Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 532 Huge Gap

At this time, the messengers on the Dafu, the flagship of the Tenglong Navy, kept waving red and blue flags, while the sound of drums and trumpets came one after another.

"Pass the order, the front camp should go forward to meet the enemy and make sure to bite them!" Yu Tonghai ordered.

The navy was organized differently from the garrisons. The Tenglong navy was divided into five camps: front, back, left, right and center. The main ship, the Dafu ship, belonged to the center camp, the deputy ship, the Dafu ship, belonged to the rear camp, and the front camp had seven patrol ships and more than twenty eagle ships. Its characteristics were fast speed and many close combat soldiers.

In battle, the front camp is usually responsible for the charge, infiltrating the enemy's fleet at an extremely fast speed, the left and right camps are responsible for flanking, and the middle and rear camps are responsible for providing long-range crossbow support.

Under Yu Tonghai's command, the thirty warships of the front camp launched a full-speed charge.

All the wooden sails were erected and they charged towards the enemy in a formation of five tigers and a flock of sheep.

The warships of both sides were getting closer and closer. In a moment, the distance between them was nearly a hundred feet.

"Fire arrows!"

A roar was heard, followed by a whooshing sound of something breaking through the air.

Nearly a hundred crossbow arrows as thick as babies' arms pierced the sky and then fell down.

Before the first wave of crossbow arrows fell, the second wave of crossbow arrows had already been shot out.

Most of the crossbow arrows fell into the sea, and only a few fell on the enemy's warships.

In fact, the lethality of crossbow arrows is not very great. Even if they fall on a warship, it is difficult to hurt the enemies on the ship. After two waves of crossbow arrows, only two unlucky guys were shot through the bodies.

However, the purpose of crossbow attacks in naval battles is not to kill enemy soldiers, but to destroy enemy ships.

The iron arrowheads hitting the ship were enough to penetrate two or three decks. If it was a small ship, it could penetrate all the way to the bottom and make a hole in the bottom. If it was a large ship, the goal of the crossbow arrows was no longer to destroy the decks and bottom of the ship, but to destroy the sails.

A crossbow arrow is enough to smash a wooden sail. If many wooden sails are smashed, the movement of the warship will be affected, affecting not only the speed but also the direction control.

In addition, a large number of crossbow arrows will also affect morale.

At this moment, the vanguard of Xingyue Sect was frightened by the crossbow arrow.

The two flag armies of Xingyuemen had no more than 300 mounted crossbows, and most of them were equipped on the Dafu ships at the back. The vanguard had quite a few ships, but no mounted crossbows at all.

In comparison, each of the Haicang ships of the Tenglong Navy had twelve crossbows. There were seven Haicang ships in the front camp, with a total of eighty-four crossbows.

Before the two sides collided, the front camp of the Tenglong Navy had already released four waves of crossbow arrows.

When the distance between the two sides was less than ten feet, the crossbow could no longer be used, but the bow and arrow could be used.

The rain of arrows poured down, instantly shooting the sailors on the enemy ship into a panic.

The sailors of Xingyuemen also have archers, but the problem is that their vanguards are all small boats. The soldiers of Tenglong Navy are standing on the Haicang ship and looking down from a high position, so they naturally have the advantage.

"Run ahead! Don't stop."

The captain of the front camp sneered and shouted without hesitation.

Their target was not these small boats, but the two large Fu ships on the opposite side.

The vanguards of both sides collided, and the winner was immediately decided. The front camp of the Tenglong Navy took advantage of their large and solid ships and rammed forward directly, while many small boats of the Xingyue Gate were directly smashed to pieces.

When Li Chengzhang saw this scene, his face turned extremely ugly.

The difference is too obvious!

Their warships were inferior to those of the enemy, their crossbows were inferior to those of the enemy, and it seemed that even their soldiers were far inferior to those of the enemy.

Before either side engaged in a boarding battle, nearly half of their vanguards had been lost.

"retreat!"

Without any hesitation, Li Chengzhang directly ordered a retreat.

Although they might not necessarily be defeated if they fought with all their strength, at most it would be a pyrrhic victory.

A tragic victory is an unacceptable result for them.

Faced with the current battle situation, Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian's first thought was to preserve their strength.

In fact, their idea is not wrong, because if they fight with all their strength, the result will not be a miserable victory, but a certain defeat.

They had no idea of ​​the combat effectiveness of the Tenglong Navy.

How strong is the Tenglong Navy?
In fact, no one can give an accurate answer to this question.

Even Yu Tonghai didn't have an accurate concept, because the Tenglong Navy had never participated in large-scale battles.

Warships and crossbows are not the basis of Tenglong Navy's strength. Soldiers are the basis of Tenglong Navy's strength.

