The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 56 Heavenly Punishment
At this moment, Zhuhu and the soldiers were unaware of what had happened.

He gazed into the distance with a puzzled expression.

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

Immediately afterward, thunder rumbled incessantly in the morning sun, and blue smoke billowed everywhere.

Water jets splashed in front of and behind the stockade wall, as if a torrential downpour had begun.

"Boom!"

Another section of the stockade wall was hit by a bullet. The rotten wood, which had been soaked in water for more than ten years, could not withstand the bombardment of a solid iron cannon.

It collapsed after just one shot.

The surrounding village walls also collapsed, falling down in sections of three or four zhang (approximately 10-13 meters).

Bai Qing shouted, "Everyone, get out of here!"

The villagers, who had been given prior notice, immediately rowed out through the gap in a single file.

From a distance, the water fortress resembles a wounded sea monster, with blood gushing from its wound.

"It's pirates! Where's the Tiger Crouching Cannon? Return fire!" An officer on the stockade wall gave a frantic order.

"No fire!" The soldier operating the cannon was on the verge of tears.

"Damn it! Get some fire! Who brought a flint and steel?" the officer shouted.

On the stockade wall, a group of soldiers began to hilariously search everywhere.

At the breach, more and more Zhu households fled.

The soldiers drew their bows on the stockade wall, threatening Zhu Hu to stop.

No one paid attention.

The soldiers drew their bows and shot arrows, but the arrows were weak and powerless, and they all stuck to the awning of the boat.

The boatmen were all skilled at navigating the boat, and with a few skillful maneuvers, they dodged all the arrows.

Six or seven soldiers drew their bows repeatedly and fired five or six rounds, but only managed to wound one person.

Just as the soldiers were frantically drawing their bows and arrows, a small boat crashed into the stockade wall.

Then a slender figure leaped from the bow of the ship, a sharp blade in its mouth, and nimbly climbed up.

Before the soldiers could react, the figure had already climbed the stockade wall and plunged a knife into one of the soldiers' stomachs.

Then he used the soldier's body to shield himself from a hail of arrows.

After the rain of arrows, the figure reappeared, and with a few quick movements, killed two more people.

At this point, Zhu Hu could no longer restrain himself, grabbed a weapon, and killed the remaining archers.

"Bai Qing, what are you running for! If you ask me, let's go and kill that bastard!" Youzhu shouted, brandishing his knife.

Bai Qing wiped the blood from his face and shouted, "No! If we go now, we'll be caught in the crossfire. We have to evacuate the water fortress first. Don't worry, that beast Meigen won't get away!"

After saying this, Bai Qing jumped off the stockade wall and plunged straight into the water. When he resurfaced, he was already at the side of his own boat.

With a flick of the oar, they rushed out of the water village with the crowd.

At this moment, the soldiers on the stockade finally found torches, and the soldiers operating the cannons shakily loaded the propellant and shells.

The tiger-squatting cannon was roughly aimed at the ship's shadow in the rising sun, the fuse was inserted, and everyone stepped aside.

The soldier with the torch cautiously approached and lit the fuse.

With a hiss, the fuse burst into flames, and everyone covered their ears.

The fuse burned to the end, and then... nothing happened.

"You idiot! Did you load it with drugs?" the officer yelled.

The soldier operating the cannon was extremely aggrieved: "It's loaded! The gunpowder must have gotten damp!"

As they were speaking, another cannon shot rang out in the distance, and water jets shot out all around, like a torrential downpour.

Several more cannon shots hit the stockade wall, creating three more breaches in the already crumbling wall, which collapsed for more than ten feet.

……

On the eastern sea.

Gun deck of the St. Anna.

Lei Sanxiang was directing the gunners to reload. "Take it slow, follow the steps, don't treat this like war, just like peacetime training. That water fortress across the way is just a target! If we hit it once, we'll get an extra big piece of fatty meat for dinner! One piece will make us drool!"

