Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 236: Breaking the Siege
The bright moon was in the sky, illuminating the city of Xiamen on an isolated coastal island. The city was ablaze with flames and was filled with fleeing civilians, screams, cries, and angry shouts.

Xiamen City was only two miles in circumference and had only four city gates. Zheng Zhilong's troops entered the city from the Qiad Gate in the south, and soon took control of the Qiming Gate in the east and the Huaiyin Gate in the west. Currently, only the Huangshu Gate in the north was still in the hands of the Ming army.

Yu Zigao was the first person to receive the news that the city had been breached. He immediately escaped through the Qiming Gate with his trusted servants, and also led some of the defenders of the gate out of the city. Upon seeing this, the remaining defenders also fled in panic.

As soon as the commander fled, the city was leaderless, and Zheng Zhilong easily captured the East Gate. The West Gate was not much of a challenge either, as the defenders there resisted for a while and soon heard the news that the commander had fled, so they simply opened the gate and fled.

The only troops from Zheng's army that entered the city were the 2,000 well-paid marines, with the rest of the troops lying in ambush outside the city. So they simply gave up chasing them and concentrated their forces on attacking the north gate guarded by the brothers Yang Lu and Yang Ce.

"Uncle Xu, it looks like Yu Zigao has probably escaped. Let's go north." He Ying was holding a spear and had two spears hanging from his waist, riding on a tall horse. It was the mount given to him by Xu Yilong.

Xu Xinsu and Xu Yilong also rode horses, while the women of the Xu family took carriages. Xu Letian and his two hundred sailors were stationed at the north gate. At this time, He Ying, the only military force, became the backbone of the Xu family.

The Xu family had a large population, with about 300 servants and maids. When the master began to flee, the house was already in chaos, and many evil slaves took the opportunity to rob property or drag the pretty maids into the room.

A few daring scoundrels even tried to kidnap the eldest daughter of the Xu family, but they were stabbed to death by He Ying. No one dared to attack the women of the host family anymore. In fact, this was the first time He Ying killed someone with his own hands, but he was not upset.

The chaos in Xu's house was inevitable. Neither the Xu family nor He Ying could handle it. The only thing they could do was to escape. When everyone gathered together and came to the street, apart from the families of Xu Xinsu and Xu Xinlan, there were only a dozen loyal servants following them.

Soon after, a few more foreign faces joined the team. They were the Spanish priest Martinez, his Chinese interpreter and several Pampanga servants.

The Spanish simple church is located next to Xu's house. Currently, there is only one priest, Martinez. The Dominican missionary work in Ming Dynasty has not been going smoothly. Martinez now understands why the Jesuits had to adapt to local customs.

At least these foreigners had a few guns in their hands, unlike the loyal servants of the Xu family who were holding sticks. So He Ying called these people as well, otherwise Father Martinez might still not know what happened.

Xu Xinsu was one of the first to get the news, so he left in time. When Zheng Zhipeng led his men to Xu's house, the Xu family had long disappeared, leaving only a hundred servants who had not escaped. Some were still rummaging through boxes and cabinets, while others were venting their animal desires.

Zheng Zhipeng caught a few servants and found out that Xu Xinsu and his party went north, so he hurriedly chased after them with his men. Fortunately, these men were well-paid and well-trained, otherwise they would definitely not be able to get out after entering Xu's house.

At this time, the streets were in chaos, with many scoundrels setting fire and looting. Zheng Zhipeng followed the direction pointed by Xu's servant and chased for a while without seeing the target. For a moment, he suspected that he might have been cheated and didn't know which direction to chase.

At this time, someone suddenly came to report that the east and west city gates had been controlled. Zheng Zhipeng then determined to chase to the north and headed directly for the Huangshu Gate in the north.

Xu Xinsu and his team did not have a smooth journey. From time to time, groups of city foxes and rats came to harass them. Fortunately, with the guns of Martinez's men and He Ying's protection beside the carriage, the whole team was able to continue moving forward.

After finally reaching the Huangshu Gate, they saw fierce fighting on the city walls and outside the city walls. Xu Letian and Yang Lu fought tenaciously. This chaotic battle without formations relied on blood and courage. The elite troops trained by Zheng Zhilong did not have much advantage, and the two sides were deadlocked. Seeing this, He Ying hung his spear on the victory hook and bird wing ring, took out the bow and arrow from the double plugs at his waist, and shot out like a string of cannons. Seeing this, the Pampanga slaves under Martinez also opened fire.

Ye Dajing's troops, who were attacking Huangshu Gate, were attacked from both sides and were in chaos. He Ying took the opportunity to raise his leg, grab the spear and pull it out of the bird-wing ring, then rushed towards the enemy alone.

In a flash, He Ying and his horse rushed into the gap in Zheng's army. He wielded the spear with both hands, and blood splattered like rain wherever the spear passed. No one could match him wherever he passed.

In his hand was a 18-foot-long white wax-barreled spear, which was usually used by infantry. The fact that He Ying could use such a long weapon on horseback showed his superb martial arts skills.

Yang Lu took advantage of the situation and launched a fierce attack, and in a short time he managed to repel the Zheng troops under the city gate. Xu Xinsu and others were able to leave the city safely. Except for two slaves who were shot dead by the enemy, there were no other casualties.

"Dad, the Seventh Elder has led his troops to pick up the families of our brothers. I and the Sixth Elder still have to hold on here. Please go first." Xu Letian shouted at Xu Xinsu from the top of the city wall.

"Dad, let's go quickly." Xu Yilong's voice was sharp, and there was no blood on his pale face.

"You can't leave. Just wait here." He Ying, covered in blood, was panting heavily. Her light words made Xu Yilong dare not refute.

He took a breath and continued, "There are not many enemy soldiers entering the city. There must be ambushes outside the city. If we leave first, we will definitely die."

Xu Yilong's face turned even uglier. Hearing this, he said, "If the enemy troops outside the city come to attack us, and we are attacked from both inside and outside, won't we still die?"

"Yes, we can only leave it to fate now." He Ying's tone was still calm. "If it is God's will, I will die, but I will kill a few more bandits before I die."

Xu Yilong was speechless, and he only heard his father saying, "Master He, I don't want to die at the hands of the bandits. If it really comes to that, please kill my whole family first, and then fight the bandits!"

He Ying glanced at the carriage beside him, held the spear in his hand, clasped his fists towards Xu Xinsu, and said in a deep voice: "My nephew will obey my uncle's orders."

Fortunately, the situation that Xu Yilong described did not happen. The reason why Zheng Zhilong only brought two thousand elite troops into the city was because he was afraid that his subordinates would start a massacre in the city.

Xiamen City is different from other places. There are several gentry in the city who are quite influential in central Fujian. Killing them will be detrimental to the overall situation of recruiting pacification.

(End of this chapter)