Chapter Seventy-One Conspiracy

  "The leader is dead! The leader has fallen in battle!"

  ōno Shunsuke died, and the Japanese pirates who had been fighting fiercely against the Ming army suddenly became disordered. The Ming army, which had already gained the upper hand, took advantage of the situation to launch a pincer attack.

  Pang Gang saw the situation and immediately ordered the bird gunners, who had retreated after a brief close combat for fear of suffering heavy casualties, to fire at the Japanese pirates.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  With a low and muffled sound of gunfire, dozens more Japanese pirates fell into the pool of blood.

  "Keep shooting, kill those sons of bitches."

  Pang Gang held up the bloody curved knife and loudly roared, his feelings and attitude towards Japan as a nation were the same as those of most people in later generations: "Only dead Japanese are good Japanese", let alone they were also a group of evil pirates.

  These Japanese pirates finally collapsed after their leader died and they suffered heavy casualties, letting out a loud cry as they retreated in unison, leaving their backs to the Ming army.

  Pang Gang saw the situation and was no longer polite, taking advantage of the illness to take their lives is what they should do now. In the end, except for a few Japanese pirates who escaped, this Ming army of over 300 people was completely annihilated outside Yangzhou City.

  Pang Gang's victory outside the city shocked Sun Zili and Gu Shou, who had not held them in high esteem. They never expected that the Japanese, whom they had feared so much, would be defeated so easily by Pang Gang's force of over 200 men.

  All of this was seen clearly by Sun Zili, who was standing on the city wall. Seeing that the siege of Yangzhou had been lifted, Sun Zili couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. However, his face soon turned gloomy again. This Pang Gang was indeed so bold and fierce, and his subordinates were all brave and skilled in battle. This time, he would certainly be rewarded by the Ministry of War or even the Emperor himself, and might even be promoted. But for Sun Zili, this was absolutely bad news.

  If this Pang Gang relies on this battle to be rewarded or promoted, it will be even more difficult for him to deal with him in the future. It's not possible to let him achieve this feat. Thinking of this, a hint of ferocity flashed across Sun Zili's face.

  Sun Zili was able to become the Minister of Rites, so he wasn't a fool. He thought for a moment and came up with an idea. He called over Zhao Jie, the garrison commander of Yangzhou, and whispered in his ear: "Commander Zhao, take your men and leave the city immediately. This way..."

  Although Zhao Jie was nominally a military officer in charge of guarding the army and horses, he was actually a genuine first-class scholar who had passed the imperial examination, and naturally he was not a fool. At this moment, after hearing Sun Zhi Li's order, his face involuntarily revealed a hesitant expression, and he hesitated to say: "Sun Lao Ye, I'm afraid it's not proper for me to do so, and if things go wrong, we'll be accused by the other side."

  "Hmph, impeachment? I'm afraid this country bumpkin can't even write a petition! Sun Zili sneered: "Besides, if this matter is successful, won't you have any benefits? You've been a guardian for seven years now, don't you want to move up?"

  Sun Zili's words were like the sweet talk spewed from the mouth of the serpent that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, constantly tempting Zhao Jie.

  Zhao Jie's face was also changing constantly, just as Sun Zhi Li said, if it were true that he could get his hands on this great achievement, then the position of Yangzhou's military governor, which had been stagnant for seven years, would definitely be able to move up a notch. Thinking about it, a hint of ruthlessness appeared in Zhao Jie's eyes, "I'll just play the role of the bad guy!"

  "Hahaha......" Sun Zili laughed happily and patted Zhao Jie's shoulder, "Don't worry, Lord Zhao. I think this outsider can't stir up much trouble. This achievement was made under the city of Yangzhou, how could we let them slip away from us?"

  "Yes, thinking that Pang Tong is just a humble military household, how can he enjoy such great merit? This merit should naturally be enjoyed by us people from Yangzhou." Sun Hengyi on the side also shouted loudly, with an extremely arrogant attitude.

  "Yes, sir. Don't worry, I'll go and make the arrangements!" Zhao Jie hastily left the city wall after hearing Sun Shi's father and son's words, and began to gather his troops.

  Gu Shou, standing beside him, saw Sun Zili's behavior and frowned slightly, feeling worried. He had figured it out now - Sun Xiyu was blinded by hatred, while the normally astute Sun Zili was driven to desperation by his love for his son. As a subordinate, he couldn't say anything, so he could only express his attitude through silence.

  Just as Zhao Jie hastily led his troops out of the city, Pang Gang was leading the soldiers to clean up the battlefield, mainly collecting the bodies of the dead soldiers, beheading the Japanese pirates and collecting their swords, as well as confiscating their valuables.

  You'd be surprised, the Japanese pirates have a lot of good stuff on them, silk, gold and silver, paintings and calligraphy, almost all of them carry their entire family's belongings with them. Some people might ask, why would the Japanese pirates carry their entire family's belongings with them? Isn't that cumbersome? But please remember, this is a group of roaming pirates, they don't have a fixed place to live, if they didn't bring their belongings with them, wouldn't that be giving it away to others for free? Therefore, the things that Japanese pirates carry with them are usually the most valuable ones.

  The soldiers who cleaned up the battlefield this time laughed with joy, according to the rules of Wanghai Fortress, the soldiers who captured the spoils could divide them into four parts, and the remaining six parts would be handed over. The things that these Japanese pirates carried with them were mainly silk, gold and silver jewelry, small antiques or paintings, which would be sold by Pang Gang after being handed over by the soldiers and then distributed to the soldiers in exchange for silver.

  Watching the soldiers enthusiastically cleaning up the battlefield, Pang Gang's heart was happy and a little sad. The battle just now had annihilated this group of Japanese pirates, but the soldiers at Wanghai Fort had also paid the price of 26 injuries and 21 deaths. Although most of the dead and wounded soldiers were logistics soldiers, Pang Gang couldn't bear it either. Originally, they came to Yangzhou to buy grain, but such a thing happened. Thinking about the families of the deceased soldiers crying and wailing when they returned, Pang Gang's heart felt stuffy.

  "No wonder the ancients said 'Mercy is not a commander'! ", Pang Gang sighed and shook his head, just about to order the soldiers to speed up the cleanup of the battlefield. His gaze inadvertently swept across, and he found that a team of Ming army came out from the city gate, they were quickly approaching him, the leader ran in front, his chubby body was very eye-catching in Pang Gang's eyes.

  "Hmm, it's Zhao's military guard, what is he doing here? Is he going to make some kind of move?"

  Pang Gang hastily ordered the soldiers who were still clearing the battlefield to put down their tasks and immediately form a battle formation in front of him.

  When Zhao Qian led his men to arrive, the soldiers who were originally still cleaning up the battlefield had already begun to form a queue. There were sixty bird gunners standing in the front row, and Pang Gang stood at the forefront of the battle array, coldly looking at this big fat man who was running with a gasp.

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