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

At dawn, the sea fog was thick.

Li Che stood on the bridge of the Dingyuan, his fingertips sliding across the telescope, stained with a layer of water droplets condensed from mist.

The port in the distance was stretching out in the morning light. According to the Portuguese prisoner, this port was called Manila Bay.

The Portuguese city wall was like a gray-white reef embedded in the coastline, and the black muzzles of the guns were vaguely visible on the battlements behind the wall.

"Your Highness, it's three quarters past midnight." A personal guard came to Li Che and said in a deep voice.

Li Che turned his head and saw the sailors on the deck transporting ammunition to the gun compartment below, and the cannon barrels were being cleaned.

There is still a quarter of an hour left before the agreed time. If the plan goes well, the Marines led by Fu Liang and Ying Bu should have already circled to the side.

"Your Highness," a lookout said with a bow, "Should we move a little closer? The fog is thick enough to hide the ship, and the enemy may not be able to see it."

Li Che shook his head decisively: "There's no need to take risks. Most of the docks are already within range."

The more battles he fought, the more Li Che understood one truth.

That is, on the battlefield, you must be greedy for what you should be greedy for, and you must not be greedy at all for what you shouldn’t be greedy for!

As it is now, the fleet has entered the effective shooting range, and there is no need to risk exposure for that little bit of shooting accuracy.

"Here."

Everything is ready and the time for the general attack is getting closer.

The sound of the chains rubbing against each other suddenly stopped, and the entire fleet held its breath.

Everyone on the bridge looked at Li Che, waiting to hear him utter the word "fire".

Li Che took one last look at the sun, then said calmly: "Fire!"

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, and flames spewed out from the muzzles of more than a dozen guns on the side of the Dingyuan. The cannons roared one after another, and cast iron shells wrapped in burning scraps of cloth hit the dock.

The dormant harbor was instantly exploded with dozens of orange-red waves, the wooden pier was broken in half by the volley, and the houses trembled in the roar.

The moment the flagship opened fire, all the warships also entered their respective firing positions.

On the Fu-1 warship, Li Sheng waved the command flag, and as soon as the Dingyuan's artillery fire stopped, the warship's artillery immediately opened fire.

A cannonball landed with a whistling sound on a sailing ship docked in the harbor.

The mast collapsed with a loud bang, and the sails flew into the coastal artillery positions with sparks, destroying them along with the artillery.

Following the Fu-1 warship, other warships opened fire one after another, and the dock was instantly engulfed in a sea of ​​fire.

At this time, a large number of Portuguese soldiers could finally be seen running out of the barracks in a hurry. Some fled in all directions, while others rushed towards the artillery positions on the shore.

"Change to chain bullets!"

As soon as Li Che's roar came out, it was drowned out by a new round of artillery fire. All the side gun ports of Dingyuan were opened, and the barbed chain bullets spun and tore through the morning mist, cutting the Portuguese soldiers who had just rushed out of the barracks in half.

Blood mist mixed with sawdust rose at the dock. Amid screams, the Portuguese soldiers started a new and unusual day.

They had no idea why they were attacked, just as the people of Luzon didn't know why they were suddenly colonized by these outsiders.

The fortress in the distance finally lit up with flames, and the lead bullets from the Portuguese cannon hit the sea thirty feet in front of the Dingyuan in vain, raising a large column of water.

Li Che sneered at the water columns and reached out to hold down the telescope that was buzzing with vibration.

He could see clearly that the maximum range of the Portuguese coastal defense artillery was only over 300 steps, which was about the same as the range of the artillery on the Dingyuan.

But the Dingyuan, with the help of wind direction and light fog, was able to blow the forts and fortresses into pieces from 300 steps away, while the enemy's artillery could hardly hit the fleet.

"The turtle ship is approaching!" a lookout shouted.

There was no need for Li Che to look for it, the sea surface suddenly became as bright as day.

Six turtle ships passed through the fleet's battle formation and, as they approached the dock, spewed out streams of fireballs.

The improved crossbow can fire rockets continuously, dragging sulfurous flames towards various parts of the dock.

The sticky oil spread on the stone wall, and several Portuguese gunners jumped into the sea with screams, but the water surface was ignited with even more intense blue flames.

Feng State's use of oil is still relatively rudimentary, and it is unable to tap the huge energy contained in it. It can only use its flammability to strengthen its weapons.

This repeating crossbow that can spray oil arrows is an extremely powerful weapon invented by the Gunpowder Bureau. It has a low production cost, but is very effective in siege warfare and can be called an ancient version of a flamethrower.

Most of the Portuguese troops on the dock had been wiped out before they could even see the true appearance of the enemy hidden in the mist.

Li Che picked up the telescope and looked towards the cape on the west side shrouded in thick smoke, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

Six hundred Marines were sneaking along the reef, each holding a reed soaked in potion in their mouths.

That was a recipe obtained from the witch doctor of the Yizhou tribe. It could slow the heartbeat to a crawl, making the body more coordinated and silent.

Fu Liang was lying in the salty sea water, with three poisoned crossbow arrows stuck in the steel wrist guard of his right arm.

Ten steps ahead, under a palm tree, two Portuguese sentries were looking anxiously towards the dock, their arquebuses leaning crookedly against the tree trunk.

He exhaled the reed and took a deep breath, and the crossbow mechanism made a "click" sound like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.

When the barbed crossbow arrow pierced the first sentry's Adam's apple, General Chen Qian had already rolled to the back of the reef.

Just as the second sentry turned around, a cold light suddenly flashed in front of him, and the silent long sword in his hand instantly pierced the sentry's eye socket, and the corpse hit the iron gunpowder barrel with a dull sound.

The two looked at each other, nodded, and waved to the back.

Six hundred pairs of leather combat boots waded into the shallows at the same time, the sound of armor plates colliding was completely drowned out by the rumbling of cannons.

Under the cover of the dock, the Marines quietly entered the battlefield and headed towards the admiral's residence.

. . . . . .

In the top room of the admiral's mansion, Luzon Admiral Alvaro kicked over the native servant who came to report the news, his young face full of resentment.

"Damn it! Where did the fleet come from? Where did the artillery come from? What are you talking about?!"

Although he was unwilling to believe the servant's words, the faint sound of artillery could not be faked.

Alvaro is very young. As a son of a Portuguese noble family, he is not a complete good-for-nothing. At most, he is an 80% good-for-nothing. At least his swordsmanship is good.

Even so, it was enough for him to stand out among the children of the nobility and obtain the lucrative position of Admiral of Luzon.

In the past few years in Luzon, he had never encountered any decent resistance. For a moment, anger got the upper hand and overwhelmed the fear in his heart.

He ripped open the robe and pushed away the two naked beautiful bodies on his body. The rouge of the Luzon prostitute was still stuck on his chest hair.

He picked up a rapier from the bedside and shouted at the door: "Everyone, move out, bring your muskets! Drive these attackers into the sea to feed the sharks!"

When Alvaro rushed out of the castle with his guards, the morning sun was rising from the burning harbor in the distance.

Alvaro cursed again, turned around, mounted his horse, and rushed forward with his 800 personal guards.