if the same method could be used even once.

If you come up with a good idea, do everything you can to make it a success. Otherwise, it will be useless later.

If they cannot use their navy to land on Li Tang's mainland, then they will have no choice but to prepare for a desperate land battle.

Therefore, Qi Jiguang's side immediately adopted the tactic of using fire ships.

The fire ships tactic can only burn large areas when there is a favorable wind and, as depicted in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Cao Cao linked his ships together with iron chains.

However, now, although they have a tailwind, it is only a gentle breeze, offering limited help.

Moreover, the other side is not bound together by iron chains.

However, they never expected to burn several enemy ships with one warship. Even if it was a one-for-one exchange, if they could exchange all of the enemy's ships, they would still have won.

Furthermore, the Jin Dynasty can afford to adopt this style of play.

Given the strength of the Tang Dynasty and its navy, if they suffered significant losses, it would take several years to recover. By then, the great war would have long been over.

"Quick! Disperse!"

"Scatter, everyone!"

When the flames appeared, Yi Sun-sin's expression immediately changed.

In this era, in any naval battle, no one was unafraid of fire attacks.

"No! That's not right!" "Those in front, move up! Those in the back, spread out!" Realizing that he had given the wrong order in his panic, Yi Sun-sin immediately tried to make amends.

At this critical moment, the entire army absolutely cannot scatter in disarray. In such a short time, the entire army must avoid the enemy's fire ships, and the formation will inevitably become chaotic. Wouldn't that be giving the enemy's main force behind them an opportunity?
Therefore, the only option was to sacrifice a portion of their warships and deliberately ram the enemy's fire ships, giving their other warships a chance to evade.

However, while Yi Sun-sin was directing his warships to evade, Qi Jiguang had already begun to flank them from both sides.

This encirclement formation, when both sides have roughly equal troop strength, is very weak and cannot trap the enemy at all. Instead, it is easy for the enemy to break through the encirclement, which may even lead to the collapse of the battle.

However, Qi Jiguang's encirclement formation was not actually intended to surround the enemy.

These warships were also loaded with large amounts of oil.

They were not afraid to exchange ships with the other side, as the Great Jin Dynasty could afford it.

As long as all of Li Tang's warships are replaced, it doesn't matter to the Great Jin no matter how many warships they lose today.

If Li Tang replaces all his warships, he will have already achieved his strategic goal.

From then on, they could land on Li Tang territory without any restraint.

"Madmen, these madmen!"

"Send a message to His Majesty by carrier pigeon, and let His Majesty make the decision!"

Qi Jiguang's initial suicidal attack completely stunned Li Shunchen.

Or rather, before this, he never imagined that Qi Jiguang would use this tactic. Not to mention him, even Li Shimin would not have thought of it.

In this great battle, how many troops did the Tang Dynasty have, and how many did the Jin Dynasty have? How could the side with the advantage end up dying together from the very beginning?

This suicidal fighting style means that even if both sides' ships collide and sink or are burned, the soldiers on both sides can jump into the sea immediately.

The first requirement for joining the navy is, of course, good swimming skills.

After they jumped into the sea, only other warships were able to rescue them in time. Even though some of their men were lost, at least most of them were saved.

However, this was based on the premise that both sides suffered relatively few losses of warships.

Judging from Qi Jiguang's current level of madness, he is clearly determined to fight to the death and end it all.

If a certain number of warships are lost, it will be insufficient to rescue all the soldiers who have fallen into the water. At that point, it will truly be a time when both sides suffer massive losses of manpower.

Yi Sun-sin was a good tactician, but he lacked strategic acumen. Therefore, it was not yet possible to guess the purpose behind the Jin Dynasty's suicidal tactics.

However, he absolutely wouldn't dare to retreat at this point.

If Qi Jiguang's troops had been sent back to reinforce the crossing before Li Shimin annihilated the imperial guards at the ferry and regained control of it, and the enemy had brought up their main infantry and cavalry forces from their homeland, the Jin army would have truly opened up a second front.

If this outcome were to occur, he would become a sinner for all time in the history of the Tang Dynasty.

However, if the navy suffers heavy losses here, it will not be good for the subsequent major battles either.

Therefore, Yi Sun-sin was undecided and could only consult Li Shimin, who was behind him.

Fortunately, although they were at sea at this time, they were still in the near sea and within a certain distance from the mainland of the Tang Dynasty. They could still fly back by carrier pigeon.

In fact, to ensure that the message could be transmitted back as quickly and accurately as possible, Yi Sun-sin released more than a dozen carrier pigeons at once.