The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 107 Smooth Sailing
Although the news of the national mourning had not yet reached Zhejiang, and ignorance is no excuse, that should only apply to cases where the person is innocent. In his case, he should be punished for multiple offenses!

Dismissal and investigation are considered lenient punishments.

Thinking of the horrific scene that followed, a chill ran down his spine and to the back of his head. The commander was on the verge of tears, wishing he could just grab a knife and slice himself in two on the spot.

Just as he was hesitating between hanging himself and committing suicide, he heard that thieves had broken into the Lin residence, and he felt as if he had grasped a lifeline.

As long as the thief is caught, the charge of destroying the river-blocking rope can be pinned on him.

Even if he didn't achieve anything, at least his merits and demerits balanced out.

That's why he mustered his family's soldiers, rode swift horses, and rushed over day and night.

If it weren't for his own life, why would a commander like him care about the life or death of a local tyrant like the Lin family?

Right now, the commander's only goal is to wipe out this gang of thieves in one fell swoop and make the case airtight!
They thought the thieves were trapped in the mansion and had no way out.

I never expected that someone would come up with such a sneaky idea to take advantage of the situation.

Truly, they are extremely cunning and treacherous!
Under his orders, several groups of men joined forces to surround and intercept them. After a great deal of effort, they finally managed to calm the crowd down.

His personal guards kept shouting, "Sit down! Everyone, sit where you are!"

At that moment, another loud bang was heard inside the mansion, followed by a burst of flames shooting into the sky.

The crowd, which had finally calmed down, was startled again and scattered in all directions.

Many of the women in the Lin family were only wearing tube tops and underpants. As they screamed and ran, large areas of their snow-white skin were exposed, revealing their cleavage.

The commander's troops were disciplined and able to restrain themselves.

The patrol officers, clerks, and militiamen had never seen such a scene before, and their eyes were all fixed on the surging snow waves.

Some of the bolder ones even went so far as to touch her indiscriminately.

The women, having been groped, were terrified and screamed incessantly. This startled the rest of the Lin family, who scattered in panic. Some had already managed to run a mile or two away, and the family soldiers quickly gave chase on horseback.

In an instant, chaos erupted again in front of the Lin residence, with chickens running wild and dogs barking.

Beside the commander, a servant bowed and said, "General, it seems there are still remnants of the bandits inside the mansion. I'll take some men to check."

The commander pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

Firstly, the gunpowder could be detonated with a fuse, so the thieves might not be in the mansion. It could be a feint to make them split up, allowing the thieves to take advantage of the chaos.

Secondly, the situation inside the mansion is unclear, and if the guards rush in rashly, there may be casualties. Even if there are indeed thieves inside, we can simply guard the exit and catch them like turtles in a jar.

Upon realizing this, the commander asked the patrol inspector, "Where does the back gate of the mansion lead?"

The inspector looked bewildered as he gazed at the local militia.

The captain hurriedly said, "It's only a mile or two from the back gate to the Yongning River. The thieves can't go far!"

The commander thought to himself, "This is bad!"

The commander hurriedly said to his men, "Give me twenty men to come with me around to the back gate!"

……

At this moment, at the back gate of the Lin residence.

In the dim morning light, the crew members filed onto the ship with the last of their gold, silver and valuables.

"All six boats are ready!"

"All five boats are ready!"

……

The counting calls could be heard continuously from the seven bird boats.

"All three boats are ready!"

Lei Sanxiang counted the passengers and said, "Captain, everyone's here. Let's go!"

"set sail!"

At Lin Qian's command, the seven bird boats slowly set sail.

"You scoundrel, don't run away!" The sound of horses' hooves came from afar, accompanied by a furious shout that seemed to pierce the heavens.

A troop of cavalry came galloping towards them from outside the west wall of the Lin residence.

Although there were only about twenty people, each of them was clad in armor and wielded a long sword, exuding a fierce and valiant aura.

"Whoosh!"

As the cavalry charged, they drew their bows and released an arrow, which whistled through the air.

"Boom!"

