Chapter 82: The Sweet Harbor Tempest - The Battle of Juhua Islet (Part 2)

Xi Yazhou checked his watch. It had been exactly 20 minutes since the second message was sent.

“You bastards are punctual down to the second!” Xi Yazhou cursed. As the tension eased, he realized he was drenched in cold sweat.

“First Mate Le, send the naval soldiers to prepare for boarding. Be careful!” He took off his steel helmet. It had several marks from being struck by hard objects. It seemed the thing was useful after all; otherwise, his head would have been split open.

As his body and mind relaxed, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg. Looking down, he saw a large bloodstain on his trousers. The slightest movement sent a sharp pang of pain through him.

“I’m actually injured—”

Hearing that Xi Yazhou was injured, Le Lin quickly came over with a medic. Although Xi Yazhou had great reservations about the native medics, he couldn’t be picky now. The medic tore open his trousers. There was a gash on his calf, the skin split open, bleeding profusely, likely caused by a piece of shrapnel. Seeing the medic skillfully use a pair of chopsticks to hold an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to disinfect the wound, Xi Yazhou couldn’t help but think of scenes from Dr. Bethune.

The medic examined the wound and concluded that nothing had entered the body. Some medicine and a bandage would suffice; no stitches were needed. Xi Yazhou himself felt that his leg was not seriously injured. He was just worried about tetanus from the shrapnel. Although the medic applied some medicine, he had no idea what it was. Xi Yazhou knew that the Ministry of Health and the agricultural committee’s biological laboratory had set up a pharmaceutical factory, which was not only working on traditional Chinese medicine reagents but also preparing to manufacture Western medicine. He was very skeptical about the reliability of the things produced in Shi Niaoren’s workshop. Xi Yazhou made up his mind to go to the hospital for a check-up as soon as he returned to Lingao, at the very least to get a tetanus shot…

Despite these thoughts, his face showed a resolute expression, although he winced a little from the sting of the alcohol as the wound was being cleaned.

The operation to drive the enemy into Juhua Islet went smoothly. The fishing trawlers did not go at full speed, merely tailing the fleet. The six pirate ships, terrified, fled desperately under the “pursuit.”

The two fishing trawlers followed at a leisurely pace. The commander, according to the original plan, was to herd the fleet into Juhua Islet and not let them scatter, so the pursuit was not very aggressive.

“Boss, those two ‘demon ships’ are still behind us—” a subordinate reported in panic.

“Like a lingering ghost!” Gu Dachun spat. He was already running away, why were these Australians still chasing him so relentlessly? Even if they were government forces, the few ships and men left behind should have been enough for them to claim credit and rewards.

“It’s fine! We’ll be in Juhua Islet soon. That maze of bays, no one can get through it except us.” Gu Dachun, seeing that the enemy was chasing them closely but couldn’t catch up for the time being, felt a little relieved.

Gu Dachun personally steered his ship and was the first to charge into Juhua Islet. He knew this place like the back of his hand; he knew exactly where the reefs and hidden sandbars were.

On the artillery position at Maotiao Kou, Ying Yu saw the fleet reported in the telegram a few minutes ago through his binoculars. Six single- or double-masted sailboats were navigating the reefs, bays, and channels at high speed. Their skill in maneuvering through such treacherous waters was astounding. If it weren’t for Wu De’s ambush plan, the navy would probably not have been able to pursue them in here.

Now, on the islets and reefs near Maotiao Kou, the artillerymen had set up four positions with a total of ten cannons. The position he commanded was the one personally scouted by Wu De—it had better conditions: a large, flat area, so it was equipped with the heaviest 12-pounder cannons, under Ying Yu’s personal command. The command post was also located here.

Three days ago, under the guidance of Wang the Big Beard, the navy had transported the disassembled cannons here on light boats. Then, based on the reconnaissance, the cannons were moved one by one onto the islets. With the help of temporarily installed cranes and pulleys, the sailors and artillerymen had overcome the difficulties and transported several tons of cannon parts and ammunition onto the four reef islets. They then built the positions, set up camouflage, and began the long wait.

“All gun positions, attention!” Ying Yu saw the enemy ships getting closer and grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Prepare for battle!”

Ying Yu stared intently at the course of the ships. They were getting closer and closer to the trap. The four artillery positions had woven a web of death at Maotiao Kou. All the terrain reference points in this area had been carefully measured and marked.

Gu Dachun looked back. The two fast iron boats had not followed them in, which was a great relief to him.

“Hmph, they know their place! If they dared to chase in here, they would have probably hit a reef by now.” Gu Dachun was no longer worried about his own safety. The only problem was how to report back to Third Master Zhu—he had lost big on this venture.

The sea breeze gradually picked up, and the waves began to surge.

