Xu Hai ordered all the shields taken from the Japanese pirates to be evenly distributed to the eight hundred men assigned to cover the retreat. Armour was also given out, one set per man. Then he painted them a bright picture. “Hold for just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, then you can pull back into the city. Every one of you who covers the rear will get a heavy reward, one hundred taels of silver, and a woman each!”
“Anyone who retreats without orders will be killed without mercy!”
Under Xu Hai’s mixture of promises and threats, the pirates who had turned to form the rearguard kept cursing, yet they gripped their shields more tightly.
The time of one cup of tea. We have armour, and shields in the front rank for protection. Fight for it!
The rearguard pirates tightened their hold on shields and weapons.
“Faster, faster, faster! Get into the city! You only have the time of one cup of tea! Anyone who causes trouble at the gate, I’ll slaughter him myself!”
Taking advantage of the rearguard, the pirates hurried into Songjiang prefectural city. To speed up the retreat, Xu Hai even sent his personal guard to maintain order. Who got in first depended on their own effort. Anyone who fought or jostled at the gate would be chopped down on the spot, no questions asked, solving the problem at its root.
Xu Hai’s personal guard cut down six pirates who were scrambling and disrupting order at the gate, terrifying the rest so much that they dared not fight there any longer, greatly increasing the speed of entry.
“Come on, you dog soldiers! Your grandsires have shields now, we’re not afraid of your firelocks! Come and die if you dare!”
“Come on, dog soldiers. Anyway, after one cup of tea we can retreat into the city.”
The rearguard pirates clutched their shields, gnashed their teeth, and shouted at the approaching Zhejiang troops to boost their own courage.
“The Japanese pirates have shields. Fire only when they are close. They have no bows or firelocks. Open fire at twenty metres!”
“Fifty metres, keep advancing. Forty metres, keep advancing. Thirty metres, twenty metres. Ready, fire!”
“Tiger crouch cannons, fire high!”
The pursuing Zhejiang troops advanced in neat ranks towards the rearguard. Noticing that the front rank had shield protection and no ranged weapons, they closed to twenty metres, close enough to see the whites of the pirates’ eyes, before halting. In groups of three ranks, they levelled their firelocks at the pirates and pulled the triggers.
Dozens of tiger crouch cannons had also been loaded with canister shot and their fuses lit.
Bang, bang, bang!
A neat, dense volley of firelock shots rang out, flashes lit the scene, and the front of the Zhejiang troops was shrouded in smoke.
Boom, boom, boom!
The tiger crouch cannons thundered like thunderclaps, huge flames burst forth, and dense clouds of canister shot swept towards the rearguard pirates opposite.
The gunpowder used in Zhejiang army firearms was improved black powder, more than twice as powerful as the gunpowder of this era.
Beneath the Zhejiang firelocks and tiger crouch cannons, the rearguard shields were like paper. They shattered with loud cracks.
The high-angle tiger crouch cannons especially sailed over the front shields and arced down onto the pirates behind, causing terrible slaughter.
A chorus of screams and wails rose. The pirates discovered that neither shields nor the armour on their bodies could keep them safe. The Zhejiang firearms were too fierce. Musket balls and canister shot easily tore through shields and armour, then carried on to pierce limbs and bodies.
After one Zhejiang volley, more than a hundred of the rearguard lay dead. The survivors shook with terror.
The Zhejiang troops gave them no time to hesitate. The first line fired, then fell back to reload while the rear lines stepped forward in smooth alternation.
Bang, bang, bang.
Boom, boom, boom.
Once again the Zhejiang firearms roared in neat, dense unison amid flashes of fire, and smoke spread anew.
Another wave of screams came from the rearguard as more pirates fell in swathes.
The second Zhejiang line fired and withdrew. The third line stepped up, levelled their firelocks, and pulled the triggers.
Another burst of screams, another stretch of pirates collapsed.
“Are we just going to stand here and wait to die? Retreating means death, standing means death. We might as well charge and fight these dog soldiers!”
“If we hold for one cup of tea, we can retreat into the city. At least half that time has passed already! One charge to disrupt the dog soldiers’ formation so they can’t fire, and we’ll be saved!”
“One charge and we can withdraw!”
Stirred up by some of their number, the rearguard pirates brandished their Japanese swords, stepped over the corpses of the dead, and launched a desperate charge at the Zhejiang troops.
Bang, bang, bang…
What greeted them was the neat Zhejiang firelock volley and another black cloud of tiger crouch cannon canister shot sweeping down like a storm.
The charging pirates instantly fell in swathes.
Thanks to the rearguard and Xu Hai’s personal guard keeping order, plus the threat of death, the pirate withdrawal was swift. By the time the rearguard launched their death charge, the remaining pirates had nearly all entered the city.
“Damn it all! What are the defenders on the wall doing?! The walls aren’t even held by Japanese pirates! How can they just watch the pirates retreat into the city?! Are they made of clay or carved from wood?! Just ornaments?!”
“The city defenders must be in league with the Japanese pirates!”
“Not one arrow loosed, not one soldier sent out. Are they defending the city or are we?! Just standing up there watching the show?!”
“Are you all deaf? We shouted up at you earlier. Were your ears stuffed?!”
The Zhejiang soldiers were furious when they saw the entire pirate force retreat into Songjiang prefectural city. What was wrong with the city garrison? Not one arrow, not one soldier, just watching while we fought the pirates to the death outside, watching the pirates pull back into the city. Were they accomplices of the pirates?!
Working from both sides, brothers! We came to save you, and you just watch the fun from up there?!
Zhu Ping’an also frowned when he saw the pirate army withdraw into Songjiang prefectural city. The garrison dared not come down to stop the pirates, but could they not even loose arrows or fire shots from the wall?!
“Great! Our men have entered the city. We’ve finished covering the retreat. We can go in now!”
“Fantastic! Pull back, pull back, pull back! The dog soldiers’ firearms are too fierce. If we don’t retreat now, we’ll die here too!”
“Hurry and withdraw. Thank heavens we’re all right. A hundred taels of silver and a woman each. Life is going to be good from now on.”
The rearguard pirates saw that nearly all their main force had entered the city and, having survived by the skin of their teeth, laughed and cried with relief. The covering job was done. At last they could enter the city. Without a moment’s hesitation they turned and ran for the gate.
Bang, bang, bang.
Another dense, neat Zhejiang firelock volley rang out.
More fleeing rearguard pirates fell.
The survivors took huge strides, running for their lives, wishing their parents had given them an extra leg.
One step, two steps. The gate grew closer.
Just as the front-runners were about to reach the gate, a loud creaking sound suddenly rang out. In their sight, the city gate began to close rapidly.
“No! Don’t! We haven’t got in yet! Open the gate! Open it quick and let us in!”
“Damn you, Xu Hai, you bastard! You don’t keep your word! You said if we covered the rear for one cup of tea we could retreat into the city! Why are you closing the gate?! We covered your retreat, and now you cut off ours?!”
“We covered your rear, and you cut off ours! I curse your whole family to die horribly!”
The sprinting pirates saw the gate closing before their eyes and let out desperate, furious roars.
