Twelve cruisers lined up and sailed slowly past a thousand meters away from the fort. The heavy guns on the broadside used smoke grenades to bombard the fort. Each ship fired one round and then drove past.
The thick smoke rising from the shells can mark the impact point of the shells.
The fleet can complete the teaching shooting in advance, and at the same time alert the Spaniards, allowing them to fire back and take the opportunity to conduct fire reconnaissance.
Yang Fan planned to destroy the fort on the north bank of the river in the first stage. Then let the pirate group land and occupy the fort. Then set up the artillery on the fort and bombard the Royal City of Manila. Yang Fan's artillery hit far and could cover the entire city across the river.
Five hundred Spanish conquistadors were stationed at the Hebei Fort, and twenty 30-pound long shore defense guns were installed here.
Long gun. Generally, the barrel length is 32-34 times the caliber, and the weight is about 2 tons. The weight of the projectile is about 15 pounds.
This type of gun generally has a longer range, with a direct range of up to 420 meters.
The long guns on the fort now are 30-pound heavy guns. They weigh 5 tons and are naturally more powerful. Although the direct range will not increase significantly, the shells are heavier and the penetration will increase. Five hundred meters
It can completely penetrate the wooden sides of the cruiser.
The point black range direct firing distance does not refer to the closest firing range. This refers to the farthest distance that the artillery can fire at 0 angle. The maximum firing range is 2,400 meters. However, the maximum firing range data is completely meaningless for naval battles, because the warship is
It is an unstable platform and cannot hit anything at such a long distance. Most of the artillery on the ship cannot be set up at too high an angle.
This kind of coastal defense gun is the largest coastal defense gun cast in this city. There is a gun foundry in Manila because there are copper mines in the Philippines. There are also three large mortars.
These three mortars are very scary. They are Pumhart von Steyr mortars produced in Austria.
The caliber of these three guns is 800mm, and the shells weigh 690 kilograms. There are also ten pumhart von steyr mortars on the horse-faced fort on the city wall of Intramuros across the river.
In 1411, the Holy Roman Empire manufactured and invented the Pumhart von Steyr cannon, which weighed about 8 tons, was more than 2.5 meters long, had a caliber of 800 mm, a bomb weight of 690 kilograms, and a range of only 600 meters. This heavy cannon was generally used as a siege gun in Europe
Used with coastal defense artillery.
Such huge artillery shells are generally divided into two types: blooming shells and solid shells. The firing shells will be filled with 300 kilograms of black powder. The power is very terrifying. This kind of cannon has been improved and produced since it was successfully cast in 1411. The British Revolution broke out
Later, Cromwell's army cast the same type of mortar, the Roaring Meg, and destroyed several strong fortresses controlled by the royalists. It caused great damage to the castle and eventually led to its fall.
At this narrow river mouth, the width of the river is less than one kilometer, only about 700 meters. The horse-faced gun emplacements on the city wall and the forts in Hebei can cross-shoot warships trying to rush into the inner lake. Moreover, once they go upstream,
On the boat, the speed of the sailing ship slowed down greatly, making it a perfect target for long guns and mortars.
This fort and the city wall formed a crossfire, tightly blocking the river mouth.
There is a gourd-shaped lake not far upstream of the river. The water depth is also ideal. Therefore, the Spanish chose to build the city of Manila here. The main reason was to look at the lake upstream. It was very safe to park Spanish galleons there.
If the warships are anchored somewhere, the forts and artillery on the city walls can block the river mouth. If the enemy ships are damaged by artillery fire, the warships in the inner lake can rush out and take the opportunity to annihilate the enemy ships.
Yang Fan's cruiser would suffer a big loss if it forced its way to the river mouth. At such a close range, every Spanish gun would penetrate the side of the cruiser. If it were the Pumhart von Steyr cannon made by the Holy Roman Empire, such a large cannon would
Even if the charges and explosive shells do not sink the cruiser, they will cause great damage and make it necessary to withdraw from the battle.
