Chapter 414 Escaping Alive

Thinking of this, Lin Baiguang deeply regretted that he had tried his best to request to do "Operation Banyan." This matter was indeed too unreliable! How could he control this chaotic situation? He had calculated his wishful thinking over and over again, but he hadn't expected that changes would always be faster than plans. It didn't matter if he died—he had always held the philosophy of "seeking wealth and honor in danger" and "accepting defeat if one bets"—but the reputation he left behind would probably be a negative example of arrogance and conceit! He would be used as a laughingstock by that group of people in Lingao for nothing.

However, he was unfamiliar with the terrain and couldn't get out of the camp at all. Even if he could get out, he would be helpless without a ship at the seaside.

Just as he wanted to find someone to inquire about the current situation, it was chaotic outside. If he ran out of the tent rashly, he would probably be hacked before he could open his mouth. While he was hesitant and at a loss, someone suddenly broke in. He looked closely and saw it was Xu Cheng.

"Brother Xu!"

"Cut the chit-chat, follow me quickly." Xu Cheng dragged him over. "Don't talk on the way, watch my signals."

"Okay." Lin Baiguang knew there was no need to ask more at this time, so he just followed. He had already packed his few belongings. The most important thing in a chaotic army was silver, which could buy life when necessary, followed by dry rations and fresh water. He also got himself a small knife as a self-defense weapon.

Xu Cheng led him out of the tent. The camp was in chaos, with people running everywhere. Personal guards, family members, and servants ran around like headless flies—putting out fires, looking for people, bandaging wounds... crying and shouting in a mess.

Xu Cheng dragged him and ran all the way, stopping only when they reached a wall of the camp. There was a hole in the wall here, guarded by five or six people.

"Go out from here and walk straight north. Shi Shisi's ship is stopped there waiting for you! Get on the ship and leave quickly."

"What about you?" Lin Baiguang felt grateful and asked back.

"I've worked by the Big Boss's side for thirteen years. I can't do such a thing as running for my own life." Xu Cheng sighed. "And my seventy or eighty brothers under me; I can't bear to leave them behind..."

"Take everyone and run for your lives together!"

"If we run together, the Old Camp will be finished in an instant! The Big Boss and the families of the various leaders are still here."

Order on the island was now in great chaos. People had even begun to kill each other fighting for wealth and ships to escape. If the Old Camp collapsed, not a single woman or child inside would be able to escape. Lin Baiguang hadn't expected this grumbling small leader to be like this at the last moment. He couldn't help but feel deep respect:

"Brother Xu, you really are loyal and righteous..."

"Stop talking rubbish, go quickly! In a while, when the chaotic soldiers come over, even you will be dead!" Xu Cheng stomped his foot and shouted, throwing a bundle to him as he spoke.

"This is my meager savings. If you can escape with your life, help me give it to my family! The address is on the bundle!"

Suddenly, the gunpowder magazine of a ship exploded on the sea surface. The sprayed flames shot straight into the clouds, and black smoke billowed. The people around all turned pale. Lin Baiguang nodded: "I will definitely not fail my mission!" With that, he tied the bundle to his body and ran wildly all the way.

The road had become extremely unsafe, with fires everywhere and dangers all around. Along the way were crowds of chaotic people, waving knives and spears, carrying bundles, running aimlessly. Sometimes when two groups of people collided, they would start hacking at each other for no reason.

Lin Baiguang dared not stay. He chose places with no people to run and hid when he saw large groups of people. With great difficulty, he ran to the pier by the sea.

Looking closely, he saw Shi Shisi's ship was indeed still there. Shi Shisi led a few sturdy pirates, holding bows, arrows, and long spears, guarding the bow. Anyone who attempted to seize the ship was shot. Even so, the deck was already packed with people.

"Come quickly!" Shi Shisi had sharp eyes. Seeing a short-haired guy running wildly towards them while looking around, he knew it was Lin Baiguang. He hurriedly called out and threw down a few ropes for his subordinates to go down and meet him.

Lin Baiguang finally climbed onto Shi Shisi's ship. As soon as he got on the deck, he went limp as mud, panting heavily—this life-and-death sprint was really too stimulating!

