As Zuo Liangmou and others approached, five merchant ships on the opposite side also discovered them. But with the help of clairvoyants, it was clear that Zuo Liangmou's team had quietly gained the upper hand.
Fully loaded merchant ships were inherently slow, and when surrounded by Zuo Liangmou's improved Japanese warship, they knew they could not escape.
Seeing the Japanese pirate boats coming with ill intentions, the people on the five merchant ships panicked. Some were trembling, and some picked up weapons and prepared to resist.
"Master, why are there Japanese ships here? They look like Japanese pirates."
On the largest merchant ship at the head, an old man was stamping his feet anxiously, followed by a tall man about forty years old with a fierce look.
"What are you afraid of? It's not like we've never seen Japanese pirates before. Let the guys be prepared to fight hard. Send out flags to negotiate with them."
The big shopkeeper said calmly, but involuntarily clenched his fists.
In fact, he was also frightened. This route was safe, so how could Japanese pirates appear?
Moreover, after General Shangshan was wiped out by Xu Qin, there were no large groups of Japanese pirates near the Ming Dynasty.
There seemed to be a thousand or two thousand people in this group. Could it be that the daimyo from Shikoku or Kyushu pretended to be Japanese pirates and came out to plunder? The temporarily organized Japanese pirates would never have such a boat and so many people.
The capable men on the five merchant ships are equipped with weapons and are ready to fight at any time. They were smugglers.
Fighting Japanese pirates, fighting pirates, and even smugglers plundering each other when they see the opportunity. They are outlaws themselves, and their fighting ability is no worse than that of Japanese pirates.
"General, the flag message on the other side is that they are tribute trading merchant ships protected by the Ming Dynasty."
Dai Demin was standing next to Zuo Liangmou. He had been traveling back and forth to Japan for three years. He is familiar with everything about Haishan and is proficient in Japanese and multiple languages.
At this time overseas, he naturally had to call Zuo Liangmou a general, but not an lord. Every detail was noticed.
"We can eat five boats!" Zuo Liangmou said in blunt Japanese. He is studying now.
Dai Deqing understood Zuo Liangmou's intention, and even wanted the boat and people, so he immediately asked people to play flags.
The shopkeeper with a vigorous expression couldn't help but tighten his grip on the handle of the knife when he saw the semaphore on the opposite side.
"Master, the Japanese pirates asked us to keep all the ships and let everyone go."
The white-haired fifty-year-old man said anxiously to the fierce-looking man.
He used to mostly stock inventory and trade at the port. This was the first time he went to sea in many years and he encountered Japanese pirates. Naturally, he was frightened.
"I'm not blind. He has a huge appetite. It depends on the condition of his teeth. Get ready to fight..."
The order from the fierce-looking big shopkeeper. He wanted the Japanese pirates to retreat when they encountered difficulties.
"Big shopkeeper, think again. If the goods and ships are gone, we can still save. If the people are gone, there will be nothing."
The man in his fifties said anxiously. As a result, before he finished speaking, the fierce-looking shopkeeper drew his sword like lightning, and the head of the still mumbling old man rolled off the deck.
Blood spurted everywhere.
"You should have the consciousness of death when you go to sea. Brothers fight against the Japanese pirates." The big shopkeeper shouted angrily while holding up a bloody knife.
"Let's fight..." the guy roared. The big shopkeeper showed his attitude with his timing and actions, and anyone who dared to say surrender would die.
Zuo Liangmou saw all this and immediately commanded five warships to draw an arc to surround them.
In this way, you can use the maximum attack surface of your warship to hit merchant ships.
The two sides quickly approached, and then each started shooting with their bows and arrows. This was characteristic of naval warfare in this era. After shooting each other with bows and arrows, there was a gang-up battle.
Until all the other party's people are killed, or one party surrenders.
In the era before cannons were installed on ships, war was so uninteresting. Zuo Liangmou led the elite Jinyi Guards, well-trained sailors and soldiers sent by Xu Qin.
After a flurry of bow and arrow shooting, the energetic shopkeeper realized something was wrong. The opponent's arrows are too dense. It's simply overwhelming.
There are also excellent shields. Although the Japanese pirates are wearing Japanese clothes, they are wearing Ming armor. What's happening here?
Just as they were about to dock and start fighting, the ships actually left again. When I came back, there was another burst of arrows. The men on the boat were shot to death and injured in large numbers, and they were completely unable to hold their heads up.
At this time, the big shopkeeper was even more frightened. How could these Japanese pirates have so many arrows? How come you are so rich and want to plunder?
