Chapter 202: Lin Baiguang's Perilous Situation

“But, big boss—”

“I know, if we don’t stop him, I’m afraid someone will follow his example.” Zhu Cailao’s expression was grave. After thinking for a long time, he seemed to have made up his mind:

“General Manager Wang, you immediately order the grain depot to distribute the stored grain to every share and every ship. Distribute all the grain in the grain depot and have the whole army cook! Prepare for battle.”

“Ah?!” The leaders looked at him. Only the old camp’s general manager, Wang You, was not surprised—although they had obtained another batch of grain in the past ten days and some people had run away, the grain supply was barely enough. But it was a drop in the bucket, and the whole army would run out of food in just a few days.

“Big boss! We are now short of twelve large ships! Should we wait for the ships going to Lingao to come back before we discuss…”

“It will be too late when He Xin comes back. God knows what happened to them.” Since the fleet was taking the outer sea route, once it was delayed, all kinds of factors were possible. Continuing to wait would not solve any problems, but would instead lead to a desperate situation of complete lack of food. Wang You clearly pointed out how bad the current situation was.

“We have to fight. The grain is about to run out,” Zhu Cailao said coldly. “We will go and fight Min’an now!”

“It’s not a big deal to be short of a dozen or so large sea ships. Small ships can also fight. For a land battle like this, small ships are more flexible.”

“Big boss! What about the Australian envoy? Is this kid fooling us?”

“Envoy?” Zhu Cailao waved his hand impatiently. “Just leave him on Nanri Island—he can’t run away without a ship. I don’t have time to deal with him now!” He said loudly, “Tell the brothers to have a full meal and set sail early tomorrow morning. After taking Min’an, there will be no sealing of blades for three days! The wealth and women will go to the brothers first!”

“Thank you, big boss!” the leaders responded in unison.

He Xin’s fleet had a very smooth voyage. Taking the outer sea route, it only took six days to reach Bopu Port. He Xin himself did not know how to sail, but he got his position through connections, so Ren Fu, the manager of the fleet’s flagship, was the de facto commander.

He Xin was led to see Wen Desi. Wen Desi said a few pleasantries, and complimented He Xin for being “young and promising, with a heroic spirit.” He gave him a valuable gift, which made He Xin dizzy and overjoyed. After a hearty meal at the merchant’s hall, he was led to a luxurious suite to stay. In the room, two prostitutes with outstanding looks, selected by Dongmen Chuiyu, were already waiting.

Ren Fu and the sailors were also received by special personnel. They first took a bath, and then each of them was given a set of clothes and treated to good food and drink. The sailors on Nanri Island had long been bored to death. When they arrived in Lingao, there were not only fresh vegetables but also chicken and duck. As for wine and food, it was an open supply. They all felt that they were “lucky” to be able to come to Lingao this time. Wei Aiwen personally went into battle, leading the non-commissioned officer students of the military and political school who were interning at the General Political Department to ostensibly do “reception” work, but in fact, they were doing face-to-face propaganda work, vigorously publicizing how the transmigrator group treated the poor well, how they let everyone “have clothes to wear,” “have food to eat,” “have a house to live in,” “be able to marry a wife,” “not be bullied,” and other things related to the vital interests of ordinary people. In order to fully demonstrate the superiority, they also organized them to visit the residences, factories, farms, and schools of the Bairen and Bopu communes, plus Dongmen Market.

In order to give them a full understanding of the superiority of the new society of the transmigrator group, they also took this group of people to Lingao County, to give them a sharp contrast.

He Xin, on the other hand, was accompanied by a special person from the Foreign Trade Committee every day and toured Dongmen Market. Whenever he took a slight fancy to something, the person accompanying him would immediately buy it. If he met a prostitute with a yellow ticket that he liked, she would be sent to the merchant’s hall at night. This made He Xin, who had only made a name for himself in the pirate group through connections, so happy that he didn’t know which way was up. The food and enjoyment were secondary. He had always been looked down upon in the pirate group. This time, someone valued him so much, and he was greatly satisfied psychologically. As for the matter of buying rice with a loan, he simply threw it to the back of his mind—it wasn’t that he had forgotten, but that if he bought the rice, he would naturally have to return. It was better to delay buying it for a few days so that he could enjoy a few more days in this gentle land.

