Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 429 The Power of Technology
Hearing the bells from the city of Malacca in the distance, Chen Acai at the dock looked at the inspector and another more senior official who had come over and his face changed.

Not far from them, the crew of Shunchangxing had already unloaded more than a hundred boxes from the three Fu ships - these were the gifts originally prepared for them.

Chen Acai was very familiar with this bell sound, it came from the church in the city. On ordinary days, it was used to tell time. But now the urgent sound was obviously a warning. The church bell tower was very high, so... it was Fubo Hou who arrived!
"Do it!"

He said this harshly and then stepped back. A sharp whistle sounded from the mouth of a guard next to him. The two Portuguese officials just turned their heads to look at them in confusion and vigilance, and the crew member who was originally carrying the box had already taken out a weapon from one of the opened boxes and rushed to them with a grin.

"quick!"

In a hurry, these brave warriors of the Takumi group who were licking blood in the waves had swiftly cut off the necks of these two small characters.

Behind them, Chen Acai and others were rushing to the nine Fu ships behind.

"Let's make some noise first so that the marquis's standard bearers can hear us!" the leader shouted, "Everyone retreat and hold on for a while until the other ships weigh anchor and set sail!"

The so-called noise turned out to be those gift boxes.

In the distance, the daily patrol guards on the dock had already started shouting. But they could only shout for the time being, because there were only a few soldiers in a team, and this side was obviously well prepared.

They saw that the cargo boxes that had been unloaded from the ships were stacked in an orderly manner in the fleet that had just arrived at the port. From here, the boxes were actually arranged in an arc-shaped defense line on the dock road leading to the berths.

"Now that the Marquis has arrived, they dare not come over without all the people. There is still time, and these really good porcelains cannot be wasted. Be quick and put them into two or three boxes and carry them to the back, and then carry them up again when we get on board."

They even had the heart to pick out the genuine goods at the top of each box.

At the same time, of course, you have to free up a few empty boxes first.

So first a few people took out the crossbows that were loaded, and there were enough magazines.

The leader took a look at these magazines and felt very itchy, but he didn't want to give these things to the brave warriors of the Takumi Group.

The so-called movement was that two men cleared out a box and took out two large bullets hidden at the bottom.

"Far away from it, if it catches fire, run back quickly, otherwise you won't get blown up!"

The one who could run fast carried the two large projectiles out of the gap in the middle of the boxes in awe, while the people here continued to pick out things from the boxes and rearrange them more logically.

Before the two large projectiles exploded, the sounds of bronze bells, horns and gongs began to rang out from the nine Fu ships behind them.

The same was true for the three Fu ships mentioned above.

Then, just as the two men were running back behind the pile of boxes with their tinderboxes without even bothering to put them away, there were two loud "bangs" in front of them.

It was not a blooming iron bomb, but after it exploded, the kerosene inside splashed everywhere and two flames appeared on the ground.

"Throw it over, throw it over! The longer it blocks, the better!"

So bottles and jars were thrown over here, breaking on the ground and oil leaking out, forming a faint wall of fire.

"That's it! Even if they have guns, they are useless if they are too far away! It depends on the Marquis's standard-bearing soldiers!"

At this time, the three Fuzhou ships ahead were hoisting their sails, and the atmosphere on board was tense. The ropes were lowered from the gun barrels again, and the elite soldiers of the South China Sea Fleet, who had been in the water for a while, struggled to push the boat arm back to the middle of the ship.

"Everyone, take your positions! The job is simple. Fill up the flaming oil, fire the thunder and fire bombs, aim at the position and ram it. Get the sampan ready!"

The defenders of Malacca City are still gathering. This is a commercial port, but there is also a place for real warships to be anchored. There are two Clark battleships, four Caravelle battleships and three Calais battleships anchored in the port. In addition, their long-distance merchant ships also have naval guns that can play a role.

Amid the chaos, some ships were already hoisting their sails. The fastest ones were of course the well-prepared Shunchang ships, the outermost ones had even taken up their anchors and were slowly leaving their berths.

The reason why each of the three ships here is equipped with twenty elite soldiers from the fleet is because they need to move faster and slow down the ships in the port as much as possible or even blockade it.

Over at the warship berth, there were of course crew members on duty on each Portuguese warship.

