Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 301 Little Days Live Well, Little Days

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

On the third day of September, it was almost the same day that Zhu Youxiao was thinking about the vassal king. The long history of the vassal kings he was thinking about were watching the battle on the high ground, and the battle they were watching was the battle of the Ming army against Kandy.

Kandy is the last country on the island of Sri Lanka.

After the Ming army arrived in Sri Lanka in July this year, the Portuguese and the French were forced to withdraw by force of the Ming army.

After spending two bills of goods worth [-] taels of silver, the Ming army successfully obtained one-third of Sri Lanka's land from the two countries.

In two months, the rebels on the island were wiped out, and Kandy also broke out with the Ming army in a conflict.

It's just that less than a month after the start of the war, there is only the last city left in Kandy.

Regarding the attack and defense of this last city, Kandy's tenacity exceeded the expectations of the Ming army, and the tug-of-war between the two sides lasted for seven days.

Nearly one-third of the more than [-] Kandy residents retreated to the city of Kandy, which made it very difficult for the Ming army with a population of less than [-].

Although Huanglong sent four fleets and four guards to escort the voyage to the west, the nearly two million island residents rebelled, and the Ming army was exhausted.

But as long as the city of Kandy is captured, the supplies from the Old Port can be brought in continuously.

Thinking of this, the Ming army's artillery had finished cooling down, and the shelling was launched again, and the chiefs of the feudal clans on the high ground also chatted with each other.

"The Kandy people are doing a good job sticking to this."

"They have a lot of artillery at the top of the city, so it's not surprising that they can persist, but with this style of fighting, after the gunpowder is exhausted, I'm afraid they can only be caught without a fight."

"No, Kandy people have a tough personality. Even if there is no gunpowder, it is estimated that they will engage in hand-to-hand combat."

"As far as their armor is concerned, fighting in hand-to-hand combat is to take the initiative to kill."

"Okay, let's not talk about it, let's see how Commander Huang fights."

Many vassal kings and histories expressed their opinions one after another, and they also learned a lot from the mouths of the navy officers and soldiers during the two-month battle.

Although they just listen to it and don't know how to operate it, at least they have some theoretical knowledge.

It's just that although they understand theoretical knowledge, how they actually fight depends on the commander who commands the guard.

Thinking of this, many vassal kings and long histories turned their attention to a young general who was not far behind the artillery of the Ming army, under the banner.

As if feeling the eyes of others, the general also looked at the chiefs of the feudal clans, and the person next to him also said:
"Captain Huang, these long officials seem to be secretly learning our tactics."

"Well... don't worry about them." Hearing Qianhu's words next to him, Huang Fei continued to focus on Kandy City.

Huang Fei is Huang Long's nephew, and because Huang Long has no children, Huang Fei is jokingly called Xiao Huang Dudu in the navy.

Although he told everyone not to make such jokes along the way, he still couldn't stand up to the trend and general trend.

Later, he himself also acquiesced in this nickname. After all, in his heart, he really wanted to inherit the position of his uncle, but he also knew that the prerequisite for succession was that he had the ability.

He picked up binocular clairvoyance and glanced at the top of the city of Kandy. On the top of the city, more than two hundred artillery pieces, large and small, were placed in the gaps, and they continued to bombard in groups of ten.

It's just that their idle bombardment not only has a range of only two miles, but its power is also pitifully small.

On the other hand, the Ming army had [-] gunners and [-] Yanshan [-]-pound General Cannons with a range of three miles. Every round of shelling was carried out every cup of tea, and each round of shelling could knock down part of the city wall at the head of Kandy. .

Although the city of Kandy had already been shelled and there was a gap, the Ming army could try to attack, but Huang Fei gave up this thought after three attempts.

The population in Kandy is too large, especially since they have resisted the European invasion for more than half a century, so their national concepts and national strength are more united than most of the nations in South Asia.

Facing the attack launched by the Ming army, most of them were able to launch a counterattack without fear of death.

It is precisely because of their courage and concepts that Portugal and other countries have repeatedly failed in front of them.

Huang Fei didn't want the soldiers to die, and the Ming army had enough gunpowder, so he chose to blow down all the city walls, then moved forward the artillery position, occupied the high ground formed by the collapsed city walls with artillery and platoon guns, and completely defeated the Kandy people.

