The sun rose high in the sky. The Japanese pirate army, which had suffered heavy casualties in front of the Fengqiao formation and had retreated more than ten miles, camped by the river. There was a strong air of defeat hanging over their heads, and they no longer had the high spirits they had when they got on board the boat.
Cooking a meal.
Gudugudu...
The pot was filled with rice and corn, without even a drop of meat. The Japanese pirates gathered around the stove listlessly, waiting for food and warming themselves by the fire, looking dejected. The bland rice porridge further depressed the morale of the Japanese pirates.
Thanks to the Zhejiang Army's beacon fire warning, the common people within a radius of about thirty miles from Suzhou City all learned the bad news of the Japanese pirates' attack in advance, and had already fled, carrying their elderly and children, their families, their belongings, and their pigs and sheep.
The common people took away whatever property they could, and buried or hid what they could not take away.
When the Japanese pirates retreated to this place, they also sent people to plunder nearby villages and towns, intending to steal property and livestock. Unfortunately, after going to several villages in a row, they all came back empty-handed, and they were unable to find any hidden property from the people in a short period of time, so they had to return empty-handed.
The three great Japanese chieftains, Xu Hai, Chen Dong and Ma Ye, were also sitting around a simple stove, cooking rice and corn in their pots. The only difference was that they were also cooking three palm-sized river fish in the pot.
These three fish were caught by the Japanese pirates by the river. Due to time constraints, the pirates only caught these three.
As Japanese chieftains, they naturally became the ones to blame.
"Damn those little thieves! Damn the Zhejiang Army! Seven thousand of them! They caused so many casualties to my army!"
After Chen Dong received the statistics of casualties and losses, he couldn't help but curse loudly in anger.
"Oh, I was careless. I asked just now. Before the explosion, some people saw the traces of the fuse burning, but they didn't pay attention to it. As a result, so many people were killed, and even Hojo died with regret."
Maya sighed, but when mentioning Hojo's hatred, there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
"Every failure makes you wiser. This defeat is also a good thing. It makes us realize that there are always people better than you!"
Xu Hai narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly, his eyes looking far away in the direction of Fengqiao Camp like a wounded wolf, "A man will not fall into the same ditch twice. This time we lost so many people, mainly because of the gunpowder buried by the Zhejiang Army. In the future, you should keep an extra pair of eyes, especially when fighting against the Zhejiang Army. Check the battlefield in advance. As long as you pay attention, you will be able to remove the fuse and gunpowder in advance, and never repeat today's mistake."
"That's right. Brother Xu is right." Chen Dong and Ma Ye nodded, agreeing with him. They both thought that they suffered a loss this time due to carelessness. Once they paid careful attention, they would never give the Zhejiang Army another chance to detonate the buried gunpowder.
"It's okay. We are in large numbers. We are allowed to make this one mistake. We still have more than 26,000 troops. The Zhejiang army only has 2,000 soldiers. We have caused at least hundreds of casualties to them just now. At present, the Zhejiang army has about 1,500 to 1,600 soldiers who can fight. The defenders of Suzhou City seem to have nearly 10,000 people, but in fact, excluding the servants and the elderly, the weak and the disabled, there are only about 4,000 soldiers who can fight. Our strength is five times that of theirs. The advantage is mine. Suzhou City is like the fish in this pot. It is still in our pot."
Xu Hai picked up the ladle and served a large bowl of porridge to Chen Dong and Ma Ye, with a river fish in each bowl, and said confidently.
"Brother Xu, although that is true, we have suffered heavy casualties this time. The morale of our men has been severely damaged. If you don't believe me, look at how dejected they all are. Since we started the uprising, we have never suffered such a defeat."
Chen Dong took the bowl of porridge handed to him by Xu Hai, pointed at the dejected Japanese pirates around him, and sighed.
"Yes, with such morale, it's not easy to attack the city, not to mention the Zhejiang Army is an obstacle."
Maye also sighed.
Ma Ye was somewhat afraid of the Zhejiang Army led by Zhu Ping'an because their firearms were too powerful.
