Chapter 56: Heaven’s Punishment
At this moment, Pearl Households and soldiers still didn’t know what had happened.
They gazed doubtfully into the distance.
“Boom! Boom! Boom…”
Immediately, amid the morning sun, thunderous sounds continued without end, blue smoke filling the air.
Water columns successively splashed before and after the village walls, as if a torrential downpour had fallen.
“Boom!”
Another section of village wall was struck; the rotten wood soaked in water for over a decade simply couldn’t withstand the bombardment of solid iron cannonballs.
With just one shot, it collapsed.
The surrounding village walls also gave way, collapsing continuously for three or four zhang.
Bai Qing shouted: “Everyone, escape quickly!”
The Pearl Households whom she had already notified immediately rowed their oars, filing out through the breach one after another.
From afar, the Water Village looked like a wounded sea beast, blood gushing from the wound.
“It’s Sea Bandits! Where’s the Tiger Squatting Cannon? Fire back quickly!” An officer on the village wall commanded in panic.
“No fire!” The gunners already had a crying tone in their voices.
“You bastards! Quickly find fire! Who brought flint?” The officer commanded loudly.
On the village wall, a group of soldiers began comically searching everywhere.
At the breach, more and more Pearl Households were escaping outward.
The soldiers on the village wall drew their bows, threatening the Pearl Households to stop.
No one paid them any mind.
The soldiers loosed arrows, but the arrows were soft and powerless, all embedding in the boat awnings.
The Pearl Households were all skilled boat handlers; with some maneuvering and dodging, they evaded all the arrows.
Six or seven soldiers repeatedly drew their bows, firing five or six volleys, yet only wounding one person.
Just as the soldiers panicked drawing their bows and nocking arrows, a small boat rammed toward the village wall.
Then a slim figure leaped from the bow, a sharp blade in its mouth, flexibly climbing upward.
The soldiers hadn’t reacted yet when that figure reached the village wall, stabbing a knife into one soldier’s belly.
Then using that soldier’s body to block a volley of arrows.
After the arrow volley passed, the figure emerged again, killing two more in a few agile flips and dodges.
At this point, some Pearl Households could no longer endure, seizing weapons and hacking the remaining archers to death.
“Bai Qing, why keep escaping! I say, let’s go slaughter that rootless beast!” A Pearl Household shouted, brandishing a knife.
Bai Qing wiped the blood from her face and shouted: “No! Going now will get us hit by stray cannon fire. We must first withdraw from the Water Village. Don’t worry, the rootless beast won’t get away!”
With that, Bai Qing jumped down from the village wall, plunging straight into the water. When she resurfaced, she was already beside her own boat.
With one stroke of the oar, she rushed out of the Water Village with the crowd.
At this time, the soldiers on the village wall finally found a torch, and the gunners shakily loaded powder and cannonballs.
They roughly aimed the Tiger Squatting Cannon at the ship shadows under the morning sun, inserted the fuse, and everyone retreated to the side.
The soldier holding the torch cautiously approached and lit the fuse.
With a sizzle, the fuse burned rapidly, and everyone covered their ears.
They watched the fuse burn to the end, and then… nothing happened.
“Pig-brained idiot! Did you load the powder?” The officer cursed loudly.
The gunner was extremely aggrieved: “I did! It must be the gunpowder got damp!”
While speaking, another round of cannon fire sounded from afar, water columns erupting around like a violent rainstorm.
Several more shots hit the village wall; the already tottering wall was blasted with three more breaches, collapsing over ten zhang.
……
On the eastern sea surface.
Santa Ana’s cannon deck.
Lei Sanxiang was commanding the gunners to reload.
“Take it slow, follow the steps to operate the cannon. Don’t treat this like battle, just like regular training. That Water Village opposite is a reef target! Hit one shot, and dinner gets an extra big piece of fatty meat! One piece is enough to make you greasy to death!”
