Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 274 We must fight!

In the Indian Ocean, on a vast blue sea, the monsoon blows the dragon flag of the Ming fleet fluttering in the wind, and the flaming red flag is inlaid with the light of the rising sun from the Indian subcontinent opposite.

In the command cabin of a Ming Dynasty three-class sailing battleship equipped with eighty cannons, Wang Hong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who had not slept well all night, was watching the rising sun from a foreign country with his subordinate civil and military officials.

Soon, Wang Hong turned around and looked at the sand table that had been promoted recently, and asked Jinyiwei Chen Ding: "Captain Chen, I want to confirm again that the distribution of Portuguese troops and warehouses in Goa is really as shown in the map. Have you made any mistakes?"

"I dare to guarantee with my life that in order to find out the truth about these Portuguese, one of my centurions disguised himself as a purchased Ming citizen and worked hard in Goa. He was beaten to death by the Portuguese but never revealed himself. These were all earned by our brothers in the Imperial Guards with their lives! How can this be false!"

Chen Ding felt so angry when he thought of the humiliation he had suffered from the Portuguese when he was an undercover agent. Now that the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Hong, was questioning him, he was even more upset.

"You mean, there are people in my Ming Dynasty who were enslaved by the Portuguese in Goa? Some were even beaten to death?"

Wang Hong asked.

Chen Ding nodded: "Yes, there are no less than a hundred people who were humiliated to death. Some were captured soldiers, and some were sold here by greedy tribesmen to do hard labor!"

boom!
Even though Wang Hong was a veteran official who had been in the officialdom for many years, when he heard that his compatriots were enslaved by barbarians, he could not help but pound the table with his fist, causing the pen and ink to tremble.

But at this time, the sentry came to report: "General (referring to Governor Wang Hong)! We are less than 300 miles away from Goa!"

Wang Hong quickly calmed down after hearing this, suppressed his emotions, and ordered: "Beat the drums! Remove the gun covers from all the cannons! Reload the ammunition! Unlock the safety of all the muskets and load the ammunition! Get the Divine Fire Crow ready! The patrol boat will sail immediately to explore the nearby sea area!"

then.

Soon.

The Ming expeditionary fleet across the Indian Ocean sounded drums, indicating that they were officially ready to fight against the Portuguese fleet!

All gun ports are open!

The huge cannon with an iron core and a copper frame, with a sight and rear sight, exposed its dark muzzle, pointing only towards the blue sea!

The officers and soldiers of the Ming army also raised their rifles. The standard Ming Zhengde rifle, which had similar performance to the Springfield M1795 rifle and the Dreiser rifle that had shone brightly in history, was now just waiting for the appearance of the Portuguese!
Because it is a percussion rifle, the Ming Dynasty Zhengde rifle can continuously shoot and kill enemies even in the wind and rain. What's more, the sun is shining brightly now. It is February of the 14th year of Zhengde, when the climate is the mildest in the Indian Ocean.

It is worth mentioning that the Ming Dynasty's Divine Fire Flying Crow was also ready at this time. This Ming Dynasty version of the original aircraft had shined in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay and the Battle of Ruliang in history. It was a magic weapon that could quickly ignite enemy ships and sailing boats.

Wang Hong and the officers and soldiers of the entire Ming fleet were waiting for the appearance of the Portuguese fleet and then sinking all of its warships.

Many of the Ming army officers and soldiers who followed Wang Hong to the expedition to Goa were the officers and soldiers who followed Xia Yan on the western tour. They clearly remembered the scene of being attacked by the Portuguese here. They also remembered that many of their brothers were captured by the Portuguese. They have not forgotten the hatred that the Portuguese brought to them.

So, it can be said that they came with hatred and their purpose was revenge.

Even the Prime Minister, Xia Yan, who is in charge of the entire South China Sea Maritime Affairs, also code-named this military operation "Revenge".

……

The Portuguese fleet had indeed appeared at this time.

Almost all of the twenty or so Portuguese centipede warships were deployed, forming an arc around the entire Goa port. Each centipede ship also had a Portuguese cannon that could replace sub-guns to achieve continuous firing.

But these did not frighten the Ming naval officers and soldiers who followed Wang Hong or Xia Yan in fighting the Portuguese fleet many times.

At this moment, what really shocked the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty was that their compatriots were tied up on the warships and artillery platforms of the Portuguese fleet!

Sentinel Zhou Guang put down the navy-specific telescope and fell from the mast, then immediately ran to the command cabin: "Military! There are our brothers on the enemy ship! They are tied to the mast!"

"What! Why are these Portuguese so despicable!" Deputy Censor Lu Shen couldn't help but say in surprise.

Wang Hong calmly put away the telescope, turned around and said, "I have seen it. There is no fixed rule in war. The Portuguese are doing this despicable and cunning thing. They are deceiving our Celestial Empire, which is a righteous country. They cannot bear to harm their own people, so they have such behavior! Pass the order down. All ships are not allowed to fire without my order. Stand ready!"

After saying that, Wang Hong walked onto the deck, looking at the large Portuguese centipede ship with thousands of oars in front of him, thinking about how to deal with it.

……

at this time.

