Chapter 138: Clearing the Pirates 2

Half an hour later, the scout boat returned.

"Prince, the island has about three hundred pirates, a wooden stockade camp, two arrow towers, and three cannons on the beach that look like they were taken off warships," the scout reported.

"Cannons..." Zhu Yong mused.

The pirates have cannons; a frontal assault would cause casualties.

"Prince, why not launch a night raid, destroy their cannons first, then attack the camp," Zhou Tai suggested.

Zhu Yong shook his head: "No need, attack directly."

He pointed to the west side of the island and added, "There is a cliff; the pirates' defense is weak there. We'll land there and go around to the rear of the camp."

"How do we land on the cliff?"

"Climb up."

Zhou Tai was startled.

The cliff was over ten zhang high, almost vertical—how could anyone climb it?

They must not expect us to just fall to our deaths!

Zhu Yong smiled and said, "You'll feign an attack at the front to draw attention; I'll take fifty men to scale the cliff from the west."

He selected fifty agile soldiers, each equipped with a Flintlock Gun, a short sword, and a coil of rope.

At dusk, the fleet split into two groups.

Zhou Tai led eight warships, pressing forward toward Hujing Island from the front, shouting and drumming, assuming an aggressive stance.

Zhu Yong led four warships, quietly sailing around to the island's west side.

As he had expected, the cliff was steep, waves crashing against the rocks and spraying white spray.

"Prince, this…" Zhang Wu said, looking at the cliff with a troubled expression.

"Follow me," Zhu Yong said, stepping off the boat first and wading ashore.

He reached the base of the cliff, observed for a moment, and found a fissure.

The fissure was about a foot wide, extending from the bottom to the top of the cliff, suitable for climbing.

"Tie the rope around your waist and follow me," Zhu Yong said, fastening one end of the rope to his own waist and handing the other end to Zhang Wu.

He inhaled deeply, gripped the rock fissure with both hands, planted his feet against the wall, and began to climb.

Moving as nimbly as a monkey, he scaled Three Zhang in the blink of an eye.

The sailors below stared in amazement.

The cliff was almost vertical—could Prince really walk it as if on flat ground?

"Keep up!" Zhang Wu gritted his teeth, mimicking Zhu Yong's movements and began to climb.

The other sailors followed suit.

Halfway up, Zhu Yong discovered several footholds in the fissure that seemed to have been chiseled by hand.

It seemed someone had climbed this way before.

He quickened his pace and, after a quarter hour, reached the cliff top.

The summit was a thicket of trees; through the gaps one could see the distant camp's firelight.

He secured the rope to a tree, tossed it down the cliff, and used it to pull up the soldiers behind him.

Half an hour later, all fifty men had reached the top.

"Rest for a quarter hour and check your weapons," Zhu Yong whispered.

The soldiers sat against a large tree, inspecting their Flintlock Guns and ammunition.

Zhu Yong slipped to the edge of the woods to observe the camp.

The camp was built on the inland side of the beach, enclosed by a wooden stockade, with more than twenty wooden huts inside.

Two arrow towers stood east and west, each manned by two sentries.

Three cannons on the beach faced the sea; seven or eight pirates were drinking Wine beside the gun positions.

At the front, Zhou Tai's fleet had begun bombarding; cannonballs struck the beach, kicking up sand.

The pirates panicked, grabbed weapons, and rushed toward the beach.

Only a few dozen defenders remained inside the camp.

The moment had arrived.

Zhu Yong retreated into the woods and told the sailors, "Split into two squads: one follows Zhang Wu to assault the arrow tower, the other follows Chen Heng to attack the camp gate. Remember, use Flintlock Guns for a swift strike."

"Yes!"

The fifty men divided into two silent groups, creeping toward the camp.

Zhang Wu led twenty‑five men, slipping beneath the eastern arrow tower.

The sentries atop the tower stared at the sea, completely unaware of anyone behind them.

Zhang Wu raised his gun and took aim.

Bang!

The gunshot rang, and the sentry fell.

Another sentry gasped in shock; just as he opened his mouth to shout, a shot killed him.

The western arrow tower met the same fate, easily seized by Chen Heng and his men.

The pirates at the camp gate heard the gunfire, and before they could react, Zhu Yong had already charged forward with his men.

"Who are you…" the gate‑guarding pirate shouted loudly.

The answer was more gunfire.

Bang bang bang...

Flintlock Guns fired in unison, and the more than ten pirates at the gate fell instantly.

Zhu Yong kicked the camp gate open with one foot and rushed into the camp.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" the pirates inside the camp shouted.

But it was already too late.

Fifty Flintlock Guns fired in succession, the gunfire never ceasing.

The pirates were still using swords and bows, and against the firearms they had no means to fight back.

One volley knocked down more than twenty men.

A second volley felled another ten or so.

The remaining pirates broke and fled in all directions.

Zhu Yong did not pursue, but led his men toward the beach.

On the beach, the pirates were exchanging fire with Zhou Tai's fleet when gunshots suddenly sounded behind them; turning around, they saw the camp had been lost.

"Behind! There are enemies behind!" someone screamed.

The pirates' formation fell into chaos.

Zhu Yong led fifty sailors to break out from the rear, firing their Flintlock Guns in unison.

