The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 289 Portuguese Mercenaries
"Ah—" Blanco leaned on his musket and yawned boredly, "In two days, the commission can be raised again."

A short and fat man beside him responded, "That's right, my commission will be the day after tomorrow..." He calculated for a while, and finally came up with the answer, "Two taels of silver every ten days, almost two taels of silver." Gold Ducats!"

"Siman, my five-year-old nephew can count faster than you." Someone laughed at him, and then sighed, "It would be great if such a comfortable life could last forever."

"Hehe, don't dream." A middle-aged man in the distance smoked a pipe and waved his hands, "These Orientals never do business at a loss."

He glanced at the more than 300 Portuguese mercenaries behind the earth barrier, "There are five mercenary teams here, plus dozens of Franji naval soldiers, and the governor surnamed Ding has to pay more than 2000 taels of silver every month.

"His generosity shows that what awaits us will definitely not be an easy battle."

"Bento was right."

As a tall curly-haired officer approached, the mercenaries who had been sluggish just now stood up straight and saluted him, "Lieutenant Fausto."

Fausto pointed to the east, "Get ready for me. There is information that the co-regent of the country led a 4000-strong army and passed through Longmen County last night. Oh, it's about 100 miles away from here."

The one hundred miles he mentioned is about 160 miles.

"Oh, Deus! The good days are over..." Blanco whispered.

Fausto tapped his thigh with the scabbard, and said loudly: "Prepare enough lead bullets, polish the cannon, get the fuse in advance, and make the earth barrier even higher!
"If you want to get the victory reward, cheer me up!"

According to the contract between these mercenaries and Ding Kuichu, every ten days, the commission will be increased by [-]%, and the commission will be doubled for participating in the battle, and doubled again if they win.

Therefore, all the Portuguese people around excitedly responded loudly: "Yes, sir!"

When the lieutenant was far away, Simao rubbed his fat hands and said, "It seems that there are quite a few enemies..."

"It's not like you haven't seen the Eastern army before," Blanco curled his lips in disdain. "The tactics are outdated, the weapons are inferior, and there is no discipline."

"That's right." The dark man named Nunez rubbed the Spanish heavy musket in his hand, and continued, "They always line up in a messy horizontal formation. The musketeers will only hide behind the fortifications and take half an ounce His light arquebus--the kind commonly used by the Colonial Patrolmen.

"I heard that even the commissions paid to us are snatched from their own civilians. This kind of army doesn't have to worry at all."

This self-righteous Portuguese obviously confused the Dragon Guards with the old Ming army.

He pointed to Tong Yizhen's camp outside Guangzhou, "Besides, there are more than 3000 Orientals here..."

Only Bento shook his head slightly, "However, according to the news I heard, this co-regent seems to be very difficult. It is said that he defeated Governor Ding's 6000 army in Fujing with an army of [-]."

"Hey, you are worrying too much." Nunes laughed, "I used to follow the army of this empire to suppress the rebellion in the north, those rebels who claimed to be able to defeat ten times the army of the empire," he glanced at Blanco , "At that time there were more than 230 people, but we only had [-] people.

"What was the result? We defeated them in half an afternoon!"

Blanco immediately nodded and said, "These Orientals are all the same. It doesn't matter if they are rebels or co-kings, as long as they keep shooting steadily, they will soon collapse."

Bento stopped talking, and vigorously wiped the twelve-pound gun he was in charge of, his gaze casually swept across the Pearl River not far away.There are seven or eight sentinel boats patrolling back and forth on the river, each with a Franco cannon fixed on a wooden frame at the bow and stern.

He knew that there were dozens of similar armed patrol boats, and even two large boats of more than 100 loads, and he hoped that they could keep the army of the assistant king on the other side of the river.He hasn't been home for four or five years, and his biggest wish now is to finish the battle safely and go home to see his two sons.

……

"No, General, you must deploy your troops along the defense line along the river." Lieutenant Fausto said to Tong Yizhen seriously, "Our best chance is when the enemy first lands on the west bank of the Pearl River!"

Tong Yizhen listened to the interpreter's report, but his eyes were full of hesitation.

He had seen the fighting power of the Dragon Guards in Jiangxi. Not long ago, Zhu Linmei wiped out the main force of Supin's [-] Cantonese army in Fujing.

With just 3000 troops in his hands and more than 300 Frankie mercenaries, he is not confident that he can defeat Zhu Linmi's army.

Therefore, he has always planned to station troops in Guangzhou and defend the city to the death.For this reason, he also specially grabbed food and grass for four or five months.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Fausto said anxiously: "Don't forget, the real focus is in Wuzhou!"

Tong Yizhen was taken aback when he heard the words.A few days ago, Ding Dutang sent a strict order to stop the imperial army in Guangzhou.

He has already heard rumors that Mr. Ding may make a big move recently, and the two provinces are likely to change.At that time, I can also be regarded as a hero from the dragon, and I just need to soar into the sky.

But all of this must first ensure that the auxiliary king's troops cannot attack Wuzhou in a short period of time. As long as "that one" inherits the general rule, perhaps He Tengjiao, Sha Dingzhou and others will regard Wuzhou as Zhengshuo.

At that time, reinforcements from Huguang and Yunnan will come in a steady stream. With the soldiers from Thailand's expedition to Jiangxi and Fujian, they will definitely not be opponents.

He was thinking about it, when Fausto said again: "If the general keeps defending the city, the enemy will probably go around Guangzhou and continue westward. At that time, we will have to go out of the city to intercept them. In the end, we can only go to the place they choose. decisive battle.

"Which one do you think is more likely to win, the defense along the river or the field battle?"

When Tong Yizhen heard that he was going to fight against the Dragon Guards in the field, he couldn't help being shocked—Su Pin's body had just cooled down, and the [-] troops were no match for him, let alone himself?

"General, don't worry, our mercenaries are all elites who have gone through countless battles." Fausto was not talking nonsense. If you don't have any skills in your hands, daring to come to the far east to pan for gold is no different from dying.

He continued: "There are your patrol gunboats on the Pearl River, but the enemy has no warships to match them. Therefore, except for the narrowest section at the south end of the Pearl River, if they try to force their way across from other places, they will definitely be sunk by the patrol boats.

"I also brought three [-]-pound heavy artillery. We rely on the earth to strangle the southern part of the Pearl River. If the co-registrar wants to forcefully cross, these cannons and my musketeers will definitely make him regret it!"

Hearing the words, Tong Yizhen hesitated again and again, thinking that the Frankie's analysis was reasonable, as long as he sticks to the Pearl River Ferry, there is indeed a great chance of dragging Wuzhou to Tianchang.

(End of this chapter)