After the cruiser carefully fired smoke grenades from a long distance, the shells exploded quickly around the fort. The Spanish were a little panicked. They found that these Ming navy actually had explosive shells. Their fort was not afraid of direct fire because the two or three meters thick
The stone base has a platform composed of compacted soil inside, which can block direct shot balls.
However, they are very afraid of curved artillery. These high-trajectory, parabolic projectiles will fall near their gun positions. The explosive shells will kill them.
In panic, the fort immediately fired back. The solid spherical bullets fired from the 30-pound long gun at a high angle roared towards them. However, at a distance of one thousand meters, the accuracy was very poor.
Although this kind of long gun can hit a maximum range of 2,400 meters, the direct range will not exceed 500 meters. The maximum range is a large elevation range. In this era, there is no artillery function firing table, and long-distance shooting depends entirely on experience.
After several rounds of shooting, 20 guns formed a straddle fire in front and behind a cruiser. Three shells landed outside the starboard side of the ship, and two shells landed outside the port side of the ship, causing a large water column.
At this time, because the navy was mobilized, Yang Fan's ship, the Royal Clipper, had already arrived.
He and his wives have returned to the Royal Clipper. After all, it is more comfortable here than on the cruiser, and since they are on the cruiser, it will also affect the battle. The battleship does not dare to approach the enemy.
Now, there are rattan chairs on the balcony, and there are various nuts and drinks on the small table. Yang Fan wears sunglasses and Ge You slumps on the lounge chair, lazily enjoying the warm sunshine and watching the navy attack the fort.
This is the tropics. Although it is already late autumn, the temperature here is still around 30 degrees. The ladies have all changed into dresses. The girls also put on sunglasses and held ice cream bowls in their little hands. There were milkshakes on the small table.
.
Yang Fan joined a Mixue Ice City store in Hyundai and then transferred the equipment. Because the ladies love ice cream so much. They eat a bowl every day no matter whether it is winter or summer. They are also fond of various coffees, modern drinks, sodas, etc.
Very loving.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The sound of artillery is rumbling in the distance, and the ladies on the balcony are wearing slippers, crossing their legs, lying lazily on the deck chairs, eating ice cream and watching the war.
Like curious babies, asking about the battle situation, Lin Yueru and Xiao Niangpi were very interested in the knowledge of naval battles and took every opportunity to learn from Yang Fan.
They also like to learn about various situations in Spain. After all, they heard from the master that back then, Spain and Portugal were mediated by the Pope and drew lines on the map to divide the world.
Under the translucent and thin gauze clothes, the bellybands are half hidden and half exposed, which is very attractive. On their chests, each of them has a string of huge gemstone necklaces hanging, and they look like the nouveau riche.
Yang Fan didn't bother to care anymore and simply pretended he didn't see it.
They were just forced to put these necklaces into an ultrasonic cleaning box that was sent over and give them a good wash.
As a result, the jewelry that Aunt Mei had wiped clean was cleaned with countless dirt by ultrasonic waves. The little girl and the others screamed in fright.
"Master, our artillery fire at this distance is not very accurate." Xiao Niangpi said after taking a sip of the strawberry-flavored milkshake through a straw. The fleet's artillery shells fired dozens of rounds, and only three shells fell into the fort.
"Well, I haven't figured out the situation yet, so I can't get closer." Yang Fan said while smoking a cigar.
The ladies hate the smell of cigarette smoke and don't allow him to smoke indoors. They don't care about him outdoors.
"After a while, two rounds of straddle fire were fired. The quality of the Spanish artillery is quite remarkable." Yang Fan said, "If we keep fighting like this, we will hit it sooner or later."
Because it was a probing attack, the main purpose was fire reconnaissance.
Captain Lin Yuan came over to ask for instructions: "Master, we have figured out the situation. There are 20 30-pound long guns in the fort. These long guns have long barrels and much more charges than the ship's 36-pound cannons. They can all be fired.
It is worn by our cruiser. According to the scouts who have gone ashore for makeup reconnaissance in the past few days, I heard that there are mortars on the fort and the city wall. They are Pumhart von Steyr mortars made in Austria."
