The invention of the Ataka ship in Japan is quite early, at least it can be traced back to the middle and early Warring States period. This kind of warship is indeed not suitable for ocean-going voyages, but it is designed quite successfully as the main battle in the near sea, so that later, the naval army with a certain strength will be equipped with several, which is not only the main force of the attack but also the commander's boat, to some extent, this has even become a standard to measure the level of a naval army.

There is almost no record of whose invention this kind of boat is, and it should be regarded as a genius, but I feel that it should not be as good as Li Xianchen, who invented the "turtle boat", because the latter took a key step beyond the limitations of traditional concepts, but the former obviously failed to do this.

It doesn't matter who this "genius" is! However, the invention or use of this type of ship must have been very closely related to the Ataka family of Awaji, which can be felt very directly from the name. I am very fortunate that on the command ship of Ataka who ambushed my fleet at Kizuguchi, there is also an "Ataka" at this moment!

Nobuyasu Atakata, the son of the third brother of Miyoshi Changkei, is 29 years old this year, the lord of Awaji Guozhou, and the commander of the eighteen naval armies of Awaji!

"It's a pity! The first round of attacks didn't work...... "Masao Sekiuchi, as the deputy general, is reporting the situation to the main general at the moment. "The Stars Navy's forces have been divided into three groups, and except for five of them heading for the exits on both sides, the remaining twelve main ships are fleeing towards the coast to the north. Although our ships are large in number and are pursuing them with all their might, the firepower of the enemy's ships is so strong that it will be very difficult to get close to them. In addition, we have only 7 of our 10 suicide boats left......"

"Order Suga to lead a hundred warships and attack the ironclad ships of the stars at the east exit; Takeo Arima led a hundred warships to attack the Zhuxing ironclad ships at the western exit; The rest of the main forces will follow me to pursue the main forces of the Zhuxing Water Army! Nobuyasu Yasuya waved the military fan in his hand forward, and his firm attitude was unquestionable.

"It seems that the commander of the Stars Navy still has some skills!" Watching the signals being sent out one by one, Masao Sekiuchi couldn't help but let out a sigh. "In order to avoid the ironclad ships being crowded due to their bulkiness, they dispersed and broke through; To the north, at the risk of running aground, you can enter a relatively wide body of water; The Stars Clan's ironclad cannon arrows are powerful and fire-resistant, and they are not so easy to defeat! ”

"Oh!" Anzhai Nobuyasu glanced at him sideways, slightly unhappy in his heart. On the issue of whether to launch an attack on the Zhuxing Water Army first, there is considerable controversy within the Eighteen Awaji Water Army, and his lieutenant general is one of the strong opponents. "How dare a person who doesn't have two brushes get involved in this Seto Inland Sea? But that's it, you can rest assured! ”

"Your Highness, although the Zhuxing Clan is only the first time to engage in a water army, the previous experience is that no matter what you do, you will succeed!" Masao Sekiuchi clenched his fists anxiously, as if he wanted to save it all. "This naval army established with strong strength, and an excellent commander, the naval army that came to the island was wiped out without even having a chance to fight back, isn't it worth our vigilance? We are just some sailors who have been begging for a living on this sea for generations, and we can't participate in the major events of the world, and the sailors who come to the island are the ones who come to the island......"

"I just don't want to fall into such a miserable fate as the island navy!" Nobuyasu Ataka stood up angrily and walked back and forth irritably on the ship's tower. "Why don't you understand me! The news of Sakai Town has come clearly, and a year later, the Zhuxing Kiyoshi clan will launch a large-scale crusade against Shikoku. And the conquest of the Four Kingdoms must first be a bland road, this is a simple matter, and it is impossible for the Zhuxing Qing Clan not to know this truth! At that time, the Stars and Sailors who have already stopped and the Kumano Navy, how can we resist it! ”

"This ...... Alas! Masao Sekiuchi had nothing to say, he knew that the Lord General was right, and covering his ears did not mean that the bell would not ring again. But life is not too picky for the weak, maybe through other methods...... He knew that there were some things he couldn't say, because most of the people in Awaji would not have agreed to do so, and might even be considered traitors!

"Boom!" At this embarrassing moment, there was another loud bang, and at this time, all the more than 500 warships of the Awaji Navy had poured into the main channel of the Kizu Pass, attacking their targets in three groups. Because of the close distance, the battle began at the east exit, and from time to time there was a cannon cannon in the sound of the earth-shattering iron cannon, and the sound just now was that a ship was hit by a cannon, turning into a big fireball on the sea.

"It's over, the Huoyao ship has lost another one!" Sekiuchi leaned back on the tiller in a dejected manner. "If the sneak attack just now was successful, we could have rushed into their queue and started a melee, but now the opportunity is ......."

"We have a better chance now!" Antaku Nobuyasu slammed the mast, walked quickly to the edge of the fence and stared at the east exit, which was already fiercely exchanging fire, and then turned his head to look at the west exit, where the two sides were gradually approaching. "The water army of the Zhuxing family is now the weakest time, and they can only wait there to be beaten. Rush up and turn out for them! ”

"Your Highness, is this starting with harmony?" Masao Kanuchi asked inexplicably.

