Ho O, St. Paul's Castle.

In Governor Schbourges' study, the three of them stared at each other and were a little dumbfounded. It was Saturday, and Acting Bishop Luo Wenzao did not even attend Saturday Mass, but stayed in the study with Governor Sbourges and Rotony Mercenary Chief, each holding a copy of the Qing Emperor's decree, and looked at it carefully over and over again, and I don't know how long. The faces of the three people are getting greener and greener the more they look at them.

The room was quiet, and only the sound of three people sighing could be heard.

In the end, Luo Wenzao was the first to hold back, his hand shook, put the fold on the table, covered his face with his hands, and sighed deeply while rubbing: "The secret agreement we signed with Wu Sanwei was intercepted by the Qing army on the way to Chongqing. Now the Qing Emperor has issued a holy decree, asking us to hand over the fortress of St. Paul immediately, and then all of us will go to Beijing to be foreign servants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and only give us three days to reply After three days, the Qing army outside the city will start attacking."

It turned out that the Holy Decree of Emperor Kangxi to surrender the Portuguese in Haoao and the 10,000 Qing troops led by Wang Fuchen had already arrived in Haoao!

And this 10,000 Qing army looks very elite!

Equipped with a large number of artillery and muskets, the ranks of the infantry army were very neat, and although the number of cavalry was not large, they were all equipped with extra-long bamboo guns, which were obviously shock cavalry with strong impact force.

At this time, the total number of Portuguese and mixed-race Portuguese strong men in the castle was only 1,000, of which only 200 were professional soldiers belonging to the Portuguese mercenary team. Although the white Portuguese soldiers in Hao Ao were all accompanied by black slave soldiers, a Portuguese musketeer or a Portuguese cavalryman had seven or eight black slave soldiers to help in the battle. But counting the black slaves, the number is less than 2,000, how can they resist the tens of thousands of elite Qing troops?

This kind of army of white mercenaries and black slave soldiers is essentially a feudal old soldier, but it has relatively advanced European firearms. In terms of combat effectiveness, it cannot be compared with the modern armies in Europe that have undergone the baptism of war for a long time.

Although this Portuguese colonial empire is also a European colonial empire, its system is relatively backward, either feudal lord-style or autonomous city-state-style! There were even cases of "colonial lords" fighting independence and civil wars, so they were often "counter-conquered" by the surrounding local feudal lords, and became vassals and slaves of Asian feudal states.

And the Portuguese's stronghold of Haoao is actually a free city-state. Although the governor and the captain of the mercenaries were sent by Goa, the real power of the city was in the hands of a council of Portuguese merchants who had settled in Hao O for generations - they paid for the salaries of the mercenaries and the daily expenses of the city, and even the Catholic diocese of Hao O was sustained by their donations.

The Portuguese did not have the courage and determination to fight a decisive battle outside the city with the approaching Qing Heavenly Soldiers, and these Portuguese merchants had long lost the ambition of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. They don't have much power to control the sea, what are they "heroic"?

In fact, they are middlemen between Shang Kexi and the Dutch and the English, and they just make a little difference, and their relationship with the Dutch and English downstream is not good.

The Dutch and the English all wanted to bypass the middleman of Hao Ao and do business directly with the Chinese. And they did it to a certain extent, the Dutch had dealings with the Jingnan Palace, and the English set up an office on Dayuan Island.

It was only the Xiangshan mutual market, which was still gratifying, that the largest of the mutual markets, and the missionaries sent by the diocese of Haoao entered the court in Beijing, which made the Portuguese of Haoao and Macao the largest middlemen between the East and the West.

And Shi Bozhi and Luo Wenzao signed a secret agreement with Wu Sanwei, also in order to place a bet with Wu Sangui as soon as possible, so as to ensure that Hao Ao can change his surname to Wu in Guangdong, and he can continue to be a middleman comfortably, because it is a secret agreement, they feel that the Qing Dynasty will not notice it for a while, so that they can step on two boats with one foot and eat the benefits at both ends.

But they never expected that the Qing Dynasty's reaction this time was a little abnormal. At the first time, the secret agreement sent to Wu Sangui was intercepted, and then the army was immediately mobilized to blockade Hao Ao, cutting off all material supplies.

And they seemed to have stepped on the spot, and rushed to send the artillery, gunpowder, muskets and galleys ordered by Wu Sanwei to Xiangdao on the Haoao side, before the Foshan made to replenish the stock arrived.

Now, even if the Governor's Mansion wants to arm all the whites and mixed-race whites in the castle, it doesn't have enough muskets.

In addition, the Qing Dynasty also set up a Guangdong Customs Road Yamen in Xiangshan, this yamen is also very efficient, as soon as it was established, it immediately issued a notice to the eastern and western merchant ships operating along the coast of Guangdong, announcing the blockade of Haoao Port, prohibiting all merchant ships from entering the Haojiang River! Customs passes were also issued to merchant ships willing to obey the ban, allowing them to trade directly in Canton!

