Chapter 38: To Be Merciful to the Enemy Is to Be Cruel to Oneself

"Shut your mouth, you fat pig!"

Zhang Chen scolded Fatty Niu, then turned to Li Dani and gave a respectful bow. "Your father killed two Japanese pirates. Miss Li, your father is a hero, a martyr of the Great Ming. You are a martyr’s dependent, and I hold you in high esteem."

"According to the rules of the battlefield, the ships and their cargo are indeed ours. However, you may pay a ransom to redeem them. In other words, the people of Zhang Village cannot have sacrificed in vain; if you want the items back, you must provide our village with compensation. My request is not unreasonable."

Zhang Chen glanced at Li Dani. "There are still a thousand pirates on Zhifu Island. Miss Li, the truth is hard to swallow: even if we returned the ships, the gold, silver, jewels, and iron, you would not be able to protect them!"

"We... we... the Madam (the wife of Qishan Thousand-Man Commander Qi Dazhi) will be back soon. Most of the men of the Qishan Thousand-Man Garrison have fallen in battle, but there are still women left. The Madam will rebuild the garrison, recruit strong men from among the refugees, and lead us to fight the pirates."

Li Dani gritted her teeth. "The Madam will avenge those who died last night. The gold, silver, jewelry, and iron on those ships are vital supplies for our garrison. Please, Young Master Zhang, return them to us."

"Well, that, I personally understand and support you." Zhang Chen shook his head. "But everything must follow the rules. Miss Li, we can talk, but if you want the goods back, you must provide compensation to Zhang Village. You may send someone to our village to negotiate."

With that, Zhang Chen stepped onto a small boat. Shortly after, the boat rowed toward the second Fuchuan ship moored several dozen meters away.

Half an hour later, a fleet consisting of six Fuchuan ships and large sand-flat boats—each with a displacement of over two hundred tons—and thirty smaller vessels ranging from one to two hundred tons, set sail westward toward the Zhang Village pier. The two hundred captives, most of whom knew how to sail, operated the ships under the watchful eyes of the Zhang Village men.

"That son-in-law Zhang Chen won't return the ships, the gold, silver, or the iron to our Qishan Garrison." Unaware that Zhang Chen had already divorced Tian Yachun, Li Dani cursed him and watched the departing fleet with resentment.

Between last night and this morning, the intelligence officers of Zhang Village had been relaying messages on horseback, keeping Zhang Chen well-informed about the Battle of Futou Village. Last night, Zhang Village militia captains Wang Shumeng and Zhang Da'an had led over three hundred men in pursuit of the pirates fleeing toward Futou Village. Fu Changeng, the eldest son of Fu Xiaotian and deputy leader of the Axe Gang, led over two hundred veteran pirates in the retreat.

Wang Shumeng and Zhang Da'an pursued them relentlessly. Half an hour later, the pirates reached Futou Village, but the Zhang Village men refused to give up. Enraged, Fu Changeng shouted, "Zhang Village pushes us too far! Do they really think I'm afraid of them? Stop! Everyone, turn around and fight with me!"

A few hours earlier, the village chief, Fu Xiaotian, had led nine hundred pirates to raid Zhang Village, taking almost every able-bodied man from Futou Village with him. Consequently, the village was currently defenseless. Fu Changeng dared not let the Zhang Village men breach the village, so he was forced to fight to the death.

The two hundred pirates turned to charge. Wang Shumeng and Zhang Da'an merely smiled, pulled out primitive hand grenades, and ordered their men to prepare to throw. A few moments later, as the pirates closed to within twenty paces, the militia hurled over three hundred grenades. The explosions killed or wounded over a hundred men, and the remaining few scattered in panic. Fu Changeng was struck in the chest and abdomen by shrapnel and collapsed, dying in agony.

Without wasting time on the stragglers, Wang Shumeng and Zhang Da'an led their men into Futou Village to carry out Zhang Chen's orders: to seize all ill-gotten gains.

Before Zhang Chen had even arrived at Zhang Village, his intelligence team had gathered significant information about Futou Village. It was no secret that nearly a thousand pirates lived there. With Fu Xiaotian having led most of them to raid Zhang Village, the village was essentially empty. Following the crushing defeat in the small woods, most of the pirate force had been decimated. Zhang Chen had seized the opportunity to order the annihilation of Fu Changeng’s group and the subsequent seizure of the village's wealth, which he deemed entirely ill-gotten.

Wang Shumeng and Zhang Da'an were instructed to kill anyone who resisted and to strip the village of its gold, silver, jewelry, and iron.

In Futou Village, every able-bodied man had moonlighted as a pirate; the women, children, and the elderly were all dependents of those pirates. Under the laws of the Great Ming, where collective punishment was a standard principle, there were no innocent people in Futou Village—they all deserved to be purged. Thus, the men of Zhang Village did not hesitate to strike down anyone who resisted, regardless of age or gender.

It was September, and the coming winter promised to be even colder than the last few years. The villagers of Futou desperately tried to block the militia from taking their grain and cotton.

"Move aside! Zhang Village has never wronged you people of Futou Village," Wang Shumeng said coldly to a middle-aged woman blocking his path, his hand tightening on his steel saber. "Fu Xiaotian took your men to raid us. Your own men were certainly there tonight. If you don't move, don't blame me for shedding blood!"

"If you take our grain and cotton, my family won't survive the winter!" the woman insisted. "It was Fu Xiaotian who forced my eldest son to go!"

"Our master says that mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself," Wang Shumeng replied, slashing the woman's left arm with his saber. "Move!"

Realizing the men of Zhang Village were not bluffing, the villagers finally gave way. The militia, carrying torches, quickly moved to plunder the gold, silver, silk, and other valuables from the village.