The rumbling of cannon fire was accompanied by the clanging of church bells and the sound of frightened shouts. King Alfonso III of Portugal, wearing a crown on his head, a magnificent purple silk robe, and the corners of chain mail were exposed at the neckline and cuffs, stood on the top of the Arab-style Gula Castle on the edge of the port of Lisbon, looking gloomily at the unexplained but unusually large fleet on the sea. A few small ships of the Kingdom of Portugal's navy, lined up at the narrow entrance to the port of Lisbon, blocked the way of this huge fleet. However, Alfonso III was skeptical that the boats would be able to hold them back.

The faces of the nobles and knights, who were also in chain mail, helmets, and swords, were not much better than those of their majesty. They are all war-hardened knights, and they all seem to be the first in Europa on horseback. Even if you fight with the Celestial Cultists on the ship, it is not a problem, but these uninvited guests in front of you are obviously stronger than the Celestial Cultists - the Celestial Cultists are becoming more and more incompetent, their lair has been ravaged by the Mongols, and it is said that tens of millions of people have been killed! Now the Celestial Cultists in the East no longer have the strength to support their allies in the Iberian Peninsula. The declining Almohads had only a little strength left to survive, and they retreated to the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Weakly resisting the attacks of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, as well as the knights from Christendom, it was only a matter of time before they perished.

To be sure, neither the Almohads nor their Celestial Brothers, nor even the Mamluks of Egypt, could send a fleet of such magnitude. A full 37 ships. The 5 largest of them are castles floating on the sea!

With so many galleons, how much does it cost to build? And how many heavily armed sailors are there on these ships? Other than that...... What's going on with this rumbling roar? Is this a scaresome thing?

A series of question marks swirled in the minds of the Europa bigwigs. But the most puzzling thing for them was where did these ships come from?

According to the reports of two Portuguese merchant ships that ran back to Lisbon in a panic, they encountered the mysterious fleet in the Atlantic. At that time, the two merchant ships were on their way to Marrakech for trade. Suddenly, I found this huge fleet sailing from the depths of the western ocean!

"Your Excellency, Bishop!" Alfonso III was a devout Christian who defeated his brother to the throne with the support of Pope Innocent IV (Pope of Rome abolished his brother from the throne and made him king). So he has always relied heavily on the cardinal Archbishop Pontaléon of Lisbon. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask the protagonist. "Bishop, where do you say they came from?"

"I don't know...... a little old man wearing a red robe, a red hat on his head that looks like a poached egg, and a large white beard squeezed out of the crowd.

Even when the bishop didn't know, Cardinal Pontaléon drew a cross on his chest, "They came too suddenly. I haven't had time to communicate with God yet. ”

Alfonso III was also busy making crosses on his chest, and then a group of nobles and knights followed suit, and it seemed that they were all the most devout Christians.

"Bishop, then please go and communicate with God and ask if this fleet is a blessing or a curse for us Portugal." The king pleaded anxiously - this is a matter of begging, God is the Father, and Alfonso III is also a child of the Father. Of course, you can ask Heavenly Father for help, but Heavenly Father generally doesn't manage him, so you have to ask through the cardinal.

The little old man, the archbishop, just shook his head. He smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, you don't need to ask Heavenly Father about this...... I could tell at a glance that these outsiders were definitely not good people! So their arrival is certainly not a good thing for Portugal. ”

"No one saw it. You can see whether the other party is good or bad...... This Archbishop of Pontaléon is too powerful, isn't he? Alfonso III admired in his heart.

"Your Excellency, can you explain why?" The king asked modestly.

"Doesn't that make sense, they have so many boats. And there are five ships that are probably the largest in the world, which shows that they are very strong and rich...... My king. When have you ever met a good person who is strong and rich? ”

This is the truth!

The king nodded approvingly, and good people usually don't end well in these days. Most of the rich and powerful are villains -- they are typical! In order to become a king, he abandoned his wife without conscience...... I also ate soft rice from other people's houses for many years before (his wife is a countess with a territory in France). He also opposed his own brother and the rightful king of Portugal, and fought a civil war with him for two years, killing an unknown number of people. What a heinous villain, that's why he became the richest and most powerful man in Portugal.

The cardinal archbishop in front of him, the little old man Pontaléon, is also a villain! As a servant of God, he had four, no more than five mistresses, and ten illegitimate children, and openly bought and sold the priesthood, and openly sold indulgences (which were invented by Pope Urban II, the founder of the Crusaders, and were not sold at first, but given to Crusaders). In short, it's an old scoundrel with a bad reputation.

