Lu Ming

Chapter 546 Portuguese Anti-Japanese War Preparation ([-])
April 1631th, 4, a short time before the ultimatum.

A large group of Portuguese aristocrats, led by Governor Jerome Noshvira, came to Gao Ke Ning Street, which was previously called Zhu Pao Xie Lane. In the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to Zhuzishi Village in Haojingaoxi Inspection of the Bugarao Cannon Factory.

This is what the title should mean.In the face of the coming war, the leader must inspect the military industry department.

In other words, the Macau Bucarao Cannon Factory has also been regarded as a provincial and ministerial excellent enterprise in history.

Since the Portuguese occupied Macau back then, they were often harassed by various pirates and British and Dutch hooligans, so as early as the 36th year of Jiajing, Portuguese cannon expert Pedro Bucarao opened a cannon factory here.

Since its inception, the Bugarao Cannon Factory has cast two products, copper cannon and iron cannon.Among them, the iron cannons were mainly produced by Chinese laborers, while the copper cannons, which were expensive and had higher technical content, were manufactured by the Portuguese under the command of Bucarao himself.

Due to the excellent quality of the products of the Bogarao Cannon Factory, the cannons not only have a long range but also are durable, so the reputation was quickly spread, and it became the most famous weapons factory in the Far East.

In the years that followed, the Bucarao Cannon Factory not only provided all the cannons for the forts in Macau, but also provided its products to armed merchant ships from various countries that stopped in Macau.Colonies in East Asia, including the Philippines, also sent people to purchase artillery.

Even the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the capital heard the reputation of the Bugarao Cannon Factory.As early as 7 years ago during the Tianqi period, the Ming court purchased 4 guns from Macau.And just 2 years ago, Emperor Chongzhen also bought 10 cannons with money, and named the Macau cannons placed on the Beijing tower as "General Shenwei".

But in the plane of crossing the public, the Bugarao Cannon Factory is still busy.

Bogarao is a middle-aged Portuguese with wavy black hair and a wrinkled face.Although he was wearing overalls when he greeted the big shots, with a smoky face and calloused and oily hands, but due to the important position of the gun factory in Macau, Bucarao has a considerable status among the high-level people in Macau , In other words, he was originally a member of the high-level people.

"Dear gentlemen, what you see now is the bell casting workshop."

In history, the Bugarao Cannon Factory was only for casting cannons when it was first built. Later, when it expanded in scale, it added bell casting business.After all, casting bells and casting cannons are both large metal castings, which have the same purpose.And in this era, there is a huge demand for bronze bells in both the East and the West.There are monasteries in the west, and monk temples in the east. These are rich and powerful households that are analogous to state-owned enterprises. It is right for the artillery factory to cast bells.

However, following the fingers of the director of Bugarao, the current bell casting workshop is completely in shambles.In addition to the empty sheds and pits, there are only some scattered wooden and iron workpieces. There are no workers, and the furnace has not fired.

Soon, the councilors understood: "Has the business of casting bells stopped?"

Bugarao bowed sadly: "Actually, as early as three months ago, all bell casting business stopped, gentlemen."

Things are constantly interacting and changing.In the plane of the traveler, the life of the Bogarao Cannon Factory is not easy.

First of all, as early as 2 years ago, Macao, which has historically imported copper from Japan, was cut off by the crossing crowd.

At that time, Travelers used the right to export raw silk to win over big Japanese businessmen, and then cut off the purchase channels of the Dutch and Portuguese through the Japanese high-level in one fell swoop.

After that, as the power of crossing became stronger and stronger, patrol ships spread all over the east and west of the strait, and the Japanese copper and silver mines were increasingly unable to pass this level, and were all intercepted by the crossing crowd to Taijiang Wharf.

As a result, the sources of copper mines for the Portuguese in Macao became increasingly scarce, and they could only be supplemented by smuggling from the Ming Dynasty and India.This has caused the business of the Bogarao Gun Factory to shrink.

Then in the last six months, as the relationship between the "Cao and Pu" parties deteriorated day by day, the Bugarao Cannon Factory simply stopped the copper bell business.The Portuguese are not fools. Since the military pressure on this plane has increased greatly, the limited metal resources must be deployed in preparation for war.

After walking past the empty shed, not far ahead is the bustling cannon casting workshop.

In the workshop where a large amount of charcoal, copper and iron materials are piled up, there are gray colors everywhere, and suffocating dust floats in the pungent air.After arriving here, the gentlemen covered their mouths and noses with their silk handkerchiefs.

A large number of shirtless workers with cloth kerchiefs covering their faces are casting cannons with various tools.They diverted the molten iron and copper from the iron smelting furnace to the molds placed on the ground, and then followed the standard operating procedures to produce a series of bronze and iron cannons by using the ancient clay mold casting method.

"Have the Ming workers left yet?"

Andrade, who is the clerk of the Macau City Council, couldn't help asking curiously when he saw that there were many yellow-skinned Ming people with hair buns among the workers.

