It was pitch black outside, with no stars visible, as if endless thick ink had been poured down from the sky. It was hard to see even one's fingers. The wind was howling, the humidity was biting, and there were very few human traces outside, not to mention the presence of birds.
In more than an hour, dawn will come, and this is the time when people are sleeping soundly.
In the Zhu Mansion, Zhu Ping'an was lying on the big fragrant bed, hugging the fragrant Li Shu, and snoring loudly.
Li Shu, who had been unable to sleep well for several days, slept particularly soundly amidst Zhu Ping'an's snoring, which sounded like a broken gong.
Qin'er, who was on duty in the ear room, covered her ears with a pillow. Her big dark circles under her eyes showed that she had not slept well.
"Poor young lady, I was worried about my uncle's safety a few days ago and couldn't sleep well for several nights in a row. Now that my uncle has finally come back, I was so shocked that I couldn't sleep due to such loud snoring. The young lady must not be able to sleep well.
Well, poor lady, my uncle is also pitiful. He is leading the troops to fight against the Japanese pirates outside. There is a hail of swords and arrows. I heard that the Japanese pirates are bad guys who kill without batting an eye. They eat the hearts and livers of children alive and boil human flesh in copper pots. My uncle leads the troops to fight against them.
, I must have endured a lot of hardships to be so exhausted. I usually don’t snore when I sleep, but this time I snored so loudly.”
Qin'er covered her ears with a pillow while thinking pitifully, and the dark circles under her eyes became more and more serious.
Compared to pitiful Qin'er, there are even more pitiful people out there.
The cronies of the prefect Shang were still driving fast in the cold wind. They had already replaced their fast horses at two inns. They only slept at one inn for more than an hour before getting up and continuing on their way.
This is an eight-hundred-mile express, and the master has repeatedly warned me that it must be delivered to the capital as quickly as possible.
The master promised a large reward, promotion and salary increase.
Therefore, several cronies of Magistrate Shang worked hard to smear the story in the dark night and headed straight for the capital without stopping.
Dozens of miles away from Suzhou, there is a group of people shivering in the bushes, enduring the cold wind.
This group of people is Xu Hai and other Japanese pirates who escaped.
At that time, the Zhejiang army opened fire, and they fled southward in panic from the other side of the river. Because it was dark, they didn't know the way, and they were in a hurry to choose the route, which led them to go in the wrong direction.
He was supposed to escape to the southeast to expand his lair in the forest, but by some strange combination of circumstances, he ran to the southwest.
When they robbed and killed a village, upon questioning, they found that they had entered the territory of Jiaxing Prefecture.
"Ma De, it's all our fault that little thief Zhu Ping'an and the damn Zhejiang Army for causing us to end up like this!"
The Japanese pirates in the bushes shivered like jackdaws in the cold wind. They were cold and hungry, so they couldn't help but curse.
"Insidious and shameless! They only use tricks and sneak attacks! If they fight us openly and openly, they are no match for us!"
"That is, although their firearms are sharp, they do not last long and are difficult to reload. They are no match for us in field battles! If the battle in front of the city gate had continued for an hour and a half, their Zhejiang army would have been completely wiped out!"
"If Zhu Ping'an falls into my hands, I will cut him into pieces to relieve the hatred in my heart."
When the Japanese pirates in the bushes mentioned Zhu Pingan and the Zhejiang Army, they gritted their teeth with hatred and wished they could eat Zhu Pingan and the others alive. If it weren't for Zhu Pingan and the Zhejiang Army, how could they have fallen to this point!
The cold wind was biting, and the bushes were shivering. I couldn't even get a full night's sleep, and my stomach was so hungry that my chest pressed against my back!
If it had been normal, they would have had enough to eat and drink, and they would have been sleeping soundly while holding the robbed women up and down!
"Report, there is a troop coming five miles ahead."
A Japanese pirate scout came running up and down the hillside in the distance and reported to Xu Hai and Maye.
