Buried alive in the Qing Dynasty

In fact, this short ceasefire is also needed by both sides. Zhu and Qi need time to get more people to go ashore.And Rotoni also needs to collect the scattered Portuguese and mixed-race Portuguese on Macau Island into the outer city of St. Paul's Fortress.

Chapter 122 Jesus Will Bless Us!

"Governor, almost all of our people have withdrawn to the outer city of the Fortress...can we start shelling now?"

When the people below came to report the retreat of the Portuguese, Rotoni was on the wall of the outer city of St. Paul's Fortress, his brows knit into a ball.

What worries him is the outer city of St. Paul's Fort where he is now - St. Paul's Fort is a bastion, and it borrows the terrain of a small hill, which is extremely dangerous.If Rotoni now had only one St. Paul's Fort to defend, he was in no hurry.

But the problem is that the extremely dangerous St. Paul's Fort occupies too small an area. When the population of the Macao colony was small 50 years ago, it could be used for all the residents of the colony to enter and hide during wartime.

However, as the colony gradually became the largest seaport in East Asia and the missionary center of Catholicism in East Asia and Southeast Asia, the population of Macau also increased rapidly.

Now there are tens of thousands of resident population plus floating population, how can they be squeezed into the small fortress?

And there is St. Paul's Cathedral, and a continuously expanding St. Paul's Seminary!

The grounds of the cathedral and the seminary have far surpassed the St. Paul's Fortress, so it is naturally impossible to build it in the Fortress.

So the Macao colonial authorities built another city wall around the fortress of St. Paul, forming the outer city of the fortress, enclosing the cathedral and the seminary within the outer wall.

And this outer wall is not an indestructible bastion, but an ordinary stone city wall.Although there is a moat outside the outer wall, there are also some small and medium-caliber artillery on the top of the wall.But the defensive ability of this circle of city walls is simply incomparable to that of the bastion!

To make matters worse, because of the construction of the city wall, the shooting angle of the 12-pound cannon mounted on the bastion was blocked, and it was impossible to directly bombard the enemies close to the city wall.

And Rotoni couldn't give up the wall that surrounded him!

Because St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Paul's Seminary are now outside the St. Paul's Fortress, under the protection of this outer wall!

If the outer wall is abandoned... not only the tens of thousands of colonial residents, but also the cathedral and the seminary will be abandoned. This is a consequence that he, the governor, cannot bear!

As soon as Rotoni thought of this, a song praising God suddenly sounded in his ears.

This is the priests and believers gathered in St. Paul's Cathedral, led by Bishop Santos, singing loudly, praising Jesus.

When Rotoni heard this song, he knew that he must not give up the outer wall of the fortress... because St. Paul's Cathedral and Theological Seminary are the spiritual sustenance of the Portuguese people in Macau. Flying in the cathedral, the heart will be scattered.

Thinking of Jesus and people's hearts, Rotoni took a deep breath and said loudly to the Portuguese soldiers beside him: "Listen quickly! This is a song praising Jesus. Our Almighty Lord must have heard this song and our plea. Will bless us! God bless Portugal, God bless us..."

While talking, he swiftly made a sign of the cross on his chest, "Now, fire! The target is the British East India Company's shop!"

"Governor," De Figo, who had been reinstated, stepped up to remind him at this time, "You want to bombard the British business house? Shouldn't we hit the enemy warships on the water?"

Rotoni turned his head and glanced at De Figo, and said in a low voice: "The warship on the water is moving, and it is protected by black magic smoke, so it may not be able to hit it. The merchant house is a fixed target, and it has been aimed at for a long time. I don't know how many times, the artillerymen can hit with their eyes closed!"

Hearing Rotoni's words, De Figo was also taken aback, and said to himself: "Aren't we and the English allies for hundreds of years? How can we use cannons to aim at it every day?"

Rotoni went on to say: "And... I plan to capture the nine Chinese ships and the Great Eastern! I have sent nine galleys full of warriors to capture the ten ships!"

Speaking of "those ten big ships", Governor Rotoni's eyeballs were all red...that's money!

"Boom boom boom..."

As soon as he said this, the nine 12-pound cannons erected on the St. Paul's Fort that could reach the British East India Company's business hall roared!

At the same time as the cannon sounded, 12 black dots came out of the muzzle along with the flames and smoke, and then flew towards the British East India Company's trading house in the distance at a speed that was almost visible to the naked eye!

……

When the cannon on St. Paul's Fort began to roar, a fleet of ships was going upstream on the former mountain and river.

This fleet is composed of small and medium-sized Western-style galleys, and such small ships cannot go to the ocean.The area of ​​the sail is too small to catch up with the big ship sailing with the wind.Moreover, there are too many sailors on board, not to mention wasting money on eating and drinking along the way, and it will also take up very precious deadweight tonnage.

