"Hahaha, the wind is blowing, and it's the east wind. God is really helping me. It's a dark and windy night, a good time for murder and arson."
Feeling the strong east wind on the Japanese ship, Xu Hai couldn't help but burst into laughter, shouting that he was helped by heaven.
"We have God's help on this journey, we will definitely succeed!"
"Good wind, take me to Su City, hahaha..."
"It seems that we can reach Suzhou City earlier than expected. Hahaha, we are here before they wake up from their dreams."
Hojo Michisan, Maya, Chen Dong and others couldn't help but burst into laughter.
All the Japanese pirates were very optimistic. They boarded the ship at the second watch, reached Taicang estuary at the third watch, and were already right under Suzhou's nose at the fourth watch. The river turned a corner and Suzhou was just around the corner, only thirty miles away.
Now the east wind is blowing again, and their Japanese ships will have the wind at their back, so they will be able to arrive at Suzhou city earlier than expected. The defenders must still be asleep.
With a surprise attack, they would surely be able to capture Suzhou City easily.
Mountains of gold, silver, and jewelry, and countless young ladies from Suzhou, were all waiting for them to take away.
The more the Japanese pirates thought about it, the more excited they became. Their hands were full of strength as they rowed, and they never felt tired no matter how hard they rowed, and the boat moved as fast as it could.
whoosh whoosh whoosh
One after another, the Japanese ships turned along the curve of the river, and after turning a corner, they were only thirty miles away from Suzhou.
The Japanese pirates were even more excited and were already imagining a wonderful life of burning, killing and looting after they broke into Suzhou City.
However, what they did not notice was that when their Japanese ship just turned the river, six people were lying on the ground deep in the dead woods by the river, staring at them without blinking.
The night was as dark as ink, and one could not see one's hand in front of one's face. The bushes were dense and dense. The six men lay on the ground with grass in their mouths, making no sound. Their ambush was very successful, and none of the Japanese pirates discovered them.
These six people were one of the fifteen rangers sent by Zhu Ping'an.
After the Japanese ship turned the corner of the river, the six men crawled slowly into the woods behind them and untied the horses tied to the trees.
The horses also had sticks in their mouths, which were fixed to both sides of their faces with ropes to prevent them from making any noise.
The six men mounted their horses and rode non-stop at high speed towards the beacon tower on a high slope a mile away.
There were four soldiers on duty in front of the beacon tower, two of them were sleeping on the hay, and two were on night watch.
The night watchman soon spotted the six men on horseback. Before he could even ask how they got here, he heard the six men on horseback shouting, "Hurry up and light the beacon fires that were used as warnings at night. The Japanese pirates are coming!"
"The Japanese pirates are coming?!"
When the two men on duty heard this, they immediately lit torches with tinder and pointed them towards a beacon pile that had been prepared long ago, like a wooden building.
The two people who were sleeping on the straw mat also heard the noise and quickly got up to help light the beacon.
The beacon pile was made of hay, firewood, etc., and was sprinkled with grease. It would burn brightly as soon as the torch was touched.
Soon flames shot up into the sky.
"Okay, the beacon fire has been lit. Everyone, hurry up and mount your horses and beat the gongs to warn the people that the pirates are coming!"
"The Japanese pirates came from the river. There were 70 to 80 Japanese ships and 20,000 to 30,000 people."
"We heard clearly that many of them were speaking bird language. They must be Japanese pirates."
"Hurry up and remind the people to hide and don't let the Japanese pirates block their way into the village."
The mounted rangers breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the beacon lit. With the beacon lit, their main mission was accomplished.
The next step is to ride a horse to warn the people nearby.
All the rangers mounted their horses, each holding a gong, and under the arrangement of the captain, they rode in groups of two towards the nearby villages and towns.
"Bang, bang, bang"
Loud gong sounds rang out again and again.
"The Japanese pirates are coming. Fellow villagers, quickly pack up your things and hide." The rangers' warnings came one after another.
Soon, one village after another was alarmed. When people heard that the Japanese pirates were coming, they hurriedly packed up their belongings, quickly packed their food and clothes into their bags, and ran out with the elderly and children.
The Japanese pirates killed people without blinking an eye. Once they came to the village, they killed everyone, robbed everyone, and burned everything, like inhuman beasts.
There are many places to hide outside the village, in the wild, in the woods, in the caves, in the meadows, in the ditches... ...
As long as you are not blocked by the Japanese pirates in the village and hide in the wild, as long as your luck is not too bad, it is generally not easy for the Japanese pirates to find you.
The Japanese pirates usually headed for the villages and would not bother looking for people in the wild because they did not have the manpower or energy.
On the Japanese ship on the river, Xu Hai and others were still fantasizing about the divine soldiers descending from the sky and taking over Suzhou city by surprise, when they suddenly heard someone shouting that there was a fire.
"What's on fire?! Which ship is on fire?! Bastard, are you looking for death? Didn't I tell you not to light a fire on the ship? We're almost at Suzhou City, can't you hold back after such a short time?!"
After hearing this, Xu Hai and other Japanese chieftains became angry and cursed.
"Captain, it's not our boat that's on fire. It's on the shore, about a mile away from the river."
The Japanese pirates under his command pointed in the direction of the shore behind and explained.
Xu Hai and others looked in the direction and saw a raging fire on a high slope more than a mile away from the shore. The flames shot up into the sky and were at least seven or eight meters high. The flames traveled far away and were clearly visible on the boat.
"Was someone's firewood pile on fire? Or someone's house burned down?" The Japanese pirates gloated over the misfortune.
Xu Hai frowned, vaguely feeling that things were not that simple.
"Listen, why do I feel like there's the sound of a gong?" Another Japanese pirate with sharp ears vaguely heard the sound of a gong and asked in confusion.
"I guess the village night watchman discovered the fire and rang the gong to call for help to put out the fire." said a Japanese pirate.
"Yeah, that makes sense." The Japanese pirates nodded when they heard the gong sound, feeling that the explanation made sense.
"Look, there seems to be a fire ahead. Is there a fire ahead? No way. What's going on? What evil has befell us today? Why are so many places on fire?!"
After a while, several more sharp-eyed Japanese pirates discovered that there was a fire seven or eight miles ahead.
It's not just this place.
Soon, someone discovered that there was also a fire in the far south.
The Japanese pirates felt something was wrong. What was going on? Why were so many places on fire today? !
"Oh no! It's not a fire! It's a beacon! Damn it! We are exposed, someone has discovered us and lit the beacon to warn people! Damn it, when did Suzhou Prefecture set up beacon towers, and set up so many of them!"
Xu Hai was the first to react. His body shook violently. His ambitious face turned ashen in an instant and he cursed with gnashed teeth.