Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 90 The T-shaped tactic? No, this is the "square" tactic.
Pu Shouying laughed loudly as he pointed towards the battlefield ahead.

But as the hazy mirage dissipated, the real [Conch Shell] was revealed.

Together with Han Zechang, the River Rat on the left flank, they formed a "one-line" battle line.

The river wind whipped the sails, and the hundreds or thousands of sails on dozens of warships resembled battle flags raised high by cavalry charging, fiercely piercing the heart of the opposing Japanese pirate fleet.

They all fired a deafening roar at the Japanese flagship.

The Japanese pirates' fleet, in order to coordinate with Pu Shouying, failed to change its formation in time and was caught off guard by the sudden "ship maneuver tactics." They were cut into several pieces on the spot, unable to defend both ends.

Pu Shouying was still smiling:

"In naval warfare, warships are the foundation. The value of three 500-ton warships cannot be exchanged for one [Hachitō].

If I were to use force, I would not concern myself with the other warships, but instead use a feint to ambush a surprise force behind my back. Even if we are not sunk, we will suffer a great defeat.

Although he was a Semu person, he was very knowledgeable about classical allusions and stories, which suggests that he had read quite a few books.

However, they didn't fully understand it and didn't realize how unlucky the words were.

The words have not yet fallen.

Boom!

Orange-red flames flashed in the empty space behind them, and the first scorching cannonball instantly pierced the stained glass window of the sterncastle and rushed into the lower deck that pierced through the cannons.

It bounced and roared, crushing everything in its path to pieces.

A gunner stood in front of him and was instantly blown into a cloud of blood mist, leaving only two hairy thighs lying on the ground.

Even with planks and beams in front of them, they were immediately blasted into countless tiny, sharp pieces and chips, leaving nearby sailors covered in bloody holes.

The rigging securing the gun carriage was cut, and a 12-pound main gun weighing nearly two tons was thus "unleashed".

First, it crushed the thigh of a nearby gunner. The gun carriage slid across the bloody mess and back and forth on the entire gun deck, smearing blood and flesh everywhere.
“Ahhhhh——!”

Only after the shell disappeared behind the bow of the ship did the piercing screams fill the entire cabin.

Before the ship's doctor could even rush down to treat the wounded, the second, third, and fourth shells came in quick succession.

What followed was the heavy smell of blood and gunpowder, and even more shrill screams.

"My leg! Doctor, save me!"

"Please sew my intestines back in, please, sew them back in for me."

"Don't amputate my leg! It can still be treated, it can still be treated!"

This is the cruelty of sailing warship battles!

Since sailing warships deployed most of their cannons on the port and starboard sides, their firepower at the fore and aft was negligible. They could only unleash their full power when they aimed their broadsides at enemy ships.

The principle behind the so-called "T" tactic is to have one's own warships or battle lines act as the horizontal line of the "T".

By passing by the bow and stern where the enemy has no artillery, and firing in sequence, the continuous firepower of each warship and each cannon can be brought into play.

What's even more remarkable is that the stern of the sailing warship only had carved hulls, without the half-meter-thick oak hull and ribs, and the interior was open from front to back without any obstruction.

When a scorching hot shell enters the enemy ship from the stern, it bounces continuously on the penetrating gun deck, causing massive damage to enemy personnel.

Moreover, the attack was launched by a Tier 5 cruiser with 20 12-pounder guns and 12 6-pounder guns, totaling 32 guns, overwhelming all the warships.

After all sixteen cannons on the starboard side of the Qingyi had fired in sequence.

The bald eagle on the mast, like a true Britannian gentleman in the Union Jack, gracefully saluted Pu Shouying, who had narrowly dodged a stray bullet and whose eyes were now blazing with fury.
"Since you have invited me so sincerely, I will grant your request."

After all, who could resist firing a shot when they saw the rear of a sailing warship so clearly pointed at them?

Then he flapped his wings at his crew:
"Dahuai, Helmsman, go against the wind! Continue to seize the upwind position."

Gunners, fire freely, rapid fire, beat that son of a bitch!

The Qingyi Ship immediately turned hard to port after passing the Babao Ship, taking advantage of its heavy damage and incomplete crew to successfully seize the upwind position.

The mast, tens of meters high, immediately created a turbulent current hundreds of meters wide in the downstream wind, and the turbulent wind caused the enemy warship to slow down drastically.

The port guns, which had already been loaded, fired again.

boom! boom! boom! boom!
With the windward side having a longer range, the billowing smoke was all blown towards the enemy ship downwind, allowing the entire crew of the Tanka people to fight to their hearts' content.

Wang Cheng also discovered that he seemed to have invented a new naval warfare tactic without even realizing it.

Huang Yuanzhou's [Conch] was initially positioned as a "1", while Pu Shouying's [Eight Treasures] was positioned as a "1" during the attack, and the two were perpendicular to each other.

Later, the Qingyi ship randomly added a "1", perpendicular to the Babao ship, which has now become a "1" parallel to it.
This is no longer the original "T" tactic.

Not only did they unleash sixteen consecutive shots, blasting the stern of the Babao, but they also used the positioning of three sailing warships to neatly write the character "正" (zhèng, meaning upright) on its thigh! Wang Cheng, standing on the shoulders of his predecessors, successfully invented the "正" (zhèng) tactic.

