Chapter 951 - 790: Encirclement and Slaughter

Inside Jingjiang County, a loud boom resounded as the Wokou lifted their gunpowder cannon, sending a large plume of smoke into the air, and fired a four-pound iron lead shot towards a residential house.

In the instant the shot collided with the rammed earth house, it exploded and splattered, piercing through walls, crushing roofs, and shattering wood and stone.

The house collapsed with a thunderous roar, raising dust and smoke several meters high.

The Great Wokou Leader stood not far away, leaning on his sword. It was not his first time witnessing the power of gunpowder cannons, but seeing this weapon again after witnessing the Folangji Cannon break through the city walls, he still exclaimed: "This device is truly a weapon for demolishing houses, breaking walls, and clearing streets, enough to shatter the spirit and loyalty of Tokugawa’s Gangqizi City high above."

The remaining nine Folangji Cannons fired in succession, creating several breaches in the defense fortifications painstakingly built overnight by the Anti-Japanese Army.

The Great Wokou Leader looked at the ruins, drew his Wild Great Sword, and pointed forward: "Charge in and kill!"

The Wokou shrieked sinisterly, drew their swords and charged forward, stepping over the rubble and broken wood, rushing into the smoke and dust.

Behind the smoke and dust of the ruins, Yuan Xing spat and retreated: "Go, go, can’t stay here, retreat back! Retreat back!"

Wokou emerged from the smoke like demons from hell, as Yuan Xing wielded his sword, guarding the Anti-Japanese Army as they retreated.

Reaching the second layer of cover, the Anti-Japanese Army scrambled frantically to get inside, and Jiang Chai received people from behind the cover. Only Yuan Xing remained, and Jiang Chai roared angrily: "Duck down!"

Unaware of what was happening, Yuan Xing quickly used his sword to repel several Wokou, taking advantage to crouch on the spot.

Suddenly, five men stood behind the cover, each holding a matchlock gun, simultaneously pulling the trigger to ignite the flint. Five bangs resounded, gunpowder exploded into white smoke filling the alley, and the first row of Wokou fell in response.

The Wokou behind knew that the matchlock guns could only fire once, and immediately yelled and charged with swords raised, but before they could take two steps, the Anti-Japanese Army who had fired squatted down, a second row stood up behind them with guns, pulling the trigger, firing another series of five bangs.

Once the second row volleyed, the third row of Anti-Japanese Army rose to fill the gap; upon completing their volley, the first row had reloaded and stood up again.

For a moment, the three rows of matchlock gun-wielding Anti-Japanese Army firmly kept the Wokou at bay, with Wokou charging over and over only to fall repeatedly.

Crouching before the cover, Yuan Xing watched Wokou fall in rows with admiration: "That’s how it should be, matchlock guns need to be used like this!"

Then he muttered softly: "Divine Machine Camp used to hit me just like this..."

At this time, seeing they couldn’t break through, the Wokou immediately waved their hand and shouted: "Bring the Folangji Cannons!"

Behind the cover, Zhou Chang dragged the translator they captured earlier, and sternly asked: "What are the Wokou saying?"

The translator quickly answered: "They said they’re bringing the big cannons to hit you, master, leave quickly!"

Jiang Chai quickly peered out from the cover, but saw Yuan Xing fearlessly grabbing a Wokou corpse to shield himself, and rifling through it for a matchlock gun.

Jiang Chai shouted angrily: "Choosing guns over life? Get back here!"

Yuan Xing chuckled, holding onto six matchlock guns as he retreated behind the cover. Jiang Chai pulled him to run, just as they turned a corner, they heard three cannon blasts, and the previous cover was obliterated, along with the houses on both sides.

Jiang Chai cursed under his breath: "You damn well barely escaped death running any slower!"

Yuan Xing carefreely replied: "No need to be scared, they’re slow at bringing their cannons, can they really kill me, a Seeking Dao Realm Official, here?"

Jiang Chai furrowed his brows: "Being bombarded by Wokou like this isn’t great, just one last fortification left, if that’s destroyed too, what do we do?"

Yuan Xing looked around: "Where is godfather? Where did he and that other person go?"

...

...

Retreating to the final defense line, the Anti-Japanese Army crowded with the townspeople, no more room to go back.

Thousands of Wokou pressed tightly outside the final defense line. Behind them, teams of six Wokou carried the Folangji Cannons forward, positioning ten cannons before the line, confidently loading the last round of shots into the barrels.

Ten Wokou stood with torches beside the Folangji Cannons, igniting the fuses. After a round of volleys, the houses ahead were utterly destroyed, nothing could halt their advance.

Wokou looked back at the Great Wokou Leader, who calmly said: "Kill your way in, sever the noses of Han people, and send their noses to Osaka to demonstrate martial prowess before the Kanbai Palace to the world."

Wokou swarmed forward.

Witnessing the battle decisively turn in his favor, the Great Wokou Leader, after a silent moment, led his trusted aide and guards towards Jingjiang County’s county government.

He suddenly looked up and saw a black cat quietly watching him from the eaves along the street. When he looked back, the black cat gracefully leapt onto the roof, disappearing behind it.

The Great Wokou Leader laughed, "The Han people have a saying: a white cat summons yin, while a black cat guards the home. Seeing a black cat before a battle means smooth warfare, turning misfortune into blessing, signifying constant victory. Though we didn’t see this black cat before the battle, it isn’t too late."

With that, he stopped thinking about it and strode into the county government.

