The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 305

"Major Lopez," Du Chen turned around and nodded to the officer, "there are more than 4000 enemies, and according to Castro, they are very different from the Ming army in the past. It seems that their combat effectiveness is not weak."

"It's only four thousand Orientals." Lopez shook his head disapprovingly. "My lord, when two thousand Helan soldiers and more than a dozen warships attacked Macau, we had fewer people than we have now. What happened in the end? We still They were driven away by walls and cannons.

"What we are worried about is that the Ming Dynasty will cut off our food and fresh water sources. In the past, we had to succumb because of this."

"They will still do it this time." Du Chen said in frustration.

"No, it's different this time." Lopez immediately said, "My lord, did you forget that Alfredo's three boats are parked in the inner harbor?"

Alfredo?Du Chen immediately realized that this was a Spanish businessman who bought grain at a high price in the Ming Dynasty a while ago, so he shipped three major shipments to Zhao'an.

Unexpectedly, as soon as his ship was halfway there, news came that the Helan people had slaughtered Spanish merchant ships at sea.He was unwilling to give up this big deal easily, so he temporarily parked the ship in the port of Macau, and paid a berthing fee for this.

"What does the major mean?"

"The food was requisitioned during the war. It is enough for our soldiers and helpers to eat for more than four months."

"But it would piss off the Spaniards."

"Your Excellency, I also think this method is feasible." Castro said aside, "As long as Macau can be obtained permanently, we can even compensate Alfredo's loss three times and four times, and he should be satisfied.

"Compared to our future earnings in the Far East, this amount of money is nothing.

"And according to my judgment, we will only use a small part of these grains. I believe that Governor Ding will definitely make a big disturbance in Wuzhou in at least a month. At that time, the arrogant auxiliary king will have to withdraw his troops to deal with Guangxi. the emperor."

Du Chen looked at the confident eyes of his two subordinates, one civil and one military, and nodded slowly: "It seems that this is the only way.

"Major Lopez, I authorize you to requisition the food in the Spanish merchant ships and lead troops to move them into the city. In addition, stock up more fresh water and ammunition to prepare for the defense of the city."

He also told Castro, "I will leave it to you to negotiate with Ming people, and try to find a way to delay their pace."

"As you order, my lord governor."

Seeing the two of them turn around, Du Chen hesitated and said: "If, Governor Ding..." He swallowed, "If we fail to win the war, then we will be in big trouble."

"My lord, you are worrying too much." Castro said, "Governor Ding's main force is 6000 people, and there will be thousands of reinforcements from Yunnan soon. With such a superior force, to defeat the auxiliary king should be Not a problem."

Lopez also added from the side: "The batch of heavy artillery purchased by Ding was transported away more than ten days ago, and it should be delivered to Wuzhou soon. Even if these large artillery pieces are handed over to idiots, they can easily defeat the four thousand Easterners." .”

When the two said this, they couldn't help but looked at each other with confidence and smiled.

……

At noon on the second day after Carlos left, the main force of the Dragon Guards, all made of mules and horses, had already passed the lotus stem road connecting Xiangshan and Macau, looking at the city of Macau in the distance.

What appeared in Zhu Linming's binoculars was a small town of sixty or seventy feet square.

The city wall was built with silt, gravel, and grass ash mixed with oyster shell powder. It is only about two feet high, but also two feet thick, and the outward side has an obvious slope.This kind of low and thick city wall seems to be used to defend against cannons.

Gein The main challenges the Portuguese faced in Macau came from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. They often came with warships and carried a large number of artillery to attack the city.

As for Daming, it is not the imaginary enemy of the Portuguese at all.On the one hand, they still have to do business with Daming, and on the other hand, they are more afraid that the Xiangshan government will cut off their water and food, so they mainly use bribery and deception to deal with Daming.

Fortunately, the Portuguese did not build a bastion here, so it seems that they did not dare to be too presumptuous.Zhu Linmei carefully observed the structure of the city wall of Macau. Although there are eight or nine cannons on each side of the city wall, it is indeed a single-layer structure. If it is really a strong attack, it is much simpler than a bastion with multiple layers of defense.

Not far away, Zhang Jiayu came quickly, and when he got close, he saluted: "My lord, the army has formed camp seven miles north of the city."

He glanced at the city wall of Macau again, and continued: "My lord, these red barbarians have no intention of agreeing to your request. At noon, there were barbarians who sent 3000 taels of silver to persuade my lord not to attack the city. I cursed and went back. It is said that they transferred to Xuanqing to bribe...

"The Yi people are not dead, so let's attack the city immediately, why should we extend their time limit?"

Zhu Linmei nodded and said: "I know that the barbarians will not give in easily. They have entrenched here for hundreds of years, and they have long regarded Macau as their own territory. How can they let it go without suffering a little bit.

"I reserved these two days for the marching and repairing of the Dragon Guards, so that the Guangzhou Coast Guard and the inspectors of the Haidao Shi can have time to lead their troops here."

He patted Zhang Jiayu's shoulder again, and said with a smile: "However, what Yuanzi did was inappropriate."

Zhang Jiayu hurriedly said, "My lord, please make it clear."

"Falang Ji Baba came to give us military pay, but you refused to accept it, how chilling." Zhu Lin said, "You immediately order, as long as they come to send money, they will accept it and hand it over to you. When looking back to build Macau, there will be more places to spend money."

Zhang Jiayu was taken aback, then cupped his hands and said, "My lord, then we won't attack the city?"

"What is Yuanzi talking about?" Zhu Linming pretended to be serious, "Macao is my land of the Ming Dynasty, how can foreigners steal it? If you want to fight, you have to fight!"

"Yes, my subordinates understand."

To say that the Portuguese were honest enough, until half an hour before the Dragon Guards began to attack the Portuguese city of Macau, some people sent more than 2000 taels of silver to Xia Fu first.So far, more than a dozen officers of the Dragon Guards have received bribes, totaling nearly 4 taels.

Of course, during the period, there were Xiangshan county magistrates, Yongmo general soldiers and others who came to persuade Zhu Linmi, saying that "the red barbarians are humble and responsible, and they can be educated with rites" and so on.

Zhu Linmi drove them away directly, and then ordered Jinyiwei Nanzhen to investigate the background of these people carefully.

……

As Zhu Linming expected, the two-day deadline had expired, and the Portuguese did not express anything at all. On the contrary, it could be seen that a large number of soldiers gathered on the top of the city, ready to go to war with real guns and ammunition.

Under the city of Macau, Zhu Linming looked at her pocket watch and said to Zhang Jiayu, "It's time, let's attack the city."

"Yes!"

At the same time, the Guangzhou Haifang Tongzhi, who was supposed to be in charge of Macau's defense, was also ordered by Zhu Linmi to lead five or six hundred soldiers to seal off all routes leading to Macau and prohibit anyone from entering or leaving.

(End of this chapter)