At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 375
This huge island is the future Singapore. It was called Puluozhong during the Three Kingdoms period, Temasek during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and some people called it Haicheng.

About 50 years ago, Prince Paramesura from Srivijaya established the Malacca Sultanate in the area and named it the Lion City, which translates to Singapore from Sanskrit.

However, Temasek Island is still recorded in Ming documents, and Zheng He also marked this name on maps when he sailed to the West. Therefore, when Peng Qing reorganized his voyages to the West, he still retained the name of Temasek Island.

Temasek Island is a city-state, and the entire island is a city. Because the island is located at the entrance and exit of the Strait of Malacca, its strategic position is very important, and the Eastern Roman Navy immediately focused on it.

Although the Sultan's royal family rose up to resist, but the army was limited in strength, and it really couldn't beat it.

In the end, the Sudanese royal family abandoned the city and fled. The Eastern Romans occupied the magpie's nest and renamed the Lion City to the Griffin City. The fleet continued to expand eastward.

In just one year, Prussia brought back huge wealth from the East, which made the Eastern Romans have a strong interest in the mysterious Ming Dynasty. When they learned that these Easterners were developing an iron-clad ship, they were even more It feels incredible.

Finally, after going through untold hardships, they got the blueprint of the ironclad ship as they wished.

It turned out that I couldn't understand it at all!
It's not that there is a language barrier, because many people in Nanyang do business and often need to master several languages. If they can't, they can learn it. It's not an insurmountable gap.

The problem lies in the drawing itself, the steam engine mentioned above, which confuses everyone.

A machine that can generate power by boiling water with coal is simply incredible.

Therefore, the blueprint was sent to Queen Dosia of Ceylon, the only legal heir of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Next, the Prussian general continued to contact the officials of Ming Dynasty and tried to buy some craftsmen from the Ningbo Shipyard. However, before his plan was implemented, he was blasted to pieces by the sudden appearance of the ironclad ship.

Upon hearing the news of the gathering of the navy of the Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Roman Navy stationed on the Malay Island immediately withdrew to Temasek Island.

Here, they built a large number of fortifications, relying on the terrain advantage, they can completely fight the Ming army.

However, according to the informant, the Ming army's fleet was still hundreds of miles away. Who would have thought that the port would be attacked suddenly with fierce firepower, and they would be caught off guard all of a sudden.

There are more than 20 forts placed in the port, all of which were smashed to pieces.

The Eastern Romans hated the Ming army, and they also hated the fog.

Don't talk about martial arts, take advantage of the foggy weather to engage in sneak attacks!

Boom!

Boom!

The artillery on the ship poured out the gunpowder in the barrel vigorously, and meteors streaked across the sky, destroying the fortifications built by the Eastern Romans.

The Ming army who came ashore was like a tiger coming out of its cage, and the orthodox [-]-style rifles could completely crush all the living forces they saw.

In this era, whether it is Eastern Rome or Ottoman, it is still in the era of black powder.

Although they have made many improvements to black powder, the improved black powder is still black powder after all.

The Ming army has already used granular gunpowder, and even breakthroughs have been made in the research and development of yellow gunpowder, but it has not yet been mass-produced.

Granular gunpowder is more powerful and has a longer range. At a certain distance, you can't hit me, but I can hit you. Hey, are you angry?

On the port, with the sound of gunshots like popping beans, there were wailing and screaming everywhere.

At this time, Charlemagne, the commander in chief of Griffin City, finally realized that he was attacked!

The rapid bell rang, and the main force in the city quickly assembled and rushed towards the port in a mighty manner.

"Report, the main force of the enemy army is found ahead, about a thousand people!"

"withdraw!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Mao went out with his father at the age of 16, and has a very keen sense of smell on the battlefield.

Facing the counterattack of the Eastern Romans, he quickly made a judgment and retreated!

With the weapons and equipment of the Ming army, even if they faced these 1000 people head-on, they would not be at a disadvantage.

However, this is the enemy's territory after all, who knows how many people are hiding behind these 1000 people?
My task is not to die with the enemy, but to consume the enemy to the greatest extent, to catch the opponent by surprise first, and then run away after taking advantage.

The port has been abandoned, all the forts have been blown up, and almost all the few defenders have been wiped out. What are you waiting for, withdraw!
The main force of Eastern Rome rushed over aggressively, only to find that there was only devastation left, and only the shadows of a few ships could be seen on the sea. The Ming army who killed these days actually ran away!

