Chapter 427: The decisive battle is inevitable, go straight to the enemy's lair in Yuegang
"Great Commander!"
A figure flew over from the flagship treasure ship and reported to Li Dingguo, "The Zheng family fleet's magic cores, soul beads and other crystal core reserves are estimated to be very large. Although our fleet's crystal core reserves are not small, they are consumed too quickly after so many treasure ships continuously fired at the same time."
"Since the encounter with Zheng's army, after dozens of rounds of concentrated fire attacks, our reserve crystal cores have been consumed by nearly half."
The visitor was Wu Yu, the commander of the First Fleet of the Renaissance Navy. He said solemnly, "The Zheng family army uses the treasure ship's own protective array and the magical array of the natal artifact to carry out a rotating seamless defense. They can hold out until our crystal cores are exhausted."
"If this continues, even if we can surround the Zheng family army, we will not be able to break through the formation guarding their large fleet."
There was a hint of helplessness in his words.
Since the establishment of the Restoration Navy, we have fought countless battles, but have never encountered such a tough enemy.
You must know that this large fleet of ours took the initiative to attack and start a war with Zheng's army, and brought with it millions of crystal cores.
According to common sense, it can meet the consumption needs of several naval battles.
However, after encountering the Zheng family fleet, although they gained an overwhelming advantage, the opponent's turtle shell was too strong.
Under normal circumstances, no matter how many crystal cores the enemy brings on board the ship, there is nothing to be afraid of.
Under our continuous concentrated fire attack, the enemy will not even have time to replace the crystal core of the protective formation.
After all, if any treasure ship guarding formation wants to complete the replacement of the central array crystal core, it is necessary to stop the operation of the guarding formation on the treasure ship before replacing the energy crystal core of the core center of the formation.
After the enemy ship stopped the treasure ship's protective magic circle and wanted to replace the energy crystal core, it was enough for our side to take the opportunity to blow up the enemy ship.
It just so happened that the Zheng family army had a set of innate divine artifacts of formations that were extremely rare even in the ancient mythological period. When the central energy crystal core of the treasure ship's guarding formation was replaced, they could use the innate divine artifacts' own magical powers and innate formations to protect the fleet.
In this way, unless one of the enemy's two protective formations is forcibly destroyed, it will be possible to cause substantial damage to the Zheng family army's fleet.
Earlier, at the beginning of the war, we took advantage of the carelessness of Zheng's army and used the range advantage of our psychic cannons to sink nearly two hundred enemy medium-quality treasure ships in one fell swoop. This result would be difficult to achieve again after the enemy was prepared.
"Brother, why don't our troops take turns to activate the military killing array and attack the enemy's large fleet, and temporarily stop using the psychic cannons."
Wan'er frowned when she heard this, and after thinking for a moment, she suggested to Li Dingguo, "This way, we no longer need to consume the crystal cores, and can save them for use in the decisive battle with the enemy fleet."
"The Zheng family's treasure ship has sufficient crystal core reserves, but their warriors still exceed 700,000 people. They consume a lot of military rations every day. They will definitely not be able to hold out for long and will have to go ashore to replenish."
"Unless they also have a space-based divine artifact, or an extremely rare cave-type divine artifact, that can achieve self-supply of military rations for the army."
She just didn't believe that the Zheng family army had such a strong foundation that after having a set of twenty-four Dinghai Divine Pearls, they could also obtain the rarest cave-heaven artifact.
Even though the Renaissance Army has such a strong foundation, now it only has the Hundred Herbs Cave Heaven artifact that he has upgraded after integrating with the Lord of the Small World.
Li Dingguo's natal artifact, the Human Emperor Cauldron, is a space artifact, but not a cave artifact. Various spiritual herbs and roots cannot be cultivated in it, and it can only be used for storage.
"Well, that's a feasible idea."
Li Dingguo agreed, "The two of us take turns to lead a military killing formation to attack the enemy. This can not only keep enough pressure on the enemy, but also allow half of our soldiers to always be in peak condition, so we don't have to worry about being counterattacked by the enemy."
"The 700,000 soldiers on the Zheng family's ships consume a huge amount of food and other supplies every day. They have no choice but to evacuate southward without stopping and return to their base to defend it."
"Since our psychic cannon's concentrated fire attack is ineffective, we should simply stop it to avoid wasting precious crystal cores."
Li Dingguo was helpless as he encountered such a tough enemy for the first time.
