The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 62 Bombarding Guolao Mountain
Several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Huang Hetai never saw the pirates leave, and his unease grew stronger.

Let's just take some people up Guolao Mountain on the east side of the island and see what these guys are up to.

Upon reaching the summit, I only glanced westward.

Huang Hetai was so shocked that he almost lost his balance.

The once barren land has been transformed, with the tangled vegetation along the riverbanks gone and thousands of shacks erected instead.

Even more frightening is that many craftsmen are still using the wood to build houses, and more than ten houses have already been built, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys on the rooftops.

There are also compacted dirt roads on the ground, dividing the entire open space into several squares, within which there are crisscrossing paths, clearly the prototype of a large city.

Along the paths, many men and women bustled about, creating a lively and bustling scene.

Along the shore... the Tanka boats stretched for miles, and damn it, someone was building a dock and pier!
Huang Hetai was truly panicked.

What happened to the promise that it was just for drying goods?

Who can hang their goods out to dry in a city-wide area?
They've really made their naval base on Nan'ao Island their home!

Judging from this, the few thousand people who have already landed on the island are not enough; this city is being built for tens of thousands of people.

If the imperial court finds out, it will be considered a failure to defend the territory, and the deputy commander-in-chief will be the first to be punished.

Before the deputy commander-in-chief is questioned, he, the garrison commander of Nan'ao, will definitely be the first target.

Only then did he realize he had been tricked, and he hurriedly told his men, "Let's go back and muster our troops for battle!"

……

On the Santa Ana, Lin Qian was reading a Spanish parchment book in her room.

Suddenly, a subordinate reported: "Captain, the brothers monitoring Baisha Bay have sent word that there is movement in the naval camp."

Lin Qian closed the book: "I understand."

The subordinates withdrew.

Lin Qian walked to the window, expecting Huang Hetai to come with a long face and scorn for his broken promise.

Unexpectedly, this Commander Huang actually had some guts and dared to take the initiative to attack.

It should be noted that the South Australia Navy only has a thousand men, while Lin Qian has nearly three thousand under her command.

Indeed, these three thousand people were all Zhuhai residents with their families.

However, thanks to the eunuch Baizhuchi, none of the three thousand people were old or weak.

There were women and children, but the women who survived in such a cruel environment were more capable than men when it came to fighting.

Bai Qing is a typical example.

If Huang Hetai thinks they are easy to bully just because they have many women, he is sorely mistaken.

Lin Qian wasn't afraid of hand-to-hand combat, let alone... he had cannons.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian pushed open the door and went out, ordering, "Raise anchor and hoist the sails, head towards Baisha Bay!"

Chen Jiao loudly relayed the order.

All the crew members sprang into action.

Half an hour later, the St. Anne sailed into White Sand Bay.

Lin Qian stood on the stern deck of the ship and stretched out her binoculars. She could see that there were indeed a large number of people running around in the barracks in the distance, but they looked somewhat chaotic.

The ships of all sizes were crowded together in the harbor, seemingly preparing to leave.

From the outside, they look exactly like the patrol soldiers of Naozhou Pearl Field.

At this moment, Lei Sanxiang leaned out from the gangway on the gun deck: "Helmsman, the guns are loaded."

Lin Qian said, "Raise the cannon muzzle and fire towards the mountain."

"Understood!" Lei Sanxiang replied loudly, then shrank back and loudly relayed the order.

A moment later, Lei Sanxiang shouted, "Release!"

The entire starboard guns of the St. Anne fired in succession, causing the ship to rock violently and the starboard side to be filled with thick smoke.

The smell of gunpowder makes people's throats itchy.

As the smoke cleared, Lin Qian raised her binoculars.

Behind the water village, on the green hills, a cloud of smoke and dust hung in the air. The trees that had been hit by bullets were smashed to pieces, revealing brown soil underneath.

Several more shells landed in the camp, carving deep craters into the ground.

The soldiers in the camp became increasingly panicked and were in complete disarray.

After a while, Lei Sanxiang shouted again, "Release!"

Another series of breathtaking cannon shots rang out.

The Saint Anna had a total of fourteen cannons on each side, three more than Yuan Chonghuan had when he defended Ningyuan. Using them to bombard these soldiers who were constantly owed wages and forced to do hard labor was a devastating blow.

After this round of artillery fire, some soldiers began to flee.

Lin Qian did not call a halt, so the shelling continued for an hour.

The northern slope of Guolaoshan Mountain has been riddled with holes.

Occasionally, shells that missed their mark would land in the camp, damaging more than ten buildings.

