Lu Ming

Chapter 550 Ming-Portuguese War ([-])

The 150mm astronomical telescope manufactured in later generations clearly fed back the image of the Portuguese on the Macau Fort into the eyepiece.

This kind of electronic telescope with a tripod was originally used to observe the stars in the sky, but today it is used to see the red-haired man, and it can be seen equally clearly.

The location of the lotus stem gate is actually near the later Macao port.It is only a straight-line distance of 2 kilometers from the Ruins of St. Paul's where the fort is located.This distance is not a problem for small astronomical telescopes, and observers can clearly see every move on the fort with good visibility.

The reason why the horse ginseng general who looked at the camera yelled was because it was rare and strange.After all, the ancients were used to the days when communications depended on shouting, so it was hard to hide their excitement when they saw clear movements of people a few miles away.

"Hehe, this rascal came from a small school, and he acted recklessly, which made Mr. Cao laugh."

The one who can speak to Cao Zongbing with this equal attitude is naturally He Rubin, the number one player on the field.

He Zhen, who was dressed in official robes, was sitting on the black sandalwood official hat chair.Of course, with He Zhen's coffee position, he must have debuted at the C position and is located in the middle of all the generals in the tower.

Apart from the guards on the tower at this moment, and some unknown merchants "Junwang" sitting in the corner, today's protagonists must be these generals.

Sitting next to He Zhen, Cao Zongbing, the real mastermind behind this big drama, was naturally polite after hearing the words: "Hehe, General Ma Shen is a kind-hearted person, just the true qualities of my generation of warriors!"

He despised General Ma, who had never seen the market before, so He Zhen didn't go to the battlements and pouted his buttocks to look at the astronomical telescope.Fortunately, there is also a good thing in the hands of the boss: a pair of thick binoculars with high power military binoculars.

While playing with Dongdong with both hands, He Rubin's eyes were full of love: "Duandi is amazing! Master Cao's skilled craftsmen from different regions are really useful in the army!"

Unlike those civil servants, most generals, no matter what they looked like on the surface, would definitely not look down on craftsmen in private - anyone who wields weapons and fights against the enemy in person must have a deeper understanding of the importance of craftsmen.

I think that when He Rubin was the general of Zhoushan and the deputy commander of Ningshao, he also personally led the bandits and pirates in the area under his jurisdiction, so he realized the problem immediately after seeing the magic of the telescope today. The key to success: skilled craftsmen from exotic lands.

He Rubin's perception is correct.Because if Daming had a telescope, as a high-level theater commander, he should have had it long ago.Therefore, this thing must have been made by a craftsman invited from outside the domain by Mr. Cao, who is good at making ingenious mechanisms.

In other words, the most technology-sensitive occupation, no matter ancient or modern, is often a soldier.Back then, the person who said, "No matter where Qian Xuesen goes, is worth five divisions, I would rather kill him in the United States than let him leave."
"Good regards, my lord."

Cao Zongbing nodded approvingly after hearing the words: "Manpower is sometimes poor. How can we defeat the enemy without relying on strong ships, giant cannons and magical weapons? Those scholars in the court do not have back pain while sitting and talking, but we are going to take the brothers below into battle. of!"

"Hehe, hehe."

He Zhen, who was still quite chatty at first, heard that the reckless man next to him began to spout the court civil servants again, and he was suddenly shocked, and he didn't dare to talk to him. He quickly raised his binoculars and looked at the scenery again. Someone surnamed Cao can be brainless Spraying randomly, why didn't he have the guts? Who made him a member of the system?

About half an hour later, when the generals on the stage took turns to look at the telescope, today's official activities were almost over.So Zongbing Cao got up and greeted everyone to "go downstairs", and was about to move to a nearby town where the officers and soldiers had already registered a large house as the logistics headquarters, and everyone was leaving now, just in time for the luncheon.

What, didn't you say there was going to be a war?
You have to be prepared for war.Although the troops and logistical supplies from the crossing people have been mobilized near the gate, but there are many aspects to consider in the war, not only logistics, but also some unique problems in this era, such as: wind direction.

Whether it was before or after this era, what the people in charge of military travel never expected was that the weather factor had become their most important consideration before combat.

In later generations, humans manipulated satellites, nuclear submarines, stealth bombers, aircraft carriers and main battle tanks, soaring in the sky, the earth and the deep sea.In that era, the impact of the natural environment on war had been minimized, which was beyond the imagination of people living in the seventeenth century.

In this era, whether it is a sea battle or a land battle, any heavy rain or fog may change the outcome of a war.What travelers don't like is precisely windless or light windy weather.