Commander Charlemagne's eyes were red, and he shouted loudly: "Catch up, and those Easterners must pay the price!"

"Your Excellency Charlemagne, our ships have been blown up!"

"hateful!"

Charlemagne is the supreme general of the Eastern Roman Navy stationed in Griffin City. Since the day he landed on Temasek Island, when has he been so angry?
They slaughtered all the aborigines on the island, and invested a lot of manpower and material resources to build the port and strengthen the city defenses. However, countless painstaking efforts were all smashed, leaving only a wreckage.

"There are still boats in the western port, pass the order, and everyone boards the boat!"

The brigade turned to the west, where they still had a port with more than ten ships moored.
-
"My lord, the enemy army is catching up!"

Zhang Mao stood at the bow of the ship and looked behind with a telescope. Sure enough, a huge mast was vaguely seen in the mist.

This ship should be the flagship of the other party. It is the southwest wind at this time, and the sails are blowing high. It can be seen that the speed of the other party is much faster than that of your own ship. According to this situation, it will not be long before it will be overtaken.

Zhang Mao asked, "How many shells are left?"

"Go back to your lord, no more."

"Gone?"

Zhang Mao couldn't help frowning, how could he fight without artillery?
"Didn't you just say... shoot out all the shells until they run out..."

Zhang Mao recalled that he seemed to have said such a thing.

"Steer right!"

"My lord, over there...is not the direction to go back."

"Who said it was time to return? Immediately send an order to turn the rudder to the right!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the voice of the travel herald on the deck: "Turn right!"

The flag bearer on the watchtower notified the other two ships with semaphore, and the three ships immediately turned their rudders and sailed to starboard.

Zhang Mao ordered to turn the rudder, because there are many islands here, which means that there are many hidden reefs under the sea.

No matter how big a ship is, it is impossible to advance at full speed unscrupulously when it enters this sea area.

Otherwise, once it hits a rock, the ship will be destroyed.
-
On the deck of the Golden Griffin, Charlemagne was observing with a telescope.

"Your Excellency, those Orientals have fled to the Bataan Islands!"

Charlemagne took down the telescope, his eyes were a little confused.

Because he knew very well that the Ming army had changed their route. This was not their return route. What exactly did they want to do?
"Keep chasing!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

The golden griffin split the waves and drove into the Bataan Islands. Suddenly, Charlemagne seemed to realize something.

"Slow down, slow down!"

"Your Excellency, we will catch up soon..."

"Idiot, take down the jib immediately!"

Charlemagne was really in a hurry. At this moment, he didn't have time to explain, so he scolded directly.

Seeing this, the adjutant had no choice but to issue an order. The sailors pulled the cables and lowered the vicesail, and the speed of the ship began to slow down.

Charlemagne breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Our boat is bigger than theirs. If there are reefs under the water, their boat can pass, but we will run aground. Do you understand? Idiot!"

"Your Excellency is really... wise..."
-
On the sea, the three ships of the Ming army were in front, and the Eastern Roman fleet was behind, one in front and one behind, shuttling in the waters near the Bataan Islands.

Seeing the other party pull down the jib and slow down, Zhang Mao couldn't help but said to himself: "These foreign devils are not stupid, they know how to slow down."

"My lord, the enemy bites very tightly, what should I do?"

"See the island in front, rush in!"

"My lord, we don't have the hydrological data over there. If there are hidden reefs under the water..."

"Damn it, hitting the rocks is better than being chased by those foreign devils. The artillery on our ship has become dumb, and the naval battle is too bad."

There are two relatively large islands in the Bataan Islands, which are roughly equivalent to Temasek Island. Between these two islands, there are many unknown small islands dotted around.

These islands are islands at low tide and reefs at high tide.

It is very dangerous to sail rashly without detailed maps and hydrological data.

However, the ships of the Eastern Romans were chasing too closely. If they sailed on a wide sea, they would definitely be overtaken before they joined the main fleet.

Zhang Mao decided to take the risk and rushed into the reefs.

"Turn the rudder, turn the rudder!"

"Lower the jib and slow down!"

The three ships shuttled among the small islands distributed by Starfall, and their speed had dropped to the minimum.

Boom!

Boom!

