At night, the castle was silent, and after strict military control was imposed, no one dared to make a noise casually lest they be shot as rebels. The castle itself is a military building, and the living environment is actually very bad. Moreover, there were too many people squeezed in at once, which had exceeded the number of people the castle was designed to bear, and the living conditions were even worse, with a dozen people crammed into a small house, which was already considered a good treatment, and most people could only sleep curled up in the hall or in the hallway.

Perez, as the Supreme Commander, had a bedroom of his own, and although it was past midnight, he could not sleep, knelt in front of the icon, and prayed repeatedly. He couldn't remember the last time he prayed so devoutly, the first time he raced against the navy's anti-smuggling boats, or whether it was to escape Heroy's pursuit, or the eve of a trip to the Far East.

However, this is no longer important, the bad situations faced by previous adventures add up, and I am afraid that they cannot be compared with the situation they encountered this time. He probably shouldn't have killed Bartorlock, but if he was alive, he was just a priest, and he just had to hide in a corner and say a few words at the right time. Now he has to take on the task of commanding, damn it, commanding the troops is not like commanding those minions under his command, and fighting is also fighting with their previous outlaws, which is completely different things.

As the sun was about to set, a Ming army circled to the top of the mountain and launched an attack from the mountain, which did not make progress due to the lack of heavy weapons. But these men were very clever and immediately retreated after discovering that the Portuguese soldiers were on guard, without suffering much loss. But for the defenders, this kind of belly and back to the enemy is not pleasant. It could have been possible to put less troops in the rear, but this time it was necessary to strengthen the vigilance, and the manpower was even more strained.

Since the incident of Xu's rebellion, Perez did not trust the Chinese in the castle, the Japanese and even some pirates from other countries. This distrust also spread to the lower levels, and there was a great deal of conflict between the Portuguese soldiers, the natives, and the pirates in the castle. In the past, relying on strong force, he could still guarantee his right to speak, but now that there are Ming troops outside, God knows when these people will turn against the water.

It is impossible not to do without them, relying solely on the Portuguese and natives, they can't even maintain the defensive line, and in the end they have to rely on the help of these pirates. Although the castle is still impregnable now, with the consumption of materials, the ration will become more and more strict in the future, and at that time, it will be the real test.

Inside the red monk's robe, he put on a piece of refined steel armor, and the two short guns were loaded and ready to be fired. A long sword, two daggers, and a finely crafted hand slave were all on his body. When was the last time you used these things? I thought that I wouldn't need them after wearing this monk's robe, but I didn't expect that now I have to take these things to save my life.

That night, Perez had no sleep.

As soon as it was dawn the next day, the rumbling of artillery sounded outside the castle again, and compared with yesterday, the artillery of the Ming army today was more accurate, and it hit the battlements far more often than the city walls. What's worse is that a group of workers are building forts under their noses, and once those cannons are mounted, no matter which one hits, it is not a relaxing thing.

During the interval between the firing of the artillery, the Ming army beat the drums of war, and the soldiers thought that the Ming army was finally about to start attacking, and raised their guns to prepare for firing. However, what came out of the ranks of the Ming army was not the siege troops, but a group of well-dressed Portuguese soldiers with red faces.

"Corporal, don't point a gun at me, don't you recognize me? I am Captain Morris, but now, I serve the Ming Empire, and my rank remains the same, and my treatment is ...... Double! The officer took out his money pocket, revealing the silver ingots inside

"This is a three-month salary advance, which is enough for me to live a decent life in Guangzhou for a long time. I assure you that you are not dealing with an army of barbarians, who treat their captives well, value credibility, and are more like a gentleman than most of the people around you. They, like Saladin, were real knights. All you have to do is lay down your arms, raise your hands, and return home with dignity, or, like me, live a life of human beings. I promise you were gnawing on rock-hard jerky last night, and you might have to use a saw blade to deal with them. But what about me, my food is ......"

"Shoot, shoot this traitor!" Perez angrily issued an order to the soldier, but the soldier replied with an embarrassed face, "No, Your Excellency, the captain knows the performance of our weapons very well, and he is standing outside the firing range." ”

The cold muzzle of the gun suddenly pressed against the soldier's temple, who could only shrug his shoulders "If you insist, as you wish......"

Bang bang.

Dozens of guns were fired one after another, but the Portuguese soldiers stood further back than the batteries, and this kind of shooting had no other purpose than to show determination. On the side of the officers and soldiers, the order flag was waving, and the second round of shelling began again.

The artillery on the fort, which had just been commissioned, did not participate in the morning shelling, and at noon, the Ming army took the initiative to give up the attack, set up a table in front of the castle, and began to eat. The aroma of fresh food wafted to the castle in the wind, the soldiers breathed greedily, and some people whispered about what kind of dishes they had.

In the past, when the Xu clan surrendered, it was in the name of transporting food, and the food in the castle was not scarce, but no one knew how long the siege would last, and from the beginning, the distribution of food must be strictly controlled. Even the troops on combat missions had very limited access to food. Moreover, in order to preserve it for convenience, seafood at sea pursues quality rather than taste, and even if it is processed in the kitchen, it cannot be compared with outside meals at all.

Perez instructed the kitchen to make the food as delicious as possible, and sent a team of soldiers to supervise it to prevent the chef from taking advantage of the opportunity to poison him. But in the end, the soldiers had to admit that there were too few people in the kitchen, and they were too busy to cook for so many people, so they could only give priority to the guards, and everyone else would have to be at fault.

During the break in the meal, there were people holding iron horns and shouting loudly to the city, this time in Chinese, and the content of the shouting was the most common means of responding to the enemy in the Ming Dynasty: buying the head.

Since Pérez, almost every class of Portuguese has marked a corresponding price. The chiefs were five thousand taels of silver, the officers ranged from one thousand to five hundred taels, and the soldiers were fifty taels. As long as you have a way to kill someone, you can get rewards in the future. Perez, who was fluent in Chinese, listened to the shouts one after another, and he glanced at the pirates who were eating behind the battlements, and thought to himself: It seems that in the future, when you sleep, you must open one eye.