Chapter 387: Calming the Disturbance

"Are you saying the fleet is right at the junction of the Fan River?" Chang Wei asked.

After the young pirate gave his account, he immediately clenched his fists.

The pirates had truly come.

"General, the Shipbuilding Department is counting on you." Chen Shou was also at his side, and at this moment, he bowed to Chang Wei with a sincere expression.

Chang Wei's eyes darted around; he ordered the remaining two pirates to be beheaded and the pirate who had confessed to be locked in the dungeon.

According to the laws of Great Song, those who engage in piracy are to be executed immediately.

Although his life could be spared, he could not escape his punishment.

He then left five thousand men to guard the Shipbuilding Department to prevent any accidents.

He led the remaining fifteen thousand men to march toward the Fan River, while also taking thirty-six pieces of Field Artillery.

On a warship in the Fan River, Hei Shan waited nervously for news.

An hour passed without anyone returning, so he dispatched several more men to sneak onto the riverbank to scout.

It would be their turn in just a few more ships.

If the Shipbuilding Department was unprepared, he could still take the risk.

If they were, he could only retreat and wait for the next opportunity.

But the crew sent out the second time had not even been gone for a quarter of an hour before they returned in a panic.

"My lord, it's bad! A large group of soldiers is coming this way."

A layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on Hei Shan's forehead, and he said at once, "Retreat quickly!"

The order was passed down, oars extended from beneath the ships, and the entire fleet began to turn around.

Just then, Chang Wei arrived with his troops.

Watching the fleet fleeing toward the east, he immediately ordered his soldiers to fire along the riverbank.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The Flintlocks spat out Flame.

The Bullets struck the pirate warships, kicking up clouds of wood splinters.

The Artillerymen hurriedly unloaded the Artillery from the horses and unleashed a barrage of fire at the pirate warships.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The roaring of Flintlocks and Artillery rose and fell.

The merchants on the other Merchant Ships were terrified, every one of them trembling with fear.

They did not understand why the Prince's Army would attack a fleet.

"Thud, squelch..."

The Cannonballs struck the warships, first emitting a loud crash, then piercing through the hulls.

One pirate warship immediately began to leak, and Chang Wei even saw people grabbing things to plug the holes.

"Hit the ships on the far east," Chang Wei shouted.

Flintlocks could not cause serious damage to the hulls, so they had to rely on the Artillery; Chang Wei gave orders repeatedly.

Seeing the warships turning around one by one, the artillery commander immediately ordered the soldiers to secure the Artillery onto the horses and move five hundred meters to the east.

At this moment, Hei Shan was incredibly anxious on his warship.

The forty-two warships stretched for over a mile.

His orders could not be transmitted quickly to the warships at the far east.

Only the foremost warships had turned around, but the ships to the east had not yet moved and could not maneuver at all.

"Leave the rowers, everyone else get on deck and kill for me!" Hei Shan roared.

Upon receiving his order, the pirates holding Matchlocks climbed onto the decks and opened fire at the Prince's Army soldiers on the riverbank.

But their numbers were clearly no match for the Prince's Army soldiers.

Moreover, the rate of fire of the Matchlocks was extremely slow, and the smoke was thick, obstructing their vision.

They immediately suffered in the exchange of fire, and the pirates fell on the decks one by one.

"Since you've come, don't think about leaving," Chang Wei snorted coldly.

After about a quarter of an hour, he heard the sound of cannon fire from the east.

At the edge of his vision, a warship was sending wood splinters flying.

At such close range, the Artillery could exert its maximum power.

The first warship to the east soon became a honeycomb; river water poured into the warship, and it slowly sank, blocking the river channel.

At the same time, Chang Wei requisitioned Merchant Ships to block the river mouth leading to the Canal, completely trapping the pirates.

After two hours of fighting, all forty-plus warships had been sunk by Artillery fire.

The river was filled with the corpses of pirates, and the entire river was dyed red.

All the pirates who had managed to swim to the riverbank were captured and thrown into the dungeon.

Seeing that dusk was approaching, Chang Wei looked at the crimson river water and sent a squad of Cavalry to Jinghai County to inform Yan Wang of the news.

But the Cavalry encountered Yan Wang on his way to Fanyang halfway there, and they returned to Fanyang together.

"That lad Bai Shang is not bad; this battle was fought well. The pirates have been completely wiped out this time."

At the Fanyang Government Office, Zhao Xu told Chang Wei about the situation in Jinghai, and Chang Wei nodded slightly.

"It's not exactly a complete wipeout; there are still over thirty ships at sea, but Yanzhou has no Navy, so we can only stare helplessly," Zhao Xu said.

The two pirate attacks made him increasingly desperate to possess a fleet.

Otherwise, the pirates would use the agility of their warships at sea to constantly raid Yanzhou.

From Yamada Ichino, he learned that there were over thirty thousand pirates on Wufeng Island and more than two hundred warships.

Having suffered such heavy losses in Yanzhou this time, Wufeng Island would certainly not let the matter rest.

Chen Shou pursed his lips, "Your Highness, this official guarantees that twelve warships can be delivered to the Navy before the end of the year."

Zhao Xu's mood improved slightly, "That would be best; in this way, with warships patrolling the coast of Yanzhou, the sea bandits will naturally be unable to run rampant."

Thinking of something, he asked Chang Wei again, "It is said that the leader this time was a Vice Island Master nicknamed Black Mountain; did you capture him?"

Chang Wei showed an embarrassed expression, "Your Highness, blades and swords have no eyes, let alone muskets; when this Black Mountain was found, he was already a corpse."

"No matter, I probably already know what I need to know." Zhao Xu had only asked casually.

Having a preliminary understanding of the situation outside the Great Song was enough.

For now, he still had to focus his main energy on the North Territory.

After all, this was the most profound crisis.

"Allocate another ten thousand men to Bai Shang and order him to patrol the coast; he must not give the sea bandits any opportunity to cause trouble," Zhao Xu added.

Once sea bandits land, they still cause great destruction.

They would burn, kill, and loot along the way, severely affecting the lives of the common people.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei replied.

Finally, he looked at Chen Shou, "Director Chen, since this batch of warships is largely complete, let us begin the construction of the next batch. It would be best if the next batch could consist of twenty-four warships; after all, with the experience of construction, it is now just a matter of Silver and the number of craftsmen."

The construction period for warships was quite long, and he had to invest a massive amount of resources into building them within a short time.

Otherwise, at twelve ships a year, he might not even have the number of warships of the peak of the contemporary Spain fleet in thirty years.

Furthermore, the question Yamada Ichino asked clearly showed he recognized the Flintlock.

And the history of Flintlock equipment was over two hundred years.

In the contemporary era, this spanned from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century.

During this period, from the perspective of the Easterners, their equipment actually did not change much.

But he could not judge from this that they were merely stuck in the seventeenth century.

Shaking his head, he cast off these chaotic thoughts.

Zhao Xu's gaze became resolute.

Since the world is a chessboard, let them have a good game of chess on the world's board.

After resting for one day in Fanyang, Zhao Xu returned to Yancheng the next day.

Jinling, Liang Mansion.

Liang Kai was reading in the courtyard when a flock of birds flew past, and a dollop of bird droppings landed on the page of his book.

"Bad luck!" Liang Kai threw the book onto the ground in disgust.

Then, a sudden sense of foreboding rose in his heart.