Beside Lin Qian, an arrow struck a crew member's shield with a muffled thud, causing the crew member to stumble and nearly fall to the ground. Fortunately, only the leading rider possessed such skill in mounted archery.

Lin Qian gave the order: "Raise your guns!"

Behind him, the crew members pulled out ten matchlock guns from the cabin, skillfully loaded them with powder and bullets, lit the matchlocks, and kept blowing on them to keep them burning.

The waterways here are narrow, making it impossible to raise sails; one can only row slowly, and it's only a matter of time before the cavalry catch up.

Lin Qian kept her eyes fixed on the approaching cavalry, estimating the distance in her mind.

Seeing that the cavalry were within twenty paces, Lin Qian shouted, "Release!"

"hiss--"

"Bang bang bang..."

Ten matchlock guns fired, and white smoke billowed up.

From afar, a cloud of blood could be seen erupting from the chests of the two horses, followed by their forelegs buckling and the riders falling off their backs.

Another rider was shot in the arm, most of his arm turning into flesh and blood in mid-air, with only a layer of skin connecting him to his body.

The cavalryman screamed and fell off his horse.

Seeing this, the remaining cavalry not only did not lose momentum, but instead charged forward fearlessly.

Lin Qian said, "Crossbow!"

The musketeers stepped back to reload, while twelve crossbowmen approached the ship's side, their sharp bolts aimed at the cavalry.

"Whoosh!"

At this moment, the lead cavalryman drew his bow and shot an arrow, which flew like a meteor and was aimed directly at Lin Qian.

Lu Zhou reacted quickly and raised his shield to block.

With a muffled thud, the arrow pierced the shield, its fletching trembling, and the arrowhead emerged from the shield, no more than five inches from Lü Zhou's throat.

"Release them!" Lin Qian's expression remained unchanged as she saw the cavalry within fifteen paces and shouted the order.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of crossbow strings rang out all around.

Another burst of blood mist erupted from the cavalry, and several more fell from their horses.

The man who had just shot the arrow was also hit and fell from his horse. He rolled a few times due to inertia, and stood up in the dust. He was not hit by any arrows, but there was a hideous dent on his right shoulder, arm and hand. The arrow had been deflected by luck.

The remaining cavalry were only ten paces from the ship, and would arrive in an instant.

Lin Qian roared, "Now!"

Lei Sanxiang stood up, grinning maliciously as he threw out an object. It was a rectangular column, about the length of an arm, entirely black, with a fuse tied to one end. The fuse was already lit and quickly burned out in mid-air.

It was just dawn, and the surroundings were still somewhat dark.

The object landed with a hiss of gunpowder, followed by a burst of intense white light and smoke.

The surrounding cavalry were blinded by the white light and could not see anything for a moment.

The warhorses beneath him were also startled and ran around in all directions.

One of the cavalrymen lost control of his horse, which galloped forward and fell directly into the waterway.

His cloth-covered iron armor was soaked with water and extremely heavy. He was also unable to see. In his panic, he choked on several mouthfuls of water. After struggling for a while, he managed to grab onto the riverbank and escape with his life.

"That was awesome! Again!" Lei Sanxiang laughed wildly, then lit another piece of carbide and threw it onto the shore.

In an instant, another blinding white light shone.

The carbothermic agent reduced the red lead to molten lead, which flowed freely on the ground and ignited the surrounding vegetation, causing a raging fire to erupt in an instant.

Lei Sanxiang covered his eyes with one hand and used the other to light the carbide fuse. After igniting the fuse, he threw it onto the shore.

This time it didn't ring.

Lin Qian made these carbide rods entirely by hand; if two out of three rods clicked, she was already incredibly lucky.

Seeing that Lei Sanxiang was about to throw it again, Lin Qian quickly stopped him.

By this time, the cavalry on the shore were in complete disarray and no longer had the strength to pursue.

The first bird boat has already entered the Yongning River.

A northwest wind was blowing across the river, and the bird boats were sailing downstream with the wind and the current, making them move as fast as flying.

"Turn right and hoist the sails!"

(End of this chapter)