Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 522 The Battle of Cape Kunlun

"Today, you and I, Enrique, will become the pioneers in establishing trade relations with Khitan across the ocean."

"We will finally say hello to this country full of gold, bypass those greedy and cruel Turks, and establish direct trade relations!"

"Woohoo!!"

In March of the ninth year of Hongxi, on the blue South Atlantic, more than twenty warships and more than thirty supply ships were moving southward at a leisurely pace.

The crown on the flag and their language illustrate their identity. They are the national fleet of the Avish dynasty (Portugal) in southwestern Europe, and leading this fleet is Prince Enrique, who is known as the navigator by them.

The ship they were traveling on was a three-masted caraque built using the most advanced technology of the Avish dynasty. It was characterized by a huge curved stern and a huge bowsprit.

The Avish dynasty equipped its foremast and topmast with several square sails, and its mizzen mast was equipped with a triangular sail. This was also the first ship in European history used for ocean voyages.

This is not the first time that Prince Enrique, who leads this fleet, has led a naval battle. Eleven years ago, Prince Enrique personally led 19,000 army troops, 1,700 navy troops, and 200 battleships. A huge army formed and captured Ceuta, an important city in the northwest corner of Kunlun Continent.

From then on, the Avish dynasty began to consciously expand at sea.

Therefore, here, naval soldiers basically have one to three Orchids, and some military attachés have more.

Since the imperial court prohibited all private merchant ships from going to the waters west of Kunlun Cape, most of the commodities west of Kunlun Cape could only be obtained from Kunlun Xuanwei Division.

On both sides of these streets are the residences and warehouses of merchants from various countries. In Kunlun Xuanweisi, they can buy enough anti-malarial powder and fruits and vegetables at the lowest prices.

This kind of disguised smuggling is tacitly allowed, but it cannot be mentioned on the table.

The Ming Dynasty ran the Kunlun Xuanwei Division for many years. Many naval officers chose to retire after serving for three years and settled in the Kunlun Xuanwei Division.

However, when they led the fleet to the shore, the group of people immediately began to run into the dense forest after seeing a group of them, seeming to regard them as enemies.

Although the slave trade was prohibited in the Ming Dynasty official trade zone, slaves purchased in Xiaoxiyang were not restricted and could still be brought back to the Ming Dynasty.

"Since it's a gift from brothers, I'd rather be respectful than obey."

Enrique had a premonition that they were about to reach Cape Kunlun, which the Ming merchants said.

Under Enrique's instruction, the Avish dynasty's fleet began to continuously burn, kill and loot along the coast of West Kunlun, and pushed thousands of miles southward by means of bandits.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will follow the historical trajectory and explore the Kunlun Continent in the south little by little. However, as the Ming Dynasty continued to trade in Central Asia and West Asia, a large number of commodities began to circulate in Europe through Timur, the Ottoman Empire and other countries.

On their way south, they discovered many islands and gave them names.

In the Kunlun City Xuanwei Si Yamen, Meng Ran sat at the main seat and smiled as he took the small box pushed over by the capable businessman opposite.

Thinking of this, he raised his wine glass and took a big sip.

However, the main reason why they are able to thrive is because of their proper filial piety to Kunlun Xuanwei Division. Just like now...

After this discovery was reported back, Enrique, as the Grand Commander of the Christian Knights and the Prince of the Avish Dynasty, ignored everyone's dissuasion and insisted on personally leading the team south to search for the Ming Dynasty trading station in Cape Kunlun.

Although the box is only as big as two palms, it is very heavy to push.

John I, who could not stand middlemen, finally supported Enrique in establishing a sailing school in advance and encouraged it to recruit sailing talents from various European countries.

Thirty-two hundred naval men, twenty warships and thirty-three supply ships were the greatest support given to Enrique by the Avish dynasty.

Although Kunlun Xuanwei Division still only had a thousand soldiers and horses stationed at this time, the city and the harbor were continuously expanded and reinforced, and there were streets outside the city surrounding the city.

Some retired soldiers spontaneously formed a business gang. They searched for gold and silver mines on the borders of South Kunlun and mined them, or they opened up wasteland to sell farmland.

Kunlun Cape, where more than a thousand people were once stationed, has now developed into a gathering place for thousands of businessmen and people from various countries.

Meng Ran's years of experience told him that it was probably gold.

