Two hundred thousand soldiers retreated to the mountains and forests, and eight million people were reduced to slaves of a conquered nation in just a few days.
When this news reached the Southern Region, it plunged the region into panic, and the Grand Master sought help from Tianjing.
However, the Muye pirate group did not advance further into the Southern Region, but stopped at Shiguo Prefecture.
The following day, Scott, who had been in hiding, suddenly appeared in Zhuqing Island with 6,000 people, three steamships, each 30 meters long and with a carrying capacity of 100 tons. Their speed was 5 kilometers per hour.
Scott was a typical blond, blue-eyed Western pirate, wearing a pirate hat, an eye patch on his right eye, and a hook in his right hand.
His ship sailed from the open ocean to the delta in a single day.
The large treasure ships in the Central Plains only travel three kilometers in an hour. It takes two days to get to the Delta.
Scott held a glass of fine wine, gazing at the vast ocean and mountains, a mad glint in his eyes: "This is the land of gold that our philosophers and nobles yearned for two hundred years ago?"
"There's nothing particularly special about it. No wonder Bruce dislikes it so much, because it's so backward."
No sooner had he finished speaking than five large ships approached, the lead ship firing at Scott's ironclad vessel. With a deafening boom, the ship was left unscathed, except for a blackened hull.
The gunners of the five large ships exclaimed in disbelief, "What's going on with this ship?"
"Why can't it be penetrated?"
"Captain, that's an iron ship, of course you can't break through it!"
"I know, but why can the iron ship float?!"
After saying that, Scott waved his hand dismissively and ordered the pirates, "Let these country bumpkins taste the might of our God As Legion."
Boom—Boom—Boom—The three gun emplacements fired seven shots, instantly sinking five large ships.
Scott didn't forget to bring out his small cannon and fire a few more shots at the floating wreckage and survivors. He kept firing until the wreckage was shattered and the people were sunk.
"I'd like to see just how powerful Bruce the Delta really is."
"Accelerate to six speeds and advance proactively towards the Delta!"
The five steamships and iron boats immediately set off, and they would arrive in about two hours.
Xie Ji's eyelids kept twitching. He touched his eyelids, while Aba Na, who was next to him, heard the sound of artillery fire in the distance. It didn't sound like it was coming from their Type 94 cannons.
He specifically reminded him, "General Xie, I suggest we retreat to the rear island, and then send troops to the scattered islands in the delta to create a diversion. If necessary, be prepared to abandon the island and go to Luerqu!"
The delta is only half of the country's maritime gateway, with no mainland behind it, but Luerqu is different. It is both a maritime gateway and a land bridge.
Xie Jidao said to Yu Gan, "I'll stay here, you go to the back. I heard the pirate group's weapons are far more advanced than ours."
"The marshal has already given us a heads-up: the location isn't important, the priority is to keep people safe."
Without delay, Aba Na led his men to retreat to the back island, leaving Xie Ji behind. After Aba Na left...
Xie Ji's head sank, his features shrouded in shadow, and his solemn expression lingered for a long time.
"Look, no, quickly bring out the Changhong Cannon. If necessary..." Xie Ji looked up and said to the captain beside him, "Use the move the marshal told us about. But this is just a test!"
The most important thing is His Majesty's side!
Captain Xie's face was also extremely pale, clearly not expecting such a fighting style, which was too terrifying.
Of Scott's three steamships, one finally made it into the delta region before him and spotted a cluster of scattered islands. This experienced ship stopped five hundred meters away, and the islands were immediately met with a barrage of cannon fire. The bombardment around the iron ship caused the splashing water to hit it like an itch.
Xie Bing of Sandao fired fifty cannonballs but found that none of them hit the iron ship.
On the contrary, a pirate on the iron ship discovered through binoculars from the lookout that the island had thirty short cannons, some of which they looked down upon.
One of the pirates immediately signaled to his companions: "Their cannonballs can only reach a maximum of 150 meters, which is too far from us. We only need to get within 100 meters to penetrate them!"
"Well done! Let these people from the Golden Lands taste the might of our God As Legion!" A gunner immediately took his position, then pulled the fuse of the cannon with a bang, and it exploded into the scattered island.
The soldiers took cover behind bunkers and watched helplessly as nearby cannons were blown to pieces one by one.
Everyone was so overwhelmed by the powerful and destructive artillery fire that their will collapsed!
"Their short-range cannons can hit 500 meters! And they're more powerful than ours!"
"Quickly inform the general, we can't hold out any longer!"
"Get out of here quickly!"
"Dive! Dive now!"
Xie Bing and his men jumped into the water and sank into the sea before swimming to the back island.
When the pirates saw the Central Plains people with duck-like bodies, they were overjoyed and put their hands on their hips: "These water monkeys ran away in fear, they must know how powerful we are!"
"The people of Golden Land are nothing special! The nobles have really misjudged them!"
"Let our pirate crew conquer the Central Plains and show the nobles that our Shenyas Legion is the strongest mercenary force in the West! Then they'll be begging us and fawning over us!"
"Maybe I can even snag an earldom."
No sooner had the words been spoken than a large treasure ship suddenly appeared in the pirates' sight, looming down like a dark mountain on the sea, and hurtling toward the pirate ship with tremendous force.
The pirate ship immediately opened fire.
Unexpectedly, the entire ship exploded into a sea of fire, quickly burning into a volcano and crashing into the pirate ship. The pirate's cone-shaped bow was instantly crushed, and then the ship exploded a second time with tremendous force, instantly engulfing the entire iron ship.