His tactics won the recognition of most Ming soldiers, but attacking Kandy and taking Ceylon was after all a small part of the plan to sail to the west.

The real purpose of the voyage to the West is to find a suitable place for the various vassals.

Thinking of this, Huang Fei said:
"As long as the matter of Ceylon Island can be resolved, it won't be a problem to take down the Tubang off the coast of Tianzhu when the money, food and gunpowder from the old port are delivered."

"However, we still have to wait for His Royal Highness King Qi's order." Qianhu next to him nodded slightly, and others followed suit:

"Our navy currently pays [-] taels a year, the highest among all the armies. I heard that after the Tianzhu war starts, the military salary of soldiers participating in the Tianzhu war can be increased to [-] taels a year."

"The military pay is too much, but it's too far away from home, so I always feel homesick." Hearing this, some people sighed.

With their exclamation, many people also felt homesick.

Although among the twelve guards of the navy, at most three guards can be allowed to go home to rest for half a year every year, but after careful calculation, the last guard in the voyage fleet this time was half a year ago.

Yiwei, who is farthest away, returned to Daming two and a half years ago last time.

Some homesickness is normal, and Huang Fei didn't stop the atmosphere from spreading.

After all, they have studied the strength of the land states in southern Tianzhu, and with the strength of the four guards sent to carry out the mission, as long as there is enough gunpowder, they can completely pacify many coastal land states within a year.

As for the inland states, it's not up to them to deal with the Twelve Guards of the Navy.

According to what they learned, as long as the territory of the vassal is determined overseas, the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies only needs to be responsible for dispatching the guard battalion to help defend the vassal territory, and it is enough to select people from among the immigrants for training.

In other words, these things are the affairs of the other commanders of the four armies, and have nothing to do with their navy.

Just by taking this Ceylon Island, the Navy Commander's Mansion will have an ocean base, which makes Huang Fei and the others feel more affordable.

"When is the return ship scheduled?"

Huang Fei continued to look at the top of Kandy City, and asked Qianhu next to him, and the other side also bowed:
"According to the meaning of the old port, the return journey is on the [-]th of this month, and it will probably arrive in the capital in March next year."

"The time is not bad." Huang Fei didn't continue to ask after hearing this, but observed the battlefield carefully.

The resistance of the Kandy people was tenacious, but this did not prevent their demise.

When the other three guards of the navy quelled the rebellion and assembled their forces under the city of Kandy, Kandy was finally broken on the night of September [-], the sixth year of Tianqi.

After more than two hundred years, after Zheng He destroyed Ceylon, the Ming army landed on Ceylon again and wiped out all the forces on Ceylon.

Jiebao embarked on the return journey with the ships of the chiefs of the feudal clans. According to the order, Huang Fei, as the guard, led the guards to stay on Ceylon Island.

It was not until the ninth day of October that ships departing from Ceylon entered the old port strait and landed at the old port wharf.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Twelve cannons fired together to celebrate the return of the voyage fleet, but this time it was Li Dan who greeted them, not Huang Long.

After all, they are old acquaintances. After saying hello, the chiefs of the various feudal clans went to the old port city to rest.

Patrolling the coast of Tianzhu is just the beginning. Instead, after returning to the capital now, how they explain to the vassal king, how to choose the vassal land, and whether they will compete with other vassal kings for the same piece of land has become a problem.

They need to sort out the news, and for Li Dan, he is not interested in the affairs of the feudal clans. What he cares most about is the strategy of Ceylon Island.

"Ceylon Island is seven hundred miles long from north to south, and more than three hundred and sixty miles wide from east to west. The island is roughly pear-shaped."

"The central and southern regions are plateaus, and the northern and coastal areas are plains. The northern coastal plain is wide, while the southern and western coastal plains are relatively narrow."

"There are no four seasons on the island, only the rainy season and the dry season, and there are many rivers. There are sixteen major rivers, most of which originate in the central mountainous area."

"One-half of the whole island is covered with forests, but the northern plains and the western and southern coastal plains are relatively rich in arable land resources, which are estimated to be around [-] million mu, and there are still [-] to [-] million mu of plains that can be developed. forest."

"In addition, there are many precious stones, graphite and iron ore in the central mountainous area. The resources are relatively rich, but the supply of gunpowder is not enough."

