From the beginning to the end, it only took a few breaths of time, but the situation on the scene was completely changed.
A few breaths ago, more than 160 vicious Japanese pirates were still controlling thunder and lightning on the battlefield, hacking Zhao Wenhua and his party to the point of crying for their parents and hanging by a thread. They could kill Zhao Wenhua and his party in a minute.
However, after a few breaths, they became dead dogs on the ground, and only a few Japanese pirates could still groan before death.
The battlefield was filled with smoke. Zhao Wenhua, who was lying on the ground, raised his head like a turtle. He coughed because of the smoke on the battlefield. He squinted his eyes and saw the corpses of the Japanese pirates lying on the ground in the light of the fire.
"Is this the end of the Japanese pirates?"
Even after seeing it, Zhao Wenhua still found it hard to believe that these ferocious Japanese pirates who were like killer gods descended from earth, these Japanese pirates who made him humiliated, collapsed and desperate, were all killed in the blink of an eye.
"Yes, sir, the Japanese pirates are finished." Hu Zongxian's voice sounded in his ears, and his voice was also somewhat unbelievable.
As he spoke, Hu Zongxian threw the shield in his hand aside, spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm, and got up from the ground.
Then, Hu Zongxian bent down and stretched out his hands to help Zhao Wenhua up. However, Zhao Wenhua had survived the disaster and once he relaxed, he felt weak all over and had no strength to stand up. Hu Zongxian failed to help him up for a while.
At this time, a figure walked out from the pungent smoke, stretched out his hands, and helped Hu Zongxian to lift Zhao Wenhua up.
After helping Zhao Wenhua up, the man bowed and apologized, "I, Zhu Ping'an, came late to save you. Please forgive me, Master Zhao."
It was Zhu Ping'an.
"Not too late, not too late, Zihou, you are not too late. This time, thanks to you leading the troops to arrive in time, and cleverly pretending to be the reinforcements of the Japanese pirates, you caught the Japanese pirates off guard and saved our lives. Otherwise, my life would be over. Before the sea sacrifice, I transferred you here to give you the qualification to assist in the sea sacrifice. It is also an achievement after you took office as the acting deputy envoy of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Judicial Inspection Office, which can help you get rid of the word "acting" as soon as possible. I didn't expect that this move would save my life. It's really unpredictable."
"If Zihou hadn't arrived in time, not only would my life be over, but I would also have tens of thousands of dollars in my tent, no, memorials written over the past few nights, and most importantly, the imperial decree for the sea sacrifice issued by the emperor. If it fell into the hands of the Japanese pirates, the impact would be unimaginable... ... Bringing you here before the sea sacrifice began was truly the wisest decision I have ever made."
Zhao Wenhua held Zhu Ping'an's hand, patted it again and again with emotion, and spoke to Zhu Ping'an in an extremely intimate manner.
"Thank you, Lord Zhu, for saving my life." Hu Zongxian also said.
"Master Zhao and Master Hu, your words are too polite. This is my duty. I would also like to thank Master Zhao for giving me the opportunity to participate in the sea sacrifice."
Zhu Ping'an bowed modestly and took the opportunity to get rid of Zhao Wenhua's hand, which gave him goose bumps all over his body.
I'm really not used to this way of expressing intimacy used by the ancients. I really don't know how Guan, Zhang and Zhuge Liang could tolerate having Liu Bei sleeping with their feet resting on theirs.
"Alas, I regret not listening to Zihou's words yesterday evening, otherwise I wouldn't have ended up like this." Zhao Wenhua looked at the fires in all directions, listened to the shouting and screaming coming from all around, not knowing how many tents had been burned down and how many people had died here. He couldn't help but sighed and shook his head, saying with great regret.
"Your Excellency is in charge of the sea sacrifice affairs, and you are busy with many things every day. It is impossible for you to consider all aspects and details. It is my negligence and dereliction of duty that I failed to pay attention to Your Excellency Zhu's warning, which led to today's disaster."
Hu Zongxian took the initiative to take the responsibility on himself and rushed to take the blame for Zhao Wenhua.
"No, I am the imperial envoy of the Sea Sacrifice, and I am in charge of the Sea Sacrifice. If there is a problem with the Sea Sacrifice, how can I stay out of it? This is my responsibility."
Zhao Wenhua shook his head and said with a sense of responsibility.
"No, Your Excellency presided over the sea sacrifice. He mobilized more than 10,000 elite soldiers, including Master Zhu, to the sacrifice site for safety. He also mobilized tens of thousands of heavy troops in the east, south, and north to ensure that the sea sacrifice was foolproof. Your Excellency's decision-making and arrangements were absolutely correct. It was the generals who led the troops poorly and failed to live up to Your Excellency's trust and fulfill their responsibilities. The main force of the Japanese pirates attacked the central army, and I, the commander of the central army, cannot escape blame."
Hu Zongxian argued forcefully.
"Merlin, I have seen your performance. You have been alert enough. After the Japanese pirates broke into the central army, you promptly organized the Royal Guard Battalion to resist the main force of the Japanese pirates. Under the siege of the main force of the Japanese pirates, you protected me and the imperial edict and waited for Zihou to lead troops to rescue us. You have made no contributions." Zhao Wenhua shook his head, patted Hu Zongxian on the shoulder, and said affirmatively.
"As for responsibility, humph, I think Yu Dayou, Tang Kekuan, He Qing, and Shen Xiyi are the ones who can't escape blame. They led a large number of elite troops to guard the periphery of the festival, but the Japanese pirates easily broke into the center of the army; the Japanese pirates attacked their camp with a small force, causing chaos in the camp, and even now they have not been able to clean up the mess."
Then, Zhao Wenhua snorted and put all the blame on Yu Dayou, Tang Kekuan and others.
Seeing this, Zhu Ping'an was speechless. Both camps were attacked by Japanese pirates, and Hu Zongxian had made contributions but no faults, while Yu Dayou and his men were to blame.
If I hadn't led the troops to arrive in time, Hu Zongxian, who had done nothing wrong, would have died with you...
"Master Zhao, when I led my troops here, the deputy commander of Jianghuai, Linhuai Hou, had also wiped out the Japanese pirates who attacked his Jianghuai camp. After a division of labor, I led my troops to rescue you, and he led his troops to rescue the people."
Zhu Ping'an made some notes and praised Linhuai Hou in front of Zhao Wenhua to prevent Linhuai Hou from being held accountable by Zhao Wenhua.
"Good, you uncle and nephew are both meritorious people." Zhao Wenhua nodded after hearing this and gave verbal praise to Linhuai Hou.
"Report, sir, after checking, there are still eight Japanese pirates alive. How do you deal with these eight Japanese pirates?"
At this time, Liu Dadao stepped forward and reported.
"If we kill them, will we keep them alive for the New Year?" Zhao Wenhua said gritting his teeth after hearing this.
The Japanese pirates almost took his life. He hated them so much at this time. When he heard that there were still some Japanese pirates alive, he gritted his teeth and gave the order.
"Master Zhao, although only dead pirates are good pirates, there is no need to rush to kill them. After interrogation, we can find out who sent this group of pirates and other circumstances. It will not be too late to kill them then." Zhu Ping'an quickly reminded.
"Yes, Zihou is right. While they are still breathing, we should quickly interrogate them separately. We should not show any leniency to the Japanese pirates. We should use all kinds of torture, including meat and vegetables, to interrogate them harshly. We should find out who sent them, what their purpose is, and whether they have accomplices..."
After hearing what Zhu Ping'an said, Zhao Wenhua suddenly realized what was going on, took back what he had just said, and ordered a severe interrogation of the surviving Japanese pirates.