Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

After completing the live-fire target practice, Chi Honghai brought the lone boat that had been left at sea back to Hong Kong Island.

All the way there, he kept thinking about how these Japanese pirates managed to get here, and how Zheng Zhilong's men were just let go like that.

However, this answer won't be found anytime soon, as those things have long been silenced.

As the corpses were carried off the ship, many of the large wounds were reopened, and blood flowed freely.

Many of the crew members' families knelt and wept beside them, and a group of people surrounded their dead brothers, feeling a mix of emotions.

Suddenly, Chi Honghai felt something tugging at the hem of his clothes. Looking down, he saw a child inside, no more than five or six years old.

With red-rimmed eyes, the child tugged at Master Chi's sleeve and asked, "Master Chi... Father... how did he die...?"

Chi Honghai knelt down, cupped the child's face in his hands, and wiped away the tears that flowed from his eyes: "Your father died so that we could live a better life."

"What about the bad guy...? Is the bad guy dead?"

Chi Honghai pursed his lips and looked into the child's sincere eyes: "The bad guys who killed your father are all dead, but there are still many more bad guys alive."

"Master, when I grow up, will I be able to kill bad guys too?"

Chi Honghai patted the child's head and looked at the mother standing to the side: "Let the master kill the bad guys. Your hands will have more important things to do when you grow up."

Chi Honghai took the child back into his mother's arms.

At this age, the child doesn't fully understand what these more important things are. All he knows is that bad people must be killed, and Master Chi will lead everyone to kill all the bad people in the world.

Chi Honghai straightened up, looked at the brothers lying there, and flicked his sleeves: "Shen Er, take these brothers to the back mountain for burial. When people die, they should be laid to rest."

This incident not only caused Chi Honghai heartache, but also made him realize something very important.

Although the hundreds of men he had trained were well-trained and well-equipped, once separated from these men, the islanders were essentially just farmers who only knew how to cultivate the land and fish. Those with some technical skills could also do metalworking and woodworking, but they had absolutely no ability to defend themselves.

They would only fight desperately with hoes and kitchen knives when pushed to the limit, but in the end, it was all just a show of bravado and they couldn't defeat the opponent, and they would only get injured or killed themselves.

After much deliberation, Chi Honghai decided it was time to gradually implement basic training for the young and strong men on the island.

Two days later, he drafted a training plan and handed it to Liu Qingjiang and Instructor Lang.

"Sir, do we really want to practice like this? Won't it be a waste of everyone's usual time?"

"Sir, your idea is very novel, and I think it's excellent."

Chi Honghai didn't care about their opinions; this was definitely going to be implemented. To them, this plan wasn't just an idea, but a directive.

In order to ensure normal production on the island, Chi Honghai scheduled the training time for the fire and wood days of the seven days of the year. The groups trained on the two days were not the same, but were trained in an alternating manner. This way, the training could be guaranteed without causing the island to completely stop production on that day.

On the final day of the Earthly Branch, a full hour in the morning will be used for a comprehensive re-practice as a consolidation. The time for the practice is set at Chen Shi (7-9 am).

The Seven Luminaries is the traditional Chinese name for the week of the year, which originates from the concept of "Seven Luminaries" that combines the sun, moon, and five planets. The order of these seven planets is: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, which respectively represent the week of the year in the modern sense.

The training was not complicated. For these farmers, physical strength had never been a major problem. Years of working in the fields had given them great endurance. And since they were not soldiers who would actually be deployed in combat, they did not practice too much.

The main purpose was to have them form groups of three and practice the three-person iron corner formation they had previously trained using long and short wooden sticks and simple shields. Since most of the weapons used were blunt weapons, different scenarios were practiced during the training, depending on whether the weapons were blunt or sharp.

In addition, the artillerymen and musketeers led by Instructor Lang also took turns to give military explanations to the trainees, carrying muskets and even pushing breech-loading cannons. Although they did not conduct actual firing, they provided simple training according to their standards, covering both the principles of use and simulated exercises. The purpose was to let these people who had never touched firearms before have a good experience.

After the training was carried out in an orderly manner, the young and middle-aged men on the island were basically equipped with basic combat skills and could become good reserve sailors. For those who performed well, Chi Honghai also gave special orders that he and Instructor Lang could select outstanding talents to join their ranks.

As for the women, they weren't completely idle either.

When Chi Honghai was developing the training plan, he also discussed with his wife Wu Wanruo that they would gather all the people on the island who knew about medicine to teach them, and the teaching time was set on the days of the moon and the day of the water.

Its content mainly teaches not only common colds and flu, but also how to perform first aid and bandages, stop bleeding and relieve pain, and how to identify common medicinal herbs.

This training is also to prepare for future injuries.

Just as the development, construction, and training on the island were in full swing, a three-masted sailboat swaggered over here.

The Dutch on Hong Kong Island felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing the sailing ship, as they were very familiar with its structure.

In the mid-17th century, the Dutch improved upon a large three-masted sailing ship originally used by the Franks from the 15th to the 17th centuries, transforming it into a vessel suitable for both commercial and military purposes at sea. Its unique design not only allowed it to carry more cargo but also gave it enhanced sailing performance and combat capabilities.

Besides being familiar with the ship's structure, the Dutch on Hong Kong Island also recognized the Dutch flag, composed of orange, white, and blue, fluttering in the wind behind the ship.

However, due to the long voyages at sea and the relatively high cost of dyeing orange for the dyeing and weaving techniques at that time, the orange on this flag appears somewhat whitish.

Looking into the distance, Chi Honghai could see that these were Dutch ships. It wasn't surprising that they could find Hong Kong Island. After all, it was important to know the location of the cooperation. Otherwise, in this era, contact could be severed with a wave of the hand. If you couldn't find the person, it wouldn't be considered cooperation.

Judging from the ship's speed and draft, it probably wasn't there to sell goods.

However, what Chi Honghai couldn't figure out was why an empty ship came to find him.

If it's about discussing business and making a sale, shouldn't they be bringing goods? If they want to buy your own goods, based on past experience, unless there's an appointment in advance, they're always the ones who actively seek them out. Who would come to your door on their own initiative?

As the three-masted sailing ship drew closer, Pang San approached Master Chi and asked, "Master, what should we do? Should I go find Brother Qingjiang?"

"Don't make any sudden moves. Sail over there and tell Qingjiang that they are friends. Everything should remain the same."

"Yes, sir."