The fundamental reason is that they do not have an overwhelming advantage, while the Zheng family army has a set of innate artifact protection of formations, which can alternate with the defense of the treasure ship protection formation on the treasure ships of their fleet and form a seamless connection.
In addition, the Zheng family army has a sufficient number of warriors and soldiers. After forming a military formation, they can continuously provide the three brothers of the Zheng family with energy to activate their natal magic weapons.
Fortunately, the enemy still has the weakness of military supplies and cannot stay at sea for too long.
When the enemy's food supplies are exhausted and they are forced to go ashore to replenish them, it is our chance to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.
During this period, it is also necessary to maintain attacks on the enemy and increase their consumption.
As for the Zheng family army, are there any cave-like artifacts that can supply the soldiers with continuous consumption anytime and anywhere?
This shouldn't happen.
Otherwise, with such a strong foundation, the Zheng family army that has been active all over the world for so long must be more powerful than it is now.
After the two men finished their discussion, they immediately issued an order to all soldiers to stop the fleet from using psychic cannons to continue launching concentrated fire attacks on the enemy.
Instead, Li Dingguo and Wan'er continued to maintain a safe distance of 20 miles from the enemy fleet, while taking turns to lead a large army, forming a military killing formation to attack the enemy fleet, and continuously exerting pressure on the enemy.
……
"Brother, the psychic cannons of the Restoration Army have stopped attacking, and have switched to using the Military Way Killing Formation to attack."
Zheng Zhibao had just recovered to his peak condition through meditation, but he found that the Fusion Army surrounding his fleet had stopped their rumbling artillery fire and instead used their military formation magic to ride on the waves and continue to attack their own fleet.
The intensity of this attack is not much different from the concentrated fire attack of hundreds of psychic cannons.
Under the enemy's attack, the light of their own treasure ship's protective formation flickered, especially those mid-quality treasure ships that were affected from time to time. The protective light shield was crumbling, but fortunately it was still able to hold on and was not broken quickly.
However, if they did not use the innate sea-covering formation for protection, the treasure ship's own protective formation would undoubtedly be shattered quickly, causing the ship to be destroyed and people to die.
This disgusting way of attacking kept the three Zheng brothers busy. They had to take turns activating their own innate magical weapon, the Dinghai Shenzhenzhu, to assist in the defense of their own fleet.
Fortunately, the three brothers have twenty-four of their own natal artifacts, the Dinghai Divine Pearls, and they have enough warriors on their side. They can be divided into two shifts and lead the soldiers to defend in turns. So they don't have to worry too much about the temporary safety of the fleet.
"What the hell!"
Zheng Zhihu was so angry that he cursed, "Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army are like dog-skin plasters. Once they stick to us, they won't come off. It's obvious that they want to fight us to the end!"
"If I could defeat them, I would really like to fight them!" His words were filled with grievance.
In their entire history, the three brothers had never encountered such an enemy before. It was simply unbelievable.
"Ahu, Abao."
Zheng Zhilong's face was very solemn, and he said helplessly, "This time our Zheng family army has stirred up a hornet's nest. The other side is determined to destroy us!"
"The crystal cores stored on our fleet are enough to support us for a year or so, but there are so many warriors on board, and each of them has a huge appetite. The military rations on board can't support us for two months!"
"Fortunately, the enemy fleet did not dare to approach us to harass us, allowing our fleet to sail normally without worrying about being blocked on the way back."
"We still have hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Fuzhou Yuegang, enough to take our soldiers ashore for supplies."
As an old pirate, he was able to build a dominant force that dominated the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. This reputation was not earned in vain.
The purpose of the tactics now adopted by the enemy is not complicated and can be guessed with a little thought.
However, the huge rock pressing on his heart seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, making him feel a little breathless.
The current situation clearly shows that Li Dingguo is determined to fight to the death with his own family this time.
With the crystal core reserves of their own large fleet, returning safely to their old nest, Yuegang, is not a problem, but the subsequent crisis will be difficult to deal with.
There is no doubt that when our large fleet is chased by the enemy to its lair and has no way to escape, that will be the beginning of the decisive battle between the two sides.
Although Zheng's army had a large number of people, they had no chance of defeating the enemy.
There were two level six golden eagles hovering over the Fusion Army's fleet, making it a luxury for them to even send a message for help.
If those two golden eagles had not been watching closely and sent the message to the big southern families in time, as long as they did not want to be destroyed by the Renaissance Army in the future, they would definitely organize a large and powerful army to come to their aid.
