HLnovel Chapter 623 Victorious Turnaround
Chapter 623 Victorious Turnaround
Chapter 623 Victorious Turnaround
Penghu Island.
Five hundred Dutch musketeers landed to seize the island, but Wu Sanying, fearing Dutch naval gunfire, did not set up any defenses on the beach, and the Dutch landed smoothly without any resistance.
Lieutenant Van Nistel was the captain of these 500 men. In fact, there was no army on the Dutch fleet. These 500 men were all sailors on the ship, temporarily organized to play the role of marines.
After landing, Van Nistel led his team straight to the buildings on the island.
Penghu Island remains undeveloped. Previously, during the Ming Dynasty, a garrison of a dozen or so men was stationed there. Conditions on the island were rather rudimentary, with only a few wooden sheds. Now, however, there is a two-story building, constructed by Wang Wenzhou after he acquired the island.
Penghu Bay has such beautiful scenery that in later generations it would be a tourist destination. Imagine building a villa here and taking a vacation here whenever you want – it would be like living the life of a god.
Just now, Wu Sanying led his men to build defensive fortifications around the villa. They not only dug two trenches around the villa, but also set up barricades in front of each trench.
Upon seeing the Ming army's defensive measures, Van Nistel immediately ordered a halt to the advance, wanting to observe the Ming army's defenses.
At this moment, on the Ming army's position, Hou Fangyu saw that the Dutch had stopped advancing. He tilted his head and looked at Wu Sanying, then said with a smile, "General Wu, in my opinion, we wasted our time just now. The barbarians are arrogant, daring to attack the island with only five hundred men. We have more than a thousand elite soldiers. Let's charge out and wipe them all out, so they won't return!"
Wu Sanying shook his head and said, "Young Master Hou, there's no need to rush. We just need to hold our ground. Victory will be achieved when the lord's fleet returns to the island."
"Hmph!" Hou Fangyu snorted coldly, saying irritably, "The barbarians are already at our doorstep, yet you stubbornly refuse to fight. Considering that General Wu comes from Liaodong, I understand now. No wonder our Great Ming, with hundreds of thousands of troops in Liaodong, was utterly routed by the Tartars, losing thousands of miles of territory without any power to retaliate. The soldiers of Liaodong are all cowards who fear death."
Wu Sanying blushed to his neck from the words, but he dared not lash out at Hou Fangyu. Although Wang Wenzhou disliked the youth army led by Hou Fangyu, in the eyes of the others in Hanshan, the soldiers of the youth army were all arrogant and domineering.
There was no other way; most of the students already held official titles, including many Xiucai (a lower-level scholar) and even Juren (a higher-level scholar). In the Ming Dynasty, even a Xiucai was a highly respected figure in the local area. Not only were ordinary people respectful of him, but even officials and yamen runners treated him with utmost deference.
Therefore, the soldiers of the Youth Army were all arrogant and fearless. In Hanshan, apart from Wang Wenzhou, there was no one they were afraid of.
Wu Sanying quickly explained, "Young Master Hou, our army only has a small number of bows and arrows, and no muskets. I see that the enemy is fully equipped with muskets, and if we charge, it will cause heavy casualties. Holding our ground and waiting for reinforcements is the best course of action."
"Hmph!" Mao Xiang said irritably, "Defense, defense, all you know is defense! Liaodong has already been lost under your defense! Brother Hou, don't waste time with this coward. He may be afraid of death, but we are not! Let's charge forward, kill these invading enemies, and then come back to laugh at this coward."
The soldiers of the Youth Army were full of enthusiasm.
"Excellent! Young Master Hou and Young Master Mao are truly the fine men of our Great Ming!"
“Scholars die for their principles, warriors die in battle. How can the men of our Great Ming not even dare to fight and only know how to defend? How can they win? This man is illiterate and doesn’t understand the big picture. Don’t waste your breath on him.”
"Ten steps, one kill; a thousand miles, no trace left! Brother Hou, Brother Mao, let's charge!"