As soon as they heard that soldiers and horses were coming, the Japanese pirates in the bushes suddenly panicked. They thought it was the Zhejiang army who was chasing them, and they subconsciously wanted to run away. They couldn't help but fire several rounds of firearms from the Japanese pirates.
"Asshole! Baga! Sit down, be silent and hide!" Seeing this, Xu Hai couldn't help but cursed loudly, "Can there be any potential! This is already Jiaxing Mansion. Without the order of the Ming Dynasty, how could Zhu Ping'an and the others dare to chase across the mansion?
Come!"
A group of Japanese pirates were scolded by Xu Hai, and then they calmed down. Yes, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty could not just cross the government!
That means that these soldiers and horses coming over are not the Zhejiang Army!
It would have been easier if it weren't for the Zhejiang Army! Except for the Zhejiang Army, the Ming court's troops and horses are not worth mentioning!
Since they became Japanese pirates, they have encountered many Ming armies, and no one of them has been defeated by them! Basically, none of the guardsmen in the Ming Dynasty can fight, they are all old, weak, sick and disabled, with nothing to lose!
"How many people are there in this army?" Xu Hai asked.
"Judging from the torches they held, there are almost a hundred people." The Japanese pirate scout thought for a while and replied.
"There are only more than a hundred people." Xu Hai touched his chin, thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and felt a fierce heart. A ruthless look appeared on his face, and he waved his hand, "Then kill them! I sent them to my door.
But don’t blame us!”
"Brother Xu, we only have more than 400 people left now, but we can't withstand a big battle. These one hundred Jiaxing soldiers are easy to kill, but Brother Xu, have you ever thought about it, if we kill these one hundred Jiaxing soldiers, Jiaxing Mansion
We will definitely not give up! Although Jiaxing Prefecture is not as good as Suzhou Prefecture, it is only slightly inferior to Jiangnan. There must be many Ming troops in its territory. Although the Ming army is not powerful, it has a large number of people. We only have these four hundred left.
There are people coming. No matter how ferocious the tiger is, it can't stop a pack of wolves. Brother Xu, think twice!"
"It's not appropriate to cause unnecessary trouble at this time, Brother Xu, we'd better return to Tuolin's lair quickly and discuss it later!"
Upon hearing that Xu Hai was going to kill this Jiaxing soldier, Maye couldn't help but become nervous and tried to dissuade him again and again.
After being attacked repeatedly by Zhu Ping'an, and only about 400 of the tens of thousands of Japanese pirates were left, Maye became a frightened bird.
More than four hundred Japanese pirates could not give him any sense of security!
Now he just wants to return to Tuolin's old nest as soon as possible. They went to Suzhou this time and left more than 10,000 Japanese pirates in the old nest to look after the house. They could only return to Tuolin's old nest, which they had been operating for several months, and returned with more than 10,000 Japanese pirates.
Only in a group can he feel safe.
So what if the Zhejiang Army has firearms? There are still several artillery pieces in their Tuolin lair! Even if the Zhejiang Army comes, he will not be vain at all!
If they attack and kill this Jiaxing soldier, the Jiaxing government will definitely not give up. They will be chased and intercepted. There will definitely be fierce battles on the way back to their hometown. They only have more than 400 Japanese pirates now, and they cannot withstand a few fierce battles.
Therefore, when he heard that Xu Hai was going to create a serious problem and kill this Jiaxing soldier, Ma Ye nervously tried to dissuade him.
"Haha, more than four hundred people are already quite a lot. A few months ago, the Japanese in Shangyu had less than a hundred people, but they could travel thousands of miles across thousands of miles, capture many cities, and even ride on horseback to show off their power outside the city of Yingtian, killing a censor in total.
One county magistrate, one county magistrate, two commanders, and two commanders, with a total of more than 3,000 officers and soldiers, have become a legend among our Japanese! Our current military strength is four times that of theirs! Brother Ma, I have a bold idea."
Xu Hai patted Maye's shoulder heavily, smiled, and looked in the direction of Jiaxing City.
"No, Brother Xu, we are defeated now, and we don't dare to have bold ideas." Maye didn't listen and shook her head repeatedly.