The night before dawn was terrifyingly dark, and the sky seemed to fall into the abyss.

Suddenly, a rapid and sharp bamboo whistle came out, and the soldiers who were on standby immediately woke up from their sleep.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

In the faint starlight, you can see ships appearing on the surface of the sea.

Fan Mingchen rushed out first, he is the son of Fan Zhong, the Duke of Liang Guo, the son inherits his father's will, and is also a good hammer, during the defense of Ceylon Island, he has played the role of a pioneer many times, and he is very brave.

It's just that when rescuing Peng Qing, the scene was too chaotic, and a pair of copper hammers were lost, and he was carrying a long knife at this time, which was very uncomfortable.

Behind him, the soldiers came out of the barracks and into the open space of the port.

There were even many ordinary people or Confucian scholars in long robes, who spontaneously organized themselves and prepared to meet the enemy.

Fan Mingchen held the binoculars and couldn't help but gasp when he saw countless ships on the sea.

The Ottomans had been planning for a long time, and finally a decisive battle was coming.

"Everybody's on orders!"

Fan Mingchen put down his binoculars and shouted: "We are ordered to defend Ceylon Island, no matter who the enemy is, no matter how many men and horses the other party has, as long as they dare to take a step on the island, they will be our mortal enemy, and this battle will not end!" ”

"We don't have much gunpowder left, so let's not keep the batteries, run out of ammunition, and then retreat to the second line of defense, and pin down the enemy with the help of fortifications."

"The escort battalion is all on horseback, and when the enemy lands, attack from the rear, grab the gunpowder from their ships, blow up the ships, and cut off their rear ......"

After arranging everything, Fan Mingchen looked at everyone quietly, and then said: "Once the war starts, it will be a battle to the death, and today I vow to live and die with Ceylon!" ”

"Swear to live and die with Ceylon!"

"Swear to live and die with Ceylon!"

"Swear to live and die with Ceylon!"

Everyone shouted loudly and rushed to their respective posts.

Fan Mingchen mounted his horse with his sword on his shoulder, ready to lead the escort battalion to charge.

Looking back, there were also torches lit on the city wall in the distance, which should be a signal that the large army was gathering and was gathering.

Bang!

Bang!

The guns on both batteries spat out tongues of fire at the same time, flying towards the enemy ship like two meteors.

In the hazy night sky, a shell could be seen hitting the enemy ship, and fire was rising from the sea.

Bang!

This time, the opposing ships returned fire, but unfortunately their artillery was a little less powerful, and the shells fell in the sea, causing a lot of waves.

A glimmer of light appeared in the east, and the morning sun began to rise.

In the first rays of sunlight in the early morning, Fan Mingchen clearly saw that there were more than 100 ships on the sea, covering the sky and the sun.

Bang!

Bang!

The artillery of both sides began to fire at each other, and several shells hit the opposing ships, however, the port was also hit and suffered heavy losses.

"Report to the general, there are no more shells!"

Fan Mingchen decisively ordered: "Give up the fort and withdraw to the second line of defense!" ”

"Yes!"

Immediately afterwards, he said to the escort battalion behind him: "Everyone must not act rashly, and when the thieves land on the shore, they will immediately attack the fleet with me, focusing on destroying their artillery."

On the sea, countless landing ships rushed into the shallows, and a large number of Ottomans began the first wave of attack.

Bang!

Bang!

Muskets rang out, and the first confrontation between the two sides began, each evenly matched, each with damage.

However, the Ottomans landed more and more landing ships, and the numerical advantage continued to accumulate, and finally, the defense of the Ming army declined.

Bang!

The guns of the Ottoman ships opened fire again, and the shells smashed into the Ming positions, causing heavy casualties.

Fan Mingchen led the escort battalion to hide in a remote corner, looking at everything that was happening in front of him, his eyes were full of anger, but he knew that he couldn't attack now, and it was not the time.

Bang!

Another artillery attack came, and the Ming army's position was severely damaged again.

The Ottomans took advantage of the situation to launch a charge, like a tide, and rushed to the Ming position.

They also removed the guns from the ship and carried them on the landing boat, ready to be transported ashore.

With the rise of firearms, artillery has become indispensable in large-scale operations.

In the past, whoever had more cavalry had an advantage, but in the face of firearms, today's cavalry has no advantage at all.

"Rush!"

Fan Mingchen finally waited for the opportunity and led the team to the beach.

At this time, the Ottomans had just landed, and they were struggling to move their artillery down from the shallows, and the sudden arrival of cavalry caught them by surprise, and they resisted in panic, but to no avail.

Bang!

Bang!

A huge explosion sounded again, and the Ottomans were surprised to find that this time only sound was heard, and no shells were seen.

