Chapter 1052 – Breaking out of the Encirclement

'Hong! Hong! Hong!'

The surrounding attacks of the Japanese Squadron continued, reducing the area in which Zhou Tai's forces could move.

Kuki Ship.

"General, the enemy's main forces will arrive in about two hours."

Kuki Yoshitaka frowned and said weirdly, "Their speed is pretty fast."

Speaking of which, he turned around toward the generals behind him, "We need to pick up the pace. Sweep up the battlefield before the enemy main force arrives and complete our formation change."

"Hai!"

The generals nodded.

Under the relentless assault of the Japanese squadron, Zhou Tai's forces found it difficult to hold on. Warships were sunk one after another, and blood flowed into the ocean. The scene was really tragic.

Like how it was when one peeled an onion, Zhou Tai's forces were being peeled off layer by layer.

Ocean battle was just like that. If the firepower net of both sides were not on the same level, the losses could be even bigger than the difference in numbers.

Although the 2nd division could retaliate while defending, they were still outnumbered and posed a limited amount of killing threat to the enemy.

For every Japanese ship they sunk, they had to pay the price of six of their own.

It seemed like Zhou Tai's forces could not hold on any longer.

"General, the reinforcements have not arrive, and we cannot hold on any longer. What should we do?" The deputy general panicked.

Zhou Tai too was anxious, but as the main general, not only could he not show it, but he also had to act calm to settle the hearts of the army.

If not, they would have no chance at all.

"The reinforcements are on their way. Let the brothers hold on for a little longer," Zhou Tai said.

"Understood!"

The deputy gritted his teeth and turned around. In his heart, he was already ready to die.

"At most, we will just die."

The Great Xia Army did not surrender, "We cannot let down that person!"

Another hour passed.

Zhou Tai's forces were already on the verge of collapsing. The gap in numbers was getting larger and larger, from the starting 1:5 to the current 1:15.

It seemed like the entire division was going to be eaten up by the Japanese Squadron.

On the Kuki ship, Kuki Yoshitaka looked out through the telescope. Everything was in his eyes. The performance of the squadron pleased him, and he smiled, "There's still one more hour, it's enough to sweep the battlefield!"

At this very moment, in the deep ocean, three magic powered submarines were like ghosts, passing through the battlefield and heading toward the Kuki ship and the two other secondary warships.

One of them was the warship of Murakami Takeyoshi.

As expected from Lemuria, the submarines they created travelled faster than warships.

10 minutes later, the submarines were all in place.

"Fire!"

With the order given, the three submarines pretty much fired at the bottom of the ships at the same time.

'Hong!'

'Hong!'

'Hong!'

Along with the three huge sounds, the magic crystal cannon roared and sent out a thick white light, cutting through the water and easily splitting apart the cabin, leaving a huge hole behind.

The ocean water surged into the breach and right into the cabin.

What shocked everyone was that the white light did not stop and went through the enemy warship. With that, even if one used waterproof cabin technology it would be useless.

As expected from a bug level presence, the power of the magic crystal cannon was greater than any cannon.

It was strong, but it burned money.

With just one cannon, 50 units of magic crystals were used, which were worth 100 thousand gold.

On the ocean surface.

The three flagships were sinking at a visible rate. Very quickly, they were at their mid-waist height.

"What happened?"

Under the protection of his Personal Guards, Kuki Yoshitaka climbed up onto a safety raft.

Abandoning the ship was his only choice.

No one could reply to his doubts. Along with the three flagships sinking one after the other, the battlefield became totally silent, as no one knew what exactly had happened.

Only Zhou Tai was really excited and smiled, "Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived!"

Instantly, the remaining troops were pumped up.

That was not all of it. Just as the Japanese were stunned, the remaining three secondary flagships were also sunk.

Similarly silent, also one-shotted.

In just 10 minutes, the command system of the Japanese squadron was taken down.

Just as Kuki Yoshitaka was ready to board other warships to continue commanding, in the south region, Shi Lang's main force appeared.

"How's that possible?"

When Kuki Yoshitaka climbed onto the closest warship with much difficulty, the Pacific Squadron had arrived.

Shi Lang had tricked them.

Due to Mazu, along his with the other territory specialties, the Great Xia traveling speed was much faster. This was something Yoshitaka did not known about.

Hence, when the Pacific Squadron traveled at a 'normal' pace, Kuki Yoshitaka did not find anything wrong with that and did not even think about it.

When they were nearing the battlefield, only then did the Pacific Squadron speed up. An hour long journey was covered in 30 minutes.

Just like that, the Japanese squadron was caught off guard.

A flagship was called a flagship not only because it was big but also because it carried a set of commanding tools, including maps, flags, war drums, messengers, and the like.

Normal warships did not have that.

Although Koki Yoshitaka had climbed onto another warship, he was not able to restore the commanding system in a short time. Of course, if he was given time, he would be able to do so.

But would Shi Lang give him that time?

Of course not.

Shi Lang had wracked his brains just to catch such an opportunity.

The Pacific Squadron was like a bunch of tigers as they bit onto their prey, going all out for blood.

The situation on the battlefield was flipped around.

The encirclement had now turned into the Pacific Squadron killing their way out of it.

Cannons fired, blood and flesh flew.

The cruel ocean battle was on show once more. Enemy troops and their own troops fell one by one.

"Retreat!"

Although he was unwilling, Kuki Yoshitaka wisely decided to retreat. If they carried on, the entire Japanese squadron might be buried here.

At this very moment, another roar sounded out from beneath the ship.

'Hong!'

The magic powered submarine showed its might once more and sunk the new 'flagship'.

This time, Kuki Yoshitaka was not protected by lady luck.

Not long after he escaped on a small boat, a cannonball struck it.

"Nooo!"

Kuki Yoshitaka gave out a roar of despair as the cannonball burst apart under his feet.

Blood splattered.

The Fleet Admiral of the Japanese squadron died without a full body, becoming food for fishes.

The following battle was not really surprising.

Relying on the magic powered submarines, the Pacific Squadron made a beautiful counter-attack, taking down the Japanese squadron.

In the next few days, Shi Lang also led the squadron to clear out the remaining Japanese squadron ships to wipe all of them out and take control of the ocean. This would give them the ability for the second stage of the country war.

...

Although the Great Xia Pacific Squadron achieved victory, the dark clouds had not faded.

Why did the Japanese squadron not bother about the Handan City Haizhou Squadron in front of them and head right for the Great Xia Pacific Squadron?

What role did the Haizhou Squadron play in allowing the Japanese squadron to gather up?

Along with the Japanese squadron being wiped out, all of this became a mystery.