Chapter 384: Another Battlefield

There is a saying: war is fought on logistics.

That saying can be broken down further: war is fought on organization, scheduling, materiel, and provisions. In the immediate case, the moment the transmigrators successfully delivered a gang of motley troops to their destination, this surprise attack operation was as good as over.

What looked like a simple troop movement actually encompassed upfront capital investment, high-tech nighttime navigation, internal organizational coordination, and other things the Ming military was incapable of. Every bit of experience the transmigrators had gained from multiple contacts and collaborations with the Ming military system since their recruitment and amnesty was brought to bear in this moment.

When the first ray of morning sunlight struck the hilltop at the center of Luozhou, the bleary-eyed pirate lookouts finally spotted a line of warships charging from the north, and far in the distance, a vast mass of vessels slowly pressing in.

The moment the signal firework rocket launched from the hilltop, the fast fleet had already charged into the bay on the west side of the bridge where the ships were anchored.

Without the slightest courtesy, at the maximum range of two kilometers, the 12-pounder cannons were already impatiently slamming shells into the densely packed mass of pirate ships. Immediately after, upon closing to a range of one and a half kilometers, the fleet reduced speed, and the more numerous 6-pounder cannons began rapid fire.

Large numbers of pirates who had spent the night ashore were frantically racing toward their own vessels, trying to raise sails and set off. Meanwhile, many nimble ships had already burst out from the pack. Their crooked, staggering courses betrayed the fear in the pirates' hearts: they were trying to evade the advance path of that row of strange ships, seeking a route to flee.

However, once they rounded the fleet and charged out to the mouth of the bay, they soon encountered an even greater crisis: a dark, dense mass of Chinese-style sailing ships was bearing down on them head-on.

A certain power was now highly practiced in the tactic of shutting the door and beating the dog: under the direction of the new lock ships and liaison officers, the large fleet swiftly deployed a blockade line across the bay mouth, simply waiting for the routed pirates to come knocking.

And the line of battle inside the bay, after slowly plowing from left to right once, now turned around, utterly disregarding the wind direction, and began a second round of frenzied shooting.

It was not that there were no brave souls. Amidst the chaos, a few ships of Zhu Cai Lao's direct lineage organized a counter-charge, attempting to drive the raiders out of the bay and buy time for their own side to regroup.

However, the so-called charge of five or six blessing ships was as ludicrous as an old man chasing a car before the fast fleet. The Guangdong pirates, who had never witnessed the prowess of motor sailboats, were given a solid, thorough lesson this time, and the tuition fee they paid was their own lives — the charging warriors, subjected to concentrated fire, all ultimately sank to the seabed.

Like a fish pond into which a shark had burst, the bay was now a boiling chaos. Faint smoke drifted across the ocean surface, and everywhere were scenes of frantic escape. No one wanted to get close to that evil dragon ceaselessly spewing flame and white smoke.

On the outer perimeter of the bay, the established blockade line now also began its work. Large numbers of pirate ships fleeing in blind panic plunged headlong into the prepared arc, where they were met head-on and pummeled by the high-morale official army. Soon, ships with no way out began lowering their sails and raising white flags.

The soldiers' high morale had its reasons. The enemy's panicked flight was one aspect; the other, naturally, was the multiverse's universally applicable reward silver method: General Daren offers rewards for captured prisoners, calculated per head.

There is nothing new under the sun. The tactic of reward money had once achieved great success in Zhangzhou Bay, sparking a massive tide of soldiers and civilians jointly capturing pirates. This old trick was trotted out once again, and it was just as effective as ever.

Although the ten new lock ships were organized as transport ships, since this trip was clearly meant for battle, they were also equipped with rifled guns and navy warriors. Combined with the two 6-pounder cannons, one at the bow and one at the stern, that they originally carried, their firepower was already quite formidable.

Under the volley fire strikes of the new lock ships serving as mobile corps backbone, the pirate ships that had fled out instantly collapsed into utter rout. Afterward, those official army vessels gradually found the knack as well, beginning to intercept and capture pirate ships on one hand while slowly contracting the defensive line on the other.

The peak intensity of the battle did not last very long. As time went on, more and more of the pirates who fled out surrendered, because they saw what had happened to their comrades.

After this came the lengthy mop-up work. Zhu Cai Lao had roughly three thousand men under his command and a fleet of about three hundred ships — figures that were basically comparable to the scale of the attacking official army.

Had the ratio not been maintained at one to one, the official army would have had no way to bottle up the enemy in the harbor and wipe them out in one fell swoop. This was precisely the reason the transmigrators spared no expense to organize a large army to come here: wiping them out in one fell swoop was the method that caused the least harm to coastal residents. The transmigrators, who already regarded Guangdong as their own territory, would not permit large-scale routed soldiers to rampage and pillage everywhere.

Accompanied by the morning sea mist and the gunpowder smoke from the cannon muzzles, visibility inside the harbor gradually reached its limit, and all objects began to grow hazy; the cannon fire of the fast fleet also ceased in a timely manner.

By this moment in the harbor, the ships were distinctly divided into two layers: one layer of ships struck by cannonballs and stranded dead along the shore, and another layer captured on the outer ring.

In the middle cruised the fleet.

The transmigrators were all too familiar with handling this kind of scene: the brave and battle-worthy soldiers had already driven all the soul-lost, terror-stricken pirates into the phosphorus hold. The ample manpower reserves allowed the official army to easily detach half its men to operate the captured vessels.