But the terrible thing was that since it was not their turn to patrol the southeast of the port, the commander and some senior soldiers went to Malacca to have a good time.

At this moment, of course, they were being urgently picked out from different corners of the city, and only after they had gathered together could they leave the city and board the ship.

No matter how powerful a warship is, if it is not sailing on the sea, it is just a target.

Here, both sides are buying time.

More than ten miles southwest of the port, the South China Sea Fleet rushed over with murderous intent.

The bow of the ship pushed the water under the water, and a voice came from the watchtower: "Five ships are coming about five miles to the east. They look like Portuguese warships, one large, three medium and one small!"

Shen Yourong nodded: "They usually only guard against the Dongxiakou, which should be the coastal defense fleet. The main force is still in the port, five ships... pass on my order, let the Tonghai ship lead the Xingang fleet to defeat them. This will be their first battle in the future when they are stationed in Nanyang!"

By this time the sky was already bright, so they started using flag signals.

After exchanging flag signals through the telescope, half of the fleet was separated.

Tonghai was the second largest battleship after Zheng He, and this type of battleship was designated as Zhenyang class by the Privy Council. The Weiyuan class gunboats, which were second only to Zhenyang class, were basically the largest battleships of the Ming Dynasty.

The main battleships of the Zhenyang class are now named after famous brave generals. Although Zheng He was a eunuch, he did lead his army to the Western Ocean seven times, so the admiral flagship of the Nanyang Fleet was named after him. The Tonghai was named after Yu Tonghai, who led the Chaohu navy to join Taizu in the early Ming Dynasty and made great contributions in the Poyang Lake naval battle.

The Privy Council's actions were meant to encourage the navy and naval commanders. Today, many Zhenyang-class battleships have not yet been officially named, waiting for more famous naval commanders to emerge from the Ming Navy.

For example, the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet, which has been named Chen Lin.

Yourong... A hundred years from now, the Ming Dynasty will definitely have a ship named after it!
Shen Yourong was excited as he watched the Tonghai leading the other nine ships to turn east.

After this battle, when the situation in the South Seas has been stabilized, he will board the flagship of the Eastern Fleet named Ji Guang and completely eliminate this scourge from Japan!
The current battle is nothing, the pinnacle of his achievements is in Japan!

He thought it was nothing, but the Portuguese fleet on duty patrolling the eastern entrance of the Strait of Malacca did not think so.

A few nautical miles was not a long distance when ten enemy ships came charging towards them aggressively, while the Portuguese fleet had only five ships.

Twenty enemy ships! At present, there are only fourteen large and small warships in the entire Malacca. There are only three powerful Clark battleships, and two are under maintenance and rest in the port!
After losing four ships in Tokyo in the north, the defense force in Malacca is now available as a result of transferring five ships from Goa.

Now we are outnumbered five to ten. What can we do?
"We have to fire the shells, otherwise it will be difficult to face the Governor when we get to Goa!"

They were afraid before the battle even started, and the morale of the people behind the formation of Malacca Strait had already been low.

No matter what, isn't the purpose of sailing across thousands of miles to make money?
The warships of the Eastern Empire really crossed the ocean to attack. Although the journey was a bit far, compared to Portugal, Malacca was certainly more like their doorstep.

The Portuguese fleet planned to fire a few shots and then head straight for Goa, India, but the officers and soldiers of the South China Sea Fleet did not think so.

How can we guard Nanyang without any great achievements as a tribute?
"The red-haired thief wants to escape!"

Seeing that the Portuguese fleet neither changed its formation to prepare for a naval battle nor slowed down, the commander of the squadron that was planned to guard the Xingang Xuanwei Division in the future saw through it at a glance.

"Order the patrol ship and the Java and Johor ships to follow at half speed, intercept the escaping enemy ships, and force them to change course!"

"General Mao ordered..."

"You're charging straight at us, and you think we're afraid of a collision?" General Mao said in a fierce voice, "The Tonghai ship is in the front, and the bow guns are ready to load! Pass the order down, and all ships should use chain bullets to shoot at their sails first!"

As the distance got closer, General Mao became more excited.

