Chapter 37: Truly Struck It Rich

The comrades had mostly exhausted their supply of homemade grenades, with only about twenty men left to toss their final ones into the crowd of retreating pirates.

The blast from those twenty-odd grenades killed or wounded dozens of pirates. The pirate leader, Wang Lianhu, cast aside his steel saber and fell to his knees with a thud. "I surrender! Don't kill me! I am also a subject of the Great Ming!" Following Wang Lianhu’s lead, most of the pirates knelt on the ground to surrender.

Dozens of seasoned veteran pirates continued their flight, reaching the shore and boarding the large vessels anchored there. Among the hundred or so ships along the coast, there were six Type-2 Fuchuan or large sand-junks with a displacement of over two hundred tons, more than thirty ships ranging from one to two hundred tons, and over sixty smaller boats under one hundred tons. These ships were packed tightly, most of them grounded on the coastal shallows.

Several hours earlier, Tojo Hideki had led his fleet of over a hundred ships to land, with the larger vessels in the front and the smaller ones in the rear. Just a moment ago, Yokoji Keiji had been commanding five hundred pirates in moving the sixty smaller boats from the outer perimeter into deeper water; they were in the middle of resting when they suddenly heard the explosions from a few miles away. Too rushed to finish moving the rest of the fleet, Yokoji Keiji led his five hundred men to reinforce Tojo Hideki.

Back at the large ships by the shore, dozens of pirates scrambled along the decks to the outermost small boats. Skilled as they were, they quickly rowed the boats away from the shore and disappeared into the distance. Lacking long-range weapons, Zhang Chen and his comrades from Zhang Village could only watch helplessly as the pirates escaped.

"So, you are a subject of the Great Ming," Zhang Chen said, kicking Wang Lianhu. He cursed, but ultimately did not kill the traitor. In truth, most of these so-called pirates were actually Ming subjects who had colluded with a handful of Japanese raiders to plague their own people. Having just shouted "surrender and you shall not be killed," Zhang Chen felt it inappropriate to turn back on his word and execute Wang Lianhu immediately; he decided to let the traitor live a little longer.

In total, over two hundred and sixty pirates surrendered, two hundred and twenty-six of whom were Ming subjects. Zhang Chen ordered the Zhang Village death squad to guard the captives, sent the First Company to clear the battlefield, and led the remaining men to secure the forty-plus large ships grounded on the shore.

"We've struck gold! The ships are filled with gold, silver, and treasure!" Fatty Niu exclaimed, his face flushed with excitement. Standing on the deck of a Type-2 Fuchuan, he shouted to Zhang Chen, "Young Master, this time, we are truly rich!"

The forty-plus large ships were laden with gold, silver, iron ingots, grain, cotton cloth, and other valuables. In the holds of the six largest vessels, over a hundred young women were being held captive. Recognizing that the women, along with the treasure, iron, and grain, likely belonged to the Qishan Thousand-Household Office, Zhang Chen ordered the women to be released.

Muttering to himself that "all primitive accumulation is built on blood," Zhang Chen ordered the captives to move the grounded ships into deeper water.

Over an hour later, the eastern sky began to pale; dawn was approaching. The First Company returned from clearing the battlefield, having seized over a thousand steel sabers. They had also recovered over three thousand taels of silver and promissory notes from the pirates' corpses, along with more than six hundred severed pirate heads. Tojo Hideki's head, which alone was worth three thousand taels, had been retrieved by Fatty Niu upon his return to the scene.

Hours earlier, Yokoji Keiji had burned the Qishan garrison to the ground, but fortunately, the lime stores had survived. The comrades found the lime in the ruins, processed the heads, and loaded them onto a large sand-junk. By this time, the captives had successfully moved the six largest ships and the thirty medium-sized vessels into deeper water. Using the smaller boats, the men transferred the thousand-plus captured sabers onto the larger ships.

From this day forward, the Futou Village pier was officially renamed Zhang Village Pier. Zhang Chen intended to lead his men to the pier to transport the gold, silver, and iron from the ships to the village by horse-drawn cart. Although he knew the goods likely belonged to the Qishan garrison, he had no intention of returning them.

This haul, worth over two hundred thousand taels of silver, had been seized by the Zhang Village militia after annihilating hundreds of pirates. By the laws of war, the spoils belonged to them.

Several hours ago, Zhang Chen had led over four hundred men from Zhang Village to pursue the seven hundred pirates under Tojo Hideki. After a fierce battle and the subsequent destruction of Yokoji Keiji’s five hundred men, the Zhang Village militia had suffered eighty-six casualties. Zhang Chen ordered the bodies of the fallen martyrs to be cremated on the spot.

Once the sun had fully risen, everyone from Zhang Village except for Zhang Chen, Fatty Niu, and Zhang Er'an had boarded the ships. Sighing, Zhang Chen walked toward a small boat, intending to head to the lead Type-2 Fuchuan. Just then, a group of over a dozen young women approached; they were survivors from the Qishan garrison.

After thanking Zhang Chen earlier, the hundred-plus women had been weeping and supporting one another as they walked toward the ruins of the garrison. Sensing their intent, Zhang Chen spoke in a deep, firm voice:

"Last night saw several bloody battles. We lost hundreds of men, but our militia killed over a thousand pirates and annihilated twenty-five hundred in total. The outcome is acceptable. We are leaving now; no need for thanks, and no need to see us off."

"No, Young Master Zhang," one of them said. "My name is Li Daniuniu. My father, Li Zhixin, was a Deputy Thousand-Household Officer at Qishan. He died in battle last night after killing two pirates."

Tears streaming down her face, Li Daniuniu bowed. "Young Master Zhang, I am ignorant of the wider world, so I will speak plainly. The two large sand-junks and all the gold, silver, and iron on the ships belong to the Qishan Thousand-Household Office. I beg you to return them to us."

"Impossible," Zhang Chen replied. "The ships and everything on them were captured by the men of Zhang Village after we annihilated over two thousand pirates."

Fatty Niu looked at Li Daniuniu with disdain. "Your garrison's ships and treasure were stolen by the pirates; you can go ask them for it. The wealth on these ships was bought with the lives and blood of our Zhang Village men. Why on earth should we give it to you?"