Yang Zhengshan stayed in Tenglongwei for five years, and the soldiers of Tenglong Navy drank the spiritual spring water for five years. Yang Zhengshan left Tenglongwei for six or seven years, and the soldiers of Tenglong Navy were also able to drink the spiritual spring water he left behind.

Although the total amount of spiritual spring water each soldier drank would not be much, perhaps not as much as what Yang Zhengshan drank in three to five months, but that was twelve years.

After twelve years, even if one's aptitude is poor, one should be able to become a warrior. If one's aptitude is good, one can at least be an acquired warrior.

Therefore, what Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian were facing was not an ordinary navy, but a navy composed of 5,600 warriors, among whom there were nearly 1,000 acquired warriors. Any small flag you picked out would be an acquired warrior.

This is the most powerful aspect of the Tenglong Navy.

Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian had a good idea. They chose to retreat at the first opportunity. However, they did not turn around and go back. Instead, they headed south following the wind direction.

Watching the enemy turn around, Yu Tonghai stroked his inch-long beard and smiled faintly.

"Send the order and pursue!"

The two large Fu ships also began to turn. Taking advantage of their speed, the Tenglong Navy sailed southward while approaching the enemy.

After sailing for only more than ten miles, the distance between the two sides was less than one hundred and fifty feet.

The range of the Tenglong Navy's crossbow is one hundred and sixty feet, and fifty to one hundred and fifty feet is the most suitable shooting distance.

"Keep your distance and shoot freely!" Yu Tonghai grinned.

The living target is here!
Crossbow arrows fell one after another, and Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian's faces were so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out of them.

Why don't they fight back?

Because the range of their crossbows is less than 150 feet, only 100 feet.

When Yang Zhengshan attacked Chongshan Pass, the Tenglong Guards' crossbows had the advantage in range. At that time, the range of the crossbows at Chongshan Pass was 130 feet, while the range of the Tenglong Guards' crossbows was 160 feet.

The crossbows owned by Xingyue Sect were not as good as the ones used in Chongshan Pass back then. The maximum range of their crossbows was only a hundred feet.

However, what made Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian even more uncomfortable was that the front camp of the Tenglong Navy also caught up from behind.

The ship's speed is not an advantage, and the crossbow's range is not an advantage either. It seems that they can only take a beating!

"What should we do? If we continue like this, we will be exhausted to death by them sooner or later!" Wang Mingjian said in a deep voice.

Li Chengzhang looked ahead and said, "Turn around and head east!"

He saw another fleet appearing ahead!
That was the left camp of the Tenglong Navy. As soon as the battle started, the left camp had already moved south to intercept the enemy fleet's escape. At this time, they were right in front of Li Chengzhang and his men.

They headed east, and Yu Tonghai followed them east. The front camp at the rear was closely behind them, constantly devouring the slower boats.

The two sides made a circle and turned eastward.

The crossbows were still shooting, and many of the Xingyuemen's warships were severely damaged. Even the sails of the two Dafu ships were smashed with big holes by the crossbows.

The wooden sails were damaged and the speed slowed down. As a result, the warships of Xingyuemen lost the chance to escape.

What made Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang feel even more uncomfortable was that they actually discovered another fleet ahead, which was the right camp of the Tenglong Navy.

The Tenglong Navy had completed the encirclement at this time. The central camp and the left camp were parallel to the south of the Xingyuemen fleet, the front camp was parallel to the north of the Xingyuemen fleet, the rear camp followed behind the Xingyuemen fleet, and the right camp advanced and directly blocked the front of the Xingyuemen fleet.

"Charge!" Wang Mingjian ordered loudly.

They had no intention of slowing down, but instead rushed straight towards the right camp fleet in front.

Yu Tonghai only took a look at their sails and knew that they were trying to break through by force.

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"Pass the order, move closer diagonally and prepare for boarding!"

The encirclement has been completed, and the next step is to engage in boarding combat.

The sails on the Dafu ship turned slightly, adjusting the angle of the sails to face the wind. The course changed silently and headed directly towards the two Dafu ships of Xingyue Gate that were converted from merchant ships.

When the distance closed to one hundred feet, the enemy fired crossbows and the two sides started shooting at each other, but the Xingyue Sect was under pressure.

Even if the hit rate of the crossbow arrows was very low, in just over two quarters of an hour, the Tenglong Guards had already shot more than ten thousand crossbow arrows.

Tens of thousands of crossbow arrows would kill dozens or even hundreds of people, and might also destroy the crossbows on the ship.

Originally, Xingyue Sect had few mounted crossbows, and after more than a dozen of them were destroyed by crossbow arrows, the Xingyue Sect now had less than 300 mounted crossbows that could be used.