Therefore, this type of ship generally just hangs around the offshore area, using its flexibility and ability to sail against the wind and current to do some work on smuggling, anti-smuggling, robbery, catching thieves, and offshore defense.

In Qiu Hui's army, there are many similar ships, called fast crab boats or centipede boats.

But this time, no fast crab boat or centipede boat was sent to Macau—all Qiu Hui sent were old lock boats suitable for oceangoing.

The biggest advantage of this Chinese-Western mixed ship type is its low operating cost. Instead of using soft sails and using hard sails, it can save labor. The Western-style high-board ship type can also carry more cargo and go to the ocean.And its biggest disadvantage is that the speed is too slow, the area of ​​the hard sail is smaller than that of the soft sail, and there is no long oar for paddling.Therefore, this kind of ship generally runs with the wind and is a "fun ship".

In addition, since there are not many sailors on the old lock ships under normal operation, this kind of ship is very afraid of encountering galleys that specialize in smuggling, anti-smuggling, robbery or catching thieves.

And these nine old lock ships belonging to Qiu Hui and one armed merchant ship belonging to the East India Company, but now under the control of Qiu's sailors, became the prey of nine heavily armed Portuguese galleys tonight!

On these nine Portuguese galleys, apart from the black slave oarsmen, they were the most skilled fighters in the Portuguese army in Macau, and half of them were desperate adventurers who had just come from the West. With a Western sword.Obviously they are all excellent musketeers, and their swordsmanship should also be good.

If they were allowed to board the old lock boat of the Qiu family, they would be in big trouble!

The other half are Japanese-born mercenaries who have worked hard on the battlefields of Southeast Asia for many years-this Japanese mercenary was originally the favorite thugs used by feudal lords in Southeast Asia and Chinese maritime pirates.

However, with the end of the Warring States period in Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate began to close the country, and the supply chain of Japan's original Japanese pirate thugs was broken.However, there are still some descendants of the original Japanese pirates who continue to carry on the business of murder and arson.

Because of the reputation of their parents, they became the most sought-after goods after Western mercenaries.

Because the Portuguese colonists in Macau controlled the Catholic patronage rights in China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, it was easier to hire Japanese mercenaries who had converted to Catholicism to work for them.

There are a total of more than 200 Japanese thugs on the nine galleys sent by Rotoni!

These Japanese thugs are dead soldiers who jump to the gang and fight to the death, so they don't wear armor, everyone just wears tight shorts and Japanese swords on their waists.Some people even tied a strip of white cloth on their heads, but there was no such thing as "long-lasting martial arts" written on it, but something like "Heavenly Father Blessing".

They all wore light straw sandals on their feet, and several straw ropes were tied to the soles to increase friction.If you look at their palms, you can see that there are thick calluses on the palms, and they look very strong, and they can firmly grasp the rope and climb up.

These people all carried ropes with grapples on their backs, which were used to hook each other's tall ship sides for climbing.

When encountering the old lock ship of the Qiu family or the hijacked Great Eastern, this group of Japanese mercenaries will be the first choice!

Chapter 123 Zhuge Yao Dao, Knows Fire Attack Best!

There was a moderate southeast wind blowing on the Haojiang River, and it was the time when the tide was rising, so the nine galleys sailed very fast, and within a short time, they approached the inner harbor of Haojiang.

On the first galley, there was a short Japanese mercenary who also wore a white cloth belt on his head, but he didn't have a rope on his shoulders, but stood at the bow of the ship holding a very long samurai sword.

This Japanese mercenary, surnamed Aoi and given name Antonio, looks to be around 50 or [-] years old, and is the head of Japanese mercenaries in Macau.

His ancestral home is Kyushu Island in Japan. It is said that his ancestors have been warriors for generations. He served a Kiritan daimyo, that is, a Japanese daimyo who believed in Christianity. He was a military guide...that is, a martial arts teacher.

Later, Aoi's grandfather, Sora Aoi, was persecuted because of the death of his main family and his belief in Catholicism, so he had to flee overseas.

After arriving overseas, Sora Aoi's family continued to work as a mercenary in Siam, and then transferred to Nam Nguyen, Vietnam.

But no matter where his family goes, its roots are in the Catholic Church... The bishop of Macau is the real master of his family!

It is precisely because of this relationship that Aoi Antonio has always been excluded in the Nam Nguyen Army, and his martial arts are not very good, and he always loses battles. If it is not because of his belief in God, he would have been seppuku because of shame.

More than ten years ago, Aoi, who had been defeated repeatedly, simply resigned from Nanruan's official position, moved his family to Macau, and became the leader of the Japanese mercenaries in Macau.

