The Rise of the European Emperor

Novel Network

Not to mention, Da Gama's "pirate mode" really hit the weakness of the Ming Dynasty. Because the country has been in peace for many years, the southeast coastal areas have become relatively prosperous. At the same time, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in the southeast guard also declined sharply. Otherwise, there would not be a situation where a little bit of Japanese pirates would set off huge waves during the Jiajing period decades later.

Although the coastal area of ​​Guangdong is not as prosperous as the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it has been stable for many years because pirates have not yet emerged. Coupled with the warm climate, it is also rich in products.

At first, da Gama was still intimidated by the guards along the coast. Because, he listened to Sun Wei's bragging, and thought that each guard had five or six thousand people, and the fighting power was very strong.

However, when attacking the coastal towns, Da Gama was surprised to find that the guards of the Ming army did not come to reinforce them in time...

How did he know that those Guangdong coastal guards had been terrified long ago. Don't talk about reinforcements, it's not bad to scare away the road...

After hundreds of years of living a stable life, the soldiers of the Southern Guard have long since lost their ambitions and become more and more like farmers. Only the guards on the northern border and the southwestern border can retain some combat effectiveness because they often fight. Most of the guard soldiers on the southeast coast are no different from timid farmers.

However, although these guard soldiers dare not go out to fight in the city, they still have a way of guarding the city. Da Gama's Portuguese sailors encountered strong resistance when they tried to besiege Haifeng County, Huizhou Prefecture. The main reason is that Haifeng has a Haifeng guarding thousands of households, and there is a Jiesheng guarding thousands of households in the east south of the city. Seeing the Fanyi attack, more than 1,000 soldiers and horses from the two thousand households all retreated into the county seat, and mobilized the strong men in the city to defend Haifeng County. These guard soldiers may not dare to fight in the field, but with the city wall as a support, they have increased a lot of courage. Moreover, they can force the strong men in the city to stand in front as cannon fodder...

Da Gama's soldiers were sailors after all, not professional soldiers. Facing the stubborn defense of the two thousand households, there is nothing to do. Due to the lack of siege equipment and experience, Da Gama could only leave after looting several undefended small towns in the area.

Then, Da Gama summed up a set of looting experience-sneak attack on the county town if it can, and once the sneak attack fails, give up the attack and turn to looting of nearby towns. In this way, although the harvest is not big each time, but the accumulation of small amounts makes a lot of money, but also a lot of wealth. The only thing that made Da Gama dissatisfied was that there were not many silks in those towns, only more cotton cloth. After all, the wealthy families and officials of the Ming Dynasty basically lived in the city, and most of the silk shops opened in the city. Generally, there are very few silk sellers in small towns. After all, in a town, there are only a few rich households who can afford silk. And those rich families are able to go to the city to buy clothes. Therefore, silk shops are generally opened in the city.

Da Gama's looting of coastal towns in Guangdong finally attracted the attention of the Ming Dynasty officials. Chen Jin, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was currently in Fujiang to put down the peasant uprising of Wang Gongxun. He was leading an army of tens of thousands to besiege the Fujiang Peasant Army, unable to escape, so he ordered Xi Haidao's deputy envoy Wang Hung to command 10,000 guards and hundreds of warships from the Guangdong Navy to destroy the pirates of Folangji...

When it comes to Wang Hung, one has to mention the Franc cannon. Because, in real history, it was Wang Hung who was the first to advocate "teaching barbarians to control barbarians". The Fran cannon was also salvaged by Wang Hung from the sunk Portuguese warship and was the first to imitate it.

Of course, in this time and space, Wang Hung's credit for imitating the Furang machine gun in the first place is gone. Because, Marin had already presented the Franc cannon,

And the method of manufacturing the Francois machine gun. Even the Napoleon cannon was presented.

At this time, the Nantouhai Road Department where Wang Hung was stationed had four 12-pound Napoleon guns distributed here from Guangzhou...

Wang Hung was sitting in the office of Nantou Haidao Bureau, stroking his beard and thinking about things. Not long after, the soldiers came to report:

"Master Deputy Envoy, I have already found out. Those Frangji pirates originally had 30 large ships with powerful guns. But at the Humen Fort, two ships were damaged by the "Pinglu Cannon" of the fort. Those two ships were later said to have headed south, and they probably returned to the old lair of the Frangji for repairs. The remaining 28 enemy ships were all hidden in a hundred miles south of Nantou City Walled, which is called Xiangjiang Island by the locals. A port south of the deserted island, and use this as a base to harass me along the coast of Guangdong..."

