Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 303



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Episode 303

Battle of Hani Strait (3)

Van Noort, the captain and commander of the Edam, was extremely angry. He was particularly angry when he lost the Ostend during the third battle with the Balhae fleet. He even left the rescue of the sunken ship to the Ming navy and continued to pursue the Balhae fleet.

Since both the Balhae fleet and the Allied fleet were sailing against the same headwind, their sailing speeds were bound to be similar. Even so, since the Balhae fleet repeatedly circled and used hit-and-run attack tactics, the Allied fleet’s damage was bound to accumulate little by little.

However, the combined fleet had to continue to advance. Even if they could not destroy the Balhae fleet, they had to at least capture the Balhae naval base on Hani Island.

“Oh! A new enemy fleet has appeared in the northeast.”

“what?”

Startled by the first officer’s report, Van Nord lifted his telescope and looked to the northeast.

“Oh, those ships…….”

“That’s right. We have ships in the fleets we’ve been fighting against, and in the new fleet that has appeared.”

The navigator answered with a sad expression. He could not possibly not know it, since one of the ships of the 35th Squadron was the one he had boarded.

The 35th Squadron had as many as five Dutch ships deployed. So the Balhae Naval Headquarters added four Gyeongheung-class large ships and one Aoji-class medium ship to supplement its strength. As a result, the 35th Squadron acquired a strength that was not at all inferior to other squadrons.

With the appearance of the 35th Squadron, the situation of the Balhae fleet began to change rapidly.

“A newly appeared fleet is approaching at a furious speed.”

Pan Nord felt a sense of foreboding at the sight of the 35th Squadron.

“It’s similar to the first battle.”

He quickly turned his gaze to the east. There, the 34th Squadron, which he had been fighting against, was stationed, and they also began to head south at the same time as the 35th Squadron entered the battle. After losing speed due to sailing against the wind, they changed course again and were met with winds close to tailwinds again, and the 34th Squadron was quickly disappearing from sight.

“Are you trying to hit us in turns?”

Pan Nord hesitated for a moment. He did not want to face the situation where he was attacked by two Balhae fleets. However, he could not divide the fleet. The moment he separated from the combined fleet, he would become an easy prey for the Balhae fleet.

Pupupupu! Pupupupu!

Finally, the 35th Squadron’s attack began. As the 11 ships opened fire simultaneously, countless shells flew toward the combined fleet.

Boom! Boom!

This time the shooting was very accurate. The sea was relatively calm because they were close to the Hani Islands. So, even though it was the first shot, several shells hit the Dutch fleet. The ships of the Ming were struck by lightning again. Again, more than a dozen ships were badly damaged and began to sink.

It was a nightmare moment for Van Nord. The difference in the range of the cannons meant that he was in a position where he could only be hit unilaterally. Furthermore, once the shelling began, the rapid rate of fire caused the shells to rain down like rain.

“Turn southeast!”

Pan Nord thought it would be best to avoid the rain for now.

The Dutch ships were hit by several more shells while changing course. However, they managed to turn around and quickly escaped the clutches of the 35th Fleet with the help of the wind. However, the Ming fleet following the Dutch ships was truly struck by lightning. They were now completely hit by the shells fired by the Balhae fleet.

“Huh! Those guys?”

The Edam’s vice-captain was shocked to see the 35th Squadron’s movements, which were different from what he had expected. As the Dutch ships, which had powerful firearms even though they were old-fashioned gun mounts, left their positions, the 35th Squadron, instead of using a hit-and-run strategy, began to close in on the Ming fleet and engage in a head-on confrontation.

There was no grim reaper. As the distance became closer to a few hundred mils, the accuracy of the Balhae cannons increased. Since they would sink with just one or two hits, the number of Ming naval ships began to decrease rapidly. It was a very bold operation that was beyond anyone’s expectations.

“Here, Captain!”

Van Nord was also preoccupied with the battle of the 35th Squadron. The navigator called him urgently.

“What?”

“Well, the first fleet…….”

Pan Nord quickly turned his head forward.

“This, this…….”

He felt goosebumps all over his body. The 34th Squadron, which had escaped the battlefield, had changed direction and was approaching the southern flank of the Allied Fleet. As a result, the Dutch ships that had moved to the southern part of the formation were the first to encounter the 34th Squadron.

As expected, the ships of the 34th Squadron, which had their starboard sides facing the Dutch ships, immediately opened fire.

Bam!

I thought I saw smoke, but before I knew it, a shell had landed on the deck of the Edam.

“Cough!”

The shockwave knocked Pan Nord to the side of the stern deck. He quickly got up and gave an order without even assessing the damage.

“Charge! Charge at them!”

It was a do or die situation. If we allowed the distance to continue, we would be unilaterally defeated, so it would be less frustrating if we engaged in close combat and fired at least one shell. The first officer and the navigator thought the same.

At the command of the vice-captain, the sails were spread as wide as possible, and as a result, the ship gained speed and quickly approached the Balhae fleet. The other ships, having read Edam’s intentions, also followed Edam.

Then, the Balhae fleet split into two groups of four ships and five ships. The group of four ships turned south, while the group of five ships continued west.

“Uh, which one…….”

