When the gap between ideals and reality was too great, it was difficult to accept.
Governor Cordino and Archbishop Xavier, who were in Goa, could not sit still when they learned that one of their cavalrymen had been annihilated in a battle with the enemy. They hurriedly rushed to the Cleanup Army that had stopped halfway. They wanted to know what had happened.
Under the treatment of the priest, the injured Anthony quickly recovered, but he was immediately questioned repeatedly by several big shots in the city, giving him a headache. The information he could provide was that he had been attacked head-on by the enemy's Flintlock cavalry, and then he was beaten senseless.
"It's hard to imagine that these Eastern devils are equipped with guns that can be used on horseback." Governor Codino squatted in front of a few corpses that had been dragged back. He personally dug open the wounds of the corpses with a knife and found the steel pellets embedded in the flesh. "This pellet is made of steel, not lead."
Steel was much harder than lead. For short-barreled shotguns that had a limited range, using steel pellets as pellets helped to improve the penetration of armor. As for the problem of wear and tear on the barrel, a paper shell was used to wrap the pellet.
Governor Codino used the blade of his knife to hack at the steel pellet, and after a long time, he heard a clang. His blade actually broke, but the steel pellet was undamaged. The onlookers were wondering what the governor was going to do. When they saw the result, they were shocked. It was fine to use steel as pellets, but the steel was too good.
"These Eastern devils can be so extravagant, they use such good steel to make pellets?" Archbishop Xavier also felt that things were tricky. His job was to ensure the rule of the Portuguese in Goa. But he knew that his side's advantage lay in advanced technology and military force, and religion was just a trick to fool people.
A small steel pellet could see a lot of problems.
The clean-up army had to stop. The troops had not thought that the war would come to a standstill, so much so that they did not even consider the food and drink of thousands of people. The Portuguese felt that the enemy was right under their noses, and it would not take long for the army to march a few kilometers. They set off in the morning and could return victorious at night.
Now, the three thousand indigenous soldiers were enduring under the scorching sun, while the one thousand Portuguese army soldiers were complaining. Faced with this situation, Governor Cordino grabbed Master Mohammed and questioned him, "I remember you said that a group of Eastern merchants appeared in the city. What are they doing here?"
"They wanted to trade and bought some slaves and horses from me, but not many. Yesterday, when they asked to trade again, I refused. However, they said that they have a large number of goods to trade, and they hope that you can acknowledge their existence. "Master Mohammed bowed and described the Eastern merchants in as peaceful terms as possible.
The Arabians were shocked by the clash of the cavalry. They had always thought that the European cavalry was powerful enough, but who would have thought that the Eastern cavalry would be even more ruthless? No one dared to make wild guesses as to how the war would turn out.
"Send someone to negotiate with those Easterners immediately. I want to know what they want." Governor Ke Dino suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and wanted to know more about the situation. In fact, from the current position of the clearing troops, they could already see the layout of the fortress opposite them with binoculars. The hexagonal redoubt and the heavy cannons on the turrets looked difficult to deal with.
Master Mohammed asked his steward to make a trip with a white flag, and the latter soon returned and said, "The King of the Easterners said that they want to occupy this place for trade. He also said that what you can't get on the battlefield can't be obtained through negotiation. He wants the governor to give up his fantasies and start fighting. "
In fact, Master Zhou's words were much harsher. He said that he wanted to pave his way forward with the bodies of white pigs. However, Governor Ke Dino was already angry enough when he heard the steward's words. He roared, "This is the territory of the Kingdom of Portugal, no one can occupy it at will. Go and tell those Easterners that if they want to trade, they must get our permission. "
The steward could only make another trip dejectedly, but he quickly returned and said, "The King of the Easterners said that he does not recognize the governor's authority. He also said that it's getting late and that the war should start quickly. "
A group of Portuguese army generals were furious, but Lord Costa, who was in charge of the army, suggested to the governor, "Maybe we should slow down. The enemy has fortresses and heavy cannons, which is very disadvantageous to us. We still have two thousand native soldiers and about five thousand indigenous soldiers in various parts of Goa. In addition, there are two armed merchant ships equipped with cannons docked at the port. We can attack from the sea. "
"You mean to delay the war for a few days?" Governor Ke Dino rolled his eyes. "Costa, maybe you're right. These Easterners have appeared too strangely. Maybe they're waiting for us to die. We can't act according to their orders. Let's stabilize our troops and gather more soldiers first. It's a good idea to use the cannons on the warships. "
Naval cannons were generally much heavier than land cannons. The large-caliber, long-barreled heavy cannons of capital ships were all huge objects. Their walls were very thick, and they could easily weigh five to six tons. There were no capital ships in Goa, but there were armed merchant ships of hundreds of tons at the port. The cannons on the ships were also quite powerful.
