The deaths of General Wang and General Zhang became the first domino to topple in Jiaxing’s fall.
With them gone, their troops’ morale collapsed instantly.
These soldiers had only fought because Wang and Zhang held blades to their necks. Now, with the generals dead and the threat lifted, they had no will to risk their lives.
Besides, Wang and Zhang had worn full suits of top-grade armour—impervious to swords and spears. Yet they’d been turned into sieves in a single volley! The common soldiers, clad in nothing but cloth, stood even less of a chance.
Morale shattered in an instant—no fight left, just terror and the urge to flee.
“Kill! Slaughter them hard!” Xu Hai grinned as he saw the generals felled by the matchlock barrage, the guards’ faces turning grey with fear. He ordered his Japanese pirates to press the advantage, capitalising on the generals’ deaths to widen the carnage.
After barking the command, he turned to Ma Ye beside him. “Heh, Ma, say what you will, but that blasted Zhu Ping’an’s got some tricks. This matchlock tactic really works. Once we take Jiaxing and get some funds, I’m building my own matchlock unit! Next time I face Zhu Ping’an, I’ll leave him gobsmacked!”
Cursing Zhu Ping’an was Xu Hai’s daily ritual—skip it for a day, and he’d feel off. Every surviving Japanese pirate felt the same.
“That fiend? Best avoid him if we can,” Ma Ye muttered, tugging at his mouth. Zhu Ping’an had left him with a deep mental scar.
“We’ll meet him eventually. You climb back up where you fell. This time we got hammered, sure, but the lessons we’ve learned and the intel we’ve gained on Zhu Ping’an are worth it. We were careless—didn’t know him or his Zhejiang troops well enough. Next time, I’ll make him regret it!”
Xu Hai’s hawk-like eyes glared toward Suzhou, teeth grinding. He relished the thought of facing Zhu Ping’an again.
As a Japanese pirate, he wasn’t bound by laws or morals—burning, killing, and looting brought silver. Silver bought men and arms, growth and power. He could buy firearms from the red-haired foreigners or matchlocks from Japan’s fractured states.
In no time, he’d raise an army of tens of thousands.
Zhu Ping’an, though? Tied down by laws and propriety. Recruiting troops or buying weapons without court approval? That’s rebellion!
*I’ll surge ahead while you’re stuck in place, Zhu Ping’an. Next time we meet, I won’t be today’s me, but you’ll still be today’s you. Then I’ll make you pay!*
“For now, let’s dodge him if we can,” Ma Ye said, still shadowed by his fear of Zhu Ping’an.
Unlike Xu Hai, he had no confidence against that man. If they crossed paths again, his only plan was the thirty-sixth stratagem: run.
As they spoke, the Japanese pirates roared down like tigers from the hills, crashing into the demoralised, ashen-faced guards.
One side rode the high of killing generals; the other cowered leaderless. The battle’s outcome was clear.
“Kill!” “Kill ‘em all!” “Die, die, die!”
The Japanese pirates bellowed savagely, charging like boars, tearing into the guards as if storming a sheepfold. A single pirate could barrel into a ten-man squad, slashing wildly, sending heads rolling and screams piercing the air.
One deranged pirate, throat parched from shouting, beheaded a guard and—horrifyingly—gulped blood straight from the severed neck. Finishing, he tossed the corpse aside, wiped the dripping gore from his chin, and lunged at his next victim like a fiend from hell.
“Mother—run! These Japanese pirates aren’t human!”
The guard targeted by the maniac shrieked, soul fleeing his body, and bolted.
*Chopping heads and drinking blood? That’s no man—that’s a demon straight from the underworld!*
Who’d stick around to get decapitated and drained?
One ran, then others followed. Seeing the Japanese pirates butcher men like livestock—heads rolling, blood flowing—the guards joined the stampede, shedding helmets and armour, fleeing in chaos. The wall became a one-sided rout, with Japanese pirates chasing—or rather, massacring.
“Drive them into the Ming troops ahead! Let them disrupt their lines—we’ll strike in the chaos and nab that old Prefect alive!” Xu Hai directed his pirates, herding the fleeing guards toward Registrar Zhang’s formation protecting Prefect Zhao and the officials.
“Hahaha! Xu, it’s done—it’s bloody done! I can’t believe your plan actually worked!” Ma Ye, watching the guards’ total collapse, erupted in disbelief and狂喜, laughing like a madman.
With the guards fleeing, Jiaxing was finished—the outcome sealed!
“Heh, all within my grasp—except for that damned Zhu Ping’an!” Xu Hai chuckled smugly, not missing a chance to curse Zhu Ping’an even in his triumph.
Wang and Zhang’s troops had fallen too fast, their men scattering like chaff. Registrar Zhang hadn’t yet escorted Zhao and the officials off the wall—they were still up there.
They hadn’t expected the collapse to come so swiftly. By the time they realised, the fleeing soldiers were upon them.
“Damn it—turn around! Turn around! Everyone, turn and hold them off! Anyone who runs, I’ll cut them down!” Registrar Zhang, sweating buckets, leapt and cursed at the onrushing deserters.
But his shouting was useless—the tide of deserters kept coming, even picking up speed.
“Blast it, are you blind?! The Prefect’s here—move aside! Don’t crash into our lines!” Seeing the deserters barreling toward his formation, Registrar Zhang’s panic deepened, dread gnawing at him.
The Japanese pirates were still chasing. If the deserters broke their ranks, it was over!
Zhang was frantic; the deserters were more so.
The wall was narrow, and Zhang’s men clogged the path. *You’re blocking our way out—should we just stand here and die?!* The Japanese pirates—those merciless killers—were right behind!
“Damn it—shoot! Loose arrows! Don’t let them break our lines! Turn back if you want to live!” Registrar Zhang barked, ordering a desperate volley to deter them.
But his command came too late. Before the archers could step up, the deserters slammed into them.
To escape the Japanese pirates’ blades, they had no choice but to plough through Zhang’s formation. The two groups tangled—shoving, pushing, clawing forward in a frantic melee. Zhang’s lines shattered, chaos erupting, many swept up in the rout.
Stampeding feet, curses, screams…
The pursuing Japanese pirates seized the moment, swinging their blades into the fray without hesitation.
