Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Chi Honghai turned to look at Instructor Lang.

"Instructor Lang, there is an old Chinese saying: 'If you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them.'"

"Well, sir, I hope they're all sincere."

Chi Honghai patted the edge of the boat, raising his voice.

"Let's go, everyone!"

With the sails hoisted again, the two ships, propelled by the southeast wind, began to sail northwest toward the pirate's lair.

Chi Honghai looked worried as he sailed.

He wasn't worried that the operation wouldn't succeed. After all, judging from the battle the day before, the remaining people in the pirate den were probably just lowly nobodys and not worth worrying about.

What worried him more was what they said during the interrogation the day before: that this group of pirates had been harassing and plundering villages throughout Guangzhou Prefecture.

These actions will inevitably reach the Guangzhou government directly. The people in Xin'an County may not seem like a big deal now. But if the Guangzhou government gets involved, things will become more complicated.

After all, he was the one who gathered villagers and robbed artisans in the city, so in the eyes of Guangzhou Prefecture, the plundering of coastal villages was also his doing, leaving no room for explanation.

However, with his limited strength, going head-to-head with the army of Guangzhou Prefecture would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.

Although government officials generally don't care much about the lives of ordinary people.

Even now, with the war raging in the north, even with typhoons passing through, even with displaced people turning into bandits.

They also faithfully fulfilled the eight-character mantra of being an official: "When things are urgent at the front, people eat well at home."

Who will they eat? They'll just make the common people suffer first.

However, if others suck the blood of the people, then one will no longer be able to suck it.

It's fine if they don't get any bloodsucking, but if these commoners really rebel, it will affect the officials' promising future.

Therefore, this matter will inevitably be investigated, and the pirates active in the surrounding area will inevitably be wiped out.

It's unrealistic to expect the Guangzhou authorities to do nothing; this matter needs to be planned for as soon as possible.

Chi Honghai was lost in thought, unaware of the rapid passage of time.

Pang San didn't wake him until it was completely dark and the ship was about to reach the pirates' den.

Chi Honghai stood on the deck again, enjoying the clear sea breeze of the evening.

He glanced at the ship led by Liu Qingjiang to his side.

After circling around to the eastern inner side of the island, you can see scattered lights on the island.

At this moment, Liu Qingjiang was on the boat, looking at the lights in front of him, and felt excited.

Once his ship had approached, the sentries in the pirate den gave the signal.

The first mate responded to the coded message next to Liu Qingjiang.

The two ships then smoothly moved toward the shore.

Liu Qingjiang's boat sailed ahead and reached the shore first. The sentry then asked.

"Why did you come back after two days?!"

"You wouldn't believe it, we waited outside for over a day before the government's ship finally arrived. Who knew it would be so difficult to get our hands on it? We lost many brothers, the captain is gone, and the ship is completely wrecked. Thankfully, we finally got the cargo," the first mate said. Liu Qingjiang was standing to the side and slightly behind the first mate at this moment.

"Alright, boss has been waiting for a long time, let's go in."

"Brother, shouldn't we go in and inform the brothers so they can unload the cargo from the ship?" Liu Qingjiang said.

The guard turned his head to look at Liu Qingjiang. It was dark, and he couldn't see clearly, so he asked, "Who is he?"

The first mate paused for a moment.

"Oh, this is my younger brother. You know we have a habit of recognizing brothers. We just recognized him when we went to sea, so I'm keeping him by my side to train him properly."

"Alright, you guys wait here, I'll go inform the boss."

After waiting for a while, the man came out with a group of people.

There were about a dozen people carrying torches.

After exchanging a few words, the first mate led the dozens of people onto the ship first.

At this time, Chi Honghai's boat also sailed to the near shore.

"Point the cannon at the entrance of the stockade, and fire when I give the order."

The guard looked at the other ship with a puzzled expression.

"Why don't they dock and disembark?"

"Maybe it was dark and they couldn't find their way?" Liu Qingjiang said.

"These people are really stupid; they can't even handle something this simple. Forget it, I'll go and light a fire for them."

Liu Qingjiang immediately stopped the guard.

The guard, who had been pulled back, turned around in bewilderment: "What are you doing?"

"Why should we care about them? There's some good stuff on board, why don't we grab some?"

The person on duty smiled knowingly.

"You little rascal, you know how to read the room."

"Let's hurry up and move along. If we move everything down later, it will be difficult to help you pack your things, brother."

After saying that, the two boarded the boat.

After those who came out were led onto the ship, some of them went to the cabin and found it empty.

"Where's the goods? Where's the goods!"

"Boom!" The door connecting the cabin and the deck was slammed shut.

No matter how much the people inside banged and shouted, it was to no avail.

Those remaining on the deck realized something was wrong and turned around to fight back, trying to jump off the deck and escape.

But everyone who went up was accompanied by Chi Honghai's men. None of the people who came out carried weapons, and the entire deck was filled with scenes of hand-to-hand combat.

Within moments, more than a dozen corpses lay on the deck.

Liu Qingjiang stepped over the corpses, walked back to the bottom of the boat, and led his men to the village.

A fire was set ablaze at the village gate.

As the fire intensified, thick smoke billowed into the village, forcing the people inside to flee.

Upon seeing the fire and the commotion inside the village, Chi Honghai, standing on the boat, immediately ordered the cannons to fire.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The continuous artillery fire shattered the tranquility of the night, and the explosions inside the village blasted the fragile wooden structures to pieces, further intensifying the fire throughout the village.

Many people lost their way in the chaos of the fire and explosion, and were choked and suffocated by the thick smoke.

They finally managed to escape the village gate and escape the flames.

But they ran right into Liu Qingjiang, who was facing the gate of the village, and the muzzle of a musket on the deck.

As gunshots rang out, the people who had run out fell to the ground at the doorway, blood flowing from the bullet holes in their bodies, and they soon died.

But Liu Qingjiang, who was close to the camp, soon heard some strange noises.

Screams of many women echoed from within the camp.

He hurriedly asked the first mate, "What's going on?"

The first mate finally realized what was happening and looked at Liu Qingjiang.

"These women were kidnapped by the boss when he raided the villages not long ago. He has a habit of taking women with him during his raids; the pretty ones are taken to sleep with him first, and then..."

The first mate hesitated for a moment as he said this.

Liu Qingjiang pressed further, "What happened after that?"

"After that...then they sold these women to the barbarians..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingjiang's eyes immediately became bloodshot, and he began to breathe heavily. The hatred in his eyes, reflected in the firelight, frightened those around him.

He immediately picked up a torch and ran to the shore, waving it to signal Chi Honghai to stop firing.

Chi Honghai saw the signal from the shore. Although he didn't understand what had happened, he still ordered a halt to the firing.

"Dock! Disembark!"

After the shelling stopped, Liu Qingjiang turned and ran back.

He grabbed his broadsword and charged in. When the others saw their instructor rushing in, they disregarded the fire and their disgust, and also grabbed their muskets and swords and charged in.

Chi Honghai looked at the figures on the shore.

He stood on the deck and shouted, "Qingjiang!"