Moreover, the customs yamen also set up the red-clothed cannon on the west bank of the Hao River at the first time, completely blocking the waterway of the Hao River.

Although there is not only one Inner Port of Hao Jiang, the Inner Port of Hao Jiang is the main port of Hao O, and once it is blocked, there are no more merchant ships.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Governor's Office to buy arms through the English and the Dutch now.

In desperation, Sbourges and Rotony could only order to defend the fortress, recall all the Portuguese and mixed-race Portuguese who lived outside the castle, and set fire to the wharf in the inner harbor of the Ho River and the ships that did not have time to leave the port.

At the same time, they did not forget the galleys sent to Xiangdao for help. What can be counted on now is that "Xiangdao Aobai" hurriedly marched to Dongguan!

"Don't be afraid, as long as Aobai starts to march, everything will be fine!" Schbourges is optimistic, "St. Paul's Fortress is a European-style fortress. It was also equipped with a large number of twelve-pounder guns, as well as thousands of Spanish heavy muskets, and at least two people could be mobilized to defend the city! Antonio, you are the mercenary captain, do you have the confidence to hold on? ”

Rotony frowned, "It's true that the Doge's Fort is difficult to breach, but there is a way that will work for any strong fortress in the world!" That is, they have almost besieged us for a long time! ”

In fact, before the Vauban siege method - that is, digging trenches to advance and then erecting mortars to open fireshells - became popular, the Europeans had little to do with the fortresses, and if they didn't want to fight in the bloody sea, they had to besiege for a long time.

Therefore, Zheng Chenggong's attack on the city of Gelanza and the Kangxi Dynasty's attack on the city of Yaksa were both common methods before the emergence of the Vauban siege method, that is, let those great military strategists in Europe fight, and it can only be like this.

Although Vaubant was now prominent in Louis XIV's army, he did not invent the "parallel siege method" until the Franco-Dutch War began in 1673.

"It doesn't matter," Schipges laughed, "since our fortress was attacked by the Dutch in 1622, the City Council of Ho O has allocated a large sum of money to establish the city's grain reserve system. Our city will always have enough grain, meat, and pickles for everyone to eat for eighteen months! For eighteen months, not to mention Dongguan, even Guangzhou was won. ”

When Luo Wenzao heard the words of Shi Bozhi and Rotony, he also breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great. If we can be saved if we just hold on, then I believe God Almighty will help us through this! ”

"Governor, the Governor's enemies have begun to build fortifications!"

As soon as Luo Wenzao's words fell, a Portuguese mercenary officer pushed open the door of Sboge's study and loudly reported the military information he had just received.

"Fortifications?" Shi Bozhi showed a calm smile and said to Luo Wenzao: "Priest, let's go and have a look together!" ”

"Okay," Luo Wenzao also smiled, "then I'll go and see their siege first, and then I'll go and pray to God." ”

"Shikai, is this trench of yours digging in the wrong direction? How did you dig towards Hao O Castle? Shouldn't the besieged trenches be dug around the castle? ”

To the north of St. Paul's Fortress, three miles away from the fortress wall, Wang Fuchen looked at the trench site in full swing in front of him, and suddenly realized that something was wrong, this trench was not dug horizontally, but directly to the fortress in front of him.

"Dad, you don't understand. The second child is digging a tunnel, digging the tunnel under the castle, burying gunpowder, and then banging a little, and it will all collapse into the sky! ”

Before Wang Zhongxiao could answer his father's question, Wang Jizhen was the first to speak - he was supposed to go to Shaanxi to be the prefect, but he took the opportunity to marry after marriage, and he didn't leave after coming to Guangdong.

This time, his father, Wang Fuchen, sent troops, and he also hung up the name of "Praise Xiang Military Affairs", and followed him to rub off on military achievements.

"How much gunpowder does that need?" Wang Fuchen frowned, "Jinbao, do we have enough gunpowder?" ”

"Not enough!" Guo Jinbao, a quartermaster in charge of the supply of firearms and gunpowder, shook his head, "Guangdong does not produce gunpowder. Gunpowder is still very expensive, so you have to save some of it. ”

"Shikai, what should I do if I don't have enough gunpowder?" Wang Fuchen also looked at his son a little anxiously.

"That's enough," Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "Dad, don't worry, the child has already planned that the child will not dig tunnels." ”

"Don't dig tunnels? Then you're going to besiege the city? How long does that have to be? ”

"It's not a siege either," Wang Zhongxiao shook his head, "Dad, I now use a method called the parallel siege method!" ”

"Parallel?" Wang Fuchen was stunned, "It doesn't seem to be very parallel!" ”

Although he didn't know much geometry, he could still roughly guess the meaning of parallelism. A trench is now being dug that is not parallel to the city wall, and it is dug crookedly.

