When the Zhejiang army’s muskets appeared atop the city walls, unleashing their “bang, bang, bang” fury, Xu Hai knew the tide had turned.
The reinforcements were just over a mile away! The vanguard was even less than a mile off, their shouts audible now.
Damn it! Just that one mile!
Xu Hai hadn’t failed to try entangling the Zhejiang troops entering the city, but the rear guard’s firearms were ferocious beyond measure, and that cursed Zhu Pingan commanded them flawlessly, leaving him no opening to exploit.
Add to that the rain of musket fire and arrows from the walls, let alone tangling with the rear guard, even holding their ground was a struggle now.
“Zhu Pingan! Damn your ancestors to the eighteenth generation!” Xu Hai roared in fury, gnashing his teeth, hurling his Japanese blade with all his might at Zhu Pingan, who was directing the rear guard.
The throw was swift and sinister, catching him off guard, aimed straight for Zhu Pingan’s face…
Zhu Pingan hadn’t reacted yet when Liu Mu shouted, “Young Master, watch out!” stepping in front, shoving Zhu Pingan aside and tumbling with him to the ground, just as the blade whistled past, grazing their helmets’ ear guards and embedding itself in the earth, quivering.
Both Liu Mu’s and Zhu Pingan’s helmet ear guards bore clear scratches from the blade, a testament to the close call.
“Damn it!” Xu Hai cursed in frustration, seeing Zhu Pingan saved by Liu Mu’s tackle.
“Young Master, are you alright?” Liu Mu asked, heart pounding as he saw the scratch on his ear guard after knocking Zhu Pingan down.
“Cough, cough, I’m fine, fine, thanks to you this time,” Zhu Pingan coughed, patted Liu Mu’s shoulder in gratitude, stood up, and pulled the Japanese blade from the ground.
“What a fine blade,” Zhu Pingan remarked, inspecting it, flicking the steel to hear its humming ring, nodding in approval.
Then, raising the blade, he grinned at the seething Xu Hai, flourishing it before pointing it at him from afar, “You’re Xu Hai, right? Thanks for the gift! One day, I’ll use it to take your head!”
“Thanks for the gift! One day, we’ll use it to take your head!” the rear guard Zhejiang troops echoed with booming laughter.
Xu Hai spat out a mouthful of blood in rage.
“Alternate cover, get into the city fast, close the gate!” Zhu Pingan ordered loudly, eyeing the ever-closer Japanese pirate reinforcements, urging the rear guard to hasten inside.
With the barrage of musket fire and arrows from the walls providing cover, the Zhejiang army entered calmly, while Xu Hai and his Japanese pirates could only watch helplessly.
As the last Zhejiang soldier crossed the threshold, they slammed the gate shut with force, just as the Japanese pirate vanguard arrived, catching the final sliver of the gate closing with a resounding “bang.”
“Baka!” the Japanese pirate reinforcements cursed, unwilling to accept defeat, hoping to turn the tide, they charged the gate right after it shut, before the braces were set, aiming to ram it open, only to lose a dozen men to the storm of musket fire and arrows from above.
They retreated to a safe distance, fuming.
“Damn Ming brats, open the gate and fight us three hundred rounds if you’ve got the guts!”
“If you’re men, open the gate, let’s fight three hundred rounds, if you’re women, hide in there!” the Japanese pirates taunted from below.
“Pah, dream on, Japanese pirate whelps, climb up here if you’ve got the balls, Grandpa’s waiting to fight you three hundred rounds!”
“If you’re men, climb up! Watch Grandpa teach you a lesson! If you’re women, cower down there!” the Ming troops atop the walls, now secure with the gate shut, fired back fearlessly, laughing and mocking the Japanese pirates.
The Japanese pirates raged impotently below, then noticed the horses, donkeys, and mules the Zhejiang army had left outside.
In their rush to seize the gate and fight the Japanese pirates, the Zhejiang troops had no time to mind the animals, and with the reinforcements closing in after they secured it, they’d abandoned them to close the gate in time.
Now, those horses, donkeys, and mules became the Japanese pirates’ outlet for their fury.
“Shoot them dead!” one Japanese pirate led, firing an arrow to kill a mule, others followed suit.
Soon, the animals’ agonized cries filled the air, a swath of them dead.
“Damn Japanese pirates! My horse, my horse…” a Zhejiang soldier atop the walls wept at the sight.
Though his horse wasn’t exceptional, just a common steed, they’d bonded deeply over days, becoming comrades, seeing it die before his eyes broke his heart.
“Bastards, stop it! Killing all these mules and horses is a waste, grab them all! From now on, we’ll have horses too, next time this happens, riding in will be much faster!” Xu Hai barked, halting his men from shooting more animals in their rage, ordering them to seize the beasts instead.
Though he too wanted to slaughter them to vent, as a Japanese pirate leader, he had a longer view.
Today’s defeat was thanks to Zhu Pingan’s meddling, but if the reinforcements had arrived just a tea’s brewing sooner, even with Zhu Pingan’s interference, the outcome would’ve flipped, Zhu Pingan would taste today’s failure and bitterness, while Xu Hai would claim Suzhou as his prize.
What a pity, what a shame, what a rage! Just that tea’s worth of time short!
So, Xu Hai swallowed his urge to vent, determined to claim every last animal.
With these steeds, next time, time would be on their side, no more regrets like today!
At Xu Hai’s command, the Japanese pirates swarmed the abandoned animals, eagerly dragging them off.
Aside from a dozen clever horses that bolted in the chaos, the rest were all taken by the Japanese pirates.
The Zhejiang troops inside could do nothing but watch as their animals were hauled away.
“Zihou, Zihou, alas, shame, such shame, today I truly have no face to meet you. You warned me time and again, yet we still bred a traitor like that Wang, nearly dooming Suzhou, if not for you leading the Zhejiang army to prop up the falling house and turn back the tide, we’d be the court’s sinners. Today, we owe you everything, on behalf of Suzhou’s hundreds of thousands and all my colleagues, I thank you for saving us!” Prefect Shang led his officials down from the walls, bowing deeply to Zhu Pingan and the Zhejiang troops in profound gratitude and shame.
“Thanks to Lord Zhu, thanks to all the Zhejiang soldiers, for saving Suzhou once again,” the officials echoed, bowing in unison.
“Lord Shang, everyone, please rise, protecting Suzhou is our duty, we don’t deserve such honors,” Zhu Pingan stepped forward quickly, helping Shang up, then gesturing with his right hand to lift the others, responding with humble courtesy.
