Chapter 381: The Sea Pirates Return

The sea off Jinghai County.

Seventy-two warships, each flying a banner with five mountain peaks, sat quietly on the sea, their formation resembling a triangle.

On the lead warship, a man with a full, bristly beard and one shriveled eye socket held a monocular, gazing at a row of wooden stakes erected on the shore.

Hanging from these stakes were corpses.

They were the corpses of the pirates who had last raided Jinghai County.

"Vice Island Master, this is where we were defeated by Yan Wang's army. Their artillery was fierce; otherwise, we could not have been defeated." Beside the man, a pirate pointed toward the land.

During that battle, he had luckily escaped, sailed out from Qizhou, and returned to Wufeng Island to bring the news to Island Master Wang Zhi.

On the sea, the Wufeng Pirates were known to all and feared by everyone.

Even the Liang Family had to pay them protection money, or they could forget about trading on the sea.

Over these years, the Wufeng Pirates had raided wherever they pleased along the coast.

Each time, they would return fully loaded, and they had never before been almost completely wiped out in one place, nor had they lost several ships.

Even though the Liang Family compensated them with silver for this, they still could not swallow this insult.

Therefore, Island Master Heishan decided to order Vice Island Master Heishan to personally lead the fleet to Yanzhou.

"Vice Island Master, Yan Wang hanging our brothers' corpses on wooden poles is an insult to us; we cannot let Yan Wang off lightly." A square-faced man to Heishan's left said angrily.

His accent was somewhat stiff, he wore wooden clogs, and at his waist was a very long blade that curved slightly only at the tip.

The middle of his head was shaved, a style completely different from the Song People.

Clenching his fists, he continued: "And if Yan Wang is truly researching and building warships in preparation for sea trade, he will inevitably become our formidable enemy in the future."

Heishan narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was now very interested in this Yan Wang.

Judging from the information revealed by the Liang Family, this Yan Wang could not only build many strange and curious things, but also artillery, and even warships.

If he were not certain that he was an Imperial Prince of the Great Song,

he would surely believe he was a European.

But even so, he was half-skeptical of the Liang Family's information, preferring to believe that Yan Wang had a European assisting him,

rather than believing Yan Wang possessed such skills.

But interest was just interest; this time, he had come to Yanzhou for revenge.

Yan Wang had killed so many of his men from Wufeng Island and had even insulted their corpses so.

He would ensure the coast of Yanzhou would never know a day of peace.

Furthermore, as the Liang Family said, Yan Wang had earned so much silver.

Yanzhou was also gradually becoming wealthy; taking advantage of the fact that Yan Wang had no Navy to deal with them, if they didn't raid now, when would they?

Without a constant stream of spoils to feed these desperate men under his command, they would eat him.

"Take Jinghai County and kill every single person from Yanzhou inside," Heishan said.

Upon receiving the order, a huge cheer erupted on the ship.

The pirates lowered small boats from the warships and, carrying flintlocks, rowed toward the land.

At this moment, the unusual movement on the sea had long been detected by the patrolling cavalry.

Bai Shang, stationed in Jinghai County, soon learned of this news.

After fighting in the Jinzhuzhizhan, he had been sent to Jinghai County.

Originally, he thought this was a boring assignment.

He did not expect that a large number of pirates would appear today, and the number was ten times that of last time.

"This is truly devilish. Haven't these pirates always been causing trouble in the prosperous southeast coastal region? Why have they set their sights on Yanzhou now?" Bai Shang ordered his soldiers to assemble while climbing the city wall.

Although the days in Jinghai County were boring, he had never been lazy.

The soldiers on the city wall were on high alert, and the thirty-six cannons were fully stocked with ammunition.

Raising his monocular, he looked toward the distant coastline.

Sure enough, he saw many black dots on the sea.

"Immediately send someone to Yancheng to report to Yan Wang." Bai Shang licked his lips, an undisguised excitement in his eyes.

During the Jinzhuzhizhan, the Armament Bureau had produced many flintlocks.

After he returned, all the soldiers under his command had completed their re-equipment, and they had been training for over a month now.

Therefore, he was not afraid of these pirates at all.

On the contrary, for him, this was an opportunity to earn merit.

On the warship.

Heishan watched his deputy, Yamada Ichino, descend into the small boat on the sea.

At the same time, the crew on the warship were still dismantling twelve cannons from the ship, hanging them with ropes to lower them down.

There were one hundred cannons in his fleet.

These were sold to him by the Stedan people, who also provided them with matchlocks.

The price was that they could not plunder Stedan merchant ships, had to protect Stedan interests in Yizhou, and simultaneously cooperate with the Stedan people to plunder their rivals' merchant ships.

It was precisely by relying on these one hundred cannons and the numerous warships that he, Heishan, could run rampant on the sea, making sea merchants tremble with fear.

Since he was determined to avenge his crew this time, he was resolved to take Jinghai County, even if it meant using the artillery.

One hour later, six thousand pirates landed on the shore.

One-third of them carried matchlocks, while two-thirds carried long blades and bows and arrows, swarming toward Jinghai County.

The villagers in the nearby villages had received the news and had long since fled to the county seat.

Finding no one in the villages, the pirates were even more annoyed, howling as they closed in on Jinghai County.

"I never expected this group of sea bandits to actually have Artillery."

Through the Telescope, the great army of sea bandits was dragging twelve pieces of Artillery toward Jinghai County.

Bai Shang frowned tightly; this left him feeling somewhat shocked.

He had originally thought that only Yanzhou could produce Artillery.

But now it appeared that there was Artillery in other places as well.

"Lord Captain, how shall we fight?" At this moment, a Colonel climbed onto the city wall and asked.

"Defend. Let us first see what skills this group of sea bandits possesses," Bai Shang said.

This gang of sea bandits was numerous and came with great momentum; as the defending side, they naturally had to utilize their own advantages.

It would not be too late to wipe them all out once these sea bandits were exhausted.

"Coming to Yanzhou to plunder, you must have truly blinded your dog eyes," Bai Shang sneered aloud.

Half an hour later, the sea bandits arrived at Jinghai County.

They formed ranks outside the city and positioned the Artillery to aim at the Jinghai County city gate.

Yamada Ichino looked toward the top of the Jinghai County city wall and revealed a cruel smile.

Even if Yan Wang had Artillery, so what? They had them too.

Moreover, their warships came and went on the sea like the wind.

This time it was Jinghai County; next, they would roam along the coastline of Yanzhou, and as long as they found a place to land, they would go up and plunder.

In other parts of the Great Song, they had done the same.

"Brothers, inside Jinghai County is the Fine Wine of Yan Wang. Break into the county seat, and I will treat you to Wine," Yamada Ichino shouted.

"Woo-oh..." The sea bandits yelled wantonly upon hearing this.

They were all desperate outlaws, and what they loved most was plundering and slaughter.

To them, this was the meaning of being alive.

"Fire!" With the enthusiasm of his subordinates ignited, Yamada Ichino shouted.

The twelve pieces of Artillery spat out tongues of fire, launching Cannonballs toward the Jinghai County city gate.