In the Yamen of the Old Port, the three returning commanders who were going to Ceylon Island explained to Li Dan, and Li Dan also stroked his beard and thought about it thoughtfully:
"Judging from your description, Ceylon Island is really good, and it's no wonder His Highness will choose it as the place directly under the jurisdiction of the Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Commissioner in the future."

"Gunpowder is not a problem. With Nanyang as the support and Ceylon's own conditions, as long as the immigrants are solid, it will not be a problem to feed three million people."

"Three million people and more than [-] million mu of arable land are enough to support an army of [-]."

Not long after Li Dan finished speaking, a commander presented a document with both hands and said:
"This is the post-war seizure statistics of all forces in Ceylon. A total of more than [-] taels of gold, more than [-] taels of silver, [-] boxes of gems, and more than [-] million copper coins were seized."

"In addition to these, there are countless corals and various treasures..."

"Hmm..." Li Dan took the document, glanced at it and said:
"The capture of Ceylon Island has been ordered by His Highness long ago. All the copper coins will be distributed to the soldiers who participated in the battle. The Silver Governor's Mansion will handle it by itself, and the gold and other treasures will be transported to the capital."

"According to Huang Dudu's order, of the [-] taels of silver, the Dudu Mansion will leave one-third to distribute the pensions of the soldiers who died in battle, and the remaining two-thirds will be distributed together with copper coins to those who participated in the war. All the soldiers."

"Thank you, Your Highness, Commander, for the reward..." Hearing that the reward was generous, many soldiers bowed to each other.

Three million copper coins and two-thirds of the seized silver amounted to nearly [-] taels of silver.

This time the four guards went out, the number of people was no more than [-], and each of them could get a reward of [-] taels of silver.

Even a wealthy household with ten acres of land per person would need to plant the land for three or four years without eating or drinking. The commanders of the three guards had already imagined how happy the soldiers would be when they heard the news.

"Okay, you three guards escort the fleet north, and let the soldiers go home to visit their relatives for half a year."

"As for Huang Fei, when His Highness's military order comes down, someone will replace him."

After Li Dan finished speaking, he signaled the commander of the three guards to go down, and the three of them also bowed and retreated slowly when they saw this.

It was after they retreated that an official next to Li Dan said:
"His Highness's rewards to the soldiers are too generous."

"It's a bit rich, but if you don't give it so much, who would want to go to fight thousands of miles away?" Li Dan sorted out the things in his hand, and then added Huanglong's memorial and handed it to the official:

"Put these things on a fast boat and go north first. The governor discovered the new continent His Highness mentioned in the south. His Highness needs to know this news."

"In addition, the industry and various other industries in the Old Port this year can also be listed."

"Yes..." The official took it, but the next second he hesitated:

"Don't you need to report the matter on Yan Siqi's side?"

"Hmm..." Hearing what the official said, Li Dan was also silent for a moment, and then said:
"Lu Jianxing is in charge of Yan Siqi's affairs. Thinking about what happened recently, he should have someone send a message back to the capital..."

The words of the two lead the battlefield to another place in Northeast Asia, and this place has become a battlefield...

"Beep--"

"Clap clap clap!"

A piercing whistle sounded on a beach, followed by the continuous sound of rifles.

Along with the sound of rifle guns, there was another clear sound of fire guns.

The two sides shot at each other, countless people were shot at a time, and people fell down constantly.

Looking carefully, on the beach and the hills not far away, more than [-] short shogunate soldiers and more than [-] tall soldiers are fighting.

The ashigaru armed with bamboo guns advanced under the cover of iron gunners, but every time they advanced, they were repelled by the more than [-] Chinese riflemen, and the battle was intense.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Wars don't just happen on the shore, but more often on the sea.

The artillery sounded, and on the sea seven or eight miles away from the beach, hundreds of ships, large and small, were firing fiercely at each other.

In the center of the battlefield are thirty-two merchant ships of [-] materials, and around them are hundreds of Japanese-style turtle ships with only [-] to [-] materials.

This day was the sixth day of October, and the battlefield took place in Matsuyama Town in the northwest of Shikoku Island, and the two sides were the "rebels" led by the Hachisuka family and Yan Siqi, the vassals of Shikoku Island in the shogunate.

On the second day of May, Yan Siqi, who had been dormant for more than half a year, continued to send ships to trade in the four countries, but after all, he was doing business in other people's territory, so naturally he must be exploited.

