Kangxi, your Qing Dynasty is dead

Chapter 167 Watch carefully, see how we attack the bastion! (ask for subscription, ask for monthly pass)
Hao O, St. Paul's Castle.

In the study of Governor Shi Bozhi, the three people stared at each other, all a little dumbfounded.Today is Saturday, and the acting bishop Luo Wenzao didn't even preside over the Saturday mass. He just stayed in the study with Governor Shibozhi and the chief mercenary of Rotoni, each holding a copy of the imperial decree of the Qing emperor. I looked at it carefully over and over again, and I don't know how long I looked at it.The complexions of the three people are getting greener and greener.

The room was quiet, only the sound of three people sighing.

In the end, Luo Wenzao was the first to lose his hold. With a shake of his hands, he put the booklet on the table, covered his face with his hands, and sighed deeply while rubbing: "The secret agreement we initialed with Wu Sanwei is here. On the way to Chongqing, it was intercepted by the Qing army. Now the emperor of the Qing Dynasty issued an imperial decree, asking us to hand over the St. Paul Fortress immediately, and then all go to Beijing as foreign servants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We are only given three days to reply after three days , the Qing army outside the city is about to attack.”

It turned out that it was Emperor Kangxi's imperial decree to recruit the Portuguese people in Hao'ao and the [-] Qing troops led by Wang Fuchen had already arrived in Hao'ao!

And this ten thousand Qing army looks very elite!
Equipped with a large number of artillery and muskets, the formation of infantry is very neat. Although there are not many cavalry, they are all equipped with super long bamboo spears, which are obviously shock cavalry with strong impact.

At this time, there were no more than [-] Portuguese and mixed-blood Portuguese men in Haoao Castle, of which there were no more than [-] professional soldiers belonging to the Portuguese mercenary team.Although the white Portuguese soldiers in Haoao all went into battle with black slave soldiers, a Portuguese musketeer or a Portuguese cavalry had seven or eight black slave soldiers to assist in the battle.But counting the black slaves, the number is less than [-]. How can they resist the tens of thousands of elite Qing troops?

This kind of army of white mercenaries and black slaves is essentially a feudal lord soldier, but with relatively advanced European firearms.In terms of combat effectiveness, it cannot be compared with the modernized armies in Europe that have experienced the baptism of long-term wars.

Although this Portuguese colonial empire is also a European colonial empire, its system is relatively backward, either feudal lords or autonomous city-states!It even happened that "colonial lords" fought for independence and fought civil wars, so they were often "anti-conquered" by the surrounding local feudal lords, and became vassals and slaves of Asian feudal countries.

The Portuguese stronghold of Hao and Macao is actually a free city-state.Although both the governor and the mercenary captain were sent by Goa, the real power of the city is in the hands of a council composed of Portuguese businessmen who have settled in Haoao for generations-the mercenary wages and the daily expenses of the city are paid by them. Yes, even the Catholic diocese of Haoao is maintained by their donations.

And the Portuguese in Haoao did not have the courage and determination to fight the approaching Qing soldiers outside the city. These Portuguese businessmen have long since lost the ambition of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company.They don't have any control over the sea anymore, so what are they "male"?
In fact, they are middlemen between Shang Kexi and the Dutch and English, they just earn a little difference, and their relationship with the downstream Dutch and English is not very good.

Both the Dutch and the English want to bypass the middleman in Hao-Mao and do business directly with the Chinese.And they did it to a certain extent. The Dutch had contacts with the Jingnan Palace, and the English set up an office on Dayuan Island.

It’s just that the gratifying Xiangshan Mutual Market was the largest, and the missionaries sent by the Hao’ao diocese entered the Beijing court, which made the Hao’ao Portuguese the largest middlemen in the trade between the East and the West.

And Shi Bozhi and Luo Wenzao concluded a secret agreement with Wu Sanwei to place a bet on Wu Sangui as soon as possible to ensure that Haoao can continue to be a middleman comfortably after changing his surname to Wu in Guangdong. Because it is a secret agreement, they feel that The Qing Dynasty will not notice it for a while, so they can step on two boats with one foot and benefit from both ends.

But they never expected that the response of the Qing Dynasty this time was a bit abnormal.The secret agreement sent to Wu Sangui was intercepted at the first time, and then the army was immediately mobilized to blockade Haoao and cut off all supplies.

And they seemed to be on the right track, after Hao-Mao sent the artillery, gunpowder, muskets, and galleys ordered by Wu Sanwei to Xiangdao, and before the replenishment of inventory from Foshan arrived.

