Chapter 952 - 791: An Endless Stream

Outside Jingjiang City, the five-masted treasure ship pressed steadily on the river’s surface.

Hu Junye no longer held up the thousand-mile mirror but stood with his hands behind his back on the stern tower, silently watching as the Salt Gang stormed into Jingjiang County, trapping the pirates inside the city.

The Wang Family’s Store Manager paced anxiously on the deck: "What should we do? What should we do!"

Hu Junye remained calm and asked casually, "Hu Yue, where do these people come from? Are they other Anti-Japanese Army under Lü Kejian’s command?"

A middle-aged man on the deck cupped his hands and replied, "Reporting to the lord, these people are not the Anti-Japanese Army; they resemble mountain bandits from the Green Forest."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager said anxiously: "How can mountain bandits gather so many people? This must be a force of several thousand, right?"

Hu Yue said calmly, "More than 1,900 people. In this Jiangnan area, only two forces could gather this many Green Forest members in just a few days; one is the Cao Guild, the other is the Salt Gang. The Cao Guild need not be mentioned; since Han Tong was rescued from the Imperial Capital, he has been hiding under another name, whereabouts unknown. Now, it’s the Four Beams and Eight Pillars’ Lü Qi who is in charge... but he is probably just a messenger. I suspect the real person in charge is Princess Bai Li, who left the Imperial Capital together with Han Tong."

Hu Junye mumbled to himself, "Zhu Baili?"

Hu Yue continued, "Currently, this group came by land, so it must be the Salt Gang. The Salt Gang has been privately selling salt in the Suzhou and Deqing areas and does not often operate in the Jinling area. Their financial and manpower resources are far less than the Cao Guild. However, over the past year, someone powerful has been assisting the Salt Gang, and their Landlord is ruthless, leading to rapid growth."

Hu Junye asked casually, "Who is the Landlord?"

Hu Yue thought for a moment, "It should be a failed scholar named Huang Que."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager also asked, "Who’s his powerful backing?"

Hu Yue speculated, "This person was once the second shopkeeper of the Chen Family Salt Shop, his subordinates speaking with a Beijing accent, likely ruffians dispatched from Meihua Ferry Crossing in the Imperial Capital... His powerful backer should be that Marquis Wu Xiang."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager’s voice suddenly rose, "Wasn’t Marquis Wu Xiang dead? Why is his ghost still lingering?"

Hu Junye said slowly, "He’s gone, but the Zhang Family has not fallen, so naturally, someone new will take over. There is no need to worry; with Marquis Wu Xiang gone, the Zhang Family no longer has anyone able to stand alone, and they pose no threat."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager was so anxious that he stomped his feet, "If the Matsubara Clan’s pirates all die here, maritime trade might stop for half a year before new pirates come to take over."

Hu Junye gave him a sidelong glance, "What’s the big deal if some pirates die? Isn’t there still Wang Zhi?"

The Wang Family’s Store Manager sighed, "Sir, you don’t know that Wang Zhi is on good terms with the Xu Family, and he typically does business with the Gu Family and Ji Family. My Wang Family doesn’t have any say."

Hu Junye stared unwaveringly at the breach atop Jingjiang City: "No matter, the Xu Family should also produce a pledge of allegiance. Besides, there are more than 4,000 pirates, and the Salt Gang only brought 1,900 people, so it’s still too early to speak of victory or defeat."

However, just as he finished speaking, a death soldier from the Hu Family atop the lookout tower suddenly raised the thousand-mile mirror and shouted, "Lord, there are over a hundred ships coming from the east, flying the Cao Guild’s apricot-yellow flags."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager hurried to the ship’s edge, raised the thousand-mile mirror to look, and indeed saw a dense array of ships coming from upstream, with sails fully extended, moving quickly.

The Wang Family’s Store Manager was uncertain, "Why is the Cao Guild joining the fray?"

He had a hopeful thought, "Maybe they’re not here to assist Jingjiang?"

As if to respond to him from a distance, the small boats among the Cao Guild fleet didn’t need to dock and had already landed on the shoals. The shirtless boatmen on board pulled out short knives the length of their forearms and charged toward the breach on the city wall.

The remaining large ships, unable to approach the shoals, headed straight for the five-masted treasure ship and the Anzai Tower Ship, showing no intention of evasion.

Hu Junye ceased to watch, turned, and walked into the stern tower: "Set sail, take a detour back to Jinling."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager followed behind him and asked, "What about Jingjiang County, what about the pirates?"