Some people looked back only to find that the rear team had been attacked, and the artillery that had been transported with great difficulty had been blown up.

They immediately stopped the charge and turned to besiege this cavalry unit, which did not speak of martial virtue and engaged in a sneak attack.

Fan Mingchen didn't love to fight, found a gap with few people, and led the team to rush out.

With the lesson just learned, the Ottomans did not dare to be careless, but slowed down the speed of the attack, and the infantry covered the artillery, and fought steadily.

These men were obviously experienced veterans, and the spearmen were lined up in dense squares, with two small groups of musketeers in front and cavalry wings on either side, echoing each other and advancing slowly.

Finally, the sound of artillery sounded again, and a new offensive began.

Fan Zhong had already led a large army to meet the battle, and he saw Fan Mingchen running over on horseback.

"Dad, the enemy has artillery, this battle is not easy to fight!"

Fan Zhong's face was heavy, and he nodded: "We have no way out, we must defend it even if we die!" ”

"Then the boy will rush again!"

"The escort battalion you bring is the only cavalry on the island, don't be reckless, you have to wait for the opportunity to move!"

"The child understands!"

Fan Mingchen clasped his fists and saluted, then turned over and got on his horse.

When the Ottomans advanced some distance, they felt the difficulty and the battle became anxious.

Because it was not only the regular army that participated in the defense, but also a large number of civilians.

They are just ordinary people, for various reasons, they have lost their land and property, and they really can't survive, so they will leave their homes and follow the fleet to a strange land thousands of miles away.

Here, the emperor and Liang Guogong allocated them land and property, giving them the motivation to live again.

They are afraid of death, but they are even more afraid of losing their land again.

In the eyes of the peasants, the land is their heaven.

They went through all kinds of difficulties to get here, and they personally reclaimed the land with their hands, built houses, planted farms, and slowly, this place became their new home, and their lives were all here.

It is impossible to retreat, even if you die, you have to die here.

Bang!

Bang!

The Ottoman artillery continued to roar, and countless shells fell into the Ming positions.

The Ming army returned fire with muskets and bows and arrows, but they still could not stop the rhythm of the opponent's attack.

Fan Mingchen led the cavalry to wander outside, saw the opportunity, raised his sword and shouted: "Kill!" ”

The escort battalion again fought out and rushed to the artillery positions in the rear of the Ottomans.

Fan Mingchen brandished his knife and smashed headlong into the enemy formation.

"Kill!"

Immediately afterwards, the Ottoman cavalry also moved and rushed towards the Ming cavalry phalanx.

This is a phalanx of heavy cavalry, the cavalry is armed with spears, wrapped in iron armor, even the horse's head and forelimbs are covered in it, like a tank, straight into the Ming army's formation.

Rumble!

The two cavalry units collided violently, and suddenly there was a burst of people on their backs.

Fan Mingchen collided head-on with one of the opposing cavalry, and both sides flew out at the same time.

After the heavy cavalryman landed, the spear in his hand no longer knew where to go, so he rushed towards Fan Mingchen with his bare hands.

Fan Mingchen didn't have any protective gear on his body, he was dizzy from being dropped, and he suddenly felt his body sink, and the other party even pressed up with armor, which immediately made him feel suffocated.

The two were entangled, and the other party strangled Fan Mingchen's neck.

Fan Mingchen struggled hard, but the opponent's strength was too great to break free at all.

He couldn't breathe, only felt a blackness in front of his eyes, and he almost fainted.

When his life was at stake, the corner of his eye swept to the dagger on the opponent's waist, so he used his last strength to pull out the dagger and stick it in the opponent's neck.

Steaming blood poured on his face, and then, a heavy body fell and smashed on top of him.

Fan Mingchen struggled to push the other party's corpse away, panting heavily.

On the battlefield, the two sides are still fighting fiercely, and there are shouts of killing in all directions.

However, the Ottoman army was too numerous, and the Ming army's defensive line was constantly broken and suffered heavy casualties.

"Kill!"

Fan Zhong roared and brandished two copper hammers to kill.

Woo –

The muffled sound of a horn resounded throughout the harbor, and the final battle began.

On the battlefield, the Ming troops hiding in all corners heard the order and killed one after another.

Everyone tried their best to send the blades in their hands into each other's bodies.

There are those who have lost their weapons, or even left them without them in the first place, and they are crazy with shovels, bricks, wooden blocks...... Use everything you can to fight back against the enemy.

Some people have to grab the other person's body hard or bite the ...... with their teeth when they are dying

The battle lasted from early morning to noon, with numerous casualties on both sides.

For some reason, there was a strange noise on the Ottoman flagship.

