My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 375 Thunder and Fire from the Sky
"Something flew over here?"

The pirates listened to the sound of breaking air getting closer and closer with some surprise, and they didn't realize what was happening.

At this time, someone finally reacted and asked uncertainly: "Did the Ming people's ship fire?"

As soon as these words were spoken, they were ridiculed by others. They knew that artillery, although sharp, could only fire within a range of five miles at most. Now the Ming army's ships were at least ten miles away from them. Firing at such a long distance, wasn't it a sheer waste of shells?

"In my opinion, the army of the Ming Dynasty is no better than this. They dare not disembark, so they come here to hastily fire a few cannons, and then go back to report to their emperor!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they were immediately greeted with bursts of laughter from the pirates. But before the laughter died down, they heard a "whoosh" sound that seemed to pierce the sky. In a moment, the pirates saw several black things falling on their heads!

In an instant, the shells fired by the Dingyuan ship plunged into the ground like thunder from the sky.

"Boom boom boom!"

In an instant, violent explosions occurred one after another on the beach. For a moment, the entire beach was shaking as if by an earthquake. The violent impact seemed to overturn the entire earth!
The powerful shock wave rolled up a violent gust of air, instantly blowing several pirates away, while the pirates close to the explosion point were almost blown to pieces!

As the explosion sounded, countless fragments flew in all directions. In an instant, countless pirates were pierced by the fragments, and bloody holes appeared on their bodies.

After the explosion, several large pits were blown out on the beach, and there were countless body parts and corpses. Blood and intestines were all over the ground, and all kinds of red, yellow and white things were scattered all over the beach.

There were also many people whose arms and legs were blown off. They were unable to react for a while. Only after the severe pain came did they let out shrill screams.

The pirates were stunned instantly, and many of them still had buzzing sounds in their heads. The sharp and piercing sounds in their ears made their brains hurt.

They only saw many of their accomplices covered in blood, with their mouths wide open, as if they were screaming, but they could not hear what they were shouting.

However, more pirates were completely stunned when they saw this scene. What on earth happened just now?
Is it that God is punishing them by sending down thunder and fire?

After a long period of panic, someone finally realized that it was the Ming army's ships that fired!

But what kind of horrible artillery is that that can fire so far and cause a violent explosion!
How can this be?

At this time, the pirates standing on the beach were also looking at this scene with horror on their faces. It was hard for them to believe that the Ming Dynasty's artillery could fire so far!
All this far overturned their imagination. The scene before them seemed so unreal, yet it was actually happening.

After they came to their senses, the pirates on the beach suddenly became chaotic, some fled, and no matter how their leader shouted and tried to reorganize the formation, it was of no avail.

The braver pirates were still thinking about rescuing people, while the crazier ones began to stuff gunpowder and shells into the cannons, trying to use the cannons to attack the Ming army's ships.

After a flurry of activity, with a few loud "booms", the cannons on the beach finally fired projectiles, but they were too far away from the Ming army. They watched helplessly as the projectiles flew for a distance and then hit the water, splashing waves.

The pirates were instantly in despair, but what made them even more desperate was that the Ming army's ships opened fire again.

Following the sharp whistles, the pirates learned their lesson this time and began to flee in all directions. However, when they heard the sound of cannonballs breaking through the air, it was already too late!

On the beach, explosions occurred again, and the pirates were blown to pieces. Those who were still alive were frightened out of their wits.

No one dared to stay on the beach and wait for death, and they all ran into the city. Although not many people were killed on the spot, the scene of meat and intestines flying everywhere was enough to scare even the most brutal and inhumane pirates out of their wits!

No one wanted to stay on this purgatory-like beach. They were just pulled here by Chen Zuyi to fill the numbers, but they had no intention of repaying the emperor's kindness with their own death. "We only fired a few rounds, why are all these pirates running away?"

Tang He held up a telescope and observed the situation on the beach. He was a little disappointed to see the pirates fleeing in panic.

Li Wenzhong joked, "It's good that they can hold out until the second round of bombardment. Old Tang, you can't expect too much from these pirates. Those who didn't pee their pants after the first round of bombardment are already heroes who have lived on the edge of a knife."

Then he asked Xu Da, "Commander-in-chief, can we order the musket battalion to begin landing?"

"No hurry, fire a few more rounds at him!"

Xu Da put down the telescope and ordered the helmsman: "Keep moving forward. Once you are within the range of the secondary guns, fire both the main guns and the secondary guns at the same time and clear a path for me!"

After receiving the order, the helmsman maneuvered the ship forward. At this time, Chen Zuyi also rushed over from the tent in the rear at the Palembang beach.

The huge explosion on the beach just now alarmed the entire city of Palembang. The city is now in chaos. Many people think that God is angry and has sent down a punishment.

The explosion naturally alarmed Chen Zuyi. When he arrived at the front, he was shocked when he saw the corpses and body parts all over the beach.

The Ming army’s artillery was so powerful?

He couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. The panicked escape of the pirates at this moment gave him a headache. In anger, he shouted:
"Everyone calm down! If anyone runs away again, I will chop off his head!"

It has to be said that Chen Zuyi still has great prestige in the minds of the pirates. Amid his roars, the pirates finally calmed down a little.

At this time, a pirate leader bravely approached him and said tremblingly: "Commander, the artillery of the Ming people is too terrifying. We can't deal with it!"

Chen Zuyi glared and sneered, "Humph, no matter how powerful the artillery is, can they bring it to the shore? What are you afraid of? After they get ashore, we will fight them to the death. I don't believe that the commander of the Ming army dares to order the artillery to fire at their own people!"

"The Marshal is wise!" the pirate leader flattered him.

At this moment, someone suddenly shouted: "Look, Ming Gou's boat is coming!"

Everyone looked towards the sea, and sure enough, the Ming army's fleet was moving towards the beach.

"Huh, you really can't wait to get ashore?"

Chen Zuyi said loudly: "Brothers, when the Ming army lands, it will be their death. You all should ambush. Whoever kills one Ming soldier will be rewarded with ten taels of silver. Whoever kills a hundred households will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver. Whoever cuts off the head of the Ming army commander will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"

Chen Zuyi's words immediately aroused the greed and ferocity of the pirates, and they started shouting wildly again!
"Kill the light dog!"

"Kill the light dog!"

Just as the shouts and cries of killing were heard all day long, someone suddenly saw that the Ming Dynasty's ships had stopped again!

(End of this chapter)