The night before dawn was terrifyingly dark, and the sky seemed to fall into an abyss.
Suddenly, a rapid and sharp bamboo whistle sounded, and the soldiers on standby were immediately awakened from their sleep.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
Under the faint starlight, one ship after another can be seen clearly appearing on the sea.
Fan Mingchen was the first to rush out. He was the son of Liang Guogong Fan Zhong. He inherited his father's ambition and was also a good hammer. During the period of guarding Ceylon Island, he played the role of vanguard many times and was very brave.
However, when rescuing Peng Qing, the scene was too chaotic and he lost a pair of copper hammers. At this time, he was carrying a long knife, which was very awkward.
Behind him, the soldiers walked out of the barracks and came to the open space at the port.
There were even many ordinary people or Confucian scholars wearing long robes who organized themselves to prepare to face the enemy.
Fan Mingchen held the telescope and gasped when he saw countless ships on the sea.
The Ottomans had been planning for a long time and finally decided to fight.
"Everyone listen!"
Fan Mingchen put down his telescope and shouted: "We are ordered to guard Ceylon Island. No matter who the enemy is, no matter how many troops the opponent has, as long as he dares to step onto the island, he will be our mortal enemy. This battle will never end!"
"We don't have much gunpowder left, so we don't need to keep the forts. We need to burn out all the ammunition, and then retreat to the second line of defense to contain the enemy with the help of fortifications."
"All the escort battalions are mounted. After the enemy lands, they will attack from behind, seize the gunpowder on their ships, blow up the ships, and cut off their retreat..."
After setting everything up, Fan Mingchen looked at everyone quietly, and then said: "Once the war starts, it will be a fight to the death. Today I swear to live or die with Ceylon!"
"Swear to live and die with Ceylon!"
"Swear to live and die with Ceylon!"
"Swear to live and die with Ceylon!"
Everyone shouted loudly and rushed to their respective posts.
Fan Mingchen mounted his horse with a sword in hand, preparing to lead the escort battalion to charge.
Looking back, I saw torches on the distant city wall. It should be that the large army had received the signal and was gathering.
Boom!
Boom!
The artillery on the two forts spit out tongues of flame at the same time, flying towards the enemy ship like two meteors.
In the hazy night sky, you can see a cannonball hitting an enemy ship and flames appearing on the sea.
Boom!
This time, it was a counterattack from the opposite ship, but unfortunately their artillery was less powerful, and the shells fell into the seawater, causing quite a splash.
A glimmer of light appeared in the east, and the morning sun began to rise.
In the first ray of sunshine in the morning, Fan Mingchen clearly saw more than a hundred ships on the sea, so vast that they covered the sky and the sun.
Boom!
Boom!
The artillery of both sides began to exchange fire, and several shells hit the other side's ships. However, the port was also hit and suffered heavy losses.
"Report to the general, there are no more shells!"
Fan Mingchen decisively ordered: "Abandon the fort and withdraw the second line of defense!"
"yes!"
Immediately afterwards, he said to the guard battalion behind him: "No one should act rashly. When the bandits land, they will immediately follow me to attack the fleet and focus on destroying their artillery.
On the sea, countless landing ships rushed onto the shoal, and a large number of Ottomans began the first wave of attacks.
boom!
boom!
The sound of muskets sounded, and the two sides began to fight for the first time. They were evenly matched, and each suffered damage.
However, the Ottomans had more and more landing ships and their numerical advantage continued to accumulate. Finally, the Ming army's defense began to decline.
Boom!
The Ottoman ship's artillery fired again, and the shells hit the Ming army's position, causing heavy casualties.
Fan Mingchen led the escort battalion to hide in a remote corner, watching everything that happened in front of him, his eyes filled with anger, but he knew that he could not attack now, it was not the time yet.
Boom!
Another artillery attack came, and the Ming army's position was hit hard again.
The Ottomans took advantage of the situation and launched a charge, rushing towards the Ming army's position like a tide.
They also removed the artillery from the ship and carried it on a landing ship, preparing to transport it ashore.
With the rise of firearms, artillery has become indispensable in large-scale operations.
In the past, whoever had more cavalry had an advantage. However, in the face of firearms, today's cavalry no longer has any advantage.
"rush!"
Fan Mingchen finally waited for the opportunity and led his team to the beach.
At this time, the Ottomans had just landed and were struggling to move the artillery down from the shoal. The sudden attack of cavalry caught them off guard and they resisted in panic, but to no avail.
Boom!
Boom!
A huge explosion sounded again, and the Ottomans were surprised to find that this time they only heard the sound and did not see the shells falling.