They can spend more than a dozen coins to buy dozens of slaves to reclaim wasteland for themselves, or pan for gold in some rivers. In short, as long as they have the background, it is not difficult to make a fortune in Kunlun Continent.

Because of this, many people would disguise Orchid and take them to the Ming Dynasty and sell them to the powerful in private.

In addition, many merchants will also come to Kunlun Xuanweisi to sell scarce local commodities, such as female slaves, horses and various commodities from Central Asia.

Such a situation kept them from receiving supplies, and Enrique was also very decisive. As the commander of the Knights, he immediately labeled these indigenous people as pagans, began to burn their tribes, rob food, and The women and children were taken prisoner, and a fleet was sent to return them to Ribbens.

On the fifth day of March, under the clear sunshine, Kunlun Xuanweisi, located at Kunlun Point, has undoubtedly become the largest and most prosperous area in southern Kunlun in this era.

The rules of the army have entered their blood. These rules make them like a fish in water in South Kunlun, and their execution ability is very high.

In the aesthetics of the people of the Ming Dynasty, the women of Kunlun Island did not meet the aesthetic standards, and the naval salary of the Xuanwei Division was not low, so the female slaves of Central Asia became a best-seller in the Little Western Region.

At this time, they had crossed the green area and sailed south along the coastline for half a month.

Perhaps his sixth sense was more sensitive. In short, on the forty-seventh day of sailing south, they began to find more and more tribes along the coast. Every time they saw their fleet, they would greet them warmly.

In the seventh year of Hong Xi's reign, a piece of good news came back to Libens, that is, the advance team discovered a green area and obtained information about the Ming Dynasty here.

From the 16th year of Yongle to the 3rd year of Hongxi, Enrique trained a large number of skilled navigators for the Avish dynasty, built the Libens seaport, improved the sea-going ships, and resolutely carried out the navigation and exploration business.

Different from the desert they discovered next door, this new area has many black people living in the green woods, and the clothes they wear are actually the clothes of the Ming Dynasty.

With only twenty guan, you can buy a slender and pleasant-looking Hu Ji, which makes the naval soldiers stationed in Kunlun Xuanwei Division unbearable.

Enrique has a feeling that these black people will become the best-selling slaves in the Ribens slave market.

Knowing that the Ming Dynasty had a direct trade sales point at the southernmost tip of Kunlun Island, Enrique continued to send advance teams south to explore the Atlantic Ocean during the Hongxi period.

"Xuan comfort envoy, this is the filial piety shown to you by the brothers this time. It is not a valuable thing. Please accept it."

Although merchants from various countries could directly cross the land and go to Xiaoxiyang to do business with Ming merchants, the Ottomans would still charge them high taxes.

Thinking of this, he also smiled and said: "I heard that a big case broke out in the imperial court last year, and the entire temple has been changed a lot. If you pass through the Malacca Strait during this period, you should pay taxes honestly. Don't What trouble did you cause?"

Although it was already March, due to the long distance, the information Meng Ran obtained was still the information from September last year.

At this time, he did not know that the "Yan Li Case" broke out in the court, but he only regarded it as the court's suppression of Jiangnan.

"Thank you, Ambassador Xuanwei, for your advice. I will inform the brothers when I return, thank you Ambassador Xuanwei for your troubles."

"Xuanwei makes things here busy, so I won't bother you. I'd like to thank you for your trouble."

The capable businessman stood up, bowed and saluted, and then left the Xuanwei Si Yamen with Meng Ran seeing him off.

After he left, Meng Ran came back and opened the small box. Sure enough, there were more than ten gold bars as thick as a finger neatly placed inside.

Just by looking at it, Meng Ran knew that there were about a hundred taels of gold here.

It may not seem like much, but this contribution is made in every season. In a year, there is an income of at least four hundred taels of gold.

Based on his salary as a fifth-rank official, it would take at least thirty years to accumulate this wealth.

"Unfortunately, this consolation means that I can only serve for one year at most."

Meng Ran secretly sighed that it was a pity. After all, this position is really profitable. Taking into account the filial piety of other businessmen, it is not a problem to earn tens of thousands of yuan a year. Even a second-generation scholar like him can't help but drool.

"Meng Hui!"

Meng Ran suddenly said hello, and a seventh-grade official walked out quickly and appeared in the main hall.

