Chapter 118: The first battle against the Japanese pirates

At night, a gust of wind blew on the sea, and dark clouds galloped like arrows in the sky. A fleet of thirteen four-masted ships appeared secretly on the sea twenty miles away from Huangpu Island. These were the five hundred Japanese pirates who came from Lao Wanshan Island. Their news was still ten days ago. There were 300,000 taels of silver and countless goods on Huangpu Island, and more than 400 guards. For this reason, they temporarily gave up their plan to rob their families and prepared to attack Huangpu Island at night...

On a large ship that was leading the way, Kikuchi Fengya, wearing silver armor and holding a long bow, stood at the bow of the ship. Her fiery red hair fluttered in the sea breeze, her face looked grim and her eyes stared at the dark sea in front of her. She felt a little uneasy. This uneasiness comes from the delay of intelligence. It has been thirteen days. Will Baiyin still stay on the island?

Behind her was a young Japanese samurai, who was her deputy named Katsushi Muto, with a slender figure and a cold appearance. He was twenty-three years old this year, but he had been following Kikuchi Fenga for eight years and was loyal to her. He claimed that he was from a samurai family of the Northern Dynasties, and he carried a famous Japanese sword "The Wind of the Six Kingdoms" on his waist, which was said to be given by his father.

But this time, Kikuchi Fengma finally learned from his uncle Takeo Kikuchi that the famous sword "The Wind of the Six Kingdoms" was actually the sword of Yoshihiro Ouchi, the hero of Kitakyushu, Japan. It is said that his sons and brothers were incompatible, so he gave the knife to his younger son Ouchi Katsuya. Ouchi Katsuya ran away from home at the age of fifteen. The whereabouts are still unknown. Kikuchi Fengma guessed that his deputy was Ouchi Katsuya, the youngest son of the missing Ouchi family.

She didn't tell her true identity, but just kept him tightly by her side. This time, the five hundred Japanese pirates headed south by this Ouchi Katsura Katsura Katsura Katsura.

"The leader, my subordinates are worried that the situation may change, so they are willing to lead a small boat to investigate."

Kikuchi Fengya glanced at him, then nodded and said, "Okay! You can lead a few brothers to go and go back quickly."

She then waved her hand and said, "The fleet slowed down and waited for news."

The Japanese pirates' fleet slowed down slowly, and a small boat carried Muto Katsushiro toward the island quickly.

At this moment, the Huangpu Island pier was brightly lit, and hundreds of torches shone the pier like daylight. A large ship was parked on the pier, but it was not a ship to transport property. It was a supply ship that had just arrived from Guangzhou, transporting a full ship of grain and fresh water.

More than 400 servants on the dock were busy unloading the food and fresh water on the boat. Then more than 300 women and children from the Luo family immediately took the boat back to Shunde first. The dangerous atmosphere on the island was getting heavier and heavier.

On the steps next to the dock, Luo Nansheng looked at the sea worriedly. He really knew what kind of person Yu Guangqing was, and he was greedy and cruel. Once he knew the property and women of the Luo family on the island, he would definitely kill him back. Tan Yanling and the two hundred guards who were with him knew the situation on the island. It would be impossible not to let Yu Guangqing know about this.

"Everyone, hurry up!" Luo Nansheng urged anxiously. On the distant sea, rumbling thunder came from the depths of the dark clouds. Lightning bolts tear through the dark night. Lightning had already drizzled up in the sky, and the wind was getting tighter and tighter. A pouring rain was coming.

Suddenly, behind a reef two hundred steps away from the dock, Muto Katsu's boat appeared. He stared at the bags of food and fresh water coming down from the big ship, which were also the supplies they urgently needed.

"Mutou, there are a few cannons over there." A small leader behind him reminded Katsu Muto. Katsu Muto looked in the direction of his finger and saw a few prominent shadows on the high point of the island, which could not be seen clearly in the dark night.

"Did you count how many artillery guns have you had last time?"

“About three or four doors.”

Muto Katsu nodded, and at this time, a samurai pointed to the dock and shouted: "Look, there are still women."

A dozen young women appeared on the dock, saying something to a middle-aged man. The women's colorful skirts and jackets strongly stimulated the primitive desires of the Japanese pirates. Muto Katsu's eyes also lit up. He waved his hand gently, "Go back!"