Lord Costa continued, "Last night, I sent a few ships to approach the stronghold. Their cannons have a long range and destroyed one of our ships. To break through the enemy's defenses, we need not only the heavy cannons of the merchant ships, but also the heavy cannons of the fortress. "
"You mean the two forty-eight pound cannons at our port?" Governor Ke Dino was a little hesitant. "That's the newest product of our cannon factory. It has a range of half a league. But they're really too heavy. "
The forty-eight pound cannonball had a diameter of more than two hundred millimeters, and the barrel was three meters long. The half a league had a range of three thousand meters. Even though this was the maximum elevation and the maximum range was not very accurate, it was still very powerful.
The only problem was that these cannons were not suitable for the dirt roads. Not only were the cannons heavy, but the mounts were even heavier. If there was a pothole on the ground, it would sink in and even tilt. Then the cannoneers would be dumbfounded and unable to do anything about it.
Lord Costa explained to the governor's concerns, "Those Easterners must have come prepared to challenge us. I think it's best that we do as well.
Tonight, we'll send out armed merchant ships and use their heavy cannons to bombard them so that they won't dare to come out. At the same time, we'll transfer troops from the surrounding areas to prepare for the follow-up battle. Have the native soldiers and slaves repair the roads and flatten the ground. With a few thousand people working together, a day or two should be enough to repair the roads and transport the cannons.
I have a guess that this fortress that suddenly appeared isn't big, so it doesn't have many troops. Otherwise, with the arrogance of those Easterners, they would have attacked us first. "
Lord Costa had been in Goa for many years and had fought many battles with the local kings. He had some experience in commanding. His words made Governor Ke Dino nod repeatedly, indicating that he was willing to listen to his subordinate's opinion.
"Very well, Lord Costa. You have full authority to handle the current battle. Sir Xavier will do his best to help you. This is all for the glory of the Lord. We will not allow these infidels to defile our territory. "
The blow of reality made the Portuguese sober up a lot. They had to adopt a squeezing tactic, building a line of defense outside the enemy's fortress and besieging it. Since Panjim itself was a land divided by rivers, and Zhou Qingfeng occupied a corner of the estuary, it made it easier for the Portuguese to besiege it.
At present, there were not enough troops in the fortress. When Xu Bing remodeled the space-time island, she stuffed as many people as possible, and it was already overcrowded with 1,500 people. Among them, there were more militia engaged in construction than fighting.
The only thing that Zhou Qingfeng could pull out to fight was an infantry battalion of more than 600 people. So he never thought of attacking the city. After all, there were more than 300,000 people in Goa, and there were tens of thousands of people in the city. There was no point in a few hundred people attacking.
After He Zhuo's cavalry raid ended, Zhou Qingfeng also noticed that the enemy had changed tactics. He completely ignored it and continued to improve the fortress' defense. For example, Wen Ruolan brought people to pull up a stone wall outside the fortress, and the workers filled the two stone walls with earth, raising the original one-meter-thick wall to three meters. These jobs could greatly strengthen the fortress' ability to resist the enemy's artillery attacks.
Since Panjim faced the water on three sides, and only the east side, about six kilometers wide, was connected to the land, it was not difficult to besiege it as long as there were enough people. Under the observation of the telescope, a large number of Indian indigenous laborers were driven to build a line of defense. Obviously, the Portuguese did not want to use human lives to fill his fortress under Zhou Qingfeng's artillery fire.
Zhou Qingfeng hit the nail on the head. The Portuguese really went to move the two heavy cannons they used to defend the port. In order to transport these two cannons, the Portuguese even sent a large number of indigenous people to build the road, and the work was in full swing. His response to this was to arrange a few rockets in the direction of the road. At worst, when the enemy worked hard to transport the cannons over, he would cover the area with fire.
Another thing that Zhou Qingfeng did not expect was that the two armed merchant ships of the Portuguese left the port. They left the dock and sailed along the Mandovi River, very cautiously. Before dark, they anchored on the river three kilometers away from the fortress. When the sky turned dark, they disappeared from sight.
"Grand Marshal, do you want to fire a flare rocket?" Wu Daimen asked as he followed Zhou Qingfeng.
"No need." Zhou Qingfeng stood on the gun platform facing the river, his eyes full of search. He opened his Third Eye, but still could not see anything. This situation surprised him a little, so he pointed in the direction where the enemy's armed merchant ships disappeared and shouted, "Ye Na, fly out and see where the Portuguese ships are."
The task of flying reconnaissance was actually the most convenient for Flat Hair to do, but Flat Hair was now acting as an autopilot. He was afraid that it had just returned to Tianjin, and it would be a long time before it came back. At the moment, only Ye Na could make a short-distance flight. The long-legged girl prayed silently, and wings lit up behind her, flapped her wings and flew out of the fortress, but the light of her wings could not be covered at all in the night.
Zhou Qingfeng shouted, "Be careful." Ye Na only responded, "Got it." Relying on her high level of cultivation, she flew out. And when she flew along the river for about two kilometers, two black shadows suddenly appeared on the water surface, shrouded in thick smoke. She was about to circle around the black shadow, but there was a burst of praise for God in the black shadow …
The black shadow broke, revealing the two armed merchant ships that had disappeared before. At the bow of the ship, several ruling priests in robes were holding their staffs high and scolding Ye Na, who was flying in the air, "Heretic, you will be punished by God."
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