Chapter 223: Attack
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
The sky started to get brighter as the pirates advanced another few hundred meters. From afar, they could see an army camp that was being built atop the hill on the island. The army camp wasn’t very big, and wooden sticks could be seen lying all around the tents. There seemed to be a poorly constructed fence as well, made up of rocks, mud, and sticks. It was about a meter tall.
This particular way towards the island from the sea was the narrowest among all the other options. It was only wide enough for seven boats to cross at the same time.
When a pirate saw this situation, he was clear about what he had to do. He then recalled the second leader’s words as he shouted to his men, "Brothers, this is our home which had been invaded by these bastard officials and their soldiers. Let’s take it back. Kill our way in!"
"Kill!" The pirates thought about their own homeland as they shouted at the top of their lungs and charged their way through.
Seeing the pirates advance upon them, Pei Zi Yun spoke calmly, "Prepare the bows!"
At this point, thirty archers stood up in unison and readied themselves.
"Fifty steps!"
"Thirty steps!"
"Ten steps!"
Once the pirates crossed into the ten steps mark, the faces of these pirates could be seen clearly. They were agitated and had sinister expressions. Pei Zi Yun then gave the order, "Loose!"
"Xiu xiu xiu!" The sound of arrows darting into the air could be heard as a rain of arrows swarmed the sky. A second later, mists of blood could be seen, indicating that many arrows had found their marks. The first seven or eight people flipped backwards and fell to the ground from the momentum.
Seeing such a situation, several of these pirates started to fear for their lives and hesitated to move forward. The pirate leader then shouted out, "Do not fear. Think of all the gold and silver you can get. Think of your family!"
"Kill! Charge your way in and kill those dog officials!"
The pirates screamed with renewed courage once more as they dashed across the battlefield.
"Fire again!"
"Xiu xiu xiu!"
Another seven or eight men were shot by the arrows and fell to the ground. The pirate leader had a quick reaction and ducked just in time to avoid an arrow that darted towards his head. However, the arrow struck his bandana which he wore and was lodged within.
The leader was so shocked that cold sweat started to form. He drew his long sword before plucking the arrow out of his bandana. The force of the arrow was so strong that it destabilized him for a moment, and caused his footsteps to sway. At this point, he was unguarded and defenseless.
"Xiu!"
A mist of blood formed just above his shoulder as he fell over. However, he did everything he could to regain his strength as he turned around and fled.
"The leader has fled, the leader has fled!" Seeing such a sight, the rest of the pirates turned around to flee as well.
"Three arrows each!"
"Xiu xiu xiu!" The escaping pirates were being shot in the back, as another five or six fell to the ground.
"Draw your swords, attack!" Pei Zi Yun tested his battle strategy earlier by deploying archers and was extremely pleased with the results. He shouted his order as a group of soldiers charged out from behind him. Seeing wounded pirates on the ground, the soldiers jabbed their swords into them. Ear piercing shrieks and screams of pain could be heard, as the ground started to be stained with blood.
At this point Chen Pu approached and saw that many pirates had been killed, but none of his own soldiers had died. He then sighed, "It’s a pity that the layout of our camp is very simple. If not, we would have been able to achieve greater success…."
Pei Zi Yun shook his head, "I did it intentionally. If I were to make our camp as complex and strong as a fortress, the pirates wouldn’t dare to come up here as well."
"Only after seeing that our camp had a simple layout, with a half working fence would they try their luck. This was done in order to bait them into attacking us."
"As for that particular pirate, I intentionally ordered for the archer to shoot his shoulder. This is for him to return and report the matter to his leaders. He would tell them that our base is weak and can be attacked. However, I had to try and kill off as many pirates from this wave as possible. This was to reduce their numbers and prevent another horde of a thousand pirates to attack us."
He then ordered, "In this short span of time, wake everyone up. A group of people should head for the warships to make preparations. Once we defeat the enemy in the next round, send the warships out to attack them. Since the pirates would be engaged with us then, they wouldn’t be able to attack the warships."
"Yes!" Someone immediately responded and passed the orders around.
All this might seem slightly excessive. However, it was a good military strategy. To lure the enemy into a position favorable for yourself. When the enemy has been baited in, the perfect chance would be there to annihilate them for good.