Even if the Governor’s Mansion of Hao-Mao wants to arm all the whites and mixed-race whites in the castle, there are not enough muskets.
In addition, the Qing Dynasty also set up a Guangdong Customs Road Yamen in Xiangshan. This Yamen was 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 Hao'ao Port and prohibiting all merchant ships from entering. Haojiang!Customs passes were also issued to merchant ships willing to obey the ban, allowing them to go directly to Guangzhou for trade!

Moreover, this customs office immediately set up the red cannon to the west bank of the Haojiang River, completely blocking the waterway of the Haojiang River.

Although there is not only one Haojiang Inner Harbor in Haojiang, the Haojiang Inner Harbor is the main port of Haoao. Once it is blocked, there will be no merchant ships coming again.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Governor’s Mansion of Hao and Macau to purchase arms through the English and Dutch.
In desperation, Shi Bozhi and Luo Dongni could only order to defend the fortress, recall all the Portuguese and mixed-race Portuguese living outside the castle of Hao-ao, and even burn down the docks and ports in the inner port of Hao-Mau. None of the ships had time to leave.

At the same time, they did not forget the galley clippers they sent to Xiangdao for help. The only thing they can count on now is that "Xiangdao Oboi" hastened to Dongguan!
"Don't be afraid, as long as Oboi starts to march, everything will be fine!" Shi Bozhi was quite optimistic, "St. Paul's Fortress is a European-style bastion. It is also equipped with a large number of [-]-pound guns, and the upper With a thousand Spanish heavy muskets, at least two people can be mobilized to defend the city! Antonio, you are the mercenary commander, do you have the confidence to defend it?"

Rotoni frowned, "The governor's bastion is indeed difficult to breach, but there is a method that is useful for any strong fortress in the world! That is to besiege them for a long time and they have almost besieged us!"

In fact, before the Vauban-style siege method—that is, digging trenches to advance and then setting up mortars to open the flower shells—before it became popular, Europeans had nothing to do with bastions. .

Therefore, Zheng Chenggong’s attack on Zeelandia City and Kangxi’s attack on Jacques City were both common methods before the appearance of Vauban’s siege method. Even if the great military strategists in Europe were to fight, this was the only way.
Although Vauban has made his mark in the army of Louis XIV now, he had to wait until the Franco-Dutch War began in 1673 before he invented the "parallel siege method". It is now the end of 1671 in the Western calendar, so Haoao It is not surprising that the Portuguese considered their fortresses impossible to break by force.

"It doesn't matter," Shi Bozhi laughed. "Since our fortress was attacked by the Dutch in 1622, the Hao-O City Council allocated a large sum of money to establish the city's food reserve system. Our city There will always be enough grain, meat, and pickled vegetables for everyone to eat for eighteen months! For eighteen months, Oboi won not only Dongguan, but even Guangzhou."

When Luo Wenzao heard Shi Bozhi and Luo Dongni's words, he also breathed a sigh of relief: "That would be great. If we can be saved as long as we stick to it, then I believe Almighty God will help us tide over the difficulties." !"

"Governor, the enemies of the Governor have begun to build fortifications!"

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

"Building fortifications?" Shi Bozhi showed a calm smile, and said to Luo Wenzao, "Father, 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 pray to God."

"Shikai, did you dig the trench in the wrong direction? Why did you dig it towards Hao'ao Castle? Shouldn't the siege trench be dug around the castle?"

On the north side of St. Paul's Fortress, three miles away from the city wall of the fortress, Wang Fuchen looked at the hot trench digging site in front of him, and suddenly realized something was wrong. The trench was not dug horizontally, but was dug straight to the fortress in front of him.

"Father, you don't understand now. The second child is digging a tunnel. He dug the tunnel under the castle, buried it with gunpowder, and then ignited it with a bang, and it all collapsed 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 magistrate, but he took the opportunity of visiting relatives after marriage and refused to leave after he came to Guangdong.

This time his father Wang Fuchen sent troops, and he also used the name of "praising military affairs" to follow him to make military achievements.

"How much gunpowder do you need?" Wang Fuchen frowned, "Jin Bao, do we have enough gunpowder?"

"Not enough!" Quartermaster Guo Jinbao, who was in charge of the supply of firearms and gunpowder, immediately shook his head, "There is no gunpowder here in Guangdong. Gunpowder is still very expensive, so you have to save it."

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

"That's enough," Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "Father, don't worry, I've planned a long time ago that I won't dig tunnels."

