Occupy the pit...... Coughing while coding words, the efficiency is really not high, coughing so that my throat is hoarse, and I think it's not me on the other side of the phone...... Please wait, refresh in 15 minutes, it will change back......

——————————————————————————————————————————

After escaping from the range of the Weiyuan battery, the Braga and Viseu approached the Prince Enrique, the flagship of da Gama. The two captains angrily rode to the flagship in a dinghy and complained loudly to da Gama.

"My lord, those Ming smugglers deceived us! At first, they said that the Ming army at the mouth of the Pearl River was defenseless, and there were only a few ordinary small warships without artillery. But now? This artillery fortress alone damaged both of our ships! Pereira, the captain of the Viseu, complained.

Joao, the unluckiest captain of the Braga, frowned and said:

"Lord da Gama, the Braga has suffered a fatal shell damage to the side of the ship. If you don't carry out major repairs, it is easy to sink the ship once you encounter strong winds and waves in the deep sea area! Please help me figure it out, the Braga has to do a major overhaul to the side side! ”

Da Gama was also helpless:

"What a major overhaul? We don't have a port in Ming, and the port of the Ming people won't let us dock, which is obviously no way. If you return to the port of Malacca, you are afraid that the Braga will sink halfway......"

Captain Pereira chimed in:

"I'm wondering now, how many of these artillery fortresses are there in the Ming Kingdom? If it's everywhere, we won't be able to attack at all! I just looked at it, and there seems to be a similar artillery fortress on the west bank of the estuary, I don't know how many cannons there are, and how the firepower ......"

Da Gama thought for a moment and said:

"Then I'll send a few warships to test the firepower of the artillery fortress to the west......

Then, three Portuguese warships leaned towards the Dingyuan battery on the west bank and opened fire on the tentative fire. However, out of an abundance of caution, the three ships did not drop their sails and stopped, but opened fire as they sailed to avoid shelling.

The west bank battery commanded Qianhu Liu Feng, and the soldiers who also commanded the battery counterattacked - the Portuguese tentatively came out, the same 10 large-caliber guns...... Moreover, during this trial, despite the maneuver evasion, the battleship Setúbal, which went to the trial, was also injured by an iron ball shell on the side of the board and needed to be repaired.

"Where did the large-caliber artillery come from in the Ming Kingdom? I had to figure it out! Dagama frowned. What he was most worried about was that there were many artillery fortresses like the Ming Kingdom, so that the Portuguese fleet would not dare to penetrate deep into the mouth of the Pearl River and march into the port of Guangzhou.

"My lord, why don't we go to the shore and grab a local nobleman for interrogation, and ask about the situation in Guangzhou?"

At this time, Da Gama no longer believed the information provided by the Ming smugglers from the port of Malacca, so he also approved of this method. In his opinion, the local nobles must know some inside information.

As a result, the Portuguese fleet retreated and docked at a seaside fishing port in Nanlang Town, Xiangshan County (later Zhongshan City), on the west bank of the south, and sent people ashore to surround the house of a large family in the local village of Cuiheng.

"This is the most powerful Sun family here? Does he know the news from Guangzhou? Bernardo, a translator who knew Chinese, asked Wu Ren, a restaurant guy who had been arrested from the town.

The timid restaurant guy Wu Ren nodded and said:

"Yes, Lord Yi, this Sun family's old man Sun Wei, that is a lifting man, he has been to Guangzhou City many times to take exams, and often goes to participate in literary meetings. Therefore, the local person who knows Guangzhou best is probably Master Sun. ”

"Okay, come on, rush in and arrest that Master Sun!" Bernardo waved his hand, and hundreds of Portuguese sailors brought big stones, smashed open the gate of Sun's house, and grabbed and tied up all the stubborn Sun Wei and his family.

After Bernardo grabbed Sun Juren's family of 6, he ordered someone to put the knife on the neck of the others, and then asked Sun Wei directly:

"Mr. Sun, tell us what you know about the situation in Guangzhou. Otherwise, my hands will shake, and your family will go to hell......"

Sun Wei is about 35 years old, dignified, and one of the only two people in Nanlang Town. However, another man from Nanlang Town had already moved to Xiangshan County, and he was the only one who stayed in Cuiheng Village, where he was unfortunately caught by the Portuguese.

Seeing the sword on his neck that his eldest son Sun Bin was driving, Sun Wei was a little worried. As a scholar, he himself is not very afraid, and it is a big deal to kill himself. However, if the whole family of 6 fell into the hands of the enemy, then there was a problem.

Ancient scholars paid attention to "the family and the country in the world", among which, the family should be ranked in front of the country. Scholars glorify their ancestors, and to put it bluntly, they are still for their families. If his only son Sun Bin dies, he will be finished, and he will be extinct......

"Or am I making up a lie to fool these barbarians?"

After making up his mind, Sun Wei arched his hand and said:

"Please raise your noble hand and let my family go, I will definitely know everything in the future."

Seeing that he was so "on the road", Bernardo didn't talk nonsense, and asked directly:

"We want to know, for example, the two artillery fortresses on the left and right of the Pearl River Estuary, how many are there near Guangzhou? How many artillery pieces are there? Are there such artillery fortresses in other places? ”

Sun Wei's spirit was shocked, as a man who often traveled back and forth between Guangzhou and Nanlang Town, he happened to know this situation. Because, he happened to be a staff member in the Guangzhou government office in the same year, and he knew something inside.

According to his account in the same year, a total of 107 "Pingyu cannons" were cast by the imperial court, of which 50 were transported to Guangzhou to be used in the defense of the city. Among them, the imperial court built two forts in Weiyuan and Dingyuan at the mouth of the Pearl River. Subsequently, the imperial court built two forts in Huangpu Port outside the city of Guangzhou to protect Guangzhou. As for the other 57 guns, it seems that they were sent to Hu Jian's Quanzhou and Fuzhou to build forts.

It's just that the fort in Huangpu Port is still under construction. Therefore, the forts that were actually built and put into use were actually only two forts at the mouth of the Pearl River.

However, this did not prevent Sun Wei from fooling the Portuguese. So, he said to Bernardo:

"Honor, I happen to know the inside story of this matter......

"Tell me!" Bernardo said happily.

"That's right, in the city of Guangzhou, I heard that this time the imperial court newly cast a kind of 'Pingyu cannon' that can fire 10 catties of cannonballs, a total of 214 ......" Sun Wei directly doubled the number, in order to achieve the purpose of scaring the Portuguese and making them dare not attack Guangzhou.

"214 doors? God, so many? Bernardo was taken aback.

"Yes, it is said that these 214 'Pingyu cannons' were deployed in the two provinces of Guangdong and Hujian for coastal defense. Among them, but on the Guangzhou side, there are 107 guns, which are used to build 10 forts, and the other 7 extra ones are deployed in the head of the city of Guangzhou......"

Bernardo's face changed - 107 12-pounder guns, more than the 12-pounder guns of the entire fleet! Moreover, it was deployed in 10 artillery forts...... It's horrible......

So, Bernardo hurried to report the situation to Da Gama. Da Gama was a little unconvinced, so he asked:

Is that true? Don't let him lie to you......"

After learning of Da Gama's suspicions from Bernardo's mouth, Sun Wei raised his hand with a righteous face and said:

"I, Sun Wei, swear to heaven that if I have the slightest lie, I will definitely die and go to hell!"

"Swear to God?" Bernardo was also shocked. Bernardo was a Catholic, and in his eyes, an oath to God was an oath to God. Such a solemn oath must be true. After all, in the eyes of Catholics, no one dares to joke with God......