Yang Fan frowned. He didn't expect the Spaniards to be so reckless and actually purchased the expensive pumhart von steyr mortar. Although this kind of gun has a range of only 600 meters, it has huge lethality. Whether it is against ships or those attacking ashore,
infantry.
"Do you know how many mortars there are?" Yang Fan asked.
"No less than ten. Among them are three forts."
Yang Fan frowned. It seemed that we really couldn't fight hard and had to attack at night. The safest way was to organize a commando team, equipped with revolvers and grenades, and attack the fort from the land under the cover of darkness.
Although the fort is strong, the incendiary bombs fired by Yang Fan's naval guns can still land on the fort. In this era, ammunition was packed separately. A large amount of gunpowder is accumulated on the fort, and the incendiary bombs will ignite the gunpowder. However, this does not matter.
There is no way to completely destroy the fort. There will always be surviving long guns and mortars.
To occupy the fort, you must send Marines to land for combat. These mortars will cause huge casualties to the infantry. Although these 700 kilograms of explosive shells are filled with black powder, the shattered shrapnel when they explode is also very terrifying.
So daytime is not a good option. Taking advantage of the cover of night, sending a commando up is a good idea.
"After dark, let a group of pirates land on the north side of the fort. Then let them select a commando team of 100 people. Give each of these people a revolver, thirty rounds of ammunition, and four grenades."
"Let them take the lead, and the others will follow. The fort must be taken down before dawn."
Lin Yuan took the order and left. Yang Fan looked at the fort in trance. If he pulled out this nail, he could capture the city of Manila across the river.
"Sir, why are we fighting at night? Is it because of those mortars?" Lin Yueru asked puzzledly.
"One is to test the level of our field training. The other is that the opponent's artillery is fierce. Not only long guns and mortars, but also a large number of Spanish heavy matchlocks. Our bulletproof shields cannot stop it.
.To attack during the day, unless you carry out soil work, dig trenches, gradually get closer to the city wall, and then let engineers dig holes and blast. Otherwise, there will be a lot of casualties in a forced charge."
Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru put down their ice cream bowls and picked up their binoculars to observe for a while. Finally, they understood Yang Fan's intention. The fort and the city wall were built on rocks by the sea, making it very difficult to land. The other side was a river, and the remaining
There are open areas on both sides.
The fort and the city wall are both six or seven meters high. Including the original height on the ground, they are already ten meters high. The stone walls are made of large pieces of granite weighing several tons, and the impact of solid shells is not good. If this is carried
If you rush up the ladder, you will find an open space of 300 meters, and you don't know how many people will die.
"Sir, why do you have to attack this fortified city? The English will not come out sooner or later. It is enough for us to leave a ship to monitor them. Isn't it easier to intercept them at sea?" Lin Yueru asked puzzledly.
Yang Fan looked stern and said coldly: "Have you heard of this sentence?"
"What are you talking about?" Lin Yueru asked.
"Anyone who openly offends a strong man will be punished no matter how far away he is!"
Seeing that Lin Yueru didn't know, Xiao Niangpi explained: "You are not responsible for overseas intelligence. It is normal for some things to be unclear. Anyone who openly offends a strong man will be punished no matter how far away! It comes from the letter written by the famous Western Han Dynasty general Chen Tang to Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty. The original words are
It is appropriate to hang the head in the barbarian mansion on Jie Street to show that those who dare to invade the powerful Han Empire will be punished no matter how far away! It means that the severed head should be hung in Jie Street where the barbarians live to let them understand that those who dare to invade the powerful Han Empire
People, no matter how far away they are, we must kill them."
Xiao Niangpi continued: "Twenty-six years ago, here, the Spaniards massacred 30,000 people of the Ming Dynasty. We haven't settled the accounts with them yet. This time, the Spaniards dared to take in the English fleet that I was pursuing. They really didn't want to live or die.
Of course I won’t let it go like this.”
