Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

The officers and soldiers, who had initially thought that friendly forces had come to their aid, were immediately invigorated, and the leading officer began to laugh heartily.

Feeling that the battle was about to be won, he began to think about what kind of military merit he should claim when he returned to Guangzhou.

But when they saw the clothes of the people who were crossing the plank, they realized that they were not friendly forces!

But it was too late. Several planks had already been set up, and Chi Honghai's men rushed over in an orderly fashion, starting with the oldest and then moving on to the newest.

When Instructor Lang looked up and saw that the people rushing towards him were his own, he shouted loudly in Chinese to the people around him.

"Attack! Attack! Attack!"

Having said that, he took the rapier, which had become reddish-brown, and led his men in a sudden thrust towards the opposite side.

He understood that once the two sides' forces joined forces, the outcome of the battle would be a foregone conclusion.

Chi Honghai, carrying a knife, rushed over, jumped off the deck, grabbed the man, and began slashing.

Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the officers and soldiers put up a symbolic resistance and then surrendered.

"Sir, what brings you here?"

"Instructor Lang, if you, as my specially hired instructor, can disregard life and death and join the battle, why can't I?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, then simultaneously thought of something.

What is Liu Qingjiang's condition?

They walked to a high point on the ship, took out their binoculars and looked at the cargo ship. They saw their signal flags waving on the cargo ship and breathed a sigh of relief.

If we expend so much effort to win this battle, and the real fish are released...

That would make you a fisherman who buys rods, bait, and bait, only to come up empty-handed after all that work.

All three hand-to-hand combats ended in victory, yielding some gains, but the casualties were also heavy.

When Liu Qingjiang moved all the cargo onto his own ship, the three ships were put back together.

A quick count of the casualties was conducted.

There were 550 people on the expedition. In this battle, 60 or 70 brothers died, and more than 100 were injured to varying degrees.

Of the sixty or seventy people who died, most were new crew members. The older crew members were better trained and, although some were injured in the hand-to-hand combat, they were still able to maintain considerable fighting capacity overall.

As Chi Honghai listened to the casualty figures reported by his subordinates, it truly pained him to hear them.

He even wondered how he would face his family when these people who had just arrived left so soon and returned to Hong Kong Island.

"Sir, what should we do with these prisoners? Should we throw them all into the sea to feed the fish?" Liu Qingjiang asked.

Looking at the dozens of people kneeling there, Chi Honghai originally really wanted to feed them to the fish.

Although he was furious, the casualties this time were indeed too great, and these people could be used to replenish the troops. Moreover, in Chi Honghai's view, mass killing of surrendered soldiers was not a good thing.

Looking at the prisoners, Chi Honghai asked a question.

"In the past few days, has any of you been to Xiangshan County? I have a question for you."

Seven or eight hands were raised from among the dozens of people: "Sir, please ask whatever you want, we will answer to the best of our knowledge."

Chi Honghai looked at the seven or eight people and simply said, "Pang San."

Pang San went up and grabbed the men, throwing them into the sea. The remaining men were terrified and begged for mercy.

"The reason why those people who had been to Xiangshan County were thrown to feed the fish was because the people of Xiangshan County had suffered at the hands of corrupt officials."

"And what about you? Are there any others who harm the people?"

"Sir, no, no, we brothers are mostly sailors. We usually stay in the camp and can't go anywhere else. Please, sir, have mercy and spare our lives."

Chi Honghai slammed the knife in his hand onto the deck: "Live or die, I'll take you. Either come with me or swim back to Guangzhou from here."

Swimming back to Guangzhou was obviously impossible. If you were thrown into this area, even a slight storm could mean you might not be able to reach Hong Kong Island.

After hearing Chi Honghai's words, everyone wisely chose the former.

Chi Honghai looked around, his nostrils filled with the smell of blood.

He covered his nose and walked onto the deck of Instructor Lang's ship, giving instructions to the people below.

"Arrange for the wounded and prisoners to be on Instructor Lang's ship, and have Qingjiang take them back. Then point to a centipede ship that looks relatively intact, and have some brothers take that centipede ship back with them. Burn the other two ships or sink them, whatever makes sure they don't drift at sea."

"Sir, what about our ship?"

Chi Honghai sighed softly: "Take that cargo with you and head to Haojing."

After saying that, he turned to look at Instructor Lang, his eyes showing some worry, but he still took Instructor Lang with him onto his boat.

The Caravelle had several large holes in its hull, but it wasn't fundamentally damaged, so even though it affected its speed, it wouldn't sink while sailing.

On the way to Macau, he and Instructor Lang stood on the deck, enjoying the cool sea breeze.

The smell of blood on his body had faded considerably under the sea breeze.

"Instructor Lang, do you know who we beat up today?"

Instructor Lang smiled slightly: "Of course I know, sir, you are fighting against Ming Dynasty soldiers."

"So who are we?"

"Sir, these are soldiers under Zheng Zhilong."

Instructor Lang's answer was crisp and clear, as if he hadn't even thought through the logic.

Chi Honghai was very curious and pressed on, "But, Instructor Lang, don't you find it strange that the men under Lord Zheng Zhilong's command are fighting against Ming soldiers? Aren't they all Ming soldiers?"

The other party replied with a smile, "Sir, you are right. However, as far as I know, Lord Zheng Zhilong started out as a pirate and used to fight against those government soldiers frequently."

Instructor Lang did not finish his sentence, but the overall meaning was very clear.

I know you are pirates, but I have also done my duty diligently.

Hearing Instructor Lang's answer, Chi Honghai did not ask any further questions. To him, the other party already knew that he was a pirate, but he still fulfilled his duties and obligations very seriously and responsibly, and even disregarded his own safety to participate in the battle today.

There's not much point in asking any further questions.

What he couldn't be sure of was how Instructor Lang really viewed him.

He desperately wants the other person to side with him, and he needs the other person to side with him.

This trip to Macau, with its battered and bruised boat, demands an explanation.

Since there wasn't enough time to repair the ship and there wasn't enough experience, they always had to replace it with a new one or hand it over to the Portuguese for repairs.

But with nothing but words and bloodstains all over his body, it's really hard to explain clearly, and the other party probably won't believe him anyway.

So, we need to bring one of their own to tell them that we just fought a group of pirates and now desperately need new weapons and equipment.

This is why Chi Honghai was willing to risk exposure and take Instructor Lang to Macau at this time.

He had no choice but to do so, because if he didn't, the next voyage would be either with that cargo ship that had little firepower or with those "faces covered and butts exposed, butts covered and faces exposed" ships.

If you don't loudly proclaim that you're robbing someone, the other party will think you're a beggar.

At this moment, Chi Honghai was uncertain, but he was also willing to trust the person who was willing to risk his life to fight alongside him today.