The rise of the poor

Chapter 2199 Winning Learning

In the post-war fishing village stronghold, half was warm and half was covered in ice and snow. The Zhejiang Army camp to the east of the village was intact, and the Japanese pirates never managed to break into the Zhejiang Army camp until their deaths. Meanwhile, the camp of Mao Haifeng's troops to the west of the village was still burning and emitting smoke.

"Ouch, my leg!"

"Has anyone seen my brother? He looks like he's about to die. My brother can't die, or our Wang family line will end."

"Water, water"

Less than one-fifth of Mao Haifeng's main camp remained intact; the rest of the village houses and tents were all burned down, still smoldering. Wounded soldiers lay scattered on the ground, their cries of agony filling the air.

They were lucky; at least they could still wail. There were many other unfortunate souls lying quietly around them, not uttering a sound, not even breathing.

This is the scene that Zhu Pingan saw when he brought Liu Dadao, Chen Dacheng and others to Mao Haifeng's camp to offer their condolences.

Mao Haifeng's troops suffered heavy casualties tonight, with a rough estimate of nearly a thousand dead and hundreds missing. In fact, only a small portion of the Japanese pirates in Yoshiya Village were directly killed or wounded. The majority of the casualties were caused by Mao Haifeng's troops panicking and trampling each other, as well as small-scale riots and infighting.

"Lord Zhu, I am truly grateful. If it weren't for Lord Zhu sending Brother Dacheng and Brother Dadao to help in time, I'm afraid I would have been caught off guard and taken advantage of by those bastards from Yoshiya Village."

Mao Haifeng saw Zhu Ping'an from afar and quickly walked over, bowing deeply with gratitude in his hands.

Mao Haifeng was genuinely grateful to Zhu Pingan. This time, when the bastards from Jiwu Village attacked, their vigilance was inadequate, and the bastards from Jiwu Village sneaked into the camp, killed the guards, opened the gate, and the bastards from Jiwu Village rushed in to kill and burn. They were caught off guard and suffered a complete defeat. If Zhu Pingan hadn't sent Chen Dacheng and the others to rescue them in time, Mao Haifeng was sure that his camp would have been flattened by the bastards from Jiwu Village.

Mao Haifeng wasn't sure if he could escape, but he knew that without Zhu Ping'an's rescue, his troops would be wiped out, and he, as the captain of the ship, would certainly lose his position.

It was thanks to Zhu Ping'an's timely rescue that he escaped this calamity and preserved half of his strength.

He asked his adoptive father, Wang Zhi, for some of the lost Japanese pirates, and recruited more himself. It was only a matter of time before he could restore his strength.

All of this is thanks to Zhu Pingan.

"We are allies, sharing the same boat. When the enemy attacks, we should lend a helping hand to each other. There is no need for thanks."

Zhu Pingan reached out to help Mao Haifeng, who was bowing and thanking him, to his feet, and said with a righteous expression.

"Lord Zhu is truly a gentleman," Mao Haifeng couldn't help but exclaim.

Looking at Mao Haifeng, Zhu Pingan couldn't help but think of Chef Fan, who had a big head and a thick neck.

Actually, Mao Haifeng and his men were recruited by him to work for him. They could both wipe out other Japanese pirate gangs along the coast and eliminate their strongholds, as well as weaken the strength of Wang Zhihuo's Japanese pirates.

For example, 1,000 Japanese pirates died in Yoshiya Village, and another 1,000 Japanese pirates led by Mao Haifeng died, totaling 2,000 dead.

Mao Haifeng's strength can be weakened, but he can't die; he still needs to keep working.

For the sake of reason, emotion, and long-term consideration, I have to go and rescue Mao Haifeng so that he can continue to work for me, continue to wipe out other Japanese pirates along the coast, and continue to bleed Wang Zhihuo's Japanese pirate gang dry.

"I will not be a gentleman if I do not avenge this! That damned bastard Takeda Toshikawa from Yoshiya Village, I will make him pay with his blood!"

