Lu Ming

Chapter 551 Ming-Portuguese War ([-])

Following Cao Zongbing's finger, the spectators turned their attention to the nearby sea.

The sea near the tiny Macau Island is already dotted with boats of all sizes.Accompanied by the billowing black smoke and the blue-black sea water emitted by a few of the ships, for the Portuguese at this moment, it probably feels like dark clouds overwhelming the city.

The sources of these ships are varied.There are high-speed patrol boats with white sails that Ming people are already familiar with, as well as transport ships with a wide belly. There are also private boats that come to watch the excitement and small boats that spontaneously come to sell agricultural products.Of course, the blue-gold gunboat that is blocking the outer port of Macau with dense muzzles protruding is always the most beautiful and eye-catching one.

However, the cannon Cao Zongbing mentioned was not the above-mentioned ships, nor was it the cannon ship that some people thought.The large fort of the Gain Portuguese is located on the highlands in the west of the island, and the battleships on the east sea of ​​the island do not have that far range.

The next moment, the answer appeared.

On the sea not far away, two transport ships breathing black smoke were struggling towards the pier.What caused the two ships to falter was that they were dragging behind them a strange rectangular barge without power.

The three ships moving in the shape of a "Y" arrived near the pier not long after.After this, the rope was released and the two tugboats sailed away.The other tugboat following behind began to slowly push forward with the bow of the barge against the buttocks of the barge.Half an hour later, after a series of fine-tuning, the barge finally successfully docked with the preset landing point near the pier, and began anchoring.

As mentioned earlier, for this war, the main purpose of the traversers is to demonstrate.

Demonstrating not only sea-like artillery and troops, but also logistics, transportation, medical care and other capabilities ahead of this era are also within the scope of the exhibition.

The so-called experts watch the doorway, and laymen watch the excitement.The indigenous elites who come here today come from all walks of life. Many of them may not understand war, but other aspects can also shock them.

In addition, regardless of the indigenous factors, this war is also a test of the traverser's self.

Adhering to the concept brought before the crossing, from a strategic point of view, the Portuguese in Macau City were not taken seriously by the traversers, but tactically they still attached great importance to it: since the time of crossing, the Portuguese who have defended Macao and have complete artillery , is undoubtedly the most "regular" and "modern" enemy encountered by the time-traversing people, and needs to be taken seriously.

This is a "high-tech war".

Therefore, the military attaches great importance to it.There are two reasons. First, this is the first time that troops have attacked a formal bastion. The military wants to use this opportunity to test the troops' attacking capabilities and collect experience for the future removal of bastions built by colonists around the world.

Second, this is a joint sea-land operation.With the logistical advantage at home, troops can practice amphibious landings and transports by the way—there's no better opportunity than this.

Therefore, for this war, the military still did a lot of preliminary work.It is worth mentioning that the leaders of the navy and army united unprecedentedly this time, and united to win a considerable amount of resources from the cabinet, which is why today's scene of the barge docking came about.

Of course, docking the barge is only the first step, and there are still many follow-up actions.

As the thick anchor chains were lowered all around, the barges firmly docked on the shore played the role of temporary docks.

At the same time, some engineers who had been waiting on the shore also boarded the barge.These people wore yellow or red vests, some went to the engine room on the barge to start the machines, some wore red bamboo engineering helmets, held small flags, and hung whistles on their chests, ready to direct the next wave of transport ships to dock.

In fact, strictly speaking, barges are not without power, but the power cannot be used for sailing.This barge named "Linpeng 04" was installed with a gas-powered traction device in advance.

The gas power system has been played very slippery by the industrial party.Born out of the original gas internal combustion engine in the 19th century, the parts are simple and the workmanship is rough. Nowadays, most of the workpieces can be "self-produced" in the factories in the kiln area.The only thing limiting the number of such internal combustion engines is the small number of parts that need to be imported.

Although the thermal efficiency of this early internal combustion engine is less than 10%, and the power does not exceed 10KW, it is a well-deserved artifact in the plane of crossing the crowd.You must know that in the current Ming Dynasty, there is no supply of liquefied petroleum gas or even higher-grade gasoline and diesel, so the gas power system that can use the ubiquitous vegetation in the [-]th century to generate power anytime, anywhere, is Best for the machinery of the current era.

After the engineering personnel entered the engine room on the ship, they first filled the steam coal stored in advance into the gas generator shaped like an iron cylinder, and then ignited it.Not long after, with the faint black smoke rising, the system started to work.

After the gas enters the internal combustion engine, it provides power.After that, the internal combustion engine starts to do work. When the power gradually increases, the thick iron wheel outside the internal combustion engine starts to rotate slowly.