Compared to fighting on land, naval battles have their own excitement. Wind direction, distance, strategy... It's more like playing chess, and it's more like you need to make full use of your strategy and seize the opportunity to hurt the enemy when they get close. Although he has high facial bones and a dark complexion, his white silver teeth are particularly scary, but he likes playing chess and is also well-versed in literature.

This General Mao was none other than Mao Wenlong, who had made outstanding contributions under Yuan Keli in the Battle of Hetuala. But now he had come to the Nanyang Fleet because the subsequent land-based tasks of suppressing the remaining Jurchen enemies and entering the court would all be the responsibility of Liu Jing and the Marquis of Zhenyuan.

But he could not stand the loneliness, and at that time the Beiyang Fleet needed some support for landing operations to further stabilize the situation in Korea at sea.

So he pleaded with Yuan Keli and joined the Beiyang Fleet.

Later he became more and more clear: those who made the most contributions were actually in the navy.

As it happened, Mao Wenlong was already knowledgeable. He was willing to learn, so Shen Yourong was happy to teach and support him.

Now he finally has to guard the place alone.

Heading towards each other, the two fleets will soon approach each other.

Mao Wenlong was not so excited. "We don't have the Nine Thunder Guns. Since they just want to run, they must be just firing randomly to harass us. In terms of speed, they can't beat us. Pass my order, after the Zhenyang-class bow guns fire a round, turn west immediately and see if they can run! After lining up, half of them will use chain shells and half will use thunder and fire shells. Hit the sails first!"

Only the Zhenyang class had enough space to install a Zhenyang cannon under the Qilin statue on the bow.

In addition to broadside bombardment, the Zhenyang class has another angle of attack.

The course did not change, and when they were less than two miles apart, the Ming artillery had already calculated and adjusted the angle based on the firing tables and artillery experience accumulated over the years.

Of course there is no guarantee of success, after all, the ship is moving and bouncing on the waves.

However, before they could enter the firing angle of the side guns, a puff of smoke came out from the bows of the two largest warships on the opposite side, and then the people on the Portuguese warship heard two muffled sounds coming from the front.

The sound came over, and they estimated how long it would take for the shells to arrive.

But no matter what, necessary tactical maneuvers must be made immediately.

However, they soon heard a whistling sound. The shells from the east seemed to be fired faster than theirs!
The whistling sound comes from two iron balls spinning in the air.

"It's a chain bullet!"

The commander of the Portuguese carrack looked up nervously, and just in time saw a chain bomb flying past the edge of the mainsail, and another chain bomb arrived immediately.

Chain bombs are widely used in naval battles.

They did not have continuous good luck. Although the second chain shell did not hit the mainsail, it hit half of the mizzen sail.

Under the impact, several small sails were immediately torn apart. Fortunately, each sail is composed of many small sails, so the current impact is not great.

But if their artillery fire could be so accurate...

Just as they were still in shock, they saw the two Ming Dynasty battleships leave the fleet on the left and right and begin to maneuver and turn.

Almost at the moment when their flanks faced the Portuguese fleet, two clouds of smoke suddenly rose.

The soldiers and sailors on the Portuguese fleet bent down subconsciously.

Then there was a series of intensive rumbling sounds.

Then, there was a sharp and dense whistling sound.

"It's all chain bullets! Helmsman! Helmsman!"

Although some chain bombs spun in the air and mingled with other chain bombs and fell into the sea, as long as they started to spin and pounce, they were like flying blunt knives.

"what!"

After a dull sound, a chain bullet brushed against the wooden edge of the ship's side and hit the deck.

Then, the chain between the two iron balls hit the neck of a sailor. The huge tearing force cruelly tore off his head and it flew behind him, and blood gushed out of his headless body.

"Ugh!" Two people witnessed this tragic scene and couldn't help but lie on the deck and vomit.

The less they wanted to engage in battle, the more passive they were. They only had the cannons on their broadsides that could fire from a distance, and now the enemy ship was charging straight at them, not expecting that their bows could hold a gun, nor did they respond to the broadside fire window they caught when they began to maneuver and turn.

After this round of bombardment, although the hit rate was still not high, with less than ten shells fired from dozens of enemy cannons hitting the target, this was still an extremely astonishing accuracy rate, especially since the distance between them was still... so far!

