The Portuguese paid special attention to the construction of various religious buildings during their hundreds of years of operation in Goa. They did not hesitate to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to build large churches for decades.
Among the many churches in Goa, the Merciful Jesus Cathedral had the highest status. Because in this magnificent building built with red bricks was the remains of a saint — the first Catholic missionary to the East, one of the founders of the Jesuit Order, Francis Xavier.
It was this guy who spread the Abrahamic gods to India and Japan. The European colonists were able to conquer India one after another because of him. He even wanted to trap China, but the Ming court did not allow it and let him die on the island.
Because of this saint's remains, the Merciful Jesus Church had always been valued by the Church of Rome. It was also the residence of the current Archbishop of Goa, Francis Xavier, and an important brainwashing place for the Portuguese to operate in Goa. But it was such a vital place that was faced with destruction in an instant.
Zhou Qingfeng adhered to the principle of 'you fight your battles, I'll fight mine' and boldly launched a night attack on Goa, successfully turning this pillar of the Portuguese in the Far East into a boiling pot of soup, with sparks of fire everywhere.
Because of the poor quality of the ancient army, there were only a few generals and soldiers who could fight in the field and dared to take the initiative to detour. Goa, which had been peaceful for a hundred years, obviously did not have such an army. Therefore, the night attack carried out by He Zhuo with the help of Ice Phoenix and the elite Imperial Guard was too unexpected for the Portuguese.
Opposite the Merciful Jesus Cathedral was the Santa Catarina Church. The cathedral that took the Portuguese 80 years to build was bombed into the sky not long after the night attack began. Every Imperial Guard soldier was carrying ten kilograms of explosives. The Fire Phoenix smashed the dome of the main hall of the church and threw dozens of ignited explosives in.
When the explosives released the high-temperature energy contained in them, it was like a huge firework blooming in the night sky. It was spectacular, causing countless people to exclaim and lament.
The Portuguese in Goa were actually prepared for the enemy's attack. During the day, they had already arrested the so-called 'Eastern spies' and executed hundreds of unknown indigenous people. Tens of thousands of Portuguese residents in the city were mobilized to build barricades to assist in the defense. The priests of the Ecclesiastical Court of Inquiry patrolled continuously. They were fully prepared and swore to defend against any incoming enemies.
But when the enemy really came to the door, the colonists in the city found that their so-called full preparation was far from adequate. The enemy did not care about magic, numbers, beliefs, or any known rules. They simply used explosives to blast a path of blood, flesh, and rubble.
The one responsible for throwing the explosives was the unparalleled Fire Phoenix. When she flew towards the city of Goa, the Portuguese soldiers and residents on the outskirts of the city shouted that they would defend the glory of the Lord with their lives. The few priests who were holding the line praised God and bravely went forward to prove the steadfastness of their faith in front of the devil.
These brave people had gotten what they wanted …
In the survivors' trembling description, the devil flew out of the night and completely ignored the majesty of God and began the massacre. The few priests who flew out to kill the devil did not even get close to the devil. They spontaneously combusted in the air and were burned into charcoal.
The Portuguese hiding behind the barricade also encountered a little devil with a child's voice. She rushed into the crowd at a very fast speed, dropped a five-kilogram bag of explosives, turned around, and ran. When she found that the explosives were not ignited, she dared to run back and light a fire before running away. All kinds of knives, axes, and guns could not stop her. She even laughed while running.
When the explosives exploded violently, the barricade and the people stationed there were all turned into ashes. The little devil was still not far away, plugging her ears with two fingers and staring at the explosion. After the explosion, she even clapped her hands and cheered.
Apart from these two powerful female demons who could fly, there were also hundreds of demon soldiers lined up, shouting orders as they charged out of the darkness. They used accurate and lethal volleys of gunfire to kill the Portuguese army soldiers who tried to block the line of defense. Courage and faith were all empty words in front of them.
The Santa Catarina Cathedral was the first resistance stronghold that the devils encountered. There were hundreds of Portuguese army soldiers and armed residents guarding the church. Archbishop Xavier personally encouraged the brave believers of God, watching them carry all kinds of weapons and guns under the blessing of divine magic. They smashed the windows of the church to form firing points and opened fire at the invading devils.
Every church was a battle fortress. After a few setbacks, the Portuguese in the city realized that the fragile barricade alone was not enough to stop the devil's attack. Only a strong church could stop the devil's advance.
A large number of armed people quickly rushed into the church, and the priests in the church constantly organized them and mobilized the holy power in the church for defense.
As a result … the fire phoenix forcibly broke the dome of the Santa Catarina Church and threw dozens of explosives in one breath.
It was said that gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, but it was carried forward by the Westerners. But before the chemists figured out how to make potassium nitrate, it was very difficult for the Westerners to obtain a large amount of gunpowder. But for the Revolutionary Army, the industrialized nitrate field was a series of inorganic chemical reaction equations recorded on paper.
For the Portuguese in Goa, the way the fire phoenix threw the explosives was extravagant and violent cracking. The church building was indeed strong, and it was still safe and sound after hundreds of years of wind and rain. But I blow it up with explosives. That should be enough, right?
Two to three hundred kilograms of gunpowder fell from the skylight of the dome. This made the Portuguese who were constantly praying, encouraging, and resisting in the church fall into a kind of dead silence. No one expected that the enemy would not rush to the front to be shot, but throw the explosives from the top of their heads.
Boom …
A lightning flashed in the night, and there was a tragic catastrophe in the Santa Catarina Church. All the beautiful stained glass windows burst in an instant, and a large amount of flames and smoke spewed out, like a blazing hell.
