After two days and two nights of sailing, the 36 warships led by Hu Zongxian that were capable of fighting in the ocean finally arrived near the Zhoushan Islands, and these warships were lined up in a tight battle formation from beginning to end, without revealing a single flaw.

"Your Excellency Governor, there is the Zhoushan Islands in front of you!" Qi Jiguang pushed open the door of the cabin and said respectfully to Hu Zongxian.

"Well, go up and have a look with the officer." Hu Zongxian said, taking his eyes off the map on the table, and instructed.

"The last will obey."

Qi Jiguang said, followed Hu Zongxian's steps closely, and went to the deck together.

"Give me the monocular." Hu Zongxian commanded to the soldiers on the side.

After Hu Zongxian took the monocular from the soldiers on the side, he looked into the distance, wanting to observe the deployment of the Japanese troops near the Zhoushan Islands.

After a long time, Hu Zongxian put down the monoculars and said to Qi Jiguang on the side: "The deployment of the Japanese forces is very scattered, and most of the moorings in the port are small boats, only a few are two-masted ships. ”

"Order all ships to spread out in battle formation, and then use the ship's cannons to sink all these ships docked in the harbor, as long as they are within range!"

"Yes!"

After Hu Zongxian's order went down, some soldiers climbed the mast and kept waving the flags in their hands to deliver the news to the rest of the ships.

Thirty-six warships were soon lined up, and the cannons on board were aimed at the various ships anchored in the harbor.

There are many ships anchored near Jintang Island, and at this time, on one of the ships, everyone is exchanging news that they have received in recent days.

"You don't know, I heard from the people who came back that raw silk and medicinal herbs have been in short supply in Japan recently, and we only need to transport them to the past to get several times the profit!"

"That's right, our brothers have been farming in the field before, and the year's harvest, excluding the taxes paid to the imperial court, the rest can't even solve the food and clothing of the children at home, and they have to be hungry from time to time!"

"Right now, we only need to go out for a run every other month, and we can earn income that we can't earn in a year, and I don't know why, the imperial court just doesn't let us do business."

"Yes, this emperor doesn't want us to live!"

While everyone was chatting, someone came out of the cabin and walked out onto the deck, wanting to breathe.

At this moment, the peripheral vision of his eyes accidentally caught a glimpse of the Ming military ship in the distance, and then hurriedly ran back to the cabin, shouting: "Look, many warships suddenly appeared in the distance!" ”

"What!" When the people in the cabin heard the news, they didn't have the heart to continue chatting.

Then everyone went to the deck to observe, and the owner of the ship took out a monocular from his pocket and looked at the ship approaching in the distance.

"It's not good, it's the Ming army! I've seen such ships before! ”

"Run! The Ming army is coming! ”

The owner of the ship jerked down his monoculars and jumped from the ship.

The moment he jumped off the ship, he heard a 'boom', and the whole ship exploded after it, and before the rest of the people on board could make a sound, the whole ship disintegrated and sank into the sea.

"The Ming army is coming! The Ming army is coming! Run, everybody! ”

Panic was built to spread, and since the first ship was sunk by the Ming army, more ships were baptized by the Ming army's artillery fire, and soon, all the ships that had been moored in the harbor were destroyed, and the few survivors also hurried to the shore.

"Report to the Governor, that all the ships within range have been destroyed by our army! Are you going to send soldiers to the island? Qi Jiguang walked up to Hu Zongxian and asked for instructions on the next step.

"Don't worry, let all the ships continue to move forward, aim the cannon at Jintang Island, and give this official a round of bombardment!" Hu Zongxian took off the monocular and commanded.

"Yes, Lord Governor!" After Qi Jiguang finished speaking, he passed the order to the soldiers in charge of waving the flag.

The soldier, as before, climbed to the top, waved the flag in his hand, and passed the order to the other ships.

"There's a new order from the Governor's side, saying to aim at that island over there and bombard it again with the ship's cannons!" After receiving the order, the sergeant who knew the flag language hurriedly reported to his commander.

"Well, the order goes down, and all the cannons on the ship are aimed at the island over there, and the official will be bombarded fiercely!"

"Yes!" After receiving the order, the soldier quickly passed on the order.

Immediately afterwards, the remaining ships also fine-tuned their directions and aimed the cannons on board at Jintang Island.

"Fire!"

The cannons on board the ship fired a salvo, and countless shells flew towards Jintang Island.

'Boom boom! Most of the shells landed on the shore, sending the mud on the shore flying, and many people who couldn't escape were blown to pieces by the endless stream of shells, and the beach was full of stumps, and some even had their butts blown into the trees.

……

"Oh no, no, the Ming army is coming!" Mao Haifeng hurriedly broke into Wang Zhi's residence and reported the current situation to him.

"What? Ming Army! Where did the Ming army come from! After hearing the report of his subordinate Mao Haifeng, Wang Zhi suddenly got up from the chair, and the vase in his hand did not hold it steadily, fell to the ground, and became a piece of pieces.

"Lord Wang Zhi, it's true, the Ming army has dispatched dozens of warships, and all our ships docked near the port have been sunk! Besides, the Otomo family's fleet has not rushed back for the time being, and at the moment we are empty of troops, and we can't compete with it at all. ”

"Let's run away!"

Mao Haifeng said, kneeling on the ground and pleading with Wang Zhi.

"Hmph, run, where to run? As you said just now, the Ming army dispatched dozens of warships! Caught us off guard, judging from the current situation, the retreat at sea must have been blocked. ”

According to the information provided by Mao Haifeng, Wang Zhi quickly analyzed the current situation.

"No, we have always been at peace with the imperial court, and the well water does not interfere with the river water! Why did the imperial court send so many ships to attack us this time? Mao Haifeng also raised his own questions.

"It should be the things that happened in Fujian last time that angered the imperial court, otherwise, I wouldn't have sent so many troops here!" Wang Zhi said, his eyes were full of gloom.

"If you knew it, you shouldn't have listened to the nonsense of those landlords and gentry! Not to mention the benefits, the imperial court sent a large army to attack. At this moment, Wang Zhi's heart was full of remorse, he hated that he shouldn't have been so greedy in the first place, thus causing such a disaster to himself.

"How many people are still on the island?" After suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his heart, Wang Zhi asked Mao Haifeng on the side.

"There are about 4,000 of them, but most of them don't have decent equipment." Mao Haifeng heard Wang Zhi's question, thought for a while, and gave the answer.

"Well, organize all these people, and then give them weapons to defend against the topography of the island! At that time, as long as the fleet of Otomo's family comes back, we will still have a chance to live. Wang Zhi waved his hand, and then instructed Mao Haifeng.

"Yes, my subordinates will do it." After Mao Haifeng answered, he turned around and left.

……

At this time, on the ship of the Ming army, Hu Zongxian put down the monoculars and said in a deep voice: "Command to go down and stop the shelling!" The soldiers can land on the island. ”

"Yes!" Qi Jiguang was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately passed on the order.

Soon, under the cover of artillery fire, countless small boats slowly approached Jintang Island.

(End of chapter)