Yang Fan said: "Since the Sanbao eunuchs went to the West, a large number of landless farmers on the southeast coast have moved to islands in Southeast Asia to live. Although the court regarded them as overseas abandoned people, thinking that they had abandoned the emperor and ancestors and evaded their obligations and responsibilities.
Belongs to the category of defection. So we don’t care about their life or death.”
"But, after all, they are Han Chinese, our compatriots with the same culture and ethnicity. They have the blood of China flowing through them. Southeast Asia is not a land outside the law. Except for the court that can sanction them according to the law, no one is allowed to punish them privately.
And killing. This precedent cannot be set." Yang Fan said with a straight face.
Lin Yueru also nodded and said: "Yes, if we leave this kind of thing alone, the people of the Ming Dynasty overseas will be persecuted again in the future. What are you going to do, sir?"
Yang Fan said: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty doesn't care, the cabinet doesn't care, and the navy on the southeast coast doesn't care. But I do! From now on, no matter who is a Franco or any other mess, they will never dare to act arbitrarily again."
Massacre the people of Ming Dynasty."
"After the capture of Manila, gather the Han people, go to each house to register, and issue household registration books to confirm the identity of the people of the Ming Dynasty. Then investigate the events of the year, let them identify the murderer, and deal with them in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty. If there is no violation of the people of the Ming Dynasty, escort them there
Dig copper mines. There are large copper mines here. They cannot be released until their country and their families have collected enough money to buy their freedom. As for the local natives, those who invade the people of the Ming Dynasty will be dealt with according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty."
There are eleven large copper mines in the Philippines. The largest copper mine has an ore reserve of about 2.2 billion tons and a metal reserve of no less than 12 million tons. Added together, the metal reserves are no less than 40 million tons. These minerals
Yang Fan has distribution maps.
The Philippines is close to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was seriously short of copper. Therefore, there were not enough copper coins. The currency used by the people at the bottom was mainly copper coins. The lack of copper coins led to the price of silver being too high. And in recent years, silver has become increasingly scarce. As a result, commodity transactions at the bottom have been affected.
Serious impact.
Although Yang Fan is experimenting with banknotes, the scope is too small. He is also using the transferred silver to pay his troops and workers, increase purchasing power, and increase the amount of silver in circulation. He is trying to curb further deflation. However, after all, it is a drop in the bucket.
The gentry of the Ming Dynasty were like a bottomless pit, plundering and plundering, collecting silver into their hands, and then hoarding it. Yang Fan's method could only slow down the deterioration. If he wanted to completely solve the problem, he had to find a way to increase the flow of silver and copper metal into the Ming Dynasty.
The greatest value of the Philippines is that it is close and convenient for shipping. It also has large-scale high-grade copper mines. Yang Fan wanted to punish the Spanish on the one hand, but the temptation of the copper mines was a more important reason.
Although Baotou, that is, Jiuyuan City, has fallen into the hands of Yang Fan, 100 kilometers due north of Baotou is the Bayan Obo mining area, and more than 100 kilometers further north is the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Outer Mongolia.
Judging from the map, the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine is located in Khanbauged County, South Gobi Province, Mongolia. It is one of the largest gold and copper reserves in the world and is only more than 80 kilometers away from the China-Mongolia border.
According to relevant data, this giant copper mine has preliminary proven copper reserves of 31.1 million tons and gold reserves of 1,328 tons.
Outer Mongolia has 2 billion tons of copper ore reserves, but they are inexplicably unfriendly to us. Not only do they not sell to us, they also do not allow the copper ore products developed in Mongolia by other countries to be sold to China. Only in 2022. In 2016, my country's import volume of copper ore and copper concentrate reached 25.27 million tons, and its dependence on foreign imports was as high as 82%!
Even if the Ming Dynasty cannot use up the copper produced by Yang Fan, it can be sent to the Horn of Africa and exported back to China. There will be no worries about sales. However, there is no water in Bayan Obo and Outer Mongolia. In this era, it is impossible to mine without water.
. Therefore, tropical areas like the Philippines, which have port and shipping advantages, are the first choice.
This chapter has been completed!