"Where's Old Xu?"

"He refused to come out, saying that the families of the various leaders are still in the Old Camp..."

"Sigh, this guy is really..." Shi Shisi stomped his feet repeatedly. "Throwing away a small life for nothing! The Big Boss can't even take care of himself!"

"What?"

"Look!" Shi Shisi pointed to the waters east of Nanri Island while instructing the sailors to set sail. Lin Baiguang immediately gasped—densely packed sails were constantly appearing on the horizon, surging towards them. They were also constantly spewing white smoke. The sea surface was shrouded in thick smoke for a while, then blown by the sea breeze, revealing the magnificent scene of thousands of sails competing to advance.

In contrast, Zhu Cailao's fleet deployed along the edge of Nanri Island appeared very thin.

Anyone could see that Zhu Cailao was undoubtedly going to lose this time. He deployed his formation by the sea probably to buy some time for the Old Camp to escape.

"Is this Zheng Zhilong's fleet?!"

"That's right. It looks like he's turned out in full force."

Under the step-by-step pressure of the other side, Zhu Cailao's fleet retreated continuously. The ships that didn't have time to retreat were surrounded and swallowed up one after another. burning warships lay paralyzed on the sea surface like torches emitting black smoke.

So Zheng Zhilong has this many ships! Lin Baiguang finally understood why the Executive Committee feared the maritime groups of this space-time like tigers. Truly formidable! Just relying on a few rifled guns and ships without engines, the other side could really drown you.

Shi Shisi said they turned out in full force, but Lin Baiguang knew very well that Zheng Zhilong had an even bigger opponent, Li Kuiqi. He couldn't possibly bring all his men and ships to the vicinity of Nanri Island. He had to leave at least one-third to half of his strength to guard against Li Kuiqi, not to mention his ships doing business on trade routes—Zheng Zhilong's strength was truly no small matter.

"Brother, if you hadn't come, I would have had to run." Shi Shisi pointed to the nearby sea area. "Zheng Zhilong's ships are outflanking us. In another two hours, no one will be able to run."

"Where are the other brothers?"

"Fatty Hu has already run with his ships. Lin Dan went with the main force to attack Min'an; I don't know how he is..." Most people were unsure of their life or death because they followed Zhu Cailao to attack Min'an. A small number had already run. Shi Shisi's experience was quite thrilling. He was part of the force attacking Min'an. When the main forces of Zheng Zhilong and Zhu Cailao met at the mouth of the Min River, the fleet he led was fighting with the local militia outside Min'an Town.

Because the local militia had the assistance of government firearms and were defending their hometowns, they fought very fiercely. Shi Shisi led people to wade ashore several times but was beaten back by the militia, losing more than forty brothers in total. In the chaos, a large ship ran aground and had to be abandoned. Three or four small boats were also burned or seized.

"It was a huge loss this time!" Shi Shisi was heartbroken.

Only later did he receive the order to return to the waters outside the Min River mouth to support the main unit immediately. As soon as he led the ships out of the Min River mouth, he saw Zheng Zhilong's fleet coming continuously. Knowing that his side was definitely not a match, he ran directly from the battlefield.

"If I had run a few steps slower, I wouldn't have been able to return!" Shi Shisi probably felt he was lucky.

Lin Baiguang was slightly disappointed. In this chaotic situation, at most he could persuade Shi Shisi to defect to Lingao. As for the other leaders, strictly speaking, he didn't even know their whereabouts, so how could he talk about recruiting them?

Seeing his heavy expression, Shi Shisi thought he was worried for those friends and comforted him: "No need to worry. Everyone has made an agreement. If we get separated, we will meet up near Dadan Islet and then figure out a way out."

Lin Baiguang nodded, thinking about how to persuade these soul-lost pirate leaders to defect to Lingao after arriving at Dadan Islet. Just as he was thinking, the young pirates behind him suddenly let out a shout, followed by a nervous commotion.

Lin Baiguang was startled and looked up. In the chaos, three three-masted sailing ships, fully two hundred tons each, charged directly from the side. It looked like they were going to crash into Shi Shisi's fleet. They were all under full sail and coming fast. The few ships bearing the brunt managed to dodge in time, narrowly letting them pass without collision. But even so, Shi Shisi's subordinates were scared into shouting: "Which bastard is that? Watch how you sail!" "Fuck your mother!"...

