Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 150: Pi Island (Part )

On July 1630, 7, when a fleet consisting of two three-masted sailing ships arrived at the southwest waters of Pi Island, several fishing boats fishing nearby immediately scattered like birds and beasts, all fleeing to the island in panic.

Not long after, more than ten Dongjiang Town warships sailed out from the small island and headed towards the two large ships of unknown origin.

Since the establishment of Dongjiang Town in the third year of the Tianqi reign (1623), no foreign ships have ever dared to visit this place except for the imperial navy transporting supplies from Denglai and some familiar smuggling merchant ships that would sail to this sea area.

Even the nearby Kingdom of Korea tried its best to restrain its naval warships and would not easily come to Pi Island, so as to prevent the Later Jin Tartars from mistakenly thinking that they would be connected with Dongjiang Town.

The "Dingmao Rebellion" that broke out several years ago (1627) really scared the Korean monarch and his ministers. They really did not dare to give the Later Jin an excuse to attack again.

In this battle, Amin, the main general of the Later Jin Dynasty, broke through the Yalu River defense line and was able to move forward like a hot knife through butter, successively capturing the cities of Yizhou, Dingzhou, Guoshan, Anzhou, Pyongyang, Huangzhou, and Pyeongsan. Injo (King Yi Jong of Joseon) was so frightened that he fled to Ganghwa Island for refuge.

After the Later Jin army attacked Pingshan, King Injo was frightened and asked for surrender to the "barbarians" and negotiated peace with them.

Korea formed an alliance with the Later Jin Dynasty, pledging to be brother countries, opened its market to it, and paid annual tribute in exchange for the Tatars withdrawing their troops north.

In addition, Korea was threatened by the Later Jin Dynasty and promised not to provide any material and personnel support to the Ming army, including Dongjiang Town, and it would not accept the will of the Ming court to attack the territory under the jurisdiction of the Later Jin Dynasty from the side and rear.

You know, the land of Pi Island is "all sand and rocks, with almost no arable land", so it is impossible to be self-sufficient in food.

The troops and residents stationed on the island relied mainly on the continuous inflow of supplies from the Denglai area, supplemented by fishing by the islanders, in order to manage and prevent the situation from collapsing.

Without the support from North Korea, the development and growth of Dongjiang Town can be curbed to a certain extent.

Now, Marshal Liu (Liu Xingzhi), who is in charge of the military affairs of Dongjiang Town, took a boat to Lushunkou ten months ago to meet with the court's special envoy, Denglai Deputy General Zhou Wenyu, Liu Yinglong and others. He is not in Pi Island for the time being, and his brother Liu Xingji is in charge of the military and civilian affairs on the island.

At this juncture, two large ships suddenly arrived at Pi Island, causing the garrison on the island to become extremely nervous.

Could it be that the imperial court tricked the commander-in-chief off the island under the pretext of summoning him, and then used the Denglai navy to attack and completely resolve the chaos in Dongjiang Town?

But the problem is that more than a month ago, the court issued an edict, granting Marshal Liu the position of "Deputy General in Charge of Dongjiang Front Affairs" and temporarily taking charge of the affairs of Dongjiang Town. It also distributed a large amount of overdue wages to all soldiers in the army, which was a great way to win him over.

Could it be that the imperial court wanted to openly repair the plank road while secretly attacking Chencang?

Xue Wenjie squatted at the bow, his hands on his back, and looked at the two approaching large ships, feeling both shocked and frightened.

The two enemy ships were huge, more than dozens of feet long, with wall-like sides and towering masts, looking very majestic and spectacular.

Looking back at the dozen or so warships sent by my Dongjiang Town, the largest one is only a thousand hu in size, and most of them are small boats of a hundred hu in size. In front of these two large ships of unknown origin, they are like young children and are not at the same combat level at all.

These two ships were clearly of Western-style design. As long as they were in motion, even if the enemy did not use artillery, their tall and sturdy hulls could sink more than a dozen of their own "small sampans"!
Could it be that the court invited the barbarians to drive such a large ship to completely clear out their Dongjiang Town?

It is said that in the Denglai area, Governor Sun Yuanhua invited dozens of Portuguese from Haojing to train firearms troops and supervise the construction of Western-style fortresses to provide support for Liaodong.

However, with only these two ships, even though they look extremely ferocious, they can't do anything to my Dongjiang Town, right?
You must know that our Dongjiang Town governs more than ten islands of varying sizes in the Liao Sea, has tens of thousands of combat troops, over a hundred warships, and hundreds of thousands of civilians. It cannot be intimidated by two large ships.