Some people looked back and found that the rear column was attacked and the artillery that had been transported with so much pains was blown up.
They immediately stopped charging and instead besieged this cavalry unit that had no morals and was engaged in sneak attacks.
Fan Mingchen, however, was not interested in fighting. He found a gap with few people and led his troops to rush out.
With the lesson learned just now, the Ottomans did not dare to be careless anymore. Instead, they slowed down the attack speed and used infantry to cover the artillery and attack steadily.
These people are obviously experienced veterans. The spearmen are arranged in a dense square formation, with two small square formations of musketeers in front, and cavalry wings on both sides. They echo each other and advance slowly.
Finally, the sound of artillery sounded again, and a new attack began.
Fan Zhong had already led a large army to fight, and he saw Fan Mingchen running over on horseback.
"Dad, the enemy has artillery, this battle is not going to be easy!"
Fan Zhong looked heavy and nodded: "We have no retreat, we must hold on until we die!"
"Then let's go take another shot!"
"The escort battalion you lead is the only cavalry on the island. You must not be reckless, but wait for the opportunity to move!"
"The kid understands!"
Fan Mingchen clasped his fists in salute, then got on his horse.
After the Ottomans advanced for a certain distance, they felt difficulties and the battle became anxious.
Because it was not only the regular army but also a large number of civilians who participated in the defense.
They are just ordinary people who, due to various reasons, lost their land and could no longer survive, so they left their homes and followed the fleet to a strange land thousands of miles away.
Here, the emperor and Liang Guogong allocated land to them, giving them the motivation to live again.
They are afraid of death, but they are even more afraid of losing their land again.
In the eyes of farmers, land is their heaven.
They went through all kinds of difficulties to get here, reclaimed the land with their own hands, built houses, and planted farms. Slowly, this place became their new home, and their lives and fortunes were all here.
It is impossible to retreat. Even if you die, you will die here.
Boom!
Boom!
The Ottoman artillery continued to roar, and countless shells fell into the Ming army's positions.
The Ming army fought back with muskets and bows and arrows, but still could not stop the opponent's attack.
Fan Mingchen led his cavalry to roam outside. Seeing the right opportunity, he raised his sword and shouted: "Kill!"
The escort battalion rushed out again and rushed towards the artillery position behind the Ottomans.
Fan Mingchen brandished his knife and charged into the enemy's formation.
"kill!"
Immediately afterwards, the Ottoman cavalry also moved and rushed towards the Ming cavalry phalanx.
This is a heavy cavalry phalanx. The cavalry holds spears and is covered in iron armor, including the horse's head and forelimbs. Like a tank, it charges straight into the Ming army's formation.
boom!
The two cavalry units collided violently, causing a mass of people to fall from their seats.
Fan Mingchen collided head-on with one of the opponent's cavalry, and both sides flew out at the same time.
After the heavy cavalry landed, the spear in his hand had been thrown away, so he rushed towards Fan Mingchen with his bare hands.
Fan Mingchen did not have any protective gear on his body. He was so dizzy after being thrown that he suddenly felt his body sinking. The opponent pressed up with him and his armor, making him feel suffocated.
The two were entangled, and the other party strangled Fan Mingchen's neck.
Fan Mingchen struggled hard, but the opponent's strength was too great and he couldn't break away at all.
He couldn't breathe, his vision went black, and he almost fainted.
When his life was at stake, he glanced at the dagger on the opponent's waist from the corner of his eye, so he used his last bit of strength to pull out the dagger and inserted it into the opponent's neck.
Steaming blood poured on his face, and then a heavy body fell down and hit him.
Fan Mingchen tried hard to push the other party's body away, gasping for air.
On the battlefield, the two sides were still fighting fiercely, and there were shouts of killing from all directions.
However, the Ottoman army was too numerous, and the Ming army's defenses were constantly defeated, resulting in heavy casualties.
"Kill the enemy!"
Fan Zhong roared and came out wielding two copper hammers.
Woo——
The low horn sounded throughout the port, and the final battle began.
On the battlefield, Ming troops hiding in every corner heard the order and rushed out one after another.
Everyone tried their best to send the sharp blade in their hands into the opponent's body.
Some people lost their weapons, or even had no weapons in the first place. They frantically used shovels, bricks, wooden blocks... everything that could be used as a weapon to fight back against the enemy.
Some people even grab the other person's body with force or bite it with their teeth when they are about to die...
The battle lasted from early morning to noon, with numerous casualties on both sides, and the fighting was extremely brutal.
