Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 126: Feilong Island under the Heavy Rain

In late August, abundant southern and northern equatorial warm currents converge in the Caribbean region, causing heavy rainfall.

Most of the houses on Feilong Island were destroyed by pirates, and only the base in the center of the island could accommodate some Chinese people to take shelter from the rain.

The seriously injured and lightly injured were arranged to take shelter from the heavy rain in the island base, while the remaining uninjured Chinese pirates cut down trees and built simple tents under the command of Hou Taiyuan.

The rain was heavy and there was no sign of stopping. Hundreds of Chinese pirates struggled to move forward in the accumulated rain water, transporting the cut down saplings and branches to the open space on the coast. Then another group of Chinese pirates were responsible for sorting the branches and building wooden sheds.

The desperate plan to attack Tortuga Island was originally scheduled to be completed today, but the sudden rainstorm forced the plan to be postponed.

It was a rainy season, and the waves on the Caribbean Sea were surging. Driving several merchant ships and a small sailing warship in the rain was not a way to commit suicide.

The Caribbean region has a tropical rainforest climate. The hot and rainy weather enriches the natural landscape of the Caribbean region while also bringing a variety of parasites. The parasites turbid in the rainwater can have serious consequences when they come into contact with the human body, and wounded people are more vulnerable to parasite attacks. After the Chinese pirates occupied Feilong Island, most of the more than 100 people who died died from various diseases caused by parasites.

Fever and colds, common minor illnesses in the mainland, could easily take the lives of Chinese pirates on the small Feilong Island.

Due to the weak strength of the Chinese pirates, the reserves of medicinal herbs on Feilong Island were very small. Every time the herbs ran out, Wang Yongtian would return to Cuba Island and secretly purchase the herbs using his identity as the owner of a grocery store to avoid being discovered by the Spaniards.

After the pirate attack, all the remaining medicinal herbs on the island were used up. Wang Yongtian did not go back to Cuba to purchase medicinal herbs, but stayed on the island, preparing to attack Torti Island with Hou Taiyuan after the heavy rain stopped.

It was raining heavily. The Chinese pirates were silent in the rain. They were all told about the situation of Feilong Island. After the rain stopped and the pirates had to rest, all the Chinese pirates would participate in the attack on Torti Island. The outcome of the battle would depend on one person. Before the moment that would decide the life and death of the Chinese pirates came, all they could do was to build the wooden shed as soon as possible to avoid the heavy rain, rest and make final preparations for the war.

Hou Taiyuan, Wang Yongtian and other pirates built a wooden shed in the rain. Rain and sweat kept flowing down from their heads. Hou Taiyuan tore off his sleeves that were in the way, and then tied the cloth strip around his right arm, revealing a strong and muscular body.

Three Chinese pirates were carrying a processed tree trunk, two or three meters away from Hou Taiyuan. Seeing that the last Chinese pirate was struggling to carry the wood, he took two steps forward and came to the three.
"Let go, leave the wood to me." Hou Taiyuan said as he took the wood from the three men. He exerted force with his arms and carried the three hundred kilograms of wood on his shoulders. Without taking a breath, he stood on his feet, shouted loudly, and burst out with all his strength, and threw the wood accurately in the center of the wooden shed.

Shaking his shoulders that were rubbed red by the tree trunks, Hou Taiyuan said, "If you feel tired, go to the wooden shed next to you to rest. After the rain stops, all the brothers will set out to attack Torti Island. If one brother gets tired and injured while building the wooden shed, we will lack a fighting force. When we attack the enemy, our hope of victory will be reduced. So take care of your body and kill more black guys during the battle."

"The road is slippery due to the high water content. I just didn't stand firmly. I'm not tired at all." The weakest Chinese pirate forced a smile.

"If you're tired, just go to the side and rest. There's no need to force yourself to keep going."

Hou Taiyuan patted his shoulder and felt relieved.

However, the next moment, his expression changed instantly. He pulled out a branch with his right hand and chopped it rapidly towards the back of the Chinese pirate in front of him.

