Chapter 946 - 785: The Fall of the City

The Anti-Japanese Army on the walls of Jingjiang City was cheering and jubilant.

Thousands of Wokou forces surrounded the city, and just before the time of Maoshi (5 to 7 AM), all Jingjiang citizens believed they were doomed, each one ashen. In the blink of an eye, the Wokou retreated to the mudflat, adopting a defensive posture.

The Anti-Japanese Army was so excited their faces flushed red. Not daring to bother Chen Ji and Old Ears, and unfamiliar with Jin Zhu and Heavenly Horse, they threw Yuan Xing high up in the air.

Shouting: "Ah Xing!" "Ah Xing!" "Ah Xing!"

Jiang Chai said sourly on the side: "A Seeking Dao Realm built with Silver Coins, it’s just from following his godfather around a bit, what does it have to do with him?"

Yuan Xi: "Exactly..."

Zhou Chang: "Exactly..."

Jiang Chai regrettably said: "Unfortunately, back then to save 500 taels of silver, I chose a path to the Official Gateway with too many fellow seekers. I’m afraid it will be hard for me to reach the Seeking Dao Realm in this lifetime."

Yuan Xi suddenly said: "With that person there, maybe there’s a chance."

At this moment, the Anti-Japanese Army put Yuan Xing down, and they all held their breath, watching him with anticipation.

Yuan Xing cleared his throat with a light cough: "The setback of the enemy this time is not the result of one person, it is all thanks to the commitment of the three armies..."

Jiang Chai, Yuan Xi, and Zhou Chang all rolled their eyes outside the crowd: "Still wrapped in that nonsense."

After Yuan Xing finished speaking, he searched the crowd for the figures of Jin Zhu and Heavenly Horse.

Once he found Jin Zhu, he immediately pushed through the crowd to be by Jin Zhu and Heavenly Horse’s side: "Sixth Brother! Seventh Brother!"

Jin Zhu wondered: "What Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother?"

Yuan Xing patiently said: "Both of you just lived and died together, as the eldest son of the godfather, I accept you in his place..."

Jin Zhu’s face changed: "What a mess, go away!"

Yuan Xing patted Jin Zhu’s shoulder: "Back then, Jiang Chai and Ah Xi were like that too, but look at them now? I just see further ahead than you do."

Jin Zhu brushed off his hand, his eyes darting: "Just now, you shouted ’Gold Grinder’ amidst the chaos, what is this Official Gateway path?"

Yuan Xing disdainfully said: "Don’t you know Gold Grinder? It’s a weapon left by the Lord of War, not a path, but an ancient technique passed down through the ages, learned from the Five Mad Soldiers."

Jin Zhu was stunned: "Is that so? Your godfather also learned from the Five Mad Soldiers? Who else knows?"

Yuan Xing became cautious: "Big Fat Fish, why are you asking these things?"

Jin Zhu was so angry he tore off the Do-maru Armor on the spot: "Wasn’t it you hiding in front of me!"

Yuan Xing said carelessly: "We’re all brothers, what’s there to fuss about."

Jin Zhu was even more furious: "Who the hell is your brother..."

Before he could argue, Yuan Xing had already turned to the other side, boasting to Jiang Chai and others about his bravery and peril just now. As he spoke, Jiang Chai and the others rolled their eyes.

Jin Zhu stood outside the crowd, silently looking at the silhouette of Chen Ji, who was wearing a straw coat, hesitant and uncertain.

His intuition told him this person was Chen Ji. The decisiveness and fierceness in battle clearly resembled Chen Ji. But that Liang Family’s Saber Technique was quite different from Chen Ji’s style.

Jin Zhu didn’t even dare to be certain if he saw the Liang Family’s Saber Technique; after all, the Jing Dynasty also had sword skills that could possibly manifest in Sword Gang. It might be that Jiang Liuxian had passed the Liang Family’s Saber Technique to someone else...

He looked towards Heavenly Horse: "Do you think he’s Chen Ji?"

Heavenly Horse thought for a while, then gestured: "Why guess? Why don’t you just go and ask? It’s so annoying when you guys keep guessing every day."

...

...

It was daylight.

Old Ears and Chen Ji were standing side by side on the city wall.

