The Sun and the Lion

In early March of 1504, the mighty Calicut army had arrived outside the city of Cochin. A total of 50,000 troops were stationed on the land on the other side of the lagoon, with camps lined up for several miles. On the water in the distance, various types of ships, ranging from sampans to large merchant ships, floated on the water. The decks were filled with sailors holding bows, arrows and sharp blades. From a distance, the sea and land were covered with Zamorin's siege troops. , so spectacular.

Faced with such power, Pereira, who was on the tower of the wall, was not afraid at all. He first focused on Calicut's fleet. In his opinion, the key to victory lay on the water.

Two caravels of the Portuguese fleet, carrying artillery, joined Cochin's fleet in blocking the passage between the ocean and the lagoon, so that the ships stayed close together to put themselves as close as possible to the range of the fort's guns.

Seeing that Cochin had deployed all its ships to fight, the Calicut fleet led with large ships, intending to directly disrupt the enemy fleet and then join forces. However, the wind direction at this time was not conducive to them. In the eyes of the Portuguese gunners, , these huge dhows are slowly moving targets.

"Fire!" The German in charge of commanding the artillery judged that the time was ripe for firing and issued the order to the mixed team of German, Flemish and Portuguese gunners above and below the deck.

The sound of the naval gun made the Calicuts panic. The shells that followed pierced the hull, and the splash of wood chips killed many Indian sailors below the deck.

The artillery deployed on the side of the fortress facing the sea also provided fire support for the fleet with Pereira's permission, but because the distance was too far, the hit rate of this shelling was obviously not as good as Caravel's naval guns.

At this time, the warships rushing forward were in an embarrassing situation of neither advancing nor retreating due to damage to their hulls or cowardice, directly blocking the forward passage of the ships behind them, and the Calicut fleet was in chaos.

This allowed the Portuguese-Cochin fleet to calmly stand and output. The shells fired by the Portuguese naval guns and the arrows fired by the Indian archers fell like raindrops, constantly killing the enemy sailors in the front.

However, there are only two Caravel ships that can be used as floating forts. On the two wings outside the gun range, some smaller Calicut ships have already rushed over. The Cochin and Calicut archers are shooting at each other, because the sailors are not even protected. Few, each round of shooting can make them incapacitated.

The springboard and ropes hooked the side of the ship, and the Indian sailors holding weapons rushed towards the enemy ships and fought with each other. For a while, they couldn't tell the difference between the superior and the inferior.

Due to their numerical superiority, the Cochin sailors were forced back one after another, some ships were captured, and some brave people tried to hinder the Calicut offensive by self-immolation, but they failed due to time constraints.

When the battle line shrank to the lagoon, the fort's artillery fired again. The gunners helped the Cochin fleet stabilize its position and did not let the enemy rush into the lagoon. Pereira breathed a sigh of relief.

The fleet commander in Calicut saw that his own ships had become fixed targets for enemy artillery. The hulls of ships in the front row had been damaged by artillery shells and were sinking. After weighing the pros and cons, he decisively abandoned the ships in the front row that could no longer be evacuated, and the ships in the rear row retreated from the battle.

The chaotic retreat of the Indian ships made the Portuguese realize that they had won the first battle. The lookouts on the mast platform of Caravel were the first to cheer, and the atmosphere of joy spread throughout the ship.

From the perspective of the fortress defenders, the contrast between the flags flying proudly on the masts of our own warships and the enemy's embarrassment of abandoning the broken ships and retreating sailors was even more obvious. A missionary who was watching the whole battle decided to convey this Scenes were painted to promote the great exploits of the Portuguese Kingdom.

However, this was only the beginning of the siege, and the Portuguese-Cochin fleet had not yet been able to break the blockade. Moreover, Zamorin did not know about the fleet's failure at this time, and did not take action until the tide ebbed in the afternoon.

Since the siege camp and the Cochin Fort were blocked by lagoons and rivers, passable shoals were the only option for the siege troops, and Zamorin also specifically chose low tide every day so that the soldiers could quickly pass through the shoals.

What Zamorin could think of, Pereira naturally responded to. He observed the daily tidal phenomena to record the approximate time when each shoal was suitable for passage, which allowed him to try to predict the direction of Zamorin's attack and deploy troops in advance for defense.

The Nair warriors who were approaching the ford found that the area they were about to pass was blocked by obstacles deployed by the Portuguese - sharp wooden stakes linked by iron chains.

The Nair warrior stepped forward to move the obstacle away, and after several failed attempts, he planned to use weapons, axes and other tools to chop it into pieces. Find Shuyuan www.zhaｏshuyuａ.com

"boom!"

The sudden loud noise startled everyone present. Revolving gun shells fell into the crowd, followed by lead bullets from matchlock guns. The sampans near the shoal would not sit back and watch the Calicut army's actions.

In addition to the original boats of the Portuguese fleet, Pereira also collected as many boats as possible from Cochin Port that could maneuver in the river, and laid thick planks to strengthen the ship's sides.

The Calicut archers on the shore tried to shoot at the sampan. The Portuguese who huddled behind the baffle did not waste ammunition and fired at the Indian archers. The lead bullets flying out of the firing holes were still directed at the Nair warriors on the shoal. go.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Cochin soldiers who were ambushing behind the ford poured out of the building and rushed towards the ford to attack the Calicuts. Although the Cochin people were also unable to cross the fence and fortifications, the Calicut people, who were already in a mess, did not care so much and retreated before the enemy troops could rush in front of them.

"Your Majesty." The noble responsible for commanding the battle knelt in front of Zamorin: "Our soldiers suffered a setback in the shoal and have now retreated..."

"What setback?" Zamorin asked back.

The officer hesitated, which finally aroused his anger: "I saw everything about the battle just now. Don't even think about deceiving your master. Today is just a tentative attack. If it fails, it will fail. But you failed to tell Any valuable enemy sentiments I have are all witnessed by myself!"

When the last word came out of Zamorin's mouth, the officer's posture had changed from kneeling to sitting paralyzed. His muscles were still trembling slightly because of panic, and his forehead was dripping with sweat.

After reprimanding the person in charge of the attack, Zamorin began to rearrange the next attack deployment based on the information he observed.