"Give the order, all hands turn around, and break through from here!"
After gritting his teeth, Yelü Zhenghuan finally calmed down rapidly.
The enemy's formation was set. It was impossible for them to retreat unharmed. The only chance now was to fight their way out. When paths cross, the brave prevail. They had no other choice at this moment.
"But General, their ships are large and ours are small. If we clash head-on, we will be at a great disadvantage!"
"We're already here. What disadvantage is there now? If we don't fight our way out, everyone will die here today!"
"Yes!"
Following Yelü Zhenghuan's order, all the warships of this new navy began to adjust their direction and charge directly northward.
"It's just as I expected, they're here to die!"
Seeing the Jurchens begin their charge, Li Bao's face was filled with excitement.
He had initially worried if these Jurchens were playing some trick, but now, he was completely reassured.
"They have more ships, and we have fewer. We should still be careful!"
Although Yue Fei was also a little excited at this moment, he quickly regained his composure.
According to the intelligence they had gathered recently, the entire Jurchen navy, when combined, had about 600 seaworthy warships.
This number roughly matched what they were seeing before them. This meant that if they could send all these people to the bottom of the sea in this battle, the entire Jurchen territorial waters would belong to them from then on!
Unlike the army, the navy requires more than just ordinary soldiers!
An experienced captain might need 5 to 6 years, or even 10 years, to train. Even a low-level sailor would require at least three to five months to be barely usable.
To build a thousand-liang warship, even with the Song Dynasty's shipbuilding capabilities, it would take at least three years if starting from the timber preparation!
If it were the Jurchens, this time would only be infinitely prolonged. If they could eliminate everyone before them, it would take the Jurchens at least 10 years to train a navy that could contend with them!
"Hahahaha, give the order! The vanguard changes formation, forming a long serpent formation to meet the enemy. The rear guard will charge and pursue relentlessly, leaving no one alive!"
Li Bao, while closely monitoring the battlefield, laughed heartily as he issued the order to change formation.
Following his command, the entire Song army began to rapidly change formation. The fleet in the north directly arranged all its ships into a long serpent formation.
The trebuchets equipped at the bow and stern of the ships could now unleash their full firepower.
The fleet in the south adjusted its position, forming small "pin" shapes of three ships each, and began to pursue the Jurchen ships relentlessly.
The larger ships used trebuchets, while the smaller ships directly rammed into them!
Compared to the Jurchen ships, the warships used by the Song army were clearly superior in both size and sturdiness.
Faced with this overwhelming equipment advantage, those fierce warriors returning from the Southern Oceans began a bloody massacre with roars of excitement.
Thanks to the watertight compartment design, even if a Song warship was hit by a Jurchen trebuchet, it would not suffer fatal damage.
However, the situation was completely different in reverse. The Jurchens used warships that were originally left over from the Liao army.
When these ships were designed, only a small portion was used for naval warfare; the majority were used for riverine operations.
Moreover, a large portion of them were old and in disrepair, unable to withstand such high-intensity combat...
Often, once they took a hit from a Song trebuchet, their fate was to be destroyed and sunk!
Less than half an hour into the battle, the vast battlefield was already littered with corpses.
Sharks, attracted by the scent of blood, were now like wolves, constantly tearing at the broken bodies in the sea.
Any sailor who fell into the water was quickly swallowed and torn apart by sharks!
But at this moment, neither the Jurchens nor the Song soldiers could spare any thought for those who had fallen into the water.
Both sides had gone mad with battle, and their eyes were filled only with the desire to kill.
"No, this won't do! Give the order! Detach a hundred ships and hold back those pursuing Song ships!"
Under the pincer attack of the Song fleet from front and rear, Yelü Zhenghuan quickly realized the crisis.
"Yes!"
Although everyone knew in their hearts that staying behind at this moment meant certain death, under the threat of complete annihilation, Yelü Zhenghuan could only harden his heart and issue an order that made no sense.
"Close in, close in at all costs! If we can't break through, everyone will die here today!"
Despite the heavy losses on both sides, Yelü Zhenghuan managed to maintain his composure.
At this moment, he could only place his hope on a chaotic melee after the two fleets clashed.
As long as they could disrupt the Song army's formation, they would be able to escape!
If handled properly, they might even be able to give the Song army a taste of their power!
The Song and Liao Dynasties had been hostile to each other for a hundred years. Not only were the officials on both sides driven to madness by slaughter, but even the common people harbored mutual hatred.
Regarding the combat effectiveness of the Song army, even a naval general like Yelü Zhenghuan could only scoff.
Especially in the battle in Hebei, when Yelü Dashi, with less than 40,000 men, managed to rout hundreds of thousands of Song soldiers, it made him even more confident in his soldiers' combat prowess.
"Boom—rumble—rumble—"
As the distance between the two sides closed, the Jurchen ships became denser. When the distance between them was less than a mile, the Song army's gunpowder finally began to show its power.
"General, this is the thing they used to blow open the gate of Yuguan City!"
Seeing the first few small ships directly blown into pieces of wood, Yelü Zhenghuan's close confidants immediately shouted.
"Shut your mouths! Do you want the entire army to know?"
Seeing their nervous expressions, Yelü Zhenghuan glared at them fiercely.
"No, what are you doing? Who told you to turn around?"
Just as Yelü Zhenghuan finished reprimanding his confidants, he suddenly noticed his own ship was turning.
"It's me! This general is a distant nephew of His Majesty the current Emperor. If you want to die, go by yourself. I don't have time to die with you!"