When Chen Pu heard the order, he remained silent for a long time before finally understanding. He seemed to look at Pei Zi Yun in a different light from this point.
"What if the enemy doesn’t fall for it?"
"I’ve mentioned this before. They have to attack us, since they have no supplies of food and water. If not, they would die of thirst and starvation themselves. It’s just that cleaning up to ensure that every last one of them has died would be a little more troublesome."
"If they fall for the plot, and attack us all together, we can wipe them out."
When Chen Pu heard this, he nodded his head and spoke, "It’s a pity that we are in peace times now. If only there was an opportunity for us to lay more traps, that would be perfect."
"Your Excellency Chen, that’s a scholarly point of view." Even before Pei Zi Yun could reply, Cai Yuan Zhen spoke out as he walked towards them. His eyes were bloodshot and red, evidently from an entire night without sleep. He then reported the news, "Your Excellency, I’ve already handled the affairs with regards to the boats. Once the time is right, all I need is to send the signal and the boats will be sent out."
As he finished speaking, he then turned around towards Chen Pu, "Scholars always enjoy the thrill and would take unnecessary risks. You speak of ambush, traps, and surprise attacks. But think about it, this island is as small as a village, and these pirates have lived here for decades. They would know every blade of grass and every piece of wood on the island. How were you going to conceal traps from them?"
"The only way we would keep the upper hand was to set up camp here, and wait for them to come."
"Many years ago, when the Emperor was fighting for his throne, I fought personally with Tiao Guo Gong. He was extremely fast, decisive, accurate, and harsh. That was the way armies were supposed to be led."
"If a scholar were to lead an army, the entire army would perish, and the lucky few would be left scrambling for their lives."
"As soldiers, we’re not afraid of strong enemies. The only thing we fear are poor generals and leaders." Cai Yuan Zhen pulled a long face, his eyes had a harsh look within them. He usually showed few expressions but was extremely riled up at this point. He turned around and sighed, "As soldiers, we are already prepared to lose our lives. However, it would be extremely worrying to waste lives just like that because of poor decisions made."
Chen Pu wasn’t angry however, "I am a scholar after all, and wouldn’t be able to do a good job of leading an army!"
He then laughed after he spoke. However, his heart was trembling in fear. Cai Yuan Zhen and Pei Zi Yun had only known each other for days, however Cai Yuan Zhen had already developed a profound respect for Pei Zi Yun. This wasn’t just because he was generous, deciding to split tens of thousands of silver teals just like that.
It was more of the fact that Pei Zi Yun was extremely proficient, he led the army and made correct decisions. Once he witnessed the wonders which Pei Zi Yun was able to pull off on the battlefield, he was completely won over. Military men and soldiers were extremely sensitive to such matters. The reason was because someone who was able to decisively win a war made all the difference between life and death to many soldiers.
On the contrary, someone who wasn’t able to lead his troops to victory due to mistakes on his part could be as generous as he wished, but nobody would follow him. Who would place money over their own lives anyway?
Soldiers had undergone years of training in order to fight and kill. They weren’t just wooden poles, and didn’t have iron hearts and stomachs. They would naturally be inclined to follow someone who was able to provide them with victory after victory, so that they can continue living.
"Ai, only now did I understand why people and soldiers always rally towards a capable general. It’s no wonder why the Imperial Court and officials like the Governor would always be jealous of high ranking generals, and would never hold as much influence as they did."
"Ever since the opening of this dynasty, there had never been a military commandant who ended up with a happy life."
"However, scholars turned officials wouldn’t have to worry much when it came to politics in court. This was because the court was a place in which these generals had no way to rally people to their side, for the courts wasn’t a battleground and life and death weren’t in the balance."
"No matter how well the generals succeeded in their job, or how much they contributed, all it took was an imperial order to put them out of jobs."
"Naturally, the Imperial Court would always favor and take the side of scholarly officials."
Such thoughts made Chen Pu shiver in fear, for they were disgraceful and unnatural thoughts. Chen Pu hurriedly snapped back to reality and cast his glance far into the distance.
"Will the bandits come, or not?" Chen Pu mumbled to himself.
The early morning sun started to shine down upon them, Pei Zi Yun wore a pensive look as he bit down on his lips. He watched the sea, and remained silent.
