"Our first problem, please look at the chart. Ceylon and the Garo Empire are more than two thousand miles away from here, separated by a vast ocean. This time we take the initiative to attack, there will be no retreat. Supplies, ammunition,
We can't solve the damage to the ship. In other words, once we lose, we won't even have a chance to withdraw. Once we lose, it will be a dead end. My entire armada may be buried in this battle. In your hearts
Have you ever thought about this problem?" Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Everyone looked at the chart and stared at Zhang Yanling. They were all confused. Why did the Duke say these words before the war? If he said defeat before fighting, wouldn't this damage morale?
Even if we say that we should pay attention to the enemy, not be blindly optimistic, and should act with caution, there is no need to say such demoralizing words.
"My lord, I think you don't have to worry about this problem. We go out with you, and we have put life and death aside. We just fight, and we are not afraid of life and death. If we lose, we will fight to death on the sea. I think,
At this time, there is no need to retreat, and we should do our best, regardless of life or death."
Wang Hong stood up, raised his hands and said loudly. These words were bold and decisive.
Zhang Yanling laughed and clapped her hands and said, "Okay. It is indeed Mr. Wang, a true man and a true hero."
Wang Hong bowed and said: "Ashamed, I am a rough man in my humble position. I am just a warrior, not a hero. When it comes to heroes, the Duke of the country is the one."
Zhang Yanling waved his hand, scanned the audience, and said in a deep voice: "A hero is still a bear. It's not something you say, nor is it flattery by others. It's something you break out with a real sword, a sea of blood, and a mountain of corpses. What Mr. Wang said is what he said.
This is the first thing I want you to understand, that is: in this battle, there is advancement and no retreat, there is victory and no defeat. The winner will live, and the loser will die. There is no choice.
What other possibilities are there? You all must understand this in your heart, and you must understand the life and death implications of this battle. Don't think that once the war is unfavorable, you can retreat. If we go here, we will be like the overlord of Chu who has to fight in a bloody battle.
You must move forward bravely, otherwise, you will be buried in the sea and never return to the Ming Dynasty. Do you all understand?"
Everyone's hearts went cold and their expressions were awe-inspiring. Even though they were scolded by Zhang Yanling before, they still believed that they could defeat their opponents and had very optimistic thoughts in their hearts. They always felt that it was no big deal.
But now, they finally realize that this battle will be a battle of life and death. The Duke of Guo wants to tell everyone to be alert and not to underestimate the enemy for a quick victory.
.because that could have disastrous consequences.
"We understand that in this battle there is no need to retreat. If we win, we will live, if we lose, we will die. We will fight to the end and never take a step back. Even if we die on the battlefield, we will not hesitate." Zhang Yin, Chen Shiyi and other generals
They stood up and shouted in unison.
Zhang Yanling nodded solemnly and said: "Everyone sit down. It's good that you understand this. After you go back, make it clear to your brothers. We must have one mind and one thought, and we must fight decisively and win. Don't take any chances. Only fight to the death."
The only one who can win. Of course, you don’t need to tighten the strings too much. Although the matter of life and death is a big one, don’t be scared to death. As long as we plan well and give full play to our advantages, I believe we are invincible.”
"Thank you so much for your teaching, Mr. Guo." Everyone said in unison.
Zhang Yanling nodded with satisfaction and continued: "The second problem is that the enemy's situation is unknown. Because we are two thousand miles apart from each other by the ocean, we now know nothing about the enemies of the Franco Kingdom because we cannot detect the enemy's situation at all. Our intentions
Actually it's obvious, stupid
Anyone can guess that we will continue to attack. Therefore, the enemy must also know that we will launch an attack. In the past few months, enemy warships have been coming to conduct reconnaissance and harassment because they are trying to detect our movements. That also shows that
They know it."
All the generals nodded. The past few months were actually not peaceful. The Folangji came many times, but except for the first time when they tried to get close and were blown away by the coastal defense fort, they came again many times, but only from a distance.
Snooping, not daring to get close.
"Based on these circumstances, we currently don't know how many enemy warships and how many troops we have to face. One thing is certain, the enemies we face are definitely more than the enemies in the port of Malacca. Because
, the first thing the Folangji people occupied was Guri Port and the seaport of Ceylon. They were there
We have been operating here for many years, and we must have established strong relationships with the local kings and noble ministers of the Garo Empire and Ceylon. What we have to face may not only be a large number of Folangji people, but also Garo people.
The troops and horses of the empire, the troops and horses of the Ceylon Kingdom. The number may be 30,000, 50,000, or even 100,000..."
The scalps of all the generals were numb. They felt that the Duke of Guo seemed a bit sensational, but after thinking about it carefully, they could not rule out this possibility.
Everyone understands the truth. When the enemy's situation is unclear, you should be lenient when predicting the enemy and consider the worst-case scenario for this battle. If you are lucky, once you make a mistake in judgment, the consequences will be disastrous. Mr. Guo, this is not sensational, but
Think carefully, plan carefully, and don't leave anything to chance.
"The third difficult thing is that we may not only have to face the Flemish, Garo and Ceylon people. We also have to face another enemy. That is the people entrenched in the ocean.
One of the powerful pirates among them." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
"Pirates?" everyone asked in surprise.
"Brother Chen, tell everyone what happened." Zhang Yanling said.
Chen Shiyi stood up and raised his hands, bowed to Zhang Yanling, and then said in a deep voice: "Brothers, this matter has not been reported because I don't want to cause too much panic. According to the report from the King's Guard of Manlajia, they captured the man in the East District.