The pirates were attacked from front and back and collapsed in an instant.

Zhou Tai, seeing the opportunity, ordered a landing.

Three hundred sailors rushed onto the beach in small boats, fighting the remaining enemies.

The battle lasted half an hour.

Of the three hundred pirates, more than two hundred were killed and over eighty captured.

Eight ships, three cannons, and a number of Gold and Silver valuables were seized.

Zhu Yong stood on the beach, watching the pirate captives forced to kneel in a line.

"Who is the leader?" Zhu Yong asked, looking down at the pirates.

The captives lowered their heads and said nothing.

Zhu Yong walked up to a burly man whose face bore a knife scar and whose eyes were fierce.

"Are you the leader?"

The man looked up and sneered, "So what if I am? If you want to kill, kill; in eighteen years I'll be a hero again."

"A hero... looting civilians, trafficking people—does that even qualify as a hero?" Zhu Yong laughed.

He turned to Zhou Tai and said, "Take them down for interrogation, find the other bases, the accomplices, and the hidden loot."

"Yes!"

Zhou Tai led men to escort the captives away.

Zhu Yong walked toward the three cannons.

The cannons were cast of bronze, their barrels mottled with rust, yet they were well maintained, clearly important weapons of the pirates.

"Prince, this cannon is a standard piece from the former Yuan navy, probably left by Zhang Shicheng back then," an old gunner said after inspecting.

"Is it still usable?"

"It can be used; the gunpowder is damp and needs to be dried in the sun."

"Pack it up and take it back to Fuzhou."

"Understood."

When tallying the spoils, a large cache of valuables was found in the camp warehouse.

Silk, porcelain, tea, and several hundred taels of Gold and Silver.

The most shocking sight was dozens of shackles piled in a corner of the warehouse, with dried bloodstains on the floor.

"These beasts..." Zhang Wu gritted his teeth.

Zhu Yong fell silent.

He knew this was only the tip of the iceberg.

Along the southeastern coast, who knows how many more civilians have suffered.

"Send the order: rest for a day, depart tomorrow, and cleanse Wang'an Island," he commanded.

"Prince, continuous combat will tire the troops..." Zhou Tai hesitated.

"Even if weary, we must fight; the pirates won't wait for us to rest. Tell them that for each island captured, the silver reward doubles, and the compensation for the fallen is tenfold."

Zhu Yong said solemnly.

With heavy rewards, brave men will emerge.

Sure enough, when the news spread, the sailors' morale surged.

April 15, the fleet arrived at Wang'an Island.

The pirates here were already prepared, having set up obstacles on the shore and erected cannons.

But it was useless.

Zhu Yong employed the same method, scaling cliffs at night and launching a rear assault.

The Flintlock Guns again displayed their formidable power.

Fifty guns, three volleys, shattered the pirates' defenses.

Zhou Tai pressed a frontal assault while flanking from both sides, breaking the enemy in one stroke.

In this battle, over two hundred enemies were slain and six ships seized.

April 18, the fleet moved to fight at Qimei Island.

April 22, they captured Dongji Island.

April 25, they cleared West Ji Island.

In just half a month, the twelve Penghu Islands where sea bandits held sway were cleared one by one.

Over 1,200 enemies were slain, more than forty ships captured, fifteen cannons seized, and the loot amounted to three hundred thousand taels of silver.

Rescued over two hundred abducted civilians.

The news reached Fuzhou, shaking the coastal prefectures and counties.

The people rushed to spread the word, burning incense and kowtowing, calling King Wu the guardian deity of the Maritime Frontier.

On the first day of the fifth month, the fleet returned to Fuzhou.

Zhu Yong had just stepped off the ship when he received an urgent dispatch from Yingtian.

"Prince, a secret letter from the Crown Prince," Zhang Wu presented a letter.

Zhu Yong opened it; it was in Zhu Biao's own handwriting.

"Second brother, the great victory at Penghu, Imperial Father is overjoyed and has issued an edict to reward the three armies, but the newly appointed Provincial Administrator of Fujian reported, accusing you of unilaterally starting the war, wasting money and provisions, and committing excessive slaughter, harming the harmony of Heaven; several Imperial Censors from Jiangnan also submitted memorials to impeach you."

Imperial Father kept it pending and did not issue a decree, yet there is already discussion at court, urging you to promptly respond to Heaven, to report the results face‑to‑face to Imperial Father, in order to silence Youyou's mouth.

Zhu Yong finished reading and sneered.

"Unilaterally starting the war..."

"When the sea bandits were plundering the people, where were these officials?"

"Wasting money and provisions..."

"The seized loot is enough to fight ten wars like this."

"Harming the harmony of Heaven..."

"To those beasts, what harmony of Heaven can be spoken of?"

"Prince, what shall we do?" Zhang Wu asked.

"Respond to Heaven, that's appropriate; the combat effectiveness of the Flintlock Gun here should also be discussed properly with Father and elder brother," Zhu Yong said after putting away the letter.

On the third day of the fifth month, Zhu Yong led the Imperial Troops guard unit, left Fuzhou, and headed north to Yingtian.

The Maritime Frontier has just been pacified, but the turmoil in the court has only just begun.

More importantly, the full‑scale mass production of the Flintlock Gun will completely transform Great Ming's military strength.