The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 307 Fire Suppression
Lopez only glanced at it and knew that there were at least a thousand people. He was shocked and hurriedly ordered the soldiers to return to the city wall.

He wanted to mobilize soldiers from the east and west to assist in the defense, but his adjutant reported that Ming troops from other directions were also surrounding him at the same time, so he had to give up.

When the Portuguese soldiers on the north wall repositioned, the infantry mounted Spanish heavy muskets on the parapet and aimed down the city, while the artillerymen frantically adjusted their muzzles and prepared to load shells.

"Steady!" Lopez personally commanded, "The enemy is still far away!"

And just as he finished speaking, he heard a deafening bang, and in an instant more than 20 shells accurately hit the city wall of Macau, causing all the soldiers to stagger.

Lopez's face changed drastically. Why did the Ming army suddenly have so many cannons? Then why did they only shoot with seven or eight cannons just now.

He naturally didn't know that according to Zhu Linmi's arrangement, all 24 cannons of the Dragon Guard Artillery were divided into three groups, and they had been firing test shots in turns.

In the shelling of about an hour before, all the artillerymen have gone through dozens of attempts to find out the shooting parameters for accurately hitting the city wall.

All they did was to be able to fire salvos at the moment of the infantry's strong attack, and suppress the Portuguese with the most intensive shelling.

More than 20 shells poured down on the city wall less than [-] feet wide at an extremely fast speed. In particular, another shell landed on the top of the wall, smashing five or six people into pieces in an instant, and fell far into the city.

All the soldiers guarding the city turned pale with shock. It's not that they haven't experienced shelling, but the rate of fire of Ming army cannons is faster than that of muskets, and their accuracy is extremely high. Almost every shot can hit the city wall.

You must know that the training volume of the Dragon Guard artillery is greater than that of the French army, which is known as the head of European artillery.At the same time, their aiming skills and sights are also superior to those of the contemporary gunners. In addition, there are fixed ammunition packs and ignition tubes to increase the rate of fire. These more than 20 guns burst into fire regardless of loss, and the suppression effect even exceeds the Portuguese. Ten cannons!
The hands of the Portuguese artillerymen who carried the gunpowder and shells were trembling. After a long time, one of the eight cannons on the north side of the city finally finished loading.

The gunner was about to give the order to fire, when he looked down the city, he saw the cavalry of the Ming army had rushed two or three hundred yards away from the city wall.This distance should be best shot with shotguns. He hesitated for a moment, but he didn't dare to waste any more time to change the shells. He shouted, "Fire!"

At the same time, the cavalry of the Ming army under the city unexpectedly raised their guns at the same time, sitting on the saddle, aiming at the city of Macau for the first round of salvo.

The Portuguese at the head of the city were not afraid, not to mention that it was impossible to shoot accurately at such a long distance. When the musket was fired upwards, the bullets would not be able to fly so far.

But the Portuguese artillery commander heard a muffled hum around him, but he didn't hear the cannon.He hurriedly looked back, and saw that his firing hand and loading hand were shot in the head and chest respectively, and they were already lying in a pool of blood.

How can this be? !He looked around in horror, and at least 20 more Portuguese soldiers were killed on the top of the city. This was because of the parapet covering them, otherwise the casualties would have more than doubled!
The Dragon Guards who had already shot under the city quickly got off their horses to reload their ammunition, and another group of soldiers behind them rushed up and fired another salvo towards the head of the city.After the third group of soldiers finished shooting, the soldiers who fired for the first time were almost finished loading...

After a long time, the Portuguese gunner who had lost his ignition and loader finally climbed to the side of the cannon, picked up the ignition rod and fired the first shot.

But then, the dense Minnie bullets under the city shot towards his head and face, and the bullets jingled on the cannon, scaring him to get under the cannon quickly, not daring to move an inch.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Thousand Dragon Guards on the north side of Macau had already suppressed the Portuguese at the top of the city.

In the city of Macau, all the Portuguese musketeers were stunned by the first two salvos of the Dragon Guards, and they hid under the parapet tremblingly, not daring to show their heads again.

Their muskets could barely reach the Ming army when they were shooting down. Originally, they were much smaller in number, and they only relied on their condescending shooting advantage.

But right now, this advantage is gone in front of the advanced muskets of the Dragon Guards.Under such circumstances, no one dared to shoot at the Ming army whose number was ten times larger than them.

In fact, even if the Portuguese shot at each other desperately, with the shooting accuracy of the muskets in their hands, I am afraid that they would have been killed before causing any damage.

Lopez also crouched under the parapet, and he glanced around. In just a moment, more than [-]% of the soldiers defending the city had been lost.The cannons on the city completely misfired after being fired twice - you need to stand up to operate the cannons, and the enemy's firepower below the city is not only dense but also extremely precise, standing up is simply death!

Why hasn't anyone come for reinforcements yet? !He looked anxiously at the east and west sides of the city. He hadn't heard any movement from the battle on either side, so he should be able to mobilize troops, so it's quick!

But then, another series of muffled noises came from under the city, and then two extra-large iron balls fell from the sky and landed in front of Lopez.The cannonball smashed up gravel and clods of soil flying all over the sky, and several people were killed immediately.

Lopez gritted his teeth and looked down the city. He saw two short, dark cannons mounted less than [-] yards from the city, and Ming soldiers were loading shells into the barrels.

Mortar... He suddenly felt cold.

Below the city are the two 24-pound mortars of the Dragon Guards.

Because this kind of curved cannon could not break through the city wall, it could only kill and injure the people in the city. In the previous siege battles of the Dragon Guards, such as the siege of Nanchang, most of the people in the city were Ming people.Therefore, these two cannons have never had a chance to play since they were built.

But this time when Macao was attacked, the city was basically full of Portuguese and some Luzon helpers, so there was no need to feel bad about the explosion, so Zhu Linmi ordered Chen Xiongfei to bring the mortars without hesitation.

Two large tank-like mortars fired non-stop into the city, and the 24-pound iron ball was shot into the air at an extremely high angle.

Later, soldiers of the Dragon Guards spared no time in erecting dozens of siege ladders on the city wall of Macau.A low city like Macau, which is two feet high, can be climbed by soldiers with better skills in almost two or three strides.

Du Chen looked numbly at the ruins not far from his office. Just now, a huge shell hit there, and now the city is full of panic.

Immediately, a soldier covered in blood rushed in through the door and said in a panic, "Master Governor, Major Lopez asked me to tell you... the defenders in the north of the city have lost their combat effectiveness...

"In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, he requests your approval to surrender."

(End of this chapter)