Chapter 187: The Final Fire Attack

To enhance the fire, barrels of sulfur and gunpowder were piled on the ships, along with many so-called poisonous Chinese medicinal herbs that could produce toxic smoke. By Xu Tingfa’s estimation, with so many fire ships and rafts attacking simultaneously, the Kun thieves’ cannons, no matter how powerful, would not be able to hold them off. As long as they could burn one-third of the Kun thieves’ warships, they could disrupt their defenses. Xu Tingfa gathered all the remaining naval warships and over 40 requisitioned rice and salt boats to serve as warships, preparing to charge into the enemy formation and let the waterborne militia board and fight once the fire attack succeeded and the Kun thieves’ fleet was in chaos. Li Fengjie offered an unprecedented reward: one tael of silver for killing a fake Kun, fifty for a real one; fifty taels for burning a small Kun thief warship, one hundred for a large one; and two hundred taels for capturing a Kun thief warship.

Just as the Fubo Army occupied Ershawei and was temporarily delayed cleaning up scattered bandits on Henan Island, Xu Tingfa ordered Chen Qian to lead the fire ship fleet slowly down the Provincial River, while he himself commanded the navy from the rear.

“You brat, you’ve deserted twice. This is your chance to redeem yourself with a meritorious deed!” Xu Tingfa said viciously to Chen Qian before setting off. “His Excellency the Governor has already authorized me to act as I see fit. You’d better watch yourself!”

Chen Qian cursed Xu Tingfa inwardly for running faster than a rabbit and now using him as a vanguard to be sacrificed. But he didn’t dare to be insubordinate. Everyone knew Governor Li was seeing red. Another defeat, and he might really lose his head.

“This humble general will definitely fight bravely at the forefront!” Chen Qian said insincerely.

“Save the official talk for later,” Xu Tingfa snorted viciously. “If the Kun thieves enter Bai’e Tan and fire a few shots at the provincial capital, both our heads will roll! And yours will be the first!”

“This humble general understands,” Chen Qian said respectfully, clasping his hands as sweat trickled down. Officers were masters of evasion, but the problem now was that it was very difficult for him to evade. His defensive post was at Humen fortress, and he had fled all the way to Guangzhou. If the governor decided to execute someone to shift the blame, he was the perfect candidate.

But to truly fight bravely at the forefront, he didn’t have the guts. Chen Qian saw it clearly: trying to engage the Kun thieves in a head-on battle on the water was suicide.

But now, with Li Fengjie and the others pressing down, he had to go even if it meant death. Helpless, Chen Qian chose two fast and agile long-dragon boats as his personal vessels and carefully selected dozens of personal guards who were good swimmers and skilled boatmen. He planned to hide aside as soon as the fire ships went up and then decide what to do based on the situation.

Night fell.

The task force anchored at Ershawei had already lowered its flags and entered a state of night rest. Sentries lit bonfires on the abandoned Ershawei fort. They vigilantly watched the distant river surface. On land, the officers had already sent out long-range patrols. They were specially trained to spot human silhouettes in the dark. It was impossible for anyone to attack the task force from land.

The danger came from the water. Despite meticulous arrangements—large ships in the core, small boats forming a fixed picket line on the periphery, and patrol boats conducting continuous night patrols—in such a narrow, maneuver-unfriendly waterway, there was little room to maneuver in the event of a surprise attack.

The night commander, Le Lin, sat in a chair on the fort, wrapped in a thick military wool cloak. It was made from fabric bought from the Portuguese, warm and waterproof, one of the many material preparations for the future continental campaign. The army and sailors couldn’t operate in tropical and subtropical regions forever.

Le Lin wrapped the cloak tightly around himself. As a Hong Konger, he had never felt the nights in Guangdong to be so cold in his previous life. Even on Christmas in Lan Kwai Fong, a single jacket would have been enough. But here, even wearing his British navy-style sweater, he still felt a biting chill, the damp cold seeping in from everywhere.

“Why is this Little Ice Age so cold—” he muttered. To pass the boring time, he frequently raised the Russian-made infrared binoculars to his eyes and scanned the surroundings.