The waves, some three meters high, surged up and startled Scott, who was nearby.
Scott stood up from the wicker chair: "What happened?!"
Then came the pirate's voice, finally breaking down in panic: "Damn Central Plains people! They... they actually rammed us with such a big ship!"
"The ship was full of explosives."
"Captain Scott, our first ship... has been completely wiped out!!"
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-02-22 20:44:51 and 2022-02-23 21:14:40!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: I have a big dragon (1 dragon);
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: I have one big dragon and two dragons;
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Jiu Yan (5 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 224 Super Battleship vs. New Tianjing
After losing one ship, the pirate crew withdrew two kilometers and dared not approach the delta again.
When Xie Ji heard that the two pirate ships had withdrawn from the outer perimeter and were still lingering, he sighed inwardly, realizing that the pirates' shipbuilding technology had surpassed that of the Great Jin Dynasty by many years.
He dared not lower his guard and ordered everyone to evacuate to the rear island, because they were running out of ammunition. At least the Type 94 shells and a bunch of old gun shells had already been used up on the previous ship.
Five long-range cannons were deployed, positioned at five locations in the delta known as Snakehead Islands. If the iron ships got any closer, they could hit the pirates within a kilometer.
The pirates can no longer be as arrogant as they were before.
"How many people came back?" Xie Ji asked the captain beside him.
The captain's eyes immediately reddened, and he choked up, saying, "Less than half, the rest of the brothers are probably..."
Xie Ji closed his eyes in sorrow. Those were the elite of the Type 94 artillery battalion. Now, the Type 94 artillery was probably useless.
As long as they abandon the short-range cannons and introduce the long-range cannons, they can still fight the pirates. However, no one has ever fought a naval war before. Even the Xie family can only gain experience through sacrifice.
Xie Ji did not waste the intelligence that Xie Bing had obtained at the cost of his precious lives. He wrote down his experiences fighting the pirates in a booklet while also referring to the combat techniques that the marshal had given him.
Xie Ji had previously thought that as long as he sent a few people to sabotage the ship, he would definitely be able to defeat the pirates.
Unexpectedly, the pirates used an iron ship, which couldn't be pierced by an awl.
Finally, Xie Ji thought for a moment and had no choice but to focus his attention on the waters around the back island, known as Snake Belly Water. It was named this because the island meanders, enclosing the sea within its walls, making it appear from the outside as if land surrounds the ocean. Resembling a snake, the name "Snake Belly Water" is self-explanatory.
News of Xieji's destruction of a pirate ship reached the inland, greatly encouraging people.
The people of the Southern Central Plains could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Their Great Jin still had a valiant army.
Teahouses and small shops everywhere were packed with customers, both men and women, all discussing Xie Bing's heroic feat of sinking an iron ship.
"If you ask me, in a few days our Xie Bing will definitely be able to fight back to Yue and Shi and recover both places."
"I used to think Xie Bing was just a bully, but I never expected that when it came to fighting, none of them were cowards."
"The Xie family is inherently brave in battle, but they are usually too fierce and menacing, so no one dares to praise them."
"The fact that the marshal didn't even need to go out this time shows that the war outside is going to be easy. Also, I didn't see anyone transporting grain at the dock, which means the war will be over soon."
"Perhaps our people will launch a counterattack against both countries tomorrow and wipe out the pirates."
Merchants gathered in the restaurant, all hovering around Wu Qiu, placing their IOUs on the table. Wu Qiu collected the IOUs while simultaneously stamping them with the government seal.
Wu Qiu counted the silver, totaling 5.3 million, more than he had earned from his two-month lobbying trip to Heping.
He's exploiting the merchants' fear of losing their goods and going bankrupt by offering them boat rentals. The merchants, desperate to break even, will go to any lengths to rent boats. After all, the route to the four Southeast Asian countries is relatively safe. All the pressure at sea is concentrated in the delta.
After Wu Qiu accepted the money, the merchants said with concern, "Lord Wu, now that the Xie family has won a victory abroad, could some of the bans be lifted in the interior?"
"At least some areas will be developed so that the curfew will no longer be necessary."
“We have no choice but to do this. If we can’t open for business, my shop will have to close down.”
"Lord Wu, please have mercy and open up some areas!"
"We have been paying our business taxes every year, so please do us some favors."
Facing these merchants, Wu Qiu couldn't help but shake his head and remind them: "You have a lot of money, but it's not enough to lift the ban on the entire Southern Central Plains."
"If I grant you a favor today, all merchants will dare to swoop in tomorrow. If you don't obey and I don't obey, what will become of His Majesty's decree?"
"Nothing is more important than the principle that the nation must exist before the individual family can exist. Gentlemen, the government will definitely make efforts to ensure that your ships sailing in the open sea can do so."
After speaking, Wu Qiu took the silver notes and left the restaurant. The merchants left dejectedly, feeling their lives were getting worse every day. They wanted to run away, but things were different now.
Nowadays, the imperial court acts efficiently, unlike before when a few coins would suffice.
Now, money can't buy you anything. It's not that some people don't love money; it's that they'd rather keep their lives than have money.
No one dared disobey Si Xitong's orders. She could be a wise and discerning ruler, but she always acted with a compassionate heart while employing ruthless methods. Ordinary people simply couldn't withstand the investigations of the Western Guard.
The only exception is that Xiwei won't investigate; otherwise, if they do, they'll find out everything you're trying to cover up.