The arson attack on South Street more than ten days ago
In this case, the six arsonists of the fire that killed more than 20 people were not Manchurians. They were pirates disguised as Manchurians. These pirates belonged to the jurisdiction of a maritime bandit leader named Timothy.
Hidden in the depths of the ocean. The specific location is in this ocean."
As soon as Chen Shi walked to the chart, he stretched out his hand and drew a circle with his finger on the hinterland of the blue Indian Ocean.
"This is on our way to Ceylon Island and the mainland of the Garo Empire. It is a sea passage with extremely strong waves and numerous reefs and islands." Chen Shi said.
"The Duke, General Chen, are just pirates. How powerful can they be? Why should we care about them? Do they still dare to block our way? At worst, we can just go around here." Wang Hong frowned.
Everyone also expressed their agreement. What's there to fear from just pirates?
Zhang Yanling waved her hands and said: "Listen to General Chen and continue to talk to you."
Chen Shi nodded and said: "Brothers, this is not an ordinary pirate. This pirate named Timothy has thousands of pirates under his command and dozens of ships. Although it cannot be compared with our iron-clad ships,
But it is also a powerful army equipped with firearms and cannons. They have been here for more than 20 years, harassing and attacking countless merchant ships, and even landed to attack and plunder small countries. They are extremely ferocious."
Everyone was shocked. Feng Mazi asked: "Isn't it right? The Folangji people allowed them to do this? Their position will pose a threat to the Folangji people. Didn't the Folangji people destroy them?"
Chen Shiyi said: "What Brother Feng said is absolutely true. We also have the same doubts. So after learning about the situation, the Duke ordered me to take over the arson pirates from the King's Guards and interrogate them. I want to ask
Please provide further information."
Zhang Yin said with a smile: "If these guys fall into Brother Chen's hands, why don't we have to tell them the color of their mother's underwear?"
Everyone burst into laughter, which relieved the tense and serious atmosphere. Zhang Yin was right. When Chen Shiyi, a former Jin Yiwei, interrogated prisoners, the dead would probably have to open their mouths.
Chen Shiyi smiled and continued: "It's not difficult to get them to talk. They quickly confessed some things. Aren't Brother Feng wondering why the Francois tolerated them? That's because Timothy has surrendered to him a long time ago
The Fo Lang Ji people. The Fo Lang Ji Eastern Fleet captured Guri Port, and it was Timothy who helped capture it. This Timo
Xiben was from the Jialuo Empire. They came ashore in disguise, cooperated with the Folangji people at Guli Port, and captured Guli Port in one fell swoop. After that, they were supported by the Folangji Kingdom and specialized in plundering and attacking disobedient Folang people.
Ships that comply with the country's trade laws. As well as the ports and cities of countries that refuse to bow to the Francois."
Everyone nodded, and this result was not surprising.
Chen Shiyi continued: "The Bijapur city-state in the north of the Jialuo Empire, Laidi, Helingjia and other countries on the east side of the Indian mainland are all countries that the Folangji people have not been able to defeat. There are also seas between them.
The ships were trading. Timothy was ordered by the Francois to harass them and plunder their ships for a long time. The Francois provided them with arms and cannons to support this gang of pirates."
Wang Hong cursed: "These bandits are really hateful. But even so, are they the opponents of our Ming fleet? Why are we afraid of them?"
Chen Shiyi said: "Of course they are not our opponents. But their purpose is not to fight us head-on. According to the confession of one of them, Timothy and others were ordered by the Francois to wait for our army to leave Manlajia.
Then they came to attack the harbor of Malacca and cut off our retreat."
"Hiss..." Everyone gasped, their scalps numb.
"We are going out in full force this time, leaving only a small number of soldiers and horses to garrison the military port, because there are still a lot of construction materials, food supplies, etc. This group of pirates will disguise themselves as merchant ships and local indigenous people and disembark.
, cooperate with their warships to attack here. How can the King of Malacca be their opponent with the little guard of the King of Malacca? The Port of Malacca must be robbed. Those guys confessed that Timothy said
, we must massacre the city of Manlajia. Kill every person here. We must turn this place into a dead city. By then we are already halfway, should we come back or not? If we don’t come back for rescue, this place will be massacred. The port
It will be completely destroyed, and all supplies and materials will probably suffer. If we come back, it will delay our attack, and it may not be in time. By then, it will be extremely uncomfortable." Chen Shiyi said in a deep voice.
Everyone was silent and dumbfounded. Indeed, according to this, these pirates are a thorn in their side. Manlajia is now the port of the Ming Dynasty, and has become a trade gathering point for more than a dozen small countries in the vicinity, and even the Manlajia Strait.
The key port at the exit. If this fulcrum is lost, things will become very bad.
At present, the Kingdom of Manlajia only has a few hundred soldiers and horses. They really cannot afford to raise too many soldiers and horses. With these few hundred people, how can they be the enemy's opponent? The Invincible Fleet cannot leave too many soldiers this time.
Horses, because there are not many troops. The fleet of 5,000 men is now only
There are more than 4,500 people. Excluding the logistics, craftsmen and handymen, the actual combat strength is only more than 3,000 people. This time, at most more than 100 people will be left to guard the ports, warehouses, forts and other important places in the Western District. It is impossible to leave too many people.
.The pirates are attacking. Such a small manpower cannot stop them.
This is a big trouble.
Zhang Yanling coughed. Everyone looked at him. Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Everyone, these are the problems we are currently facing. The first and second are just that. I am afraid that the third problem must be solved first.
.I'm afraid we have to destroy this gang of pirates first before we can march with peace of mind."