Chapter 392 - Retrea (2/2)
The remaining two pirates in the group stood at the side of the pit, stunned by the recent events. Yu Hai, who was standing on the other side of the pit, took advantage of their hesitation and thrust the pitchfork in his hands into the chest of the captain, who had a surprised look on his face. The originally injured captain had also lost his life in seconds.
Yu Hai’s face was cold as he stared at the remaining two Wokou pirates. His calm expression did not betray the fact that his heart was actually beating very fast in his chest. He was wondering whether these two pirates would chase after him. If they did, he absolutely could not confront them head on and he was currently considering the best way to escape.
Who would have thought that these two pirates had lost all of their courage? They threw down the knives in their hands and sped back away to flee, as if Yu Hai would kill them immediately if he caught up with them…
At this time, the commander of the Wokou pirates was incredibly irate and furious. In about an hour’s time, he had lost an additional third of the men under his command. If he added on the previous losses, over half of his men had already been killed with this excursion. The sticking point was that he still hadn’t seen what their enemy looked like!
The aide next to Watanabe Hiroshi opened his mouth again, “Lord Watanabe, we can’t continue on like this! We should retreat from this mountain forest and then decide what to do next! These villagers all left in a hurry so they absolutely do not have enough food on hand. In less than three days, they’ll need to come out to find food to eat. At that time, we can strike when it’s advantageous for us and capture all of them!”
Watanabe Hiroshi had a frosty look on his face and he was obviously not happy about this idea. The aide’s eyes flickered a bit and he continued, “Lord Watanabe, this aide had already researched this area. This village is called Dongshan Village. Although it’s not very large, it’s very wealthy and prosperous. When we first arrived, I noticed that these villagers didn’t bring a lot of things along with them, especially the very heavy grains. What was our purpose in coming? It was to get loot and grain ah! Let’s first return back to the village and round up everything that is worth money and all of the grain to take back to the ships. At that time, when we have the most loot in our holds, won’t you still be looked upon highly by the other groups here?”
After Watanabe Hiroshi heard his aide’s thoughts, he decided that it was probably for the best. He coldly huffed and said, “Let’s watch and see how long these Great Ming pigs can last! Let’s go, retreat!”
“Hai——Lord Watanabe is wise! I heard that there are quite a few ferocious beasts in these mountains. If these villagers don’t die of starvation, they will probably end up dying under the jaws of some savage beasts!” The aide flatteringly smiled at the commander of this group of pirates.
Commander Zheng had been secretly following this entire group of pirates from behind. When he saw them leave the woods and start setting up camp outside of the village as if they were going to stay there for a long time, he couldn’t understand their reasoning. He frowned a bit and wondered, ‘Are these Wokou pirates too secure in their own superiority now? Are they not afraid that the authorities and army will come over and capture them all at once?’
However, he couldn’t know that the authorities and soldiers were currently under the command of Commander Sun and Fang Zizhen and were being used to encounter the attacks of thousands of Wokou pirates. General Yamaguchi was very perplexed by this turn of events. He had originally thought that this mission was top secret and he’d be able to strike suddenly and obtain a certain victory. How did the Great Ming authorities react so quickly and defend at such a good timing for them? Was there someone in his ranks who had let out this secret and allowed other people to warn the docks in time?
In actuality, once Yu Hang got the news, he rode the little gray donkey at a speed that rivaled a Ferghana horse’s to the docks. At this top speed, he was able to get to the docks before the ships of the Wokou pirates arrived. Currently, the construction on the Tanggu Docks had almost been finished.
The almost completed harbor had wide streets paved in basalt and there were neat little rows of two-story shops on either side of the streets that all had white walls and tiled roofs. These shops all looked very tidy and sturdy. There were some shrewd merchants in the area who saw an opportunity and decided to buy some of the shops that had good locations. They were currently in the midst of nervously decorating them for their opening. Among these merchants included the Zhou Family, who had already bought five to six shops. The plan was to renovate all of these into one large building so they could build a branch of Zhenxiu Restaurant right at the harbor!
Originally, the Yu Family had been planning on using their connections with the Zhou Family to buy some shops at the harbor. Later on, once they had a godparent relationship with Fang Zizhen, who was in charge of constructing the docks into Tanggu Harbor, the county magistrate naturally allowed them first pick of the shops in the harbor for the sake of currying a good relationship with Fang Zizhen.
Fang Zizhen took over the decision making and bought ten shops that were directly across from the Zhenxiu Restaurant the Zhou Family wanted to open for his goddaughter. The deeds were all written up and ready. A few of these shops had already been rented out to other people and those people were currently renovating the insides. The management of the harbor estimated that the harbor would be ready to open in about three months. Naturally, these people didn’t want to waste any time on the opening of their stores!
There were still a few minor matters at the docks that needed to be wrapped up. When Yu Hang got to the harbor, he very quickly found Fang Zizhen, who was currently inspecting a construction area. He didn’t take the time to catch his breath before he ran up and yelled, “General Fang, Wokou pirates are coming to attack, please prepare immediately!”
Fang Zizhen noticed that Yu Hang’s face was stark white and full of worry. He seriously said, “Don’t be in a hurry and carefully explain! What do you mean by Wokou pirates? Where did you get this news from?”
Yu Hang shook his head and explained, “I can’t slow down! If I’m any slower, the Wokou pirates will start to land and attack! My younger sister went into the ocean to swim today and was taken by the little dolphin further out. She discovered a giant fleet of ships and all of the people on these ships wore different clothing than we do and also don’t speak the same language as us! When she got closer, she discovered that the direction they were headed in was towards Tanggu Town and the surrounding areas. Younger Sister had heard the older folks in our village mention what Wokou pirates in the past had done. They are vicious and cruel, so she hurried back to inform everyone. General Fang, time is of the essence, please send people to Dongshan Village to help! My family’s younger sisters as well as parents and relatives are all waiting for you to rescue them!”