Sun Tianbiao cursed silently. Ever since he had fled from the Lingao garrison post overnight to report the emergency at the Haikou chiliarch’s office, he had been kicked around like a ball—from Haikou to Zhaoqing, to Guangzhou, and back to Haikou. Any matter involving the “Kun thieves” would fall on him. During the great defeat at Chengmai, he had jumped into the water amidst the chaos and escaped to the mainland on a fishing boat. After a long and arduous journey, he finally reached Zhaoqing, where he was almost mistaken for a beggar. After Viceroy Wang asked him a few questions, his expression soured, and then there was nothing. Sun Tianbiao had scrounged for food in the viceroy’s headquarters for a few days without a formal position before being kicked to Guangzhou to “await orders.”

Finally, he had managed to secure a post in the Humen navy, but he had no soldiers under him and only received a nominal salary. He also had to participate in drills and patrols from time to time, which was far less comfortable than his life as a local lord in the garrison post.

And that wasn’t all. This time, leading the fire ship attack, he was once again at the forefront—supposedly because he was “familiar with the Kun situation.” Forced into it, Sun Tianbiao boarded one of the first ten boats, hiding in the cabin, calculating when to jump into the water and escape. He couldn’t help but curse Chen Qian’s eighteen generations of ancestors.

Seeing the shadowy outlines of the Kun thieves’ fleet in the distance, Sun Tianbiao’s heart was in his throat. Others might not know, but he was well aware of the various “legends” about the Kun thieves. Besides their incredibly powerful firearms, there were tales of night-vision telescopes. Sun Tianbiao had wanted to report this to the battle commander, Chen Qian, but the man couldn’t be bothered to see him and just told him to “advance bravely.”

“Bravely to my death?” Sun Tianbiao muttered, then cursed again, “Row slower! The splashing is too loud!”

The boats barely needed power, drifting slowly downstream with the current. Sun Tianbiao felt a little relieved. This way, they could jump into the water and escape from a great distance, without having to row all the way to ram the enemy ships. Before his thought was complete, the river surface lit up. For a moment, he could barely open his eyes. To his astonishment, a powerful beam of light shot out from the direction of the Kun thieves’ fleet, illuminating the entire fire ship squadron.

It was just a medium-power stage spotlight, but it was enough to clearly illuminate the attacking fire ships on the water.

“Light the fires!”

“Open fire!”

The commands were issued almost simultaneously from the fort and the fire ships.

The Kun thieves’ cannons roared almost instantly, interspersed with the sharp, continuous sound of tearing cloth. Cannonballs and lead shot flew in one after another, landing among the fleet. Several fire rafts were swamped by waves before they could be lit. One fire ship suddenly trembled, wood splinters flying through the air as if an invisible whip were lashing it. The sailors on board convulsed, jumped up, and fell into the water.

A cannonball whistled by and directly hit a fire ship. The vessel, loaded with fuel, immediately became a sea of fire. Sun Tianbiao even thought he could hear the sailors’ screams.

Sun Tianbiao quickly grabbed a tinder pot and threw it into the front cabin, which was already sprinkled with gunpowder. Flames shot up. Without a word to anyone, he rolled over the side and jumped into the water. The others on the boat followed suit.

Lighting the fire was the signal. One by one, the other boats were set ablaze. The first wave of a dozen or so fire ships drifted downstream towards the task force anchored at Ershawei.

“Brothers, hold steady!” Chen Qian, following behind, hadn’t expected the Kun thieves to have such a trick, creating such a huge light in the dark. A surprise attack was now impossible. The only way to escape safely was to light all the ships and fire rafts at once and let them drift down, hoping to catch the Kun thieves off guard and get a lucky hit on a few enemy ships.

But the distance was too great! Chen Qian thought. Drifting like this, the Kun thieves would probably be long gone before they could hit anything. On a normal day, they would just light the fires and flee. But this time, there was no room for excuses. Chen Qian ordered the remaining boats to row faster and not to light the fires until they were close to the enemy ships.

