Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 223 Too Late to Hide

With the battle situation critical, Muji Masatoshi made a desperate gamble and directly ordered the Satomi pirates to launch an attack with their fire ships.

Soon, the seven small boats upwind of the "Chita" were set ablaze. With flames raging, and propelled by the last of their sails, they sped towards the "Chita" with the help of a few daredevils.

However, now is not actually the best time to carry out fire attack tactics.

The firepower of the "Chita" far exceeded that of Japanese medieval warships. Its arquebuses and breech-loading cannons made it impossible for anyone to stand on the surrounding hulls. Even when surrounded, its movements were somewhat restricted, but its oars were basically undamaged, and it still retained a certain degree of maneuverability.

In this situation, it would be difficult for the arsonist to get close enough to it and ignite it quickly.

Moreover, the "Chido" was also covered with a thin layer of copper, which improved its fire resistance by at least 500% compared to wooden boats. In the end, the "Chido" managed to shake off three of the seven fire-attack boats, and the four that crashed into it only damaged a dozen or so oars and ignited part of its externally suspended bamboo arrow shields.

As for the copper sheets splattered with oil, they couldn't catch fire at all. Even with the help of oil, the flames couldn't spread upwards and damage the hull. This small fire was quickly extinguished by the sailors on the "Chita" with seawater.

The "Baihao Jade" and "Baihao Fire Arrow," which were originally intended to be used in conjunction with the fire ships, were ineffective. These two primitive gunpowder weapons, which were improved from the "Iron Branding Cone" (the prototype of which came from the "Wujing Zongyao" of the Northern Song Dynasty), were actually just pottery gunpowder jars.

The former is mostly thrown by manpower, with a range of only a few dozen meters at most. Anyone who dares to throw it must be prepared to be shot dead.

Although the latter could be launched from a device similar to a catapult, with a range of several hundred meters, its accuracy was extremely poor and its explosive power was not high. Even if it were launched onto the "Chita", it would hardly cause much damage. The Wanjin Navy was equally disciplined and well-trained, and a few small fires could not cause any disturbance. The fires were extinguished before they could spread.

At the same time, ships that dare to fire "fire arrows" in retaliation will be immediately spotted by junior officers and non-commissioned officers in Wanjin and will be subjected to concentrated fire. Even if they are far away and there is no direct firing range, experienced non-commissioned officers will organize several or even a dozen arquebusiers to launch crossfire attacks and forcefully suppress them.

Yes, a arquebus is still a cannon, and it can also fire in an arc, but its accuracy and power are a level lower. However, experience can make up for this, and it's more than enough to fight unarmored pirates.

Meanwhile, the "Satomi Water Ghost Team" launched a boat-sinking attack...

The "Chita" was still mobile, making it unsuitable for diving and sabotaging. Moreover, as the first experimental "Ootake copper-clad ship," the "Chita" spared no expense, even covering its bottom with copper cladding (to ensure the ship's lifespan and prevent corrosion). Several pirates who had lived by the sea since childhood and were incredibly skilled swimmers painstakingly cleaned the barnacles and shellfish from the bottom of the "Chita." When they saw the bottom, which was far from being made of wood, they were dumbfounded. One of them immediately choked on water, exhaled a burst of bubbles, and sank, literally suffocating himself.

It's not that the copper hull of a ship can't be chiseled out, but it's extremely difficult to follow the ship underwater. You'd have to peel off the copper hull and then chisel a large hole through the thick hull...

If you gave each of them an air tank, they might have a chance, but it all depends on lung capacity, which is beyond human limits.

Once the "Satomi Water Ghost Squad" went into the sea, they disappeared without a trace. The "Chita" didn't even realize that the enemy had used such methods. They then organized firefighting efforts in different areas and launched continuous fire strikes under the organization of junior officers and sergeants.

For a moment, with a few embers still burning on its hull, the Chita-go's power only increased. It rampaged through the Satomi Navy's fleet, like a god descending to earth, unstoppable.

Of course, if the Satomi Navy were willing to sacrifice thousands of lives and desperately destroy all the oars of the "Chita," it would be possible to trap the "Chita" at sea. However, the Satomi Navy consisted of four large groups and dozens of smaller groups of small-scale pirates. They were fine in battles with the wind at their backs or in evenly matched fights; they had the fighting power. But in battles against the wind...