The sound of shelling suddenly came from the rear, and Zhang Mao suddenly became nervous. Just as he picked up the binoculars and was about to observe the enemy's situation, a black shadow rushed towards his face.

It turned out that the adjutant behind him swooped and pushed him to the ground.

Zhang Mao pushed him away and said angrily, "What are you doing?"

"My lord, watch out for the artillery!"

"Careful ass!"

Zhang Mao pointed at the spray caused by the shells behind him, and said, "Their cannons can't hit so far, what are you afraid of?"

The adjutant looked up, and sure enough, the shells of the enemy ship fell into the water, and there was still a considerable distance from his own ship.

"My lord, be careful..."

"Stop talking nonsense, go ahead and watch, if the bow of the ship touches the rocks, organize people to land immediately!"

Surrounded by islands, if it really hits the rocks, there is enough time to go ashore before the ship sinks.
-
The Golden Griffin did not chase after it, because the hull was too large, and the chance of hitting the rocks was greatly increased.

Charlemagne sent five medium-sized warships to pursue it, while he docked at a natural harbor. Then he picked up the map and looked at it carefully for a long time before he circled a location.

"The Easterners are very cunning. They want to use themselves as a bait to trap our Golden Griffin in this water area. Have you seen this? Go around and wait there!"

"Sir, what if the Orientals don't follow this route?"

"No, if they want to join the main force, this route is the best choice."

"But……"

"Nothing to worry about, General Wells, please recognize your identity. In Griffin City, I am the supreme commander!"

Charlemagne was originally an extremely proud person who had made great military exploits for the Eastern Roman Empire. Queen Dosia was able to escape from Constantinople because of Charlemagne's heroic fighting. During the war, he absolutely No one is allowed to question his orders.

Although General Wells was unhappy, he had no choice but to say: "Obey, Your Excellency Charlemagne!"

The Golden Griffin raised anchor and raised its sails, leading other warships to circle around the island and sail to the other end of the archipelago.
-
Between the islands, two fleets, one in front and the other behind, started a sea chase.

Zhang Mao's ship had no artillery, so he could only use the terrain to shuttle between the islands.

The Eastern Roman Fleet in the rear kept chasing and shelling, but either the distance was not enough, or there were obstacles blocking them, all the shells fell through.

Even so, Zhang Mao still didn't dare to underestimate this fleet. Although their cannons were still solid iron lumps, they brought regular sailboats instead of ironclad ships. If they were hit by shells, they would still be very dangerous.

In this way, from dawn to dusk, and then from dusk to dawn, the two fleets hang so far away that I can't get rid of you, and you can't catch up with me.

Zhang Mao stayed up all night, staring at the map, trying to find a way to defeat the enemy.

At this time, the quartermaster came forward: "My lord, we are running out of food and fresh water!"

Zhang Mao asked without raising his head, "How much is left?"

The quartermaster replied: "Only enough for one day."

Zhang Mao frowned, at sea, without fresh water is fatal.

People can go on without food for a period of time, but if there is no water, they will die of thirst in at most three days.

At that moment, Zhang Mao immediately made a decision, pointed to a location on the map, and said, "We can't entangle with them any longer, go out from here, and join the emperor's fleet!"
-
On the Golden Griffin, General Wells immediately became excited when he got the news.

"Your Excellency, Charlemagne, your decision is really wise, and the Eastern fleet has indeed come!"

Charlemagne finally showed a smile on his face, and said, "Set up the formation and prepare the artillery!"

Finally, they saw the long-awaited mast.

At the same time, Zhang Mao also found that something was wrong.

"Turn the rudder, quick!"

Due to the terrain, Charlemagne's fleet hid behind an island, and when both sides saw each other, they had already entered the artillery range.

Boom!

Boom!

More than a dozen warships fired at the same time, and the shells roared towards the Ming army.

Zhang Mao gave the order immediately, but it was still too late. The sailboat was hit and sawdust flew everywhere.

In one ship, the mast was broken, the huge canvas fell down, and it immediately lost power and spun in place.

"Go to the island, go to the island!"

Zhang Mao had no choice at all. If he stayed on the sea, he would undoubtedly become the opponent's target.

Fortunately, there was a small island nearby. The sailors pulled the canvas rope hard, and the ship rushed straight to the island and hit the rocks on the shore.

(End of this chapter)