The boat left the reef and quickly headed towards the fleet in the distance. At this moment, the thirteen Japanese pirates had already arrived on the sea five miles away from Huangpu. Kikuchi Fengya had already faintly seen the flames on the island at the bow of the boat.

"Chief, Muto-kun is back." A subordinate shouted at a small boat on the sea.

After a moment, the boat approached, Muto Katsu climbed the big ship along the rope and said to Kikuchi Fenga: "There is a six-masted ship parked on the pier, unloading grain and tamasumi. There are about four or five hundred enemies on the island, and there are many women. It seems that they are preparing to leave on the big ship."

Kikuchi Fengya knew from Luo Song that the Luo family had two six-masted ships, which were extremely fast. If they boarded the boat and left, their ships might not be able to catch up. She immediately ordered without hesitation: "Attack Shanghai Island immediately and tell my brothers that there are women on the island, and let them enjoy it after they catch it!"

After she gave the order, she raised her hand and a sound arrow shot out from the longbow in her hand, flew into the air, making a sharp sound. Thirteen Japanese pirate ships immediately raised their sails, accompanied by the excited shouts of the Japanese pirates on the ship, as if a group of evil wolves rushed towards Huangpu Island five miles away.

Just on the northeastern sea several miles away from the Japanese pirate ship, three Yu Guangqing's military ships who were preparing to return to the horse were also sailing towards Huangpu Island, but the ship speed soon slowed down and the Ming army discovered the whereabouts of the Japanese pirates.

"Sir, should we fight or not?" A deputy Qianhu asked Yu Guangqing for orders.

Yu Guangqing frowned, obviously not expecting the Japanese pirates who suddenly came, which ruined his plan, but also gave him a chance. Yu Guangqing pondered for a while, then waved his hand and smiled: "Don't act rashly, let them kill each other. When the killing is almost the same, we will not only destroy the Japanese pirates, but also destroy the smuggling strongholds. Isn't it the same to get promoted or make money?"

The dock was already in chaos, and the alarm sounded endlessly from the sirens. The servants rushed to the beach with their knives, preparing to face the attack of unknown origins. Luo Nansheng was so scared that his face was pale, panicked, and gave orders without any thought.

"Everyone went to the beach."

"Everyone hides, no! Go and fire."

More than a dozen women were so scared that they hugged their heads and cried, yelling and shouting, and there was a mess on the dock.

With a loud bang, the first cannon at a high place sounded, and the muzzle spewed out red flames and shot a shell from afar. It was a pity that he was blind and panicked. The shell fell into the water dozens of feet away from the Japanese pirate ship. Fengya Kikuchi raised the long sword in his hand high and shouted loudly: "Kill the island, and you can seize the money and women!"

The ferocious Japanese pirates smiled grimly, shouted, and waved their demon swords, wishing they could fly to the island with their wings.

The island was even more panicked, and the shouts of "Japanese pirates are coming" echoed hysterically on the island. Most of the Luo family's servants were farmers who put down their hoes or fishermen who washed their feet and went ashore. They had never been trained. Although they had knives, most of them were just pretending to deal with ordinary ordinary people. But in front of the vicious Japanese pirates, they were a group of mobs. The Japanese pirates' ships were still a mile away from the shore. The servants were already cold and their legs were weak, but there was nowhere to escape on the island. They pushed and shouted, and hundreds of people were in a mess on the beach.

But Luo Nansheng was the head of the Luo family after all, so he slowly calmed down after panic. On the one hand, he ordered people to send more than a dozen women back to the warehouse where the materials were stored on the island, and on the other hand, he personally went to the fort to direct the cannon.

"Don't panic, just shoot at their fleet."

Under the command of the head of the family, the servants in charge of firing the cannon gradually calmed down. They installed gunpowder, pounded it with fire sticks, and then loaded shells. Under the command of the head of the family, they shot at the largest ship together.

‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ There were a series of loud noises in artillery, and five black iron shells roared towards the ship. Two loud noises heard. Two shells hit the hull at the same time. The ship was immediately hit by two big holes, and the sea water poured in. The ship, carrying seventy or eighty Japanese pirates, began to overturn. The Japanese pirates shouted wildly and fell into the sea one after another. There were hundreds of steps away from the shore. Some people swam hard and struggled, while others were sunk under the sea. As the ship was swallowed by the sea, a huge vortex formed on the sea surface, sucking all the dozen struggling Japanese pirates into the sea.

The artillery was powerful, and the servants on the shore were cheering and their timid disappeared. Hundreds of people suddenly became high morale. At this time, another group of about 100 servants arrived. These servants had always been responsible for guarding the island. Most of them had received strict training and were very different from the mobs in front of them. Especially the two leaders were both officers. After they arrived, they immediately organized the team and placed more than 100 archers in front, while the rest of the servants were guarding on both wings.

Seeing that her side was damaged, Kikuchi Fengya was furious. When she was less than a hundred steps away from the island, she threw her bow and arrows at the fort. With a scream, a servant was caught in an arrow and fell from the high reef cliff and fell into the sea.

The Japanese pirates suddenly shouted wildly, and the ships rushed to the shallows. They jumped off the big ships, waded knee-deep sea water and waved their swords to the shore.

Arrows on the shore were like rain, and people were shot and screamed from time to time, and they fell into the water. Hundreds of Japanese pirates rushed to the shore regardless of their life and death. The servants on the shore had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight with these vicious Japanese pirates.

The sword lights and sword shadows were shouting and killing, the remaining limbs and heads rolled into the ground, blood flowed into a river, screaming in pain, Kikuchi Fengya personally beat the eight-foot drum, and used the drum sound to inspire her subordinates to fight.

This group of Japanese pirates did not have a combat line. They only rely on the sharp Japanese sword and the life-restrained fighting, causing the servants of the Luo Mansion to retreat step by step. Most of the injured were servants on the ground. At this time, Kikuchi Hideo whistled and roared, slashing the head of the servants to death with one knife. Then he stepped on the shoulder of another man and turned over two fights in the air. When he arrived in front of another man's leader, the sword light flashed in his hand and his body solidified. After a while, the head of the servants' leader rolled down from his shoulders and his body fell straight down.

As the two leaders were killed, the servants suddenly lost the leader and began to retreat back frantically. Luo Nansheng had been sent to the stone cave warehouse by several servants. The three thousand pound iron gate was closed. In addition to the mountains of wealth and property of the Luo family, there were more than 300 women and children who were so scared that they were crowded together.

The killing of Japanese pirates and the proud laughter echoed unscrupulously on the island, and the scale of victory clearly turned to the Japanese pirates. The female leader of the Japanese pirates, Kikuchi, laughed proudly at the sky, and she issued an order to kill without mercy.

On the sea five miles away, three military ships carrying 200 guards and 100 Ming troops were quickly approaching the island. Yu Guangqing stood proudly and smiled sinisterly. He was preparing to attack the Japanese pirates from behind. A bold plan had been formed in his mind. If hundreds of Japanese pirates could be killed to present them to the emperor, and then secretly advised the Guangdong commander Zhang Yi to embezzle military rations, and His Highness the King of Qin through the Ministry of War's good words and strong recommendations, then the position of this Guangdong commander is very likely to belong to him...

The more Yu Guangqing thought about it, the more beautiful he was, he actually laughed. At this moment, a soldier suddenly pointed to the sea in the distance and shouted: "Governor, look over there."

Yu Guangqing turned around and looked towards the southeastern sea. He was stunned. He saw more than 200 military ships appearing three miles away from their port side. The black ships lined up on the sea, surrounding Huangpu Island in a fan shape, and his three military ships were just on the edge of this encirclement.

"Sir, what should I do?" The subordinates were panicked.

Yu Guangqing looked at it for a while, and suddenly he realized that this could only be the navy of Guanghaiwei, and this group of Japanese pirates had long been their prey.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Yu Guangqing decisively issued an order to escape. He was in conflict with the commander of Guanghaiwei Pan Ning. He knew that now was not the time to share the fruits of victory. Once Pan Ning found himself on the scene, it was his chance to kill him.

The three military ships did not have time to turn around slowly, but fled directly to the northwest and soon left the battlefield.