Unlike the heavily armored samurai of the Imagawa and Matsudaira families of yesteryear, they lacked the courage to launch a desperate attack. The Chita was not isolated and without support. The twenty-odd warships of the Wanjin Navy, which had initially avoided battle to guard against fire attacks, returned after circling around and began attacking the pirates from the outside.

In particular, the ship where Mu Zhengshizhong was stationed was immediately chosen as the first target of attack. After all, this ship was firing "signal flares" and using flag signals, which clearly indicated that it was the new flagship. So, to capture the thief, one must first capture the leader.

At present, apart from the "Chita", the Wanjin Navy consists of ordinary wooden sailing warships and lacks naval combat experience. However, given the Wanjin Navy's consistent nature since its establishment, its long-range firepower has always been excessive. As soon as they approached the ship where Mu Zhengshizhong was located, they began to bombard the ship with arquebuses and breech-loading cannons. Within a few dozen seconds, the ship was riddled with splinters, riddled with holes, and several fires broke out.

The pirates on the ship didn't hesitate either; some were shot and killed on the spot, while others jumped into the sea like dumplings being dropped into a pot, showing no intention of resisting at all.

As expected of a seasoned pirate, Mu Zhengshizhong possessed exceptional survival skills. He was ahead of everyone else, diving into the sea and escaping danger once again within two minutes by boarding a ship.

"Your Highness, let's retreat! Let's retreat quickly!" Just as he climbed onto the ship from the stern, a minor leader of the Hundred-Headed Water Pirates shouted anxiously at him. Judging from his voice, it sounded like he was about to cry at any moment.

Mu Zhengshizhong was also apprehensive. Although the guy in front of him wasn't of a very high status, he was still a veteran pirate. He liked to kill randomly to establish his authority when robbing merchant ships, and he often raped the female relatives of travelers. He was a well-known tough guy among the Hundred Heads Pirates. But now his lips were trembling. He was either scared out of his wits or completely lost his will to fight.

In the past, Mu Zhengshizhong would probably have executed him immediately to establish his authority and prevent him from undermining morale. But now he fully understood this feeling and instinctively comforted him, "Don't panic. The enemy's 'golden ships' are very cumbersome. As long as we break contact, they can't catch up with us. Now send the signal to stop besieging the enemy..." He felt that although they couldn't win, a calm retreat should be no problem. The "Chita" was very cumbersome and couldn't run fast at all. The remaining warships of the Wanjin Navy were also limited in number, and it was impossible to stop them all.

"No, Your Highness, look over there!" The old pirate was also getting anxious now. He didn't care about the difference in status and interrupted him. He grabbed him and made him look towards Shimoda Port. There, a large number of sails were visible. A large number of merchant ships had taken advantage of the fact that they were entangled with the "Chita" and their speed had dropped significantly to rush closer. They could even see that the decks of those merchant ships were crowded with armed sailors, who were shouting wildly and waiting to board them.

Mu Zhengshizhong's eyes widened in fury.

He wouldn't normally give these merchant ships a second thought; he has dozens of ways to take them all out. After all, merchant ships are merchant ships, and even a regular sailor couldn't possibly defeat pirates in a one-on-one fight. But now, they have a "sea fortress" in the middle and the Wanjin navy on both sides. In a sense, they're surrounded. If such a large group of merchant ships were to surge with the wind and crash into everything, leading to a full-scale melee...

These merchant ships won't fare well; they'll lose hundreds of lives. But the Satomi navy is finished too; more than half of them will be left behind.

But it was too late to dodge. In order to dismantle the "Chita", Mu Zhengshizhong and his hundred-strong band of pirates were waiting downwind. They successfully blocked the "Chita" and started fighting. They had basically put away all the fragile items such as hard sails. Now these merchant ships were sailing downwind and rowing desperately, charging over like mad dogs. They had nowhere to avoid or hide, and could only wait to be hit.

In a sense, they dug a hole and buried themselves.

Or rather, now the "Zhiduohao" and the Wanjin navy have become the "anvil," the Wanjin caravan has become the hammer, and they are the piece of raw iron that will be repeatedly beaten.