“Lower the sails!” he ordered. Using sails here would make the ship’s speed difficult to control, and they could easily hit a reef. Fortunately, Maotiao Kou was not far ahead; the towering, rugged reefs were already in sight. There were several shifting sandbars here. Gu Dachun was on high alert, his hands firmly on the rudder.

Just then, he saw a flash of fire from a nearby reef islet, followed by the sound of a cannon.

With the first shot personally aimed and fired by Ying Yu, the cannons at the other positions fired in sequence at intervals of a few seconds, so that the observers could accurately judge the fall of the shot. Gu Dachun’s lead ship was hit by concentrated fire. A 12-pounder high-explosive shell directly hit the deck, sending wood splinters flying. The ship was instantly filled with cries of agony. Gu Dachun himself was killed in this volley, struck by a piece of hot iron.

“Correct your aim!” Ying Yu observed the fall of the shells through his binoculars. This was an excellent killing ground. The maximum distance between the reef islets serving as artillery positions was less than 500 meters, and the minimum was only about a hundred meters. The waterways here were narrow, with almost no room to maneuver. The labyrinth that the pirates had always used to escape had become their graveyard. After the first few shots missed, the gunners quickly corrected their aim based on the fall of the shot and the surrounding reference points. Their firing became more and more accurate. Although the white smoke from the firing affected observation from the positions, Ying Yu had already set up concealed observation posts on other nearby reef islets, relaying the fall of the shot via walkie-talkie.

After the smoke cleared, the sea at Maotiao Kou was a scene of devastation. All six ships had been hit and were on fire, drifting out of control and crowded together. Some had run aground. The decks, masts, and sterncastles of many ships had been destroyed by cannon fire, and some were still burning. The sea was littered with bodies and debris from the ships. A broken mast floated on the surface, its sail still burning. The whole scene was both terrifying and spectacular. Ying Yu was not concerned with the outcome of the battle—it was already a foregone conclusion. He was more interested in which type of ammunition was most effective against the enemy ships.

The result was as he had estimated. For the common ships in the Chinese seas, high-explosive shells were much more effective than solid shot. These ships were rarely made of hardwood, and even if they were, the hulls were relatively thin. High-explosive shells filled with black powder could easily blow open the ship’s planks, which was much more effective than simply punching a hole in the hull with a solid round shot. They were also much more effective at inflicting casualties.

The bombardment lasted for a full twenty minutes. Ying Yu ordered a ceasefire. The six ships that had entered the ambush zone were all crippled on the sea. From beginning to end, not a single ship had been able to fight back. The rain of cannonballs had destroyed all resistance in an instant.

“Should we send the naval soldiers to search?” someone suggested.

“Too dangerous.” Ying Yu looked at the burning ships. “According to the Great Whale’s message, three of the ships had cannons. We don’t know how much gunpowder is on board. If it explodes, it’s no joke. Let’s wait a little longer.” He then gave another order, “Have the sampans rescue the pirates in the water from a safe distance. If they can swim to the boat, pull them up.”

When the naval soldiers finally boarded the wreckage of the grounded ships, they had already rescued about forty survivors from the surrounding waters. There was no significant loot on board. The navy dismantled all the iron fittings from the ships.

Following Xi Yazhou’s request, Ying Yu had the bodies on the decks and floating in the sea collected. The prisoners were made to identify the leaders, whose heads were then cut off and packed in boxes filled with lime. This medieval practice made Ying Yu very uncomfortable.

The sea returned to calm. The Great Whale was anchored at sea, repairing its damaged masts and sails. The sailors were washing the deck. To lighten the load, some of the sandbags had been thrown overboard, making the deck look much more spacious.

In this battle, the Great Whale had suffered eight killed and twenty wounded. The bodies of the dead were wrapped in white cloth and laid out on the deck by the ship’s rail, a cannonball tied to each one’s feet.

“It’s a pity we don’t have a national flag yet, otherwise we should have given each of them one,” Xi Yazhou said with emotion. Although casualties were inevitable in battle, seeing the soldiers they had trained themselves killed was still saddening.

“Sound the bugle!” As the mournful notes of the bugle rang out, the bodies were cast into the sea one by one. All the sailors and artillerymen saluted.

The two fishing trawlers returned from Juhua Islet. Seeing the burial at sea on the Great Whale, they sounded their horns in succession.

“Report!” the signalman ran over and saluted. “Fishing Trawler One sends a flag signal: ‘Salute to all the officers and men of the Great Whale!’”

“Reply: ‘Salute to all the glorious officers and men of the Navy!’” Xi Yazhou said.

The two fishing trawlers, one in front and one behind, escorted the Great Whale as it sailed towards Lingao. Behind them, the black smoke from the burning pirate fleet at Juhua Islet still lingered.