After entering Manlajia, Zhang Yanling and others wandered around the streets and alleys to quickly understand the situation of the entire city.
Generally speaking, Manlajia is a city on the coast that developed mainly for port trade. Before the arrival of the Francois, it was actually an important port.
In terms of its layout, this is a rare deep-water port on the coast of the Strait of Malacca. The cliffs on both sides form a barrier, perfectly embracing the port and forming a sheltered bay. The terrain where the port is located is higher in the back and lower in the front, forming a staircase.
A large flat terrain extending toward the sea. It is convenient for people to live and goods to be distributed.
After the Folangji people occupied this place, the entire Manlajia port was roughly divided artificially.
In terms of ports, the east side is a civilian cargo port. Because it is a little cramped and crude, the conditions are not very good. The best port location is on the west side, but it is a military restricted area and is the base camp of the Franco Eastern Fleet.
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People are also divided into living quarters, and the activities of local indigenous people and foreign merchants are restricted to the market on the east side. The houses are densely packed, and the streets are connected like fishing nets. People are crowded in these busy and simple streets, stacked on top of one another like sardines.
In the Eastern District, there are seven or eight military camps of the Franco-Ji Kingdom. Franco-Ji soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition are stationed at key intersections and control the entire Eastern District city. In addition, there are also recruited local aboriginal gangsters, as well as those from
Mercenaries from other countries serve as thugs who directly manage the local population and manage daily order.
Of course, this so-called order is the order with their permission. This group of locals and mercenaries are actually the most vicious, and are the biggest destroyers of order.
In sharp contrast to the east side of the city is the west side of the city.
The southern side of the West District near the sea is the military port and military camp of the Eastern Fleet. The gentle mountainous area to the north is the residential area. Here are large and small churches, shops, pubs and other facilities. Neat and open stone roads are paved in all directions. People coming and going
They are all French immigrants who dress luxuriously and complicatedly. Both men and women are well-dressed.
On the hillside behind, there are several huge manor castles, magnificent and magnificent.
It is the residence of the most powerful governor-general, lieutenant general, and aristocratic wealthy people here. The largest manor is the Manor Castle of Almeida, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet. It is located on the gentle slope at the top of the hillside and covers an area of several hundred acres.
A large river flowing from the inland to the sea divides the entire Manlajia Port into two perfectly. Several bridges on the river serve as checkpoints, controlling the flow of people in the east and west districts.
In addition, a high wall was built on the east bank of the river to block it. Only some holes were cut in the wall to serve as the entrance to the stairs under the river for the people in the east district to collect water for washing.
Every evening, special personnel come to close and lock the iron doors on these holes to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the darkness to sneak into the gathering place of the Francois in the West District.
The East District is a congested, dirty and dirty place where the poor gather. The West District is a clean, spacious and wealthy place with colorful streets. The East District is filled with sweat, toil, pain and death every day, while the West District is a place of leisure, quiet and leisure.
If there really is a heaven and a hell in this world, then the difference between the east side and the west side of Malacca Port is probably the difference between hell and heaven.
Zhang Yanling and others spent a day to figure out the layout and basic situation here. In the chaotic streets of the East District, Zhang Yanling found many people who looked like people from the Ming Dynasty. There were also people speaking Chinese, but the pronunciation was already very strange. It was very strange.
Obviously, these people may not have arrived here in recent years. Like shopkeeper Dong, their ancestors may have immigrated here many years ago.
Here, Zhang Yanling refused to randomly talk to these people anymore, because the place was heavily guarded and there were vigilant eyes watching everywhere. Zhang Yanling didn't want to cause trouble. He wanted to find out as soon as possible how the Folangji people's warships were preparing for war.
However, the problem is that the Franco Army's military port is in the West District Bay, and Zhang Yanling and others can only wander around in the East District. Standing on the busy, narrow and damp East District pier, they can only vaguely see the enemy troops in the bay port on the cliff side of the West District.
The shadow of the warship was too far away to be seen clearly.
The warships' cannons were rumbling over there, and it seemed that training and artillery test firings had been going on all day long. This was the best opportunity to intuitively understand the opponent's combat power. Unfortunately, I couldn't observe them up close, so I could only worry.
Under this situation, Zhang Yanling and Chen Shiyi discussed it and decided to sneak into the East District and go to the woods on the west hillside for a closer look. The back of the hillside on the west should be where the military port is. If you look down in the woods there,
By conducting reconnaissance, we should be able to clearly understand the number, equipment, and combat training of enemy warships. This is definitely extremely valuable information.
If we know this information about the opponent's warships, it will be of great help to the subsequent battle. Then the purpose of this trip will be achieved.
Zhang Yanling and others originally wanted to go around from the north to the West District, as long as they could sneak into the West District. But what they never expected was that after leaving the East District and going north for several hours, there was no way to go to the West District.
This big river is a river in the city, and when it goes north into the mountains and forests, it becomes a deep canyon. The farther north, the wider and steeper the canyon becomes, and there is no way to reach the other side.
And you can still see from a distance that even if you leave the port city, you can still see sentry towers standing on the opposite side from time to time, and there are French patrols on horseback patrolling.