In fact, even if he were a very responsible person, he would not be able to leave. As soon as the ships entered the port, the navy sent people to move the ships and block the fleet’s exit route. The marine corps was also on standby at any time to take over the ships—similar drills had been conducted countless times in their boarding combat training.

“I really don’t understand the people from the Political Security Department. Why go to all that trouble? They’re treating them to meals and even paying for prostitutes. Wouldn’t it be easier to just arrest them all and take over the ships?” Old Di complained. He was the company commander in charge of commanding the marine corps to monitor the ships.

The explanation from the Political Security General Administration was: this was to ensure the safety of the enemy’s personnel.

No one could guarantee that there were no spies of Zhu Cailao or other forces in Lingao. If they directly seized the ships and arrested the people, the other party could send a message out by star and night, and it would reach Nanri Island in at most a week. The transmigrator group’s true face of “fake negotiations, real poaching” would be completely exposed, and Lin Baiguang would surely die without a burial place.

Now, by using fine wine and women to delay He Xin, the slow progress of the matter was not the problem of the transmigrator group.

After several days of eating, drinking, and merrymaking, Ren Fu, after all, was an old bandit. He thought that this time they had come to buy grain and gunpowder. If they delayed any longer, it would be a big deal if they missed the important matter. He Xin was a royal relative and would naturally be able to get away with it, but the responsibility would fall on him. So he came to persuade He Xin: the tens of thousands of brothers in the fleet, and the big boss, were waiting for the grain. It was better to get things done and go back as soon as possible.

Only then did He Xin come to his senses. Thinking of what the big boss had said to him when he came out, he broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly asked to see Wen Desi.

Unexpectedly, Wen Desi was gone. Every time he asked someone to arrange the purchase of grain, the Australians always made excuses—either the person in charge was not free, or there were not enough porters. Only then did He Xin feel that something was wrong, and because he was living alone in the merchant’s hall, there was no one around to discuss with. Ren Fu had come once and then never showed up again.

He Xin had no choice but to make up his mind to go back to Bopu first. As a result, as soon as he stepped out of the room, the clerk outside came up to him:

“Where are you going, Master He? We can send someone to serve you.”

“It’s nothing, I’m going to Dongmen Market to buy cigarettes.” He Xin was not a complete idiot and immediately thought of an excuse.

“The cigarettes will be delivered in a moment, no need to trouble Master He.”

“Nonsense, I want to buy them myself,” He Xin said angrily.

“Master He had better go back to his room first, so as not to make it difficult for us…” The clerk said with a smile, but did not move an inch.

“Bastard, what do you mean? Am I a prisoner?!”

“Not at all, Master He is a distinguished guest of the leaders. You should go back to your room first. We will send the cigarettes right away. If you feel bored, just say the word, and we will have someone come and show a Japanese movie.”

As he spoke, three or four more clerks gathered around, bowing and scraping, each with a chilling smile on their faces. He Xin couldn’t help but take a few steps back. He knew in his heart that the big boss had fallen into the trap of this group of short-hair thieves!

Helplessly, he returned to his room. This luxuriously furnished and comfortable room was just a gilded cage, He Xin thought in despair. Ren Fu and his brothers had probably already been killed by them! As for himself, he didn’t know how long they would let him live. Thinking of this, his mood suddenly fell into a bottomless abyss. He actually lay on the bed and cried bitterly.

“What kind of pirate leader is this? He’s just a little girl!” Wu Fo spat in the next monitoring room to express his contempt.

“He got his position through connections, he’s not a real pirate leader,” the person next to him said.

“Have the ‘swallows’ arrived?”

“They’ve arrived, they’re all waiting downstairs.”

Wu Fo went downstairs through the secret staircase. In a secret room of the merchant’s hall, two prostitutes were waiting for him.

These were carefully selected from the registered prostitutes by the Intelligence Committee. They were not only required to have good looks and a graceful figure, but also to be bold, careful, and good at dealing with people. They received a small monthly allowance on the condition that they must be at the disposal of the intelligence department at any time.

“Listen,” Wu Fo said to the prostitutes in the room. “From today on, you will follow this Master He all day long, whether he is eating, sleeping, or going to the toilet. Whatever he says or does, report to me at any time.”

“We understand.”

“After this is done, you will naturally be rewarded. Now go and serve him well.”