The two hundred military ships of Guanghaiwei hung up their sails, with a spectacular momentum. They rode the wind and waves toward Huangpu Island. On the bow of the ship, Li Wei's eyes were cold and solemn. They also stared at the group of Japanese pirates on the way to Huangpu Island and followed them all the way, cutting off their retreat when the group of Japanese pirates rushed to the island.

"Mr. Qianhu, three military ships were found on the starboard side, which seemed to be the military ships of the Nanhai Guard, heading northwest. Should we send a ship to chase them?" Commander Pan Ning asked Li Weizheng carefully.

"Don't worry about them, and do your best to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates." Li Weizheng gave the order, "Sink the Japanese pirates' ships first, kill all the Japanese pirates on the island, and no one is allowed to let go."

Two hundred large ships were like tightened pockets, surrounding twelve Japanese pirate ships, and rockets and cannons shot at the Japanese pirate ships together.

On the island, most of the servants of Luo Mansion have been killed. Most of the servants have escaped with the idea of ​​surrendering in the end. No one is willing to take the lead in resisting the death. However, as the Japanese pirates did not leave any survivors, the surrenders and the injured all fell off their heads. The servants woke up as if they wanted to survive. If they wanted to survive, they had to fight to the death. But it was too late. More than 300 more than 500 servants had been killed. The remaining more than 100 people could not compete with the Japanese pirates and fled to all parts of the island.

Kikuchi Fengya led more than 100 Japanese pirates to surround the entrance of the secret warehouse. This was a huge cave, but the entrance was very small, three feet wide and five feet high. It was blocked by a thousand-pound iron door embedded in the stone wall. A faint cry of women came from the cave, which made the Japanese pirates outside the cave burn. They tried all kinds of ways to hit the door with huge trees, but to no avail. The gate made of pig iron was two feet thick and did not move at all. The Japanese pirates then used iron pickaxes to chisel the stone wall, trying to remove the entire iron door, but the iron door was inlaid inside the stone wall, and the iron door was more than three feet deep into the stone wall, so they could not be opened at all.

At this time, Kikuchi Fengya suddenly said to his subordinates: "The iron gate is closed tightly, and there are still crying sounds in the cave. There must be gaps that can breathe, so I can find these gaps."

With her order, Muto Katsu led a dozen subordinates to search near the cliff. After a moment, they shouted loudly: "We found it, we found the gap."

On the cliff, three long gaps lead directly to the stone cave. The sea breeze roars through the gaps, making a strange whistle sound of "Woooooo!". These are the three gaps of life in the cave that can have air.

"Chief, we sealed the gaps and suffocated them all in it." A Japanese pirate came up with a vicious plan.

Unexpectedly, he received a reward from Kikuchi Fengya, "Damn it! I'll suffocate them to death, who will open the door to give us treasures?"

Kikuchi Fengya turned around and ordered, "Build a wet firewood for me and smoke them all with smoke."

Dozens of Japanese pirates immediately demolished several rooms, set up fires under three gaps, and threw the bodies of the killed servants into the fire, and used the stench of burning the bodies to smoke the women in the cave.

The crying inside began to suck a cough, and Kikuchi Fengya couldn't help laughing proudly. At most, for a quarter of an hour, these women would be unable to bear it and open the door and escape.

She simply came to a crack in the rock and shouted loudly, "The people inside heard it clearly. We are not Japanese pirates. In fact, they are all coastal fishermen who have fallen into grass for robbers. We are here for wealth. As long as you open the door and let us get money, I can spare your lives, put you on the boat, and give you three days of rations according to the rules. Can't you hear that my accent is not Japanese?"

On the one hand, she used thick smoke and stench, and on the other hand, she used sweet words to disintegrate the resistance of people in the cave. Sure enough, she began to hear many women shouting inside, "Master, please open the door, we really can't stand it!"

Unexpectedly, Ronansheng suddenly heard the loud shout from the cave: "Don't be fooled, this is the Japanese woman Kikuchi Fengya. They are not Han people, but Japanese Japanese pirates. When the door is opened, it will make everyone worse than death. If everyone hold on for a while, the officers and soldiers will arrive soon!"