The Portuguese governor, Amer, also saw the flag signals on the Ming warship through the telescope he bought from the Ming smugglers, and couldn't help but sneer:
"The Ming army has indeed issued an order not to fire. It seems that our tactic of taking their people as hostages has worked. These stupid and rigid Orientals would rather sit back and watch the opportunity to fight be lost for the sake of their own little bit of morality and national compatriots. They are just a few captured civilians. If they die, they die! God will not have mercy on these lowly, non-believers, slaves!" "Your Excellency the Governor is right. In fact, their emperor is the most ridiculous. He insisted on establishing a constitution that forced their officials to bear the obligation to protect their own people. If they rashly sacrifice the interests of the people, they will even be charged with serious crimes! Such a king who loves his people is definitely not a great emperor. In my opinion, he is more suitable to be a pastor, not an emperor!"

Kirk also laughed along.

"The king has decided to build a larger fleet to strike at this empire. When the time comes, our fleet will let their emperor know what kind of emperor is a truly great emperor!"

Amer suddenly slapped Zhang Chun as he spoke: "You lowly yellow dog, I hate the way you look at me! As a slave, you have no right to hate me!"

Zhang Chun endured the pain on his face and did not understand what Amer said, but he knew that the Portuguese leader, who was laughing and angry at the same time, must be uneasy because the Ming fleet was right in front of him and even he could see the black cannons.

Zhang Chun also knew that the reason why the Ming fleet did not fire was because of his fellow Ming compatriots. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were unwilling to sacrifice compatriots like him. He was sincerely proud that he had such an empire. He now missed his Ming Empire very much, the empire that allowed him to live freely and have many people's rights. Especially after staying in the Portuguese colony for four years, he felt this even more strongly.

He knew that he loved the Ming Dynasty so much that he could not help but secretly swear that if there was another life, he would continue to be a citizen of the Ming Dynasty and defend the dignity of the Ming Dynasty to the death! Love the compatriots of the Ming Dynasty!

In fact, Zhang Chun now feels that as long as he can kill all the Portuguese here, it doesn't matter even if he is killed by the artillery of his own empire.

Zhang Chun couldn't help but laugh. He was ready to be killed by the bombardment.

Like Zhang Chun, the other hostages were prepared to be killed by the shelling and they all laughed.

……

"General, we can't delay any longer. Please give the order to fire immediately. We will avenge the brothers and civilians who died!"

Lieutenant General Zhai Peng couldn't help but speak when he saw the Portuguese warships getting closer.

"No! General, Ming officials cannot sacrifice their compatriots in exchange for victory, because protecting the lives of their compatriots is the responsibility of Ming officials. This is the decree issued by His Majesty, and you cannot violate it! Even if this expedition fails, victory cannot be achieved at the expense of the people!"

Han Wen, who was demoted to a commoner but still maintained his airs as a minister, quickly retorted.

"There are always casualties in battle. They are the people of the Ming Dynasty, and we naturally don't want them to be sacrificed. However, if we don't bombard them immediately, our entire fleet will miss the opportunity! They still won't survive in the hands of the Portuguese! My lord, I think we should bombard them immediately!"

Deputy Censor Zhou Guang said.

"No! They were all brothers who sacrificed their lives to protect us. I will never fire artillery at my own brothers! You can either kill me, but I will never fire artillery at my own brothers!"

Deputy General Dai Dabin said.

In short, the entire command cabin of the Ming fleet was in an uproar, with everyone arguing and having different opinions.

Only the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Hong, remained silent. He knew better than anyone the importance of occupying Goa. After all, only he and Xia Yan knew that if the route from Goa to Macau was not controlled by the Ming Dynasty, Guangdong and Guangxi would fall into a financial crisis, and those who would need to be sacrificed would not only be the captured Ming soldiers and civilians, but perhaps themselves as well.

But Wang Hong also knew that if he rashly ordered the artillery to fire and kill the Ming people in front of him, he would not only face the condemnation of his conscience, but also impeachment from the Censorate system.

No one knew when, but all the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty present fell silent and looked at Wang Hong.

Seeing this, Wang Hong couldn't help but walk to the middle and looked at everyone: "Have you finished speaking? If you have, let me say a few words."

"This battle must be fought! Anyone who dares to talk about retreat will be killed without mercy!"

After Wang Hong said this, several people who advocated going back, mainly speaking Korean, shuddered and dared not say anything.

"But we must also save our captured brothers and civilians! Our Ming Dynasty is not a barbarian nation, and our people are not grass that can be sacrificed at will!"

After Wang Hong said this, several civil and military officials who were committed to protecting the safety of the captured soldiers and civilians laughed and showed their sincere respect for Wang Hong.

"So, we must change our tactics! Abandon the battle line formation we have trained in the past and switch to boarding battle. All of you come here, General Staff, overturn the established plan and redefine the battle plan according to my request!"

After Wang Hong finished speaking, all the staff officers came to the sand table. This form of command in which the staff officers jointly discussed and came up with combat plans was already familiar to most of the Ming Dynasty's troops, so naturally, they did not find it strange.

The next chapter will be updated immediately. Reading two chapters together will give you a better reading experience.

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(End of this chapter)