Hu Junye did not shy away from his misjudgment: "This time, we underestimated our opponent, hoping to win all in one move. Indeed, as my father taught, we should not be greedy for victory. Wins and losses are commonplace in military affairs; we can regroup and try again."

The five-masted treasure ship slowly drifted downstream, avoiding the Cao Guild’s momentum, leaving the pirates’ Anzai Tower Ship alone on the river outside Jingjiang City.

...

...

Inside Jingjiang City.

Jiang Chai and Yuan Xing, leading the Anti-Japanese Army in gradual retreat, were wounded. Most of the street hooligans in the Anti-Japanese Army had been frightened out of their wits by pirates several times their number and were running faster than the people of Jingjiang.

Jiang Chai hacked down a pirate, but something felt off.

He raised his hand to look, and the wild great sword in his hand had nicked, with several gaps chipped open. When he struck a pirate, the gaps caught on the flesh, causing a significant delay.

Jiang Chai shouted angrily at Yuan Xing, not far away: "My sword’s edge is nicked!"

Yuan Xing also shouted angrily: "So is mine!"

Jiang Chai shouted again: "Where are godfather and that person? Why haven’t we seen them act yet? First, find Ah Xi and Zhou Chang, don’t let them be surrounded by pirates! We came together, we must go back together!"

Jiang Chai and Yuan Xing were forced into a narrow alley by pirates. The two fought shoulder to shoulder, retreating until they exited the alley, and when they turned around, they saw Yuan Xi and Zhou Chang also retreating side by side from a nearby lane, and the four of them converged.

Yuan Xi shouted, "What do we do now?"

Yuan Xing looked around, "Find godfather first!"

Jiang Chai suddenly noticed Yuan Xing frozen in place, oblivious to the pirate’s swing of the sword. He raised his sword to block the pirate and kicked him back several steps, turning to scold, "What are you standing there blank for?"

Yuan Xing hesitated, "See for yourself."

Jiang Chai turned to follow Yuan Xing’s gaze and saw men from the Salt Gang breaking in through the breach in the south city wall: "Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!"

This sight seemed infectious. On the battlefield, more and more people stopped to look back, seeing a flood of over a thousand Salt Gang men rushing in.

Drums sounded in the city, and the pirates promptly abandoned the scattered Anti-Japanese Army, shouting to meet the Salt Gang.

Jiang Chai stood still, momentarily at a loss: "Where did reinforcements come from?"

Yuan Xing was equally puzzled, "I don’t know, maybe they’re Southern Dynasty soldiers?"

Jiang Chai scoffed, "Do they look like soldiers to you, with no standard military equipment whatsoever?"

Yuan Xing retorted, "Didn’t the Anti-Japanese Army also lack it?"

Jiang Chai was speechless.

Yuan Xi thought for a moment, "Are they reinforcements brought by godfather?"

Yuan Xing hesitated, "I think I understand godfather; wasn’t he always in Luocheng City and the Imperial Capital? This is his first time in Jiangnan, too."

Jiang Chai picked up a few intact Japanese swords from the nearby pirate corpses and threw them to Yuan Xing and the others: "Still got strength? No matter where the reinforcements came from, help them out first."

Yuan Xing caught the sword steadily, swung it a few times in the air with a whistling sound: "Underestimating people, aren’t you? If you still have strength, why wouldn’t I?"

Zhou Chang suddenly said, "I see their number is less than the pirates’, they might not be a match... if they lose to the pirates, where do we go?"

No sooner had the words been spoken than Yuan Xing looked again toward the breach in the city wall. Jiang Chai puzzled, "Now what are you looking at?"

Turning his head, he saw another group of men rush in through the breach, different from the previous group, all shirtless, wielding uniformly short knives.

Front and rear, the two groups combined to a force of three or four thousand.

Yuan Xing hesitated, "Even my Right Martial Guard only has over six thousand men."

Jiang Chai gave him a sidelong glance, "Didn’t you also draw pay for two thousand that didn’t exist?"

Yuan Xing replied indignantly, "Not that much, I only drew pay for four hundred!"

Jiang Chai moved to run back into the city, "Stop dawdling; let’s go help. Both sides are evenly matched; who knows how many might die in the fighting."

The group ran into the city, seeing the Salt Gang, Cao Guild, and pirates chaotically battling at street corners without any command.

Japanese shouts and the calls of Salt and Cao Guild men mixed together, the rammed-earth streets of Jingjiang all stained with blood, bodies everywhere.

Yuan Xing scanned the area, "Capture the leader first; where’s that armored bastard among the pirates?"