Chapter 268: Capture Alive!

Jinghai County.

Manshan Village.

At this moment, the place was filled with screams and miserable cries.

The thatched huts in the village were set ablaze, and flame and thick smoke filled the air.

The ground was littered with the corpses of the village men, their fresh blood staining the earth red.

Women clutched their children tightly, but were forcibly separated by the sea bandits and dragged toward the warships anchored on the sea.

"Mother, Mother..." A girl of about five years old held her mother tightly and would not let go.

Losing patience, a sea bandit suddenly picked the girl up and slammed her fiercely against the ground.

The girl hit the ground heavily and fell silent.

"Hong'er, Hong'er..." The girl's mother went mad; she bit down hard on the sea bandit's arm.

The sea bandit felt the pain, his face twisted instantly, and he drew his Dongying Long Saber to stab her from behind.

The woman struggled for a moment, then fell silent.

"Bad luck!" The sea bandit kicked the woman's corpse away and shouted to his companions, "Move faster, the government troops might already be hunting for us."

"Captain, we're just leaving like this? The few villages we raided were too poor; we didn't get any loot. We should go deeper and grab some Silver," one sea bandit said.

"The Island Master only told us to destroy the Yan Wang's Shipbuilding Department. Letting you loot for two days has already violated the Island Master's orders. If this is found out, we will all be punished." The sea bandit called Captain looked serious.

"We've already violated the Island Master's orders anyway, so we might as well take the risk and grab some things," another sea bandit chimed in.

"Do you want to die? This Yan Wang is not someone easy to deal with," the Captain said sternly.

Everyone who could be a sea bandit at sea was a desperate outlaw, difficult to discipline.

So he emphasized his tone.

"That's just because this Yan Wang hasn't met us yet. Those soldiers were beaten by us until they were pissing their pants," another sea bandit said.

"Hahaha..."

The other sea bandits laughed when they heard this.

The Captain could not help but reveal a smug smile on his stiff expression as well.

What the crew members said was not without reason; they had Matchlocks, after all.

"Fine, we will raid a few more villages further in, then withdraw to the sea tomorrow. If anyone dares to say another word of dissent, I won't be polite," the Captain said angrily.

The sea bandits cheered and held their Matchlocks high.

"Captain Bai, you have finally arrived."

Jinghai County seat.

Seeing the Prince's Army entering through the city gate, Song Cang almost shed tears.

The Shipbuilding Department had been attacked and burned to the ground, and Chen Shou had returned to Yancheng wounded.

For the past two days, news of sea bandits attacking villages had been arriving constantly.

The entire Jinghai County was in a state of panic.

Although he was anxious, he had no troops at his disposal, only a few yamen runners, and was completely unable to stop the sea bandits from running rampant in Jinghai County.

Bai Shang's face was as cold as frost.

It was only a little over a day's journey from Yancheng to Jinghai County.

After receiving the order, he set out yesterday morning, traveling day and night, and finally arrived at Jinghai County at noon.

"Is there any news of the sea bandits now?" Bai Shang asked.

He was an old subordinate of Chang Wei, and his temper was as fiery as Chang Wei's.

Having suffered a loss at the hands of the sea bandits, the entire Prince's Personal Army had lost face.

Coming this time, Chang Wei had given him a death order.

If the sea bandits were found, they must be completely annihilated.

"Yes, some commoners just came to ask for help. The sea bandits attacked Manshan Village and are now raiding other villages," Song Cang said.

"Lead the way immediately," Bai Shang said.

Although the day and night of marching was exhausting, he had to strike now.

Because delay meant that the commoners of Yanzhou would die at the hands of the sea bandits.

"General, follow me." Song Cang ordered horses to be brought and personally led the way for the Wangfu Army.

After leaving Jinghai County and traveling less than twenty li to the east, the group saw black smoke rising from the earth.

Without a doubt, the sea bandits were raiding there.

This time, Bai Shang brought five thousand troops to be stationed in Jinghai County, along with twelve Field Artillery pieces pulled by horses.

Having roughly determined the location of the sea bandits, he immediately ordered the troops to split into two groups to surround them.

"Six Field Artillery pieces for each route, seize the opportunity to blast the hell out of them," Bai Shang instructed his subordinate generals.

"Yes, Captain." After acknowledging the order, the generals led their respective troops away.

Yangzi Village.

The sea bandits were in the midst of a looting frenzy.

They were completely unaware that they had fallen into the encirclement of the Prince's Personal Army.

When a sea bandit discovered soldiers wearing Silver Armor appearing outside the village, he immediately shouted, "The government troops are here."

As the sound carried, the sea bandits immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered together.

Seeing the large number of government troops, the sea bandit Captain secretly thought it was bad.

It was clear that the Yan Wang had sent a large force to encircle and suppress them.

"Retreat to the sea!" someone shouted on the pirate ship.

At this moment, the pirates were also panicking.

One by one, they took to their heels and ran east; as long as they got on the ships, these government soldiers would be unable to do anything to them.

However, they had not run very far before they saw soldiers blocking them from the east as well.

They were surrounded.

"Form ranks!" the pirate captain swallowed hard.

Now they could only rely on the power of their Matchlocks to force their way out.

Once his order was given, the five hundred-plus pirates immediately formed a horizontal line and continued to move east.

But just at this moment, they suddenly saw the government soldiers ahead of them scatter, clearing a path for them.

The pirates thought these government soldiers were afraid of their firearms, and smiles appeared on their faces.

But their smiles quickly froze.

A series of "Boom, boom, boom" deafening sounds arrived.

They turned their heads back, only to see countless black dots flying toward them from behind.

Before they could react, they saw the pirates in the back row spray out bursts of blood mist and fall in a heap.

Of the five hundred-plus pirates, only three hundred-plus remained standing in a sparse formation.

This scene immediately terrified the pirates, leaving their faces ashen.

This was Artillery.

Now, they began to regret their recklessness.

These Yanzhou soldiers were clearly not so easy to provoke.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

While the pirates were in terror, several more pieces of Artillery opened fire on them.

Some pirates were hit, their entire bodies flying up before landing.

"Run!" The pirates' will quickly collapsed.

The remaining pirates fled toward the coastline one after another.

But just at this moment, the retreating Wangfu Army soldiers closed ranks again.

The soldiers in the front row held Pulley Crossbows and fired arrows at the pirates.

"Swish, swish," the sounds of arrows piercing the air rang out, and another thirty-plus pirates fell.

"Kill!" After three rounds of Crossbow fire, the Wangfu Army soldiers raised their blades and swords and charged over.

The pirates were now in total chaos, their formation completely disorganized; some pirates hurriedly lit their fuses to load ammunition into their Matchlocks.

But they were cut down to the ground by the charging Wangfu Army soldiers just as they raised their guns.

In less than a quarter of an hour, this group of pirates had all been captured.

"General, we caught five survivors," a commander reported to Bai Shang.

Bai Shang nodded, "Escort them back to Yan Commandery."

At this time, another Cavalryman came over and said, "General, there is a large ship on the sea, and there are several small boats on the shore; they should belong to these pirates."

Bai Shang frowned; the Wangfu Army soldiers were all landlubbers and did not know how to sail ships.

Song Cang seemed to see what Bai Shang was thinking and said, "General, there are many fishermen in Jinghai County; finding a few people should be enough to bring the ships back."