"Don't dream, why would the officers and soldiers come to save you now?" Kikuchi Fengya turned around and ordered viciously: "Catch a few injured and throw them into the fire to death. I don't believe that I can't scare them to death."

Just here, a 'bang' sound suddenly came from a distance, with a light sound, not loud, as if it was coming from the beach, and the Japanese pirates were not paying attention, but Kikuchi Fengya was stunned. She could hear clearly that this was the sound of artillery. There were no artillery on their ships, and the artillery on the cliffs were thrown into the sea by them. Where did the sound of artillery come from?

Muto Katsu suddenly ran over and reported: "Captain, I seem to hear the sound of cannons."

"I heard it too." Years of knife-cutting career made Kikuchi Fenga very sensitive. She said to Muto Katsura nervously: "Climb to the cliff and take a look."

Muto Katsuki ran like flying, and after a moment he climbed up the cliff. He stared at the sea for a while, and suddenly shouted in horror: "Chief, there are countless Ming army ships on the sea, and our ships are gone."

Kikuchi Fengya's face turned pale in an instant. The Japanese pirates were all like clay sculptures, motionless and there were no ships. How could they escape? At this time, the rumbling sound of Ming army war drums came from the other side of the beach. The brigade of Ming army began to land, shouting to kill and shake the sky.

At this moment, Kikuchi Hideji, who had been sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, said, "You are all stupid. Isn't there a boat on this island?"

A sentence reminded Kikuchi Fengya, yes! The six-masted ship on the island that transported grain was seized by them when they were about to escape, and stopped on the southwest sea. She quickly looked up and shouted at Muto Katsushi: "Mutou, look at the six-masted ship still there?"

Muto Katsuki looked at him for a moment, and he suddenly shouted excitedly, "Chief, the ship is still there!"

Fengya Kikuchi no longer cared about anyone. She jumped to the southwest and rushed to the southwest. More than a hundred Japanese pirates followed and fled desperately. Here, only two hundred steps from the southwest sea, without a beach. A cliff twenty feet high fell vertically into the sea. The six-mast ship stopped quietly on the sea two miles away. Fengya Kikuchi rushed to the edge of the cliff. She jumped into the sea without hesitation. The Japanese pirates behind could not hold their feet.

Some fell down, while others were pushed down by the people behind. Screams were heard on the cliff. Most of the Japanese pirates held their feet and looked timidly at the cliff more than twenty feet high. The turbid waves below were roaring and hitting the stone wall. No one dared to jump down. At this time, nearly a thousand Ming troops had already arrived. A hundred steps away, their figures were clearly visible. More than a dozen Japanese pirates knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, but were killed by the Ming army.

"I'm going down!" Muto Katsuichi closed his eyes and jumped off the cliff, and then Kikuchi Hideji also jumped down with a piece of wood. Seeing that the Ming army had been killed fifty steps away, everyone was in a state of mind and closed their eyes and jumped off the cliff.

A quarter of an hour later, the six-masted ship rose sails and sailed south with the northwest wind that had just turned around with the favor of the heavens. More than 150 Japanese pirates who jumped into the sea, and in the end only more than twenty large ships were lucky enough to swim on. Most of the Japanese pirates who had no time to board the ship were watching the ship sail in the sea. They were no longer able to swim back to the shore and eventually died at the bottom of the sea.

Half an hour later, the two thousand navy officers and soldiers of Guanghaiwei completely killed all the Japanese pirates on the island, rescued Luo Nansheng and more than 300 women and children from the cave, and sent a ship to send them back to Shunde.

In the stone house, Luo Nansheng knelt on the ground and apologized to Li Weizheng with shame. "The silver of the King of Qin was transported back to the military camp by Yu Guangqing this afternoon. The villain did not expect that they would take action in advance and could not save the silver for the adults. The villain was guilty."

Li Weizheng's finger joints were gently tapping on the table. He smiled and asked, "The silver was transported away, which is also in my plan. You can't control it. I don't blame you, but I want to know, if you sent your family and property to the island, do you want to escape from the Ming Dynasty?"

"The villain dares not hide it. The Luo family does have this plan, but they are not fully considered and almost suffered a great disaster. Thanks to the Lord Qianhu, the kindness of the Lord, my Luo family will be engraved in my heart."
To be continued...