The bombing continued from morning to afternoon. Hundreds of iron lumps roared from time to time, and the castle was in panic.
The Francois in the castle were hiding in a corner of the castle shivering, crossing themselves one by one, closing their eyes and praying that this would end soon.
Just when you thought the bombing was about to end, several more artillery shells roared in and landed in the castle. The Francois who were about to get up and move had to retract into the corner and hide again.
That's all, news came that made everyone even more frightened. There were traces of enemy troops on the mountain behind the castle. A group of hundreds of enemy soldiers arrived at the mountain behind the castle at some unknown time, cutting off the way to escape.
As a result, everyone is even more panicked. This means that everyone will be trapped here and there is no way to evacuate.
As a result, a group of generals and soldiers, plus businessmen and family members led by two priests, desperately rushed to Matthews' residence behind the castle, clamoring loudly for Matthews to find a solution quickly.
"Mr. Matthews, in the name of the Lord, I ask you to protect these God's people and evacuate this place immediately. You know, the church has donated a lot of money to you. You have violated the military order by abandoning the ship and not fighting.
Honor. If you continue to do nothing, I will write a letter back to China on behalf of the Newport Church and accuse you of your incompetence. I swear to God, I will do that."
Father Andal was highly respected here. He stood in the courtyard of Matthews' residence, holding up a Bible and shouting loudly.
"The priest is right. You can't protect us, so what's the use of you? We all listened to the king's call and came here to trade far away from home to accumulate wealth and spread light for our country. You can't do nothing. We
You have paid a lot of taxes for the country, and we also paid for your ships and firearms. You must fulfill your duty to protect us." said the president of the Xingang Chamber of Commerce.
"Captain Matthews, I ask you in the name of the wife of the Governor of Asia and New Zealand to protect us overseas residents. If we fall into the hands of the enemy, I believe that the Governor of Asia and New Zealand will not spare you. My father, Ka
Earl West will not spare you either." Cyril, the wife of Governor Yaxin, also stood up and said.
Matthews had one head and two heads, and he had to respond. Although the military has great power, the real power is given by the king and the nobles. They pay for the war. Those people are not something they can offend.
of.
Captain Matthews originally just hoped to hold on to the castle. He thought that the other party would show off their power and leave without any choice. It was impossible to threaten the castle.
But he never expected that the opponent had such heavy artillery that could hit the castle from a bay beyond the number, causing casualties and panic. Although nothing happened to the castle for a while, the casualties continued to face the danger of falling from the sky at any time.
Bombardment, this castle cannot survive.
Moreover, the other party actually cut off the escape route, which meant that they were going to trap people like us here.
He and his soldiers are not afraid. After all, the castle has sufficient supplies, water and food. They will be safe even if they are surrounded for several months. But safety cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, merchants, priests, women and children are making trouble.
It's also very annoying to watch. Some of them cannot be in danger. Neither the Chamber of Commerce, the Church, nor some people with backgrounds can be in danger.
Under this situation, he had to consider evacuating this group of people from the castle to Guangnan Mansion, which is far away from the coast. Prince Bu Guliang of the Champa Kingdom is in Guangnan Mansion. Perhaps these people can be allowed to go to Guangnan Mansion temporarily.
Avoid.
It seems that the purpose of this group of enemies is just to attack and kill their own Fo Langji people, so unless they dare to go ashore to attack Guangnan, in that case, they will ask Bu Guliang to send troops to help him kill them all.
Although the troops and horses of the Champa country are weak, they have many people. If they are surrounded, it is worthwhile to exchange ten for one. At the worst, they can give Bu Guliang more benefits. Anyway, the lives of the people in the Champa country are not worth anything.
When this happened, Matthews decided to organize a group of people to go to the back mountain to deal with the enemies who dared to block the retreat, and after opening the road, let the rest of the castle leave. So he selected more than a hundred fire fighters with good sword fighting skills.
The gunman personally led them out of the mountain behind the castle and to the pass below the cliff.
In his opinion, more than a hundred powerful men were enough to make the enemies who appeared behind to cut off their retreat pay a bloody price, allowing them to taste the power of the Franco soldiers.
More than a hundred soldiers, led by Matthews, went down the cliff with muskets in hand. The enemy seemed not to know how powerful they were, and was still making noises at the pass below.
"Their arrows have a range of only eighty meters, a hundred meters at most. Our muskets can shoot them at a hundred and twenty meters. So, let's get closer, aim closer, and give these Eastern dwarfs a hard blow."
Lesson. My request is... No one shall be left alive." Matthews ordered.
He is indeed qualified to say this, because scholars from the Franco Kingdom have developed a matchlock gun. The Eastern Fleet has prioritized equipping this gun. They have conducted tests and found that the range of this gun exceeds the bows and arrows used by the Easterners.
