It must be said that as long as it involved the Ming Dynasty, these Koreans acted very quickly.
Soon, Korean workers carrying tools and materials began to repair the boats.
After Bai Shugui, who was in charge of patrolling, arranged the lookouts, he returned to the bow of the boat, his eyes fixed on the Korean shipwrights working overtime not far away.
His wary and murderous gaze made the shipwrights feel uneasy, and they couldn't help but mutter to themselves, "This Ming Army soldier is too fierce."
However, muttering in their hearts was fine, but saying it out loud was absolutely forbidden.
Not to mention the Korean overseers next to them, if this soldier understood Korean, he might just draw his sword and kill them in a fit of rage, and there would be no one to reason with.
Don't think that these Korean overseers would help them; in fact, they would probably be the ones to strike the hardest.
It wasn't that Bai Shugui was overly cautious; it was simply that the current situation forced him to be vigilant. Ever since they approached Jeju Island, his nerves had been taut, and he dared not relax for a moment.
Even with these seemingly harmless shipwrights repairing the boats, he still kept a few of his fully armed subordinates guarding nearby, fearing that these people might cause trouble.
This was the open sea, with nothing around them. If their boat encountered any problems, they would be doomed.
There would be nowhere to run.
Several Korean overseers wanted to approach and speak with him, as it was customary in Korea for the captain or commanding general to bestow some reward when workers came to repair a ship.
Generous ones would give money, less generous ones would give food, or even just two bolts of cloth would be good. But the Ming Army soldier in front of them did not seem like someone easy to talk to.
Just looking at his armor and the long saber at his waist, and then at the few wolf-like soldiers behind him, these men never found the courage to ask for a reward.
The overseers exchanged glances and could only sigh in unison.
Well, it seemed they wouldn't get any benefits tonight.
However, their sighing and shaking of heads made Bai Shugui feel even more that these people were unreliable.
"Bai Shao... Ba Zong Bai."
Bai Shugui turned his head and saw Ji Dalin approaching.
Since Yun Tianyang had become a Youji Jiangjun (Guerilla General), their ranks naturally followed with a "promotion," after all, a Youji Jiangjun (Guerilla General) couldn't have only Shaozhang under his command.
"Ba Zong Ji."
Seeing Ji Dalin, Bai Shugui finally felt a sense of relief. He quickly stepped forward and asked, "Have the provisions and fresh water been moved onto the boat?"
Ji Dalin nodded, a satisfied expression on his face: "I've arranged everything. Those guys, to curry favor with our General, even sent some wine and meat, enough for us to eat and drink for half a month."
"In addition, the Koreans also sent two doctors with some medicinal herbs. I've already had someone take them to apply medicine to the injured brothers."
"Good, that's good."
Bai Shugui couldn't help but nod: "That's good, that's good."
It was good to have medicine. With medicine, even if it was just basic herbs, the probability of the injured brothers surviving was greatly increased.
And now that they had provisions and fresh water, it would be fine no matter where they went next.
"Sigh, if only we could get some more cannonballs and gunpowder." Bai Shugui's words seemed a bit greedy.
One must know that these were genuine military supplies. Unless there was a joint order from the imperial court and the Korean king, these Koreans would never hand them over.
"Heh heh, you're just greedy, kid."
Ji Dalin chuckled: "If that fellow named Quan Huan dared to give us these things, his superior would take his head later."
"You're right, I was being greedy."
Bai Shugui shook his head helplessly: "I'm just afraid that if we encounter a large group of Japanese pirates on the way, we might not gain an advantage without enough cannonballs."
"That shouldn't be the case, should it?"
Ji Dalin asked with some suspicion: "Didn't they say that our Great Ming has already negotiated peace with the Japanese pirates? These scoundrels were beaten so badly by us in Korea? Do they still have the guts to continue fighting?"
Bai Shugui shook his head: "I'm not sure, but the General said they would."
"He often tells me that the Japanese pirates are treacherous, and not a single word they say can be trusted."
"That's true." Ji Dalin nodded with empathy: "If it weren't for Commander Qi suppressing the Japanese pirates, my family wouldn't have had good days."