"Sir, I'm here." Meng Hui bowed in response, while Meng Ran gestured:
"Put these things away. When I return to Beijing next year to report on my work, I will have to rely on these things to move around and find a good position."

"Yes" Meng Hui agreed and put away the box of gold.

Although his father was the Duke of Liao, his father's main base was in the northeast, while the position he wanted was on the sea.

Only at sea would he dare to make money wantonly. If he dared to collect money like this in the Northeast, his eldest brother would have beaten him to death without his father having to take action.

Meng Ran couldn't help but show disdain when thinking of his father and eldest brother.

"No matter how good you are at it, your income is only over 10,000 yuan a year, including the copper mountain rewarded by the emperor, which is about the same as me."

"Beep--"

Suddenly, a harsh whistle sounded, followed by a "ding-dang" bell.

"Mom, did you meet a pirate?"

After Meng Ran came to his senses, he cursed secretly and ordered Meng Hui: "Hide the things and ask Qi Sheng what happened!"

This is the first time Meng Ran has encountered an enemy in the two years he has been in charge of Kunlun Xuanwei Division, but he is not panicked. After all, there are a thousand navy stationed here.

Under Meng Ran's instructions, Meng Hui hid the things and hurriedly walked out of the yamen, and happened to bump into a Qianhu official who was 17 or 18 years old.

"Qi Qianhu, what's going on? Did you encounter pirates?"

This Qianhu officer is Qi Sheng, the Qianhu officer of the Kunlun Xuanwei Division. His grandfather was Qi Jian, the commander of the Dengzhou guards who surrendered when the Bohai Navy crossed the sea and headed south to Dengzhou.

After the Battle of Jingnan, Qi Jian was remembered by Zhu Gaoxu and promoted step by step to the commander-in-chief of the Shandong capital. Qi Jian's son Qi Yue followed Zhu Di on several northern expeditions. After Qi Jian became an official, he took up the post of commander-in-chief of the Daning capital. .

Qi Yue is Qi Sheng's father. Although he is only eighteen years old, he is now an official of Qianhu.

"They are enemies from the west. They have more than fifty ships, large and small. I came here to ask the envoy how to deal with them."

"The west side, isn't that Xizhou?"

Meng Hui was stunned. The imperial court had already stated that if people from Xizhou cross the sea to go south, they are not allowed to cross Cape Kunlun regardless of the reason.

"They should be people from Xizhou. We are too far away to see their skin color clearly."

Although Qi Sheng was young, he acted steadily and had a calm personality. He was not panicked by the large number of enemy warships.

"They are still more than sixty miles away from here, so they probably haven't found any trace of our warships yet."

"We will arrive here in about three hours, so I have to ask the Xuan Comfort Envoy how to deal with them."

"Invite Qian Hu inside." Meng Hui heard this and did not dare to stop him, so he immediately led him into the Xuanwei Si Yamen.

The old god Meng Ran, who was sitting in the yamen, was sitting in his seat and was not worried about the invasion of foreign enemies.

But when he saw Meng Hui leading Qi Sheng, he immediately realized something was wrong and immediately said:

"The alarm bell is ringing at sea. I wonder if there are pirates coming from the east, or something has been discovered?"

"Sir, Xizhou has sent a fleet. There are more than fifty large and small warships, but there are not many cannons on the warships."

After Qi Sheng explained, Meng Ran took a breath of cold air and realized that this was an opportunity for him.

"Ahem, since they are Xizhou Yi people, please ask Qi Qianhu to stop them and ask why they are here."

"If it is just trade, then the imperial court is very welcoming. But if you want to cross the Kunlun Cape, you must follow the imperial court's rules."

Meng Ran explained, but Qi Sheng frowned and said, "What if they force their way in?"

"That's an invasion!" Meng Ran said sternly: "No matter how many troops they have, I will never allow them to cross the Kunlun Cape!" "Yes!" After understanding Meng Ran's explanation, Qi Sheng immediately responded: " At the end of the day, I will gather some troops and go to sea to prepare for the enemy. If the battle does not go well, please ask for help from Mugu Dushu and the Persian guards."

"General Qi, don't worry. The Kunlun Xuanwei Division has its own officers and there will be no chaos."

Meng Ran put his hands behind his back and didn't take the so-called Xizhou Yi people seriously.

Upon seeing this, Qi Sheng turned around and left, and Meng Hui also congratulated Meng Ran after Qi Sheng left: "Congratulations, sir. Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, you will all benefit."