Not long after the main force of the official army landed on the island shore, Zhu Cai Lao himself was also found: amidst the chaos, the gang leader had been struck on the head by a falling broken mast and died silently on the spot.

Once Zhu Cai Lao himself was identified, this day's battle could be considered a complete success — the imperial court was very pragmatic; to count merit, one needed the bandit chief's head for verification.

After this came the soldiers' favorite activity: sweeping the battlefield. Apart from the valuables in the old camp, which were taken away by the transmigrators, there were still plenty of miscellaneous items to be picked up on the shore and aboard the stranded ships. So the soldiers worked very hard, and incidentally rescued some ordinary civilians who had been kidnapped by the pirates.

At this moment, another group of people here to scavenge spoils arrived: Hailing Island was separated from Yangjiang County by a strait only three kilometers wide, so the county magistrate and yamen runners, having received the order for support, came leading a large crowd of civilian laborers dressed in tatters.

After these ravenous wolves came ashore, their first act was to set up the pirates' large cauldrons and cook the rice and salted meat the pirates had left behind. During this process, the pirate corpses scattered on the shore and aboard the ships were all thoroughly searched by the civilian laborers. After the better-quality clothing was taken, the remaining stripped-bare corpses were tossed into the sea.

In fact, Yangjiang County stood to make a great fortune on this trip: nearly fifty to sixty leaking, stranded pirate ships were just sitting there. The county magistrate only needed to order the civilian laborers to patch the leaks, and then they could be sailed back and sold. The entire county yamen was truly going to make a huge profit this time.

Having once again sown the subconscious seed along the coastal area that "following the Short Hairs always leads to good things," the main official army force began its return voyage early the next morning.

By the time the bloated fleet reached the Pearl River Estuary again, it was already late that night. But the exhilarated fleet did not stop. Guided by shining beams of light, the surface of the Pearl River at night witnessed, for the first time in countless ages, a tremendous clamor and countless ship shadows, startling residents on both banks into rising from their beds, thinking another large band of pirates had come.

However, early the next morning, word came down from upstream: last night, the government troops had won a great victory and were at this moment parading their triumphs at White Goose Pond...

The fervor of the expedition from a few days prior had not yet faded, and the residents of Guangzhou City were once again treated to a large-scale live broadcast. This time, it was on the level of a Spring Festival Gala. Not only had the number of onlookers doubled again, but the city's high officials also all showed up: this was a great victory the official army had not seen in many years; any official who didn't come to bask in the reflected glory at a time like this... was simply not a qualified official.

The transmigrators, committed to increasing their influence, naturally would not let such an opportunity slip by. A series of activities — presenting heads, presenting captives, distributing bonuses — were conducted with great bustle and fanfare, lively and prosperous. Starting the next day, a ship auction with a "starting bid of one tael of silver" was also launched at the docks, not to make money, but purely to attract attention.

As for the more than two thousand captured pirates, they were naturally swallowed whole by the transmigrators and all shipped off to Taiwan — all the upfront expenses were to be recouped by relying on these elite men to pay off their debt. Whether sent to dig coal or to work in factories, in any case, since they were capable of the skilled trade of piracy, presumably this bunch was quite able-bodied.

After the Captive Tribute Gala concluded, another battlefield also opened: the clash between Cao Jiangjun and Governor-General Wang.

Theoretically speaking, as a high-ranking military figure, even if from an external province's guest army, Cao Chuan should have, the very first moment he arrived in Guangzhou, gone to Zhaoqing to pay a courtesy call on the supreme military boss: the Governor-General of Liangguang.

However, when a subordinate was sent to Zhaoqing to arrange an appointment time, the reply from the Governor's Mansion was a cold sentence: "At present, the bandit suppression campaign is urgent. Cao Jiangjun need not busy himself with courtesy calls; simply focus diligently on your duties."

Upon learning this news, the transmigrators understood immediately: Wang Zunde, that old goods, was still very displeased about losing face back then.

And so the matter was put on hold, dragging on until today — riding the favorable wind of the great victory over Li Kuiqi's faction, the matter was once again placed on the agenda.

It was not that Cao Jiangjun was desperate to see Wang Zunde, but that this meeting would advance the execution of that earlier implicit agreement: Wang Zunde was to submit a memorial recommending Cao as the Zhangchao Deputy Regional Commander.

This implicit agreement had already been tacitly approved by the official circles of both Fujian and Guangdong before Cao Jiangjun dispatched his troops... otherwise, who would come and help you exert effort to suppress bandits?

In fact, the memorial had long been prepared — the jointly signed recommendation memorial personally written by Xiong Wencan was now in Cao Chuan's hands; it only needed Wang Zunde's signature on it.

So, in the current age, everything was ready and all that was lacking was the east wind: the Cao clan's great merit in bandit suppression was achieved, public opinion among the other surrounding officials was settled, and only Wang Zunde's nod was missing.

This was the reason Cao Jiangjun absolutely had to pay a courtesy call on Wang Zunde; in other words, Wang Zunde absolutely had to agree to hold his nose and meet Cao Chuan once, put on a sufficient show of official formalities, and then sign and submit the memorial.

Thereupon, a subordinate dispatched from the General Headquarters where Cao Jiangjun was temporarily staying, after the Prisoner-Presenting Ceremony, once again arrived in Zhaoqing and met with the subordinate officials of the Liangguang Governor's Office, requesting to set a time for Vice Cao Jiangjun to request an audience with Governor-General Wang.

Not long after, the subordinate official brought back Governor-General Wang's intent: he agreed to the meeting.