"Oh, what is there to fear about the Zhejiang Army? If it weren't for this explosion, the Zhejiang Army would have been taken down by us. We had already attacked the front of the Zhejiang Army, and the people in the front had already engaged in close combat with the Zhejiang Army. In a few more breaths, the Zhejiang Army's position would have been crushed by us. We are all enjoying a feast in the Zhejiang Army camp now!"
Xu Hai took a big bite of the fish, chewed it with the bones in it, swallowed it, and spoke hoarsely.
"Well, that's true. If the Zhejiang army hadn't been dishonest and treacherous, secretly buried gunpowder and suddenly detonated it, the Zhejiang army would have been wiped out by now. Zhu Ping'an is really treacherous. It doesn't make sense that such a treacherous and cunning person could become the top scholar!"
Chen Dong nodded vigorously, feeling angry and regretful, and in the end he could only curse Zhu Ping'an for being insidious and cunning.
"Let's fight! Since we almost crushed the Zhejiang Army just now, how about we make another fierce attack on the Zhejiang Army's position after dinner?! We were able to attack the Zhejiang Army's position and fight hand-to-hand last time, so we can do it this time. This time we will learn from our mistakes and carefully check the battlefield. Check out all the gunpowder and fuses. Don't give Zhu Ping'an a chance to bury gunpowder and detonate it again. We will definitely break through the Zhejiang Army's position and chop off Zhu Ping'an's dog head!"
Ma Ye took a sip of the soup, grimaced because she was scalded, angrily threw the bowl of porridge on the ground, and made a suggestion to Xu Hai and Chen Dong.
"Brother Ma, this is a good suggestion. We suffered such heavy losses this time, the Zhejiang army certainly didn't expect us to come back so soon. This surprise attack will definitely catch them off guard and avenge them for their losses! After we break through the Zhejiang army's formation and capture Zhu Ping'an alive, I will make him suffer the humiliation of being kicked in the crotch!"
After hearing this, Chen Dong's eyes lit up. He agreed with Ma Ye's proposal and couldn't wait to seek revenge on Zhu Ping'an.
Then, Ma Ye and Chen Dong looked at Xu Hai, waiting for Xu Hai's reaction.
In their alliance of Japanese pirates, Xu Hai has a relatively large say. The Japanese pirates under Xu Hai's command are the largest in number and have the strongest combat effectiveness. Moreover, Xu Hai is known for his wisdom and is the brains of the alliance.
If they want to launch a counterattack and attack the Zhejiang army's position again, they must get Xu Hai's approval before they can proceed.
Under the expectant gazes of the two, Xu Hai shook his head slightly.
This immediately disappointed Chen Dong and Ma Ye. They looked at Xu Hai with dissatisfaction and asked, "Why not? Brother Xu, are you afraid of the Zhejiang Army? Just now, Brother Xu said, 'Why should I be afraid of the Zhejiang Army?' Isn't this a slap in the face too soon?"
"It's not that we are afraid of the Zhejiang Army, but it's not appropriate to attack them now. That's right, we regroup and make a surprise attack. We will definitely be able to break through the Zhejiang Army's position and twist off Zhu Ping'an's head. But have you ever thought that it's already dawn and we have nowhere to hide. As soon as we make a surprise attack, the Zhejiang Army will know that they have just won and their morale is high. With the sharpness of the Zhejiang Army's firearms, even if we can defeat the Zhejiang Army this time, we will lose thousands of men. The morale of our troops is seriously damaged now. If we let them take such a big loss and attack the Zhejiang Army, something might happen..."
Hearing this, Xu Hai sneered and said indifferently.
"What should we do? We can't withdraw our troops? Then we will become the laughing stock of everyone and how can we hold our heads up in front of our peers?" Chen Dong and Ma Ye said dissatisfiedly.
"How can we retreat when Suzhou City has not been taken?" Xu Hai shook his head vigorously.
"You neither attack nor retreat. Are you here to enjoy the scenery?" Ma Ye sneered.
"I have my own clever plan to break into the city." Xu Hai smiled slightly.