However, when the Hachisuka retainers were exploiting, Yan Siqi suddenly appeared, and angrily raised troops on the pretext that he could not bear the exploitation of the Hachisuka family.

For a time, the flames of war burned from Nanguo in the south of Shikoku Island to Kochi. The "rebels" led by Zheng Zhilong had a large number of advanced firecrackers and artillery. In just three days, Kochi fell and his retainers were killed.

Hearing the news of the murder of his retainers, he was in Tokushima Castle. He was already [-] years old. Housekeeper Hachisuka, who had experienced many great battles during the Warring States Period, ordered his son Hachisuka to lead [-] soldiers to the town to conquer, and summoned other retainers.

The flames of war burned the entire Shikoku Island. However, before the town of Hachisuka reached the southern country, news of the loss of each city came in an endless stream.

Some retainers who arrived on the battlefield ahead of time were defeated by Yan Siqi, most of the entire Shikoku Island fell, and the Hachisuka family fell into a defensive situation.

After a month of stalemate and tough battle, the Hachisuka family lost nearly two-thirds of the southwestern and southern areas of Shikoku.

Right now they only have the cities on the east coast and the north coast, and the news of Shikoku is also known by the shogun in Edo, Tokugawa Iemitsu.

When Tokugawa Iemitsu heard that it was Yan Siqi who launched the war, he immediately mobilized the daimyos and troops in the southern part of the island and the area around Kyoto to crusade against Yan Siqi in Shikoku Island.

With the arrival of more than [-] reinforcements, the battlefield was at a stalemate for a while, but Yan Siqi still used strong ships and guns to cut off the foreign aid from Shikoku Island.

The three-month stalemate on land and at sea caused the shogunate to lose thousands of soldiers and countless supplies.

To prevent the majesty of the shogunate from being swept away, Tokugawa Iemitsu immediately mobilized another [-] ashigaru and [-] iron gunners, including [-] turtle ships, to encircle and suppress Yan Siqi.

This battle was fought from September [-]th to October [-]th, and the situation on the battlefield began to tilt significantly.

The first thing that went wrong was the naval battle at sea...

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

When more than a dozen Yanshan five-jin cannons on a three-thousand-material armed merchant ship were fired, several turtle ships that were focused on the fire were pierced in an instant, and the sailors of the shogunate sank into the bottom of the sea together with the warships. This scene was just a battlefield. the epitome of.

"General, I am afraid that this battle will be a narrow escape, and I am willing to repay the general with death!"

Facing the thirty-two warships of three thousand warships of Yan Siqi's rebels, including a turtle ship, Haneda Choyouro, who was in charge of commanding the shogunate navy's expedition, had a tragic look on his face.

Of course he knew that with the hundreds of small warships of the shogunate, it would be almost impossible to defeat the opposing naval forces. This time, he could only repay Tokugawa Iemitsu's kindness with death. up.

Once he made up his mind, Haneda Changyouro couldn't control so much, and passed the order directly.

He ordered the warships to carry more gunpowder and other materials, and set sail to intercept the warships of the rebels. If he could get close, he would ignite the gunpowder on the ship, and perish together with the warships of the rebels.

This tactic is the "fire boat tactic" they learned from Daming during the Wanli Li Dynasty battle.

Using cheap fireboats to destroy valuable and powerful armed merchant ships, it has to be said that this is a way of killing everything, crazy and desperate, but this is the only effective way Haneda Choyouro thought of.

Because if ordinary iron cannons and other objects were used, the shogunate warships would not be able to pose any threat to the tall warships of the rebels, and would be sunk for nothing after that time.

Only with this kind of suicide attack can they stop the warships of the rebels from continuing to block the channel.

Following Haneda Changyouro's order, the more than [-] surviving warships of the shogunate set sail one after another to ram the [-] warships.

These shogunate sailors knew more or less in their hearts that they might not be able to survive this battle, so everyone was full of tragedy.

"These pirates are going to use a fireboat..."

Faced with Haneda Changyouro's fireboat offensive, how could Yan Siqi, Zheng Zhilong and others who are familiar with this method not know?

It was Zheng Zhilong himself who first discovered that they were using the fire boat tactic, but when faced with such a tactic, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.

"Order, prepare to use the underwater dragon king cannon!"