(Hong Kong Island officially appeared in the document, probably in the Wanli period. At this time, the term Hong Kong was only used by the people, and the local area had not been developed.)

"Hiding in the south of Xiangjiang Island? Two ships were injured by the 'Pinglu Cannon'?" Wang Hung stroked his beard and thought for a long time before ordering:

"Continue to search for news, and at the same time, look for a good place to land on the north shore of Xiangjiang Island."

After his subordinates left, Wang Hung took out a blank memorial and began to write a memorial to report, asking the court to allocate more "Pinglu Cannon" for support.

Obviously, the warships of Flangji and Fanyi were afraid of the "Pinglu Cannon". If there were enough "Pinglu Cannons" to bombard them, Fanyi's ships would definitely not be able to stand it.

Wang Hung planned to carry dozens of "Pinglu Cannons" to land on the north shore of Xiangjiang Island, and then march into the hiding place of the Frangji on the south bank, and use the "Pinglu Cannons" to bombard the enemy's warships...

However, at present, only the Bingzhan Bureau of the capital has the technology to cast "Pinglu Cannon". Therefore, he can only wait for the time being. In addition, the mobilization of 10,000 soldiers and hundreds of warships also takes time. With the efficiency of the Ming army, it can't be done well in one or two months. If we wait any longer, it is estimated that the imperial court's "Pinglu Cannon" has been sent over...

But if you don't do anything during this time, it doesn't seem good. After all, he has a heavy responsibility now, and he can't do nothing. Maybe it's useless to do it, but in the officialdom, the most important thing is to make a gesture to show the superior. Even if you are doing useless work, you must let Shangguan see that you have "worked hard"...

Therefore, while waiting for the army and the imperial court to provide more "cannons for suppressing captives", Wang Hung also summoned all his advisers and generals with rich experience in naval warfare to offer advice and suggestions.

At this time, a hundred households named Zhou Cang suddenly said:

"Master Deputy Ambassador, have you ever heard of 'Water Ghost'?"

"Water ghost?" Wang Hung frowned and said displeasedly:

"Zibuyu is strange and confused..."

Zhou Cang coughed and said:

"Your Excellency Deputy Envoy misunderstood. The 'water ghosts' you humblely mentioned are not ghosts and gods, but a kind of strange soldiers in water battles."

Zhou Cang was not an officer in the past, but the leader of the Pearl River Estuary pirates who had been recruited. Therefore, he is more proficient in water warfare than everyone present here. Zheng Yuan from Qianhu of Nantou Institute introduced Zhou Cang's past to Wang Hung in a low voice.

Wang Hung nodded, motioning for Zhou Cang to continue...

Zhou Cang continued:

"The so-called 'water ghosts' are those pirates that are especially good at water. Their task is to dive to the bottom of the enemy's ship with a sharp axe, and use the sharp axe to pierce the bottom of the enemy's ship, causing it to leak and sink..."

"Wait, I heard that there are multiple compartments under the ship. Even if one compartment is flooded, the ship will not sink, right? Just close this compartment, and the ship can hold up, and then repair it..." Wang Hong interrupted . Because he inspected the coastal defense of Guangdong, he learned a lot of knowledge about water warfare in advance, but it's not like he didn't understand anything.

Zhou Cang smiled and said:

"What your lord said is my ship, Daming. But as far as I went to Nanlang Town to inquire about it, the bottom of Flangji's ship is a whole empty cabin. Once there is a leak, if the leak cannot be plugged in time, it will inevitably Flooded and sunk!"

"People from Nanlang Town have been on the boat of the Frangji people?" Wang Hong was puzzled.

"Yes, the Frangji people robbed a lot of property and food in Nanlang Town. Then, they forced the local villagers to carry these materials on board and put them in the bottom cabin. Therefore, many local people have boarded the Flangji People’s warships have all been lowered into the bilges. I asked humbly, those Frangji warships seem to have only one cabin in the bilges. Once flooded, the possibility of sinking is extremely high!”

"Well, I order you to select a group of soldiers with the best water skills from the water village, and practice the method of diving and digging the bottom of the ship. If the water skills in the army are not good enough, go to the civilians to recruit, and make sure to gather enough water. Ghost', used to chisel Frangman's boat!"

"Obey!" Zhou Cang gladly accepted the order...

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