Although he was squeezed out by the Portuguese and whites from other countries just like in Macau... he was regarded as a second-class and third-class person, and there was no room for advancement, nor could he have his own manor like he did in Vietnam, and he could still have three wives and four concubines ——Westerners in Macau do a lot of messing around, but he dare not!

Because after he arrived in Macau, he married a wife of Portuguese and Indian mixed race... Although she was not beautiful at all, and had seven or eight lovers before, it was enough to eat the "Japanese warrior" Aoi to death up!

Don't talk about beating your wife, I'm afraid my wife won't be able to make it in time!His wife gave birth to a dark-haired son, and he pampered him as a treasure... After all, that woman has a bit of noble Portuguese blood, and Portugal is the master of the Macau colony and the protector of Catholicism throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia.

They came to the barbaric, ignorant and backward East to spread the truth of God!

It's a pity that Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate, North Korea's Lee Dynasty, China's Qing Dynasty... and the dying Ming Dynasty didn't realize the greatness of the Portuguese and God, and are still resisting their salvation !

The Qing Dynasty even wanted to turn the Portuguese in Macau into bannermen, and wanted the servant of the Portuguese, Aoi, to be a dressing slave... It's really outrageous!

But the most outrageous thing is the third grandson of Zhu, a remnant of the Ming Dynasty. It’s fine if he doesn’t kneel down and beg the Portuguese and God for help, but he dared to attack Macau. It’s really unforgivable!

"Aoi-kun, look over there...it's the Great Eastern!"

A Japanese mercenary standing behind Antonio Aoi suddenly shouted, interrupting Aoi's train of thought.

Aoi turned his head and saw that his young mercenary named Shimada was a young mercenary named Shimada, so he immediately cursed: "Baga! Call me Antonio!"

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and searched for a while in the dim light, and found the Great Eastern floating at the entrance of Haojiang Inner Harbor.

Aoi suddenly pulled out his ancestral Nodachi...a very long samurai sword, pointed forward, and shouted: "God bless! Kill me..."

Why did he shout, and the Japanese mercenaries behind him also shouted "God bless" and "Kill it", and then the Japanese on several other boats also shouted together. Suddenly shouted to kill one.

However, the Great Eastern was still quietly lying on the water, without any reaction.

Have all the people on board gone ashore?

Antonio Aoi was slightly disappointed when he thought of this - his samurai sword hadn't been full of blood for many years.

Just when Aoi was disappointed, a thunderous roar suddenly came from the bank on his right side. He turned his head and saw clusters of flames flickering in the darkness in the southeast—that was Shengbao. The 12-pound cannon on the Lu Da Fort opened fire!

I don't know if the sudden sound of guns gave the black oarsmen who were rowing more power. The nine galleys on the water all speeded up and rushed towards their prey, the Great Eastern.

And the galley on which Antonio Aoi was on was the first!

Just when the two ships were about to collide, there was a harsh sound of clappers on the originally quiet Great Eastern.

Then there was a flicker of fire... A row of people holding "torches" suddenly appeared on the side of the Great Eastern ship.

Antonio Aoi didn't realize that the danger was coming, and he was still yelling for the people below to prepare to throw the rope grappling hook.

At this moment, he heard another sound of clappers, and then he saw the row of "torches" being thrown out, flying towards him.

Burn the boat with torches?

Antonio Aoi was speechless, this is too ignorant, too backward, right?The Portuguese warships have all been set on fire, so they are not so easy to burn...

As soon as he thought of this, several "torches" had already hit the galley he was on.I only heard the sound of "crash, clatter" as the porcelain fragments shattered, and then with a "boom", the fire burst into the sky, and the screams of screams followed!

Just now, Antonio Aoi, who thought that the third grandson of Zhu would not set fire too much, was surprised to find that he was already in a sea of ​​flames.

Not only the galley he was riding on burned up in a very short period of time, even the sea surface around the galley was also on fire!

Even the sea is on fire... What kind of fire is this?Antonio Aoi thought: "Could this be the legendary Samadhi True Fire? Does Chinese black magic really exist? No, I must figure it out!"

Thinking of this, he snatched the rope from a subordinate who was forced by the fire and had nowhere to hide.Then he swiftly threw the hooked end towards the Great Eastern.After the grapple hook of the rope hooked the deck of the Great Eastern, Antonio Aoi put away the sword, pulled the rope with both hands and jumped up, leaving the flames.

After getting out of the sea of ​​fire, he continued to climb along the rope, shouting at the top of his lungs while climbing, and he shouted in Chinese: "Da Mingbing, don't shoot, don't shoot arrows... The little one wants to surrender! The little one is willing to lead the way." !"