"Snap" the branch made a sound of hitting the water under his feet, and a colorful tropical snake was hit by the branch. The snake's body broke into two parts in the middle, and the front half of the snake's head was less than half a meter away from the Chinese pirate's feet. The snake's head without the back half was still twitching. Hou Taiyuan pulled the Chinese pirate over and pushed him towards Hou, putting some distance between himself and the front half of the snake. At this time, the snake's head had reached the position where the Chinese pirate had just stood.

The fight was not over until the snake was dead. Pulling the Chinese pirate over, Hou Taiyuan used the branch in his hand to hit the snake in the rain again. The branch fell quickly and hit the snake's head directly. The branch had great power. The small snake head seemed fragile compared to the branch. After being hit hard, the snake's head was shattered. The blood inside the snake's head spread in the water, creating a small red patch. Hou Taiyuan acted too quickly. By the time the rescued Chinese pirate reacted, the snake in the rain was already dead.

The rescued Chinese pirates breathed a sigh of relief. Dying in a battle was nothing, but being poisoned by a snake before the battle would be too unworthy.

"It's a poisonous snake," Hou Taiyuan looked at the snake that was beaten to pieces in the rain and warned, "Throw the snake aside and be careful not to touch it with your hands."

"Thank you General Hou for your help." The rescued Chinese pirate bowed in thanks.

"We are all brothers, no need to say more." Hou Taiyuan waved his hand to stop the other party from continuing to express gratitude.

"There are many poisonous snakes on the island, and they are more active during rainstorms. Brothers, please be more careful when cutting branches and be careful not to get bitten by poisonous snakes."

"Don't worry, General. I'll be careful later."...

It rained heavily all day and the weather started to clear up the next morning. Hou Taiyuan was busy too late yesterday and slept in the tent without getting up.

"General, there is a situation. A fleet has appeared on the sea and is heading towards Feilong Island."

Upon hearing the news, Hou Taiyuan's first reaction was that the pirates were attacking Feilong Island again. He stood up with a start, put on a short cotton shirt, tied up his still wet yellow headscarf, and picked up his sword. "Notify the brothers, except for the seriously injured, everyone should gather on the southern coast to meet the enemy."

The sharp battle alarm sounded on Feilong Island. The Chinese pirates, who had just been busy all day, ignored their fatigue and climbed up from the trading sheds and tents where they were resting. Most of the Chinese pirates were equipped with cold weapons such as knives and spears. When they heard the alarms of other pirates, they immediately picked up the weapons beside them and quickly rushed to the southern coast to assemble. A small number of Chinese pirates equipped with captured muskets first ran to the base in the center of the island, took out the muskets placed inside, and then, led by Wang Yongtian, the person in charge of the base, set out for the southern coast. The emergency response operation was over in less than a quarter of an hour. The musketeers, archers, and pirates armed with cold weapons such as broadswords lined up behind the simply repaired positions.

The remaining one small warship, one merchant ship converted into a pirate ship and seven small pirate ships were anchored on the southern coast. The cannons on the ships were all pointed towards the sea, aiming at the approaching fleet. The fleet approaching Feilong Island consisted of two medium-sized sailing ships, five small warships and several gunboats.

Gunboats are not suitable for ocean voyages. The gunboats on the sea are carried by two medium-sized sailing warships and are lowered into the sea by the sailing warships when approaching Feilong Island.

One gunboat after another was lowered from the warship. When the fleet was about to enter the artillery attack range of the ships on the shore of Feilong Island, the speed of the fleet slowed down. A total of seven gunboats were lowered from the warship. One of the gunboats hoisted a tattered yellow flag. Hou Taiyuan vaguely recognized the yellow dragon logo on the flag.

The dragon is a unique national totem of the Han people, and the yellow dragon flag with a yellow background is the symbol of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The gunboat is getting closer and closer, and a familiar figure is standing in front of the gunboat.

"It's Li Han," Hou Taiyuan recognized the identity of the person standing on the gunboat.

"Don't do anything, there are our own people on the gunboat!" Hou Taiyuan hurriedly reminded when the gunboat entered the artillery range of the Feilong Island ships.

The ships anchored on the coast recognized Li Han's identity earlier than Hou Taiyuan. When the gunboat continued to sail towards Feilong Island, the cannons on the ship did not fire, but instead vigilantly paid attention to the movements of the fleet behind to prevent the other side from attacking.

(End of this chapter)