“Anyone who lights the fire and abandons ship without orders will be executed!” he roared from his boat, brandishing his sword. “Charge! The Kun thieves only have a few cannons! Those who get hit are just unlucky. Those who don’t will find fortune and glory!”

The men piloting the fire ships were all desperate men. Spurred on by his words, their eyes saw only silver. Seeing the cannonballs all falling among Sun Tianbiao’s vanguard, they bent their backs and rowed with all their might towards the fleet.

Three minutes after Le Lin gave the order, the fleet’s main commanders were on deck. Chen Haiyang raised his binoculars. The river surface was dotted with burning ships. The enemy was launching a fire attack! The gunboats providing cover on the fleet’s flanks were firing fiercely with their cannons and typewriters. The searchlight swept back and forth across the river. Chen Haiyang estimated the distance and felt a little calmer. The nearest fire was still about 2 kilometers from the fleet’s perimeter. Based on their knowledge of the Ming army’s and pirates’ typical fire ship tactics, the ships were abandoned after being lit, relying on the current and wind for propulsion. At the current river speed, it would take at least 30 minutes to reach the fleet’s anchorage.

At this rate, many of the fire ships would probably burn out and sink before they even reached the anchorage, not to mention that they were currently being targeted by cannons and typewriters.

“Tell Le Lin to follow the protocol for countering enemy fire ships,” Chen Haiyang ordered. “And to increase observation! The enemy might have unlit ships advancing in the dark!”

All ships raised their anchor chains. The sailors were at their posts, especially the typewriter gunners. They quickly removed the canvas gun covers, loaded the drum magazines, and swiveled their gun mounts, their eyes fixed on the dark water.

Sun Tianbiao’s vanguard was shattered by cannons and typewriters, turning into burning wreckage that drifted, spun, and sank in the water. The following fire ships sailed through the debris, continuing their kamikaze attack with a rare display of courage.

Several small motorboats, which had kept their fires lit, also rushed from the anchorage, advancing several hundred meters to strafe the subsequent fire ships with their typewriters. The dense bullets swept across the decks, tearing the sailors to pieces. The leading fire ships lost control, slowed down, and some even turned sideways, colliding with the boats behind them.

Seeing the vanguard being intercepted by the Australians again, Chen Qian knew there was no hope of breaking through. He resentfully ordered the fires to be lit. More than thirty fire ships and nearly a hundred fire rafts were set ablaze at once, creating a spectacular sea of fire on the water.

These fire ships and rafts drifted slowly downstream with the current. Due to their slow speed and lack of control, several collided and sank along the way. Others bunched together and burned out completely. The rest were intercepted by marines in sampans at a distance of five hundred meters. Using long-handled iron hooks, they were pulled to the riverbank one by one and left to burn out.

Seeing the river ablaze, Xu Tingfa thought the attack had succeeded. He immediately led 40 warships down the river, preparing for a fierce assault. He hadn’t expected to be met with a barrage of intense artillery fire from the gunboats before he even got close. The first three naval ships were hit and caught fire. Gritting his teeth, Xu Tingfa ordered a full-scale attack. He placed dozens of fifty-tael silver ingots on the deck and, waving his sword, shouted, “Those who advance will be rewarded! Those who retreat will be executed!”

As he was shouting and charging forward “to repay the grace of the court,” someone brought the drenched Sun Tianbiao before him.

“Your Excellency—the Kun thieves’ fire is fierce ahead, the ships can’t get through…”

Before Sun Tianbiao could finish, Xu Tingfa immediately shouted, “Drag him out and execute him!”

His personal guards immediately dragged the bewildered Sun Tianbiao to the bow and beheaded him, presenting the bloody head.

“Hang it on the mast!” Xu Tingfa shouted. “Anyone who dares to desert in battle will meet the same fate!”

The soldiers trembled. Shouting battle cries, they fired all their weapons—two-dragon-emerging-from-water rockets, beehive launchers, fire pigeons—indiscriminately towards Ershawei. Regardless of range, they let everything fly, creating a spectacular sight. They didn’t hit any Kun thieves, but they did manage to wound many of their own sailors who had jumped from the fire ships.