A look of contempt appeared at the corner of Shi Shisi's mouth: "This fellow runs fast!"

"Who is it?"

"Someone of He Xin's ilk." Shi Shisi said. This was a so-called clansman of Zhu Cailao named Zhu Ting. It was unknown how he managed to connect implicitly to the clan. In Chinese-style family groups, blood relations were the most important, even if fake. So this newly minted clansman rose step by step in the group very quickly, becoming a leader in the Old Camp and being assigned large ships. He was considered a core backbone.

The three ships did not respond to the curses at all. With sails full, they flashed past everyone's eyes, heading straight for the open sea.

Suddenly a sailor shouted: "These ships are suspicious!"

"How are they suspicious?"

"The hull is very heavy. Could it be they are carrying some cargo..."

Zhu Cailao had rampaged across Fujian and Guangdong for over a decade, accumulating countless treasures, gold, and silver. Besides what was transported back to his hometown, it was heard that the Old Camp moving with the army alone had over a hundred iron chests. According to Xu Cheng, they were full of gold, silver, and jewelry.

It was highly likely that these treasures were on Zhu Ting's ships.

Once the old order collapsed, everyone would instantly become unscrupulous. For someone like Zhu Ting, whom Shi Shisi had despised in the past but treated very politely on the surface, now that his status as an "imperial relative" was gone and he might be carrying treasure, he was just a big fat sheep!

However, Shi Shisi was unmoved. He only ordered to signal the ships to drive straight to Dadan Islet and not stop—he still knew which was more important, money or his life. Chasing up to fight Zhu Ting, they could win, but the time spent could not be recovered. When Zheng Zhilong pulled the net tight, no matter how much treasure he snatched, it would all be for nothing!

The escape route was still full of dangers. Fleets of various branches and scattered ships fled in all directions. In the next few hours, they encountered such panic-stricken ships several more times. Some were like Zhu Ting's fleet just now, silent and only caring about escaping; but there were also some who were clearly scared out of their wits. As soon as they found a ship blocking the way ahead, regardless of the situation, they would fire rockets and cannons, killing several brothers on Shi Shisi's ship. This made Shi Shisi curse loudly while also ordering cannons to be fired randomly.

Sitting in the safest place on the poop deck, seeing this chaotic situation of collapse, Lin Baiguang felt sad inside.

The battle in the Nanri Island waters was coming to an end. Zheng Zhilong's fleet broke through Zhu Cailao's cover on both wings, went around the bay, and began to blockade Nanri Island and the nearby waters. The small islands around Nanri Island, where Zhu Cailao had originally set up camps and batteries, raised surrender flags one after another. Those ships that were still persisting in fighting also began to turn around and flee one by one.

At dusk, the Zhu Cailao Group, which had been illustrious since the end of the Wanli reign, was completely destroyed. He himself and the main leaders were all killed in battle.

The news of Zhu Cailao's final destruction was first transmitted to Lingao from Zhang Dabala. After seeing Zhu Cailao routed from Min'an, Zhang Dabala released a pigeon and rushed to the area of Zhongzuosuo, Zheng Zhilong's lair, to inquire about news. Within a few days, on the sea surface near Zhongzuosuo, he indeed heard that Zhu Cailao had died on Nanri Island and his whole army was destroyed. The ships and men under him either fled or were incorporated by Zheng Zhilong.

Zhang Dabala knew this news was extremely important to the Australians, so he dared not delay and hurriedly hired a fast boat to return to Guangzhou overnight to report the news.

"That fool Lin Baiguang! Throwing away his life for nothing!" Seeing the urgent telegram sent from the Guangzhou Station, Ran Yao slapped the table fiercely. He couldn't help feeling a bit sad. After all, he was a comrade. He circled the office a few times. Although Lin Baiguang was dead, his plan to incorporate pirates to expand the naval power still had to be executed.

However, before this, he had to do one more thing. He made a phone call to Bopu: "Old Di? Do it."