Ji Dalin deeply empathized with this. Speaking of which, most people living along the southern coast remembered how severe the Japanese pirate raids were back then, let alone an old man like Ji Dalin.
"Alright, alright, these are things the General should consider. Why are you thinking so much?"
Ji Dalin shook his head: "We just need to do what the General tells us; thinking about these messy things is useless."
"If the Koreans don't give them, what can we do? Do you want to rely on our small number of people to directly rush onto Jeju Island and rob them?"
To rob a heavily defended island with a damaged fu boat and over a hundred crippled soldiers and defeated generals was truly too absurd, not even something one would dream of doing.
One should know that Jeju Island had not been without enemies. After the war began, the Japanese pirates had repeatedly sent troops to attack Jeju Island, but each time they suffered heavy losses and returned without success.
It was no wonder the Japanese pirates were so intent on Jeju Island; its location was simply too important.
This island was located in the southern part of Korea, perfectly situated between Korea and Japan.
If they could take this island, the entire southern, and even western, parts of Korea would be within the Japanese pirates' attack range. To speak further, they could even directly send fleets to harass the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty, or even places like Shandong.
The Koreans were naturally not fools. From the very beginning of the war, they had stationed a large number of troops on Jeju Island, which was why they were able to repel the Japanese pirates' attacks several times.
Conversely, the Koreans occupying Jeju Island could launch harassment attacks on the Japanese pirates' rear at any time.
One must know that there was a sea between Japan and Korea. In order to continuously send troops to Korea, the Japanese pirates could only use Tsushima Island, not far away, as a logistics and transit base.
Therefore, as long as Jeju Island remained in Korean hands, Japan could not deploy all of its ground forces and navy to the front lines. They had to leave a large number of soldiers and ships to guard Tsushima Island.
Bai Shugui had not been following Yun Tianyang for the first day. Yun Tianyang had already analyzed and explained these simple principles to him. One could only say that Yun Tianyang had put in a great effort to cultivate a good subordinate.
"However, the equipment of those Koreans looks pretty good."
Bai Shugui gestured towards the Korean soldiers on the small boat not far away: "You know, when we leave, how about we find an opportunity to rob them?"
Park Zhiheng, as a son of a noble family, might not have much ability, but he had a lot of money. To protect his own safety, he specifically spent heavily to build a rather good army.
Although the number of people was not large, only forty or fifty, almost everyone wore leather armor and thick shields, steel sabers and iron spears, truly armed to the teeth.
Bai Shugui saw clearly; he could tell at a glance that the soldiers were wearing leather armor inlaid with iron plates, all made of excellent cowhide, and their shields were iron-bound wooden shields.
Don't look down on leather armor; it was often not much worse than ordinary iron armor in many situations.
Take the simplest example: weight.
The weight of iron armor was self-evident; generally, a thin person would struggle to walk two steps after putting it on, let alone fight fiercely with a large saber and shield.
And now that they were at sea, the disadvantages of iron armor became even more apparent. At the very least, if you fell into the sea wearing iron armor, you would basically be dead.
But leather armor was different; it wasn't heavy.
The same went for wooden shields; good wooden shields were already sufficient. If they were made of iron, probably few people could lift them.
Bai Shugui was also a veteran of many battles; he could tell good equipment at a glance. So, when those Koreans first arrived, he had already set his eyes on the weapons and equipment on their bodies.
"I'm afraid it won't be easy, will it?"
Ji Dalin pondered for a while, then pulled Bai Shugui aside and whispered, "Forty or fifty people, if we fight head-on, we might suffer casualties."
"And we are currently short on fully armored soldiers, and we have a bunch of wounded. We can't take risks at this time."
Ji Dalin was a steady person, but relatively speaking, he was also a bit conservative. He thought it over carefully and always felt it was a bit unreliable.
He didn't want to take risks, especially at this time.
Bai Shugui, on the other hand, had many ideas. He pointed at Park Zhiheng, who was sitting at the bow of the boat, and said, "We can first trick that Park Zhiheng over and capture him. As long as they don't have a leader, we can then take advantage of their confusion to go up and kill a couple of them. The rest will probably surrender."
