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

Chapter 381 Vulnerable

The Zheng He, braving billowing smoke, rushed straight to the port.

The artillery on both sides of the ship began to fight back crazily, and the shells bombarded everything in the port as if they didn't want money.

In comparison, the counterattack of the Eastern Romans was so pale and weak.

Under the intensive fire bombardment of Zheng He, the port of Negombo has been turned into a sea of ​​flames.

The rest of the ships followed to attack the warships anchored in the port.

The defense forces of the Eastern Romans were all concentrated in the Port of Calamba. The Ming Fleet was like a tiger rushing into a chicken coop. It could handle it as it wanted, and it hardly encountered any decent resistance.

Grilut watched his warships being sunk one by one from a distance, and couldn't help bleeding.

However, looking at the towering steel behemoth again, everything seems to be clear.

At this moment, he suddenly understood why Charlemagne's Golden Griffon fleet was defeated so thoroughly.

At the same time, I also understand why Wells would say that God has abandoned us.

Yes, God has abandoned us!

Even if according to the plan, when the Ming Fleet attacked Calamba Port, he led the Condor Fleet to attack from behind, I am afraid that the ending would still be the same.

With the firepower of the Condor Fleet, at most it will tickle others...

The attack of the Ming army is still going on, and the port of Negombo has been reduced to a hell on earth.

The only few forts were destroyed first as if they were decorations.

Some turrets, but the tragedy is that the range of these turrets is so short and weak that even the shadow of the ironclad can't be touched.

As far as the eye could see, there were flames everywhere.

The Eastern Roman navy originally thought it would be a naval battle, but after being bombed by the Ming Fleet, no one dared to take the risk of boarding the ship, and could only watch helplessly as the battleships were sunk one after another.

The battlefield has become a one-sided situation, and it has completely become a unilateral catharsis by the Ming army.

After about half an hour, the shelling finally stopped.

There was already a mess on the shore, but the Ming army put down the clippers and started landing operations.

Li Zhen's boat was at the forefront, and behind him, the [-] Battalion was already hungry and thirsty. Before the landing boat docked, they couldn't wait to kill them with their rifles.

They didn't even need to assemble, they broke up into parts and started a carpet-like search of Negombo Port in small teams.

The pier was already in a mess, with bombed-out building wreckage and charred corpses everywhere, and occasionally there were a few panicked people.

The expedition of the Ming Fleet is basically a solo show of ironclad ships, with indestructible armor and indestructible artillery. In this era, it is undoubtedly the existence that crushes all warships.

The [-] Battalion has long been exhausted on the ship. Since the establishment of the new [-] Battalion in Tumubao, it can be said that it has been invincible and invincible, but it has never been like this time... no battle!

Seeing the ironclad ship rampage, destroying all living forces, but I can only watch helplessly.

After landing, Li Zhen charged all the way like a tiger descending the mountain.

The poor Eastern Roman Navy had just been baptized by artillery. Except for a few lucky ones who hid in corners and saved their lives, they were immediately pointed at their heads with guns. They had no choice but to surrender.

The battle ended quickly, and Zhu Qizhen got off the boat and walked through the devastated port with a stone fortress in front of him.

This place has been controlled by the [-] Battalion, Li Zhen stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, I have captured a few prisoners. It is said that there is a general of some kind, so he ran away!"

Zhu Qizhen frowned and said: "These people don't pay attention, they run away as soon as they start fighting, at least resist!"

Li Zhen chuckled, and said, "Your Majesty, a Han Chinese has also been caught."

"what?"

Zhu Qizhen wondered: "This place is thousands of miles away from Daming, how can there be Han people?"

Li Zhen continued: "Your Majesty will never guess that this person...is the son of Zhang Shiying, commander of the Qiongzhou Guard, Zhang Jin!"

It was only then that Zhu Qizhen suddenly realized, no wonder when Zhang Shiying's house was copied, his son could not be found even after three feet of digging.

It turned out that this guy had been prepared to send his son to the Eastern Romans.

At this moment, a sentence suddenly appeared in his mind: Good and evil will be rewarded in the end, and the way of heaven is like reincarnation; if you don't believe me, look up, the sky will spare anyone.

If you eat things that are inside and out, you should die!
"Bring it here, I will interrogate it myself!"

"Yes!"

A moment later, a young man with fair skin and a thin build was escorted in.

"Your Majesty!"

Li Zhen was about to stretch out her feet to kick, but the man had already slumped on the ground with a thud, and said tremblingly, "Criminal Zhang Jin kowtows...knows...the emperor..."