Chen Ji watched the Wokou leave behind a mess and retreat their camp to the mudflat, yet they refused to leave.

His gaze shifted, seeing that massive Five-masted Treasure Ship slowly sailing towards the Wokou’s Anzai Tower Ship, its purpose unknown.

Old Ears mocked: "Logically, the Wokou are only after money. If there’s nothing of worth to loot here, they should just move somewhere else. I wonder what high price the owner of that treasure ship has promised to make the Wokou fight to the death."

Chen Ji calmly said: "Opening the ban on maritime trade. Raiding the coastal areas might be a business without cost, but coastal villages don’t have anything valuable. It’s the endless supply of silk, tea, and porcelain that they want. By the way, you’ve been to Japan, what’s the situation there now?"

Old Ears thought for a moment: "In the early years, when I followed the Xu Family’s Sea Ship to Japan, it was still in a state of disunity. An old fellow named Oda was also quite capable, vowing to ’unite the realm under the sword’ and complete Japan’s unification. People called him the Sixth Celestial Demon King. He had almost subdued the Wokou, with only Shikoku, Kyushu, and Kanto not yet reclaimed. But then, this remarkable person was assassinated by a retainer."

Chen Ji murmured: "Usurping the superior, an old tradition."

Old Ears glanced at him: "Have you also been to Japan?"

Chen Ji smiled: "No, just heard about it from others."

"Did your mother tell you that? She probably hasn’t been to Japan either," Old Ears didn’t dwell on it, and continued, "After Oda died, a General named Toyotomi rose to power under him. When the old man went again the year before, this Toyotomi had just unified Japan and was appointed Kanpaku... You could consider him the Prime Minister of Japan."

Chen Ji frowned, "Already unified?"

Old Ears thought for a moment, "It’s considered unified, but Japan is still chaotic at this moment. Initially, Oda formed an alliance with the Tokugawa Clan over in the east for unification. Although he borrowed the Tokugawa Clan’s power, he also gave them the opportunity to accumulate strength. Now that Toyotomi has unified the region, the Tokugawa Clan has become a hidden threat again. Toyotomi keeps summoning Tokugawa to Osaka for an audience, but Tokugawa basically ignores him. I don’t know if there will be another war."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Besides Toyotomi and Tokugawa, are there any other daimyo in Japan who could rise spectacularly?"

Old Ears looked at Chen Ji with surprise, "Why do I feel you’re particularly interested in Japan?"

Chen Ji stared at the river surface, "It’s nothing, just asking casually."

Old Ears recalled, "Oda’s eldest son is still alive. This person holds some prestige among Oda’s old followers, with the legitimacy to inherit Oda’s realm."

Chen Ji noted this matter down.

Old Ears turned back to the river surface, watching Anzai Tower Ship and Five-masted Treasure Ship merge with a gangplank, pirates using it to jump onto the Five-masted Treasure Ship, "Be careful, the pirates were heavily damaged yet don’t leave, there must be something to lean on. This Five-masted Treasure Ship isn’t covering up at all, clearly intending to butcher the whole Jingjiang County."

The next moment, Old Ears saw someone from the ship’s hold carrying out large wooden boxes, transferred by the pirates to the Anzai Tower Ship.

Old Ears was puzzled, "What’s in those boxes, silver to bribe the pirates?"

"Doesn’t look like it, the boxes aren’t heavy, if filled with silver, the gangplank wouldn’t hold," Chen Ji counted the boxes, a total of forty, judging by the gangplank bending, the contents should be just about a hundred pounds of goods.

Just as he wondered about the items within the boxes, he saw several robust men from the Five-masted Treasure Ship hold bravely carry out an oddly-shaped black pipe, fastened with rings of Black Iron-like objects, appearing bamboo-jointed.

Too far away, Old Ears squinted to see, "What are they carrying?"

Chen Ji’s expression turned stern, "Folangji Cannon."

He was not unfamiliar with this rear-revolving Folangji Cannon, an essential weapon for the Franks dominating the seas, with rings called rib hoops on the barrel to prevent it from exploding.

No one expected that this treasure ship would carry such a thing.