"Some Ming workers have left." Bu Jialuo nodded: "But there are still many left. After all, the artillery factory has increased their salaries. You know, those who go back will face unemployment. Life in Ming is very difficult. huge pressure."

"How is the readiness of the artillery?"

Governor Shivela, who was in charge of actual combat readiness, interjected a little impatiently at this time.As commander-in-chief on the Portuguese side of the war, he was closest to Alexander.The Commander didn't have the time to study the survival pressure of Ming workers, but directly asked about the aspects he cared about the most.

"Your Excellency, in addition to the orders that have been delivered to the various forts, in the last week, the artillery factory has rushed to work on 20 artillery pieces of various pounds, including six 6-pound bronze cannons and two 18-pound cannons."

"Very well, that's the only good news I've heard today."

The governor's beard on his face was tilted at an angle: "Can you provide more bronze artillery? Dear Mr. Bogarao, as you know, our opponents also have excellent artillery. We've been shown it on the gunboat."

"My lord, what you see now are the cannons we made with the last batch of copper materials. There are about fifteen of them."

Bugarao stretched out his arm and waved slowly: "The artillery factory has been unable to obtain enough copper materials for a long time, so it can only increase the number of cast iron cannons. However, our artillery shells are sufficient. The smugglers from the Ming Dynasty brought them Lots of pig iron."

"My dear gentlemen, this is an obvious question."

Governor Shivela said loudly after hearing the words: "If this war follows our concept, it will be a protracted war. We need a large number of artillery to bring casualties that the Ming government cannot bear, so that we can get a decent job." postwar agreement."

"There will be assistance." Speaker Ralo gave the governor a reassurance at this time: "The representatives of the parliament have now met with the governor of the Philippines. If it is calculated according to the sailing schedule, the Spaniards will definitely assist us. Lost Here, they also suffer losses."

After inspecting the sweltering workshop of the Bugarao Cannon Factory, the gentlemen probably wanted to have a change of air, so the gentlemen came to the beautiful Fortress again.

Mount Fortress is located on the side of the Ruins of St. Paul's in later generations, on a small hill with an altitude of 52 meters in the middle of the Macau Peninsula. It is one of the main places of interest in Macau.

The Big Fort is also known as St. Paul's Fort, Central Fort or Ruins Fort.Construction began here as early as 1616 AD during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are several forts inside and outside the small city of Macau, the Ruins of St. Paul's is the largest, the best location, and the strongest garrison. It is undoubtedly the core of Macau city's defense.

The Fortress of Macau in the [-]th century has very practical military significance, and it is still different from the tourist scenic spots of later generations.

Although there is also a large open space above, it lacks green shade and towering old trees.In addition, there are no cultural relics and historical buildings on the current fort, such as the ancient tower of the Society of Jesus.In fact, apart from a circle of low brick buildings used to garrison troops, there are no redundant buildings inside the fort.

In terms of scale, Mount Fortress is actually a small pocket town.The side length of the fort is about 100 meters, and the four corners of the walls protrude to form a bastion.The fort wall is built on a 3.7-meter-wide granite foundation, built with rammed earth, and solidified with oyster shell powder as cement, which is very strong.

The wall of the big fortress is about 9 meters high and narrows upwards to a width of 2.7 meters.The female wall is about 2 meters high and has a crenelated shape, which can accommodate up to 32 cannons.

In the history of the Fort, there are only blockhouses at the two corners of the southeast wall.As for the northwest wall facing the Ming Dynasty, the female wall is shorter and has no muzzle.This is mainly because the Portuguese showed their focus on the defense of the outer seas and their friendly attitude towards the Ming Dynasty officials at that time.

On this plane, however, everything is different.

As early as a year ago, the northwest female wall of the Ruins of St. Paul's Fortress was intermittently reinforced and heightened, and artillery positions were set up.

Recently, the Portuguese not only dug the foundation outside the fort in the northwest, built a brick wall flush with the ground, but also prepared a large amount of construction materials, including the red bricks and cement they bought at a high price.

Then counting from the day when the ultimatum was received, today, 6 days later, on the side of the Ruins of St. Paul's facing the Ming Dynasty, a solid blockhouse has been built out of thin air.On the cannon muzzle of the female wall at the top, there is also a cannon muzzle shining with blue light.

When the gentlemen came to the fort, the soldiers were busy, making preparations for the battle.

The soldiers stationed on the cannon are not hired goods of varying levels, they are regular Portuguese soldiers.

These soldiers uniformly wear brown jackets, jackets and shirts.They wore a wide tie around their necks, and they wore shorts, leggings, and leather shoes.All soldiers wear Western-style bonnets with white or gold bands on their heads.In addition, those with bright feathers on their hats are military officers.

The soldiers stationed on the entire Ruins of St. Paul's Fort have expanded to 400 due to the war.

These people included 200 garrison artillery, and 200 guards composed of musketeers and spearmen.

In addition, in the city of Macau not far behind the fort, there is a reinforcement channel, and troops can be added to the fort at any time.

This large bastion full of irregular lines is the confidence of the Portuguese.

(End of this chapter)