Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 213 Shang Kexi

At about four o'clock in the afternoon on May 1632, 5, a not-so-fierce naval battle had just broken out in the waters northwest of Ku Niang Island. On the blue sea, a large number of flags, armor, wooden barrels, and corpses that had not yet sunk to the bottom of the sea were floating, rising and falling with the waves.

Dozens of warships flying the "Mao" flag were obviously unwilling to fight. After slightly breaking away from the battle, they quickly fled towards Changshan Island.

After a moment, it disappeared on the vast ocean waves.

Because if we continue fighting, we will not be able to achieve any results except increasing casualties.

Thousands of navy ships came charging in, but in the end they couldn't do anything to this small island. It was so depressing!

More than half a month ago, Mao Chenglu was furious when he heard that the defenders on the island had no martial ethics at all. They chopped off the guerrilla general Sun Yonghuai whom he sent to persuade them to surrender, and also captured the small boat. He immediately led his troops to attack the Kourning Mother Island, vowing to flatten the island and massacre all the soldiers and civilians on the island.

However, they never expected that wave after wave of soldiers attacking the island would be blocked on the beach, and the farthest they could advance was just across the trench.

Rows of Mao's soldiers were shot to death in front of the wooden stronghold by the island's defenders' muskets, as if there was a line of death that was impossible to cross.

During this period, under the personal supervision of Mao Chenglu, two group charges of 500 people were launched. Dozens of large and small warships swarmed to the shore. Densely packed soldiers shouted loudly and rushed towards the wooden village not far from the shore with an overwhelming force.

However, when the troops crossed the trench at a heavy cost in casualties and were about to remove the obstructive barricades in front of the wooden stronghold, the deafening roar of artillery suddenly rang out, and dense grapeshot swept away the soldiers who rushed forward like a storm.

Looking at the bloodshot wounds on their fallen comrades' bodies, the soldiers were immediately horrified and their morale plummeted. They ignored the officers' shouts and turned to flee towards the beach.

Damn it, the thieves actually have cannons. How can a flesh and blood body fight against cannons?
Even the Jiannu soldiers, who were known for their bravery and fearlessness, turned around and ran away when they were bombarded by artillery on the top of Guangning City, without making any futile charges.

Wasn't this small, broken island leased by overseas merchants to collect the famine victims fleeing from Liaodong?
How come the island is not only equipped with spears and swords, but also with volleys of muskets and several powerful cannons!?
This is not just a remote island with no weapons, it is clearly a strong fortress with tight defenses and fierce firepower!

After more than half a month of attack, Mao Chenglu's troops suffered more than 900 casualties, and the corpses almost covered the shore and the beach. They were already seriously injured and could not bear to fight again.

In the end, all the soldiers were so afraid of the order to land and attack that they tried their best to make excuses and procrastinate.

Even under the coercion of their superiors, they would only retreat to the sea like a tide after reaching the shore of the island if they encountered a counterattack from the defenders.

When Mao Chenglu's troops encountered the vanguard fleet of Huanglong's rebellion suppression army, they only had a brief encounter and immediately withdrew their troops without suffering too many casualties, retreating to Changshan Island to plan another attack.

Since they couldn't capture the island anyway, they might as well take advantage of the situation to withdraw and prepare to deal with the counter-insurgency army's attack.

The Ming army that came to rescue Ku Niang Island was the vanguard of Huang Long's troops, and the main commander was the front-line guerrilla Shang Kexi.

Ten days ago, after Huang Long swore an oath to his troops at Pi Island, he left Deputy General Shen Shikui and other "relatives" of Marshal Mao on the island, and he himself led an army of more than 5,000 soldiers, boarding more than a hundred boats, to suppress the rebel forces of Chen Youshi, Mao Chenglu and others.

Huang Long ordered the vanguards Shang Kexi and Jin Shenghuan to lead more than a thousand soldiers each to pacify the islands, while he himself led the army to advance slowly, "personally touring various places", punishing the rebels and destroying the pirate ships.

After leaving Pi Island, Jin Shenghuan led his troops to Shicheng in an attempt to cut off the rebels' retreat route to the north.

However, Shang Kexi originally wanted to lead his troops to attack Changshan and Guanglu directly and strike the enemy army in its heart.