On the Tonghai over there, Mao Wenlong no longer needed to read the reports from the watchtower and vaguely saw some of the battle results.

"Good job! Calculate first and then look at the hammer pendulum scale to fire, it really works! Order all ships to do the same. They are getting closer, don't shoot worse than us!"

The hit rate of naval artillery fire was extremely low. However, experienced naval gunners in the Ming warships knew that they could now shoot accurately by looking at the pendulum scale of the heavy iron balls hanging in the gun cabin. Although they could see from it that the left and right tilt angles of the ship were as close to the shooting angle as possible, what really worked was the current shell pattern.

It was not ignited by a fuse. Behind each shell, there was a mercury blast base, and they were fired instantly by releasing the hammer.

Otherwise, how could the ship tilt to the left or right at just the right angle when the gunpowder in the cannon exploded?

The rotating wheel next to the gun mount that is used to continuously adjust the elevation of the gun barrel and the toothed disc on the base of the gun mount that is used to slightly adjust the left and right direction of the muzzle are equally important.

Each gun crew consists of two people, one loading and firing, and the other nervously adjusting the angle according to the artillery commander's commands.

Even so, the hit rate is only this low.

But an almost one-sided pursuit and artillery battle at sea began. Drawing on the experience of the Jiulei gun, the Ming Navy's Zhenyang Cannon, which loaded fixed shells from the rear, had already formed a technological gap with the Portuguese Navy.

The rate of fire, frequency, and effective distance are all higher than those of the Portuguese naval guns.

The hit rate was still not high, but under the attack of a mixture of chain bullets, thunder and fire bombs specifically designed to explode incendiary oil, and flowering shotgun shells designed to kill as many deck sailors as possible on enemy ships, the Portuguese warships were still inevitably getting slower and slower - the first ones to be killed were actually the devices and personnel that determined the speed of the ship, and the sails and the sailors who controlled the sails could not hide in the cabin.

They were chasing and bombarding each other westward, and thus gradually approached the Dutch fleet coming from the west.

A few months later, the captain of the Dutch East India Company's vanguard fleet, the Golden Hind, wrote back to the Netherlands:
The Ming warships were like swords smeared with whale oil, and the Portuguese carrack ship, the Saint Basil, was clumsy as a pregnant cow. Their flagship could fire in three directions at the same time, and the blooming shells were like Satan's apple tree. The Saint Basil was like a poor girl who was constantly toyed with, stripped of her clothes, and burned by blood and fire. She walked with increasingly shaky steps not far ahead of us, and finally sank to the bottom of the sea in despair. I seemed to hear her miserable screams.

Forgive me for surrendering immediately and accepting the armed escort of the Ming fleet. You know, when we arrived at Malacca, there was a larger Ming fleet there, and the three ships lost by the Ming were also burned and exploded for tactical purposes to block the Malacca port. The Portuguese fleet in Malacca, three Clarke warships, Caravelle warships and Calais warships, a total of eleven ships, three sank, and four were almost impossible to repair. The rest surrendered together with those in Malacca City.

I saw with my own eyes that their commander-in-chief and his elite soldiers used a musket that could fire once with one breath and nine times in a row, and continuously killed the Portuguese defenders who were trying to counterattack the port dock from the city from a range almost twice that of the matchlock. They were like poor lambs, with the muskets in their hands only able to roar feebly, and fell in a pool of blood with their masters before they entered the effective killing distance.

Please forgive me for my fearful attitude as I ask you to make this suggestion to the United Parliament of the Seven Provinces: we can only pray that their fleet does not reach Europe. As for the East, please send a delegation of the highest standards, bringing wealth and gifts to negotiate the terms of establishing diplomatic relations and trade with their diplomatic agencies.

The Dutch East India Company's strategy needed to be adjusted to deal a final blow to the Portuguese in Goa and occupy the geographical advantage for trading with the Ming Dynasty.

That might be the last stop near the East!

In Malacca City, Chen Acai was crying while paying homage at the dock.

As the tide receded toward the channel, oil spots appeared among the floating charred wood.

Forty years ago, his grandfather was burned to death by the Portuguese in Malacca, and now kerosene has also burned to death countless Portuguese sailors and soldiers.

How do we know that among them there are no descendants of our former enemies?

(End of this chapter)