You must know that the next war, strictly speaking, is waged between the "military forces of the Ming Dynasty" and the outside world, the first regular "hot weapon" war in history.Both parties involved in the war will use a large number of black powder weapons, and there will be a huge amount of gunpowder smoke on the battlefield.

This war is very "official", and the traveler also attaches great importance to it, and the smoke of gunpowder is what the traveler hates the most.

The reason is simple: the instinct of the strong side is to minimize the variables on the battlefield.For the weaker side, heavy wind, heavy rain, heavy fog, including gunpowder smoke, are favorable conditions for their own Jedi to come back.

For a long time, the people who have carried forward the black powder army under their hands have summed up the combat experience that is most suitable for the current era based on countless conflicts and wars between large and small and indigenous people in the past few years. After paying the bloody price: Even if you give up the geographical advantage, even if you have to bear the consequences of a drop in hit rate and a longer time limit for the war, you should try your best to choose weather with strong winds to fight with the natives.

Travelers have a relatively long-term vision.In the years to come, the troops will be scattered across the vast East Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and North and South America.At that time, there will be no drones or radars to undertake battlefield observation tasks.So from now on, you can't count on those high-tech equipment, and you can't develop habits for this black powder army. Everything should be done as far as possible according to the existing path.

Then, it is time to wait for the wind.

In this asymmetric war, due to the overwhelming numbers and geographical advantages of the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese had no depth.Now the Franji ghosts and beasts have retreated into the fort and the city, waiting for the enemy to come.

However, the Portuguese entrenched on the island of Macau then spent the first day of the war somewhat inexplicably—the first day without gunshots.

However, the Portuguese quickly realized that the opponent was not ready yet.

This is how the strange sit-in war started. No war on the southern front?

Fortunately, this situation did not last long. After all, the battlefield is located in the coastal area, so it is not difficult to find a windy weather.

So after another two days passed, in the early morning of this day, the sound of rumbling guns finally sounded from the direction of the lotus stem.

With the preparation time of these few days, it was enough for the "official army" to transport several cannons from Xiangshan County to the gate of Macau by land.The reason why the cannons did not go ashore directly from the pier next to the customs gate was purely because the wooden pier here was too thin to bear the weight of the cannons at all.

In this way, the Zhuges and prefects who continued to come to the city tower early in the morning to watch the mountain scenery can finally feel the real atmosphere of the hot weapon war today.

The artillery battle had begun the moment the sun rose.

The cannon that fired the first shot was an 18-pound conventional naval gun produced by the Kiln District Foundry.

The gun was fired from a gun emplacement 500 meters in front of the gate.

After spewing out white smoke, flames and loud noises, a small black dot visible to the naked eye flew into the air.Under the watchful eyes of countless people, the little dot seemed to fly over a distance of 1500 meters slowly and quickly, and plunged into the Portuguese fort, and there was no more sound.

However, just a few minutes later, the distant cannon responded.A thin puff of white smoke rose, followed by the sound of the cannon, and the same iron egg crossed the space and fell 100 meters away in front of the position.

However, the shells fired by the Portuguese this time missed a lot.For the standard emplacement with hardened ground and surrounded by sandbags, it can only be said that there is no threat at all.

The next moment, the artillery company commander who received the order began to order, and ordered the other artillery pieces that were already in place to start bombarding the enemy.

After seeing this scene, there was a discussion with a relaxed atmosphere on the originally quiet city tower.

The guests were somewhat apprehensive before.After all, strictly speaking, these native generals have not experienced regular artillery battles.And the Franji people in Macau are experts in using guns. Before the Ming Dynasty, they bought guns from others one after another. Even the guns from the sunken ship were fished out to Beijing and received a title.

So when everyone saw that the good start had the upper hand, they couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed.

"The cannon is sharp, my brother will not deceive me." Even the C boss, He Zhen is smiling all over his face at the moment: "It's just from my general's point of view, today's cannon position seems to be insufficient. According to my usual style, it's broken." I'm afraid I'm hiding something clumsy?"

"Hahaha! Brother Yin saw it, tall, really tall!"

Zhang Dongdong, who raised his thumb, really admires He Rubin a little now.As expected of a man who has produced military textbooks, there is something wrong with it, which can be seen at a glance.

There are a total of 8 cannons placed before the gate.The calibers of these 8 guns are different, basically covering all the artillery models currently in service.

In other words, these 8 guns were transported from the land today, and they were actually used for fire reconnaissance outside the test guns.After all, no one knows how far the artillery on the opposite fort can hit, how powerful it is, and how many there are.

So what about the real artillery units across the crowd?
The next moment, Cao Zongbing pulled up the thick cuff of his official robe, glanced at the Rolex on his wrist, then stretched out his hand, pointed to the sea in front of the left and said, "Brother Yin, don't worry, the gun is coming."

(End of this chapter)