Lei Sanxiang soothed the gunners’ emotions while inspecting everywhere, kicking anyone who botched a step.
“Are you fucking crazy? Want to load gunpowder without wiping the barrel? Want to kill us all? Get up to the deck, no dinner for you tonight!”
The gunner who was kicked clutched his rear and left the cannon deck; then Lei Sanxiang found a clever replacement for him.
No helping it; in just over ten days, teaching these illiterate fools to operate cannons was really a stretch.
Trained to now with no barrel explosions, it was all thanks to Lei Sanxiang’s rough exterior hiding finesse.
Thus, for this cannon bombardment of the Water Village, Lin Qian’s requirement for the gunners was to treat it like regular training.
Loading and firing the cannon—no need for speed, only steadiness required above all.
Anyway, the Water Village had no counterattack capability at all; it was simply a natural live target. A sharp knife kills, a dull one can still cut.
Might as well use it to let the gunners get practice.
After half a stick of incense, all the cannons were fully loaded.
After Lei Sanxiang inspected, he ordered them to fire.
The gunners successively lit the fuses, cannons firing one by one; instantly, gun smoke filled the air in front of the cannon deck.
Lei Sanxiang commanded the gunners to reload while leaning near the gunport, peering through the smoke to observe the cannonball impacts.
Water mist rose around the Water Village again; the village walls were shattered to pieces, with only a few wooden stakes still standing in place.
At this time, Chen Jiao’s shout came from the upper deck: “Helmsman orders: cannons bombard the Water Village barracks!”
Lei Sanxiang loudly relayed: “Bombard Water Village barracks, elevate gunports!”
As he spoke, he personally adjusted the cannons.
Another half stick of incense later, all cannons were ready.
With Lei Sanxiang’s order, huge bombardment sounds echoed throughout the cannon deck, ringing the gunners’ ears.
Under recoil, the cannons jerked backward fiercely, pulling the ropes between cannon body and hull taut.
The wooden hull emitted a painful creaking sound.
The entire hull tilted backward under the recoil.
White mist from black powder explosions filled in front of the gunports, shrouding the entire cannon deck in gun smoke like a fairyland.
The sulfur smell was extremely pungent, choking people into wanting to cough.
……
In the Water Village.
Cannons struck around the barracks; instantly, sand and stones flew, like divine punishment.
The houses hit by cannon fire collapsed at once, crushed stones shooting out; several unlucky soldiers were struck by crushed stones, lying in pools of blood and wailing.
In a grand house at the center of the barracks.
Pearl Ponds eunuch Li Tan paced anxiously back and forth in the room like ants on a hot pan.
Seeing the Pearl Ponds Patrol Inspector run in, Li Tan hurriedly asked: “Who exactly is attacking? Have you scouted it clearly? Japanese Pirates or foreigners?”
The Patrol Inspector’s panic exceeded even Li Tan’s, replying: “Lord Li, at a time like this, who cares Japanese Pirates or foreigners! Escaping for our lives is what matters!”
Li Tan was filled with terror: “Escape? You can’t beat them?”
“Fight? Send people to swim over, or stand on shore as targets?”
“Aren’t there over a dozen warships in the Water Village?”
“My Lord Li! Those ships are all showboats drawing empty pay—you know that. They can handle Sea Bandits fine, but against foreigners with sturdy ships and superior cannons, how could they match up?”
“Foreigners…” Li Tan felt struck by lightning; he knew full well the true state of the navy, Japanese Pirates, and Sea Bandits.
Cannons of such power only foreigners possessed.
Li Tan recalled the group of Franks he had encountered at the Maritime Trade Office; he had casually dismissed them with a few words.
He hadn’t expected this bunch of foreigners to hold such a grudge, mobilizing gunboats to bombard the pearl farm, willing to make enemies of the Great Ming just to settle scores with him.
How did he end up crossing paths with these stubborn foreigners?
This was truly the worst luck imaginable!
