Chapter 125

"Run!"

With the end of the second round of shooting, the pirates, whose morale had collapsed, finally couldn't hold on.

"Come back!

Hurry and come back!

You idiots, on the flat plains, we can't outrun the cavalry.

..."

Yin Kainan roared.

Unfortunately, this was destined to be a futile effort.

Running away when you can't win is a brand engraved in the bones of pirates.

When robbing at sea, it's inevitable to encounter hard bones; running away is a compulsory course for pirates.

The cavalry's massacre awakened their fear of the government.

Now everyone has only one word in their minds—"Run."

Some quick-reacting pirates simply slashed the reins of the animals pulling the carts and turned into mule-and-horse knights.

"Shipowner, the team is already in chaos.

While the enemy hasn't caught up, let's run too!"

Liu Liu Damazi stepped forward to persuade.

The hearts of the people have scattered, and the team is not easy to lead.

Even if they forcibly gathered the people, they wouldn't be able to form an effective counterattack.

Now only some trusted followers are left, destined not to last until dark, so the best choice is to run away quickly.

Anyway, with so many people, the enemy won't be able to kill them all for a while.

If they are lucky, they might just run out.

"Forget it!

"Mr. Lan, has everything been prepared?"

Brothers who survive, we will see each other at the old nest!"

While speaking, Yin Kainan took off his armor and randomly stripped a coat from a corpse to change into.

The pirate leaders nearby also followed suit.

Everyone knows that in the process of running for their lives, armor and weapons are burdens.

Now they want speed; if they can't outrun the imperial cavalry, they must at least outrun their companions.

After throwing away the burdens, everyone was embarrassed to find that their mounts had disappeared.

Pirates on the run are just that unscrupulous.

This made the pirate leaders break their defenses on the spot and start cursing.

"The target is big, and it's easier to be targeted by the imperial army.

Our mounts are not good horses and can't outrun the imperial cavalry.

Don't waste time; once the enemy discovers something is wrong, they will catch up immediately."

Yin Kainan explained while taking his trusted followers to run away.

Seeing this scene, the pirate leaders followed suit.

The unusual movement of the pirates soon attracted Shu Shu Zhongyi's attention.

However, he didn't rush to order a pursuit, but instead let the soldiers reload ammunition according to the plan.

For an experienced cavalry general, the least feared thing is infantry running away during battle.

If the pirates on the opposite side had received military training, they should know that encountering cavalry on the plains, the best choice is to form a formation to defend.

Running away in a panic and exposing their backs to the cavalry will only make them die faster.

"Leave one hundred people to guard the spoils, and the rest disperse to pursue and kill the remaining enemies for twenty li; be sure to return and gather before dark."

Shu Shu Zhongyi ordered with a blank face.

The enemy on the opposite side is too weak, and he has no desire to fight at all.

It is impossible to annihilate the enemy; even if thousands of pigs are running around the world, they won't be killed for a while.

It doesn't matter if a few escape; just send troops next time.

Having stayed in Liaodong for many years, he has become accustomed to the way frontier generals think about problems.

If you want to get military pay from the imperial court, the thieves cannot be killed off.

The Northern Barbarians were able to grow and develop largely because the Liaodong military families deliberately indulged them.

Ever since the Northern Barbarians grew strong, the military funds invested by the imperial court in Liaodong have been rising.

Even the "drift-loss law" commonly used by civil officials would converge a bit when it involved the Liaodong front line.

The imperial court's money, grain, and materials are all prioritized for supply to Liaodong.

If the ancestors had taken ruthless action back then and strangled the Northern Barbarians in the cradle, the Liaodong military families would definitely not have their current happy life.

It seems that they are fighting on the border every few days, but in reality, most of the time, they are just putting on a show.

The Northern Barbarians only have that many people; if they really fought to the death every day, even if they were capable of fighting, they would have been exhausted.

The inherent thinking mode influenced Shu Shu Zhongyi's decision-making.

A voice deep in his heart told him that the longer the war drags on, the greater the benefits he can get.

Compared to pursuing the defeated pirates, he values the spoils left by the enemy more.

Exterminating a low-level pirate group, the imperial court's reward is nothing more than a verbal commendation, at most a few taels of reward silver.

If this group of pirates escapes and causes a few more big things, the gold content of the military contribution will immediately go up.

There is a great possibility of changing from an acting Battalion Commander to a substantive one.

On the official road, under the fluttering large Li flag, the Yangzhou Camp started a forced march.

They walked most of the forty-li distance in just one hour.

"Assistant Regional Commander, Battalion Commander Shu sent a report of victory.

The cavalry unit routed the pirates, seized countless materials, and is currently pursuing the remaining enemies."

Upon receiving this news, Li Mu was startled, and then revealed a smile.

Everything was as he expected; to deal with pirates who have landed, cavalry is their nemesis.

From ordering the expedition to receiving the report of victory, it only took a little over an hour.

