Chapter 62: Bombarding Guo Lao Mountain
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
Huang Hetai never saw that group of sea bandits leave, and his unease grew stronger.
He simply took men up Guo Lao Mountain on the east side of the island to see what this group was up to.
Just as he reached the mountaintop, he glanced only toward the west.
Huang Hetai was stunned speechless, nearly losing his footing.
The barren land of the past had changed dramatically; the messy vegetation along the shore was cleared away, and over a thousand shacks had been erected.
Even more terrifying, many craftsmen were felling timber to build houses, with over a dozen houses already completed, wisps of cooking smoke rising from their chimneys.
On the ground were compacted dirt roads dividing the entire open area into several squares, with crisscrossing paths within the squares, clearly the embryonic form of a large city.
On the paths, many men and women bustled back and forth, a scene of bustling activity.
Along the shore… along the shore, Tanka Boats were lined up for miles, and damn it, someone was building a dock and wharf!
Huang Hetai was truly panicked.
Wasn’t it agreed to just dry the goods?
Which family dries goods and ends up with a city?
They were treating his Nan’ao Island naval camp as their own home!
Judging by this momentum, the few thousand who landed weren’t enough; this city was being built for over ten thousand people.
If the Imperial Court found out, this would be dereliction of duty in guarding the territory, and the Vice General would be the first held accountable.
Before the Vice General was held accountable, they would definitely take him, the Nan’ao Garrison Commander, first.
At this moment, he realized he had been deceived and hurriedly said to his subordinates: “Let’s go, back, muster troops and prepare for battle!”
……
Aboard the Santa Ana, Lin Qian was in his cabin reading the Spaniards’ parchment book.
Suddenly, a subordinate reported: “Helmsman, the brothers surveilling White Sand Bay sent word, the naval camp has activity.”
Lin Qian closed the book: “Got it.”
The subordinate withdrew.
Lin Qian paced to the window; he had thought Huang Hetai would come with a mournful face to denounce him for breaking his word.
Unexpectedly, this Garrison Commander Huang actually had some spine and dared to launch an offensive.
You know, the Nan’ao navy only had a thousand men, while Lin Qian had nearly three thousand under him.
Admittedly, these three thousand were pearl commoners with families in tow.
But thanks to the pearl ponds eunuch, there were no elderly or weak among these three thousand.
There were women and children, but women who survived in such harsh conditions were even handier in a fight than men.
Bai Qing was a typical example.
If Huang Hetai thought they were easy to bully because there were many women, he would be greatly mistaken.
Lin Qian wasn’t afraid of melee combat, let alone… he had cannons.
Thinking of this, Lin Qian pushed open the door and ordered: “Weigh anchor, hoist sail, course for White Sand Bay!”
Chen Jiao loudly relayed the orders.
All the crew members sprang into action.
Half a shichen later, the Santa Ana sailed into White Sand Bay.
Lin Qian stood on the stern deck and raised his telescope; he saw that the distant barracks indeed had large numbers of people rushing about, though it looked somewhat chaotic.
The various ships in the port were crowded together, seemingly preparing to depart.
From the appearance, they looked exactly like the Patrol Office soldiers at the Naozhou Pearl Farm.
At this moment, Lei Sanxiang poked his head out from the gangway of the cannon deck: “Helmsman, cannons loaded.”
Lin Qian said: “Elevate the gunports, fire toward the mountain.”
“Understood!” Lei Sanxiang responded loudly, then ducked back and shouted orders.
Moments later, Lei Sanxiang shouted: “Fire!”
The starboard cannons of the entire Santa Ana fired in sequence, the hull shook, and the starboard side filled with thick gunsmoke.
The gunpowder smell made throats itch.
Once the smoke cleared, Lin Qian raised his telescope.
He saw the hill behind the water village shrouded in dust; trees at the impact points were shattered to pieces, revealing brown soil.
Several cannonballs fell into the camp, plowing deep furrows in the ground.
The soldiers in the camp became even more panicked, in complete disarray.
After a while, Lei Sanxiang shouted again: “Fire!”
Another series of heart-stopping cannon blasts.
The Santa Ana had fourteen cannons per side, three more than when Yuan Chonghuan defended Ningyuan City.
Using them to bombard these soldiers perpetually short on pay and doing hard labor was simply overkill.
After this salvo, some soldiers began to flee.
As long as Lin Qian didn’t call to stop, the bombardment continued; in the blink of an eye, a shichen passed.
