Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Chi Honghai gripped the edge of the boat, propped himself up, and looked over. Liu Qingjiang's boat had already moved close to the cargo ship and they were now engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

At this moment, he wasn't too worried about the situation over there.

Although Liu Qingjiang was leading a cargo ship, and apart from adding a few light breech-loading cannons, there was no other significant firepower, the ship still had veteran crew members as the backbone, so hand-to-hand combat should not be a problem.

Moreover, the other side is also a cargo ship fully loaded with goods, but it certainly doesn't have as many weapons and personnel as our side.

Just as I was looking over there, a sudden impact came. The huge collision sound caused the two ships to sway outwards for a moment before their balance pulled them back together.

This impact caused the opposing government troops and the new recruits on the ship to lose their footing. The clever ones grabbed onto fixed objects on the deck or clung to the mast, while those without such means fell and rolled several times on the ship's deck.

The veteran crew members, having received training in this area, were in much better shape overall, and seized the opportunity to rush onto the enemy's deck in groups of three to five.

After the officers and soldiers on the centipede ship got up and stood firm, they found that a group of people had already taken up a position on the deck. They picked up their knives and rushed forward, but were forced back by long spears and shields.

Seeing someone jump over the deck, the new crew members were nervous and scared, but at this point, it had come to the point where if you didn't know how to chop someone up, they would chop you up. To survive, you had to let the other side die first.

Summoning their courage, they all picked up their weapons and jumped over, wrestling with the officers and soldiers on the centipede ship.

Upon discovering that their comrades on deck had followed, the previously concentrated small formation instantly split up to support their own men in various directions.

On the deck, a situation quickly emerged where small formations broke through, while scattered troops formed the flanks.

However, the new crew members had only been training for a short time, and although they were facing officers and soldiers from Guangzhou Prefecture who had not received systematic training for a long time, they still had a relatively hard time in hand-to-hand combat.

"Don't just look at me! Go help!" Chi Honghai tugged at Pang San's clothes.

"Master, what are you going to do! I have to protect you!" Pang San said.

At this moment, Shen Er, after stumbling and crawling, finally found Master Chi. He gripped the knife tightly with both hands and spoke with his back to Chi Honghai.

"Master, rest assured, with me, Shen Er, here, anyone who wants to come will have to get past me first."

Shen Er certainly didn't have Pang San's skills, nor had he been trained. At this moment, Shen Er's voice and body were still trembling.

Chi Honghai stood up again and snatched the knife from Shen Er's hand.

"Pang San, hurry and help!"

Pang San hesitated for a moment, but still listened to the master's words, grabbed a wooden box in each hand and jumped off the deck.

With a flick of his wrist, he knocked down a group of people, instantly creating an open area that caused everyone around to retreat.

He picked up the spear at his feet and used it as a club, swinging it left and right, leaving his opponent helpless for a time.

Their own men seized the space created by Pang San's sweep and inserted themselves, gradually separating the enemy.

At the same time, Chi Honghai looked back from the deck of his own ship to confirm that Instructor Lang's ship had also entered hand-to-hand combat.

Turning back to observe the hand-to-hand combat on the other side, he astutely noticed that a group of enemy soldiers had been surrounded near the mast.

He quickly ran to a breech-loading cannon on the deck, turned the cannon and fired a shot at the center of the group.

The shells slammed into the crowd, and the people nearby were temporarily rendered unable to fight by the explosions and flying sawdust.

As for those on the periphery, although they were not seriously injured, their morale wavered after turning around and looking at the situation behind them.

Chi Honghai didn't care about loading or not. At this moment, apart from some injured people who couldn't move much, there were only a few musketeers firing from higher positions on his deck.

He picked up the knife that had fallen from the deck and leaped into the fray, joining the ranks of those engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Pang San then kept an eye on the master's position.

Before they knew it, they found that only Shen Er was left in that spot.

"Shen Er, where is the master!" Pang San shouted.

Although his voice was loud, the sounds of fighting were even louder, and Shen Er couldn't hear his shouts at all.

Seeing this, Pang San stopped fighting nearby and instead searched while fighting until he saw the master fighting with the soldiers.

He rushed forward and swept the person in front of him away with a stick.

Chi Honghai was jolted back half a step by the sudden blow.

"Master! Why did you come here! This is too dangerous!"

"Which of our brothers isn't in danger!"

"You're the boss! The brothers are counting on you to lead them!"

At this point, Chi Honghai couldn't care less about anything else and went back to the deck. If he lost the hand-to-hand combat, he would still die anyway.

"Pang San, you remember this: if we can't beat them, we'll die. Push all these bastards into the sea."

Pang San understood the master's meaning, picked up his spear, and swept away a group of enemies.

After sweeping the people on the other side down, he grabbed one person in each hand and threw them into the sea.

Seeing this commotion, even though he wasn't holding a weapon, no one dared to take a step forward, fearing that this strange man would pick them up with one hand and throw them into the sea to feed the fish.

Under Pang San's leadership, the small formation split into left and right sides to coordinate their attacks. In addition, the new crew members, after discovering that the veterans were fighting in this way, also temporarily learned to do the same.

After a fierce battle, the officers and soldiers on the deck had almost finished clearing the debris. The deck was piled high with corpses, and to take a step, one had to lift one's leg and squeeze through the gap between the arms or legs, otherwise one would be stepping directly on a lump of flesh.

As for the officers and soldiers still inside the cabin, they all surrendered and were kept aside for others to watch over before Chi Honghai's men could go in and purge them.

Although the battle here has ended, the boarding action on Instructor Lang's side is still in full swing.

Seeing that his brothers were panting heavily, he had no choice but to pull them along to proceed with the next step immediately.

On the deck of the other ship, although the bombardment had already reduced the number of people on board to a considerable extent.

However, the ship with the most new recruits was the one with Instructor Lang, and it also lacked someone like Pang San who could charge around recklessly.

When it comes to real hand-to-hand combat, it's still quite strenuous.

Chi Honghai hurriedly ordered someone to go to the lower deck of the centipede boat to operate the oars, turn the centipede boat around, and make it half a circle to the other side of another centipede boat.

Upon seeing the centipede-shaped ship ahead begin to move, the mindset of both sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat shifted.

At this point, no one knows who has won on this deck.

In Coach Lang's view, although there are many new recruits, his subordinates are well-trained and unlikely to be outmatched.

He brandished his rapier, thrusting left and right, constantly helping the new crew members out of life-or-death crises, and directing everyone with simple Chinese commands.

Although the hand-to-hand combat was difficult, under Instructor Lang's command, the entire battle line on the deck was held up by the old man's small formation.

Then another centipede boat arrived and placed the plank horizontally between the two boats.