"Well..." Meng Ran touched his mustache, with a smile on his face.

He wished that Qi Sheng would immediately start a fight with the Xizhou Yi people. As long as they started a war, he could continue to stay in Kunlun Continent under the pretext of supervising the war until the court reacted.

The longer this battle goes on, the more profit he will make.

As for how many soldiers will die, that is not what he should care about. He only cares about how long he can fight and whether he can take the opportunity to make a fortune after the war begins.

While he was thinking this, Qi Sheng, who walked out of the Xuanwei Si Yamen, began to mobilize his troops. Except for the 200 people left behind to protect the Xuanwei Si Yamen, he took away all the other more than 700 people.

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn sounded, and a fleet consisting of one treasure ship and three big fortune ships sailed out of the port and headed west.

An hour later, they saw the continuous Xizhou fleet on the sea.

"Why is their boat so small?"

Qi Sheng, who used a telescope to observe the Avish Dynasty fleet, frowned and couldn't help but feel a lot more confident.

"Sign up and see if they can understand it!"

Qi Sheng stood on the deck of the treasure ship and shouted instructions to the flag bearer. Upon hearing this, the flag bearer quickly began to wave the flag in his hand.

At this moment, the distance between the two sides was only two miles, and was still getting closer.

As the distance got closer, Enrique saw the four behemoths.

"Damn it, is that a Khitan ship?"

"What a big ship, and why are there so many cannons on them?"

"Where are they?"

When the treasure ship with five thousand materials and the three fortune ships with three thousand materials appeared, many soldiers and officers on the Avish Dynasty fleet began to panic.

At sea, the size of a ship determines its combat power. With the size of the treasure ship, if it attacks the Avish Dynasty fleet, its size alone is enough to crush many ships.

The largest ship in the Avish Dynasty fleet was only six hundred tons, while the largest ship in the Ming Dynasty was probably over a thousand tons.

"Damn it, those merchants in Ribens didn't tell me that Ming's ship was that big."

Enrique cursed secretly, but still said: "Tell Paidea that it's his turn to show off."

At Enrique's order, a 300-ton ship sailed out of the fleet and headed towards the four behemoths of the Ming army.

"Put down a sand ship to negotiate. Don't let them get close to the treasure ship."

Qi Sheng had a high sense of precaution. If the opponent's ship was loaded with explosives and tried to blow up the treasure ship, they would be very passive.

On Qi Sheng's order, a sand ship was lowered, carrying more than ten soldiers to meet the ship sent by Enrique in the sea between the two armies.

The ships of both sides collided with each other. After anchoring, the two sides stopped their ships and started communicating a few feet apart.

Since they had come into contact with many foreigners in West Asia, the Ming army was not surprised by the appearance of the Portuguese. Instead, the Portuguese on the Avish Dynasty fleet were discussing the Ming soldiers.

"Is this the Khitan?"

"They seem to be called Daming now, and they are indeed as tall as the book says."

"Why are their weapons so weird?"

"It should be the same weapon as a musket, but it's really strange."

During the discussion among the soldiers of the Avish dynasty, a man of West Asian appearance and wearing silk walked to the side of the ship and said:

"Dear Heavenly Soldiers of the Celestial Empire, we are a fleet from the Avish Dynasty in the far west of the Western Continent. We came here mainly to establish trade with the Celestial Empire."

Mandarin with an accent sounded, and the Ming troops on the deck looked at each other. Finally, a flag officer spoke:

"Trading is allowed, but you cannot cross Cape Kunlun to trade in the Little Western Ocean. This is a rule set by the imperial court."

"What?" Paidea obviously did not expect that the Ming Dynasty still had such rules. You must know that Enrique's idea was to bypass the Turks and go to the Little Western Ocean for trade.

Now beyond Cape Kunlun is the Little Western Ocean, but they cannot cross this place. How can they accept this?

"Okay, I will deliver your message!"

Paidiya bowed respectfully, and upon seeing this, the Ming army also put away the anchor and returned to the main formation.

At Paidiya's signal, the ships of the Avish Dynasty began to return to the formation, and Paidiya himself climbed onto Enrique's boat.

"How about it?"

Seeing Paidiya appear, Enrique immediately stepped forward to ask. Paidiya's face was not good-looking, which gave Enrique a bad feeling.

"They said if it's just trade, then they can trade with us, but we can't cross Cape Kunlun."