Wu Sanying was embarrassed by the students' insults. It has to be said that these young soldiers may not be very good at anything else, but they are all very good at insulting others.
Wu Sanying said with a wry smile, "Gentlemen, do not act rashly! My wife has ordered me to command the entire army, and I feel that we should not attack at this time!"
If the Youth Army were replaced by any other unit, and they dared to disobey Wu Sanying's orders, Wu Sanying would immediately execute them. But the young men of the Youth Army, let alone powerful second-generation officials like Hou Fangyu and Mao Xiang, he wouldn't dare kill even ordinary scholars.
In the Ming Dynasty, passing the imperial examination to become a scholar (xiucai) made one a person of high status. Not only were they exempt from kneeling before officials, but they also enjoyed numerous privileges. Even Wu Sangui, a high-ranking general of the Ming Dynasty, dared not execute a scholar. If he had dared to do so, the civil officials would have torn him to pieces.
Wu Sanying was quite helpless; it was truly a case of a scholar encountering a soldier—reasoning was useless.
Hou Fangyu said righteously, "I am the captain of the Youth Army appointed by Lord Wang. I only obey Lord Wang's military orders and Madam's orders. I will not obey everything! Now that the barbarians have invaded our Great Ming territory, how can we only know how to defend and not attack?"
After Hou Fangyu finished speaking, he drew his sword and shouted, "Brothers, follow me into battle! Charge!"
"Young Master Hou, you mustn't..." Before Wu Sanying could finish speaking, Hou Fangyu took the lead and rushed out of the position.
In an instant, the youth army, led by Hou Fangyu, launched a fierce charge, each soldier determined to die on the battlefield, and rose up in triumph.
When Van Nistel saw the Ming army charging forward in disarray, he smiled slightly and thought, "Are the Ming army fools?"
"Prepare to fire!" Van Nistel immediately gave the order.
The Dutch soldiers immediately formed a neat formation and prepared to fire.
"Kill them!" Hou Fangyu was filled with fervor. Seeing the Dutchmen standing there dumbfounded, he immediately thought that the Dutchmen were terrified.
Hou Fangyu walked with his sword in hand, like a dashing knight-errant, silently reciting, "A young man has his own youthful arrogance, looking down on Kunlun and laughing at Lüliang. After years of honing my sword, today I show its sharpness. After another hundred days of raging fire, I will transform into Mo Xie, a blade that can cut through diamond."
Who says scholars are useless? Our youth army, in today's battle, will surely shake the Ming Dynasty. One day, we will trample Liaodong and reclaim our lost Ming territory!
Hou Fangyu admired Wang Wenzhou even more. These past few days, through rigorous training, they had all undergone a complete transformation. Before, they would be out of breath after running just a few steps, but now they could carry two hundred pounds of wheat for more than ten miles along mountain roads without changing color or becoming out of breath.
Seeing the Ming troops rush into firing range, Van Nistel waved his hand and ordered, "Fire!"
"Bang bang bang..."
The Dutch soldiers began firing, using a three-volley firing method: after the first rank fired, the second rank would fire, while the first rank would retreat to the back of the column to reload.
As the Dutch muskets roared, young soldiers were continuously hit and fell.
"Thud!" A bullet struck Hou Fangyu in the thigh.
Hou Fangyu felt a sharp pain in his leg and tumbled to the ground.
Before the Dutch had even finished firing their three-volley, and before the third rank of soldiers had even raised their guns, the young soldiers started yelling and running for their lives.
Seeing the situation was bad, Mao Xiang turned and ran, shouting hoarsely as he ran, "Brothers! Turn around and retreat immediately!"
"This defeat was not due to a lack of skill. Our equipment and training were inferior, and our commander was cowardly and hesitant to advance, which dragged us down with his defeat!"
"An incompetent general has caused the death of his entire army; Wu Sanying deserves to die!"
Even as they fled, the young soldiers didn't stop talking, completely shirking responsibility for the defeat. It wasn't that they didn't fight hard; the key issue was Wu Sanying's poor command!