"Those people probably don't have the will to fight to the death. When the time comes, we'll strip all their armor and weapons. It's really a waste for them to use such good stuff."
Bai Shugui's tone was very disdainful, clearly looking down on these so-called warriors.
However, this was not surprising. For a military unit, a large factor limiting their combat effectiveness was their will to fight and their discipline, followed by equipment and other factors.
After all, if you don't even dare to fight, then even giving you the weapons of the Trisolarans would be useless.
And the Koreans' will to fight, in Bai Shugui's eyes, was almost nonexistent. After all, he had seen too much of it in Korea; their so-called central army was actually just for show.
Who were they? The famous Qijia Army! Dealing with a few Korean household retainers was a piece of cake, wasn't it?
According to Bai Shugui's estimation, if the plan went smoothly, it was highly likely that those Koreans would simply kneel down.
The more Bai Shugui thought about it, the more feasible the matter seemed. Ji Dalin, seeing his eager expression, quickly whispered, "Let's stick to what we said before: these are things the General should consider. You must not act rashly."
Bai Shugui glanced at the cautious Ji Dalin. He didn't say anything, but he sighed silently in his heart.
Ji Dalin was an old man; he had been a low-ranking military officer for half his life. The only thing he knew was to obey orders, and he didn't care about anything else.
In feudal armies, the superior's order was everything, and it was not easy for low-ranking officers like them to think.
Bai Shugui used to be like that, but in a few months, Yun Tianyang successfully taught him what it meant to think. He suddenly had a feeling that he and Ji Dalin were already a little different.
However, he certainly wouldn't say such a thing out loud. He decided to go find Yun Tianyang later to discuss it.
"Oh, right, I just heard that Zhou Yong seemed to want to go ashore?"
Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of Ji Dalin, Bai Shugui quickly changed the subject.
His ears were sharp. When he went to find Yun Tianyang earlier, he overheard Zhou Yong and Yun Tianyang's conversation.
"Heh heh, that guy is fearless."
Seeing that Bai Shugui was no longer talking about dealing with the Koreans, Ji Dalin also breathed a sigh of relief.
Speaking of Zhou Yong, he couldn't help but curl his lips, saying with some dissatisfaction: "Back in the village, that guy was a scoundrel, even more of a bandit than a bandit."
Hearing Ji Dalin's words, Bai Shugui asked with considerable surprise: "What? Are you from the same village as him?"
"Haven't I told you???"
"No."
"Heh heh, you could say we're from the same village, but not really. That guy is from the village next to mine. He's been hated by everyone since he was a kid."
"Back then, that guy would swagger around all day with a few hooligans, specializing in shady businesses."
Ji Dalin leaned against the boat's railing, saying with a somewhat disdainful expression: "Later, he gambled with someone and was set up. Not only did he lose all his money, but he even lost his wife and children."
"After that, he joined the army. By rights, we wouldn't want someone like him, but there happened to be a war at the time, and this guy had some courage, so a Ba Zong at the time took a liking to him, and that's how he got in."
"Since you're from the same place, you're fellow villagers, but how come I feel your relationship... uh... isn't very good?"
Bai Shugui leaned on the railing with both hands, asking curiously: "Did he offend you before?"
By rights, fellow villagers from the same place would stick together, but in Bai Shugui's opinion, the relationship between Ji Dalin and Zhou Yong was definitely not good.
In fact, before this, he didn't even know the two were from the same village.
"Oh, please, with a person like that, who would want to deal with him?"
Ji Dalin curled his lips, then stood up straight, brushing off the dust from his robe: "If we weren't on the same boat right now, I wouldn't even bother talking to him."
It was clear that Ji Dalin particularly disliked Zhou Yong, but thinking about it, it wasn't surprising.
"Alright, you stay here and guard. I'll go check the cabin."
Ji Dalin greeted Bai Shugui, then turned and walked towards the cabin.
He had to go check on the injured brothers, and also keep an eye on those shipwrights. Although everything seemed to be going smoothly now, they absolutely could not let their guard down.