Chapter 329: Father and Son in Battle

At night, on the watchtower at Liuhe Fort in Taicang, a middle-aged man stood by the railing, gazing into the distance. The cold winter wind blew fiercely against his face, making his thick robe rustle loudly. His complexion was dark, his face covered with deep wrinkles like carved lines, yet his eyes shone with sharp intensity. Though it was impossible to see what was on the other side from such a distance, he remained motionless there until a strong guard rushed up the stairs in haste.

“Sir, the sentries on the tall tower report flames at sea—likely pirates trying to land.”
“Pirates? I haven’t even gone after them yet, and they come to us on their own! Where’s the ship?”
“According to previous intelligence, the ship is probably anchored near Hengsha.”
“Good. Pass the order—all ships, set sail and intercept those pirates’ vessels. See where these scoundrels try to flee!”

With these orders, Liuhe Fort immediately became bustling with activity. Although it had taken days to assemble the ships and troops for this mission, everyone had gone to great lengths to keep it secret. Fortunately, Liujiagang was a common stop for treasure ships returning from overseas, so hundreds of ships would always be anchored there. It was hardly noticeable if dozens of ships set sail at night; only the commander in charge of troop deployment and a few thousanders understood the significance.

While dozens of ships left Liujiagang quietly at night, Baoshan Fort was also mobilizing its forces. Although Captain Li was entertaining guests that night, upon hearing the report from the sentries on the watchtower, he didn’t dare neglect his duties and quickly gathered his soldiers. As a result, he received a few words of praise from the usually indifferent guests. Before setting off, he glanced once more at the guest clad in a black robe, clearing his throat only after the latter nodded.

Though both were thousanders, how could he, a local commander, compare to someone with a background in imperial guards or the son of a noble family? Facing his fairly well-organized troops, he stepped forward and shouted sternly, “The pirates haven’t dared invade our territory for years. Since they’ve come this time, don’t let a single one escape!”

The sudden attack by the Japanese pirates plunged several villages along the coast of Songjiang Prefecture into endless terror. For ease of fishing, they had settled near sea dikes, but today they faced utter destruction. Compared to the brick-and-tile houses in the county, their dilapidated wooden homes could not withstand the ferocious pirates, let alone their gleaming steel swords. Even so, with no hope left, many villagers picked up hoes, rakes, and sickles to fight back, but in most places, the slaughter was one-sided, with an indescribable stench of blood filling the air.

Just as a pirate, roaring with rage, swung his sword at an old man, a swift arrow flew in from somewhere, hitting him in the back. The vicious pirate collapsed to the ground, and though the old man suffered a deep cut on his shoulder from the missed strike, he still looked in the direction of the arrow. Seeing a group of soldiers charging forward in the darkness with swords drawn, he suddenly collapsed, his mind going blank.

A few pirates covered in blood turned to see the Ming soldiers and began shouting loudly, raising their swords to fight. The leader, a short man, was especially fierce. As five soldiers surrounded him, he let out a fierce cry, his long sword flashing like a blade of light as he swung it at the lead soldier. The strike seemed powerful enough to split the soldier in two, but with a clang, another sword intercepted his blade. Immediately afterward, he felt a tremendous force in his lower abdomen and was kicked flying.

“Kill them!”

The five soldiers shuddered at that swift strike and only snapped out of their shock when they heard the roar from the officer in the black robe. Seeing the corpses lying everywhere in gruesome conditions, their eyes turned red, and they immediately threw aside all other thoughts and charged into battle. Soon, more Ming soldiers joined the fight from all sides. Realizing they were outmatched, the pirates resorted to their ultimate tactic—running.

The pirates had no organization whatsoever, so they scattered in all directions. Even though the newly arrived Ming soldiers outnumbered them by many times, the encirclement was already loose, and despite their efforts to stop them, several pirates managed to escape. A few soldiers, shocked by the carnage, raised their swords to chase after them, but were ordered to stop by their officer.