“You bloody idiot… look before you shoot…” cursed a waterborne militiaman who had been hit by a stray rocket, before sinking beneath the waves.

“Attention! Enemy vessel at 430 meters. Load one solid shot!” the gunnery officers on the gunboats shouted, observing and giving orders.

Xu Tingfa’s final grand assault lasted until midnight. The river was ablaze, and the night sky was filled with the sound of cannons, screams, curses, and cries for help. As the night grew darker, more and more ships caught fire. Finally, the Ming army’s last counterattack failed. Xu Tingfa barely escaped with his life, swimming ashore with his personal guards. Chen Qian fled into the West River with his boat. Of the 40 warships that participated in the counterattack, all but 4 that had fled during the battle were lost. At dawn, the exhausted Le Lin and his men saw only a river full of floating corpses and wrecked ships, with smoke still rising from the wreckage.

In this night battle, the task force lost 5 sampans and 1 long-dragon boat. One steam-powered Daihatsu boat was hit in the boiler by a cannonball, causing an explosion that killed 2 sailors and heavily damaged the boat. This was the navy’s most serious loss. Several other ships were hit but remained combat-effective. The total casualties were 3 dead and 14 wounded. They couldn’t count the Ming army’s losses. Very few prisoners were captured in the dark; many had swum ashore and escaped under the cover of night. However, the nearby villagers later recovered five to six hundred bodies from the water.

On November 3, 1630, as the morning mist over Bai’e Tan had just dissipated, the Australian Song Fubo Army’s Pearl River Task Force sailed into Bai’e Tan.

The clanking of anchor chains echoed as iron anchors were dropped from the ships into the green waters of Bai’e Tan. The dark muzzles of the cannons on the ships were aimed at Guangzhou city.

The city gates of Guangzhou were tightly shut. News of Xu Tingfa’s failed counterattack had long been brought back by the routed soldiers. The city gates, which should have opened early in the morning, remained closed for the first time in memory.

Guangzhou Prefect Yu Baocun was observing from the city wall. Seeing the fleet arrive, he quickly descended and got into his sedan chair.

“Quick! To the Governor’s yamen!”

Li Fengjie was now completely at his wit’s end. Xu Tingfa’s counterattack had failed, and he didn’t even know where the man was. The forts along the river had all been ineffective. The five thousand waterborne militia, recruited at great expense, had been killed or had deserted, leaving less than two thousand. And the Franks, on whom he had placed such high hopes, had shown no intention of dispatching warships to cut off the Kun thieves’ rear. According to Li Luoyou’s letters, the Franks seemed to have concrete proof of Gao Shunqin’s request to close the port and even expel them. Forget “borrowing troops to help in the war,” it had taken all of Li Luoyou’s effort just to stop them from taking advantage of the situation.

Although not stated explicitly, the letter’s implication was very clear: he should quickly negotiate peace with the Kun thieves to avoid an even greater blow.

Peace, peace. Li Fengjie was half dejected, half angry. He had wanted to negotiate peace from the beginning, but he had miscalculated, hoping to regain some face before contacting the Australians. Now, not only had he lost face, but he was about to lose everything. The Kun thieves’ fleet was anchored in Bai’e Tan, ready to bombard Guangzhou at any moment, leaving him in a dilemma.

Negotiating peace would inevitably draw attacks from many, especially Gao Shunqin. That man held extreme hostility towards all foreigners. Who knew what he would write in his impeachment memorials to the court?

But if he chose to fight, there was no guarantee of victory. Even if the Kun thieves didn’t take Guangzhou, he was sure to be dismissed from office after this whole affair. If the Kun thieves breached the city, he would lose his life as well.

At this thought, his brow furrowed, and he sighed deeply.

He Chengzong whispered, “Your Excellency, the only option now is to quickly negotiate and get the Kun thieves’ navy to withdraw from Bai’e Tan. If this drags on, it will be impossible to explain!”

“It’s already impossible to explain!” Li Fengjie grumbled.

“Your Excellency, for now, we can still come up with some explanation. But if the Kun thieves launch another major attack outside Guangzhou, I’m afraid there will be no explanation at all!”