When the sun rose from the east, the hot air balloon, 50 meters above the ground, could see the first ray of sunlight shining on the horizon. Zhou Qingfeng and Wu Damen were standing in the basket of the hot air balloon early in the morning, holding binoculars to observe the movements around Fort Panjim.
Because it was near the sea, the surrounding terrain was flat, and the hot air balloon's field of view was extremely wide. Through the high-powered binoculars, they could clearly see images within a range of more than ten kilometers. The old city of Goa was just seven kilometers away, and all the movements in the city could be said to be exposed to the observer's line of sight without any obstruction.
"With this hot air balloon and binoculars, we won't have to be afraid of enemy sneak attacks on the plains and the sea." Wu Damen put down the binoculars and was extremely emotional. "After practicing so many times in the Martial Arts Chessboard, with our current firepower density, we should be able to withstand a long-term siege of five times the number of enemies. If the enemy wants to take down our fort, they will either have to use the lives of tens of thousands of people, or use heavy artillery to bombard us. "
As the sun rose, the distant old city of Goa slowly woke up. The soldiers in the Portuguese barracks were slowly walking out of the barracks and lining up. From their lazy steps and joking expressions, it could be seen that these Europeans were not nervous about the upcoming war. Although the appearance of Fort Panjim was shocking, the colonists did not easily change their fixed ideas because of it. They did not feel how terrifying the enemy from the East was. Through the binoculars, they could see that the people in the city were still pointing at the hot air balloon. After a night, they were more curious than afraid. Some people were even eager to come and investigate.
The sea breeze blew, and the hot air balloon fluttered.
The images in the binoculars also shook and became blurry. Zhou Qingfeng had to put down his hands and wait for the hot air balloon to stabilize again. He turned his head to look at the sea. There were also a few ships in the distance, as well as ship fragments and corpses rising and falling with the waves. It was a Portuguese ship that was sunk last night.
After the appearance of the fort, the workers repaired the surroundings of the fort overnight, built fortifications, and cleared the firing range. Six heavy Longsong Cannons began to test fire to determine their respective range of fire and to mark the range reference. The rumbling of the cannons could even be heard several kilometers away.
These six cannons were manufactured by Zhao Ze in name, but in fact, it was Sun Yuan Hua's work. After Daming's artillery expert completed the basic knowledge, he began to take over the design and manufacturing of the artillery. Casting, forging, machining, ballistics, and so on were all major subjects. Zhao Ze was too busy to handle them all. With Sun Yuanhua taking over, he could focus his energy on the more important steam engine.
Last night, the migrant workers worked through the night, while the Portuguese sent a few small boats to try to harass them. In the end, Zhou Qingfeng ordered for a round of illumination rockets to be fired every ten minutes at night. The area within two kilometers of the fortress was brightly lit, and the harassing ships entered the deadly range of the cannons without knowing it.
After the addition of fire phoenix, the steel plant of the 'Revolutionary Army' can finally provide qualified low-carbon steel. This was a huge leap in the design and manufacture of cannons.
The Longsong Cannons designed by Sun Yuanhua all had a 200-millimeter caliber and a 15-times diameter barrel. The barrel walls were uniform, light and could withstand stronger chamber pressures. The two-ton cannon had an effective range of 1,800 meters. He even copied the hydraulic rifling broaching machine according to the drawings given by Zhao Ze and drew equidistant winding rifling in the barrel.
Under the guidance of the illumination rockets, the three heavy cannons on the fortress aimed at the harassing ships one kilometer away and hit the target with only two rounds of fire. The oval round-nosed solid bullet weighing more than ten kilograms had a fairly flat trajectory and high muzzle velocity. The spin given by the rifling brought good stability. It only took two shots to smash the enemy's ships.
This incident reminded the Portuguese that warships should not confront the large-caliber Longsong Cannons casually. They could not win.