Mao Haifeng clenched his fists and cursed through gritted teeth.

"General Mao, I'm afraid you won't be able to avenge yourself?" Zhu Pingan shook his head with a slight smile.

"Huh?" Mao Haifeng was taken aback upon hearing this.

He reached up and touched the bloodstains on his face, narrowed his eyes, and began to ponder.

"Could it be that Lord Zhu also persuaded the Japanese pirates of Yoshiya Village to surrender?" Mao Haifeng asked, raising his head.

Besides that, Mao Haifeng really couldn't think of any other reason.

After much thought, he realized that only if Zhu Pingan had persuaded the Japanese pirates of Yoshiya Village to surrender and made them his own people could he avenge himself and avoid dealing with Takeda Toshikawa, who had just joined the group.

But why did Zhu Ping'an want to persuade Takeda Toshikawa to surrender?

Is Takeda Toshikawa qualified?!

Where does this leave my godfather, Wang Zhi?! Can just any Tom, Dick, or Harry be considered on par with him and recruited?!

Moreover, Takeda Toshikawa had just kicked my camp, and you immediately recruited him. Don't you even consider my feelings?

Mao Haifeng suddenly felt a little wronged.

"No, they're not worthy!" Zhu Pingan shook his head and said without hesitation.

"Huh?" Mao Haifeng was even more confused.

Since you didn't persuade the Japanese pirates of Yoshiya Village to surrender, why do you say I can't take revenge?!

What other reason could there be?

Surely it couldn't be that Zhu Ping'an was afraid of the Japanese pirates in Yoshiya Village?! Mao Haifeng had barely entertained this thought when he shook his head and rejected it. Impossible, absolutely impossible. Zhu Ping'an wasn't even afraid of his adoptive father, Wang Zhi, so how could he be afraid of the small Japanese pirates in Yoshiya Village?

He couldn't understand why Zhu Pingan said he couldn't take revenge.

Unable to understand the matter, Mao Haifeng could only helplessly clasp his hands in a fist and ask Zhu Ping'an for guidance, "Please enlighten me, Lord Zhu."

"The reason you can't seek revenge on Takeda Toshikawa is because," Zhu Ping'an paused, then continued under Mao Haifeng's expectant gaze, "that Takeda Toshikawa has already been killed by our army. That guy was commanding from the high ground east of the village when our people cornered him. To prevent any accidents, they fired a round of tiger-squat artillery, and the old guy was hit right there. His head was smashed, and there was blood and white all over the ground."

"Good, great. It's just that he died too quickly, which is a bit too easy for him. Otherwise, I would have given him a good beating and let him experience all kinds of cruel tortures."

Upon hearing this, Mao Haifeng's expression changed instantly, from a wronged look to an excited, regretful one.

However, the thought of Takeda Toshikawa's death reminded him of the wealth the Takeda family had accumulated over two generations in Yoshiya Village, and his eyes lit up as he said, "Lord Zhu, Takeda Toshikawa is dead, and his men are either dead or have fled. Yoshiya Village must be empty now. We must send troops quickly and completely destroy Yoshiya Village! The Takeda father and son have been running Yoshiya Village for over twenty years, and they have done a lot of burning, killing, and looting. They must have hidden a lot of wealth in the village, which should belong to you and me. The Japanese pirates who fled back to Yoshiya Village won't be able to move much wealth in a short time. We can't let outsiders benefit from it."

With the accumulation of more than 20 years of experience by the Takeda family of Yoshiya Village, Mao Haifeng believed that he would be able to regain his strength in no time.

With money, why worry about not being able to recruit Japanese pirates? There are plenty of Japanese pirates of all sizes along the coast. As long as you are willing to spend money, it is easy to recruit a group of Japanese pirates.

Alternatively, if one doesn't want to be a mediocre player, one can buy elite Japanese pirates from other captains with silver. (End of Chapter)