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

Chapter 380 Expedition to Ceylon Island

On the island of Ceylon, the situation is complicated.

Before the arrival of the Eastern Romans, it was mainly controlled by two major forces, the Sinhala Kingdom and the Tamil Kingdom. Both kingdoms wanted to annex each other, and they fought constantly with each other.

When the Eastern Romans joined in, it was another scuffle, gradually forming a three-legged confrontation.

To this day, the Sinhala Kingdom retreated to the north, and the Eastern Romans occupied the south. The Tamil Kingdom was miserable and was driven into the mountains in the middle.

The terrain of Ceylon Island is high in the middle and low around, and it is very dependent on navigation. Living in the central mountainous area, it has almost lost contact with the outside world.

Calamba Port, located at the southwestern tip of the island, is moored with hundreds of warships.

In the city of Condor, which is less than thirty miles away from the port, the senior military officers of Eastern Rome are discussing a battle meeting, the purpose of which is to completely kill the Tamil Kingdom and then continue to expand northward.

The Kalamba City, which was originally named after the Sinhala language, is now also replaced with a dark golden double-headed eagle flag.

Queen Docia sat lazily on the spacious gold-inlaid chair, holding a glass of red wine in her hand, watching the officers quarreling over different combat routes.

Her eyes flicked over everyone, but she didn't really know how to fight, and she didn't care how the next battle was fought. She was only thinking about who to spend the night with tonight.

General Greeter?
It looks very powerful, but it is useless.

General Bane?

The technology is not bad, but it is too old and not durable enough...

At this time, she began to miss Charlemagne who was fighting in the east. She really shouldn't have let him go, but now she couldn't even find a suitable partner.

"Docia... Queen Docia..."

A disharmonious voice came, and all the officers frowned, because this is the highest military meeting in Eastern Rome, who rushed in rashly?

Docia looked up, her face a little surprised: "Colonel Wells, didn't you follow Charlemagne to the far east? Why did you come back suddenly?"

For these troops who are fighting abroad, if they return to the City of the Condor Eagle, there must be a letter sent in advance.

However, Wells arrived suddenly, without any warning at all.

Even Docia, who doesn't care about government affairs, can feel that something is wrong with today's situation.

"The devils of the east, they destroyed the golden griffin fleet..."

"Colonel Wells, what are you talking about? Is there a devil in the East?"

"They are scarier than devils, iron-clad ships, iron-clad ships..."

Wales was a little incoherent. To this day, he has not yet come out of the shock of that battle.

After everyone asked, they all showed incredible expressions.

Most of the people present had seen the blueprint of the ironclad ship, but they only took it as a joke.

Boiling water can generate huge propulsion and drive a huge ship of [-] tons. Isn't this a joke?
Wales paled, and said: "The ironclad ships of the Easterners cannot be stopped at all. General Charlemagne died in battle, and the navy of the Golden Griffin Fleet died in battle. God... abandoned us!"

Suddenly, General Bain with a gray beard said: "Wells, you said that all the navy of the Golden Griffin Fleet were killed in battle, why are you still alive?"

Only then did everyone realize the problem, and they all looked at Wells.

Grilut was even more disdainful, and said, "Did you surrender? Or did you sneak back because you were cowardly and didn't participate in the battle at all?"

"No, absolutely not!"

Wells waved his hands vigorously and explained: "I led a troop to the island to pursue the Ming army. At this time, the iron-clad ship suddenly appeared and destroyed everything. I, I... was captured..."

"So you're still surrendering?"

"I didn't, I just, just..."

"Just what?"

"The emperor of the Ming Dynasty let me come back and told me to tell Queen Docia, he said..."

Docia couldn't help asking: "What did you say, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, the ironclad ship was personally controlled by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He destroyed the Golden Griffin fleet and asked me to tell you..."

"say what?"

"He said...you took his things, and he wants to take them back himself!"

As soon as this statement came out, the whole hall was in an uproar.

War is declared, war is declared!

And the attitude is extremely arrogant, naked contempt!
When did our Eastern Roman Holy Empire suffer such anger!
After all, General Bain was mature and prudent, so he immediately asked, "Wells, are you sure you're not lying?"

