As Ye Zongman led his pirates to change their route and attack Taiping County without hesitation, his pirates still had many misunderstandings, especially the trusted pirate who had just raised the question, still muttering unwillingly, "Captain, are we just leaving like this? Why do I still feel that Jingnan is not prepared..."
"Idiot, look back and you will understand." Ye Zongman cursed.
The Japanese pirates turned their heads and were surprised to see that the Jingnan County, which was pitch black just now, was now ablaze with flames. The torches on the city walls were as numerous as the stars in the sky. With the naked eye, people could be seen on the city walls, and it seemed that they were outnumbered and powerful.
"Ah?!" When the trusted Japanese pirates saw this scene, they couldn't help but screamed and cold sweat broke out on their backs.
"Idiot, do you understand now?" Ye Zongman looked at his trusted Japanese pirate coldly with his hawk-like eyes and asked in a cold voice.
"I understand." The trusted Japanese pirate nodded with lingering fear, thinking about how he had volunteered to attack the city. Fortunately, he was stopped by the ship owner. If he had really attacked the city, he would probably have been shot into a hedgehog.
"I understand."
Ye Zongman smiled and nodded, but he suddenly changed his expression the next second. He drew out his samurai sword with lightning speed and stabbed it into the chest of the Japanese pirate he trusted. The tip of the sword went out from his back, and he turned sideways to avoid the gushing blood.
"Captain..."
The Japanese pirate's mouth was bleeding. In his last moments, he looked at Ye Zongman with a puzzled look on his face, not understanding why the ship owner suddenly wanted to kill him.
The Japanese pirates were also stunned by this scene.
"As the saying goes, if you hear the truth in the morning, you can die in the evening! Now that you understand, you can go and die!"
After Ye Zongman finished speaking, he drew his samurai sword, and the Japanese pirate he trusted fell to the ground.
"From now on, I don't want to hear anyone questioning my orders!" Ye Zongman held up a blood-stained samurai sword, and his hawk-like eyes fiercely scanned the Japanese pirates, saying sinisterly, "No matter what order I give, you only need to obey! If anyone disobeys again, he will suffer the consequences!"
The Japanese pirates were silent as a cicada and nodded their heads like pounding garlic!
"Very good!" Ye Zongman nodded and pointed his knife at Taiping County. "Go ahead and enjoy the burning, killing and looting!"
A group of Japanese pirates rushed towards Taiping County, howling.
After Ye Zongman and his gang of Japanese pirates changed their rule to Taiping County, they felt a little sorry for the young and strong people on the Jingnan city wall.
"Alas, why did these pirates turn around and run away?! What a pity that we have been boiling the golden juice for so long..."
"That's right. We have more than 300 bows waiting impatiently. Why did they turn around and run away? It's a pity that our county lord made arrangements, otherwise at least dozens of Japanese pirates' heads would have been recorded..."
After the Japanese pirates turned around, the people on the city wall were happy, but couldn't help but say with a look of regret.
Compared with the laughter and joy of the people of Jingnan, Zhu Ping'an looked into the distance with a solemn look.
"Your Excellency, isn't it a pity that the Japanese pirates escaped? A great achievement has been lost?" Liu Dianli asked softly when he saw this.
"No. The Japanese pirates retreated without a fight, and the people of Jingnan didn't have to shed blood or sacrifice their lives. They were safe and sound in this Japanese invasion. This is already the best result, there is no reason to regret it." Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly.
"Since this is the best outcome, why is the county magistrate so unhappy..." Liu Dianli asked puzzledly.
"The people of Jingnan are safe, but the people of Taiping County and other places will suffer..."
Zhu Ping'an looked far into the direction of Taiping County, vaguely seeing flames rising, and couldn't help but sigh.
The Japanese pirates only avoided Jingnan, a tough nut to crack. The people of Jingnan were spared, but the people in Taiping County and other places still had to suffer from the ravages of the Japanese pirates. Zhu Pingan was powerless to do anything about it and could only watch the Japanese pirates destroy and ravage the people. This was the reason why Zhu Pingan sighed and was depressed.
"I am short-sighted and far inferior to the county magistrate..." Upon hearing this, Liu Dianli could not help but said with a look of shame on his face.
Although the Japanese pirates bypassed Jingnan, Zhu Ping'an still did not relax Jingnan's defenses and remained on high alert.
The night was very long, so long that Zhu Ping'an did not sleep all night and his eyes were bloodshot.
That night, Zhu Pingan kept looking northwards towards Taiping County and other places. He saw one dim fire after another in Taiping County from afar. Zhu Pingan could not help but sigh again and again. Each fire meant the destruction of a home and the abuse of an ordinary family by the Japanese pirates...
At dawn, the news from last night was gradually collected in Zhu Ping'an's hands. More than 6,000 Japanese pirates passed through Jingnan last night, but did not cause much damage to Jingnan. More than 100 houses in Jingnan County were burned down, and half of the anti-Japanese sentry forts were attacked by the Japanese pirates, but no sentry fort was breached. During the defense of the sentry forts, 18 civilians died and 31 civilians were injured, all of whom were killed or injured by the Japanese pirates' bows and arrows and muskets. Of course, the Japanese pirates also paid the price of more than ten casualties. However, due to the situation last night, the dead and injured Japanese pirates were taken away by the Japanese pirates, and no gains were made.
Not long after, Zhu Ping'an also received news from Taiping County and other places.
Last night, Taiping County was severely damaged. Taiping County was breached by the Japanese pirates again. Even the Taiping County Office was burned down by the Japanese pirates. Most of the county clerks were killed or injured. The Taiping County Magistrate hid in a well and managed to escape. Taiping County was in such a situation, not to mention the towns. The Japanese pirates were like locusts passing through, looting all the towns they passed through. The common people suffered heavy casualties. Only those remote towns escaped.
In addition to Taiping County, Ninghai County and Tiantai County were also conquered by the Japanese pirates. Tiantai County had survived the previous attack by the Japanese pirates led by Jiangmen, but this time it was the focus of the Japanese pirates and suffered more damage than Taiping County. The monks guarding the Wolong Temple and Wuzu Tan Temple rushed to rescue Tiantai County after hearing the news, but were ambushed by the Japanese pirates on the way. More than half of the monks died on the spot, and only a small number of elite monks fought their way out and retreated back to the temple.
Although the towns of other counties such as Linhai County and Huangyan County were not breached by the Japanese pirates, the towns and villages within them were also severely damaged by the Japanese pirates. These counties were more than capable of protecting themselves, but were powerless to drive out the Japanese pirates. They could only watch helplessly as the Japanese pirates killed and burned people in Jingnan. For a time, the territory was filled with flames and the miserable cries of the people were endless... ...
In addition, the city of Taizhou Prefecture was also attacked by Japanese pirates. The pirates seized an iron cannon from somewhere, pulled it outside the south gate of Taizhou Prefecture City, and showed off their power by firing two cannons at the south gate, which collapsed a corner of the gate tower and killed and injured six or seven people. If the iron cannon had not exploded during the third shot, the south gate of Taizhou Prefecture City would have been in real danger.
It can be said that last night, the entire Taizhou Prefecture was ravaged by the Japanese pirates, with the exception of Jingnan County.