"There's one thing I haven't told you!" Nobuyasu Ataka turned around slowly, an irrepressible flame rising in his eyes. "As long as you can afford the price in Sakaimachi, there's nothing you can't buy! For a long time, I had been looking for partners among those merchants. They always send me the news I need in time, which is why we are the only ones in the Awaji Eighteen Naval Army, who have not suffered major losses! ”

Sekiuchi Masao listened to all this in a daze, he didn't ask and didn't know where to ask, all this was a little difficult to understand for a dirt pirate like him. One thing is certain, however, that the Admiral will explain it himself.

"A few days ago, I got the news: although the ironclad ships of the Zhuxing Qing Clan are equipped with enough cannons, they actually don't have enough ammunition!" Nobuyasu Yasuku pointed with his hand to several battlefields, where the battle was getting fiercer. "Although the Stars Ironclad Ship is powerful, it has just been built, and the required ammunition cannot be manufactured locally, so it completely depends on the import from the Nanban. The reason why the Zhuxing Qing clan first brought the island naval army to open the knife was of course for the purpose of testing equipment, but the more important thing was to stabilize the trade routes of the Nanban Sea. After this battle, the Star Fleet has not many shells left! Their iron cannons are sharp, but they are not enough to deal a devastating blow to us. ”

"Will this be the case......" Sekiuchi Masao looked confused, he still couldn't turn around this circle for a while.

"Of course it is!" Nobuyasu Yasuku pointed ahead again. "If the Stars Navy still has enough shells, it will not give our warships a chance to get close at all, which is extremely disadvantageous to the oversized ironclad ships that are inconvenient to turn. But you see, now, they only fired a cannon when they were forced to do so, and our warship was already approaching, and if it wasn't for the limited number of shells, could he have any other reason? ”

"I hope so!" Masao Seunai also thinks that what he said is very reasonable, but he is still very unstable in his heart. Could it be that he was really frightened by the legends of the Zhuxing Qing clan? If this is the case, it is too bad, this mentality must be cleared in time, and it is impossible for a warrior in the shadows to win a battle.

The battle situation is indeed developing as Ataka Nobuyasu predicted, and the Stars Ironclad ships are fleeing in three directions in a hurry, and only when they are forced to fire two cannons, it seems that they don't want to fight at all! However, the ironclad ship could not move at full speed in such narrow waters, and in order to keep the huge hull from hitting the reef, it had to constantly turn the rudder, so naturally it could not get up fast.

The ships of the Awaji Navy finally approached their targets, and the pirates climbed onto the deck with bows and arrows, which also provided a more obvious target for the iron gunners on the ironclad ships, and the number of people who fell into the water also increased significantly.

The battle had just begun, and the casualties weren't enough to break the courage of the pirates. Each of them had a bow in his hand, and a large bundle of arrows with a large round tower at the head of the bundle had been carried from the bottom compartment to the deck. The pirates picked up the arrows and put them on their bows, and then put them in the brazier at their feet, and the arrows immediately ignited into a fireball, and then flew towards the ironclad ships on the opposite side.

The ironclad ship is called an ironclad ship because its exterior is covered with a layer of iron plates ranging from one to three centimeters. Japanese bows and arrows were really bad, and this was no exception to the pirates, and the arrows that hit the hull of the ship could not penetrate at all, and they fell into the sea and extinguished without causing any actual damage.

"What can I do?" Seeing this, Sekiuchi Masao frowned suddenly, and in just a while, about 20 warships had been destroyed, both destroyed by cannons, and some were knocked over by ironclad ships because they were too close. "Your Highness, what now? There is not a single one of our fire boats left! Masao Sekiuchi supported his body on the mast with his hands, as if all the strength in it had been drained at once.

"Order all the main battle Ataka ships to rush up and use the roasting to attack their ironclad ships!" Nobuyasu Ataka's voice was low, but his calloused hands were clutched tightly on the railing. He knew that there was no room for maneuver at this moment, and there must be one party to repair until death.

Although the Awaji Navy has declined in recent years, it has far surpassed the Mishima Navy in terms of rumor, and they played a major role in the Battle of Tanpo in Heiyuan. After Ataka Fuyasu succeeded the Awaji Ataka clan, he made great efforts, resulting in the recovery of the strength of the Awaji naval army, and as of today, there are about 30 Ataka ships in the entire Awaji.

Nobuyasu Atakaku's "trump card" rushed out of the rear team, although it was mainly propelled by manpower paddles in this kind of water, but after all, it was much more agile than an ironclad ship. As they approached the main battlefield, a large number of sailors on the top floors of these Ataka ships began to get busy.

The firing is a lever-like trebuchet-like device, so it cannot be used on small ships. A ball made of a mixture of asphalt, sulfur, and oil is loaded into a belted dispenser, ignited, and ejected far away in the hope of hitting an opponent, and then bursting and burning.

"Bang!" With the successful launch of the first shot, countless fireballs struck the retreating Stars Ironclad Ship......