The accuracy is also good. Apart from being afraid of rain, there is no problem. It is precisely because of such a sharp weapon that Matthews had the confidence to guard the castle before.
The soldiers lined up and approached step by step. They were arranged in three rows, so that they could fire continuously when firing their muskets. After the front row fired, they squatted down to load ammunition, and the ones in the middle fired. The firing in the middle was completed.
Squat down to reload, then fire from the back row. In this cycle, you can shoot the opponent continuously.
Easterners like to charge, and this shooting formation is extremely effective in dealing with enemies who want to rush forward in melee combat.
"One hundred and fifty meters, everyone on alert, load ammunition." Matthews ordered loudly.
The soldiers began to load their ammunition one after another, and they also took out their fire sticks and blew them out.
"One hundred and forty meters! Adjust your breathing." Matthews called.
"One hundred and thirty meters. We are about to enter the shooting range. Keep your sights straight." Matthews stared at the road ahead. Those guys didn't know the danger, and there were still people standing on the road with their arms akimbo.
"These guys who don't care about life or death will soon be sent to hell." Matthews felt the pleasure of revenge in his heart.
"Later, capture a few alive and hang them alive on the castle wall to show those guys how powerful they are."
On the mountain road opposite, Chen Shi stood there with his arms akimbo, looking at the group of enemies descending from the hillside in a cat-like formation. A cold smile appeared on his face.
"Are you within range? Everyone."
"We have already entered the shooting range. Our gun can shoot 170 steps. The barrel has been lengthened." said the sailors.
"Then what are you waiting for? Aim and release!" Chen Shiyi shouted loudly.
"Boom, boom, boom." There was a roar, and the roar of two hundred bird cannons was earth-shattering. Birds in the surrounding trees flew into the sky, and fled in all directions. Rabbits and small animals in the grass flew away.
The more than thirty people in the front row of the Franco soldiers were splattered with blood. Iron balls and bullets penetrated their bodies, making blood holes one after another. The splattered blood was like red flowers that bloomed instantly on their bodies. It was terrifying and gorgeous.
More than 30 Franco soldiers screamed and fell down. Ten people were killed on the spot, and the rest rolled on the ground.
Fortunately, they set up a three-row formation, and the soldiers in the front row became the human shields of the back row. The muskets fired from below by the guards could only hit the front row. Therefore, these two hundred rounds of iron bullets were hit by the enemies in the front row.
Absorb it all.
Matthews was stunned for a second and immediately reacted. The other party also had firearms, and the range was farther than his matchlock gun. After thinking about this, Matthews was heartbroken. He really deserves to be the first person in the world to make prompt decisions.
He immediately turned around and ran towards the castle.
"Retreat, retreat!" Matthews shouted as he ran.
The other soldiers did not react as quickly as him. They were only stunned for a moment before waiting for the second round of shooting.
Boom, boom, boom. Another twenty French soldiers fell to the ground and screamed. This time, the remaining people did not hesitate anymore, turned around and ran up the mountain screaming. Their boss, Captain Matthews, was already counting.
Ten steps away, galloping like a frightened bull.
Matthews and more than 30 people fled back to the castle in embarrassment. On the west wall of the castle, a French citizen and soldiers witnessed the whole process, and their faces turned pale. They all thought in their hearts: "It's over, no one can escape now."
Already."
Matthews returned to his residence softly and drank half a bottle of rum in one breath. He stood blankly for a moment, then quickly came to sit down at the table, spread out a piece of yellow paper, and dipped his quill in ink.
, start writing a letter.
"Your Excellency, Commander Almeida, and Your Excellency, Governor Goya of Mantsiga, please allow me to pay you the highest respect. Since our Eastern Fleet of the Franco Kingdom came eastward, under the leadership of the two of you,
, we sang triumphant songs all the way, swept across the ocean, pointed our sword to the east
, to open up territory for our Majesty the King of Franji Kingdom, and to earn glory for thousands of people of Franji Kingdom. It can be said that he is invincible and invincible. However, today, I am afraid we have encountered a little trouble, and we need to respect Al
Commander Meda and Governor Goya provided help..."
Matthews wrote quickly and wrote down all the situations he encountered when he entered. He wrote eloquently on a large piece of paper, and finally wrote the signature: Your loyal Lieutenant Governor of Xingang, Matthews, the Kingdom of Champa.
Then he quickly folded the envelope, stuffed it into the leather bag, sealed it with wax, and shouted: "George, George."
An orderly rushed into the room and asked, "Please give me your orders."
"Choose the best raven and deliver this letter. The sooner the better," cried Matthews.
The orderly responded loudly, took the skin bag and rushed out. Matthews stood for a while, then sat down and started writing a second letter. This letter was written to Prince Bu Guliang in Guangnan City. He needed Bu Guliang's help.
Lead his troops to come to the rescue. Otherwise, he will die here.