Immediately afterward, these people ceased to be in love with the war and began a mass retreat.

Some people had sharp eyes and saw that on the eastern sea, ships flying the sun, moon and dragon flags appeared in the field of vision, quickly heading towards the island of Ceylon.

"Reinforcements are coming, reinforcements are coming!"

"It's our ship, the emperor has come to save us!"

"Kill!"

The Ming army began to launch a final counterattack in one fell swoop.

The Ottomans were at the end of their crossbows, and when they saw that the Ming army was coming to support, they retreated decisively without any hesitation.

These people come in like a tide and go away like a tide.

On the beach, countless corpses were left behind, telling of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

The Ming fleet began to land, and the first to land was Zhang Mao.

This was his second visit to Ceylon, and he was quite familiar with everything here, but as far as the eye could see, all that was left was the ruins of the war and countless corpses.

The Ottoman fleet had withdrawn, and instead of pursuing, Zhang Mao ordered a rescue.

After a large number of Ming troops landed, they immediately searched for survivors in this devastated land.

"General!"

Seeing someone coming in a hurry, Zhang Mao slowly raised his head.

"Liang Guogong, it's Liang Guogong...... Got it! ”

Zhang Mao hurriedly asked, "Where?" ”

"I'm too badly injured, I'm afraid, I'm afraid I'm ......"

"Take me there!"

Passing through a ravine, Zhang Mao saw the familiar figure.

At this time, Fan Zhong was covered in blood, and he didn't know how many injuries he had suffered.

Zhang Mao trembled and stretched out his hand and probed his breath, although it was very weak, at least the person was still alive.

"Quick, medical team!"

Behind him, several military doctors were already hurrying in with medicine boxes on their backs.

One of them quickly checked Fan Zhong's wounds and pulse, and then raised his head: "The injury is too serious, it is a miracle to be alive now, I am afraid of ......"

Zhang Mao immediately ordered: "Do everything you can to save him!" ”

Everyone is silent, they are soldiers, they are doctors, but they are not immortals.

"You can try it, but it's just ......"

Zhang Mao's face was iron, and he said angrily: "The emperor's fleet will arrive soon, and Liang Guogong can't die!" ”

"Please rest assured, the general will do his best!"

The medical team carried Fan Zhong away, while Zhang Mao continued to clean up the battlefield.

The battle was so fierce that the port was almost completely in ruins, with tens of thousands of dead and wounded.

The medical team set up makeshift barracks and unloaded all the medicines on board.

Zhang Mao couldn't rest assured, and came to Fan Zhong's side in person, at this time, his clothes had been peeled off, and his body was full of holes, and he could hardly find a single intact skin.

You can imagine what kind of battle Fang has just gone through.

The military doctor began to clean the wound and bandage it.

"Daddy, Daddy......"

Fan Mingchen stumbled in and looked around.

Zhang Mao hurriedly caught up, the two were of the same age, had fought together, and had a very close relationship.

"General Zhang, my father ...... him"

"Rest assured, Liang Guogong is still alive, and the military doctor is doing his best to treat him."

Fan Mingchen lay on the head of Fan Zhong's bed, and when he heard that there was still a pulse, he was relieved.

In fact, his own injuries were not light, and when he relaxed, he only felt that his eyes were dark, and he almost fainted.

"Come on, help!"

Zhang Mao hurriedly ordered someone to help Fan Mingchen to the bed on the side.

"General Zhang, why are you here?"

Fan Mingchen breathed a little easier, and then he thought of business.

If Zhang Mao hadn't arrived in time, this time, the Ceylon defenders would have been wiped out.

"It's not just me, it's all here!"

Fan Mingchen said blankly: "What? ”

Zhang Mao said with a smile: "The emperor led the sailors to personally march, a total of more than 500 ships, rest assured, the sins committed by the Ottomans on the island of Ceylon will make them repay tenfold, no, a hundredfold." ”

Fan Mingchen was puzzled and asked, "I heard that the emperor is dealing with civil strife, and Nanhaiwei has been transferred back. ”

"It's already over, as soon as the emperor heard that Lord Peng's fleet was seized, he immediately issued an order to gather the strength of the whole country to go on the expedition, brother, I was lucky, I got a vanguard, and led the sailors of Jiaozhi and Luzon to take the lead."

"Your Majesty...... When will it arrive? ”

"It's already on the road, five days at the least, ten days at most, and we can reach the island of Ceylon."

Hearing this, Fan Mingchen suddenly burst into tears and almost cried.

Ever since the Ottomans besieged the island of Ceylon, no matter how harsh the circumstances, he has not complained.

The same is true of the soldiers on the island, who have been holding on.

Finally, the emperor came.

(End of chapter)