Nan Ming Sun Never Sets

Chapter 477 Supplies First
The Ming army's troops were walking on the main roads of Portugal, and the road conditions were a little worse than those of the Ming Dynasty.However, the soldiers still have high morale and relatively neat queues.Marching is the foundation of the Ming army. The soldiers carry several days of supplies and ammunition and head to the front line.

According to the arrangement of the five-nation coalition headquarters that has been formed, Portugal and Ming Dynasty will establish a supply system and set up several important supply stations, the most important of which is located in the mountain town of Penamarkle on the border between Portugal and Spain. , Portugal mobilized supplies from various places to this place.

The Portuguese side was also very frantic about the various supplies requested by the Ming army.

"... Flour, so many fruits and vegetables, nuts, and olive oil?" When Prince Pedro saw the list of supplies, he almost wanted to complain that the Ming army was not here to fight at all.

Liang Haisheng, who was in charge of communication at the time, could only popularize nutrition for him: "Different foods contain different nutrients, which are necessary for maintaining the health of soldiers, and a diversified diet is even more necessary for maintaining morale. In fact, we The Ming army normally uses more food, and we also have various non-staple foods. For example, we have a lot of sugar rations, but Portugal itself does not produce much sugar, and our cargo ships bring a lot, so there is no need for you to provide it. Just need to send these munitions to the front line."

Prince Pedro has realized that the Ming army, whether it is the arrangement of logistics supplies or this kind of unheard of nutritious military rations, represents a more advanced model, which is worth learning from Portugal.

After Portugal received the funds advanced by the Ming army, it immediately purchased various materials throughout Portugal, and even pushed up the price of food because of this.The Ming army needs all kinds of items, from flour to meat, poultry and eggs, and all vegetables and fruits that can be obtained. As a country of gourmet food, even the canteens of the army are full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. The cooking soldiers can also cook hot and delicious food for the soldiers.In comparison, other units in the coalition do not have this blessing.They ate hard bread and fresh meat, not to mention any non-staple food.

Prince Pedro and other British, French and Dutch officers who participated in the coalition forces could not imagine why the Ming army was willing to spend so much money on their soldiers. They lived better than the European citizens in terms of food and clothing.

More than 3000 soldiers of the Ming army traveled on the soles of their feet without any means of transportation, and their speed was still faster than any European army.In addition to carrying part of the supplies themselves, they also escorted part of the supplies prepared by the fleet, and then they will attack after the supply camp at Penamarkle is ready.

The ground troops were led by Brigadier General Qian Erlang of Ming Dynasty, and Bai Mingxiu himself left Lisbon with the main battle fleet after dealing with related affairs, and sailed to the Mediterranean Sea.

Qian Erlang is an officer who leads by example. Although he was born in the prince's personal army, his own ability is not bad.As the army marched, Qian Erlang didn't even ride a horse, and used the soles of his feet to measure the territory of Portugal like his soldiers.

"...It's only 12 kilometers away from Pena Marker." Gao Ning, who was acting as a temporary staff officer, said to the brigade commander.

Qian Erlang wiped the sweat off his big face and said, "After four days of walking, we finally arrived."

The Ming army did not conduct an intensive march, but paid more attention to protecting their physical strength and observing the surrounding environment.Although Portugal is considered an ally, it cannot guarantee that anything will happen.

At this moment, Li Wan walked over quickly.

"Brigade Commander, the scout cavalry is back. Penamarkle was attacked by the Spanish army. The Western army stormed the Portuguese army and wiped out the Portuguese army guarding the border. Penamarkle's Portuguese army is resisting, but The Western Army is very large, with around 6000 soldiers, the Portuguese Army may not be able to defeat it.”

Qian Erlang patted his thigh, and said: "This group of unlucky Portuguese, tell them to protect the supply camp, that guy named Menezes is just not going to transfer his troops, this is good, let the Spaniards keep an eye on them." up!"

Gao Ning calmly analyzed: "Penamarkle is our most important logistics base now, and about 40% of the logistics replenishment has been completed. The Spaniards are attacking Penamarkle in such a targeted manner. I am afraid that it is the Portuguese side. Information leaked out."

"Damn it!"

Qian Erlang didn't see much remorse, he slapped his hands and said, "We can't go on so slowly, we must keep Penamarkle safe, if the Spaniards destroy our logistics, it will delay the entire war Process, Li Wan, you should immediately take the cavalry battalion to Penamarkel to disturb the Spaniards, and our follow-up troops will march there immediately."

When Li Wan heard this, he regained his energy, patted his chest and said, "Brigade Commander, leave it to me!"

There are also cavalry in the independent brigade, but the scale is small, with only a cavalry battalion composed of more than 260 people.After all, it is quite inconvenient to carry horses on a ship. Although some livestock are carried on the ship, most of them are workhorses.

Although there are not many people, the cavalry battalion is really powerful.This cavalry battalion does not have its own artillery tactical unit, but because all of them have updated their own equipment, the carbine used is already an M6 carbine. This carbine is very similar to the carbine used during World War I. It uses metal shells. Fixed loading, use the clip to load, no longer need to be loaded one by one like paper shell bullets.

What's more, this cavalry unit is equipped with submachine guns, which improves their continuous firepower.

Although Li Wan's temper was a little more impetuous, he was extremely cautious in battle.He led the battalion of cavalry and rushed immediately to Penamarkle, while the Spanish army was still storming the fortress built by Portugal.There are at least a dozen artillery pieces on the Spanish side. Although it is not enough to break the walls of the Portuguese fortress, it does suppress the Portuguese.The Western Army's offensive was very fierce. Even in this situation, the Western Army's infantry were still carrying ladders and preparing to climb up the city wall. The two sides fought fiercely, which was extremely tragic.

The arrival of the cavalry led by Li Wan was very unexpected by the Spanish army.Because there are plains and farmland nearby, there are not many shelters. The Spaniards quickly discovered Li Wan. The Duke of Carasena, the commander of the Western Army, did not take it seriously. Enemy, we need to prepare, since the cavalry has arrived, the enemy infantry should also arrive soon, we must capture the castle as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)