Alternatively, one could follow the naming principles of the Japanese and call it: "One Night, Five Times" tactics.

At this point, the Babao had no choice but to flee in panic upstream on the Jiulong River, which was downwind, and repeatedly summoned its own 400-ton warships to come to its rescue.

Pu Shouying dodged a whistling shell, and looking at the Qingyi ship just a hundred meters away, and Ah Ji, possessed by Wang Cheng, his face was filled with uncontrollable rage:

"Wang Fugui! This sailing warship of yours is the [Ziying] that the Five Peaks Banner sent out to hunt you down!"
I thought you and Han Shushu were lucky and weren't captured by the sailing warship. I didn't expect that you not only escaped from the sailing warship but also captured it?

No, no, even so, how could you possibly train a whole crew and form a complete combat force in less than a month?
"Monster! You must be an old monster reincarnated!"

Besides this reason, Pu Shouying could hardly think of any other reasonable explanation.

Moreover, upon seeing this strange "Wang Fugui" again, all the past events flashed through his mind.

This kid has been active ever since the tax collectors sent by the Water Conservancy Bureau were stationed in Yuegang.

Then came the coup attempt by the puppet master, the assassination attempt by the traitor within the Five Peaks Banner at sea, Xie He's capture and death while arresting the temple keeper, the opening of an altar to invoke the gods to turn the tide during the chaos in Yuegang, and finally, to this day.
In every incident, the protagonist who stands in front seems to be someone else, but in every single one of them, there is the shadow of Wang Fugui.

Ever since I met him, everything has gone wrong for me, as if I owed him something in a past life.

A mental storm raged within Pu Shouying's skull, and the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed:

"It was you! You must have discovered my secret and deliberately lured me into this trap. You killed Xie He halfway through the journey, pried open his mouth, and spread rumors that he had abandoned the darkness and joined the light, forcing me to exterminate his entire clan."
It was also you who helped the Mountain and Sea Society discover the secret of the Dragon's Blood, and then slandered us before the Emperor, accusing us of about to rebel and making it difficult for the state government to send reinforcements.
It's you! It's all because of you, isn't it?!

He attributed all the incomprehensible accidents to Wang Cheng.

Little did he know that, by a twist of fate, he actually guessed most of the answers correctly.

Upon hearing this, Wang Cheng shook his head. He knew it was all thanks to the [Four Seas Coin], and sincerely humbly replied:
“Pu Shouying, your view of history as a hero is wrong. The events of Yuegang are about Wufengqi, Shanhaihui, all the ship captains, and every one of us in Yuegang.”

I, Wang Fugui, have only made a small, insignificant contribution; the current situation is all thanks to everyone.

As for you lot? You're nothing but a bunch of greedy scum.

Their conversation was not only heard by each other, but also by the surrounding sailors and officers in the distance.

These days, naturally no one agrees with his people-oriented view of history; all they see is immense respect for him as a "hero."

"Brother Fugui has actually done so many big things behind the scenes. He truly deserves to be called a local big shot in Yuegang. Well done!"

"If it weren't for Master Wang, my family and I might have already become victims of the Japanese pirates without even realizing it. We owe Master Wang our lives."

"Fourth Master is indeed Fourth Master. After today, when outsiders come to Yuegang, they probably won't say that Fourth Master is Elder Shen's apprentice anymore, but rather that Elder Shen is Fourth Master's master."

I admire you; you're a true hero!

With the enemy's backing and verifiable battle records, these people had all sorts of opinions, but when it came to their own Tanka crew members, only two words remained:
"loyalty!!!"

"Loyalty that is not absolute is absolute disloyalty!"

Holding the gun is equivalent to holding power.

Wang Cheng won over the hearts of this armed force with his achievements. As long as they can return alive, word will spread, and Wang Cheng's reputation in Yuegang may very well rival that of his master, Shen Yuting, a high-ranking official.

It will be a natural progression for him to replace a certain ship captain as one of the new managers of Moon Harbor in the future.

"Counterattack! Counterattack!"

The Babao tried to organize its remaining gunners to counterattack, but its sporadic firepower had almost lost its ability to kill other warships of the same class, so it could only flee in panic.

In favorable winds, a 400-ton warship equipped with rigid sails simply cannot keep up with a fully sailed warship.

Soon only two sailing warships remained, one in front of the other, chasing and fleeing upstream for two miles.

When it rains, it pours; the unexpected happened without warning.

creak!

A piercingly loud noise suddenly came from the bottom of the ship 【Babao】, which was running ahead, followed by a violent tremor.

A crew member cried out:
"Oh no, big ship, we've run aground!"

Clearly, this was not a runaway, but rather the Babao ship panicking and plunging headlong into an underwater trap laid by iron chains across the river.

It was forcibly held up by two thick iron chains.

Well, for a warship, this posture of being supported by iron chains looks rather unsightly!

Without hesitation, Wang Cheng flapped his large wings:
"Come on, pull out the batch of cursed stone bullets left behind by stonemason Cui Sheng, and give the Eight Treasures Ship a makeover."

Zhang Wen, let's not waste this advantageous position! Light up the "Imperial Concubine's Incense" for me, and have the crew at the bow of our boat help him create a fragrance. "Gagaga!"

(End of this chapter)