However, the two villains are relatively kind among the big names in Europa as a whole. They should be forgiven by God - they all have a lot of indulgences, but at the last Mass, there will be a priest who will forgive their sins on God's behalf and let their souls ascend to heaven.

And now the owners of these large ships outside the port of Lisbon are clearly richer and more powerful than the King of Portugal and the Archbishop of Lisbon...... Naturally it's also worse!

Not to mention, this cardinal named Pontaléon is really very wise, and he penetrates the essence of affairs at a glance. He didn't become pope, which was a loss for Christendom.

"So, what are we going to do?" The king hurriedly asked.

"Of course, it's welcome!" The cardinal archbishop didn't think about it, and said, "There are so many ships, at least five thousand to ten thousand warriors...... They hadn't shown much hostility yet, so they had invited them into the harbor first, and then invited their leader to the castle for a feast. ”

"Is it at the banquet......" the king made a murderous gesture.

The archbishop glared at him, "Of course not! They must be smarter than us when they are so rich...... We need to be careful. Immediately let people gather vassals, relying on the knights and armies of Lisbon to defeat 5,000 to 10,000 enemies. At the same time, all the treasures in the palace and church of Lisbon were transported to the city of Coimbra (the old capital of Portugal). Morality. Freitas went to become the commander of the city's defenses, one of the few Portuguese generals to be faithful to his duties. He will defend the castle and wealth for you, just as he did for your brother. ”

The king obeyed the old scoundrel, and waved his hand to his attendants and knights to hurry up and pack up their belongings and prepare to move. It may not be so bad, but the worst must be prepared. Otherwise, he will be killed by the Pope, the vassals and himself like his foolish brother.

Seeing several of the squires and knights galloping away, the king looked back at the bishop. The Bishop sighed, "Well, now send a clever fellow to meet these foreign villains on a boat." Remember, be sure to behave neither humbly nor arrogantly. Don't show surprise and envy when you see other people's good things, don't act like a hillbilly...... Also, don't dress too well and don't wear any jewelry. But be sure to wear the best chain mail and wear the sharpest sword. ”

……

"Governor, the natives of Europa have sent a ship out of port!"

On the "Atlantic", the fleet admiral Lin Shilong put down the binoculars and muttered. As the fleet was blocked and the cannons were fired, he had carefully observed the defenses of the indigenous city in front of him.

Obviously, the natives of Europa possessed more advanced military technology than the natives of Mingzhou. The castle is a good one, but it is too close to the sea, and it doesn't look very strong, and it is a bit broken. Just use a four-inch cannon to get rid of it.

As for the warships of the natives of Europa, they look a bit like the galleys of the Ming Dynasty, there should be no artillery on them, and ramming and hand-to-hand combat should be their main tactics. It's not a big threat in the ocean, but it's still a nuisance offshore and in ports.

In addition, the port seems to be good, it is a natural bay with a very narrow entrance, which can be blocked with cannons. If it can be captured, it can be used as a large base of the Atlantic Fleet in Europa.

While he was pondering how to capture the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, a small, white-flagged galleys sailed out of the narrow port exit and headed for the Atlantic Fleet.

"Probably the emissary of the natives of Europa, right?" Liang Chongru touched his beard, and a smile that he hadn't seen for a long time appeared on his somewhat pale and haggard face. Now he can finally rest on the shore, for those navy who have been floating on the sea all year round, more than two months are nothing, but he Liang Chongru misses the land too much.

"Governor, this port is good!" Lin Shilong said in a low voice.

He would love to order the fleet to attack! The fleet carried 5,200 Aztec warriors, another 3,500 sailors, and 220 cannons. It should be possible to capture this port...... But he does not have the authority to go to war in Europa! The order given to him by the Naval Staff was very clear, he had the right to go to war on the east coast of South Mingzhou, the east coast of North Mingzhou, and the islands in the Atlantic. However, there is no such competence in Europa and Africa. The authority to start wars in Europe and Africa belonged to Liang Chongru and Chen Chongguan.

Liang Chongru shook his head and said, "No, not now...... We will definitely get a foothold in Europa, but we can't start a war as soon as we get there, we have to make friends first, find out the situation of the natives, and then choose who to attack! (To be continued......)