“To the west!”

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“Yes, Commander.”

Pan Nord decided to pursue the Balhae fleet, which had turned west to take advantage of the favorable winds. Also, since the west was the route of retreat, he planned to withdraw from the battlefield and return to Hong Kong Island if necessary.

However, his plan soon turned out to be a big mistake. He could not keep up with the speed of the Balhae fleet heading west. In addition, the four ships that had turned south changed course again and began to sail alongside the Dutch ships.

“The ship is badly damaged and can’t go fast. All ships are like that.”

The navigator finally made me realize the reality.

Pan Nord, who had come to his senses, quickly checked the status of the other ships.

“Oh, this is a mess.”

There was no way that the shells of Balhae could only fall on the upper deck. Moreover, since they were explosive shells, if they hit anywhere, the ship would be severely damaged. As a result, some ships had holes near the waterline and were flooding, and some ships had one of their sails broken. The Edam he was on also had its decks broken in various places. In addition, many sailors were killed or injured, causing great difficulties in manpower management.

Pan Nord sank to the ground as the four Balhae ships sailing alongside him, their starboard sides heavily armed, approached him with their guns exposed, trying to cut him off. Even the five ships that had been running ahead of him and luring him west had already turned around and were now running towards him.

“Commander. Please…….”

The first officer called out to Pan Nord as if pleading.

“…Okay.”

Eventually, Van Noort decided to surrender and raised the white flag.

* * *

The 35th Squadron was engaged in a melee. However, it was not a melee where they were fighting each other, but rather a melee where they were busy dealing with the tangled enemy ships. In a word, the ships of the 35th Squadron were no different from tigers jumping into a herd of sheep.

Pufferpung! Pufferpung!

The Balhae fleet, which had entered the Ming fleet, fired its cannons simultaneously from both the starboard and port sides. Including the Eoeun, a total of 11 ships passed through the Ming fleet, creating a path in the sea. Some enemy ships were broken by the rams mounted on their bows. The difference in size was so great that the Ming warships were torn apart like pieces of paper.

Also, since cannon fire was conducted at close range, it was now virtually a sure thing, so shells could be saved. Thanks to the incredible power of the exploding shells, an enemy ship could be sunk or rendered immobile with just one shot, and two or three shots would inevitably sink it.

Tata tang! Tata tang!

It wasn’t just the cannons that were active. The new rifles, which were deployed in groups of about 100 on each ship, were effective in close combat. The crews in charge of naval combat all came up to the upper deck and took down the Ming navy with guns. In a melee situation, the Ming navy also occasionally attacked with arrows and clumsy guns, so they were needed. That’s why the naval riflemen were active for the first time in a long time.

The 35th Squadron quickly split the Ming fleet in half and headed west. Since it was relatively downwind, it didn’t take long.

“Change course 180 degrees!”

Tammy gave the order to turn south without hesitation. After turning south, he turned east again, intending to move parallel with the enemy fleet and attack again.

Captain Cho Kang, who had been mindlessly carrying out Tammy’s pouring orders, opened his mouth belatedly after overcoming a crisis. Tammy’s tactics were too bold. It was not easy to decide to jump into the middle of the enemy’s camp of 250 ships and split the formation in half.

“This is an amazing tactic. This move seems to have reduced the number of enemy ships by nearly 30%.”

“It was a tactic that took advantage of the wind direction. We had the tailwind and they had the headwind, so it seemed like we could attack quickly.”

Jo Kang was surprised again when Tammy smiled brightly.

“Haha! Really……. Both King Giha and the princess seem like they were made by heaven.”

“Huh? Oh……. That’s too much praise.”

Tammy’s face turned red. She felt so good being compared to her older brother whom she respected.

“By the way, the 34th Squadron is almost out of ammunition. Is it okay?”

“Ah, ammunition… I see.”

Jo Kang quickly picked up his telescope and looked to the southwest. The Dutch fleet and the ships of the 34th Squadron were still within sight.

“There’s no need to worry. The enemy ships have surrendered.”

Tammy said, taking the mirror out of her eyes.

“Then we just have to deal with the Ming navy.”

“That’s right.”

Soon, as they got closer to the Ming navy, the ships of the 35th Squadron began firing their cannons again. The Ming navy ships had no choice but to sink helplessly once again.

The 35th Squadron fought until they ran out of shells. The 34th Squadron, as Tammy had expected, had run out of shells and was unable to participate in the battle as it was busy with the process of capturing the Dutch ships.

Eventually, with only about 100 ships left, the Ming navy turned around and began to flee.

“Shall we chase after them?”

Jo Kang asked.

“Let’s leave it. We probably don’t have many shells left either.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I think it would be more important to rescue the enemy soldiers floating in the sea rather than chasing them?”

“Oh my! Now that I think about it, there are quite a few alive.”

Jo Gang immediately sent a signal to each ship to rescue the enemy soldiers. In response, the ships of the 35th Squadron began to sail around the sea, grabbing onto all sorts of floating objects and rescuing the famous sailors who were struggling on the surface.

In this way, the Battle of Hani Strait, which was no different from a prelude, ended. With this naval battle, Balhae gained control of the Hani Strait as well as parts of the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

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