Chapter 57: The taste of being beaten is really unbearable

  （0057）

  At this time, the guards who were sitting on the boat to chase and kill the pirates at sea also engaged in a fierce battle with the pirates. The sound of the seawater being stirred violently kept coming, and faintly, strange and mournful cries could be heard from under the water.

  This time, the guards were truly "darters". Only saw the guards chasing out to sea, standing on the edge of the boat, observing the movement in the water, and if they found a target, they would immediately thrust their long spears into the water.

  Originally, some pirates relied on their good swimming skills and wanted to sneak over and capsize the boat. In fact, these pirates were indeed very skilled in swimming, basically all of them were diving experts, and their previous actions had been successful. However, this time they ran into an iron plate. The reason was none other than the guard's spear thrusts being too solid, and the length of the spears was sufficient. The spears stabbed down, one stab at a time, and as a result, not a single pirate could get close to the boat.

  The pirates in the water did not expect that these ferocious enemies would have such skills, and they were often caught off guard and killed on the spot like a big yellow fish. Of course, their bodies are very heavy, and the guards cannot lift them up like a big yellow fish. Their corpses usually float to the surface slowly afterwards.

  The other pirates found that this road was impassable and could only focus on escaping with their lives.

  The speed of the wooden board was not actually fast, and in the dark night, to prevent hitting the reef, the speed was still very slow. If the pirates were focused on escaping, they could basically escape. Yang Qianqiang and others who were chasing at the front had poor swimming skills, and being anxious didn't help.

  "Boom!"

  Suddenly, a burst of flames flashed, followed by a deafening roar.

  It turned out that the pirate ship had opened fire.

  "Awesome!"

  "Actually there is a big gun!"

  Zhang's eyebrows furrowed deeply.

  Hearing cannon fire, it might be from the French artillery.

  Among the various firearms of the Ming Dynasty, the most widely used is probably this Portuguese-style culverin. It was used by infantry, naval forces, pirates, and even armed merchant ships, all of which installed these heavy cannons weighing over 1,000 catties.

  "Get down!"

  "Take cover!"

  Zhang Zhun suddenly shouted loudly.

  "Rumble!"

  The shells exploded on the beach, splashing up clouds of sand dust everywhere.

  My goodness, they're actually using flower shells!

  After the shell exploded, a large pit as big as a millstone appeared on the beach, three feet deep. Although the sand was very loose, it's not surprising that such a large pit was blasted out, but this pit is enough to illustrate that when the French machine gun uses shrapnel, its power is still quite great. If it falls next to a person, they will either die or be injured. It's easy to imagine why the wild boar skin would be blown away by the red jacket cannon, which has even greater firepower than the French machine gun.

  The pirate ship fired its cannons and then fell silent for a moment, it was unclear what they were doing.

  The warriors of the guard squad did not dare to be careless and continued to lie still on the ground.

  Zhang Zhun also lay motionless behind the stone.

  He believed that the pirate ship would definitely not stop at just one shot, and would continue to fire. Sure enough, a moment later, the pirate ship was again ablaze with flames.

  "Boom!"

  A loud boom came, and the pirates fired again.

  This time, the shell landed on the surface of the sea, splashing countless water droplets.

  The pirates' cannon fire was aimed squarely at the three junks attempting to close in on the pirate ship.

  Yang Qianqiang, Yang Zhiyuan, Hao Linyong and others had to retreat. Because the boat itself has no defensive power, if it is hit by a shell, it will definitely be annihilated, so Yang Qianqiang and others only killed four pirates, and the rest escaped.

  "Bang!"

  The pirate ship anchored in the distance continued to fire cannons incessantly.

  The pirate's cannon firing speed was not fast, about half a minute to launch once. However, the huge deterrent of the Fran machine gun was still very impressive. The continuous flashing of firelight illuminated the entire night sky. The waves of gunfire, in the quiet night, seemed particularly shocking.

  The entire Yangjia Village was startled by the sound of cannons, and the people all ran out to see what had happened. The soldiers had only heard gunfire before, but never the sound of cannons, unless they were old veterans like Yang Kaitai who had been to the Liaodong battlefield. Cannons were a distant existence for many people.

  Fortunately, because it was at night and the light was poor, the pirate ship could not see the target on the shore and could not aim effectively. Although many cannons were fired, no damage was done. Some shells fell on the beach and were basically absorbed. Those that fell into the sea splashed up countless water flowers, which dissipated and everything returned to normal.

  But for Zhang Zhun, it's really a bit suffocating.

  Come on, the guards don't even have cannons yet, isn't this bullying?

  Come ashore if you dare!

  "Damn it!"

  Yang Zhiyuan and Hao Linyong and others all cursed in unison.

  They have the same frustration in their hearts.

  Can only suffer blows but cannot fight back, the taste is really unbearable.

  If pirates keep firing like this, it's really getting annoying.

  No matter how powerful the guards are, they can't rush into the sea and fight the enemy head-on!

  "Evacuate the shoreline."

  Zhang Zhun suppressed his anger and calmly gave orders.