The Great Wokou Leader stood in the courtyard of the county government and gestured to his trusted aide: "Take all the Fish Scale Atlas, local chronicles, and topographic maps from the county office and send them back to Osaka."

Over ten pirates, wearing swords, rushed into the county office, overturning boxes and cabinets. The Great Wokou Leader looked at the Warning Stone Tablet in the courtyard, which faced the main gate with the carved words "Justice brings clarity" and faced the main hall with sixteen words: "Your salary and emolument are the people’s fat and grease. It’s easy to oppress the commoners but hard to deceive Heaven."

The Great Wokou Leader calmly said, "Do you understand the meaning of ’Justice brings clarity’?"

The pirates looked at each other, shaking their heads.

The Great Wokou Leader arrogantly said, "These three words come from ’Xunzi,’ meaning only fairness leads to clarity. When I studied in Jinling, I saw this Warning Stone Tablet in every county office of the Ning Dynasty, but no county magistrate lived up to it. This tablet should be taken back to Osaka and placed in front of the Kanbai Palace; he is the one who deserves it."

The pirates rushed forward, trying to figure out how to excavate the Warning Stone Tablet.

The Great Wokou Leader looked up at the plaque inscribed "Bright Mirror Hanging High" above the Warm Pavilion in the county office, sneered, and walked to the wall outside the main hall. He slowly cut the brick seams with his Wild Great Sword, seemingly trying to pry a green brick from the county office’s brick wall.

The trusted aide softly asked, "My lord, what is the purpose of this?"

The Great Wokou Leader calmly replied, "The Kanpaku once said that the political institutions of the Ning and Jing dynasties are decayed, their national strength depleted, and their discipline in ruins. They no longer deserve to be the orthodox of Huaxia, being regimes that lost the way. While our East Sea China is the true Divine Country. Once the Tokugawa Clan is subdued, our Divine Country will march through Korea, and someday we will move the Capital City to the Imperial Capital, making four hundred provinces adopt our customs."

As he spoke, he pried out a green brick from the wall, weighing it in his hand: "Henceforth, whenever we conquer a place of Ning or Jing, we will take a brick from the county office and build a tower in our homeland, with our country’s woodwork pressing down on the Han people’s bricks and stones. This tower, when completed, will be called ’Baqi Yiyu Tower.’

The trusted aide admired it immensely, "So that’s how it is!"

The Great Wokou Leader handed the green brick to the trusted aide and returned to the battlefield, saying, "It’s time to end this. Summer is coming, and I’ve heard the Kanpaku has built a Golden Tea Room to host guests on Lixia. We mustn’t miss it."

Just then, cries of the pirates came from afar, followed by wails.

The Great Wokou Leader suddenly turned his head, wondering why there were wails from the pirates, and then abruptly realized: "The wails come from the breach of the city!"

He strode out of the county office, standing on Tongqu Street, looking far. He immediately saw hundreds of Han men crossing the city wall breach, pouring into Jingjiang County.

The dozens of pirates left at the breach tried to block them, but the Han men drew their bows and shot, covering the pirates in one volley, leaving them all dead on the ground.

The pirates outside the county office were in shock: "The reinforcements from the Ning Dynasty have arrived. What should we do?"

The Great Wokou Leader’s face was grim, "No matter, it’s only over three hundred men. Beat the drums and call the East Sea Land Guard Team to block them."

No sooner had he spoken than his trusted aide warned him, "No, they have more troops behind them."

The Great Wokou Leader looked up, and after the three hundred Han men charged in, someone immediately ran onto the city tower and blew the copper whistle with all their might. The sound was sharp, spreading hundreds of steps away.

In less than 15 minutes, countless gray-clad men appeared at the city wall breach. With a simple glance, they rushed towards the north of the city.

The Great Wokou Leader silently counted, thinking a thousand was the limit, but the breach continued to pour in people endlessly. Yet they were not the official army of the Ning Dynasty. The gray-clad men’s weapons were diverse, with some bearing Eight-cutting Blades, some with Emei daggers, and some with red-tasselled spears, resembling nothing of the official army.

Yet these people were also not the Anti-Japanese Army, far more fierce than them.

The trusted aide quietly said, "My lord, it’s time to think about retreating. I fear there are already two thousand reinforcements from the Ning Dynasty!"

The Great Wokou Leader suddenly drew his sword and harshly said to his trusted aide, "Cowards often only see the enemy’s great army. You are unworthy of being a warrior. A true warrior should think about their demise starting from eating mochi on New Year’s Day. When caught between life and death, one must be decisive, and we should first choose death. Remember, those who cherish life will die, and those who forget death will live."

When the pirates heard this, they immediately drew their swords, looking towards the two-thousand-strong Han men charging in: "Die with our lord."

Just then, a light voice suddenly came from above everyone’s heads, "Tsk tsk, what are these guys babbling, one set after another?"

"Probably trying to boost their courage," said another person, "Didn’t you go to Japan? Didn’t you learn some Japanese?"

The voice from before, impatiently said, "Why learn that stuff?"

The Great Wokou Leader turned abruptly, seeing two people standing on the roof ridge of the county’s main hall, wearing straw coats, bamboo hats, with grim masks on their faces, and one of them holding the black cat he had just seen, leisurely stroking its head.

The pirates, as if facing a formidable enemy, only felt these two people were like two mountains pressing down on them.

Old Ears crouched down on the roof ridge, looking at the over twenty pirates below, and sighed, "Grandsons, you all finally came into the city. This old man was really afraid of accidentally letting you escape."