This is obviously for the security of the West District to prevent anyone from trying to sneak through the canyon.
If we go all the way north and then go back in a detour, let alone whether we can pass through or whether we will be discovered after we pass. Even if everything goes well, it will probably take ten days and a half. That is absolutely impossible.
Zhang Yanling and others returned and decided to take the risk of sneaking across the city's river to the West District at night. That might be easier than taking a detour.
As night fell, on the streets near the river, a large number of people carrying buckets to fetch water from the river quickly dispersed amidst the scoldings of a group of West District guards.
The guards on the west side began to lock the small doors on the high wall that led to the stairs to the river.
After the two local guards locked the three iron gates under their jurisdiction, they put the keys in their arms, smiled and talked, and staggered away.
Two guards walked through the noisy street market and walked to a pub. After work, they also wanted to have a glass of wine to relax.
The owner of the tavern served a pot of wine and two plates of food, and the two guys were eating and drinking, smiling happily. They were chatting about several women from the Jialuo Kingdom that had recently been sold from Guli, and they were exchanging ideas about the differences between them and local women.
.The smell of your body, the feel of your skin, and the feeling you get during in-depth communication. When you talk about your proud moments, you laugh without feeling bored.
After finishing a bottle of wine, the two of them stood up and went out unsteadily. The tavern owner came forward to say something, but the two stared at each other and shouted: "I can't do the accounting without you? Let's go back and settle the bill together."
The shopkeeper was angry but dared not speak, so he could only nod and bow, and watched them leave. These guys were the gangsters of the East District, and they could not be offended.
Two guards walked to the alley entrance of a narrow street. One of them had an urgent need to urinate, turned around and said hello and went into the alley to relieve himself. The other one was waiting outside.
After waiting for a long time, no one came out. The man outside smiled and said: "Damn it, did you drown in your own urine? Hurry up. We agreed that you would treat me to a guest tonight and go to the brothel.
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There was no sound in the alley. The guard outside scolded: "You shouldn't regret it, just run away secretly."
As he spoke, he approached the entrance of the alley and looked inside. Suddenly, a big hand came out of the darkness, grabbed his neck and pulled him into the alley.
He was about to open his mouth to call out when a gleaming dagger was placed between his eyebrows. At the same time, he also saw his companion lying on the ground.
"What's your name?" a dark figure in front of him asked in a low voice.
Although this guard is a local aboriginal, because there are many people from the Ming Dynasty in the area, he can still understand some simple Chinese. After all, since you can be a guard in the East District, you still need some language advantages.
"Mahadir, spare your life!" the man said quickly.
"Very good. Where is the key? Hand it over." The man shouted.
"What key?" Mahadir was a little confused.
"The iron door key on the wall by the river." The man said.
"Ah, who are you? What do you want to do?" Mahathir said.
"What nonsense are you talking about? We are just short of water at home and want to get a few buckets of water. We will definitely fail to discuss it with you, so we plan to do it ourselves. Hand it over, or we will kill you."
"It turned out to be to collect water. Then there is no need to do this. If you want to collect water, forget it. If you want to sneak across the East District, then don't blame me for not warning you. The muskets of the soldiers of the Franco Kingdom across the way are not vegetarian." Mahathir said
You said hurriedly.
"Is there a Folangji musket on the other side?" the man asked.
Mahathir was shocked and said: "Are you really going to sneak across the border?"
The man chuckled and said, "What do I want to do, do I need your approval? Bring me the key."
Mahadir hesitated for a moment, and the man slapped him. Stars appeared in Mahadir's eyes, and the taste of blood filled his mouth.
"Don't hit it, the key is here." Mahadir hurriedly took out a bunch of keys from his waist.
"Listen, we just want to go over and have a look. If you don't want to cause trouble, don't say anything. Later we will put the key on the ground outside the iron gate No. 17. After an hour, you wake up and pick it up.
Lock the door and no one will notice. Unless you want to speak out, then it's none of our business." The man said solemnly.
Mahadir nodded repeatedly, suddenly remembered something, and asked: "What does it mean to wake up after an hour?"
The black figure chuckled and struck with a hand knife. Mahadir's neck artery was hit hard and his body collapsed.
"General Chen, will this allow him to lie down for an hour?" Another dark figure in the shadow asked with a low smile.
"What? You don't believe in my ability. Why don't you try it too?"
"I don't dare, I don't dare. In fact, I can just steal their keys, why bother."
"What do you know? The Duke said that if you snatch the key, they will not speak out because they are afraid of being involved. It is even worse to kill them. If the body is found, they will alert the snake. If you do this, they will cover it up for themselves. This is the best
Way. Don't talk nonsense, I'm afraid the Duke is impatient."
Two black shadows dragged the two guards who fell to the ground deeper into the alley, then put on their hats and came out, heading straight to the river.
Soon after, four black figures came to the iron gate No. 17 by the river. They quickly opened the iron gate and ducked under the river embankment. Chen Shi poked his head out and looked around to make sure there was no movement, then reached out and threw away the key.
In the grass at the door, he retracted his head and slowly closed the iron door.