By the time most of the Japanese coalition forces that followed closely behind caught up, the six Western-style warships had already drawn a big arc on the sea, and chased after Hongtang's brigade again, leaving behind a mess on the sea, as well as a few Japanese ships that no longer dared to chase too closely.

Seeing that they couldn't catch up, the Japanese fleet, which had learned the lesson of the last failure, no longer chased Hongtang's distant figure at this time, and gradually lowered the sails to watch Hongtang's warship leave.

Wu Daofu and Xiao Xiurong stood on the deck of the "Intrepid", watching the other party's huge fleet disappear into the sea, with a little solemnity on their faces: "It seems that this time they have eaten a trench and grown wise, and they are determined to play a stalemate with us." ”

"Yes, even the tactics we used to guard against the Dutch fleet at the beginning, let them learn it, if it weren't for the speed of their ships to catch up with our warships, if there were more than ten or twenty such ships, we would have to lose a few warships before we forced them back!" Xiao Xiurong also said quite uncalmly, this is really afraid of something, the various actions made by the other party show their thoughts, which is exactly what they are worried about.

Of course, Wu Daofu and they are also mentally prepared for this, people are not stupid, there is no reason why Wu Daofu can think of it, there are so many people in the family can think of this, not to mention that this Japanese general Huashan Jiugao can sit in his current position, no one will believe it if he has no ability!

"You say, what are we going to do next, are we really going to fight them?" Wu Daofu frowned, although he could no longer see the shadow of the Japanese fleet, but he felt a little uncomfortable when he thought of the casualties that might be caused by the battle.

"Even if we engage in a string battle, our chances of winning are extremely high, so you don't have to worry so much, commander!" Sometimes, the strategy cannot solve all the problems, and the critical moment still depends on the strength of the two sides.

The full staffing of a warship in Hongtang is about 100 people, while the warships of the Japanese and pirates are generally composed of forty or fifty sailors, so don't look at the advantage of the other party's warship book fans, but in fact, the difference in the number of the two sides is not large.

Moreover, the real number of Japanese people, Wu Daofu and they also know an approximate number, because of the defeat and defeat in the previous time, the loss of a lot of manpower of the biryama Hidaka, worried that Hongtang will not give up, to the Satsuma Daimyo Shimazu Iehisa sent a letter of reinforcement, and finally the Shimazu family sent another thousand samurai to show reinforcements to the Kayama Hisada.

But even so, the number of Japanese on Amami Oshima is only in their early 2,000s, and most of the rest are pirates and rogues, as well as temporary Ryukyu fishermen and the like, and their combat strength is several points worse than the fledgling Hongtang warriors a few years ago, let alone compared to the current Hongdo displays.

That's why Xiao Xiurong and they have so much confidence to talk to Wu Daofu about this last resort.

It's just that Hong Tang has been used to it smoothly over the years, and it is rare to lose too much because of a big battle, the last time he was besieged by the Dutch, and in the end, he lost more than a thousand soldiers in the big battle, which has already made Li Tianyang and Wu Daofu sad for a long time. After all, Hongtang's foundation is weak, and it is not easy to replenish manpower, although Qi San has been recruiting manpower for Li Tianyang and them in the coastal area for more than eight years, but together with the suppression and annexation of the coastal pirates' families, the population of Bengang and Jilong Harbor is now less than seventy or eighty thousand.

Although he has the confidence to win this battle, Wu Daofu still doesn't want to lose too many displays, otherwise even if he wins, it will be very difficult for him to explain to Li Tianyang when he goes back.

"Actually, it's not that there are no other ways to wear down the strength of the other side, but now that we are far away from the base camp, and the sources of logistics and intelligence information are also inconvenient, we may not be able to confront the Japanese who have been operating here for more than ten years for too long. Moreover, if we delay for a long time, it is inevitable that there will be no other mistakes, and it is also possible that Samoto will increase its troops here, but it is better for us to quickly cut through the chaos and directly fight a decisive battle, which is more beneficial to us. Xiao Xiurong and they have also thought about it for a long time, the previous plan has become empty talk because of the other party's rigid policy, and if they want to reduce Hongtang's losses through strategies, it will have some delusions, but it does not mean that they have no other tricks for these crew members: "But the head of the regiment, should you also let the people of the Ryukyu Kingdom make some contributions, we will go on this expedition, and they will not benefit in the end?" ”

"This ...... Didn't people pay enough? Wu Daofu still hasn't completely jumped out of the mind of a pirate, and is still influenced by Li De and Wu Juren's morality.

"Captain!" Xiao Xiurong interrupted Wu Daofu sternly: "It's true that they Ryukyuan people have paid the price, but who can guarantee that they won't stab us at a critical moment?" So far, they Ryukyuan people have not turned against the Japanese people on the surface, if they want us Hongtang to work for them, then they also need to show a clear attitude, let us see their determination, right? ”

Xiao Xiurong's words were reasonable, leaving Wu Daofu speechless, Wu Daofu understood very well the motives of the Ryukyu King for doing this, they were holding that in case Hongtang lost the battle, they Ryukyuan people could still maintain such a peaceful relationship with the Japanese people, at least on the surface, the Japanese people did not have evidence of collusion between the Ryukyu King and Hongtang.

"The biggest trouble for us in the decisive battle with this Japanese fleet is their self-destruction tactics that harm others and themselves, and the threat to our fleet is too great. If we had been able to get rid of this trouble at the beginning of the decisive battle, our losses would have been much less. Of course, Xiao Xiurong and the others also knew that even if the Ryukyu King had the heart to help, but with the strength of their army that had been restrained by the Japanese for so many years, at most they could only give Wu Daofu the strength to wave their flags and cheer for them: "Our request is actually not too much, that is, we hope that the Ryukyu King can collect dozens of fishing boats and fishermen in their country, and help us intercept them when the Japanese self-detonate sea ships approach, and prevent the other party from approaching our warship, which is a great achievement for so long." ”

Wu Daofu thought about it seriously for a long time, and finally reduced the battle damage of Hong Tang's subordinates to defeat his idea of righteousness, he exhaled fiercely and said: "Okay, this matter is decided, I will go to Shang Zhong and them to discuss this matter now, if they can't even do this request, we will immediately go back to the house, and don't go to this troubled water!" ”

(End of chapter)