Chapter 725

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The sea wind howled, blowing Yue Yun’s hair.

He adjusted his blue naval robe, his fingers gently caressing the naval emblem on his shoulder, on which a sailing warship battled through giant waves.

Three months ago, their navy still had no uniforms. All the silver in the imperial treasury had been used by Niu Ben for the army. Jealous of the military uniforms for a long time, he raised a ruckus in the newly formed Grand Council, which then reported to the Emperor.

Thus, the matter of naval uniforms was approved, but for now, only some generals had regular uniforms; others were still dressed as common people.

However, it was fortunate that at least the marines had their own uniforms.

“Xie Yuan is right; the British are indeed difficult to deal with. That time, I was lucky to return alive.” Yue Yun said seriously, “But don’t be afraid. When encountering a British warship, just hit them hard. British warships always fight the enemy they meet; that is their naval tradition. To defeat them, you must be more ruthless than them.”

Liu Chen and the other generals nodded upon hearing this.

At this moment, Xie Yuan suddenly said, “Oh, by the way, yesterday I met someone from the shipbuilding workshop and unintentionally overheard them say that the shipbuilding workshop is going to try to build a brand new type of warship. I wonder if it’s true.”

“A brand new warship?” The naval generals were most interested in this. They asked, “What kind of warship?”

“I didn’t hear clearly, but it’s true,” Xie Yuan promised, patting his chest.

Yue Yun frowned. He brought the conversation back on track. “We are currently discussing the Goryeo war. What are you doing?!”

Liu Chen and Xie Yuan chuckled awkwardly and immediately fell silent.

Yue Yun didn’t say it aloud, but he was also looking forward to this new type of warship. Forcing down his excitement, he continued, “Annihilating the Goryeo navy this time is easy, but getting the King of Goryeo to open ports is difficult. Goryeo is now colluding with the barbarians. As long as he believes the barbarians’ power is greater than our Great Yu Empire’s, Goryeo will act as the barbarians’ evil dog to bite us.”

“If that’s the case, why be polite to them? Let’s just smash their dog teeth,” Liu Chen shouted.

“Smashing their dog teeth is far from enough. Goryeo has been so arrogant all these years because of the master behind them. This time, we should make them understand that the barbarians cannot protect them either. This way, Goryeo will naturally submit,” Yue Yun said.

The generals nodded one after another.

After chatting for a while longer, Yue Yun saw the sun setting. At this point, he dismissed the generals to rest. A naval battle was imminent, and they needed to conserve their energy.

The south wind howled. A distance of two hundred li was just an overnight journey for the fleet. The next day, when everyone woke up, the coastline gradually came into view.

Yue Yun had already woken up and was observing the situation ahead with his telescope.

According to the information provided by Wang Xuan, Goryeo’s remaining warships were all gathered in Haigucheng. These warships were small in size, considered small warships compared to theirs.

Moreover, the intelligence stated that a portion of Goryeo’s warships had already been equipped with cannons provided by the barbarians, though the number was not large.

Yue Yun was somewhat worried about this. Cannons had only appeared in the Great Yu Empire for five years, but their spread had been rapid in these five years.

First, the barbarians acquired cannons, and then Goryeo also acquired cannons.

He believed that after Japan’s invasion of Goryeo this time, Goryeo soldiers would soon be equipped with firearms as well.

Thinking of this, Yue Yun’s expression turned solemn. Enemies were not fools either. When changes occurred in the Great Yu Empire, they would also respond according to the constantly changing situation.

“Signal the flag for Liu Chen and Xie Yuan to lead their warships to flank from both sides.” Yue Yun said with a serious expression, putting down his telescope.

“Yes,” the deputy general took the order and turned to leave.

Under Yue Yun’s command, the warships divided into three routes and headed towards Haigucheng.

At the same time, the Goryeo navy in Haigucheng also discovered the fleet of warships at sea. The Goryeo soldiers responsible for vigilance immediately went to the naval camp.

“General Park, many warships have appeared at sea. It looks like Great Yu Empire warships,” a naval general said anxiously.

Park Jeong-tae, the commander of the Goryeo navy, heard this and immediately walked out of his tent to Haigucheng pier. Just as the soldier said, forty-eight warships were now flanking them from three directions.

“His Majesty should not have given this royal order,” Park Jeong-tae said with a hint of anxiety in his eyes. As the naval commander, he naturally understood the power of the Great Yu Empire’s warships.

Now, they were finally counterattacking from the sea.

“General, what should we do now?” a group of generals asked.

Park Jeong-tae sighed. The war between Goryeo and Japan had just ended, and now the King of Goryeo had drawn an even more formidable opponent.

But now, Goryeo had no retreat. They could only meet the challenge.

“Order all soldiers to board the ships,” Park Jeong-tae shouted. He had made his decision.

The generals’ expressions varied upon hearing this. Some answered and left, while others looked hesitant and fearful.

But with old general Park Jeong-tae present, no one dared to defy him, so they could only take their orders and leave.

At sea, Yue Yun’s warships drew closer to Haigucheng. Yue Yun then said to his deputy general, “Release the fireships. The Goryeo warships are densely packed in the harbor; this is the time to use them.”

“Yes, General.” Upon receiving the order, the crew immediately lowered small boats from the ship.

These boats contained lamp oil and gunpowder barrels, and a layer of straw was spread on top.

After the boats were lowered, the soldiers threw torches onto the boats, letting the fireships drift with the wind towards the harbor of the ancient city.

After Yue Yun released the fireships, other warships also released their fireships one after another. In a short while, there were dozens of fireships in the sea.

These fireships, like a small fleet, charged towards Haigucheng.

Yue Yun watched these fireships through his telescope. Through his study of naval tactics, he had learned many methods of warfare.

These fireships were a method he learned from cases in books.

Carried by the sea wind, the fireships entered Haigucheng harbor at an extremely fast speed. More than thirty fireships, laden with gunpowder, entered the gaps between the Goryeo warships one by one. Some collided with warships and stopped, their flames continuously burning the hulls of the Goryeo warships.

“Quickly put out the fires on these ships!”

In their hurried confusion, the Goryeo navy was in disarray. Seeing these burning small boats drifting towards them, they instinctively tried to extinguish the fires.

However, when the soldiers splashed water onto the fireships, they suddenly found huge flames flaring up from the ships.

Unbeknownst to them, each fireship carried tung oil. Water meeting oil would only produce larger sparks, just like when stir-frying.

While they were confused, the huge flames caused the small boats to burn even more intensely. With a loud bang and a huge pillar of flame rising into the sky.

The fireship exploded.