Well, surrender still has to surrender.In Aoi's situation, staying on the burning boat is tantamount to committing suicide... Suicide is going to hell!So he could only surrender to save his life.

Just as Aoi Antonio escaped from the sea of ​​flames, he heard someone on the Great Eastern shouting in unison: "Military Master Zhuge, who knows how to set fires best, waits for you to die in the sea of ​​flames..."

Then there was the wild laughter of "hahaha".

Needless to say, this must be Zhuge San and that high imitation Zhuge Liang pretending to be coercive... Although his Zhuge Liang is an "imitation", but the more he imitates, the more predictable he is!Of course, the Molotov cocktail thrown from the Great Eastern was not his family's ancestral family, but the strategy of using the Great Eastern as a bait to attack the Portuguese warship with Molotov cocktails was his own idea.

Looking at the Portuguese galley burning into a ball of fire, Zhuge military master was so proud that he even forgot about seasickness, and only the victor laughed wildly.

And the warship where Antonio Aoi was on was just the unlucky ship that was set ablaze first.Because of the inertia, wind direction and unclear situation of the warships, the rest of the ships rushed towards the Great Eastern one by one like moths to a flame... and then one by one was ignited by the Molotov cocktails , turned into a ball of fire floating on the water!

Chapter 124 Advance with the Red Barbarian Cannon!

"Great Confucius! He is learned but has no fame."

"Boom boom boom..."

"When the son heard about it, he said that his disciples said: 'What do I hold on to? Do I hold on to the imperial? I hold on to the imperial.'"

"Boom boom boom..."

In the darkness, the sound of reciting "The Analects of Confucius" and the sound of the Hongyi cannon firing alternately sounded, giving people a rather fantastic feeling... At least in the eyes of Zhu Heqi, the initiator of everything, the scene in front of him is really not big serious.

Well, he is a good third grandson of Zhu, now he is wearing a cloth robe with a horn scarf, a long sword and a copper hammer, and he is carrying a flintlock gun handed over from the Great Eastern. He looks like a disciple of Confucius who is out hunting, walking on the On the battlefield where the cannons boomed.

Beside him, there are sixty "horseless knights" dressed like him led by Su Zhanhai...the horses were left in Jieyang without bringing them, and they were going to grab the Portuguese's ocean horses directly after they captured Macau.

These guys didn't walk well, and they were reciting "The Analects of Confucius" aloud while walking. According to Zhu Heqi, there is a powerful Western bishop Santos in Macau City, and he is asking the Western Lord Jesus for help.Therefore, Zhu Heqi also had to recite "The Analects of Confucius", and asked the most holy master of Dacheng to help resist.

This statement will make people laugh out loud when they hear it in later generations, but in the seventeenth century...it couldn't be more normal!

These days, Westerners have to ask the priest to consecrate the cannons and warships after they are built. When making granular gunpowder, they also pay attention to using the priest's boy's urine to wet the powdered gunpowder!

In some relatively backward places, poor and lower-middle peasants finally got married and had to ask nobles or priests to help consecrate them!

In fact, in the West in the seventeenth century, it was only a small group of upper-class intellectuals who talked about science, and most of them were very superstitious.Even Newton was studying science while studying theology.

Most of the people who follow Zhu Hechi are also very superstitious. If you tell them the scientific truth, ten out of ten of them will not understand.Tell them about feudal superstition, and everyone will understand.

Zhu Heqi wanted to hold high the banner of "Original Confucianism" and arm the minds of his followers with the progressive thought of "the world is for the public" and "great harmony in the world", of course he had to engage in some mysticism.

It's not that they want to practice the same law as Master Hong, but they also need to let the people below know the effectiveness of "Original Confucianism".

For example, if you recite "The Analects of Confucius" and go to the battlefield, the Hongyi cannon will not be able to hit it, which can prove its effectiveness.

Whether it works or not, Hongyi Cannon will prove it!

Of course, the reason why the Portuguese Hongyi cannons couldn't hit Zhu and Qi was definitely not because they memorized the Analects well, but because the Portuguese didn't see them at all.

It was almost completely dark now, and the twelve infantry leaders, two artillery leaders, and two cavalry leaders commanded by Zhu Heqi and Lin Ahu were walking in the dark along the avenue on the bank of the Haojiang River.The Portuguese guns on St. Paul's Fort didn't notice them at all... so the shells flew over their heads. Whatever Zhu and Qi recited, even if they recited nursery rhymes, they could "dodge the guns".

Even if these Portuguese artillery found that there were thousands of Ming troops approaching the Fort, it would be difficult to hit them with the Hongyi cannon.