Although not all the soldiers in the barracks scattered and fled, none of the warships dared to go out to sea again.

During a lull in the shelling, a fast boat sailed in from the harbor with its sails half-raised, a common practice among Ming Dynasty pirates when surrendering to government troops.

Lin Qian called a halt to the shelling and waited for the speedboat to approach.

After a meal, Huang Hetai boarded the ship looking disheveled.

"What does it mean that the leader attacked our troops without cause?" Huang Hetai angrily accused Lin Qian as soon as he saw her.

"Without cause?" Lin Qian sneered. "Commander Huang, let's be frank. Your navy is no match for mine. Accept your fate."

Huang Hetai also knew that Lin Qian was holding back by firing every shot towards the mountain; otherwise, the Nan'ao Navy would have suffered heavy casualties long ago after an hour of bombardment.

But he was a dignified garrison commander of the Ming Dynasty; how could he willingly surrender to a pirate?

Huang Hetai was now only angry that the generals, brigade commanders, and guerrillas were taking too much money without working.

According to the Ministry of War's records, there should be 5,000 sailors and 300 warships of various sizes on Nan'ao Island.

Even if this force were reduced to half its original size, it would still be enough to defeat this pirate.

The reality is that simply drawing salaries without actually serving has halved the strength of these troops.

The remaining troops were divided in half, and the best warships were sent to transport goods at sea.

The remaining thousand or so people on the island were all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, and the warships were like fishermen's sampans.

Even so, supplies and pay were frequently embezzled.

Faced with such a way of governing the army, he felt that even if Yue Fei were to be reincarnated, he would be powerless to reverse the situation.

Of course, the officials in the Ming Dynasty were all shrewd and capable.

Although the deputy commander of Nan'ao held a high position but little power and was of high rank but low rank, he could not possibly be a fool.

How could the magistrate not know the importance of Nan'ao's geographical location? If a powerful navy could be built, the money he could earn from collecting tolls from maritime merchants would be more than he could make from drawing a salary without working and running ships.

But in officialdom, one must blend in with the crowd. Everyone else is a ghost employee, a treacherous official, while he alone is a loyal, capable, and virtuous minister.
Loyal, capable, and virtuous ministers are not uncommon. From the distant past, there are Lan Yu, Fu Youde, Feng Sheng, and Yu Qian, to more recent figures like Hu Zongxian and Qi Jiguang. Which of these people had a good ending?

So, while some people called his actions as deputy commander-in-chief greedy, he himself considered them political wisdom.

This weighty "political wisdom" has now caused Huang Hetai a great deal of trouble.

He could only resign himself to his fate and said, "Since the leader is firing cannons up the mountain, he probably doesn't want to be branded as a rebel. In that case, we should quickly lead our men to retreat."

"Otherwise what?" Lin Qian asked with a smile.

"Or you can kill me!" Huang Hetai was enraged by the words and remembered his integrity as a garrison commander of the Ming Dynasty.

Lin Qian's expression gradually turned cold.

Huang Hetai immediately realized the danger and quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "But have you thought this through? Killing an official appointed by the imperial court is tantamount to treason. When the heavenly army arrives, how will the leader conduct himself?"

"No need for your trouble, just tie their hands and feet and throw them into the sea!" Lin Qianhan said coldly.

Huang Hetai stood there dumbfounded, remaining firm and silent while tying the rope.

Once he was lifted up and brought closer to the ship's side, he began to beg for mercy: "Leader, we can talk this over!"

"Put me down, I still have something to say."

"The leader can stay on the island, I have no objection. The pearl and the several dozen taels of silver are all to be offered to the leader..."

"The General only visits the island a few times a year. If the leader spares my life, I can cover for the leader and prevent the imperial court from finding out!"

"Wait, release them," Lin Qian said.

Huang Hetai had most of his body pushed off the ship's side, but was pulled back, his heart filled with lingering fear of surviving a close call.

Lin Qian untied Huang Hetai and said warmly, "It would have been better if Commander Huang had said so earlier, instead of suffering physical pain."

Huang Hetai felt more bitter than if he had eaten bitter herbs.

Lin Qian beckoned to Zheng Zhilong, who then brought out a box about the size of an arm, placed it on the table, and opened it.

Huang Hetai stepped forward and saw a coral ornament lying in the box. Its color was as deep as ox blood, and its texture was as clear as glass. It was a top-quality treasure.

He was completely captivated at first glance.

"It will be given to the garrison commander, and thereafter, additional water will be delivered every month," Lin Qian added.

Huang Hetai felt a bitter aftertaste in his throat.

(End of this chapter)