Chapter 240: Trapped Beast

During the American Civil War, most Napoleon cannon crews could easily achieve a rate of fire of two rounds per minute.

But in the Transmigrators' plane, thanks to the addition of various black technologies — the most important being gun wells that eliminated the need to reposition after firing — a three-man crew could reach a maximum firing speed of 3–4 rounds per minute.

The only two things that could constrain the gun crews' performance were the swaying deck and the scorching hot cannon barrels.

And during that night's 10-minute rapid-fire phase, the fleet had actually reduced its speed to 2 knots to lessen the deck's rocking and assist the gun crews' work — with engine power available, the fleet could accelerate and leave at any moment before large numbers of enemies closed in.

As for the cannon barrels, the Napoleon cannons the fleet now used, manufactured with precision-forged iron and cutting techniques, were already far superior in quality to their historical counterparts; one round of rapid fire had no effect on the barrels.

In short, technology changes everything. Facing a fleet armed with high-tech weaponry, the primitive pirates of the 17th century had no ability to fight back whatsoever — they could only take a beating.

After the brief 10-minute rapid-fire period ended, the crossing fleet that had been rampaging like fiends outside Zhongzuosuo Harbor instantly performed a grand vanishing act and disappeared...

The fleet that had been radiant with light, its beams shining forth, glittering like a star in the dark night, suddenly extinguished all its lights. The dumbstruck pirates, aside from hearing the fading sound of engines in the distance, were left with nothing before their eyes but the pitch-black night. Had it not been for the great number of dead and wounded men and shattered ships around them, some might have thought they had just been dreaming.

Naturally, the Transmigrators were going to withdraw. They'd set their fires, fired their cannons, and unloaded all their passion — why wouldn't they pull up their pants and leave? What were they waiting for? So the fleet instantly went into blackout mode, accelerated, turned around, and got the hell out.

While making their escape, given that the day's combat objective completion rate was 120%, far better than expected, two radio waves flew through the deep night toward Dayuan and Fuzhou: the reinforcements could make their entrance.

In the early morning, Li Kuiqi stood on the Zhongzuo Wharf surveying the devastation before him; overnight, his hair seemed to have turned much whiter.

At least 30 ships had been sunk in the harbor. These capsized possessions revealed only their masts or upturned bows above the water, with dense masses of debris and corpses floating beside them — a scene of utter desolation. As for the lucky ones that had merely gained a few extra holes in their hulls after being hit, they were beyond counting.

One must understand that a certain fleet's first long-range salvo alone had fired 440 shells, and the ammunition volume of the second rapid-fire salvo was more than double that figure. The pirate ships clustered together had essentially sustained the damage of 1200+ iron balls in a short time — the terror of it was truly so!

Besides material losses, there were also personnel losses.

Nearly 1,000 men had died in the bombardment and the ensuing chaos. This number might not seem large relative to the Great Gang's 20,000-plus men, but at the same time, over 1,000 wounded were lying on the waterlogged bows and on the beach, wailing in agony...

Li Kuiqi was not the only one stamping his feet on the wharf. Zhong Bin, worried sick about his own men, was the most anxious of all.

Ever since the few boats he had forcibly dispatched the previous night were wiped out by the oncoming fleet, Zhongzuosuo had come under bombardment. Large numbers of men fled ashore, and the scene was one of extreme chaos, no less than the legendary "camp panic."

Under these circumstances, Li Kuiqi could not even keep his own command tent stable, so no one dared risk their lives to grope through the darkness to Jinmen. It was not until after 5 a. m., when the trembling pirates had confirmed that their opponents were long gone, that they finally sent out patrol ships to investigate the situation over there.

And in the end, it was not a patrol ship that brought the disastrous news, but a fishing boat setting out from Jinmen.

After Pirate Bay was set ablaze in a chain of fire, all the ships moored there were destroyed in an instant by the fierce flames and the hot wind. The few who managed to flee were still in a state of shock; only when daylight came did they find a fishing boat from a nearby fishing village and row it to Zhongzuosuo.

And as the fishing boat slowly rowed into the wharf, the men on board were stunned by the ghastly sights around them, so much so that when the numerous Shopkeepers rushed aboard, everyone was still in a state of stupefaction.

"Speak! What happened at Jinmen?!" Zhong Bin, who had bounded onto the boat, immediately grabbed a fellow by the shoulder and demanded loudly.

With a "thud," the fellow dropped to his knees. "A tragedy, Second Master Zhong... All gone, all of it gone... A single fire burned everything to ashes."

Hearing this, Zhong Bin's face turned deathly pale, and his robust frame trembled slightly. "And the men? How many made it out?"

"The brothers who survived number fewer than three hundred..."

Zhong Bin let out a great cry of "Yah!" and fell backward onto the deck.

Seeing the Second-in-Command collapse with phlegm blocking his airway, the dozen or so chief leaders who had followed him aboard hurriedly scrambled to lift Zhong Bin up, then pressed his philtrum and fanned him — though none dared slap him across the face.

Li Kuiqi, who had long been mentally prepared for the situation, showed no ripple of emotion on his face at this moment. After pulling over a fellow, he said with a cold expression, "You will give me a detailed account."

A good while later, after Li Kuiqi had thoroughly questioned the survivors for their testimony, he returned to the command tent without a word and began dispatching men to organize the aftermath.

And shortly after he began his "disaster relief," another fishing boat fleeing from the direction of Jinmen brought an important figure: Chen Zhongji.