The two sides were getting closer and closer, and Yu Tonghai could even see the faces of Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang clearly.

He put down the telescope and stared at the two of them closely.

Cultivation!

Yu Tonghai was confident in dealing with those ordinary sailors, but he was still a little worried about these two unknown enemy leaders.

If it was a congenital warrior, then he as the commander would be in danger.

If the opponent is half a step away from being innate, then we can only rely on human lives to fill the gap and wear the opponent out.

As for the ninth level of the acquired realm, he doesn't need to worry too much.

"Order, the deputy ship takes over the command!"

"Guards, follow me!"

Yu Tonghai drew the long sword from his waist and headed straight for Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian.

Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian also noticed Yu Tonghai. Their faces looked extremely ugly, but at this time they could only fight desperately.

The ships of both sides approached to within three meters, and hooks were thrown out one after another. In a breath, more than ten hooks connected the two large ships together.

"kill!"

Yu Tonghai roared, took the lead, and using the side of the ship to gain leverage, he jumped directly onto the opponent's ship.

At the same time, the guards beside him also followed him and rushed over.

"court death!"

Wang Mingjian roared angrily, drew his sword, and went straight for Yu Tonghai's vital points.

Yu Tonghai knocked away his sword with one sword, and he felt relieved. It was only the ninth level of the acquired realm!

In an instant, the two sides launched the most brutal boarding battle, a large number of warships were entangled together, and the shouts of killing were deafening.

At the rear, Xue Ping on the deputy ship was holding a telescope and looking at the battle situation on the warship.

When he noticed that Yu Tonghai was fighting with Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian, he already knew that there would be no other changes in this battle.

The Tenglong Navy had two command teams, with Yu Tonghai as the leader and Xue Ping as the assistant. After Yu Tonghai joined the war, Xue Ping took over his command.

The reason why there are two command teams is that the strength of warriors has a great influence on the outcome of naval battles. The higher the level of cultivation of the warriors, the greater the influence on the outcome.

When two ships start a boarding battle, it is a life-and-death battle. If the gap in strength between the two sides' generals is too great, the battle will end in a one-sided outcome.

This is mainly because boarding combat is a small-scale battle. When two ships are boarding each other, the number of soldiers on both sides is no more than a thousand at most, and a martial arts master is enough to decide the outcome of a small-scale battle.

Therefore, after Yu Tonghai joined the battle, someone had to take over the command of the Tenglong Navy. If Xue Ping discovered that the enemy general was far stronger than Yu Tonghai, he would choose to retreat without hesitation.

For example, now, if Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang were innate warriors, Xue Ping would not hesitate to abandon Yu Tonghai and retreat.

After confirming that the other party was not an innate warrior, Xue Ping immediately ordered: "All troops attack, wipe them out!"

With his order, the Dafu ship led dozens of warships in the rear camp and rushed into the battlefield.

"Kill!"

The soldiers of Tenglong's vanguard jumped onto the enemy's warships like tigers descending from the mountains.

The sailors from Xingyuemen wanted to stop them at first, but as soon as the two sides started fighting, they discovered an extremely cruel reality.

The gap in individual soldier strength between the two sides is too big.

Most of the sailors of Xingyuemen are just ordinary people, and usually only the small leaders are warriors.

The soldiers of Tenglong Guard are all warriors. Even if they are the worst warriors, as long as they are not too old to stand, it is still easy for them to beat an ordinary person.

Whether in terms of individual strength or coordination between soldiers, the sailors of Xingyuemen are far inferior to the soldiers of Tenglong Vanguard.

As soon as the boarding battle began, countless sailors from the Xingyue Gate were killed in great numbers.

The battle on most of the boarding warships lasted less than a quarter of an hour, and in the end only the battle on the two large ships of the Xingyue Gate was still going on.

Yu Tonghai and his twelve personal guards surrounded Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang.

Naturally, his personal guards were no match for Yang Zhengshan's personal followers, or even the Yang family guards, but these twelve personal guards worked together with Yu Tonghai to entangle Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang, two ninth-level acquired martial artists, preventing them from participating in other battles and changing the situation.

The two sides fought for more than a quarter of an hour, and the other battles on the ship gradually stopped. Orders were given, and a large number of Tenglong vanguard soldiers gathered.

Wang Mingjian and Li Chengzhang were surrounded.

Yu Tonghai raised his knife to block Li Chengzhang's attack, and at the same time retreated a few steps, shouting, "Stop!"

The soldiers retreated from the battle one after another, surrounding Wang Mingjian, Li Chengzhang and several of their close followers.

(End of this chapter)