My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 380: Grabbing the First Place

"I see. It seems that this expedition to Srivijaya is not just for a pirate like Chen Zuyi!"

The three of them finally understood everything. Zhu Di suddenly realized, "I finally understand the true meaning of what my father often said: war is the continuation of politics. On the surface, we are here to fight pirates, but in fact, we are here for the market of Srivijaya!

In a sense, Chen Zuyi actually provided us with a perfect excuse to send troops to intervene in Srivijaya!"

War is the continuation of politics, which is naturally what Zhu Yuanzhang learned from Li Han. Zhu Di heard this sentence by chance and immediately took it as a guiding principle. This time he finally had the opportunity to quote from classics.

"Yes, you can understand it that way!" Xu Da nodded with relief. It seems that even Zhu Laosi, this fool, is not without political acumen.

Li Jinglong nodded thoughtfully, and suddenly slapped his head, "Oh, I forgot to bring clothes!"

"What clothes should I bring?" Zhu Di and Xu Huizu looked at him in confusion.

"We are going to the palace to see the king. He is also the monarch of a country. We should dress formally, right?"

Li Jinglong looked at everyone and said, "I thought we were just going out to fight this time, so I only brought a few sets of combat uniforms, and didn't bring any formal clothes at all!"

"Oh, I thought it was a big deal. You just didn't bring any clothes. What's the big deal? My nephew, a grown man, do you have to dress up like a girl before entering the palace?" Zhu Di teased with a smile.

"What do you know, Zhu Laosi? This is called diplomatic etiquette!" Li Jinglong also put the new vocabulary he learned from his uncle into practice.

Seeing Li Jinglong's serious look, others couldn't help laughing. Li Wenzhong looked at his son's serious look and felt both angry and amused.

"Alright, Jiujiang, you are a man of few ideas, but you must have learned all those things from His Majesty. Let's go into the palace in combat uniforms, and even the King of Srivijaya won't be able to find fault with us!"

"That's right. Our Ming Dynasty's combat uniforms look majestic and domineering, and they are also comfortable to wear. What's more, I think they look better than the previous clothes!" Zhu Di interrupted.

Li Jinglong wanted to say something, but he pursed his lips and didn't say it. At this moment, the radio in the bridge rang.

"Commander, this is the beachhead, this is the beachhead. The enemy has been repelled and it is safe to land. The Second Battalion has captured the enemy's position. Chen Zuyi and his gang are still fleeing. Please give us your next instructions!"

The person who spoke was the captain in charge of commanding the landing operation. At this time, they had completed the occupation of the beach and reported to Xu Da that they could land.

Xu Da immediately picked up the radio and gave the order: "Order the third and second battalions to pursue Chen Zuyi immediately, and the rest of the troops will wait on the beach to meet the landing troops, and then enter the city and the palace!"

"Yes, coach!"

Everything was going smoothly, but the progress of things was slightly different from what Xu Da and others had expected, and there was a small deviation.

When the Ming army soldiers of the second battalion attacked the high ground, they felt a little regretful when they saw the mess on the ground.

Why did he run away like that? He was just clamoring for ten taels of silver for each head. Why didn’t you come and fight to your heart’s content?
The pirates fled for their lives, not caring about anything, leaving behind a pile of swords and weapons, and the heavy cannons were thrown where they were.

These pirates are not good at fighting, but they are good at escaping. So should we continue to pursue them or stay where we are and wait, meet up with the Third Musketeer Battalion and continue the pursuit? Qian Benyi looked at the pirates who were gradually moving away and made a decision immediately!
"Chase them!" "Captain Qian, shouldn't we wait for the third battalion?" a general flag asked in surprise.

"What are you waiting for? The Third Battalion is dawdling for so long and still hasn't come up. This is a groom who is over fifty years old and he can't climb into bed for such a long time!"

Qian Benyi looked at the distant beach, where the Third Battalion was still fighting the remaining pirates, and shook his head and said, "No need to wait. If we wait any longer, Chen Zuyi will run to the ends of the earth. Go chase him immediately!"

"But, are we going to ignore the commander-in-chief's orders?" The general was still a little worried.

"You seem to be quite smart usually, why do you fail at the critical moment?"

Qian Benyi knocked on his head, very annoyed, "Who said to ignore the commander's order? The commander said that the third and second battalions should pursue together, not that the two musket battalions should pursue at the same time. Do you understand, you stupid guy?"

The general covered his head and nodded a little aggrievedly, "I understand, Captain Qian!"

Qian Benyi continued, "Besides, capturing Chen Zuyi is a great achievement. Do you still want the Third Battalion to compete with us for the credit? After all, our Second Battalion is also the direct line of Young Master Xu. If we capture Chen Zuyi, it will also bring honor to Young Master Xu. Can the commander say anything wrong about us?"

After hearing this, the general's eyes suddenly lit up, "I understand, I understand, Captain Qian's idea is great!"

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get moving!"

The general flag turned around and shouted to the Ming army soldiers behind him: "Everyone, move quickly, don't dawdle. If we can catch Chen Zuyi, we brothers will be the first to achieve the credit!"

Soon, the Ming troops from the Second Battalion of the Musket Battalion, holding their guns, chased in the direction where Chen Zuyi and his gang were fleeing!

After a while, the soldiers of the third battalion finally climbed up to the high ground, but as soon as they got up there, they were stunned.

In addition to the weapons scattered on the ground, there were a few old-fashioned cannons, and other than that, there were pirate corpses all over the ground.

Where are the people? Where are the people from the Second Battalion? Where did such a large Second Battalion go?
"Captain, the second battalion is gone. What should we do now?"

"What else can we do? Chase them. The people from the Second Battalion want to have the best meal for themselves. How can we let those brats get their wish? Chase them all!"

The common people in Palembang City had a hard time during this period. First, a large number of pirates came to the city inexplicably. Pirates were not uncommon here, but tens of thousands of them coming in succession was a rare event.

As the number of pirates increased, all kinds of bad things happened. Pirates were not good men and women. They could easily molest decent women and it was common for them to take advantage of them without paying. This made the people of Palembang angry but unable to speak out.

Hearing that these pirates came to Palembang to fight the Ming army, the people initially felt great resentment towards the Ming army. Why did the Ming army come to Srivijaya instead of staying in Ming Dynasty?
When the battle started, they heard fierce artillery and gunfire coming from the direction of the beach, and they were even more frightened, fearing that they would be the ones to suffer if they were not careful.

They naturally knew the name of the Ming Dynasty. Chen Zuyi came from the Ming Dynasty. In their impression, it was an extremely powerful empire. After many Ming Dynasty commodities flowed into Srivijaya, they were even more convinced that the country was not only powerful, but also extremely rich.

Now the Ming Dynasty actually attacked. When such a legendary behemoth arrived at their doorstep, there was no other thought in their hearts except fear.

(End of this chapter)