Chapter 165: The Broken Dragon Beach
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The river wind was like water.
Several naval warships sailed along the broad Luo River and the water flowed gently. The one headed was slightly larger than the rest, which was the largest warship in the whole Navy of Jiang City. It was Navy Commander Junior Leopard’s ship. Originally, there was a larger warship, but while suppressing bandits; it had sunk to the river bottom along with Gao Gong.
The Navy of Jiang City originally had 15 warships in different sizes. However, after wrestling with the water bandits on the river this period of time, they suffered significant losses and only 10 warships remained. Excluding the one Junior Leopard was on now and two other slightly larger ones, the other seven, in Junior Leopard’s view, were not so much warships as small sailboards. Their hulls were so small that could not even carry 10 men.
Junior Leopard was utterly dissatisfied with this configuration, but there was no way. The Navy of Jiang City was short of funds after all.
Half a month after coming to Jiang City, he had a very deep understanding of the Navy of Jiang City. He also knew that what the naval leaders had told him was true. Currently, the Navy of Jiang City was truly having a hard time. It was because that the water bandits were rampant, and the navy failed to suppress them and even the former Navy Commander died in the hands of the water bandits. All this left the Navy humiliated. The officers and soldiers in the Water Army Camp were so frightened by the water bandits that they did not dare to lift their head. As a result, the navy was more despised. In the past, all the merchants and docks in Jiang City had to pay protection fees to the navy on time, but now they were doing everything they could to delay, even to refuse to pay. Moreover, Guard Ding was getting more and more serious in underpaying the navy. It was conceivable how hard the Navy of Jiang City had been living now!
After taking on the position of Navy Commander, Junior Leopard finally understood the difficulty of commanding an army. It was not like what was described in the novels that as long as you were a time traveler, you could be very powerful if you were a soldier and you could make achievements the time you went to the battlefield, and then heroes would scramble to bow down at your feet awaiting your orders—all these described in books were deceiving.
Even though the commanders of the navy had a low profile at the time of his arrival, it was their own business whether they kept low-key or deferential. He had to make decisions himself about all affairs.
Actually, a few days ago, several merchant ships were hijacked on the river and many people were killed. These merchants all ran to the County Administration and the Garrison Mansion to ask the navy to suppress bandits without delay. The County Administration and the Garrison Mansion could not handle the enormous pressure, so they called Junior Leopard to discuss countermeasures.
The two men were polite to Junior Leopard, but the hidden meaning behind their words was that they wanted Junior Leopard to take his men to suppress bandits.
The ultimate purpose of Junior Leopard’s coming here was to suppress bandits, so he would not refuse it. However, likewise he asked Guard Ding to pay the navy a year’s wages to pacify them.
As Junior Leopard had the handle of Guard Ding’s son, Guard Ding dared not refuse, albeit he did not want to. Immediately, he reluctantly scribed a note that allowed Junior Leopard to transfer money from the Garrison Mansion.
Getting the wages, Junior Leopard returned to the barrack and immediately gave all the money to the quartermaster Wang Datong, asking him to distribute to the soldiers. Besides, he decided to send out army to suppress bandits three days later.
Several leaders, including the Vice Commander, disagreed with his decision. They had two reasons. First, it was so hasty that they may not prepare adequately. Second, those water bandits were cunning and had a lot of finger men in Jiang City and even in the navy barrack, so each and every move of the navy barrack could not hide from them. Thus, if they rashly took action, they would suffer a lot.
Junior Leopard did not care about this at all.
It was because that he did not need to care about this.
Half a month was enough for him to know these water bandits. In terms of the Navy of Jiang City, these water bandits were very powerful.
Actually, the water bandits in Jiang City were not a gang, but several gangs. Two of the biggest were on the Broken Dragon Branch and the Multiple Chain Dock. The two water bandits gangs not only had a certain amount of leaders whose cultivations had reached Level Three, but both the two bandit chiefs were Level Four masters, the most powerful in each gangs.
However, there were a few differences between the two water bandits gangs. The bandit chief of the water bandits on the Broken Dragon Beach was Li Sanbao whose martial arts began with muscles practice, and now he was invulnerable. Although his Internal Qi’s cultivation was only Level Four, the toughness of his body was no less than a Level Five master’s.
He was peremptory and cruel. There were more than 20 small ships in his gang, all of which operated at ultra-high speed just like the wind. Once his men robbed, they gave no quarter and basically never left any survivors. After the robbery, they set fire to the scene, and only a few lucky ones escaped. Whereas, the water bandits on the Multiple Chain Dock were completely different from them. They were more reasonable and just wanted money but not killing. As long as you obediently gave them money, they would not kill you.
However, compared to the water bandits on the Broken Dragon Beach or even the other water bandits on the Luo River, none were more cunning than the water bandits on the Multiple Chain Dock. Even now, nobody knew who their bandit chief was, just knowing that the chief was a Level Four master. Moreover, the water bandits on the Multiple Chain Dock did not usually act and only acted on real big deals.
While in Junior Leopard’s opinion, they were not real water bandits but more like water tyrants. Because they were connected to several large wealthy merchants in Jiang City. Each year the wealthy merchants paid a considerable fee to the Multiple Chain Dock to keep them unimpeded on the Luo River. Only those who did not know what was good for themselves would directly pass Jiang City without visiting the dock. What was more; they only robbed ships with goods of great value. Therefore, although they did not often commit crimes, their cases were all big deals that would be sensational.
