“A trap! This is a trap!”
From afar on the board house ship, Deputy General Kim’s legs trembled. The thunderous sounds threw him into panic.
Park Jeong-ho’s face turned pale, but he kept calm and shouted, “Retreat!”
The four warships that had attacked were rocking like rootless floating plants in the water, caught in flames and roaring noises.
“Is this what they call cannons?” Park squinted. The war between Great Yu and the Golden Horde had reached Goryeo, and they had learned about cannons.
“No matter what, we are definitely no match. Escape quickly,” Deputy General Kim shouted. “Row, row fast!”
Cannon and gunfire continued. After one round of shooting, the artillery crew reloaded for a second round.
But after just one round, the rowers in the board house ship’s hull were almost all dead or wounded.
“Boom! Boom!”
Another volley of shots. Solid cannonballs pierced the wooden planks of the board house ship like slicing tofu. Inside, the cannonballs destroyed everything.
The terrified Goryeo rowers were thrown by the cannonballs again and again. Blood spilled over the entire ship’s floor like ink.
“Bang! Bang!”
Gunfire continued on the deck. The Goryeo soldiers were in a panic, constantly killed by flintlock guns. Some were so scared they jumped into the sea. Others ran and hid. Some even knelt on the deck and chose to surrender.
“Surrenderers will not be killed!”
Yue Yun shouted to the soldiers on the board house ship and raised a flag that read, “Surrenderers will not be killed.”
Seeing the flag, more Goryeo soldiers knelt on the deck, surrendering.
Goryeo had long used Great Yu’s written language. Although they spoke differently, some literate soldiers could still understand the writing.
After repeated bombardments, the board house ship had lost all power and could only wait for death.
“Your Highness, two ships have escaped,” Yue Yun said. “Shall we pursue?”
“No need. Let them go back and spread the news. I want the Goryeo king to live in constant fear,” Xiao Ming said with a faint smile. To him, Goryeo was just a fat sheep.
He planned to turn Goryeo into a place for exporting his goods and a source of slaves. But now was not the time to start a full war. The urgent matter was Ryukyu.
Ryukyu now had large amounts of sugarcane and was a place where triple-season rice could be grown. This was vital to Xiao Ming because it meant a high-yield food area.
According to Claire, Taiwan’s indigenous mountain tribes, plus 200,000 people migrated from Great Yu to Ryukyu Island, mostly living in southern Ryukyu under Dutch control.
For Xiao Ming, 200,000 was not a large population, and most were difficult-to-control mountain tribes. However, he did not care, because once he controlled Ryukyu, he could encourage Great Yu’s mainland people to immigrate there.
After all, the local people were under royal control. If he could get Xiao Wenxuan’s approval to move about 100,000 people, this place could continuously provide him with grain.
While Xiao Ming was thinking, Yue Yun was already directing soldiers to imprison the surrendered Goryeo soldiers on the ship.
Most of the board house ship’s rowers were dead or wounded, and the ship had lost power. Even if the Goryeo soldiers refused to surrender, they would starve at sea.
“Move, hurry!”
Crew armed with flintlocks forced the Goryeo soldiers into the hull for guarding.
There were over 400 soldiers on the four board house ships originally, but now less than 100 were alive. Most died from artillery and flintlock gunfire.
The surrendered soldiers looked like frightened rabbits, dazed and trembling.
Although the four board house ships had not sunk after the bombardment, Xiao Ming said, “Later, pull these ships back. Fix them up for fishing; they are still useful.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Yue Yun said with a smile.
The battle was completely one-sided. When Xiao Ming came to his senses, it was basically over without difficulty.
After counting, none of his soldiers were injured. They only wasted some ammunition.
After the battle, Xiao Ming lost his mood for tasting seafood. He let the fishing boats continue fishing, and he and Yue Yun dragged the board house ships back to the naval port.
After disembarking, Fei Yue’er still looked pale. The cannons had scared her badly.
“Are you okay?” Xiao Ming asked, choosing to return to Dengzhou out of concern for Fei Yue’er’s feelings.
“I’m fine, Your Highness,” Fei Yue’er gave a faint smile, not wanting to worry him.
Although she did not see the battle, the cannon sounds and soldiers’ desperate screams made her fully realize how brutal the fight was.
Just those sounds alone made her heart tremble.
Fei Yue’er’s expression made Xiao Ming realize she was comforting him, but he also knew that as his consort, she would have to face such storms sooner or later, so she could remain calm in future crises.
After settling Fei Yue’er to rest at the government office, Xiao Ming returned to the naval port.
“Your Highness, all the prisoners are here,” Yue Yun said, pointing at the kneeling Goryeo soldiers.
Xiao Ming nodded and asked, “Who among you can speak Great Yu’s language?”
Because Goryeo was once a vassal state of Great Yu, many Goryeo people spoke the language.
As soon as he finished, a man who looked like a general said, “I-I can!”
Yue Yun immediately brought the Goryeo soldier dressed in general’s clothes to Xiao Ming.
Knowing the enemy and yourself leads to victory. Xiao Ming never underestimated any enemy because many failures had happened due to neglect.
He asked, “Who is your current king?”
“Our king’s family name is Li,” the Goryeo general said trembling.
Xiao Ming asked again, “How many sailors do you have? How many warships?”
“Fifteen thousand sailors and 120 warships,” the Goryeo general said again.
Yue Yun was somewhat surprised. “Your Highness, Goryeo’s navy is quite large.”
Xiao Ming nodded. This was also why he did not start war rashly. He then asked, “Are they all this type of ship?”
“No, no. Besides these ships, we also have a type called ‘turtle ships’,” the Goryeo general said.
“Turtle ships? What are those?” Yue Yun asked.
Before the general could answer, Xiao Ming explained, “They are ships used to ram enemy warships.”