The Portuguese were frightened by the range of the artillery of one kilometer. Until dawn, their ships did not approach the coast again. Instead, they retreated to a distance of 1,500 meters to hide. Although they were still within the range of the Longsong Cannons, Zhou Qingfeng ordered them not to fire and to let the enemy go.
The sunken Portuguese army ship turned into broken pieces of wood, floating on the sea, warning others not to get close to the enemy's firepower. It also made the Portuguese understand that the opponent they encountered this time was not some ignorant indigenous people. However, the Portuguese had clearly not learned their lesson.
"Grand Marshal, the enemy is mobilizing the cannons." The basket stabilized again. Wu Daimen raised his binoculars and continued to observe the direction of the old city of Goa. "Their cannons are also very big."
Zhou Qingfeng also extended his binoculars to observe.
The Portuguese had lived a good life in India for more than a hundred years and never thought that their dominance would be challenged. In order to live a more comfortable life, they chose to build a city a little further inland. Now that Zhou Qingfeng blocked the estuary of the river, they found themselves in big trouble.
The quality of the Portuguese army in Goa was not high due to years of bullying the Indian indigenous people. They moved slowly and had average morale. If it were not for the fact that Zhou Qingfeng did not have enough troops and wanted to lure the snake out of its hole to annihilate them, he could have taken the initiative to block the door and annihilate them in the barracks. Now the Portuguese army was moving their own cannons, and they looked like they were also big guys.
"It's a 24-pound cannon with a range of more than 1,000 meters. It's about the same weight as our Longsong Cannons." Zhou Qingfeng roughly identified the cannon model. 'Pound' was actually a British term, and the Portuguese also used 'league' instead of 'meter' as the unit of length. The Europeans' measurements were actually quite messy, and he only gave a general description.
"That's good, our cannons are more powerful." Wu Damen attached great importance to the enemy's cannons. He felt that once they started fighting, they had to first destroy the enemy's heavy equipment. The effective range was 1,000 meters, and the maximum range was certainly 2,000 meters. It would not be a problem to hit a large target like the Longsong Stronghold.
But Zhou Qingfeng shook his head and said, "This is not the Portuguese's most powerful cannon. They still have some heavy Longsong Cannons that are more than five tons. Although there are not many of them and their firing rate is slow, they are powerful and have a range of 3,000 meters. Those are the biggest threat to us. "
"3,000 meters!" Wu Damen's forehead was a little sweaty. "Then we must send a unit outside the city. It is necessary to attack the enemy's artillery position and destroy these heavy cannons. Five-ton heavy cannons are bound to be difficult to transport. Our cavalry has just been replaced with new cavalry cannons, so they should be able to take on this heavy responsibility. If it doesn't work, we can only ask the Grand Marshal to use planes to bomb them. "
"Hehe …" Zhou Qingfeng chuckled twice and was satisfied with the officers under his command. In the past, he was the one who came up with ideas to fight. Now these battalion and company level cadres gradually had their own ideas.
Five-ton heavy cannons were quite cumbersome for the current road conditions. They could only be used on fixed turrets and had no mobility at all. If the Portuguese were really forced into a corner and mobilized such a big thing, there would be no need for planes. They could just use a salvo of rockets to cover the area. In any case, it ran slowly, like a fixed target.
Zhou Qingfeng could not wait for the enemy to bring out the heavy cannons and bombard him. Because he used iron to make the cannons, but the enemy's cannons were all bronze. Every single one of them was worth a lot of money.
At the moment of war, morning exercises were canceled.
As labourers who had been working all night, they all returned to their dormitories to rest. These people were armed and could go into battle at any time as a supplement. The soldiers of the Imperial Guard were getting up and lining up for breakfast in preparation for the upcoming battle.
When the sun rose, the weather became hot. On the hot air balloon, Zhou Qingfeng felt as if he was being roasted by fire. There really was a stove on top of his head that used coal tar as fuel, constantly producing hot air. "Go down and let the observer come up."
