open sea

Chapter 1024
It was dusk when the bright boat appeared on the coast of Bordeaux again, and the setting sun sprinkled a layer of bright red on the sparkling coast.

The first fleet to arrive was huge, with four large Spanish galleons over [-] tons flying the flag of the French Valois royal family, with huge sails covering the sky and carrying four copper light cannon statues The flying castle whizzed by.

Behind the four main battleships full of Spanish spearmen and musketeers in full armor, twelve classic Clarks followed closely. This fleet from Spain was full of sailors and soldiers and left Bordeaux following the undulating waves. The coast is getting closer.

So close that the workers in the dirty linen shirts of the fortress on the western port of Bordeaux looked up and shouted for the unexpected visitor who suddenly appeared at sea.

The gaps in the front wall of the fortress and the loose bricks and stones of the entire castle due to the explosion brought great difficulties to the repair project. To repair this extremely important coastal fortification, the Bordeaux paid a higher price than being robbed by Chen Jiujing. the price.

Especially in a chaotic situation, it is difficult to recruit workers who are willing to work hard, and it is even more difficult for nobles and monks who are keen on politics to be qualified for the job of architects.

But this Spanish fleet flying the flag of the French royal family was very disciplined. Their legionary leader Toledo sent three small boats with letters to the shore to make representations, saying that they were invited by the Valois royal family to go to Paris. Assist the royal family.

"Don't be afraid, we just want to rest a day at the shore, buy some food and water at the port, and continue north."

The monks accompanying the Spanish army looked convincing, but the gates of Bordeaux were locked. The gentlemen discussed in the city for nearly an hour, and finally agreed that the Spanish army should rest outside the city.

Of course, people don't believe this nonsense called the Toledo Legion, and it doesn't even matter whether the words are true or false. The lax military discipline of the Spanish Legion is as loud as their name as the First Army in Europe, but they really have nothing to do.

The majority of the people in the city are still Catholics, and the Huguenots only account for [-]%, which is already a very high proportion, and the Protestants in France only account for one-sixth.

One-sixth means that there is one Huguenot for every six people. Catholics are born in the womb of mothers, and Protestants are developed later. It is already very scary to be able to account for this ratio.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the late Qing Dynasty was far smaller than this number.

The more cohesive Protestants are more like secret associations, and the Catholics have to make decisions about this kind of general direction. The one who made them make this decision was a man in the city who was killed by the Xiyong Camp in the battle half a year ago. The captured count said a word, "What are you afraid of? Marshal Billon's army is forty miles away on the Dordogne River. Go and inform him."

The li he said was far, and the length was close to the Spanish lige, and one far was nearly eight li in the Ming Dynasty.

The distance is less than [-] miles, whether it is far or near, they have time to recruit defenders. Even if the Spaniards want to storm Bordeaux, they will have enough time to defend until Marshal Billon leads the army.

This is the only confidence they can rely on.

How else could it be?They can imagine the consequences of refusing the Spaniard's request. Allowing them to rest on the spot may avoid fighting, but not agreeing will definitely bring disaster to Bordeaux.

After all, the Spanish Legion is notorious for its lax military discipline, and it went crazy and even robbed its own towns, let alone French towns.

The Spanish army is terrifying, but for Bordeaux, whose warships were destroyed by Chen Jiujing half a year ago, the Spanish Galen ship is even more terrifying at sea.

The Ming-Xi war only raised Ming's prestige in Europe, but did not hurt Spain's prestige in Europe... There are not many fools in power in Europe who have survived the dark middle ages, and no one thinks about "Da Ming Xing" all the time Me too', especially French.

The Duke of Guise in the north has the Spanish Legion under his command. It is the capital of his tripartite rivalry with King Henry and Henry of Navarre. I have never heard of anyone who beat that legion violently on the battlefield, so this legion will naturally not work.

The commander of the Legion of Toledo just led his subordinates humming a little song and playing a snare drum, and marched towards the outside of Bordeaux under the guidance of the standard bearer and the chaplain.

Toledo was born in the Spanish mesta class, that is, the Spanish nomadic nobles in the Ming army's concept. He is not only a beloved legion commander but also a seasoned warrior. He has been serving the Spanish mainland on the Iberian Peninsula.

His legion was formed seven years ago. Last year, after the Duke of Alva in the New World learned the lessons of the Mingxi War, he sent a summary report to the country. Under the auspices of King Philip, the Toledo Legion was the first three legions to implement reforms. One of them, the Ming army uniforms that Chen Mu gave Alwana to equip a company was also transferred to his command.

The Toledo Legion has strengthened the proportion of musketeers. In addition to the conventional two mixed companies of light and heavy muskets, three companies of pikemen have been replaced with mixed musket companies. Therefore, even the phalanx formed is different from the past. different.

In the past, the musketeers were in the four corners, and the large square formation in the middle was mixed with spearmen and sword-shield infantry. Today, the musketeers are still in the four corners, and the square formation in the middle is composed of four spear companies, three musket companies, and a sword-shield company. ed, and significantly increased the proportion of musketeers not wearing helmets.

The equipment of the Spanish musketeers does not wear armor except muskets, rapiers and daggers, and only wears a tall helmet to protect the head, but there is also a musketeer who does not wear a helmet, but only wears a soft hat decorated with feathers , they were heavy musketeers.

Carrying a heavy musket that is 1.4 meters long and weighs [-] catties, and then hangs [-] rounds of ammunition in a wooden barrel, don’t underestimate the weight of the [-] rounds of ammunition. A heavy musketeer's whole body weighs forty catties, not counting other equipment.

It is obviously difficult for them to wear armor again.

Toledo was ordered by the king to follow Chen Jiujing for two purposes. One is to shoulder the hope of the court and find the secret of the Ming army's strength in Chen Jiujing's troops... He has already found that this mission cannot be achieved. Who would have thought that Chen Jiujing used Spain Mercenaries fighting?
However, he can also accomplish the second purpose—to sell the wool better. This year, his family hired an 'accountant' from Daming. In fact, the accountant can only speak proficient Chinese and weigh It’s nothing more than measuring wool, but just because he hired him, the family sold more than 3 merino sheep and sold 16 catties of wool.

He also received a gift of one hundred bolts of silk from Li Dan.

Now the head of the Toledo Legion doesn't know what he can get in this war, but he knows that getting along with Chen Jiujing is definitely not bad, so even Chen Jiujing is silent when he puts on Margaret the clothes that only men can wear , obediently led troops to block all roads heading south in Bordeaux.

Because on the southern coast of Bordeaux, those blue-sail warships that terrified the navigators of the generation of Europa are slowly docking, and teams of capable warriors set foot on this land.

Their leader, Chen Jiujing, rode on the back of a tall monster-like Persh horse, holding a spear upside down and slowly jolting his horse. He took off his Nanyang iron mask and revealed a smiling face. The knight, the queen of Navarre, whose whole body was wrapped in a special iron sheet, said with a smile: "Oh, it's so strange. I've only been here once, but why does it feel like going home after getting off the boat?"

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)