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Chapter 453 Albrecht VII 2

Therefore, Archduke Albrecht VII, the most trusted cousin of the King of Spain, made this trip to the East, but the purpose was not only to conduct trade negotiations between the two countries, but also to shoulder the important task of spying on the military strength of the Ming Empire.

In the words of Duke Lerma, the first thing Spain should look at when choosing a partner is not the amount of profit but the overall strength. If the opponent's strength is too weak, then there is no need to cooperate. Wouldn't it be nice to just grab it?

As Hong Tao had estimated, Archduke Albrecht VII was indeed not a fool. Since the ship arrived in Manila, he had been silently paying attention to every move of the local Chinese as a starting point for his assessment of the mysterious Eastern Empire.

When the sailing ship was waiting at the outer port of Guangzhou, he asked the court painter on board to draw most of the ships he saw, mark the size and estimate the displacement, and then secretly contacted the Portuguese in Hao Jing'ao to further understand this mysterious ship. The Empire spies.

During the several-thousand-mile voyage from Guangzhou Port to Dagu Port, the Grand Duke asked Garcia, commander of the Manila Garrison Fleet, to accompany the ship. In addition to serving as a guide, his main task was to make a professional assessment of the Ming Empire's naval combat vessels.

"Dear Your Excellency, the Chinese are very cunning. They did not send the strongest naval warships to escort us. They even emptied the port and left only a few cargo ships."

Garcia looked at the three armed cargo ships not far away with an ugly expression. This time he accompanied the Grand Duke to the capital to negotiate with the Ming Emperor. It was 100% forced. If he had a choice, he would rather stay in Manila and wait for the result.

The reason is simple. In his letter to the king and the chief minister, Governor Aguna described the Ming Empire as a behemoth with fangs and claws. However, for a Spanish Grand Duke who had never set foot in the East, this was very embarrassing. Easy to see the essence and very difficult to understand.

These damn Orientals are extremely accustomed to hiding their strength. Many Chinese in Manila Port are obviously wealthy, but they always wear linen clothes, eat poor meals, and deliberately pretend to be small traders.

The same goes for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He clearly had maritime strength comparable to that of a Spanish galleon, and could hijack a Manila galleon without anyone noticing, but he always habitually concealed his strength. On weekdays, it was almost impossible to see Ming warships roaming the sea. gallop.

The Portuguese businessmen in Hao Jing Ao had the opportunity to see a large warship with black sails, but those shameless fishermen hated the Spanish very much and had no intention of cooperating, let alone asking the truth.

The three sailing ships that accompanied the Grand Duke's ship to the north this time were flying the flag of the Ming Navy. Unfortunately, they were armed cargo ships with only a layer of small-caliber artillery on the deck. They did not represent the strength of the Ming Navy at all. They were even more similar to Spanish merchant ships in the waters off Japan. The black-sailed warships seen were far different.

"Garcia, I know that neither you nor Count Aguna are willing to let Spain fall into a fearless war, and would rather reach an agreement with the Ming Empire. But don't exaggerate too much. Although these armed cargo ships cannot compete with Spanish galleons alone, if Being numerically superior can still cause a lot of trouble.

After all, this is their home court, and without effective replenishment for a long time, the outcome of the war is likely to be unfavorable to us. "

Archduke Albrecht VII did not agree with Colonel Garcia's evaluation. The reason is simple. If a country has a large number of large warships, even if they cannot be seen on the sea, clues should be found near ports and docks, because warships need maintenance.

However, starting from Guangzhou, which is known as the largest port in the Ming Dynasty, at least six or seven large ports were passed and anchored along the way, including three special ports for the Ming Navy, but not a single ship that could be called a large warship was seen. However, we encountered many similar armed cargo ships. This is very telling. The Ming Dynasty's navy is probably similar to that of the Venetian city-state. It did not build a navy based on pure ocean warfare. They paid more attention to cargo transportation and offshore defense.

As a huge empire with a long coastline, many ports, and no strong opponents around it, this choice is not only not wrong but also very correct. Large ocean-going battleships look majestic and majestic, but their use consumes a lot of manpower and material resources. Unless it is necessary, it is really more cost-effective to build a few more armed cargo ships.

"Oh, what did I see? A light-armored arquebusier, right?" At this time, the Manila galleon was approaching the berth under the guidance of the boat, and the scenery within a few miles of the shore could already be seen through the telescope.

The Grand Duke suddenly discovered a group of unusual people, wearing black shorts and trousers, lining up in several rows in the clearing between the woods, holding long sticks in their hands and emitting gray-white smoke from time to time.

In Europe from the 16th to the early 17th century, the army was mainly divided into three branches: cavalry, infantry and artillery. The cavalry is the most elite and has the strongest combat effectiveness, but the number cannot be maintained too much. The infantry is in the middle level and has a large number. It can restrain the cavalry charge by using the spear formation. Artillery is a purely auxiliary branch with the lowest status.

Infantry is divided into two types, pikemen and arquebusiers, each of which can be subdivided into light armor and heavy armor. The standard equipment of the light long and popular includes a lance, a saber or dagger, and a leather belt.

Heavy armored armors include more helmets, breastplates, gorgets, shoulder armors, and leg armors. However, these armors have to be purchased by yourself. Most armored armors cannot afford them, so heavy armored armored armors are mostly for down-and-out knights. Noble or veteran.

Lightly armored spearmen can earn 3 gold coins a month, while heavy armor earns 4 gold coins. If there is a war emergency and the recruited soldiers have no money to buy equipment, the officers will also allow them to pay on credit first, and then gradually deduct it from their wages afterwards.

"Yes, judging from the shooting frequency, the training is quite good!" Colonel Garcia quickly raised his telescope and looked in the direction pointed by the Archduke, and gave a professional evaluation after a moment.

To be honest, this was the first time he saw the Ming Dynasty Matchlock Soldiers in full-fledged form. He had no idea about them before, and after seeing them suddenly, he felt his heart sinking. There were more than 200 soldiers in that group. They advanced and retreated in an orderly manner and fired neatly under the command of the commander. They did not look like a hasty formation, but more like battle-hardened veterans.

"Well, they are more elite than the arquebusiers in the Dutch coalition. It seems that the king is right. Spain should no longer enter a state of war with the Eastern Empire. It is more beneficial to become allies.

Before coming here, the palace clerk said that this mysterious Eastern country has a population of eight million, but the archbishop said there are tens of millions. Can you tell me more accurately how many people they have? "

In fact, Archduke Albrecht VII had more combat experience than Major Garcia and had commanded large-scale wars. He could tell the quality of this group of arquebusiers at a glance. Immediately, he no longer paid attention to the training ground, but began to comprehensively consider the strength of the Ming Empire and prepare for the upcoming negotiations.

(End of this chapter)