For some unknown reason, there was a strange sound coming from the Ottoman flagship.
Immediately afterwards, these people no longer wanted to fight and began to retreat on a large scale.
Someone with sharp eyes saw on the eastern sea, ships flying the sun and moon dragon flag appeared in the field of vision, quickly heading towards Ceylon Island.
"Reinforcements are coming, reinforcements are coming!"
"It's our ship, the emperor is here to save us!"
"Kill!"
The Ming army began to make great efforts and launched a final counterattack.
The Ottomans were at the end of their game. When they saw the Ming army arriving for support, they retreated decisively without any hesitation.
These people come in like a tide and recede like a tide.
Countless corpses were left on the beach, telling the story of the fierce battle that had just occurred.
The Ming fleet began to dock, and Zhang Mao was the first to land.
This was his second time on the island of Ceylon, and he was relatively familiar with everything here. However, as far as he could see, there were only ruins ravaged by war, and countless corpses.
The Ottoman fleet had already withdrawn. Zhang Mao did not pursue it, but ordered rescue.
After a large number of Ming troops landed, they immediately searched for survivors in the devastated land.
"General!"
Seeing someone coming in a hurry, Zhang Mao slowly raised his head.
"Dong Guo Liang, it's Duke Liang Guo... Found it!"
Zhang Mao quickly asked: "Where?"
"The injury is too serious, I'm afraid, I'm afraid..."
"Take me there quickly!"
After passing through a ravine, Zhang Mao saw that familiar figure.
At this time, Fan Zhong was covered in blood and suffered numerous injuries.
Zhang Mao stretched out his hand tremblingly and checked for breath. Although it was very weak, at least the person was still alive.
"Quick, medical team!"
Behind him, several military doctors came in a hurry carrying medicine boxes.
One of them quickly checked Fan Zhong's wound and pulse, then raised his head: "The injury is too serious, it is a miracle that he is alive now, I'm afraid..."
Zhang Mao immediately ordered: "Try every means to save him!"
Everyone was silent. They were soldiers and doctors, but not gods.
"You can try a humble job, but..."
Zhang Mao's face was hard-faced and he said angrily: "The emperor's fleet will arrive soon. Duke Liang cannot die!"
"Please rest assured, General, I will do my best!"
The medical team carried Fan Zhong away, while Zhang Mao continued to clean the battlefield.
The battle was so fierce that almost the entire port was reduced to ruins, and tens of thousands of people were killed or injured.
The medical team set up a temporary barracks and unloaded all the medicines on the ship.
Zhang Mao was worried and came to Fan Zhong in person. At this time, his clothes had been stripped off and his body was riddled with holes, with almost no intact skin to be found.
You can imagine what kind of battle just went through.
The military doctor began to clean the wound and bandage it.
"Dad, dad..."
Fan Mingchen stumbled in and looked around.
Zhang Mao hurried to greet him. The two were similar in age and had fought together before, so their relationship was very close.
"General Zhang, my father..."
"Don't worry, Liang Guogong is still alive, and military doctors are doing their best to treat him."
Fan Mingchen lay on Fan Zhong's bedside and felt relieved when he heard that there was still a pulse.
In fact, he himself was not seriously injured. When he relaxed, his vision went dark and he almost fainted.
"Someone come quickly and give me a hand!"
Zhang Mao quickly ordered someone to help Fan Mingchen to the bed beside him.
"General Zhang, why are you here?"
Fan Mingchen breathed easier and then thought of business.
If Zhang Mao had not arrived in time, the entire Ceylon garrison would have been wiped out this time.
"Not just me, everyone is here!"
Fan Mingchen said blankly: "What?"
Zhang Mao smiled and said: "The emperor led the navy to personally conquer the country and dispatched more than 500 ships in total. Don't worry, the sins committed by the Ottomans on Ceylon will be repaid tenfold, no, a hundredfold."
Fan Mingchen was confused and asked: "I heard that the emperor was dealing with civil strife and the Nanhai Guards were transferred back."
"It's been over a long time ago. As soon as the emperor heard that Master Peng's fleet was impounded, he immediately issued an order to mobilize the whole country to go out. Brother, I was lucky enough to find a vanguard and lead the naval forces of Jiaozhi and Luzon first."
"Your Majesty... when will you arrive?"
"We are already on the way. It will take as little as five days or as many as ten days to reach the island of Ceylon."
Hearing this, Fan Mingchen suddenly burst into tears and almost cried.
Ever since the Ottomans besieged Ceylon, no matter how difficult the environment was, he had never complained.
The same is true for the soldiers on the island, they have been holding on.