The northern hillside of Guo Lao Mountain was already riddled with holes.
Occasionally, errant cannonballs fell into the camp area, collapsing over a dozen houses.
Although not all soldiers in the barracks scattered and fled, no warship dared to put to sea again.
During a lull in the bombardment, a fast boat was seen sailing from the port with half sail hoisted, the standard practice when Great Ming sea bandits surrendered to the official army.
Lin Qian called off the bombardment and waited quietly for the fast boat to approach.
The time it takes to eat a meal later, Huang Hetai boarded, covered in dust and dirt.
“Leader, what do you mean by attacking my troops without cause?” As soon as he saw Lin Qian, Huang Hetai angrily accused.
“Without cause?” Lin Qian sneered, “Garrison Commander Huang, let’s be frank. Your navy is no match for me; accept your fate.”
Huang Hetai also knew Lin Qian had deliberately aimed every shot at the mountain, holding back; otherwise, a shichen of bombardment would have caused heavy casualties to the Nan’ao navy.
But as a dignified Great Ming garrison commander, how could he willingly surrender to a sea bandit?
At this point, Huang Hetai only hated that the general, deputy generals, and guerrilla commanders had embezzled too much payroll.
On the Ministry of War’s books, Nan’ao Island should have five thousand sailors and three hundred warships of various sizes.
Even if such forces were halved, it would be enough to defeat the sea bandit before him.
But in reality, just the embezzlement of pay had halved these forces.
Half of the remaining forces had taken the best warships out to sea for transporting goods.
The thousand or so left on the island were all the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, and the warships were like fishermen’s sampans.
Even so, supplies and pay were frequently deducted.
Faced with such military administration, he felt that even if Yue Wumu were reborn, he couldn’t turn things around.
Of course, the officials of the Great Ming Dynasty were all shrewd.
The Nan’ao Vice General, though high in position but low in power and humble in office, couldn’t possibly be a fool.
How could the general not know the importance of Nan’ao’s location? If he built a strong navy, just the tolls from sea merchants would earn more than embezzling pay and running ships.
But officialdom emphasizes blending in; if others embezzle pay and are called treacherous, would he alone be the loyal, capable, and worthy minister?
There are loyal, capable, and worthy ministers; in the past Lan Yu, Fu Youde, Feng Sheng, Yu Qian; recently Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang—which of them had a good end?
So as Vice General, what he did others called greed, but he saw it as political wisdom.
Now this weighty “political wisdom” had gotten Huang Hetai into deep trouble.
He could only go all out: “Since the leader fired at the mountain, presumably not wanting the notoriety of rebellion, then quickly lead your subordinates away.”
“Or else?” Lin Qian asked with a smile.
“Or else kill me!” Huang Hetai, provoked step by step, remembered his dignity as a Great Ming garrison commander.
Lin Qian’s expression gradually turned cold.
Huang Hetai’s heart sank, and he hurriedly added: “But think carefully; killing an Imperial Court official without authorization is tantamount to treason. When the heavenly troops arrive, how will the leader handle it?”
“No need to worry; bind his hands and feet, throw him into the sea!” Lin Qian said coldly.
Huang Hetai stood stunned; while being bound with rope, he remained tough and didn’t make a sound.
When lifted and carried step by step toward the ship’s rail, he began begging: “Leader, we can talk it over!”
“Put me down, I have more to say.”
“Leader, stay on the island as you please; I have no objections. That pearl, plus dozens of taels of silver, all offered to the leader…”
“The general visits the island only a few times a year; if the leader spares my life, I can cover for you and prevent the Imperial Court from noticing!”
“Hold on, bring him back.” Lin Qian said.
Half of Huang Hetai’s body had been pushed over the ship’s rail, then pulled back; his heart was filled with relief at having survived.
Lin Qian untied Huang Hetai and said warmly: “Garrison Commander Huang, if you’d said so earlier, why suffer physically?”
Huang Hetai’s mouth felt more bitter than if he had eaten coptis.
Lin Qian beckoned to Zheng Zhilong, who brought over an arm-sized box, placed it on the table, and opened it.
Huang Hetai stepped forward and saw a coral ornament lying in the box, its color deep like ox blood, texture transparent like glass, truly a top-quality treasure.
At a single glance, he couldn’t move his feet.
“A gift for the garrison commander; every month hereafter, additional tribute will be sent.” Lin Qian added.
Huang Hetai felt the bitterness in his throat turn sweet.