Wu Daimen threw a token down the rope and a set of ratchets on the watchtower of the stronghold began to turn. The thick hemp rope that was pulling the hot air balloon was wrapped around the ratchets and pulled down Zhou Qingfeng and Zhou Qingfeng.
After jumping down from the hot air balloon, Zhou Qingfeng said to Wu Daimen, "The weather here is too hot. Let the accompanying craftsmen build a light pergola on the basket of the hot air balloon. Otherwise, the solar energy at noon in Goa will cause heatstroke. The observer must bring more salt and soda up and change shifts every two or three hours to avoid unnecessary non-combat casualties. Every one of our manpower is precious. "
After Zhou Qingfeng came down, he saw Wen Ruolan leading the medical platoon to examine the bodies of the soldiers one by one and feed them some antiseptic and heat-clearing elixirs. There were many mosquitoes and diseases in this tropical area, so it was easy for them to not acclimatize to the climate. Many colonists were not afraid of the attacks of the indigenous soldiers at all. Instead, they turned pale at the mention of the various diseases in the wilderness.
Elder Sister Wen was really capable of doing any kind of work. She was good at research and very meticulous when it came to practical matters. With her in the barracks, the soldiers felt very at ease. They could get treatment for all kinds of injuries and illnesses. Compared to the heroic and imposing Zhou Qingfeng, Wen Ruolan's gentle and amiable personality gave the soldiers great comfort. The Grand Marshal and his wife were personally at the frontline, so the soldiers really had nothing to complain about.
"How many non-combat casualties are there now?" Zhou Qingfeng approached Elder Sister Wen and asked.
Wen Ruolan hadn't slept since yesterday. At this moment, she wiped the fine sweat on her forehead because of the high temperature. She turned her head and said with a smile, "The weather here is too hot and humid. It's completely different from our Tianjin. If you hadn't burned the wasteland before, the miasma would have been very thick. I've now boiled some heat-clearing and heat-relieving decoction for the soldiers to drink. Currently, there are more than ten injured and sick people, but they are all fine. "
What Zhou Qingfeng was most afraid of now was not external enemies, but internal diseases. Inexplicable casualties and defeats due to diseases were too common in war. In ancient times, hygiene was poor. If one was careless and got bitten by a few mosquitoes, they would develop an infectious disease such as malaria.
"Don't worry, my husband. I'll keep an eye on things in the stronghold for you. You can fight with peace of mind, expand the territory, and achieve a lifetime of fame. I guarantee that you won't get into trouble in the future. "Wen Ruolan was considerate and amiable. She would think of everything for Zhou Qingfeng.
Zhou Qingfeng felt that he had probably saved the world in his previous life. That was why Elder Sister Ruolan was willing to devote herself to him in this life. Having her by his side really saved him a lot of effort. He wanted to go forward and hug her, but Wen Ruolan pouted and retreated. She angrily and coquettishly said, "You bad guy, don't even think about messing around. There are people around."
"Come at night, come at night." Zhou Qingfeng smiled and left. He only felt happy in his heart. He then went to check on the soldiers' meals to ensure that all the details were perfect. However, he saw his elder sister He Zhuo getting ready to mount a horse. She was riding on 'Dog Meat' and commanding a cavalry company of less than a hundred people in the stronghold. At this moment, the cavalry had eaten their breakfast and seemed to want to go out for a stroll to digest their food.
The attack on Shandong was currently nearing its end. He Zhuo had broken through more than ten cities in the entire Qi and Lu Provinces. She had killed so many officials and gentry that their heads were rolling and their souls scattered. Even the Kong Residence had been razed by her. Now, all the scholars in the world hated her to the core. Even many conservative scholars in the 'Revolutionary Army' were cursing her.
Zhou Qingfeng had clearly stated in the newspaper that it was his personal order to liquidate the decadent and backward feudal ideology and its carrier. However, outsiders did not dare to do anything to him. The slander and resentment were all directed towards He Zhuo.
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