After Wu Fo had given his instructions, he hurriedly rode his bicycle straight to Bopu.

The situation in Bopu was already under control. Ren Fu and his sailors had been controlled.

“Make sure Ren Fu appears in public regularly. Don’t let him disappear just like that, understand?” Wu Fo instructed the staff. “Arrange for him to go on board every day to have a look and say a few words. Let the ordinary sailors continue to live on the ships, and their actions will be monitored by the people from the political department.”

“What if they want to seize the ships?”

“So we have to control Ren Fu separately. He is not allowed to go on board at night to prevent him from passing messages to the sailors. You must keep in touch with Minister Wei at all times.”

As for He Xin, in addition to sending two prostitutes to serve him personally, there were also many activities waiting for him every day. He Xin spent every day either eating and drinking in restaurants or strolling on the streets with prostitutes. He was in no mood for this, but Wu Fo unceremoniously threatened him with something more terrifying than death: he said that if he dared to show even a trace of reluctance outside, he would sell this pretty boy to a Westerner’s male brothel to be a “male prostitute.” Then he showed him a GAY SM movie for a whole night. Anyone who dared not to cooperate would end up like this in a foreigner’s male brothel. The scenes in the movie that night almost made He Xin faint, and for several days he felt that his chrysanthemum was not safe.

In order to protect his chrysanthemum, He Xin had to go through the motions every day and try his best to perform his debauchery. After a few days of fine wine and women, his original sense of responsibility was gradually worn away. Thinking that he probably didn’t have many days left, he simply gave up on himself and became even more dissolute, which made the people of the Intelligence Committee very gratified. Everyone concluded that this method might be promoted in the future.

As for the ordinary sailors, they did not feel that there was anything wrong with the happy days of good food, good drink, and women to sleep with in Lingao. It would be best if such days could last forever. Even if they went back in a hurry, the credit would go to He Xin and Ren Fu, and they would still have to go back to fight and risk their lives.

Although everyone also found it strange why they hadn’t loaded the grain and gunpowder yet, they had always been of the opinion that “the leaders will take care of the important matters,” and the sailors didn’t care about it.

The Intelligence Committee strengthened its intelligence gathering activities on Zhu Cailao’s movements at sea. Lin Baiguang did not carry any communication tools that could contact Lingao. To know the development of the situation, they could only rely on the intelligence department to collect it themselves. The Guangzhou station began to concentrate on collecting information about Zhu Cailao, Nanri Island, and Min’an.

Zhang Xin sent Zhang Dabala out to inquire about the news in Fujian: he had been a pirate and knew a lot about the situation inside, so it was easy to get news.

“Zhu Cailao is going to Min’an. You find a place to hide near Min’an. As soon as Zhu Cailao retreats, you send a pigeon back!”

Zhang Dabala was puzzled. Zhu Cailao had recently been stationed on Nanri, which everyone knew recently, but how could he be sure that he was going to attack Min’an? And how did he know that he would definitely be defeated?

“Yes, but this great shopkeeper Zhu’s combat power is not weak. What should I do if he captures Min’an?”

“He can’t capture it, he will definitely be defeated,” Zhang Xin said with full confidence. “Why don’t you bet your monthly salary and this business trip fee with me? I’ll give you five to one.”

“Forget it, you have sorcery, I won’t bet,” Zhang Dabala muttered, making the sign of the cross. “God bless! Evil spirits, begone!”

Zhang Xin smiled secretly: his way of being a Christian was really creative.

Zhu Cailao’s fleet finally launched an attack on Min’an in August of that year. The attack lasted for four days. The first day’s offensive was very smooth. His fleet of sampans and small boats entered the Min River under the cover of the large ships’ artillery fire, defeated the intercepting Ming army and local braves along the way, and went straight to Min’an Town.

Min’an is ten kilometers from Luoxing Pagoda and more than thirty kilometers from Fuzhou. From Hou’an to Tingtou below Luoxing Pagoda, the mountains on both sides of the river are continuous, and the river flows in twists and turns. The terrain at the Min’an Town gorge is the most dangerous. The river channel is deep and narrow, and the narrowest part is only 600 meters. It is the throat that guards the mouth of the Min River. The Ming army set up temporary artillery batteries along both banks of the river here, and deployed dozens of cannons to intercept the upstream fleet. Local braves were conscripted from all over the river to guard both banks. Every time the pirates wanted to land and advance, they would be intercepted and killed by the local braves. But the pirates, encouraged by the promise of three days of no sealing of blades, did not retreat at all and attacked fiercely regardless of casualties.

