Late the next night, Mei Ling was still deep in sleep, unaware that danger was quietly approaching.
Zhu Ping’an led the Zhejiang army stealthily towards the east of Mei Ling to deal with the pirate gang entrenched there, while Mao Haifeng led his pirates towards the west of Mei Ling to confront another pirate gang entrenched there, using fire as a signal to attack simultaneously.
The pirates were so accustomed to a comfortable life that they had no sense of crisis, not even setting up sentries.
When Zhu Ping’an’s group was nearly there, they encountered a dozen pirates patrolling with torches, chatting and laughing, oblivious to their impending doom.
The Zhejiang army’s black-clad scouts, armed with sharp blades, hid along their path. As the pirates approached, the scouts leapt out, one hand covering their mouths, the other slicing their throats. The patrolling pirates didn’t even have time to scream before they were dead.
The Zhejiang scouts swiftly dragged the pirate corpses into the bushes, clearing the way for the army.
The path was clear, and they smoothly reached the pirate stronghold east of Mei Ling.
The pirates had dug trenches in front of their stronghold, but Zhu Ping’an, already aware of this, had his soldiers carry hundreds of bundles of firewood, which they threw into the trenches, easily filling them and turning obstacles into a clear path.
At that moment, the agreed signal point lit up with fire, several lanterns circling in the air.
A familiar signal, it must be the traditional old signal of Wang Zhi’s pirate crew.
“The fire has been raised, we can act now. While the pirates are still asleep, don’t alert them yet. Send men to open the gate, split the troops to enter, kill pirates on one side, set fires on the other, and aim to leave no pirate alive,” Zhu Ping’an ordered.
Soon, a few agile Zhejiang soldiers, silent as monkeys, climbed over the wall, opened the heavy stronghold gate.
With a wave of Zhu Ping’an’s hand, the Zhejiang soldiers charged into the pirate stronghold like wolves and tigers, unleashing a massacre.
Teams of Zhejiang soldiers, wielding bayonets, pushed open the pirate tents and stabbed relentlessly.
The pirates, still in their dreams, only had time for a final scream before their sinful lives ended in a daze.
Killing on one side, setting fires on the other, the pirate camp soon became a river of blood, flames soaring to the sky.
Some pirates were startled awake, shouting and trying to fight desperately, but before they could don their armour or grab their swords, Zhejiang soldiers with bayonets stormed their tents, killing them on the spot without suspense.
Other pirates, awakened, rushed out without armour, clutching swords or other weapons, only to see a sea of fire. They shouted to gather others, hoping to fight the Zhejiang army to the death. Some, seeing the situation was hopeless or simply fearing for their lives, fled without clothes or weapons.
The fleeing pirates ran straight into the Zhejiang army’s ambush circle, almost all falling into the trap, either killed on the spot or captured.
Zhu Ping’an had already stationed ambushes at several downhill paths to prevent any pirates from escaping.
Those trying to fight to the death clashed head-on with the disciplined Zhejiang army, ending up battered and bloodied, their brains spilling out.
Whenever pirates formed groups to resist, the Zhejiang army’s muskets and tiger cannons targeted them, wiping out the groups in a single round of fire.
Zhu Ping’an also had white flags set up in several places, with Zhejiang soldiers shouting that pirates who surrendered and knelt under the white flags, laying down their weapons, would be spared.
Terrified by the Zhejiang army’s onslaught, the pirates didn’t even know who was attacking them, only that these attackers were ferocious, their formations tight. Especially the muskets with bayonets, forming a hedgehog-like array that the pirates couldn’t break through, getting stabbed within a few rounds.
And their firearms were so powerful, the pirates had never seen an army with so many guns.
Caught off guard by the Zhejiang army’s raid, the pirates, barely dressed, let alone armoured, were like paper against the Zhejiang firearms, a single shot leaving a bloody hole.
Hearing the Zhejiang army’s call to surrender and disarm for mercy, many desperate pirates threw down their weapons and knelt in droves under the white flags.
The pirates fell apart, their resistance weak and scattered. Against the disciplined Zhejiang army, they were utterly defeated.
The surprise attack ended in less than half an hour, with the pirates east of Mei Ling completely annihilated.
The ground was littered with pirate corpses, blood muddying the earth, and surrendered pirates knelt densely.
Zhu Ping’an tallied the battle losses.
In this battle, the Zhejiang army lost seven men, with eighteen wounded, mainly because it was primarily a close-quarters fight. The chaos made firearm reloading too slow, and shooting risked friendly fire, so bayonet combat dominated, leading to unavoidable casualties.
However, the Zhejiang army’s discipline and surprise attack led to a complete victory.
In this battle, 389 pirates were killed, including their leader, 523 were captured, and they seized over 500 bushels of grain, 6,700 taels of silver, 1,200 taels of gold, and ten boxes of jewellery and antiques.
Moreover, through these bloody battles, the Zhejiang army’s new recruits visibly grew, becoming qualified warriors.
Compared to the Zhejiang army, Mao Haifeng’s group, though they took down the pirates west of Mei Ling, suffered much heavier losses.
Mao Haifeng’s group also stealthily reached the pirate camp west of Mei Ling, with agile pirates climbing the wall to open the gate. But Mao Haifeng chose to set fires in the camp first, with many pirates throwing torches onto tents, causing fires to erupt everywhere.
Starting with fires to create chaos, then killing.
The pirates west of Mei Ling woke in a sea of fire, rushed out of their tents, and faced Mao Haifeng’s pirates’ swords.
However, because Mao Haifeng started with fires, many west Mei Ling pirates, awakened and desperate, grouped together to resist fiercely. With insufficient firearms, Mao Haifeng’s pirates had to fight head-on, leading to heavy casualties.
Though Mao Haifeng’s pirates suffered heavy losses, their numbers and surprise attack allowed them to take down the west Mei Ling pirates without too much danger.
In this battle, Mao Haifeng’s pirates lost over 300 men, with over 200 wounded, killed over 500 west Mei Ling pirates, captured over 200, but over 200 escaped in the chaos.
The leader of this pirate group, among the 200, escaped using their knowledge of the terrain.