The Wu family was among those wealthy merchants that handed over protection fees every year.
Sitting in the chair that he ordered people to carry to the prow, stroking the long hair of Little Du on his side, Junior Leopard looked rather leisurely. However, the Vice Commander of the navy Wang Cheng behind him dared not have the slightest ease, but was very nervous.
“Your Excellency, we can’t proceed any further. The Broken Dragon Branch is in front!” He said with an anxious face, pointing forward, “if we move forward, we will be attacked by Li Sanbao!”
“He’s a water bandit. I’m a navy. Why should I fear his attack?” Junior Leopard replied with a sneer, “Vice Commander Wang, aren’t you too timid?”
“I’m too timid?” Wang Cheng was choked by Junior Leopard’s words and nearly leaped up. “Your Excellency, I’m for the sake of brethren. Li Sanbao is very strict about the control of ships passing around the Broken Dragon Beach. Besides, his men were everywhere there. So there’s heavily guarded. It’s too dangerous to boldly sail there with brethren like this! Your Excellency, you are powerful, so you don’t fear. But brethren have no such good feats!”
Junior Leopard’s eyebrows twitched. He heard the hidden meaning behind Wang Cheng’s words: If you want to be a hero, you can go, but don’t bring anyone else in!
“You’re right. If we encounter an ambush here, I don’t fear, but brethren in the rear may be hurt. It’s my thoughtlessness. Thanks to your reminding, otherwise, we’ll be in trouble!” Junior Leopard did not blame Wang Cheng for his apparent irreverence. Instead, he accepted his proposal.
This made Wang Cheng a little embarrassed.
“Vice Commander Wang, you go and ask brethren in the rear to stop and wait here!”
“But…” Junior Leopard’s acceptances of his proposal made Wang Cheng hesitate. He didn’t expect the new leader to be so easy-going. Considering the fact that he had been with Junior Leopard for half a month, he realized that not only did the Commander not manage the affairs, but he acted in a very casual way. He did not have the consciousness of being a Navy Commander at all but was not different from an ordinary teenager. It was just that his martial arts were more powerful and he had more authority.
“Ah, is it a tragedy or a blessing to have such a commander!” Wang Cheng sighed privately. Without delay, he rushed to the side of the ship and ordered the soldier in charge of the flag signal to give ships in the rear the tip to stop.
“Look, Your Excellency Jiang! The commander’s ordering us to stop!” Like Junior Leopard, Jiang Xiao was standing on the prow of another slightly larger ship, staring at the direction of the Broken Dragon Beach with a strained expression. As he heard the sound near his ears, he looked up and saw the flag signal from Junior Leopard, and at once he relieved. Then he immediately ordered the ship to stop, but soon, his expression changed sharply. “Why doesn’t the commander’s ship stop?”
“I don’t know!” The soldier shook his head and said, “Perhaps it’s because the command’s ship is so big that it has to sail for a while before stopping!”
“Rubbish!” Jiang Xiao scolded. “That’s the size of that ship. After a short sail, it’ll enter the Broken Dragon Beach!”
The soldier lowered his head, not daring to speak. Jiang Xiao looked around and found that both Zhu Ba’s ship and another captain’s ship had stopped, and so did the small ships in the rear, which were more than a dozen. Only the commander’s ship was going forward and was about to rush into the Broken Dragon Beach.
With a gleam in his gaze, Jiang Xiao ordered, “tell Old Song not to stop! Keep up with the commander’s ship!”
Old Song was the ship’s Shipmaster.
“What? Not to stop? Your Excellency, the Broken Dragon Beach is just in front!”
“That’s why we should move on!” Jiang Xiao coldly replied. Then he turned his head to stare at the soldier with a strange twinkle in his gaze, “Little Kun, perhaps today you are lucky enough to see the big spectacle that you never saw in your life!”
“Your Excellency! Jiang Xiao’s ship is catching up!” Wang Cheng went to Junior Leopard and said.
“Oh!” Leaning back in the chair, Junior Leopard nodded slightly with his eyes closed and gently stroked Little Du’s soft silvery fur. “We’ll soon be in the Broken Dragon Beach, right?”
“Yes, it’s 500 feet away from the Broken Dragon Beach. Your Excellency, that’s the area where Li Sanbao expressly forbade all ships from entering!” Looking at the ship slowly turning in the direction of a bend in the river, once again Wang Cheng looked worried.
“Commander Wang, tell brethren to return to the boat hold. The current here is very fast. The ship should not need to operate too much!”
“This…”
“Don’t dawdle, just do it!”
“Yes!” Wang Cheng obeyed to ask everyone to hide in the boat hold. After his task was complete, he returned to stand behind Junior Leopard.
“Your Excellency, brethren have all gone in!”
“Good!” Little Leopard nodded and opened his eyes. At this point, the ship had already moved along the fierce current and entered a curve which was formed by River Heart Island and the river bank, and the speed suddenly became fast. Looking at the open river beach on River Heart Island, Junior Leopard slowly narrowed his eyes, “is that the Broken Dragon Beach?”
“Yes, Your Excellency, that’s the Broken Dragon Beach!” Wang Cheng also fixed his gaze on that vast expanse river beach and his gaze became cold and stern.