Bringing the Railway to Daming

Encouraged by the major, the English soldiers at the castle regained their courage, and some even hoped that the Ming warships would soon be within range of the catapults and cannons.

However, the Ming warships stopped when they were about two miles away from the large castle.

This puzzled the English soldiers in the castle: What were the Ming army up to? Were they afraid and not going to enter the Thames?
Just as they were thinking this, some soldiers with good eyesight vaguely saw that the "windows" on the sides of those tall Ming warships were open, and something was being revealed from inside.

Then, wisps of pale white smoke billowed from the windows, followed by booming cannon fire. The major then realized what was happening and shouted, "Oh no! It's Ming army cannons!"

At the same time, a new question arose in his mind: How could the Ming army fire cannons from such a distance?

Soon, the cannonballs whistling towards the castle told him why.

Because the Ming army's naval cannons (the Shenwei cannons) had a long enough range!
Only a few of the dozen or so warships fired at the large castle, but it was still bombarded by hundreds of shells.

Most of these cannonballs were iron projectiles, with only a few being explosive shells. When they hit the castle, the stones of the castle, which were mainly designed to defend against slingshots, cracked and even the walls collapsed.

As for the English soldiers standing on the city walls and towers, many of them were caught off guard and suffered casualties.

Most importantly, this situation of being able to only take a beating and not fight back caused the morale of the English soldiers to dissipate instantly – many of them were conscripted militiamen who did not receive military pay and could only earn a few black loaves of bread a day, so they were not willing to fight to the death.

So the soldiers who were lucky enough to survive the bombardment either hid under the battlements or simply fled into the castle.

At this moment, the Ming warships launched dozens of small boats, each carrying only five people, and rowed rapidly toward the riverbank where the Great Castle was located.

After two rounds of shelling, the small boats reached the shore just as the third round of shells landed.

One by one, the soldiers of the Three Feudatories, carrying swords and shields, jumped ashore and crept towards the castle. They were initially worried that the castle gates were sealed and that they would need explosives to blow them open, but they found that the wooden gates were not sealed. Several men rammed into them and knocked them down.

"kill!"

The leader, a short, stocky Frenchman with a full beard, shouted in Chinese and then lunged forward with a sinister grin.

He was extremely excited about attacking England, not only because it meant he could continue to earn merit, improve his status, and receive rewards, but also because it meant he could avenge the English invasion of his homeland years ago.

Although there were still hundreds of English soldiers in the castle, they had lost their courage after several rounds of bombardment by the Ming army. In addition, they did not know how many Ming soldiers had entered the castle, so many English soldiers fled in panic or knelt down and begged for mercy.

These French soldiers, acting as vassals, would rush up and slash any English soldiers carrying weapons they saw. Only those who had thrown their weapons far away and were no longer a threat were kicked to the ground and roughly tied up.

For the Triple Expeditionary Forces, prisoners of war were a significant haul, worth a considerable sum of money.

In less than half an hour, the Allied forces of the Three Feudatories had captured the first major castle at the mouth of the Thames. They then used the same method to take down several other castles, large and small, and the Allied fleet officially entered the Thames River…

London.

Dover Castle is the former royal palace of the Plantagenet dynasty and now the royal palace of the House of Lancaster.

Henry IV was suffering from a strange illness when he suddenly received news that several castles at the mouth of the Thames had fallen one after another. He could no longer bear it and threw a piece of Oriental porcelain that he had bought at a high price at the time, smashing it to pieces.

"Useless! Useless, all of you are useless! With so many castles and garrisons, how could you not even hold the river mouth for a single day?!"

At this moment, a minister below said, "Your Majesty, according to the defeated soldiers who fled back from the river mouth, the Ming army's warships have an extremely long range of cannons, more than three times that of the general's cannons."

"Ming warships bombarded the castle from a distance with cannons, making it impossible for the soldiers inside to show their faces. So the Ming army landed, crept up to the castle, and broke through it."

"In addition, the Ming army also has explosives that can blow up the castle gates directly, so the soldiers can't defend it even if they want to."

Henry IV looked at the minister with a dark expression. "You mean, we should just surrender without any resistance?"

"Your Majesty misunderstands. That's not what I meant at all," the minister quickly explained. "I meant that the Ming army's firearms are powerful, and it is indeed difficult to resist them using conventional methods. We must think of other ways."