Min’an was the gateway to Fuzhou and also the main sea outlet of Fujian. Once it fell, not only would the tens of thousands of merchants and people and countless wealth in Min’an be turned to ashes, but the sea outlet of Fujian would also be closed. For a time, Fuzhou was shaken. The merchants and people of Min’an fled one after another, and the situation was in chaos.

However, Zheng Zhilong had already rushed to the scene with his army, and then fought a decisive battle with Zhu Cailao’s main force outside the mouth of the Min River. At this time, Zheng Zhilong was equipped with dozens of large ships with heavy cannons sponsored by Xiong Wenhuan, and had an advantage in both quantity and quality. The two sides fought several times at the mouth of the Min River, and Zhu Cailao was repeatedly defeated. The morale of the army was greatly shaken. By the evening of the second day, with some ships fleeing the battlefield, Zhu Cailao’s fleet finally collapsed completely. Seeing that the situation was irreversible, Zhu Cailao immediately gathered the remnants of his army and retreated to Nanri Island, preparing to gather the remnants there and regroup.

However, Zheng Zhilong did not intend to let him go. He immediately launched a pursuit. Under Zheng Zhilong’s pursuit, Zhu Cailao’s troops were routed all the way. The ships were either scattered or captured. The ships that retreated to Nanri Island were less than one in ten. Anyone could see that Zhu Cailao’s demise was only a matter of time.

Fleeing all the way from Min’an, from large “shares” to small “single ships,” ships were constantly leaving the fleet in the chaos, either to find another way out, or simply to surrender to the victor, Zheng Zhilong—this was not uncommon among maritime groups. This kind of alliance could expand rapidly when things were going well, but once it suffered a defeat and the situation was not good, it would immediately fall apart.

It was in this situation that Zhu Cailao led the remaining one hundred or so ships back to the waters of Nanri Island.

These ships were smoking, some had broken masts, and some had arrows stuck in their sails and traces of being pierced by lead and stone projectiles. The hulls were scarred, with holes and bloodstains everywhere. These ships seemed so nervous and flustered that they had completely lost their normal formation, only caring about fleeing for their lives.

And the pirates on the ships, after days of hard fighting, were frightened by the great rout. Most of them let the waves toss them about, and they were all silent as cicadas in winter. Their frightened eyes searched the distant sea from time to time.

The news of the defeat had reached Nanri Island before them—it turned out that from the morning of the day of the decisive battle, there had been a constant stream of ships that had left the team and fled back to Nanri Island. By the time the whole army began to retreat from Min’an, the quick-witted leaders had already rushed back to Nanri to transfer their families and property. Some even began to let their soldiers plunder the grain depot and the old camp. The personal soldiers of Zhu Cailao in the old camp fought desperately to protect the stockade.

More and more ships began to weigh anchor and flee. The “shares” of Zhu Cailao’s relatives and clansmen still held on to the idea that they might be able to clean up the mess and make a comeback, and they organized their men and ships to wait for the return of the main army in the chaos.

Lin Baiguang was still trapped in the old camp at this time. He had originally thought of escaping in the chaos when someone besieged the old camp, but the sound of fighting with guns and cannons outside gradually subsided. When he inquired about the news again, he was told that both the old camp and the grain depot had been defended.

Now he was like an ant on a hot pan. From the mouths of the personal soldiers he had become familiar with, Lin Baiguang knew that many people had already fled by boat. He couldn’t help but be worried—those who were running now were nothing more than non-direct-line troops. The more they left, the more the remaining ones were die-hard loyalists. How could he win them over? Besides, the few small leaders he had made friends with these days had also disappeared. He didn’t know if they had gone to Min’an with Zhu Cailao and were defeated, or if they had stayed on Nanri. He had no idea whether they were dead or alive, whether they had already run away or were still on the island.

Lin Baiguang knew that the longer he stayed in the old camp, the more unfavorable the situation would be. Once those leaders ran away or were killed in battle, his attempt to control the fleet would be completely in vain. And once Zhu Cailao returned, Nanri Island would become a Shura field for the final decisive battle with Zheng Zhilong, and he would most likely die in the chaotic army!