Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 908 0903 [Asymmetric Naval Battle]

There is a special clock room in the Ming Dynasty's flagship, where all astronomers hide during battles.

The pendulum clock here is extremely large and has a second hand system. Every component is carefully polished by top craftsmen.

Unlike the pendulum clocks in Kaifeng and Luoyang, the pendulum clock on the ship has two symmetrical pendulums connected by springs. The escapement was also redesigned, or more than half of the parts were redesigned.

Navigation clock!
"Boom boom boom!"

There were faint sounds of artillery fire outside, but the astronomers in the clock room were chatting.

Chief Astronomer Li Nanheng stared at the hands of the marine clock and said, "I always feel that the error of the marine clock has become larger during this period."

Zhou Yicheng, a watchmaker on board, said: "The big storm last month probably had an impact on the marine clock."

"You have been conducting experiments in the East China Sea for half a year, but haven't you thought about how to deal with it?" Li Nanheng asked.

Zhou Yicheng said: "When testing the marine clock, how dare we take the initiative to go into a big storm?"

Li Nanheng said: "We can build a machine on land, put the marine clock on the machine and shake it vigorously to simulate the appearance of a big storm in the ocean."

"It can't be simulated." Zhou Yicheng said unhappily.

Li Nanheng said: "I guess that since we passed the Strait of Malacca, the longitude we measured has deviated. You still need to improve this marine clock."

"What about your lunar table? It's not ready yet?" Zhou Yicheng asked.

Li Nanheng shook his head and said, "It's still early. We need to perfect the star map first."

If you want to use the lunar table to determine longitude, two prerequisites must be met.

First, the trajectory of the moon must be accurately predicted.

This belongs to the Three-Body Problem of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun. Anyone who has read the novel "The Three-Body Problem" knows that there is no solution to this problem.

However, due to the large mass disparity among the three, an approximate value can be obtained. And it can also be assisted by astronomical observations. Every eighteen years or so, there is a cycle, and the Earth, Moon, and Sun will return to a similar position.

Therefore, this prerequisite has basically been resolved.

Second, a very complete background star map is needed.

This prerequisite is difficult to achieve and requires long-term field observations in multiple locations.

Therefore, it is currently impossible to measure longitude using the lunar distance method, and we can only use the marine clock time method.

The problem is that the marine clock is unreliable. It will become inaccurate during a big storm!

"Boom boom boom!"

Another series of artillery fire.

……

Decades ago, Vijayabahu resolutely rose up, broke away from the Chola Empire, won national independence, and unified Sri Lanka.

The king at this time was the grandson of this hero.

The one who led the troops to attack the Ming fleet was the hero's son-in-law, named Parakalamabahu.

Parakramabahu was even more influential and was a legendary hero in Sri Lankan history. He would reunite the country and would plunder India and Southeast Asian countries from time to time. After that, many powerful rulers were called by this name, suffixed with the second, third, fourth...

The Buddha's tooth in Sri Lanka was stolen from the Malays by his third generation.

"Rush over to board and seize the ship!"

Parakalamapa suddenly drew his sword and roared.

"Rush through, rush through!"

"Vijaya is so brave, and his fleet was the first to board!"

"..."

In order to protect merchant ships and transport ships near the port, the Ming warships did not simply launch kite-flying bombardments.

After sinking several enemy ships, Ying Xuan ordered his own ramming.

The first ship to engage in battle was a 2500-ton warship, which directly rammed a large hole in the enemy ship with its hard and sharp bow. But it was soon surrounded by several enemy ships!
Those Ceylonese warships won by their speed, had relatively narrow and long hulls, and were powered by oars during combat.

They are all smaller than the Ming Dynasty warships!

Hooks were shot out one after another, either nailing or grabbing onto the Ming warship. This Ming warship was tied up by four enemy ships at the same time.

The Ming sailors had already put on leather armor and came over with knives to cut the ropes.

The enemy ships shot arrows at the Ming warships, and after a round of arrow rain, they began to prepare to board them.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Ming sailors raised their flintlock rifles and fired, all aiming at the enemy who was about to board their ship.

"Boom boom boom!"

Eight broadside guns fired in succession, and the ships were getting closer and closer, with only a few meters left between them.

A few meters away, artillery fire...

A hole was made with each punch, and wood chips flew everywhere.

"Pear Blossom Cannon, ignite!"

The swarm of weapons in the Ming Dynasty had already been designed. Zhu Ming named it "Heavy Rain of Pear Blossom Needles" with a sense of humor, and the naval officers and soldiers simply called it "Pear Blossom Cannon".

Each set of pear blossom cannons contained more than a hundred rockets, which whizzed towards the enemy ships.

The sides of the two armies' ships had not yet touched each other and the enemy soldiers who were about to board the ship were still waiting for their chance when they were instantly stunned by the Ming Dynasty's firearms.

"The enemy knows magic!"

"Hide now!"

The people of Ceylon believe in Mahayana Buddhism, so the demons and magic they talk about are naturally related to the heavenly demons in Buddhism.

Vijaya was the leader of these warships. He was commanding the boarding battle, but suddenly found that his soldiers were retreating and no one dared to stand on the open deck. Even his warship was hit, and the hull was hit by three shells.

"Follow me!"