Old Ears furrowed his brows, "Whose treasure ship is this, where did they get this? Wait, they got cannons, then what’s in the previous boxes?"

"Firearms," Chen Ji turned to find Yuan Xing and Jiang Chai.

At this moment, Jin Zhu was coming towards Chen Ji, but saw Chen Ji leaving the wall edge, loudly calling Jiang Chai and others, "Enemy attack! Beat the drum!"

Jiang Chai and others were about to return to the city for a meal and rest, but upon hearing this ran back to the wall top, seeing dozens of men from the Five-masted Treasure Ship carrying boxes and Folangji Cannon onto the Anzai Tower Ship.

Soon, an Anzai Tower Ship sailed toward Jingjiang Pier, delivering boxes and Folangji Cannon to the pirate camp.

Jiang Chai seeing this scene immediately shouted, "Camp B, follow me, the city construction needs to speed up, there’s no time! Ah Xi, head into the city and ring the bell, gather all citizens, bring all the able-bodied youths to the government office to find me!"

With that, he and Yuan Xi quickly descended the wall, splitting up to act.

Chen Ji returned to the parapet, seeing pirates in the camp opening boxes, taking out matchlock guns and bags of gunpowder, the boxes also containing flint and tinder, lead bullets.

Pirates carried ten Folangji Cannons to the camp gate, men from the Five-masted Treasure Ship demonstrating to the pirates how to use these cannons, they opened the back chamber, inserting a copper pipe that fit the bore.

Yuan Xing asked in confusion, "Father, what is this?"

Chen Ji calmly replied, "What you saw earlier, the rough black pipe is the parent cannon, now inserted is the child cannon. The child cannon loads shells and gunpowder in advance, triggering one fire, can swiftly remove and replace another already loaded child cannon to fire successively in short time, typically each cannon has six child cannons."

Ning Dynasty’s cannon was front-loaded heavy wheeled artillery, the rear was solid-sealed. Folangji Cannon, with rear-load ammo, was new to Yuan Xing and others.

At that time, men aboard the treasure ship taught pirates to aim by sight, using the long handle at the rear to adjust the gun’s elevation. One approached with a torch, settling against the Folangji Cannon’s fire door to ignite the fuse.

Next moment, a loud explosion boomed from the pirate camp, raising dense white smoke. An object slightly larger than a fist blasted towards Jingjiang City Wall, carving a hole in the rammed earth wall.

Yuan Xing gripping the parapet, poked out and breathed a sigh of relief, "Solid iron lump, this thing wants to breach the wall, will take ages!"

Pirates ignited fuses on ten Folangji Cannons, blasting the same wall section one after another.

Igniting the fuse, Anti-Japanese Army atop the wall collectively ducked behind the parapet, once blasted, Yuan Xing daring poked out again to inspect, "Folangji Cannon’s accuracy ain’t great, aimed but impossible hitting the same spot."

Pirates didn’t give up, opened cannon chamber’s rear, extracted child cannon again replacing with a new one, swiftly firing another volley.

Yuan Xing crouched behind the parapet, covering ears, loudly comforting nearby Jin Zhu, "Sixth brother, those kids can shoot at most four more rounds, once done, we go out with father to snatch some matchlock guns to play, never played with those before."

However, amidst the pirates firing the fourth round, Yuan Xing peering cautiously witnessing a change in face, "Not good!"

Chen Ji hearing him, also leaned out, seeing Jingjiang City Wall at the blasted gap revealed rushed sand and straw.

Yuan Xing cursed, "Which son of a bitch embezzled money to fake wall repairs, doing such underhanded stuff? If I catch him, I’ll skin him alive!"

This time pirates reloaded child cannon, everyone adjusted aiming at the gap, simultaneously fired at once. Jingjiang County city wall no longer sustained, rammed earth mixed with sand, straw, etc, collapsed, blasting a breach.

Drum sounds rose in pirates’ camp, men wielding matchlock guns aboard Five-masted Treasure Ship leading pirates rushing towards the gap, thousands gathered behind, flooding Jingjiang County like a torrent.

Yuan Xing instinctively looked at Chen Ji, "Father, what do we do now?"

Chen Ji took a deep breath, "Withdraw into the city, engage them within."