Chapter 979 A Bit Bouncy
Laidao Hengjiu turned his head and saw a vast expanse of ships.
So many ships! Forty-one of them.
And these ships were unbelievably enormous.
The largest, the Wanli Sunshine, stretched seventy meters long, dwarfing even the triple-masted galleons of the Westerners.
Even the smallest measured twenty meters, comparable to Laidao Hengjiu's own red-seal ships.
In other words, the smallest ship on their side was as massive as his largest.
Laidao Hengjiu gasped, "Ah! What faction is this? To possess so many colossal ships? Are they Westerners?"
His subordinate, bewildered, replied, "I don't know! All I saw was them flying a multi-colored flag."
"Which power flies a multi-colored flag?" Laidao Hengjiu pressed.
"Send a signal with flags to inquire."
"They're ignoring our flag signals."
Laidao Hengjiu's heart sank. *Alright,* he thought, *if they're ignoring our signals, they don't want to talk, do they?*
And if they didn't want to talk, then battle was inevitable!
The pirate world was brutal, devoid of law, where justice extended only as far as a cannon's range.
Laidao Hengjiu roared, "Their ships may be huge, but they have no cannons! There's nothing to fear. If they want a fight, let them come!"
No sooner had the words left his lips than he watched the dozens of immense ships surging towards them. Numerous hatches flipped open, revealing a multitude of openings along their bows and gunwales. From each opening, a gleaming, silver cannon barrel emerged.
He had never seen stainless steel, mistaking its silvery sheen for solid silver, and was instantly terrified. "Are they mad?" he shrieked. "These people are casting cannons from silver? And so many of them?"
His subordinates were equally stunned. "Can silver even be used for cannons?" one muttered. "Wouldn't it be too soft?"
"Fools! This is hardly the time for such discussions!" another subordinate interjected, reporting to Laidao Hengjiu, "Laidao-sama, they have too many cannons. We can't win."
Laidao Hengjiu sneered, "Just because they have more cannons, you think we're beaten? Do you call yourselves warriors? Cannons are only fearsome if they hit you, aren't they?"
His subordinate flushed with shame. "Hai, Laidao-sama is right!"
Laidao Hengjiu declared, "We came to Zhoushan to assert our dominance! We will defeat the Great Ming pirates here and seize control of these waters. We cannot cower just because their ships are bigger or more numerous. Difficulties can be overcome with resolve. In short, all tactics shift to boarding! Charge them, engage in boarding combat, and show them the spirit of Bushido!"
The warriors on board, *shing-shing-shing*, drew their Japanese katanas and let out a series of primal roars.
"Forget about Liu Xiang's men!" Laidao commanded. "Prepare for a cannon battle!"
The ten red-seal ships simultaneously turned, swinging broadside to face the approaching Gao Family Village fleet.
Standing at the bow, Li Daoxuan observed the scene, a thought forming in his mind: *Oh? They're forming a battle line? A T-crossing formation?*
While Li Daoxuan wasn't an expert in naval warfare, as a modern man, he had a general grasp of such concepts as battle lines and T-crossing maneuvers.
"Tsk," he mused, "it's only the early 17th century, yet these pirates have already independently discovered the optimal cannon formation? The ingenuity of humanity truly is remarkable."
However, a T-crossing formation only yielded an advantage when the firepower was evenly matched.
When there was a significant disparity in firepower, especially if one side's range was inferior, such a formation might prove utterly useless.
The Gao Family Village fleet fired first, even before the Japanese red-seal ships were within range.
Each of their ships carried a bow cannon, so they simply used those.
After all, with forty-one ships, even firing just one cannon each meant forty-one shots!
Meanwhile, Laidao Hengjiu's ten smaller red-seal ships boasted only two cannons per broadside.
The collective firepower from Gao Family Village's bow cannons already surpassed that of all ten red-seal ships' broadside cannons combined.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A volley of cannon fire erupted.
Laidao Hengjiu was momentarily bewildered: *They fired from that distance? Cannons can't possibly reach that far.*
The thought had barely formed when he heard the splintering of wood and felt the massive tremor through the ship's hull.
Clearly, the broadside had been hit.
Solid iron cannonballs ripped into the hull, smashing through countless planks within the compartments, punctuated by screams of agony.
Laidao Hengjiu roared, "Impossible! You fools!"
A barrage of cannonballs descended, pulverizing Laidao's fleet. Most went wide, some were near misses, and a few flew off to who knew where, but the small percentage that found their mark was enough to cast a profound psychological shadow over Laidao's pirates.
Especially impactful were the explosive shells interspersed among them; a single one landing on a deck caused casualties far beyond what solid shot could achieve.
Laidao's pirates were utterly stunned after just one exchange.
"Return fire!"
"What are the gunners gawking at? Return fire!"
"Fools! It's still too far! Our cannons can't reach them, we can't return fire!"
"That's impossible! Why do their cannons have greater range than ours?"
"Don't ask me, I don't know either!"
"And haven't you noticed, not only do their cannons outrange ours, their ships are incredibly fast too!"
"What? Their speed is unnatural!"
Laidao's pirates let out a chorus of cries.
Once they realized the enemy's speed, they knew escape was even more impossible.
The enemy ships were at least twice as fast as their own; any attempt to flee would only lead to a merciless pursuit and crushing defeat. Laidao Hengjiu steeled himself and bellowed, "Keep firing while closing the distance!"
Laidao's pirate ships immediately swiveled diagonally and moved forward.
This allowed them to shorten the range while still ensuring their broadsides could fire.
It was a precise art.
The art of ship-handling in cannon combat.
Clearly, the Gao Family Village crew hadn't yet mastered this art. Seeing the Japanese warships maneuver, the Gao Family Village vessels foolishly continued to charge straight ahead.
But then Shi Lang suddenly yelled, "Don't go straight at them; you'll take unnecessary hits! Reverse the helm, let's turn and run parallel to them!"
The helmsman looked utterly baffled.
Shi Lang quickly leaped over, shoved the helmsman aside, and spun the rudder himself...
Amusingly, with his turn, the Wanli Sunshine, which had been facing the enemy ships bow-on, suddenly swung its broadside directly towards them.
The broadside gunners, of course, wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity. Ten cannons on that single flank erupted simultaneously.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A plume of white smoke billowed as ten cannonballs hurtled toward the red-seal ships.
At the very same moment, the red-seal ships' two broadside cannons returned fire.
Once again, cannonballs from both sides whizzed past each other in mid-air.
A cannonball from Laidao's pirates struck the massive Wanli Sunshine's broadside with a resounding *thud*...
The sailors behind that section of the broadside jumped in alarm, in that instant even composing their last wills in their minds.
However...
A miracle occurred. The cannonball, after striking the Wanli Sunshine's broadside, actually bounced off, splashing into the water with a *plop*. The broadside itself merely bore a dent; it hadn't been penetrated at all.
The composite pressure plate, two hundred times thicker than ordinary wood, was incredibly sturdy yet lightweight, possessing a slight resilience and "bounciness" that the Japanese "Ōzutsu" cannons of this era simply couldn't overcome.
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