Henry IV took a deep breath and asked, "Then do you have any ideas?"

The minister said, "Since the Ming warships have already entered the Thames, why don't we send out a team of brave warriors who are good swimmers to see if we can sneak onto the Ming ships at night and set them on fire?"

"Of course, to be on the safe side, it would be best to arrange two teams of warriors, with the other team underwater, to see if they can sink those dozen or so giant ships."

Henry IV's eyes lit up, and he said, "Very well, White, this matter is entrusted to you. If you succeed, you will be a hero of England, and I will reward you handsomely!" "Yes, Your Majesty!"

On that day, the Ming fleet continued its advance up the Thames River, eliminating English defensive strongholds such as castles along the river one by one.

On the other hand, the Triple Expeditionary Forces also landed, splitting into two groups and advancing along the Thames River in line with the fleet, displaying an attitude of heading straight for London.

Another day passed, and at night, the Ming fleet anchored at a rather large dock on the Thames.

Two teams of skilled swimmers, summoned by Huai, traveled by small boat to a location a few miles upstream from where the Ming fleet was anchored.

The official in charge of escorting these warriors said, "Gentlemen, you are the most skilled swimmers in the London army. As long as you can destroy more than a dozen of the Ming army's main warships as planned, in addition to the thirty gold coins you have already received, you will receive a reward of twenty gold coins upon your return."

"Furthermore, those of you who perform exceptionally well may even be granted a title!"

Although social classes in England have become less rigid due to decades of war and coups, the chances of commoners obtaining a peerage remain extremely small, close to zero.

Henry IV's decision to offer a noble title as a reward for defeating the Ming Dynasty's main warships demonstrates considerable courage.

Sure enough, these "warriors," most of whom came from humble backgrounds as sailors and fishermen, became excited upon hearing the official's words.

Will His Majesty the King really grant him a title?

"How exactly can one obtain a title?"

"You're not lying to us, are you?"

"···"

Seeing that even a small title could excite these warriors, the official secretly despised them, but replied with a smile, "Don't worry, as long as we can deal with the Ming army's main warships, His Majesty the King will at least grant us a title."

"Whether you can obtain this title and become a nobleman from commoners depends on your performance."

And so, a group of "warriors" composed of sailors and fishermen, to avoid being discovered by the Ming army, swam downstream from this spot...

Ryan was a fisherman who was quite famous in the slums of London because of his excellent swimming skills and superb fishing techniques.

This time, the royal court recruited warriors skilled in swimming, offering them a settlement allowance of 30 gold coins. He happened to need money to treat his daughter's illness, so he applied and was accepted.

At this moment, he and his captain and other warriors finally swam to the vicinity of the dock where the Ming warships were moored. Looking at the tall, dark shadows not far away, even in the cold water, his blood was still boiling with excitement and tension.

The captain whispered, "Now, according to our previous plan, we'll split into groups of three and go to stab the ship!"

"Yes," everyone replied.

They then proceeded to swim towards a large Ming warship, following the same group they had formed during the day.

He didn't know either of the two people in Ryan's group. He only knew that one of them used to be a sailor on a merchant ship and the other was a soldier in the navy. Naturally, the soldier was now the leader.

After they reached the vicinity of a large ship, they first surfaced to take a breath of fresh air, and then dived back down to begin chiseling at the ship.

However, when Ryan struck with his chisel, he sensed something was wrong.

He quickly scraped away the mud, barnacles, seaweed, and other debris from the bottom of the ship with his hands, and then scratched it with a chisel. Only then did he realize that the bottom of this large ship was actually made of iron!

Or rather, it was fitted with sheet metal, and it was the best kind of sheet metal (steel)!
Ryan panicked a little, but after calming down, he went to find the team leader.

However, before he could find the team leader, he heard the sound of splashing water coming from above.

Soon, several dark figures appeared underwater, and three of them headed straight for him.

As the three men drew closer, Ryan recognized them and was immediately terrified. They were all dressed in strange, tight-fitting suits, smooth like fish skin, clinging to their bodies and covering even their heads, leaving only their eyes visible. (These were actually the water armor worn by Ming Dynasty water ghosts, primarily made of fish skin.)
At first glance, he mistook it for a legendary fish-man. (End of Chapter)