  Since there's no way to change the other person, I can only tolerate it for now.

  The warriors withdrew one after another, leaving the beach to the pirates' wanton bombardment.

  The villagers of Yangjiatun have all gathered at the outer edge of Hongshitai, listening to the rumbling cannon fire. Everyone's face is pale and their hearts are racing with anxiety. They don't know who the guards offended, but they've brought down a barrage of artillery fire, which is really unsettling.

  The guards retreated deep into the coast and immediately attracted a large number of villagers who came to ask about their well-being and also to gather information.

  Yang Kaidi came to Zhang Zhun's side and asked with some concern: "Yulin, what is going on? Where did the gunboat come from?"

  Zhang Zhun introduced the basic situation, but concealed the situations related to Xue Zhi Die and Xue Ning Ying. He only said that they were pirates under Liu Xiang's command, possibly instigated by Wang Shi Xin, wanting to come to Yang Jia Tun to plunder refined salt, and a battle ensued between the two sides. Yang Kai De didn't have any doubts about it. Anyway, with Wang Shi Xin on his last legs, he might resort to any means, including colluding with pirates. As for how Wang Shi Xin got in touch with Liu Xiang thousands of miles away, Yang Kai De didn't pay attention to that.

  It's said that the pirates attempted to rob Yangjia Village of its fine salt, and naturally the villagers were indignant, clenching their fists and rubbing their palms together, saying they would capture these cruel pirates alive. Of course, it was all just talk. The pirates had cannons on the sea, who could do anything to them? Some people worried that if the pirate ship stayed at sea and wouldn't leave, it would be a real nuisance!

  "Yes! Yulin, think of a way to drive the pirates away! If they don't leave soon, they'll always be a threat to us!" Yang Kaidi also felt that this was a big problem and hastily said to Zhang Zhun.

  "I understand." Zhang Zhun nodded, indicating he was considering this matter.

  Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Zhang Zhun happened to see Xue Zhi Die and Xue Ning Ying among them, their eyes shining brightly as they stared at the pirate ship in the distance, their expressions complex. Apparently, they knew what the pirate ship was about, and Rubink hadn't lied. However, the two women never showed any intention of speaking up.

  Zhang Zhun didn't mean to force them to confess. There was no need for that. Everyone was pretending to be stupid, anyway, the two women couldn't escape his palm. The more others wanted to take Xue Zhi Die back, the more he refused to let go. If they dared, they could try to come and snatch people from Yangjia Village, see who's more powerful! Don't think that just because you have a warship, you're invincible!

  "Captain, the pirate ship is approaching."

  Yang Zixuan suddenly rushed over to report.

  Zhang Zhun looked up and saw that the pirate ship in the distance had found that the cannon fire was ineffective, and it was actually slowly approaching the shore. Looking at the pirates' intentions, it seemed that they were not ruthless enough to vent their anger, but rather had a lingering resentment. They probably wanted to get close and launch a fierce attack, and at the same time let the people on the shore witness their ferocity.

  This sentiment is actually understandable. Who would have thought that the pirates who once roamed the seas would accidentally fall into someone else's trap and suffer heavy casualties? Even their leader, Ruben, was killed, and if the other pirates return in such a sorry state, their superiors won't forgive them either!

  Zhang Zuoyong bit his lip, feeling stifled. The taste of being beaten was indeed unbearable. Moreover, the pirates were still making progress inch by inch. However, there was no way out, and he couldn't get close to the pirate ship either, it was too far away. If it were a little closer, he could consider swimming over.

  Damn it, this is really outrageous.

  When I have my own naval fleet in the future, I will make these pirates look good.

  "Yang Zixuan, fire the cannon!"

  Zhang Zhun suddenly shouted.

  You have a cannon and I have a gun; let's see how close you dare to get!

  If you have what it takes, then rush ashore!

  "Fire!"

  Yang Zixuan took command and immediately ordered the muskets to open fire.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  Thirteen fire guns fired in succession, with continuous gunfire.

  Of course, such shooting would have no effect at all, but just to vent some of the frustration and boost the morale of the guards and villagers. The range of the musket was simply incomparable to that of artillery. Sure enough, after a round of shooting, the pirate ship continued to approach the shore.

  "Hiss!"

  Suddenly, a dull sound came from the surface of the sea.

  On closer listening, it wasn't the sound of gunfire, but the sound of the ship's hull hitting rocks.

  Zhang Zhun hastily lifted his head, and was delighted to find that the pirate ship had run aground on a reef and was temporarily stranded. What's more, the stranded warship was now less than 100 meters away from the shore!

  "Heaven helps those who help themselves!"

  Zhang Zu's excited monologue.

  This is practically a gift from heaven!

  "Yang Zhiyuan, Hao Linyong, select twenty of our best aquatic warriors! Get ready to go out and hijack a ship with me!"

  Zhang Zhun quickly issued an order.

  Yang Zhiyuan and Hao Linyong were overjoyed and immediately carried out the order.

  The feeling of being beaten, both of them felt unbearable and had been thinking of counterattacking for a long time.