As Zheng Zhilong's fleet cut southward across the restless waters, a small courier boat appeared on the horizon.
It approached at speed, its oars biting urgently into the sea.
By the time it drew alongside, the men aboard were already shouting.
New intelligence.
John Weddell's four great English ships remained anchored outside Humen Fortress, near Tiger Island. They had ignored every warning issued by the Ming court. Expulsion orders meant nothing to them. Official proclamations might as well have been wind.
They stayed.
And they grew bolder.
Guangdong officials could not simply swallow such humiliation. Pride was wounded. Authority was mocked. If nothing were done, what face would remain?
So they adopted a suggestion from Commander Li Yanqing and others.
Fire attack.
Sub-commander Chen Bangji and Wu Yifeng were ordered to recruit forty Fujian soldiers skilled in fire tactics. Men like Zhang Qi. Men who understood flame not as chaos but as weapon.
Incendiary materials were prepared. Bundles of firewood were stacked. Five old warships were selected, vessels too worn to rely upon in direct combat.
They would become sacrifice.
Iron chains linked the ships together.
Under cover of darkness they drifted toward the English formation.
The current was calculated.
The wind direction studied.
As the burning vessels neared, sailors hidden aboard ignited the materials and leapt into the river.
Flames roared upward in a sudden pillar of orange fury.
For a brief, glorious moment, it seemed destiny favored Great Ming.
But the English sailors were no fools.
They reacted instantly.
Sails shifted.
Helms turned.
Orders barked with disciplined precision.
The great English ships slid aside like predators sensing a trap before it closed.
The chained fire vessels drifted past, blazing uselessly.
The river swallowed their effort.
Five ships lost.
Stores of fuel gone.
Morale shaken.
Worse still, the Guangdong navy had learned something unpleasant.
Those massive foreign ships moved with frightening agility.
After the failed fire attack, Weddell's confidence swelled.
He decided to escalate.
If intimidation was the goal, then subtlety was a waste of time.
He intercepted a Ming fleet sailing along the Pearl River. Twenty one vessels.
They offered almost no resistance.
English cannons roared.
Three Ming gunboats burned.
Two sailing warships followed.
A riverside village caught flame.
Thirty pigs were seized as if they were spoils from some colonial excursion.
The remaining sixteen ships scattered in chaos.
When this report reached Zheng Zhilong, his face darkened like gathering storm clouds.
Shi Lang exhaled slowly.
"From this alone, it is clear the Ming navy cannot match them."
Zheng Sen immediately objected.
"That is not entirely fair. We are part of the Ming navy, are we not?"
Shi Lang blinked.
Then a grin crept across his face.
"If we count ourselves, then perhaps the Ming navy still has teeth."
Zheng Sen's eyes burned.
"Then let us hurry and knock those teeth into their skulls."
Meanwhile, at Humen Fortress, insult piled upon insult.
A captured Ming warship burned on the river directly before the ruined walls.
Weddell had deliberately towed it there before setting it alight.
The message was unmistakable.
This is your gate.
This is your pride.
Watch it burn.
On deck, Weddell stood with hands clasped behind his back.
"We have established authority," he declared smugly. "Next time we come to trade, they will obey as others do. Africans. Southeast Asian tribes. All bend eventually."
His officers laughed.
Then his gaze drifted to the shattered remains of Humen Fortress.
The cannons had already been plundered.
Only broken ramparts remained.
He smirked.
"Bring powder ashore. Blow it apart completely. Let the noise echo."
Three large barrels were carried into the cracks of the walls.
Fuses were lit.
The explosions tore through stone.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Walls collapsed into rubble.
In the distance, Ming officials watched helplessly.
Kai Long trembled with rage.
"Why is our navy so weak?" he cried bitterly. "How can Great Ming suffer such humiliation?"
A messenger rushed toward him.
"Master Kai. Zheng Zhilong's fleet has arrived."
Hope flickered.
Then doubt followed.
"These red haired barbarians are unlike the Portuguese. Unlike the Dutch. Unlike the Arabs," Kai Long murmured. "I have never seen such powerful pirates. I only pray Zheng Zhilong can prevail."
At that very moment, a light English sailing ship returned to Weddell with urgent news.
"More than ten large Ming ships are approaching."
Weddell laughed.
"Large? How large could their vessels possibly be? I have yet to see one worth admiration."
The sailor swallowed.
"They are enormous, sir. Larger than ours."
"Larger than your scouting boat, perhaps."
"No, sir. Larger than your flagship."
Silence.
"That is impossible," Weddell snapped. "We sail Royal Navy warships. We defeated the Spanish Armada. Our ships are the finest afloat."
"They are truly massive," the sailor insisted. "You will see shortly."
Weddell ordered all five vessels into formation. Three great three masted galleons and two smaller light ships formed a blocking line at the Pearl River's mouth.
He wore a look of contempt.
China could not possibly surprise him.
At his side, the Portuguese translator leaned in carefully.
"Admiral, the Ming once built very large ships. Zheng He's treasure fleets. Floating fortresses."
Weddell scoffed.
"Exaggerations. Their historians invent stories."
"They did sail widely in Southeast Asia."
"Southeast Asia keeps no proper records. Anyone may claim anything."
Even as he dismissed the warning, shapes appeared on the horizon.
First came a twenty meter junk bearing Fujian naval colors.
Weddell burst into laughter.
"Is this their great fleet? That vessel carries perhaps five cannons. Nothing more."
The junk approached steadily.
It was commanded by Zheng Zhihu.
Despite his fiery temper, he adhered to principle.
Courtesy before force.
A small boat detached from his ship and rowed toward the English flagship.
The envoy climbed aboard and spoke in clear voice.
"We are the Fujian Navy of Great Ming."
The translator rendered his words.
"We order you to cease aggression immediately. Compensate for the fortress, the burned ships, and village losses. Return stolen cannons and goods. Withdraw at once. Otherwise our cannons will show no mercy."