With just one glance, the veteran pirate Kijima Tokitada knew that the Satomi navy was doomed. The light in his eyes quickly died, and his lips trembled: "Give the order: retreat! Retreat! All retreat! As many as you can escape... escape as many as you can!"

…………

The Battle of Izu lasted less than two hours. For most of the time, both sides maneuvered and circled at sea, competing in ship handling skills. However, the pursuit lasted for a day and a night. The Battle of Izu eventually turned into a melee. The Katsu merchant ships shouted "Rescue Prince Nohara!" and rammed into the Satomi navy. Dozens of ships engaged in fierce boarding combat. Fortunately, the Satomi navy had been stunned by the Katsu navy and their fighting spirit was greatly diminished. There were many more people who wanted to escape than fight. The Katsu merchant ships basically won.

At the same time, it was impossible to completely blockade the sea in this era. Even though the Satomi Navy suffered heavy losses, more than sixty ships still managed to escape the battlefield in their desperate and frantic escape.

The Wanzu navy, of course, would not let go of the opportunity to strike a defeated enemy. The Wanzu merchant ships also went berserk, throwing another round of bulky cargo, using both sails and oars to pursue the enemy with all their might, chasing them all the way from the Izu sea area into Edo Bay, almost destroying all of the enemy's Atakebune and Sekibune. Large ships could not outrun the Wanzu navy's small boats. Once they were entangled by the small boats, and their oars and sails were slightly damaged, they were destined to be surrounded and killed by the Wanzu people.

The kobayafune did nothing but catch up with the enemy's large ships, fire a barrage of arquebuses to damage their oars and sails, and then chase after the next ship, repeating this process. As a result, almost all the Satomi navy ships that managed to escape into Edo Bay were kobayafune. The Atakebune and Sekibune, on the other hand, were coastal vessels and would be doomed if they fled into the open ocean. They could only run back to their base, and most of them never made it back.

In a sense, the Satomi Navy is finished; at least until a new batch of Atakebune and Sekibune are built, they no longer have the ability to engage in direct combat.

More importantly, they suffered heavy losses. There were many pirates on the Atakebune and Sekibune ships. Most of these pirates did not escape. A small portion were killed and a large portion were captured. What awaited them was to return to Wanjin to serve hard labor. Those whose crimes could be reformed were reformed, and those who could not be reformed were made to do the most dangerous work until they died.

Well, the "Chido" was completely useless during the pursuit. It just carried some damaged ships and hung behind the main force like a heavy weight, constantly receiving prisoners and conducting interrogations.

However, the trial uncovered a whole host of crimes, including looting merchant ships, indiscriminate killing, robbery, extortion, and rape. It just goes to show that pirates are pirates. Even though later comics and movies often romanticize these people, making the profession seem romantic, in reality, real pirates are no different from beasts in human skin.

Some of the crimes were so egregious that even Yuan Ye, a well-traveled modern man, found them disgusting. So, he naturally revoked the prisoners of war status of these river pirates and treated them as murderers, robbers, and rapists.

According to the current laws of Taiwan, if one commits these three crimes, most people will be sentenced to hard labor until death, which is considered as recycling and making use of waste.

As a result, even though Kisamachi Tokitada, the chief of the river pirates, did not receive decent treatment, he did not receive any special treatment even though he was now a samurai and the head of the Kisamachi family.

After all, even setting aside the fact that he is responsible for the actions of all the Satomi River pirates, he himself is a piece of trash. The things he did to some female travelers who couldn't pay, especially the things that happened to a mother and daughter, are unspeakable to Harano. Just thinking about it is disgusting, and it would never pass censorship if written as a novel.

Therefore, Yuanye pretended not to see Aman hanging him on the bow of the ship and publicly displaying him in his capacity as a part-time military judge.

You should talk about human rights with people and guarantee their basic rights, but to talk about the same thing with animals is just plain stupid.

So, after sailing for a day and a night, the "Chita" slowly sailed into Edo Bay with the famous Kijima Tokitada on its bow, and began to advance on Hyakushu Castle, the core base of the Satomi Navy.

(End of this chapter)