Zhu Qizhen scolded with a smile: "You dog, do you still know that you are guilty?"

It's hard to describe Zhang Jin's expression now. It stands to reason that his home was raided and the nine clans were killed, so he should be sad. However, he wanted to cry but couldn't cry.

Because his body is out of control...

Zhu Qizhen asked: "I don't know one thing, when did you come here?"

Zhang Jin's lips were trembling all the time, and he wanted to speak several times, but he couldn't speak.

Annoyed, Li Zhen slapped her across the face and said angrily, "The emperor is asking you something!"

Zhang Jin's cheeks were swollen from the beating, and the corners of his mouth were bleeding. Finally, he said, "The criminals were on the emperor's iron-clad ship... when the iron-clad ship arrived... when it arrived in Qiongzhou..."

Zhu Qizhen recalled that he had rested in Qiongzhou for three months and Temasek Island for another month. Based on the time, it has been at least two months since the goods arrived in Ceylon Island.

"Have you been here before?"

"Back... back to the emperor, I've been here... I've been here once..."

Zhang Jin tried her best to control her body, but she couldn't help shaking.

This is a visceral fear, because he has foreseen his end.

Zhu Qizhen asked: "Tell me, what do you know?"

Zhang Jin raised her trembling hand, wiped her sweat, and asked boldly: "The criminal will tell the emperor everything he knows, and begs the emperor...to leave the criminal's whole body..."

Zhu Qizhen smiled and said: "This reason is not too much, tell me, what do you know?"

Zhang Jin swallowed her saliva, and then said: "The criminal's father..."

Speaking of this, he subconsciously raised his eyes, and then continued: "...have an affair with foreigners in Eastern Rome, have done some smuggling business, and... leaked the blueprint of the Daming iron-clad warship. Death, there is more than enough to die..."

Even today, my own father can't be used to it, and scolds whenever he needs to.

The whole family is ruined, and I can't escape death, so what else can I not say!
"About a year ago, criminals came to Ceylon with the Eastern Roman fleet and learned some of their language. These foreigners are not good at attacking minds, so they sometimes let criminals serve as advisers. role, to help them with ideas, at that time, the Eastern Romans had just arrived in Ceylon..."

Without reservation, Zhang Jin recounted her past experience.

At that time, Ceylon Island was still the territory of the Sinhala Kingdom and the Tamil Kingdom. Although the Eastern Romans had advanced weapons, it was not easy to take the island in one fell swoop.

The war lasted for half a year, and the Eastern Romans actually controlled only one port.

Charlemagne and Prussia, who were expeditions to the east, succeeded one after another, winning one island after another. Prussia even broke through the barriers to enter Ming Dynasty, smuggling frantically for profit.

Since the battle on Ceylon was not going well, the Eastern Romans even had the idea of ​​switching positions. Since Ceylon could not be attacked for a long time and the East had won consecutive battles, why not move to the East?

However, Zhang Jin's arrival changed all that.

In fact, Zhang Jin was just a messenger sent by Zhang Shiying to show his loyalty.

Basically, I sent all my sons here, is it sincere enough?

However, when he accidentally saw a battle road map, he couldn't help but make a few suggestions, and things began to change.

You know, since the Shang Dynasty in the Xia Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty in the Shang Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there has been a lot of chaos, the most indispensable thing in the land of China is military wizards.

Later generations just read a few books on the art of war, or even read a few histories, to see how the predecessors fought wars, and their strategic thinking has far surpassed that of Westerners at that time.

Zhang Jin's inadvertent pointers, in the eyes of the Eastern Romans, were like divine help.

What is the combination of vertical and horizontal, draw this one, suppress that, and then get rid of this...

Fighting is not about rushing forward, such as building barrages, cutting off the enemy's water source, and setting fire to mountains... Various schemes emerged one after another, and the battle began to tilt towards the Eastern Romans.

Zhang Jin was also made an earl, and was personally awarded by Queen Docia.

However, he really didn't want to stay here, so he found a reason to go back.

Until that day, when the ironclad ship suddenly appeared, he knew that everything was over.

The father took the risk in desperation, and finally ended up dead without a whole body, and the nine clans were killed...

Zhang Jin fled overnight and sailed westward desperately. He didn't even stop at Temasek Island, and continued westward all the way to Ceylon Island.

In the end, what was waiting was the news of the destruction of the entire Golden Griffin Fleet.