“Don’t chase after those who have escaped for now. Leave ten men here to guard, and the rest, follow me to Shanghai County!”
Hundreds of soldiers rushed here under the lead of this officer and left just as quickly. The villagers who survived the attack exchanged bewildered looks. Seeing the ten soldiers checking the bodies of the pirates one by one, occasionally delivering another strike, they quietly bandaged wounds, cleared away corpses and the injured, until countless lights appeared again in the darkness of night. Having just recovered, they were shocked once more. Fortunately, the soldiers left behind quickly gathered together, and the man who rushed over was dressed as a Ming dynasty officer. Only then did the villagers breathe a sigh of relief.
“Huh, did those pirates come here?”
One of the soldiers left behind pressed his sword hilt and stepped forward to salute, then stood up and declared loudly, “Reporting to the commander, our Baoshan unit has just driven away a group of pirates here!”
Upon hearing this, the commander immediately cursed loudly, “Damn it! All along, we only managed to chase after the tail end of these guys from Baoshan… Everyone, stay alert! Don’t let Baoshan take all the credit! See this situation? Those damned pirates killed so many people. If our Wusongjiang unit doesn’t wipe them out completely, how can we face our consciences? Brothers, charge! Go and kill them all!”
The man still holding his sword didn’t even have time to react before his horse suddenly neighed and galloped away. Then, the hundred or so soldiers holding torches also roared in unison, shouting “Kill!” and rushed after the horse. In no time, this fierce group of warriors disappeared into the night.
At the same moment, Zhang Yue was facing his first life-or-death test. He and over a hundred men defending the city were guarding a major road southeast of Shanghai County. Although there were other smaller paths, it was impossible to divide the troops at that moment. His guess was correct—whether they had scattered along the road or encountered military blockades, the first wave of pirates that arrived was not large, only a dozen or so. Yet, just these dozen or so people caused quite a stir.

After all, it was a time of peace. Though the soldiers defending the city showed far greater combativeness under the promise of heavy rewards, they still couldn’t match those desperate fighters, many of whom had never seen blood before. Fortunately, they were outnumbered, and a few with loud voices kept shouting “kill!” to encourage themselves. It took some time, but those dozen or so pirates eventually became corpses on the ground. Yet, eight soldiers from the defending force died, and the rest were covered in blood—so much so that it was hard to tell whether it was their own or someone else’s.

A dozen pirates in the first wave, another dozen in the second, and yet another dozen in the third… As the number of corpses grew, fewer and fewer soldiers from the defending force could stand. Even Zhang Yue, who knew his role was to stand his ground without charging forward recklessly, had to muster the greatest courage and strength of his life.

Ding—

Struggling to parry the sword swinging down at him, Zhang Yue silently kicked out from below. Though exhausted from the fierce battle, the kick he learned from Zhang Chao successfully knocked the screaming pirate to the ground. But with his right arm already cut, he had no strength to deliver another strike and could only watch as the opponent tried to get up. In a flash, a nimble figure suddenly stabbed the guy from behind.

Hu Qi was covered in blood from head to toe. While others needed several people to take on one pirate, he, alone, had already killed at least four or five pirates. He managed to smile at Zhang Yue, but when he looked up at the countless flickering lights in the distance, even his brave heart sank into an abyss.

A faint golden light began to appear in the east—this long night was finally coming to an end. If it were still pirates, could they really see the rising sun in the morning?

“Reinforcements… reinforcements are here!”

Hearing this shout, Zhang Yue’s face stiffened. When he saw the flags and troops in the distance, he couldn’t hold his sword any longer; it clattered to the ground. The surviving soldiers from the defending force, upon seeing the familiar uniforms, cheered for a while before collapsing to the ground one after another.

But for Zhang Yue, the greatest surprise wasn’t the reinforcements—it was the person leading them.

“Big… Big brother?”

Despite staying up all night, Zhang Yue didn’t think it would cause any problems to his eyes, so he stared at the person in front of him for a long time before confirming he wasn’t mistaken. Even then, he still couldn’t believe that the one who had arrived like a hero at the critical moment was Zhang Chao!
Zhang Chao was just as surprised as Zhang Yue: “Third brother, how come you’re here? Shouldn’t you be in Nanjing?”
“And you, you should be in Beijing. How did you suddenly end up here fighting the Japanese pirates?”
The two brothers exchanged glances, then suddenly hugged each other tightly before bursting into laughter. Observant as ever, Zhang Chao noticed a bloodstained right arm on Zhang Yue and quickly released his grip. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and hurriedly wrapped it around the wound. Only then did he say in a serious tone, “Father is currently leading a fleet at sea. Don’t worry; those Japanese pirates won’t be able to escape. The cannons on the treasure ship are no joke! Didn’t you submit a report to the emperor before leaving? This time, the emperor appointed Father as the commander in charge of patrolling the seas to hunt pirates, with Huang Su as his deputy, determined to eradicate pirates and illegal ports along the coasts of Nanjing and Zhejiang. Since I used to be stationed in Jinmen, I came along this time.”