While looking in the direction of the shogunate with binoculars, Zheng Zhilong gave orders extremely calmly. Although he disdained the fighting methods of the shogunate navy, he also reminded his subordinates not to take it lightly and take precautions.

Using fire boat tactics in the hands of Zheng Zhilong and others is tantamount to playing a big knife in front of Guan Gong.

When the eighty shogunate warships braved the wind and waves, they began to narrow the distance with Zheng Zhilong and others little by little.

Their faces were full of nervousness. Since the defeat in the Korean War, the shogunate hadn't used weapons much, and it was inevitable that they would feel a little uncomfortable when they suddenly entered the battle.

"Boom...Boom..."

When the distance between Zheng Zhilong's and others' warship and the shogunate's warship narrowed to two miles, General Yanshan's gun on the warship took the lead in roaring.

The rare low-quality artillery on the shogunate warships could only be passively beaten due to the long distance.

A stone bomb flew down, and splashed water around the shogunate warship.

Although there is no hit yet, everyone knows that the warship will be hit sooner or later...
As long as the distance continues to get closer, the intensive firepower will eventually be able to encounter a few dead mice.

After a quarter of an hour, the artillery of the armed merchant ship finally succeeded, and the dense projectiles hit the four shogunate turtle ships at once.

The stone bullets pierced the deck, and the sailors on the deck jumped into the sea one after another.

Haneda Changyouro, who was supervising the battle on the flagship, had his eyes fixed, and he knew in his heart that it could not continue, otherwise the shogunate navy would not be able to get close to Zheng Zhilong and others.

After thinking about it, he hurriedly asked his subordinates to blow the horn. This signal was to tell all the other warships not to continue to form a battle formation, but to spread out and head directly towards Zheng Zhilong's warship at full speed. .

"Hmph, do you want to get closer at all costs?"

Yan Siqi on the flagship looked at the actions of the shogunate navy and couldn't help but sneer.

Of course he understands the intention of the shogunate navy's move, which is nothing more than completely abandoning the battle formation method, just to get a chance to get close...

As for the tactics after approaching, it is nothing more than a fire attack or a collision with a full load of gunpowder.

Such a move is impossible to hide from Yan Siqi, who is old in battle. After all, as a pirate leader, he has experienced a lot of surface warfare.

"Command, release the underwater dragon king cannon!"

The sailors on the flagship of the Ming Dynasty quickly set up flags to carry out Yan Siqi's orders.

Since the shogunate navy wanted to get closer, they slowed down and created more strike opportunities!

The setting sun was like blood, and there were bursts of roars on the sea, accompanied by splashes of water everywhere, as if playing a final elegy.

"Boom—"

The continuous roar came from the sea, which also made Haneda Choyouro, who was watching the battle, feel desperate.

What kind of predicament is this?If you want to fight, you can't fight, and even the style of fighting with jade and stone will become especially difficult under the command of the opposite general.

It's like a samurai with limbs and limbs, looking for the only chance to cut the opponent's throat with the blade in his mouth!
Difficult, too difficult!

"Boom...long..."

There were two more loud explosions. It turned out that the ship loaded with gunpowder in the shogunate navy was unfortunately hit. The collision of the stone bomb and the stone bomb caused sparks to ignite the gunpowder on board, causing an explosion. The ship was sent to the bottom of the sea in between.

It's just that the distance between the two armies of "Yan Ri" is only a hundred steps at the moment. For the warship, this is just a sprint distance. Seeing this, Haneda Choyouro immediately pulled out the Japanese sword at his waist and roared:

"His Royal Highness is on board!"

"plate……"

"Boom!"

Haneda Changyouro held a samurai sword and led the samurai to scream, but before he could inspire those around him, the warship under their feet hit something floating on the sea.

A sailor was aware of the probe, but in the next second, under the surprised eyes of the sailor, the black object exploded instantly...

"Bam—"

With the sound of continuous explosions, all the underwater dragon king cannons that Yan Siqi ordered to put down all began to explode, and a large number of shogunate turtle ships were blown and sank into the sea.

Some sailors who jumped off the ship were also stabbed to death in the sea by the sailors ordered by Yan Siqi with spears more than two feet long, leaving their bodies floating...

　Update around four to five o'clock, my hand hurts recently, so it's even later
　　
　
(End of this chapter)