Chen Pu looked across at the bluish sea and saw over fifty boats approaching. The sound of people in the midst of battle started drumming up once more.
"Fifty boats, approximately 1500 people. This was more than the thousand which we estimated."
"The pirates really have such large numbers!"
Shore
At this point, the boats were fast approaching. On the deck of one of the boats, sounds could be heard.
A pirate reported what had happened, "I have seen it clearly. The soldiers have set up tent on the narrowest entrance to the island. We should take our boats into that narrow pass and attack them there."
"These dog officials are really crafty."
Fang Ji glared at him fiercely before asking, "You managed to get near the camp. Did you get a good look? How many people are there?"
"I got a good look. More than half of them are common foot-soldiers. Those who are able to fight number less than three hundred!" Actually, there were only two hundred and fifty men there, but the pirates had no way of knowing this."
"Second Leader, I find his words to be credible." A Daoist stood up. He looked to be around forty years old, and had sunken cheeks. He coughed before explaining, "Although Big Leader only left behind three hundred men for us, they are the efficient Moon Vessel warriors. We also have the group of men sent by Ji Bei Hou to assist us. We are prepared."
"We also have the advantage of knowing the terrain better than them. Even though they had won the past few battles, they would have lost at least three hundred men. Another three hundred would have been wounded. That would leave them with the last three hundred. That makes sense."
"Now is when the soldiers are at their weakest. If we allow them time, their numbers would increase by twofold after these injured soldiers recover. When that happens, it would be difficult to win."
He then mumbled to himself, "However, the place which they decided to set up their camp is such a strange place. If we were to cross by the narrow pass, it would mean we would suffer huge losses as well."
He then paced around the deck several times. Fang Ji’s face fell, "If we don’t fight, how do I answer to Big Brother? How can I answer to the Moon Vessel’s warriors? How do I answer to Ji Bei Hou? How do I answer to the rest of my fallen brothers?"
"I’ve made up my mind. Even if I have to lose my life, we have to attack their camp, and kill all their soldiers, not sparing a single life."
In that second, the chilling horn was sounded. All the pirates were extremely clear that this was the signal which indicated their leader had decided to fight. All the boats headed towards the shore along with the waves.
"They’re here!" Hearing the sound of the horn, Pei Zi Yun stood atop a mound of sand as he looked out to sea. He saw groups of pirates as they headed towards the camp. Although their formation and discipline weren’t as good as the army’s, they were rather orderly too. They gradually made their way over, and hovered approximately five hundred meters away from the camp.
"1500 pirates!"
Looking at the thousand plus pirates, Pei Zi Yun maintained a calm demeanor as he concentrated on them. Although they didn’t arrive in a strategic formation, they still emanated killing intent which threatened the survival of the army.
Right in the middle of the fleet was a huge flag, which had the word "Fang" on it. It danced and floated in the air.
"These pirates came from the ‘Dragon King’"
"The Fang family had been known for being the strongest pirate force in the sea. They had formed a sort of law and was an organization of sorts."
"It’s just that with the stabilization of the dynasty, and a shift towards peace, there was no way these people should be allowed to wreak havoc any longer."
"Die!" At this point, the pirates started to hit their drums as they shouted at the top of their lungs. They then charged onwards. Just like soldiers, they didn’t hesitate one bit.
"Ready!" Pei Zi Yun’s heart trembled. There were more than a thousand men against him, and he had less than fifty archers. After going through so many battles, the men who were able to operate their bows were down to less than thirty!
"Strife!" This time, he wouldn’t allow the pirates to get too close. The minute he gave the command, the bowstrings could be heard repeatedly getting taut and loosening. "Xiu xiu" sounds filled the air as the entire sky was overcast with arrows. The sound of the arrows as they whooshed through the air was extremely audible. They hung overhead before dropping down with the full force of gravity.
Since the arrowhead was made up of metal and was heavy, the speed at which they descended was much faster.
"Raise the boards!" Someone among the pirates shouted as the arrows rained upon them.
"Dou dou" could be heard as the arrows rained down upon the wooden boards which the pirates brought along. There were obviously some gaps in their defenses as several people were struck by the arrows. The sounds of agonizing screams rang out.