Wells said solemnly: "In the name of God, I swear!"

Bain's face was very tangled, and he said: "The Orientals' approach is very unusual. Since they have such mysterious and powerful weapons as ironclad ships, if we kill all of you and raid Ceylon Island, we will be unprepared, and we will definitely suffer heavy losses. So...why did they let you back?"

"I do not know I do not know……"

Wells murmured, until now, he doubted whether everything he had experienced was real, because he also didn't understand why the Ming army would let him back.

Bain seemed to realize something, and suddenly asked: "Wells, tell me the truth, have you surrendered to the Easterners and returned to the City of Condor as an internal response?"

Everyone also had this question, and they all stared at Wells, waiting for his answer.

Wells was going crazy. The crushing attack by the ironclad ship had cast a shadow on his mind. After finally returning to the City of Condor, he was questioned by his own people...

"Everything I say is true, Your Royal Highness, you have to believe me!"

Docia said with a smile: "Wells, you just said that you saw the emperor of Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, it is the Emperor of Ming Dynasty!"

"Oh, what does he look like? Is he an old man with a gray beard?"

While speaking, she couldn't help but glanced at the old general Baine.

Wells shook his head and said, "He's young, in his 20s, no beard... oh, just some stubble, and it's black."

"What did you say?"

Docia wondered, "Is the Emperor of Ming Dynasty a young man?"

"Yes, very young, definitely not more than 30 years old."

"Is he handsome?"

Wells shook his head, nodded again, and said, "I didn't see it clearly. At that time, at that time... there were many people standing by with knives, I was afraid..."

Docia's expression was a little disappointed, and said: "He said we took his things, what is it?"

"It's... the blueprint of the ironclad ship!"

"Oh, you said those blueprints..."

Dosia tilted her head and thought for a while, then said, "General Grelut, General Bain, if we return the drawings to them, will there be no need to fight?"

"No, Your Royal Highness!"

Grelut said loudly: "The Easterners have declared war, we cannot back down!"

"Yes, I agree with Gerry Root!"

Bain then said: "The Golden Griffin Fleet is our elite navy in Eastern Rome, we want revenge!"

Docia said: "But, Wells said, they have ironclad ships, and we can't beat them."

Bain immediately replied: "If we encounter it at sea, we really can't beat it. However, the current situation is that the Easterners need to travel thousands of miles across the ocean. Facing our solid city defense, their advantage will be wiped out!"

Grelut then said: "Oriental people are too arrogant. They think that with an ironclad ship, they can be invincible in the world, so come on, this time they will have to pay the price!"

Docia asked: "Well, tell me, what do we need to do now?"

Grelut was in a hurry, so he took the map and crossed out the battle route he had just drawn.

"From now on, our focus will be on the coastal ports and build stronger fortifications as soon as possible. Leave the enemy in the north alone for the time being. General Bain, the defense on the shore will be left to you."

Bain narrowed his eyes and asked, "What about you?"

Grilut pointed to the location of the port, and said, "I will lead the Condor Fleet to hide, and wait for the Ming Army's fleet to approach. You will attack from the land, and I will attack from the sea, so that they will never come back!"

Calamba Port suddenly became busy, and the food, cloth and other materials on the market became extremely scarce, and many people were recruited to build forts in the port.

The number of soldiers is also increasing, and many of them are even recruited from the surrounding small countries.

They didn't know that there was going to be a war, let alone who the enemy they were about to face was. They just received the call and heard that the benefits were good, so they followed.

All the Eastern Roman troops who were fighting abroad were recalled one after another. In just one month, the city of the Eagle City rapidly expanded to 5 troops.

The city was originally built by the Sinhalese, and all of them were made of huge stones. After simple repairs, it has become indestructible.

A few ships were sparsely parked in the port, because the main fleet had already left the port, and they hid at less than [-] nautical miles away, waiting for the arrival of the Ming Fleet.

Everything is being prepared nervously and orderly, because they don't know when the Ming army will arrive.

maybe tomorrow...

However, some people believed that the Ming army was just bluffing and would not come.