Chen Zhongji was the only leader-level figure from Pirate Bay to escape with his life. Yet when the Shopkeepers in the great tent saw him, they all drew a sharp breath.

Chen Zhongji was carried into the tent: half of his body had been burned raw, his entire frame covered in blisters. His once chubby face was now split open and mangled, seeping blood and fluid.

Chen Zhongji had only rushed out of the sterncastle after the great fire had already ignited. Destined to be burned to death, he was barely saved when a subordinate sacrificed his own life to push him into the sea, after which he was fished out. After this, Grand Steward Chen, having endured both ice and fire, was left lying on the beach to suffer until daybreak...

The moment they saw him, everyone knew that this man's life was already nine parts out of ten gone... his eyes would close at any moment.

And sure enough. When Li Kuiqi bent down to grasp his hand, his face full of grief as he uttered the three words "Brother Zhongji," Chen Zhongji, whose eyes had long since been blinded, mustered the last dregs of his strength at that moment and shouted toward the roof: "It was the Dayuan bandits! Kuiqi, you must avenge me!"... And then he breathed his last.

Later that day, after gathering sufficient intelligence on their opponents, the various Shopkeepers quickly came to realize that scattering was the most reliable way to evade the terrifying night raids. And so, after hastily tidying up the wreckage, the Pirate Gang began dispersing its forces, stationing their troops separately at various points around Zhangzhou Bay. As for the Zhongzuo Wharf, it was left to Li Kuiqi's own loyal troops.

By this point, the Pirate Gang, which had previously scoffed at the news of Xiong Wencan turning to summon and pacify the Dayuan bandits, had finally truly understood the terror of the Transmigrators.

Yet knowing it was of no use whatsoever. At least for this night, no pirate could think of a way to counter the Transmigrators. They were nervous, they were terrified, they had no idea from which corner their opponents would emerge after dark. So they could only scatter and flee, scattering their forces across Zhangzhou Bay with the mentality of "better you than me."

Of course, there was still a Shopkeeper of heroic spirit and boundless loyalty who kept his men and ships stationed at the Zhongzuo Wharf alongside Li Kuiqi's own troops — this man was called Hu Ba.

Hu Ba was the good brother of Comrade Du Dewei, who had already abandoned darkness for the light. Previously, after Du Dewei headed north to Fuzhou, the two brothers had parted ways; now Hu Ba remained with Li Kuiqi's Great Gang, loyal and devoted.

However, the loyal Hu Ba had been a bit busy lately, because every day he had to send a boat to make a circuit around Yuegang, at the innermost part of Zhangzhou Bay — no one knew what he was up to.

While chaos reigned within Zhangzhou Bay, the Transmigrators' fleet had already arrived at the Official Dock outside Quanzhou Prefecture City.

Quanzhou City, a straight-line distance of only 40 kilometers from Jinmen and less than 80 kilometers by sea, was a supply point the Transmigrators had long designated beforehand. After bombarding Zhongzuosuo that night, the fleet did not travel at high speed for the remaining hours, but instead ambled northward, arriving in the Quanzhou Outer Sea before dawn.

They waited in the outer sea until the morning sun first rose, then the fleet first dispatched a liaison boat before slowly entering the Quanzhou docks. The Quanzhou Prefect and the Quannan Mobile Corps Commander Force General, who had long since received the written order from the Grand Coordinator's Office, were already at the docks respectfully awaiting their arrival.

And so the fleet settled in at Quanzhou.

After spending an entire day at the docks, it was not until dusk that five dust-covered supply ships finally hurried into Quanzhou. Thus, early the next morning, a large number of porters began the transshipment work.

After this, the reinforcements began to arrive one after another.

The reinforcements came from three parties: the Dutch, the Fuchuan fleet from Mawei Barracks, and the Official Army of the Fuzhou naval forces. Apart from the Dutch, since the other two forces both needed to receive supplies at Quanzhou City, the day of the entire army's official departure was postponed by one more day.

The Dutch had dispatched 10 of their largest-tonnage armed merchant ships this time, personally led by Putemansi.

The weakest in combat strength, the naval forces, were led by Assistant Regional Commander Qu Dazhong.

As for the 30 Fuchuan vessels setting out from Mawu Water Camp, they were under the command of Navy Commander Liu Zhe, who had rushed to Fuzhou with a large number of crewmen not long before.

The personnel on these 30 ships were formed by mixing pirate recruits and Dayuan crewmen on the spot; additionally, each ship was also garrisoned with 10 Army Soldiers armed with Twenty-Eight Style rifles.

Once the reinforcements had all assembled, the official operation to annihilate Li Kuiqi's faction would soon begin.

Before this, however, the Transmigrators first convened the leaders of each force and announced their battle plan.

Taking into account the era's utterly wretched battlefield mobility, the Transmigrators did not dare attempt anything fancy, but instead honestly divided the reinforcements under their command into two mutually independent blockade lines.

The first blockade line: the sea area between Jinmen Island and the northern mainland.

The second blockade line: the sea area between Jinmen Island and the southern mainland.

Zhangzhou Bay is an irregular trumpet mouth, and at the center of this trumpet mouth lies Jinmen Island. The Transmigrators' plan was this: the main fleet would enter Zhangzhou Bay head-on to destroy the enemy, while all the reinforcements would be split into two, using Jinmen as the fulcrum and the northern and southern blockade lines as chains, to completely annihilate Li Kuiqi's faction within the encirclement.