"Don't dig tunnels? Then you want to besiege the city? How long will it take?"

"No siege," Wang Zhongxiao shook his head, "Father, the method I'm using now is called the parallel siege method!"

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

Although he doesn't know much about geometry, he can still roughly guess the meaning of parallelism.A trench being dug now is not parallel to the city wall, and it is dug crookedly.
"This is called a snake-shaped trench," Wang Zhongxiao explained. "The reason why we have to dig towards the city wall is to dig a passage that will not be bombarded, so that engineers can dig close to the city wall. , It is to prevent the enemy's shells from falling into the trench, and they will not be able to fly directly in the trench, causing heavy casualties.

Hai'er planned to dig a parallel trench for the siege less than a mile from the city wall.After the parallel trenches are dug, the shotgunners and sky cannons can drive in.Then use the sky cannon to fire flowering bombs into the city wall, and then use the shotgun soldiers to deploy defenses against the trenches to protect the conflict cannons.I reckon that in another month, we will be able to win the Hao-Ao Castle! "

Wang Fuchen was surprised for a while: "One month? Can it be so fast?"

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

In this way, we can arrange dozens of flowering bombs that can fire [-]-jin and [-]-jin projectiles in the three trenches and bombard them day and night!After bombing for ten days at most, those Portuguese would have to surrender! "

"It's really that fast?" Wang Fuchen was shocked by this unheard of, but sounded feasible method of siege, "If this Hao-Ao castle can be captured in a month, then the city of Guangzhou."

"One month is enough!" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "Although Hao'ao Castle is small, it is small and strong. There are also many cannons, and there are triangular fort guards around the castle. It is difficult to shoot directly with red cannons." It can be moved. In contrast, Guangzhou City is easy to fight. We only need to suppress the artillery on a section of the city wall with the sky cannon, and add the red clothes to bombard it for a day, and the city will be destroyed!"

While the few of them were talking, Yao Qisheng came over in a hurry, and bowed to Wang Fuchen: "Zhijun, the watchtower reported that three Western galleons were found on the Lingdingyang Sea!"

"Three Western galleons?" Wang Fuchen was taken aback, "Are those Portuguese reinforcements?"

"Impossible," Wang Zhongxiao shook his head, "Portugal has long since fallen, and we don't have any big ships here. I guess they should be ships from Spain, Holland, and England. They are here to watch the fun!"

"Watching the fun?"

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

"Then will they join the Portuguese against us?" Wang Fuchen asked worriedly.

"Yes!" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "If we suffer a big loss under the Hao-Ao Fortress, they will come to trouble us! But I will not give them a chance. They will see a fast Another wonderful siege battle! Master Yao, please come and tell those foreign devils that I will invite them to St. Paul’s Castle for dinner in a month’s time!”

"Is one month enough?" Yao Qisheng also knew about military affairs. He looked at the Portuguese fortress and seemed a little skeptical.

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

"okay!"

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

On the wall of St. Paul, Father Luo Wenzao put down the binoculars in his hand, turned his head and said to Governor Shibozhi.

"Start digging at such a distance? How many days will it take to dig?" Haoao mercenary chief Luo Dongni shook his head.

Shi Bozhi thought for a while, "I think it will take at least a month? And we still have a wide and deep moat to rely on. We only need to dig the moat deeper to block their tunnels. These The Chinese are really stupid!"

Rotoni laughed, "They are not very good at fighting!"

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

Rotoni turned his head and took a look: "It's the ship of the Spanish Philippine Governor's Palace, the Dutch East India Company, and the English East India Company. They should have come to watch after they got the news that the Chinese are going to attack St. Paul's Castle!"

Shi Bozhi also raised his binoculars to look at the sea, and said in a low voice: "A Spanish galleon, a Dutch pot-bellied galleon, and an English galleon should all be the largest ships they operate along the coast of China! It seems that the Spaniards, the Dutch, and the English all want to take this opportunity to expand their trade share in China!"

He thought for a while, and then said to Rotoni: "Antonio, can we still discharge the galley?"

"It's still working," Rotoni said, "the small port to the south is still working."

"Okay!" Shibozhi said with a smile, "Please come and meet the Spaniards, Dutch and English. Ask them to unify with us! We Europeans must use one voice to speak to the Chinese!" They must know that we have more advanced military technology, and we are the ones who set the rules for maritime trade!
Because only in this way can we obtain the greatest benefit and have the freedom to trade and spread the Gospel of God! "

Rotoni nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away!"

(End of this chapter)