While calming the gunners down, Lei Sanxiang checked around, kicking anyone who made a mistake in the procedure.

"Are you fucking insane? You haven't even cleaned the cannon barrel yet, and you're already trying to load it with gunpowder? Trying to kill us all? Get off the deck, or you're not getting any dinner tonight!"

The gunner, who had been kicked, left the gun deck clutching his backside, and Lei Sanxiang then found a quick-witted replacement for him.

There was no other way; it was really a stretch to teach these illiterate idiots to operate artillery in just over ten days.

So far, there hasn't been a single case of a barrel exploding, all thanks to Lei Sanxiang's combination of roughness and meticulousness.

Therefore, Lin Qian's requirement for the gunners during this bombardment of the water fortress was to treat it as a regular training exercise.

When loading and firing the cannon, speed is not the priority; stability is paramount.

In any case, the water fortress had no ability to fight back; it was a natural sitting duck. A sharp knife could kill, and a dull knife could cut it.

Why not use it for the gunners to practice?

Half an incense stick later, all the cannons were loaded.

After inspecting the area, Lei Sanxiang ordered the artillery to fire.

The gunners lit the cannons one by one, and the cannons fired one by one, and the area in front of the cannon deck was filled with smoke.

While directing the gunners to reload, Lei Sanxiang approached the gun port and observed the impact points of the shells through the smoke.

A mist rose again around the water village, the walls of the village were broken and only a few wooden stakes remained standing.

At this moment, Chen Jiao shouted from the upper deck: "The helmsman has ordered that the cannons bombard the water fortress barracks!"

Lei Sanxiang shouted the order: "Bombard the water fortress barracks! Raise the cannons!"

As he spoke, he personally adjusted the cannon.

In the time it takes for another half incense stick to burn, all the cannons were ready.

At Lei Sanxiang's command, a tremendous bombardment resounded throughout the entire gun deck, making the gunners' ears ring.

The cannon recoiled violently, pulling the ropes connecting the cannon to the hull taut.

The wooden hull creaked painfully.

The entire ship tilted backward due to the recoil.

The white smoke from the explosion of gunpowder in front of the cannon door filled the air, making the entire cannon smoke-filled, like a fairyland.

The sulfur smell was extremely pungent, making people want to cough.

……

In the water village.

The barracks were hit by artillery fire all around, and sand and gravel flew everywhere in an instant, as if it were divine punishment.

The cannon's shelter collapsed instantly, sending debris flying. Several unlucky soldiers were hit by the debris and fell into pools of blood, groaning in pain.

In the center of the barracks, inside a magnificent building.

The eunuch Li Tan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth in the room.

Upon seeing the patrol inspector from Zhuchi rush over, Li Tan hurriedly asked, "Who exactly attacked? Have you found out? Are they Japanese pirates or foreigners?"

The inspector's panic was no less than Li Qin's. Hearing this, he said, "Eunuch Li, what time is it? Why care about Japanese pirates or barbarians! Escaping for your lives is the most important thing!"

Li Qin's face was filled with terror: "Run for your lives? You can't beat them?"

"Shoot? Send people to swim over and shoot, or stand on the shore as targets?"

"Aren't there still a dozen or so warships in the water fortress?"

"My dear Eunuch Li! Those ships are all just for show, no one pays salaries for nothing. You know that, old man. They're only good for fighting pirates, but the foreigners have strong ships and powerful cannons. How could they possibly be a match for them?"

“Barbarians…” Li Qin felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He knew all too well what kind of people the navy, Japanese pirates, and sea pirates were.

Such powerful cannons are only possessed by barbarians.

Li Qin thought of the group of Francois he had encountered at the Maritime Trade Office, who had dismissed him with a few casual words.

Unexpectedly, these barbarians were so vengeful that they went so far as to deploy gunboats to bombard the pearl field, risking becoming enemies with the Ming Dynasty to settle scores with him.

How did he end up running into this group of stubborn barbarians?
This is truly the worst luck imaginable!
(End of this chapter)