Not to mention defeating the Restoration Army or even destroying this large fleet, forcing the enemy to retreat should not be a problem.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, Zheng Zhilong was nervous in his heart, but he could not show it on his face, so as not to disrupt the morale of the troops and give the enemy an opportunity to seize the opportunity.
During the chase between the enemy and us, although the military attacks launched by the Fuxing Army never stopped, the Zheng family army relied on sufficient crystal core reserves and the rotation of the innate sea-covering formation to ensure the temporary safety of the fleet.
This stalemate continued until a month later, when the two large fleets bypassed Caoyu Island and Niutoumen and turned into the vast Yuegang waters, and the situation began to improve.
"We are finally back!"
"Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army's fleet are so bold that they dare to pursue us directly to our core area. Aren't they afraid of death?"
"When the soldiers we leave behind join forces with our fleet, we will surely defeat the Restoration Army in one fell swoop!"
"Our Yuegang base is an absolutely large fortress coastal town. Its defense is even stronger than that of Fuzhou City. There are hundreds of coastal defense guns alone!"
"I'm so exhausted! For more than a month, I have to form a formation and participate in defense every day. I don't even have time to sleep."...
Watching their own fleet speeding towards their old nest, Yuegang City, the Fuxing Army fleet in the rear also began to change their formation, lifting the previous encirclement and joining forces to follow closely. The Zheng family army soldiers, who were already exhausted, cheered with red eyes.
After more than a month of sleepless nights, even a master in the Qi Refining Realm would feel physically and mentally exhausted, let alone the vast majority of soldiers in the Body Refining Realm.
There was no way. The Fuxing Army's military formations were rotating in attacks, which had been carried out many times every day. If they were not careful, there was a possibility that their own formation defenses would be breached. Naturally, the soldiers of the Zheng Family Army did not dare to take it lightly and their nerves were always tense.
Fortunately, this is a world of cultivators. The spirit and endurance of warriors are far beyond that of ordinary people, so they can endure it.
Unlike the generals and soldiers, the 18 Zhi generals that Zheng Zhilong urgently summoned together all frowned.
They knew clearly that because the two level six spirit birds of the Renaissance Army had blocked their communications, the soldiers left behind in their own nest were unaware of the current crisis.
Although the return of such a large fleet caused a lot of noise, they had discovered it early on, but without understanding the current situation, it was difficult for the soldiers who stayed behind to react quickly and ask for help from the government and the aristocratic families in advance.
This makes it difficult to take advantage of their home field and is not enough to ensure victory in the next battle.
No! It should be said that the chances of winning are not high.
"Ah Hu, Ah Bao!"
During his emergency return flight, Zheng Zhilong had already thought of a countermeasure.
He looked at the large fleet of the Restoration Army in the rear, where all the large treasure ships had raised their guns, and ordered with a gloomy look, "After our large fleet reaches the shore, the two of you will each lead a military killing formation composed of 200,000 soldiers, and directly leave the fleet and rush to the shore!"
"I will lead the remaining soldiers and black slave soldiers to defend our fleet."
"You must organize the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who remain behind as quickly as possible, cooperate with our large number of fortress coastal defense artillery, launch an all-out counterattack against the Renaissance Army, and try to repel them!"
"You must remember not to get entangled by the pursuers that the Restoration Army will inevitably send out, lest you cause chaos in Yuegang and give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage!"
"The faster you two move, the better. Otherwise, because of your departure, the defensive power of our fleet will be greatly reduced. We won't be able to hold out for long before the enemy forcibly breaks through the fleet's defenses."
After much thought, he realized that only by doing this could he resolve this round of crisis of destruction for Zheng's army.
The food and other supplies stored on their own fleet had been exhausted after nearly three months of non-stop consumption. Moreover, the soldiers had not rested for so long and were exhausted. It was no longer realistic for them to stay on their treasure ship.
If the two younger brothers made even the slightest mistake, by the time they returned with their troops to launch a counterattack after landing, the defense of their own fleet would have been breached by the enemy.
Although he could lead 90,000 black slave soldiers to break through and land, his own fleet of hundreds of treasure ships, as well as those left behind in Yuegang, would all fall into the hands of the Renaissance Army.
Once that terrible situation occurred, with the loss of all their treasure ships, the Fuxing Army would have absolute initiative, and the Zheng army would not have to fight and could just admit defeat and surrender.
(End of this chapter)