The island of Ceylon began to prepare for the battle. As the chief staff officer of the Eastern Romans, Zhang Jin naturally had to make suggestions.

However, the Ironclad appears again!
In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and schemes are meaningless...

Zhu Qizhen had almost heard it, so he asked: "So, are you convicted?"

"Convict!"

Zhang Jin lowered her head, and answered honestly: "The criminals first cheated with the Eastern Romans, and then... became enemies with the emperor, and they were overwhelmed..."

Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Seeing that you are honest and frank, I can't bear to kill you. How about this, you give me a reason not to kill you!"

Zhang Jin's body shook, and he raised his head and said, "The emperor's words... are you serious?"

Li Zhen stood beside him and shouted: "Bold, your Majesty's eloquent words are not child's play?"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said: "I only give you one chance, if there are good reasons, I can spare your life."

Zhang Jin's eyes turned sharply, as if he suddenly thought of something, he said, "Criminals... know some clues, maybe it will be helpful to the emperor!"

Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "Tell me, are these clues enough to change your life?"

Zhang Jin nodded again and again, and then said: "Your Majesty, Prussia from the Eastern Romans came to Daming first, starting from Qiongzhou Wei, and cleared a lot of checkpoints, which involved a lot of gold and silver transactions, which are shameful! "

Zhu Qizhen pondered for a moment, then said: "Speak on!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Jin saw that the emperor was interested, and a glimmer of hope suddenly rose in his heart.

"Actually, a year ago, in the coastal areas of Fujian, some merchants began to bring their families and a lot of gold and silver to sea, because a lot of their business was smuggling. If they were found out by the imperial court, they would definitely confiscate all of them Family wealth, therefore, the belongings were transferred in advance for the convenience when fleeing."

"Are these people you mentioned related to Qiongzhou Wei's rebellion?"

"related!"

Zhang Jin hurriedly replied: "Most of those merchants colluded with the Eastern Romans. With the protection of Qiongzhou Guards, they could smuggle goods without scruples. The criminals dare to ask, how many such people did the emperor find when he ransacked the house in Qiongzhou?"

Zhu Qizhen thought for a while, and said: "There are really some, but...it's not as exaggerated as you said, there are about a dozen, and the gold and silver involved...I can't remember clearly, it must be more than a million taels .”

"No, they must have run away!"

Zhang Jin shook her head vigorously, and said: "The merchants involved in smuggling, big and small, add up to not one hundred, but eighty. How could there be only a dozen? Also, their business starts at a few hundred thousand taels. All the merchants add up to at least ten million taels!"

Zhu Qizhen frowned, and said angrily: "Didn't it mean that tens of millions of taels of silver were lost from Daming to overseas?"

"Your majesty, the criminal...knows where these people are!"

Zhang Jin prostrated himself on the ground. At this moment, he suddenly saw the hope of living.

Zhu Qizhen thought for a while, and said lightly: "If what you said is true, as long as I can recover the money, I can save you from dying!"

"Sinner... thank you for your grace!"

Zhang Jin was so excited that she was about to cry, the crime of punishing the nine clans, it was too difficult to save a life!

"Your Majesty, I still have something to explain!"

Zhu Qizhen frowned and said, "Say!"

"The guilty minister also knows the fortifications and deployment of troops of the Eastern Romans!"

Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen hesitated.

If it is true, the next battle will be very smooth.

But what if it's fake?
This is war, not child's play.

When catching smuggling merchants, the best ones can be caught, and it doesn't matter if they can't be caught. At most, it will take some manpower and material resources, and there will be no loss.

However, fighting is different.

One wrong decision and many people will die.

It can even affect the trend of the entire battle situation.

Seeing Zhu Qizhen's hesitation, Zhang Jin knew clearly, and said: "The emperor sent divine soldiers from the sky to conquer the barbarians. The criminals are willing to be the vanguard and go to battle to kill the enemy! If they die in the frontier, they will be buried in a horse leather shroud." Ear!"

Zhang Jin is also fighting, if you don't believe me, then I will go to the front line and be the first to die, so the head office will be fine!

Zhu Qizhen thought secretly in his heart, judging by his appearance, he didn't seem to be acting.

Although the ironclad ship is invincible, it is limited to the water and cannot run on the ground.

After the landing operation, the biggest problem is that the terrain is not familiar.

If there is really a military deployment map of the Eastern Romans, it will be easier to fight this battle.

That being the case, why not give him a chance?

(End of this chapter)