"Who are you waiting for?"

The small boat slowly approached one of the large ships. After climbing the rope ladder thrown by the other party and getting on board, Xue Wenjie held the hilt of the knife and looked at the people on the deck with pretended calmness.

"We're here to bring you food." Wei Yingbin looked the lieutenant from the Dongjiang Army up and down before saying gently, "I heard that your Dongjiang Town is short of food, so we're bringing some to you to boost your army's prestige."

"Huh?..." Xue Wenjie was stunned when he heard that.

What's happening here?
Who are you and why are you sending us food?
What is your intention in doing this?
……

Countless question marks kept popping up in his mind, making him unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

Before coming, he thought of countless possibilities, but the other party gave him such an unexpected answer.

"Who are you...?" Xue Wenjie stared at the other party suspiciously.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world!
Why would you, a group of people of unknown origin, send two ships of grain to our Dongjiang Town?

"We, the overseas wanderers, deeply appreciate the hardship of the Dongjiang Town's resistance to the invaders. In the spirit of national justice and the principle of blood ties, we have come to Liaohai to donate food to you."

"..." After hearing this, Xue Wenjie couldn't help but reveal a hint of ridicule on his face. He glanced at the other people without responding.

You even use such sweet words to deceive your grandfather!

Although I am just a captain, I am not a fool who knows nothing.

What the hell is national justice? What does it mean that we are connected by blood? You keep talking nonsense!
What exactly do you want to do? Tell me clearly so that I can go back and report to the guerrilla commander.

"Ahem..." Wei Yingbin exchanged glances with his companions, then coughed lightly and said sternly, "Alright, then let's be frank. I've heard there are tens of thousands of Han refugees from Liaodong on your Pi Island, all gathered on this tiny island. They rely on Denglai for their needs, and it's incredibly difficult to survive."

"Therefore, we are willing to help Dongjiang Town relocate the redundant refugees on the island to alleviate your army's growing distress. If there are fewer refugees on the island and the food supply is reduced, it will also reduce some of the burden on Dongjiang Town, allowing you to focus on killing the captives."

"Are you going to sell my Liaodong refugees?" Xue Wenjie's expression turned cold after hearing this.

"This... General, you're joking," Wei Yingbin said. "As fellow Miao people of Huaxia, how could we possibly sell out our Han compatriots? We settle overseas, cultivating wasteland and living our own lives, free from exploitation by evil gentry and humiliation by corrupt officials. It's like a paradise. We came to Pi Island, not only to provide your army with food and weapons, but also to bring the many Han people of Liaodong, who have suffered endless torture at the hands of the Tartars, out of this sea of ​​suffering and into peace and happiness."

"Are you foreign merchants from overseas?"

"Well, that's right."

"You want to take my Liaodong refugees to settle overseas?"

"That's right!"

"In other words, you are going to exchange food for people?" Xue Wenjie glanced at the people opposite him again.

Except for a few people with foreign faces, most of them looked like citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and they spoke with a distinct northern accent.

I think they must be a group of Han people who fled overseas. When they heard that there were tens of thousands of Liao people under the jurisdiction of our Dongjiang Town, they planned to "recruit" some people to accompany them to the land of colonization.

"If you need people, we have refugees from disasters all over the Ming Dynasty who can be recruited. Why do you have to travel thousands of miles to recruit people from Dongjiang Town?"

"The Liao people are hardy and cold-resistant, and they can adapt to the environment and climate of our settlements in a very short time." Wei Yingbin said with a smile, "More importantly, the Liao people have endured torture and persecution at the hands of the Tartars and yet have traveled thousands of miles to Dongjiang Town. They are the perfect people for us to settle and colonize."

"Then do you know that these Liao people who have fled to Dongjiang Town are also our most important source of troops?" Xue Wenjie looked at him with a half-smile. "If you take away all the young and strong men here, won't our Dongjiang Town become a source of nothingness, without sufficient reinforcements?"

“…” Wei Yingbin was stunned after hearing this.

What do you mean?
You are unwilling to exchange food for our population?
With only a dozen or so small islands under the jurisdiction of your Dongjiang Town, which have almost no output and rely entirely on ships to transport supplies from Denglai, can you feed tens of thousands of Liaodong refugees?
In a few years, when traitors like Kong Youde and Shang Kexi surrender to the Tartars, more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in your Dongjiang Town will be slaughtered by the Tartars!

(End of this chapter)