Their reason was, if the Ming army really wanted to attack the City of the Condor Eagle, why did they say it in advance, wouldn't it be good to carry out a sneak attack?

Until the dawn of this day...

woohoo-

A low roar sounded, and everyone was surprised to find that a huge battleship was slowly approaching through the mist.

"God, they really came!"

"Go and inform General Bain..."

"Is that an ironclad ship?"

The port suddenly became chaotic, and everyone scrambled to hide in the newly built fort.

Zhu Qizhen stood on the deck and looked at the Calamba Port ahead with a telescope.

"Your majesty, you should go back to the command cabin!"

Jin Ying is very anxious. If there is a war, there will be a war. Can you hide?

Every time you stand on the bow of the ship, are you afraid that the enemy's artillery will not hit you?
Zhu Qizhen said suddenly: "It's not right!"

"What...wrong?"

"There are only a few small boats in the port, where is their fleet?"

Jin Ying wondered: "Could it be that we didn't find the right place? Maybe this is just a small port?"

Zhu Qizhen slowly shook his head. Although he is not familiar with Sri Lanka, at least he has heard that Calamba Port is the largest port here.

It is impossible to have only these few boats!

It seems that the opponent is still a little clever, wanting to take advantage of his attack and sneak around his back?
"Decree, turn the rudder to the left and drive north along the coastline!"

"Yes!"

With the sound of a low roar, Zheng He suddenly changed direction and turned to the north.

On the watchtower of the port, General Bain looked at the huge ship and couldn't help being horrified.

It's really an ironclad ship!

Man of steel, steam power, exactly as drawn on the blueprint.

It turned out that the blueprint was not a fantasy.

People really made it!

He quickly calculated in his mind how to win in the face of such a giant steel beast.

The only way is, as Grilut said, to use the fortifications of the port to hold back, and wait for the opponent's ammunition to be exhausted before the Condor Fleet makes a surprise attack...

Wait!
Bain was surprised to find that the huge ship suddenly turned around and left!

And, the direction is...

Bain quickly pulled a person over and said, "Go to Negombo immediately and tell Grilut that the Ming Fleet is heading towards his ambush!"

A small team rode fast horses and quickly set off from the port of Calamba to the port of Negombo in the north.

At the same time, under the leadership of Zheng He, the Ming Fleet headed north along the coastline of Ceylon Island.

From morning to noon, finally, the messenger team arrived at the port of Negombo.

However, before their message was delivered, a huge battleship was seen approaching from the sea.

woohoo-

The deep roar is very penetrating, as if it is close at hand.

On the Zheng He, everyone started to get busy.

The food on the boat was very good, they had just had a full meal, and they were full of inexhaustible strength.

The baffle on the side of the ship has been opened, and the cannon is pushed out along the slide rail, revealing the dark and ferocious muzzle.

The quartermasters began to deliver the ammunition, and they used trolleys with slides to distribute the ammunition quickly to all the gunners.

Each artillery is composed of three shooting teams, namely a main gunner, an observer, and a loader.

The observer has already measured the range and adjusted the shooting angle and direction accordingly.

Then, the loader moved into action, stuffing the shells into the barrel.

At this time, Grelut had already discovered something strange on the sea.

Although the person sent by Bain to deliver the letter has not arrived yet, he is not blind.

Such a large ship suddenly appeared on the sea, as long as it is a person, it will know what happened.

Therefore, he launched the attack first.

Zhu Qizhen finally found the opponent's fleet, and thought to himself, I guessed it right.

These people must be hiding, waiting for me to attack the port, and carry out a sneak attack from behind.

Although this kind of firepower can't pose much threat to the ironclad ship, it's coming...

"Send my will..."

Boom!

Before the words fell, there was a sound.

Zhu Qizhen was surprised to find that the first shot was fired from the port's fort.

However, this run did not hit, because the range was not enough, the shell flew halfway and fell into the sea water.

Damn, you are too deceitful!
Zhu Qizhen seemed to feel extremely humiliated, and said angrily, "Fire the cannon, fuck the fuck!"

(End of this chapter)