open sea

Chapter 1169
"Are they worried that I will attack Lisbon?"

In the towering Belem Tower at the mouth of the river, in the tall and narrow window, Fu Yuan held the marble window sill with his arm holding the silver-inlaid dice pipe, and the salty sea breeze was blowing on his face. He spread his palm in surprise and said: "I don't understand , why do you think so?"

The tall and narrow windows on this tower suspended over the shallow sea have neither glass nor paper that is common in the Ming Dynasty. It has been used as a fort and military fortress for a long time, and it was not planned to install any expensive windshields at the beginning of the design. Which general ran here to preside over military affairs.

Do ordinary soldiers need glass?

No payment is required either.

He valued the geographical location here. When the tide is high, the shallow sea hangs alone, and when the tide is low, the road is hidden. The five-story Manueline-style main tower and the lower wall can accommodate [-] artillery pieces and [-] soldiers. The interior space is formed, although There are numerous stone ropes or religious patterns inside and out, and a fort built entirely of thick marble is still very reassuring.

Standing in front of Fu Yuan was Acosta, a former monk in the Viceroyalty of Peru and an aide to the King of Spain. He did not answer Fu Yuan's words directly, but stretched his arms out of the window after clasping his fists and saluting, pointing to the west.

In the direction his arm pointed, hundreds of warm brown military tents were arranged densely and orderly on the golden sand.

In the past, the military tents carried by the Beiyang Army on the eastward journey had been rotten or decayed in the humid and insect-infested environment of Mexico. Later, a batch of military tents prepared by Wu Qingbo and Li Wei were of poor quality, so the military tents they use today They are all produced in Changsheng counties.

To cope with the upcoming autumn and winter season in Europe, the Oriental military government has prepared new canvas military tents, thick woolen blankets and quilts for them; Plant dyes, the dyed color is warm brown, except that the color is similar to that of the beach, the biggest feature is insect resistance.

It is difficult to prepare for an expedition that crosses latitude and longitude. The biggest disadvantage of military supplies is that they are thick and airtight, which makes the flag army reluctant to stay in the military tent when it first enters autumn. At this moment, Fu Yuan is looking at Acosta's arm past.

Soldiers wearing neat military uniforms and bright breastplates all over the ground are divided into small flags, four in the front and five in the back, facing the city of Lisbon in the same posture - the waist knife is hung on the left side of the body, and the bulging chest is next to it. Carry a rucksack and water bottle, place the mouth of the bird gun forward on the right side of the body, press the helmet on the bird gun, and sit cross-legged.

At the front of each small flag, there are three people sitting in the same posture with their backs to the city. From their helmets, it can be seen that the official positions are small flag officer, deputy flag officer, and preaching officer. Judging from their appearance, some of them are holding grenades, small flag arrows, etc. Or the bird guns tell something for the flag army under his command, and some use the gun thorns as pens to draw pictures in the sand.

There are only three kinds of people who can walk on the beach. One kind is the general flag officer who walks around with a flag on his back; The helmets are all different from others.

The helmets of the Beiyang infantry are no longer in use. Instead, there are helmets with more patterns on the top of the helmet and a red long horsetail helmet. The breastplate also has more decorations. The skirt and two bright red belts fall to the knees.

They are the backbone of the army, communicating with the upper and lower levels to form the hundreds of households with the independent combat capability of the Beiyang Banner Army.

In the distance, the sandy beach and the urban area are separated by a wooden fence and a prefabricated iron net to draw a [-]-step-long intermittent and clear dividing line. The iron wire was drawn and made by the Makino Armament Bureau, and each ship brought a few coils to prepare for accidents such as strengthening the mast during the voyage.

The wooden grid has no defensive capabilities. Although the Banner Army engineers will clamp the iron thorns on it, this is not a battlefield. It is just to prevent the Spaniards from approaching the camp and causing conflicts in a simpler way.

Fu Yuan was very satisfied with the performance of the banner army under his command, but the more satisfied he was with the banner army, the more dissatisfied he was with the accusations from Philip's court conveyed by Acosta: "I have tried my best to restrain my subordinates. Two months, only half a day to disembark in the Azores, now someone has to give them five days each on the shore, just this sand."

When it comes to the two months of ups and downs at sea, even Fu Yuan, who has an independent captain's room, has lingering fears, and one can imagine the mentality of the flag soldiers squeezed into the small flag soldier's cabin.

You, do you think His Royal Highness is blaming you for not restraining the soldiers?

The legionnaires of my Great Spain went to Lisbon, not to mention sitting quietly, as long as they didn’t burn down the suburbs, they would be thankful. What else is there to be satisfied with?

This is not an exaggeration. During the short campaign that the Duke of Alva led his men to sweep Portugal, they really did it.

Their king has just paid off the interest on several bankers' loans with the Mingxi trade for two years, and reduced the wage arrears from generally six months to a year to three months in arrears, which is a great progress that has just been achieved this year.

The Spanish Legion has never been known for strict military discipline.

Acosta withdrew his arm from the window sill, and seemed to want to slap him twice, but he hesitated to wave his hands in front of him meaninglessly. Finally, he rubbed his forehead and said: "In fact , it was the well-trained soldiers of the Ming Empire that made the court generals nervous."

"I know you put your best soldiers on board, but people don't know, and I say they don't believe it. People are worried that your going to France is an excuse. The real purpose is to attack Lisbon or the whole of Spain... You have too many troops."

"Even if the general only sent 2000 people ashore, there are [-] soldiers and fleets on standby at the port, and two squadrons at sea to control the exits, not to mention the information from the Azores that the Ming army has occupied two cities there. And after you landed, you requisitioned the Tower of Belém, drove the company stationed here ten miles away, and occupied this beach; let Spain prepare the luggage, but still haven't met the king until today, the court can hardly believe the Ming fleet Come here without hostility."

Ugh!
Fu Yuan sighed for a long time, looked at the old acquaintance Acosta who was working hard for the king, put down his pipe and patted him on the shoulder, smiled helplessly, and then said: "If Ming and Xi want to The war started long ago, and when Alva was still in Mexico City, you knew that our reinforcements had arrived, and if you wanted to attack Spain, wouldn’t it be the best chance to defeat the [-] veterans of the Western Kingdom at that time?”

"Every year, Mingxi trade is not only made by your king, but also by the Eastern Army; in the past, King Philip couldn't make so much money from governing the country, and we couldn't make so much money even if we conquered Spain. Why do we have to go to war and make money together? Are flowers bad?"

The reason why Fu Yuan laughed was because before he set off for the expedition, he found out the Xiguo military training book that he had seized in the early years and read it twice. The extreme disdain for the Spanish navy also happened at that time.

Not to mention that the order Chen Mu gave him was not to attack Spain, even if he was asked to attack Spain, he would have a mentality of underestimating the Spanish navy; this underestimation does not come from the ship, but from a subtle rule: the Spanish ship has two sets of commands System, divided into sailors and army.

Once a war breaks out, sailors, sailors, and armies must participate in the battle; but before the battle begins, sailors and sailors are not allowed to take up arms.

This provision already reveals many things.

Limited by Fu Yuan's knowledge of the personal experience of the Spanish and Portuguese sailors, the army had weapons and firearms on board, and I am afraid that in addition to boarding and landing operations, they also had to be ready to deal with the crew's rebellion at any time.

"Fu Mou is also a military officer, so the visit to the king should wait for me to return to the voyage. Please rest assured, King Philip, Fu Mou will not lead troops to stay in Lisbon for too long. As long as the Western Kingdom collects enough food and grass, and the flag army's vacation is over, I will set off for the north immediately. "

(End of this chapter)