At the same time, the barge terminal is also officially "receiving passengers": a slow-moving transport ship with a square head and a square brain is slowly docking at the port.

Up to now, more than an hour has passed since Cao Zongbing pointed out the country just now.However, the spectators on the city tower were not bored. Whether it was the generals who spoke in a rough voice or a group of wealthy businessmen who were unknown and crowded in the corner, they were all fascinated by the operation of the wharf that was close at hand.

People of later generations, when they go out, the streets are full of cars, cranes build buildings when they look up, and excavators demolish them when they look down, so they have long been accustomed to the power of industry.

However, in this era, the aborigines have not experienced the baptism of industrialization at all, so whenever people see that huge and mysterious power, they are always attracted immediately.

Although the aborigines have heard the legend about the iron artifacts of Yizhou organs before, how can the language be as shocking as the scene?So when the long barge was pushed to the shore, it attracted the interest of generals, businessmen, and people all over the place at the moment.The aborigines are watching excitedly, looking forward to the next action. The aborigines are not stupid. The aborigines know very well that building the wharf is only the first step, and there must be more programs in the future.

After the square-headed and square-brained transport ship docked at the pier, the bow and stern also anchored.After the hull stabilized, something happened that made the audience cry out: the hull of the tall transport ship suddenly cracked.

Soon people saw clearly: it turned out that an outer wall was slowly opening.On closer inspection, the siding shone with metallic luster, and it turned out to be a large iron plate!The iron plate is very large, about the size of a carriage.As time went by, through the gap that got bigger and bigger, people even saw the sailors in the cabin who were slowly turning the capstan.

With the rotation of the winch, the iron chains on both sides were slowly lowered, and finally, the iron plate "clanged" and landed at the far end of the barge pier, forming a de facto slope.

Immediately afterwards, from the engine room of the barge, the engineering staff pulled out two thick ropes and dragged them all the way to the cabin of the transport ship.

Theoretically speaking, here is to use steel wire rope.However, such tall things as steel wire ropes cannot be produced by themselves at present, so they can only be replaced by oiled ropes.

After the rope was pulled into the cabin, it took a while before a small green flag was waved at the hatch.With the appearance of the small flag, the power machinery in the engine room of the pontoon began to output maximum power, so the rope was pulled and slowly retreated.

The next moment, a thick cannon appeared in full view.

In fact, strictly speaking, what appeared at the door of the movable cabin was the cannon butt—this was a 24-pound long-barreled naval heavy gun emitting black light.

Heavy guns are mounted on gun mounts.With the pulling of the rope, the cannon regressed and slowly slid down the steel plate slope. Then, under the gaze of thousands of eyes, it continued to retreat slowly, and was pulled all the way to the other side of the barge and landed on the shore.

Next, another group of long ropes took over the previous position, continued to be hooked on the gun mount, and began to pull. During the time when the barge was docking, two sets of mobile traction systems have moved to the Between the pier and the artillery emplacement.

The so-called mobile traction system is actually no different from the components on the barge. It is still a gas-powered device, but the system on the shore is transported to the place by horse-drawn carriage and then assembled.

In this way, through the relay traction of three sets of mechanical systems, this 2.8-ton naval heavy artillery was able to pass through the floating pier and the temporary hardened gun half an hour later, under the command of engineering personnel waving small flags and blowing whistles. The dirt road was pulled to the rear of the preset artillery position.

The last step for the artillery to enter the position can only rely on manpower.A large number of young soldiers rushed forward, pushing and shoving, and placed the huge door in the circular artillery emplacement surrounded by sacks.

At the same time, the originally silent indigenous audience, perhaps because they had been watching the show with bated breath before, actually shouted excitedly at the moment when the artillery was put in place.All of a sudden, there were tidal shouts from the top and bottom of the city tower and even from the nearby sea, and people were expressing their respect for power to their heart's content.

Since the first cannon was successfully put in place, several transport ships began to "unload" in turn.And this unloading lasted for a whole day.

By the evening, a total of twenty 24-pounder long-barreled guns and fifteen 18-pounder guns had been placed in place.There are many other small-caliber artillery transported by land, so they don't need to be counted.

In just one day, the artillery positions preset between the gate and the enemy's fort were filled with cannons with their heads held high.

This huge metal position, which always reflects black luster, not only frightened the Portuguese on the opposite fort, but also made the natives of the Ming Dynasty show horrified expressions, even the generals: the Ming people never Having seen so much steel gathered together, the cold, sense of industrial massacre piled up by scale always shakes the hearts of all witnesses.

(End of this chapter)