The characteristic of the domed building was that the top structure was light and fragile. In the violent explosion, the entire dome of the church was directly lifted by the air wave, and billowing smoke spewed out with a bang. At first glance, this scene looked like an unstoppable volcano erupting with lava. In such a short time, the cathedral that took the Portuguese nearly a century to build was destroyed.
The church had a beautiful square bell tower, two gilded bells with beautiful timbre, gorgeous Catholic decorations, exquisite sculptures, and a grandeur that stirred the hearts of the believers. All of this had disappeared in such an unreasonable and violent demolition. Hundreds of strong Portuguese in the church also disappeared.
All the Portuguese in Goa witnessed this scene. This destructive force was too strong. It was enough to be remembered for a hundred years.
Archbishop Xavier used to think that the most powerful thing in the world was undoubtedly the believers' faith in the Lord. Now it seemed that this faith was far less satisfying than throwing ten kilograms of explosives.
Behind the Santa Catarina Church was the Mercy Jesus Church. Everyone, including Archbishop Xavier, watched helplessly as the Santa Catarina Church about 200 meters away was destroyed in the flames of war. Such a violent attack made their first thought to retreat, but they had nowhere to retreat — the Mercy Jesus Church was where the remains of the saints were stored.
"I'll go and awaken Shahrukh's Holy Soul. You must hold the line of defense, and sacrifice for the Lord at any moment. Jehovah will receive our souls. " Archbishop Xavier gave the order with a livid face, turned into the church, and walked towards a silver coffin.
Outside the church, rows of infantrymen armed with muskets walked past the ruins of the bombed Santa Katarina Church. He Zhuo, who was in charge of commanding them, rode on the back of Dog Meat and shouted loudly to form a gun formation.
There were flames everywhere in the city, and visibility was not a problem. According to the instructions of the beggar guide, the tall church in front was the most important religious building in the city. Not only were there a large number of barricades around the church, but there were also thousands of Portuguese troops stationed there. There were even a few light six-pound cannons squatting behind the line of defense.
According to Zhou Qingfeng's order, ordinary Portuguese and soldiers could put down their weapons and surrender. Only these religious personnel who were responsible for brainwashing could not be let go, and they must all be executed.
But the enemy would never be captured without putting up a fight. As soon as the formation of the guards appeared, several cannons opposite them opened fire. Although the bullets of the six-pound cannons were small and had few charges, they were still cannons. A line of fire took away four or five lives in an instant, and the infantry could not defend at all.
He Zhuo immediately ordered the team to retreat, and at the same time asked the fire phoenix to go up and throw more explosives. But when the fire phoenix really went up, the dome of the Mercy Jesus Church emitted a powerful holy light, and a soul shadow entangled the fire phoenix and Ice Phoenix.
"Damn it, we have to rely on ourselves." He Zhuo knew that their offensive could not stop, and they must constantly hit the enemy hard, and constantly beat the enemy back, so that they could not organize an effective resistance, and even their morale would collapse. "Cannons, where are our own cannons?"
Compared with the Portuguese cannons that easily weighed tons, the cannons of the Imperial Guard Battalion were much lighter, only more than 300 kilograms, and could follow the troops forward. With He Zhuo's order, a 150 millimeter cannon was hidden in the darkness. Although it was too late to build the cannon, the power of the cannon was not reduced at all.
As soon as the cannon sounded, the cannonball went straight in the direction of the church.
There were two six-pound cannons in front of the church.
This was the only artillery that the Portuguese army could move relatively easily in an emergency. Both cannons were surrounded by a large number of benches and square tables moved out of the church as protection. But in the face of the flying projectiles, these piles of wooden furniture were as fragile as paper, and the moment they were hit, they all flew into the sky, unable to play any defensive role.
The six-pound cannon behind the barricade was also directly destroyed by the flying projectiles, and the bronze barrel was separated from the carriage, spinning and flying everywhere. It was this indirect residual force that broke the bones and tendons of the Portuguese defending nearby, and they all vomited blood.
The artillery fire in the darkness came suddenly, and the speed at which they were reloading was beyond the imagination of the defenders. Even if they did not build a position and needed manpower to restore it, the two battalion cannons that followed could still fire at a high rate of one shot per minute. In contrast, the six-pound cannons on the opposite side did not fire as fast as they did.
The two battalion cannons continued to bombard the front, but He Zhuo immediately led his soldiers around the ruins of the Santa Catarina Church, looking for a way to approach the Mercy Jesus Church from the side. A large number of Portuguese were fleeing under the artillery fire, but when they found that their retreat was cut off, a volley of guns was firing at them.
Bang, bang, bang …
Under the dazzling light of the fire, the distance between the two sides in the city was less than twenty meters. The muzzles of the flintlocks lit up frequently, and rows of Portuguese army soldiers and city residents turned into nameless ghosts under the continuous flying projectiles. Corpses littered the ground.
Explosives, volleys of guns, cannons …
The entire city of Goa echoed with the roars and screams of humans. In the past, it was the Portuguese who sent troops to attack the villages and cities of the indigenous people, inflicting death and sorrow on others. Today, they suffered the same tragedy for the first time.
When the fire phoenix revealed its golden body and began to burn the sky and the earth, the holy soul of Xavier, who was guarding Goa, also struggled in the high temperature, and the whole city fell into panic. Whether it was Governor Codino who was commanding the resistance in the city, or Lord Costa who was commanding the attack in the direction of the fortress, they all felt their hands and feet go cold. It was like judgment day.
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