A series of firecrackers broke the tranquility of Bengang.
"Master, something happened." The pock-marked old Xu ran in from outside in a panic.
Yan Siqi, who also heard the sound of the gunfire, said with an ugly face: "What's wrong? Did the people sent to attack the Tiger Flag Village fail?"
The people from the ten villages who went to the Tiger Flag Village to sneak attack were all using cold weapons. The sound of fire cannons coming from the distance was naturally the fire cannons used by the people from the Tiger Character Banner.
The pock-marked old Xu nodded moodily and said: "The people from the Tiger Flag were prepared in advance and lurked behind the village wall. As soon as our people got close, they were beaten with fire cannons by the people from the Tiger Flag. Turns out, of the more than 200 people sent, less than 30 escaped."
"How come there are so many casualties?" Yan Siqi frowned deeply, grabbed the pock-marked old Xu's shoulders, and said, "Are all the people sent here idiots? Can't they even see the flames of the match rope on the blunderbuss?"
Just by listening to the sound of the guns, he knew that the Tiger Banner people used a large number of fire guns, and once the match ropes on the fire guns were lit, they were as conspicuous as bright lights in the night.
The pock-marked old Xu lowered his head and said: "The people in the Tiger Character Banner are using rare flintlock guns that don't require match ropes. This kind of fire blunderbuss is not afraid of rainy weather and is not used by many people. I heard that It’s very precious. I didn’t expect the people in the Tiger Flag to hide so many flintlock guns secretly.”
"Tiger Character Banner is just a business name of the Ming Dynasty. Even the Ming Dynasty used matchlock guns. Why do they have so many flintlock guns? The number of gunshots I heard just now is probably hundreds. Yan Siqi said with an ugly expression.
There were not many people in Shizhai. Of the more than 200 people sent to attack the Tiger Flag Village, only a few dozen escaped, which was enough to make Shizhai very nervous.
The pockmarked old Xu hesitated for a moment and then said: "Tiger Character Banner will definitely not be able to get so many flintlock guns, but Mr. Li can buy flintlock guns through Fanren. Apart from this, I can't think of anything else." Who has the ability to get flintlock guns in large quantities?"
Most of the Ban people were using matchlock guns, so he didn't think that the Tiger Flag could make such a precious flintlock gun by itself. He thought that the Tiger Flag's flintlock gun was bought from the Fan people.
"Damn it, these Tiger Flag people really have too much money and no place to spend it. If they buy flintlock guns from the Ban people, they won't be able to buy them even if they have too little money." Yan Siqi said bitterly.
If the people of Tiger Flag had used matchlock guns, he believed that the people he sent to sneak attack Tiger Flag Village would not have so many casualties, because the matchlock must be lit in advance before firing the matchlock gun, and they would be attacked by Tiger Flag Village. The people discovered Zhai Zili's ambush in advance.
The pockmarked old Xu standing aside said: "It seems that the people in the Tiger Flag have been wary of us for a long time and have secretly stocked up a batch of flintlock guns just to deal with the people in our Shizhai."
We both lived in Bengang, and although we didn’t have much contact with each other later on, we knew each other somewhat about how many people there were on both sides and the weapons they usually used. The man with the Tiger Flag suddenly took out his flintlock rifle and beat them ten times. The village was caught off guard.
Yan Siqi was much calmer now. After hearing the pock-marked old Xu's analysis, he said: "The people in the Tiger Flag are not only prepared in advance, they are afraid that there will be a traitor in our ten villages."
"The people in Shizhai are all old brothers who came to the island with the master. They should not betray you and Shizhai, the master." Old Xu with a pockmarked face said hesitantly.
Yan Siqi snorted coldly and said: "We just decided to sneak attack the Tiger Flag's village at night during the day, and they set up an ambush at night. How could such a coincidence happen?"
"There are many people among the Ten Villages who know that they are going to attack the Tiger Flag Village at night. Even if there are traitors, it's probably hard to tell them apart." The pock-marked old Xu also thinks that Yan Siqi's analysis makes sense, but he wants to attack the Tiger Flag Village in the Ten Villages. It is difficult to identify traitors among so many people. 56
Yan Siqi waved his hand and said: "As long as the traitor is still in the Tenth Village, I will be able to find him sooner or later, tie him up and sink him into the sea to feed the fish."
He thought that this sneak attack on Tiger Flag Village was a sure thing. From then on, Shizhai had exclusive control of Ben Port and Tiger Flag's shipyard. Unexpectedly, not only did the sneak attack fail in the end, but a lot of manpower was lost. This made him furious. I wish I could kill the people who betrayed Shizhai alive.
The pock-marked old Xu hesitated for a moment and said, "Master, Shizhai has lost a lot of people this time, and my subordinates are worried that Tiger Flag will not miss this opportunity."
"What? Are you worried that people from the Tiger Flag will come to attack the Tenth Village?" Yan Siqi asked the pockmarked old Xu.
The pock-marked old Xu nodded and said: "My subordinates are really worried that the people in the Tiger Character Banner will do this. Before, our Shizhai had hundreds more people than the Tiger Character Banner. After this incident, the manpower of both sides is no longer large. There is a big gap, and the people in the Tiger Flag have sharp weapons like flintlock guns. If we really take action, we, the Tenth Village, will suffer a loss."
"They don't dare." Yan Siqi snorted coldly and said, "The flintlock gun is powerful, but my matchlock gun is not bad either. If they dare to come to Shizhai, I will make sure they never come back."
The sea runners had more contact with Fan people. Unlike some people in the north of the Ming Dynasty who were not good at using firearms, the sea runners were very enthusiastic about firearms. There was a team in Shizhai that specialized in using matchlock guns.
"What will they do if they use cannons?" Old Xu, a pockmarked man, asked worriedly.
Tiger Flag had not been to Bengang for a day or two. They also knew that Tiger Flag's village had artillery, and the guns on Tiger Flag's ship were all produced by their own shipyard.
Yan Siqi said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, they use squatting tiger cannons. It's not like you and I have never seen them before. That thing is fine at close range. If you want to rely on squatting tiger cannons to attack the ten villages, I'm afraid even the walls of the village will be damaged." Can’t shoot through.”
"But the naval guns on their ships are still very threatening to our ten villages." Pockmarked old Xu reminded.
Yan Siqi burst into laughter, and when the laughter stopped, he said: "Sea guns can only be used on ships. Just transporting such a huge cannon on land is an ugly thing, let alone using it to attack us. It’s ten villages.”
The pockmarked old Xu who was standing aside heard what his boss said and felt it made sense, but he was still a little worried and felt that something had been forgotten.
Yan Siqi sat back in his seat and continued: "Go and comfort the brothers who are coming back. Then give each of them an extra piece of meat and a bowl of wine, just to calm their fears."
"Yes, I will explain this matter when I get back." The pockmarked old Xu bowed.
Yan Siqi yawned, stretched, and said: "Arrange an extra team of people on watch tonight. Although I don't believe that the people with the Tiger Flag have the guts to come over, we still need to take precautions."
The pockmarked old Xu nodded.
Yan Siqi waved his hand towards him and said: "Okay, you can go down too. Remember to call in all the leaders tomorrow. Since you are at odds with the Tiger Flag people, then there is no room for change and we will summon them tomorrow." All brothers, directly attack the stronghold of Tiger Character Banner."
"Yes, I will retire first, and then I will go see the brothers who have escaped from the ten villages." The pock-marked old Xu bowed, then turned around and retreated from Fangli.