However, just before departure, General Huang Long changed his mind and gave him instructions in person, ordering him to take Ku Niang Island first, and after defeating Mao Chenglu's troops, join forces with Jin Shenghuan to attack Changshan and Guanglu.

Seeing that Mao Chenglu's troops fled to Changshan, Shang Kexi did not order a pursuit, but temporarily anchored on the north side of Ku Niang Island and sent people to the island to find the leader of the foreign merchants and ordered him to come to see him.

After about half an hour, the soldiers who were sent out returned alone and said that the person in charge on the island was unwilling to leave the shore to meet Shang Kexi.

If you have anything to discuss, you can go to the island to find him. In order to thank them for sending troops to expel Mao Chenglu and lift the siege of Ku Niang Island, the other party promised to give them 100 dan of rice, 20 barrels of dried fish, and 100 pieces of cloth.

After hearing this report, Shang Kexi burst into laughter in anger.

I was ordered to fight the bandits and drive out the rebels. Am I here for the little money you give me?

We are after the artillery on your island!

Before coming, the general had privately instructed that after repelling the rebels led by Mao Chenglu, he could find a reason to kill the person in charge on the island, then annex all the food stored on the island, confiscate their weapons and firearms, recruit strong men, and then join forces with Jin Shenghuan to attack the rebels in Changshan and Guanglu.

Unexpectedly, the foreign merchant on the Crying Mother Island is a cautious person.

They watched as our Dongjiang Town troops repelled the rebels at sea and lifted the siege on them, but they remained on the island and refused to come out.

When someone called them to come, they would evade and refuse, fearing that they would be ambushed.

In that case, I'll go to the island to meet him.

However, when Shang Kexi led hundreds of elite soldiers to try to land on the island, he was stopped by the enemy and was asked to bring no more than 20 people ashore.

It was obvious that the defenders on the island were very vigilant. Even though Shang Kexi's troops helped the island repel the rebels, they were still wary of them.

Who made it so that these soldiers from Dongjiang Town had no good reputation in the Liaodong area for many years? They were known for infighting and mutiny.

You came to the island with hundreds of fully armed soldiers, which inevitably made people doubt what your real purpose is.

After hesitating for a moment, Shang Kexi ordered hundreds of soldiers to stay on the boat and led twenty personal guards to the wooden village.

I'd like to take a closer look at the person in charge of this island.

If I could find an opportunity to capture him, I would definitely cook him up to vent my anger.

In fact, Shang Kexi himself had no ill will towards the foreign merchants who rented this island, and even had a vague good impression of them.

They transported countless amounts of food from the south, comforted the suffering people from all over Liaodong, provided them with food and clothing, and saved their lives, which was a great favor.

Although they would eventually transport these Liao people to overseas to open up wasteland and settle there, forcing them to leave their country and homes, at least they were given a way to survive and would not die of hunger and cold in the wild.

But this foreign merchant should never have gotten involved with Shen Shikui, the deputy general of Dongjiang Town. Not only did they engage in fur and weapons smuggling trade in private, but the two sides also had close ties and supported each other.

Last October, Shen Shikui secretly instigated generals such as Geng Zhongyu and Wang Yingyuan to launch a mutiny and detained General Huang Long, intending to take over the throne and establish himself as the emperor.

If Shang Kexi had not received the secret report and rushed back to Pi Island, killing Geng, Wang and other leaders with lightning speed and saving Huang Long from danger, Dongjiang Town might have had to replace a new leader in less than a year.

However, given that Shen Shikui had complex connections and a deep background in the Dongjiang Town Army, and that he led more than 4,000 soldiers from the Right Brigade, and his troops were equipped with several red cannons and several Portuguese guns, his strength should not be underestimated. This made Huanglong and Shang Kexi choose to temporarily endure after suppressing the mutiny, and not completely break off relations with him.

But they hated Shen Shikui in their hearts and secretly thought that if they had the chance, they would get rid of him as soon as possible.

Therefore, without thinking about good or evil, it is purely out of hatred for the whole family. Since the foreign merchant who rented the Ku Niang Island is so close to Shen Shikui, it would be better to take advantage of the rebels' rampage in Liaohai to kill them, and then rob the food and supplies on the island, so that Mr. Shen, who stayed in Pi Island, would suffer a setback.

(End of this chapter)