He Xin was arrested in the suite of the commercial hall, then had a hood put over his head and was escorted out through a secret passage. He was locked up in a secret location, and Ren Fu was immediately taken from the house arrest location in Bopu to keep He Xin company. As for the sailors, they were called ashore under the guise of "watching a Japanese movie" and immediately sent to the quarantine camp. No force was used during the process.

The Executive Committee and the Navy hadn't held much hope for Lin Baiguang's plan of organized surrender in the first place. They had long formulated a plan to "recruit exiles" after Zhu Cailao's destruction. They prepared to send some ships disguised as merchant ships or fishing boats to the Fujian and Guangdong waters to recruit surrenderers.

Shi Shisi's fleet finally managed to run to Dadan Islet with fright but no danger. Dadan Islet was just a bare rocky island with no permanent population. However, there was fresh water on the island to use, and a harbor for shelter, so temporary anchoring was not a problem. Only eight ships, large and small, ran out under Shi Shisi. About two-thirds were lost. A lot of the gold and silver he had saved over the years also sank with the ships, making Shi Shisi curse his mother in heartache.

At Dadan Islet, Fatty Hu had already arrived with his five ships. Because he saw the opportunity early and was the first to run, he was unscathed and suffered no casualties.

Then some ships came one after another. Lin Dan also arrived. He only had four ships left. He cried when he saw Shi Shisi—all his brothers were killed in the naval battle. As for his family dependents, they were trapped on Nanri Island, life or death unknown. As soon as he boarded Shi Shisi's ship, he asked if there was any news.

"Did the Old Camp escape in the end?"

"Probably not," Shi Shisi said. "When I left, the Old Camp's ships were still on the shore and hadn't moved. The Big Boss led people to resist desperately on the shore, probably to let the Old Camp leave—at that time Zheng Zhilong's ships had already surrounded them. I almost didn't get away myself."

Hearing this, Lin Dan's face turned gray, and he lost even the interest to speak.

Of the dozen or so leaders who drank and gambled with Lin Baiguang back then, half were either killed in battle or missing. However, the remaining people, along with other scattered ships that ran to Dadan Islet to rest and reorganize, actually gathered more than one hundred ships.

But Dadan Islet was a deserted island with no food. The ships fled in haste; even if there was some stored grain on board, it wouldn't last a few days. With more than one hundred ships, there were nearly a thousand men, women, old, and young. Being crowded in a small place was not a long-term plan. Each branch was calculating where to go next.

Right now, their choices were nothing more than: defect to a certain maritime power, such as the "Big Bosses" Zheng Zhilong, Li Kuiqi, or Liu Xiang; or burn the ships and go ashore to hide temporarily.

As to whom they should defect to, everyone had different views, and for a while, no one could convince anyone else. But most people were not very willing to take this path. After this great battle, with heavy casualties and losses—without strength, they wouldn't be valued if they defected, and they would be destined to be cannon fodder.

As for the idea of starting over on their own, it wasn't that no one had thought about it, but here there were few ships and many leaders. No one had enough prestige, so they couldn't recommend a leader to control the overall situation at all.

After the rout, there was no source of grain or pay. Although each family brought out some accumulated wealth, it was a drop in the bucket for regrouping forces.

Lin Baiguang kept silent. Rather than proposing it now and meeting with endless doubts and opposition, it was better to wait until they were at the end of their resources and had no way out before speaking. It would often settle the matter with one hammer blow.

They discussed like this for two days without any result. Dadan Islet had nothing except limited fresh water. Even firewood was insufficient. If they discussed any longer, everyone would run out of food. That night, Fatty Hu finally couldn't endure it and announced that he wanted to go ashore.

"I'm not doing this business anymore. I'll wash my feet and go ashore! For these ten years, I've lived in fear. I've got tens of thousands of silver; I'll just eat, drink, be a rich man, and wait for death."

These words resonated with many people. Some who only had one or two ships left were thinking about this idea. Almost everyone had accumulated varying amounts of wealth. Moreover, when they prospered in the past, they entrusted people to buy many properties in their hometowns. Going back to collect rent and live as a rich man was not a problem.

After a major defeat, people's hearts were often disheartened, and the thought of retiring gained the upper hand.

(End of Chapter)