What you fear will come to you. Just as the Japanese pirates were about to retreat, they heard the sound of horse hooves coming from afar.
From a distance, we could see two teams of Zhejiang troops riding mules and horses approaching rapidly.
These two Zhejiang Army squads were the ones cruising not far away. After seeing the fireworks signal, they quickly came to support.
Those who were closest arrived first.
Behind them was the Zhejiang Army squad that had evacuated earlier. They stopped their horses not far away and were loading ammunition into their muskets and spare gun barrels on horseback. After loading the gunpowder, they would come again.
“Damn it!”
The Japanese pirates' faces changed. Although the Zhejiang army had few people, once they were entangled by these small groups of Zhejiang troops, it would inevitably affect their retreat plan. You know, the main force of the Zhejiang army would be here soon.
"We cannot let the Zhejiang Army's small group hold us back from retreating, or we will be surrounded by the Zhejiang Army!"
Xu Hai and others clearly realized this.
"You, you, you, you, the rest of you will stay behind to block the pursuers, and the rest of you will evacuate with us."
Without saying a word, Xu Hai stretched out his hand to circle a group of Japanese pirates and ordered them to stay behind to cover the rear and block the pursuing Zhejiang army team.
"Ah?! Why us?"
The Japanese pirates who were circled by Xu Hai were suddenly struck by disaster and could not help but sigh and protest.
"Why you? There is no reason. Just obey my orders. I will not let you sacrifice in vain. You only need to stop the Zhejiang Army for a quarter of an hour. After returning to the Tuolin Lair, each of you can receive three hundred taels of silver and be promoted one level. I will keep my word. If you break your promise, I will let you die with thousands of arrows piercing your heart!"
Xu Hai glanced at them like an eagle and said without question that in order to boost their morale, he even offered a blood oath and a generous reward.
Xu Hai would never go back on his word. Of course, he also knew that only a few of these Japanese pirates who were guarding the rear would be able to return to their lair to claim their reward.
"Captain Xu's words are our words. We will never break our promise of three hundred taels of silver and a promotion to the next level. Just take your orders with confidence."
Chen Dong and Ma Ye also spoke up, repeating Xu Hai's blood oath and generous reward.
The Japanese pirates in Xu Hai's circle included not only the Japanese pirates under Xu Hai, but also the Japanese pirates under Chen Dong and Ma Ye.
They are a Japanese pirate alliance. Although Xu Hai is the leader, Xu Hai cannot directly command the Japanese pirates under Chen Dong and Ma Ye.
"Wow, three hundred taels, and you've been promoted to a higher rank. When we return to Takulin's lair, you will be our little leaders."
The other Japanese pirates spoke half with emotion and half with sarcasm.
"Envy us? Then switch with me."
"Chief, why don't we change to someone else? We, we are willing to give up our position..."
The trapped Japanese pirates said unwillingly that they were unwilling to accept the order to cover the rear and wanted to struggle again.
They all knew that if they stayed behind to cover the rear, facing the Zhejiang Army, they would have almost no chance of survival, and staying behind to cover the rear would be almost tantamount to waiting for death.
Although Xu Hai and his men promised a generous reward of three hundred taels of silver, and could also promote him to a higher rank, he still had to be alive to receive the reward. If he didn't have a life, no matter how much silver or how generous the reward was, he would not be able to receive it.
So, they wanted to struggle.
Xu Hai walked over with a gloomy face, and without saying a word, he drew out his Japanese sword and killed the Japanese pirate who talked the most nonsense with one blow.
"Stop making noise! Our words are orders. If anyone keeps making noise, this will be the outcome! Execute it!"
Xu Hai shook the Japanese sword, shaking off the blood on the blade, then sheathed the sword and spoke expressionlessly.
The Japanese pirates were silent.
The trapped Japanese pirates dared not to push any further, so they had to stay behind to cover the retreat. There was no other way, the situation was beyond their control. If they disobeyed orders, they would be hacked to death on the spot, while those who stayed behind to block the attack still had a chance of survival.
Every minute of life counts, so I had to stay behind to cover our retreat.
Moreover, they looked at each other and understood each other tacitly. They would not be foolish enough to block for a quarter of an hour. They would withdraw after Xu Hai and the others went far away. They would not be foolish enough to be scapegoats.
"Retreat!" Time waits for no one. After Xu Hai looked at the Japanese pirates who were left behind again, he waved his hand and led the rest of the pirates to evacuate to the river bank.
Although their Japanese ships were all burned, there was a bridge a few miles along the river bank. They could cross the river to the south, go straight southeast, and return to Takulin's nest by land.
Although it is not as fast and safe as the sea route, the land route is shorter and if you hurry, you can reach Tuo Lin’s nest in one day.
Chen Dong was also held by two Japanese pirates and, under the protection of a group of trusted Japanese pirates, he evacuated with Xu Hai and other Japanese pirates.
Before Xu Hai and his men had gone far, the two Zhejiang Army squads chasing them from a distance had already rushed to less than 50 meters away.
The Japanese pirates behind the palace held up their Japanese swords and bravely went forward.
The Zhejiang soldiers who rushed forward spread out on horseback into a long snake formation, reined in their mules and horses, raised their muskets, aimed at the Japanese pirates who were rushing forward and opened fire.
The Zhejiang Army soldiers had not been trained on horseback for long, and they could not maintain a high hit rate while firing on horseback. They could only stop firing to maintain a certain hit rate.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
A series of dense musketry sounds were accompanied by a burst of smoke.
Seven or eight of the Japanese pirates who were rushing forward from the rear fell down with screams. This was because the Zhejiang army soldiers' muskets had a low hit rate while they were on the backs of mules and horses. If the Zhejiang army soldiers were standing flat on the ground under the horses, at such a close distance, at least twice as many Japanese pirates would have fallen after this round of twenty musket shots.
"Baga, disperse, disperse, don't stand so densely, you may become living targets!" The Japanese pirate who was commanding the rear was a real Japanese. He immediately thought of a countermeasure and ordered the pirates to disperse.
Sure enough, after the Japanese pirates dispersed, the two Zhejiang army squads changed their gun barrels and opened fire again, but one round of volleys only knocked down three Japanese pirates.
"Yoshi, yoshi, that's it, spread out a little more, rush forward, eat them, and then we will also prepare to retreat."
Seeing that the dispersion tactic worked, Zhen Wo, who was in charge of the rear, was overjoyed. He stretched out his hand to command the Japanese pirates to disperse further, and then he led the way and rushed forward with Japanese swords in hand.
When the Japanese pirates who were guarding the rear heard that they could retreat after defeating this Zhejiang army, they ignited the hope of survival and rushed forward with shouts.
"Retreat, retreat first, and join the brothers behind." The two Zhejiang Army squads had already used up their spare gun barrels, and the muskets were equivalent to fire sticks. The two squad leaders spontaneously commanded their respective squads to retreat.
Seeing the two Zhejiang army squads retreat, the Japanese pirates who were guarding the rear became even more excited, as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
The Zhejiang Army was scared away by us, hahaha, that's all.
The Japanese pirates at the rear became more and more courageous.
"My Lord said that when you shoot someone, you should shoot their horse first, and when you capture a thief, you should capture their leader first. Brothers, do you see that Japanese pirate with half of his armor behind him? He is the commander. Focus your fire and kill him."
After the two Zhejiang Army squads retreated to the original Zhejiang Army squad that evacuated, they pointed at the real Japanese not far away and reminded them who had already loaded the gunpowder.