"The emperor of the Ming Empire issued an order not to allow any fleet to cross Cape Kunlun. This is similar to what I discussed with you before. The Ming Empire regards Little Western Ocean as its own back garden."

"Not allowed to go? Then why did I come here?"

Enrique could not accept such a result, but Paidea persuaded:

"At least we can trade directly with the Ming Empire. Anyway, they have porcelain, tea, silk and spices."

"Just this little benefit won't allow me to convince the nobles of Ribens."

Enrique responded with an ugly expression, but Paidea glanced at the Ming fleet: "What are you going to do?"

"I..." Enrique looked at the four Ming warships in the distance, and then at the fifty or so ships behind him.

"I am prepared to negotiate with them using force. As long as we let them know that the Avish dynasty is not as weak as they think, we can gain more say."

"You must be crazy!" Paidea did not expect that Enrique actually wanted to fight with the Ming Empire.

"Your fleet will be destroyed the moment the war starts. I have seen their great strength. Even Shaharu needs to surrender to the Ming Empire. We can never be their opponent."

"Prince Enrique, I think it's not too late for you to put aside such thoughts now, or you can temporarily trade with the Ming Dynasty and bring more troops to conquer them next time."

"Next time?" Enrique shook his head: "Have you seen their number?"

"They only have four ships and less than a thousand people, while we have more than fifty ships and more than 3,000 people."

"I don't think I will lose this battle."

Enrique said this, and at the same time began to give orders to the soldiers on both sides: "Slowly approach them. Once you get close, learn their tactics and bombard their cabins."

The reason why the warships of the Avish Dynasty fleet installed artillery equipment on board decades in advance was also influenced by the Ming Dynasty fleet.

The behavior of the Ming Dynasty fleet bombarding Abadan in Iraq and Persia was deeply remembered by businessmen from various countries in West Asia.

In the more than ten years after Zheng He swept through Central Asia, all countries in West Asia began to speed up the research on artillery. Among them, the Ottomans imitated the Ming army and put artillery on warships, and thus won several naval battles.

The practice of loading Ottoman artillery on ships inspired other countries. Enrique was also inspired by this and loaded the artillery on the galleons, and used this to capture the city of Ceuta.

In his opinion, as long as the Ming army is caught off guard, they will achieve final victory.

His ideas are good, but his ideas are too obvious.

"They are slowly approaching us and have opened the cannon's shutters."

Qi Sheng used a telescope to take a panoramic view of their actions, and at the same time said with admiration: "Sure enough, your Majesty is right. The Xizhou Yi people fear power but not virtue. Only artillery can let them know the gap between them and the Celestial Empire."

After finishing his words, Qi Sheng turned to everyone and said, "Zuo Manchuo, prepare for the bombardment!"

"Beep--"

"Left full rudder, prepare for bombardment!"

A harsh whistle sounded on the sea, and even Enrique, no matter how arrogant he was, knew that the Ming army had discovered his behavior.

At this time, they were less than half a mile away from the Ming army. They only needed to let go and charge to get a chance to engage in hand-to-hand combat with them.

"charge!"

Enrique pulled out his long sword, and with his shouts, more than twenty warships rushed towards the Ming army.

"put!"

"Boom boom boom——"

The thunderous sound of cannons rumbled across the Atlantic Ocean. Although there were only four ships, the number of cannons that the improved treasure ships and fortune ships could equip was much higher than that of the old treasure ships and fortune ships.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Uh-huh!"

"Ship! The ship is penetrated!"

More than sixty artillery pieces let out their own roars, and the stone shells ranging from twelve to twenty-four kilograms penetrated the short warships trying to charge one after another the moment they were fired.

Enrique was unlucky. A 24-pound stone cannonball fell beside him. When it penetrated the deck, the flying sawdust also turned him into a hedgehog.

Sawdust got stuck on his armor, but more on his face.

"Full right rudder!"

"Prepare...release!"

"Boom boom boom——"

Before the soldiers could rescue Enrique from the sawdust, the Ming army had already adjusted the hull and launched a second round of bombardment against the Avish fleet.

The two rounds of bombardment displayed more than 120 artillery pieces. This number of artillery pieces was a number that all European navies combined could not reach.

Enrique had never seen so many artillery pieces appear on a battlefield, but now he saw it, and the price was his life...

(End of this chapter)