We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

In the early morning, accompanied by the first ray of sunshine, the horn sounded on time.

The soldiers walked out of the cabin, replaced their colleagues who were on duty last night, and started their day's work.

Li Che walked out of the room, stretched towards the sun, and took Xiaosong to the deck.

Half a month has passed since we left Izu Island. The initial sense of novelty has long been worn away by the long voyage, and life on the ship has become monotonous day after day.

"Your Highness, are we still having breakfast on deck today?" Huai En asked softly.

Li Che nodded slightly: "Eat it with everyone, it won't be so hard to swallow."

After sailing for half a month, the fresh meat, vegetables and fruits on the ship were almost consumed.

Nowadays, the crew's diet is becoming increasingly bland. The staple food is usually rice or steamed buns, and the side dishes are some pickled vegetables and dried sea fish.

It was not a delicacy, but it was enough to fill the stomachs of the soldiers and sailors. However, eating it every day would make their mouths dry.

Even Xiaosong was lying on the deck, gnawing on the sea fish in front of him listlessly, his huge cat face completely drooped.

On the contrary, the warriors from various tribes recruited from Yizhou ate with gusto, as if they would never get tired of it.

Li Che picked up a piece of fish and stuffed it into his mouth expressionlessly, listening to the old sailor beside him fooling the newcomers on the boat.

"The first time I sailed with His Highness, we encountered a giant fish. My goodness... It was so big it blocked out the sun and sky. We hurriedly hid behind an island, and guess what happened?!"

After he finished speaking, the old sailor pushed the interpreter beside him. The interpreter, who was forced onto the ship by Li Che's feeling, had no choice but to translate.

The new crew members from the tribe shouted and asked questions one after another.

The old sailor showed a smug look on his face and said seriously:

"Only when we got closer did we see clearly. Oh my goodness, that wasn't an island at all. It was clearly a giant pile of feces from that giant fish!"

The newlyweds gasped!

Li Che's mouth twitched.

Good guys, you guys just fooled the honest kids for no reason.

No...why does this story sound so familiar?

Isn't this just something I told the crew members out of boredom?!

Li Che was helpless. The sea was like this. Bragging and rum were always the best companions of sailors.

The Fengguo Navy banned alcohol, so bragging became a fine tradition.

Li Che was really bored these past few days, and occasionally he would join in the conversations of the crew members to learn about their living conditions.

Most people are satisfied, with only some complaints about the blandness of the food.

Li Che had no way to deal with this. The further south he went, the hotter it became, and high temperatures were extremely detrimental to the preservation of food.

He could only arrange more shifts of lookouts to keep an eye on the situation on the sea.

If you are lucky, you may find a small island with vegetation and pick some wild fruits and coconuts to replenish your diet.

Li Che had just put down his bowl when the outpost warship sounded a sharp horn, which scared him.

He stepped on Komatsu's butt and ran towards the bridge in two steps.

"Captain, enter the bridge!" shouted the guard on duty.

Li Che waved his hand and picked up the telescope beside him: "What's going on?"

"Fu-3 has sounded the alarm and signaled an unidentified fleet ahead!"

Upon hearing the news, Li Che immediately turned to the bow of the ship and raised his telescope to look forward.

I saw the vague figures of several ships appearing where the sea and the sky meet.

Li Che frowned: "I can't see clearly, is there a higher magnification?"

Yingbu on the side immediately handed over a pair of binoculars.

Li Che looked again, and this time he could barely make out the outline of the other fleet.

These ships have strange shapes, with masts as straight as guns. A black flag is slowly rising, fluttering in the sea breeze.

And on the flag, there is a white skull painted!

"Pirates!" a naval officer exclaimed. "Your Highness, the pirate stories you told are actually true!"

Li Che put down the telescope and glanced at him: "Otherwise, can I still deceive you?"

The officer realized he had said the wrong thing and smiled awkwardly, "Your Highness is really describing something too fantastical, like a fish monster with excrement as big as an island..."

"It's just the sea monster Leviathan." Li Che forced an explanation, "I haven't told you about Godzilla yet. That guy only relies on his legs to walk, and his upper body can be exposed above the sea."

The officers' eyes widened.

Godzilla? Hiss—so terrifying!

In fact, Li Che was also a little shocked. The history of pirates is very long. It can be said that as long as there have been ships that can sail on the sea, there have been pirates.

But it really rose to prominence after the 16th century when navigation developed. I didn't expect to encounter it now.

Seeing that the topic had gotten off topic, Li Sheng on the side quickly said, "Your Highness, these pirates probably don't have high-powered telescopes and didn't see the warships behind us, so they dared to come forward. Look..."

Li Che's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a hint of sneer: "Interesting...Since you are here, don't leave!"

He turned and gave the order to the messenger, "Pass on my order. All warships, prepare for battle! Raise the bloody flag and engage the enemy ships!"

The messenger immediately passed on Li Che's order. With the rapid sound of drums and roars from all over the deck, the fleet quickly entered combat status.

This was the first naval battle after the Fengtian Navy was established, and the soldiers were naturally eager to try.

The sailors took their positions, some launched the cannons, some prepared ammunition, and some pulled the bowstrings.

The warriors from Yizhou held short swords and had wooden javelins stuck in their backs.

Everyone looked solemn and ready for battle.

On the mast of the flagship, the black flag with the word "Feng" was lowered, and a huge red flag slowly rose.

The flag was embroidered with an inky black word "Feng", which looked particularly dazzling under the sunlight.

When the flagship raises a blood flag, it means the fleet has entered combat mode and will indiscriminately attack all ships on the sea except friendly ones.

The pirate fleet on the opposite side obviously also discovered this huge fleet. They originally thought it was an ordinary merchant fleet and wanted to take the opportunity to plunder it.

But when they saw the bright red Feng flag and the huge Dingyuan under it, they were immediately frightened out of their wits.

The pirate fleet immediately turned around and tried to escape from the sea.

But it was too late. Although the Fengtian Army fleet was not fast, its artillery could fire far.

"Fire! Fire!" someone shouted excitedly, and a Fujian ship opened fire first.

One after another, black shells whizzed out, cut through the sky, and landed accurately on the sea near the pirate fleet...

boom! boom! boom!

Explosions continued one after another, and columns of water shot up into the sky.

The accuracy of artillery is still too poor. Firing on the sea is purely a matter of luck. Even the gunners don't know where the shells will land.

Unlike missiles, artillery shells do not have automatic navigation functions and their trajectory cannot be corrected once launched.

Someone fired the first shot, and the other warships could no longer hold back, with cannons one after another spraying gunpowder and shells.

All the gunners turned into masters of outlining, but all they got in return was more water columns.

Li Che held the telescope and couldn't bear to look directly at it.

What a... terrible first battle.