Counting the time on the road, the time the two sides actually fought was even shorter.

It can basically be determined that the enemy did not have time to organize any decent resistance before being crushed.

"Pass down the order: lift the forced march state and restore the normal marching speed.

Tell Battalion Commander Shu that caution is paramount.

Be sure to end the battle before dark; do not pursue the enemy at night!"

Li Mu ordered immediately.

The victory came too suddenly; they gathered the army and killed their way over, only to encounter a group of miscellaneous fish.

If the Prefectural Magistrate's office knew this news, it is estimated that many officials would be broken in defense.

If they had known the pirates were so easy to bully, they could have just sent the cavalry.

Not only is it fast and efficient, but it can also save a lot of military expenses.

Undoubtedly, as long as the army moves, the departure fee will certainly not be returned.

Not only will they not return the money, but the government office will also have to pay an additional reward.

Since the battle was won, Li Mu was in no hurry to rush.

Now there are only ten li left; just arrive at the battlefield before dark and receive the spoils.

"The enemy is catching up, run!"

After running two li, the panting pirates just wanted to stop and catch their breath when they found the pursuers coming.

Unable to rest, the pirates fled in a hurry.

Unfortunately, two legs can't outrun four legs; in the blink of an eye, they heard bursts of screams.

Mixing in the crowd fleeing for their lives, Yin Kainan, who realized the situation was not good, decisively chose to lie on the ground.

Paired with the clothes full of blood, from a distance, he looked no different from a dead person.

The boss set an example, and the trusted followers by his side also understood.

They all chose a place with good feng shui to lie down and bet their lives on pretending to be dead.

Facts proved that they chose correctly.

At this time, the cavalry was busy pursuing and killing the remaining enemies everywhere and had no time to check whether the people on the ground were dead.

Some pirate wounded were in unbearable pain and rolled on the ground, but no one paid attention to them.

Seeing the imperial cavalry go far away, Yin Kainan, who was mixed in the pile of dead bodies, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at the hoof print only an inch away from him, the cold sweat on his forehead came out directly.

It was too thrilling; just a moment ago, he almost changed from pretending to be dead to being truly dead.

Seeing a trusted follower crawl out of the pile of dead bodies and walk toward him, Yin Kainan's face changed instantly.

"Idiot, lie down quickly!

The enemy may come back at any time; wait until after dark, and then we will look for an opportunity to retreat!"

Having managed to get his life back, he didn't want to return it because of a moment of recklessness.

Looking at the sunset, Yin Kainan felt for the first time that time was so long.

The pursuit battle in the distance was still continuing, and as time passed, the pursuit radius was constantly expanding.

The limited cavalry could not cover every corner.

The pirates fleeing in a frenzy entered the luck-testing mode.

Time passed minute by minute, and the sky gradually darkened.

The cavalry performing the pursuit mission began to return one after another.

The lucky pirates who escaped the disaster lay on the ground panting.

They were too tired; now they just wanted to rest.

But thinking of the imperial army pursuing them, their originally exhausted bodies suddenly had strength again.

Everyone knew that tonight was the best time to run for their lives.

If they couldn't escape to the sea in time, these lone pirates would have no power to escape the government's pursuit.

When the moon rose and it was confirmed that the imperial army had all returned to camp, Yin Kainan, who was lying like a corpse, slowly crawled out of the pile of dead bodies.

Taking his trusted followers, he started the escape route again.

The sudden defeat not only buried the elite of the pirate group but also shook his position as shipowner.

The pirate world is far more cruel than the outside world.

One can imagine that after going back this time, there will definitely be ambitious people challenging the boss's position.

Including the trusted leaders he promoted himself, they might not be reliable now.

Internal enemies are tricky, and external competition is equally fierce.

The number of merchant ships is not infinite, and pirates also need to fight for territory.

The pirate group that suffered heavy losses clearly does not have the strength to meet the challenges of all parties.

The sea area originally controlled must now be forced to be abandoned, and a sea area with less competition must be re-selected to gain a foothold.

Generally speaking, in sea areas with little competition, the harvest that can be obtained is also small.

If you are unlucky, you might not encounter a merchant ship for several months.

The harvest of robbery is directly related to the rise and fall of the pirate group.

Without enough money and grain, you can't afford to raise subordinates, let alone expand the scale of pirates.

For a moment, Yin Kainan suddenly felt that his life had become gray.

Under the situation of internal and external troubles, let alone revenge on the imperial court, whether he can save his life in internal and external competition is an unknown.

Deep down, Yin Kainan couldn't help but greet the entire family of the behind-the-scenes financier.

If it weren't for those guys suddenly appearing and disrupting his previous plans, maybe he would have run away with the team before the imperial court's surrounding army arrived.

The wood is already a boat; no matter how much he regrets it, it's too late.

After the strength is greatly damaged, the large ships promised by others are definitely not to be thought of.

He even has to guard against these guys secretly attacking him to hide the truth.

(End of chapter)