Vijaya rushed out with a knife in hand, grabbed the rope and prepared to lead the way to join the gang himself.

This guy must have had a very high prestige, and the soldiers under his command actually overcame their fear and no longer hid from firearms.

"Bang bang bang!"

Sporadic gunshots were heard, and the Ming sailors had reloaded their ammunition.

Vijaya was swinging in the air holding a rope. Because he was moving at high speed, he could not be killed even at a distance of several meters. A bullet hit his thigh.

When I was shot, I didn't even feel anything.

It was not until he completed boarding and landed on the deck of the Ming ship that he felt a sharp pain in his thigh.

His legs went limp, he lost his balance and fell directly onto the deck.

Several sailors rushed up and hacked at Vijaya.

Vijaya rolled over to avoid the attack, but his calf and left arm were slashed three times.

This fellow was so brave that he actually stood up from his knees while rolling over. He knelt on the ground with his injured leg and half-crouched with his intact leg, swinging his knife and hitting the shin of a Ming sailor.

"puff!"

Blood was oozing from the corner of Vijaya's mouth, and a bullet had pierced his heart.

The combat arms of the Ming Navy are divided into musketeers, pikemen and sailors.

The first two types are combat soldiers who can also land and fight, and are generally called sailors.

The latter type are auxiliary soldiers, who work as sailors most of the time and wear leather armor and carry swords to assist in combat during wartime.

Vijaya, the bravest warrior on the island of Ceylon, was besieged and killed by a spearman and several sailors.

The battle on the ship is coming to an end.

Many of the enemies who came to board or approach the ship were shot down in mid-air.

Especially the pear blossom cannons, there are hundreds of them in a group. After being lit, they shoot wildly, and one shot can cover a large area in front.

The few enemies who managed to reach the Ming army's deck would soon be besieged and killed.

"That enemy ship is about to sink, cut the ropes quickly!"

"Pear Blossom Cannon, load the rocket!"

About a quarter of an hour later, the enemy ships that were engaged in the battle retreated voluntarily, and the combatants on board suffered heavy losses. Four more ships were tilting and sinking, three of them were flooded and difficult to move, and more than 20 ships were captured by the Ming Navy.

"Little Sea Falcon is free to chase down the enemy!"

"The Great Sea Falcon formation is in pursuit!"

As the command flags were waved wildly, the Ming ships that received the order began to chase after them with sails.

The commander-in-chief, Parakalama Bahu, who was in the rear, had no idea what was happening. He only heard bursts of noise coming from the battle area, and then his front-line ships were defeated.

He had never been in this situation.

Parakramabahu went to the battlefield when he was in his teens, and followed his father-in-law who had unified the entire island to attack the Chola fleet.

The Zhu Luo warships had been frightened by them, and over the decades, they had captured hundreds of enemy ships.

In his thirty-year naval career, he has never been defeated!
Parakramabahu also managed domestic affairs very well. He built water conservancy projects in his fiefdom and his agricultural technology was at an extremely high level, even surpassing that of South India.

He is different from other pirates.

Pirates only attack lone merchant ships and will not attack fleets of more than ten ships.

On the contrary, Parakalama Bhakta did not plunder individual merchant ships or small fleets. He would "escort" those merchant ships to his own port and did not force them to buy or sell, but only forced the merchants to pay heavy taxes.

Therefore, more and more Arab merchants chose to dock in the northeast of Ceylon.

By doing this, they could obtain shelter, resupply food and repair their ships, and all they had to pay was a port tax.

The port of Parakalamapahu's fiefdom became more and more prosperous, even surpassing the capital's outer port. He made a fortune by collecting taxes, supplying supplies, and repairing ships.

However, if the number of foreign fleets exceeds a certain level, Parakalamapahu will take the initiative to attack.

He felt that such a large fleet was unsafe and would threaten his rule. In addition, large fleets were very rich and one could make a fortune by robbing them.

"Boom boom boom!"

The bow gun of the Ming warship fired while chasing.

The hit rate was very low, but the enemy's morale dropped sharply. The splashing water from the shells made the Ceylonese soldiers terrified.

From the northwest waters of Ceylon Island, they chased all the way to the northern waters.

The Ceylon ships, relying on the combined power of their oars and sails, were faster than the Ming ships, which had sails but no oars. They fled further and further away, and gradually they could not catch up.

Ying Xuan had no choice but to order a return.

After confirming that the Ming army ships had left, Parakalama Bahu carefully returned to his own port. He gathered all the ships and counted them, and found that he had lost 38 ships in this battle!

If they hadn't run fast, the whole army would have been wiped out!

Two days later, several hundred remnants of the army escaped.

Parakalamapa suddenly asked, "Did you also suffer a defeat?"

The officer who escaped said, "We couldn't win. The enemy's formation was very strange. They also had weapons that sounded like thunder. We started losing people from a long distance away. When we rushed to a few dozen steps away, the enemy's formation started to smoke. There were also many arrows shot at us. We couldn't shoot them all, and the soldiers fell one after another. Then we were defeated. The enemy also had two or three hundred cavalrymen who chased us and killed us all the way."

"Are these the only soldiers left?" asked Parakalamabahu.

The officer shook his head and said, "I don't know. There may be more alive, but they got separated along the way. The royal city has been surrounded by the enemy. I don't know if the king will surrender."

(End of this chapter)