Moreover, the quality of this arrow is also very good, comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty official army. At first his men were able to fight back with bows and arrows, but soon the bolder ones were shot dead.
Now I am so suppressed that I can't even raise my head.
"These damn Japanese pirates are too well-equipped." One of his subordinates cursed.
Only the most ruthless people are evil, only the poor come out to rob. But the quality of the arrows used by these Japanese pirates and the amount of rain falling from the sky showed that these people were very rich.
Then why come out to rob?
Before he finished speaking, the hull of the ship trembled violently, and it was obvious that the two ships were connected.
Suddenly gang jumping started, and the Japanese pirates had already jumped over to fight. The big shopkeeper quickly drew his sword to direct the battle, and then he discovered that these people had a different fighting style from the previous Japanese pirates.
He didn't just rush forward, roaring and screaming, waving his katana as soon as his feet hit the ground.
Instead, after gaining a foothold on the ship, they immediately formed a small group of three or five, with shields, bows, arrows, daggers, and spears coordinating with each other. The cooperation between small groups is skillful.
Quickly squeezing his buddy's fighting space clean. The fierce man who had been on the battlefield for a long time was shot dead with an arrow before he could reach him.
The other one finally slashed at a Japanese pirate with a knife. The knife was blocked by the shield, and a spear stabbed him in the abdomen.
The third guy saw the opportunity and rolled over to open the small group. As a result, it was blocked by the swordsman inside.
Another sword and shield player cut off his arm with a backhand knife. Then his neck was wiped.
Four or five guys rushed over fiercely, but were either shot dead on the way, or were wiped out completely by such a small group of three or five people as soon as they circled around.
They have both offense and defense, cooperate with each other, and even merge into a large team instantly when space allows, making the lethality even stronger.
This kind of battle formation can be divided or combined, and can be flexibly changed, constantly devouring this guy's life.
Such battles continued, and the capable guys soon turned into corpses. These small groups of three to five people are simply designed for massacre.
There is not only a tacit understanding between three or five people, but also a tacit understanding between groups. In the small space on the ship, the man had no room to fight back.
These small groups never advance aggressively and advance slowly after establishing a foothold.
The men on the boat were forced to keep retreating, and the Japanese pirates shot arrows at them one after another.
Those who were forced to rush forward were quickly massacred by this strange combination.
And as more and more of these Japanese pirates boarded the ship, their space became smaller and smaller. In the end, he was squeezed into a corner of the stern, leaving only the life of being slaughtered.
Five ships did this one after another, and they saw the fierce men who were following them on the sea fall one by one. The powerful shopkeeper finally couldn't stand it anymore, because he could see that these people were not ordinary Japanese pirates.
Although he is wearing Japanese pirate clothes, he is definitely not a Japanese pirate.
"I'm willing to surrender!" the big shopkeeper shouted.
But the attack didn't stop, as if his words were farts.
Until there was no voice of resistance on any ship. Less than one-third of the men who had originally resisted were left, and the attack was stopped.
The big shopkeeper dropped the blood-stained knife in his hand and was tied up with arrows stuck in his body. Ironically, his knife was stained with the blood of his own people.
Two supply ships were not far away, watching the battle. Zhang Yuanxing's father-in-law, Mr. Hong, and his two apprentices were all there.
They had asked to participate in the battle, after all, Xu Qin had saved their lives. It doesn't make sense if you don't do something.
But the general refused contemptuously, and they began to think that he was looking down on themselves. But after seeing this battle, they realized that they were not good enough.
It's not that the guys on the merchant ships weren't fierce enough, some of them were as skilled and fearless as their masters and apprentices.
However, this kind of fierce personal bravery is vulnerable to such a well-coordinated military formation and this fighting space.
They don't understand these coordinations, and going up can only disrupt the coordination of the military formation. Mr. Hong's ambition, sadness and anger all disappeared after seeing the leader surrender.
Since women are generally not taken on board, his wife and daughter-in-law are waiting on a secret island.
After the battle, all the men were disarmed and imprisoned in the cabin. The sailors were constantly fetching water to wash the deck and disposing of the corpses.
"General, I am willing to pay the ransom for me, the remaining men, and the body of the man."
The big shopkeeper knelt in front of Zuo Liangmou, who was wearing armor and a mask. It's not strange to wear a mask, because the masks of the Japanese generals are stranger than the last.
This is the tradition of Japan. Almost all generals who fight have armors that are as fancy as they are, and masks that are as weird as they are.
"Zhao Dongchao, the boss of Datong Trading Company. The second son of the Zhao family in Guangdong. Am I right?"
Dai Deqing stood beside the general and asked Zhao Dongchao proudly.