"It's called a serpentine trench," Wang Zhongxiao explained, "and the reason why it was dug towards the city wall was to dig a passage that would not be bombarded, so that the sappers could dig close to the city wall and dig in a zigzag way, so that if the enemy's shells fell into the trench, they would not be able to fly straight through the trench and cause heavy casualties."

The child planned to dig a siege parallel trench less than a mile from the city wall. Once the parallel trenches were dug, shotgunners and cupola guns could be driven in. Then use cupola cannons to fire flowering shells into the city walls, and then use shotgunners to rely on the trenches to defend and protect the conflict cannons. I guess in another month, we'll be able to take the castle! ”

Wang Fuchen was surprised for a while: "A month? Can it be that fast? ”

"Almost," Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "the first parallel trench will be completed in ten days, and then the parallel trench will be extended to the west and east sides of the castle. Finally, it forms a three-sided encirclement.

In this way, we can arrange dozens of flowering shells in the three trenches, which can fire 12 and 20 catties of projectiles, bombarding day and night! Ten days at most, and those Portuguese will have to open the city and surrender! ”

"Can it really be that fast?" Wang Fuchen was shocked by this unheard of, but it sounded like a very feasible siege method, "If this Haoao Castle can be captured in a month, then Guangzhou City."

"One month is enough!" Wang Zhongxiao smiled, "Although Hao Ao Castle is small, it is small and sturdy. Moreover, there are many artillery, and there are triangular fort guards around the castle, so it is difficult to impress with direct fire from red-coated cannons. In contrast, Guangzhou City is easy to fight. As long as we use the cupola cannon to suppress the artillery on a section of the city wall, plus the red-clothed cannon bombardment for a day, the city will be broken! ”

When a few of them were talking, Yao Qisheng suddenly walked in a hurry, and when he arrived at Wang Fuchen, he saluted: "Commanding the army, the watchtower reports that three Western galleons have been found on the surface of the Lingding Ocean!" ”

"Three Western galleons?" Wang Fuchen was stunned, "That's the Portuguese reinforcements?" ”

"Impossible," Wang Zhongxiao shook his head, "Portugal has long since fallen, and we don't have any big ships here. I guess it was the ships of Spain, Holland, and England that came to see the fun! ”

"Watching the excitement?"

Wang Zhongxiao snorted: "If we can't beat Haoao, they will offer to help. And by the way, get some oil, water and trade privileges! If we take the castle soon, then they will have a good talk with us! ”

"Will they fight us with the Portuguese?" Wang Fuchen asked a little worriedly.

"Yes!" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "If we suffer a big loss under the Haoao Fortress, they will come to us for trouble!" But I'm not going to give them a chance. They'll see a fast and exciting siege battle! Master Yao, please take a trip and tell those foreign devils that in a month, I will invite them to eat in St. Paul's Castle! ”

"One month is enough?" Yao Qisheng also understands military affairs, and when he looked at the Portuguese fortress, he seemed a little skeptical.

"Enough!" Wang Zhongxiao said, "I won't let them wait too long." ”

"Okay!"

"Governor, they seem to. It seems to want to dig a tunnel! ”

On the wall of St. Paul's wall, Father Rowanzao put down the clairvoyant mirror in his hand and turned back to Governor Schbourges.

"So far away to start digging? How many days does it take to dig up? The mercenary chief of Hao O, Rotony, shook his head.

Schboges thought for a moment, "I think. At least a month, right? And we have a very wide and deep moat to rely on, as long as we dig a little deeper, we can block their tunnels. These Chinese are really stupid! ”

Rotony laughed, "They're not very good at war!" ”

At this time, Luo Wenzao suddenly pointed to the three Western soft sailing ships on the sea to the east, and said loudly: "Governor, Chief Antonio. You see, there seem to be three European soft sailing ships at sea!"

Rotony turned his head and looked: "It's the ships of the Spanish Philippine Governor's Palace, the Dutch East India Company, and the English East India Company. They should have come to see the excitement after getting the news that the Chinese were going to attack St. Paul's Castle! ”

Spellges also raised his binoculars to look at the sea, and said in a low voice: "A Spanish galleon, a Dutch big-bellied Galen, and an English Galen should be the largest ships they have been operating along the coast of China!" It seems that the Spaniards, the Dutch, and the English all want to take advantage of the opportunity to expand their share of trade in China! ”

He thought for a moment, and then said to Rotony, "Antonio, can we still discharge the galleys?" ”

"It's still available," Rotony said, "and the little port to the south is still usable." ”

"Good!" "Please go and meet the Spaniards, the Dutch, and the English," said Schipcher. We ask them to take a unified position with us! We, the Europeans, must speak with the Chinese with one voice! They must be let know that we have more advanced military technology and that we are the ones who make the rules of maritime trade!

Because only in this way can we get the maximum benefit and have the freedom to trade and spread the Gospel of God! ”

Rotony nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away!" ”

(End of chapter)