Zhang Yanling had a good sleep. Although the roar of artillery fire continued, as Zhang Yanling said, a qualified soldier would regard these noises as a lullaby. He should have the ability to fall asleep quickly and restore his strength anytime and anywhere.
Of course, the considerate Catherine put strips of cloth in the cracks of the door and window to protect Zhang Yanling from the noise. But in fact, when she finished her work, Zhang Yanling had already fallen on the bed and snored loudly.
Catherine was naturally not as big-hearted as Zhang Yanling. How could she sleep with the sound of gunfire outside? She sat on the edge of the bed and read a book for a while, then held up her chin and stared at the sleeping Zhang Yanling for a long time. Finally, fatigue came over her.
He lay down next to Zhang Yanling and fell asleep.
It was late afternoon when they fell asleep. It was not until Chen Shiyi knocked on the cabin door that Zhang Yanling and Catherine woke up.
Chen Shiyi quickly reported what happened on the shore, and Zhang Yanling was quite surprised. Could it be that all the people of Ceylon had been mobilized and all the people would be defeated? Zhang Yanling did not want to see such a situation. It was not that he was worried about their numbers.
There are many, but if this is the case, these people will not be regarded as ordinary people.
Once an ordinary person picks up a weapon to fight against the Ming Dynasty's troops, he becomes an enemy.
Zhang Yanling quickly washed up and got dressed and went on the deck. As soon as he emerged from the gangway, he heard a huge splash of water. A dozen fist-sized stones came with a whining sound and hit the cabin.
The iron plate on the side suddenly broke into several pieces and fell on the side of the ship, causing smoke and dust everywhere.
"Damn it, the trebuchet can actually hit us. Before, it was only a few dozen steps away. Sir, are you okay?" Chen Shiyi shouted in surprise.
Zhang Yanling's face was extremely ugly. As soon as he got on the deck, he saw such a scene and was almost hit by the opponent's trebuchet. His face suddenly darkened.
Climbing up to the second floor of the ship's hall, Zhang Yanling held up a telescope and looked at the dock. Not long after, he saw a mass of black rocks coming from the gloomy sky, and once again hit the side of the Star and the two armored ships next to it.
There was also a commotion on the deck of the warship, and it was obvious that it had also been hit.
"They must have adjusted the angle of the trebuchet. Lord, if the fleet retreats a hundred steps, the range of the trebuchet will be insufficient." Chen Shi said.
Zhang Yanling frowned and said: "Retreat? Are the artillery on the ship vegetarian?"
Chen Shiyi whispered: "Didn't you say, try not to hurt the people? I went up to the mast and took a look. They were hiding in the people's gathering area less than two miles away. I couldn't see them at all. If we bombard the residential area, I'm afraid
It will accidentally injure other people."
Zhang Yanling glanced at Chen Shiyi coldly, then slowly climbed up from the ladder on the side of the cabin to the top of the cabin. This was a lookout, but the height was just not high enough.
Zhang Yanling squinted at the streets on the shore. At this moment, the densely packed houses and streets were full of people. On the streets leading from the dock to the city, tens of thousands of people were making loud noises and waving their hands toward the bay.
Sticks, knives and forks. Even though they were miles away, their noise could still be vaguely heard.
Zhang Yanling said coldly: "A hundred years have passed, and the people here are still so unimproved. Back then, the Three Treasures eunuchs went to the West and gave the king a large number of Ming products, and treated them with courtesy and sincerity. As a result, his country's
The Lord actually wanted to attack them secretly, and also accused the Ming Dynasty of coveting their Buddha's tooth, and incited the people in the country to rise up and attack.
Although the battle was ultimately won due to the wisdom and bravery of the Sanbao eunuch, it also caused great losses to our Ming Dynasty fleet. The internal officer Zhang Delu and more than 170 accompanying guards were tortured and killed by the local people.
.Two large ships were burned. That was the only time during the seven voyages of the Three Treasure Eunuchs to the Western Seas that they suffered such heavy losses."
Chen Shi was surprised and speechless when he heard Zhang Yanling talk about the grievances between the Ming Dynasty and Ceylon, but he did not know that the Ming fleet had suffered such heavy losses in that battle.
"At this time, being cited by Mr. Zheng was a great shame and a disgrace to the country's prestige, so it has been kept secret. There are no records to check. But before I went on the expedition, Master Li of the Hanlin Academy was enthusiastic and helped me find many overseas countries and the voyages of that year.
I found this section in the notes of an official accompanying me. The official wrote this section, but used rice paste to stick the paper together. I saw that the paper was different in thickness, and then I discovered that there was something fishy about it. I cut it open.
Only later did we learn about this past incident.”
"Ah? That's it." Chen Shiyi shouted.
Zhang Yanling squinted at the people on the shore who were shouting and shouting in the streets, and said in a deep voice: "The official recorded the eunuch Sanbao's evaluation of the people of Mount Ceylon. He said: The people of Mount Ceylon are despicable and
He is greedy, short-sighted and ignorant, arrogant and immoral, and cannot be trusted. The Buddhism he believes in is not the Buddhism of the Central Plains.
Their righteousness is radical and xenophobic, and they are hostile and cruel to pagans. The children of this country have been exposed to the disease since they were infancy. When they grow up, they are all the same kind and cannot be educated. People in the Ceylon Mountain Country do not need to be kind to them. If you are treated with kindness,
A kind heart will inevitably suffer backlash. From now on, our Ming officials and people should be extra cautious and take strict precautions when visiting the country of Mount Ceylon."
Chen Shiyi looked at Zhang Yanling in astonishment and was speechless. It turned out that a hundred years ago, the eunuch Sanbao gave such a bad evaluation to the local civilians.
Zhang Yanling said solemnly: "When I read this, I was actually a little confused. I thought maybe it was because Mr. Zheng was angry because he was attacked by the Ceylonese, so he made this judgment. However, in Manlajia, what I asked
Everyone has something to say when talking about the people of Ceylon. Almost everyone has a bad feeling towards the people of Ceylon. Only then did I realize that it was not Master Zheng He’s prejudice. Now that I see the situation in front of me,
I am even more certain that the people of Ceylon have not repented for so many years. Look at these people, they have obviously been incited to become enemies of our Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses. I am not a murderous person, but I am not a murderer either.
The benevolence of women. Anyone who is an enemy of our Ming Dynasty is an enemy. I ordered you not to bombard people's houses before, just to give them a chance. But now it seems that they are obviously not aware of our restraint."
Chen Shiyi said in a deep voice: "I understand, I understand. I am going to give orders now. I must not be benevolent as a woman."
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly, and Chen Shi turned around to leave, but Zhang Yanling stopped him.
"Brother Chen, you can disperse them with artillery warnings and give them one last chance. Although they are not merciful, God is kind to them. But this is their last chance."
Chen Shi nodded and left quickly. Zhang Yanling squinted and turned to look at the shore. There, crazy people had flocked to the intersection above the pier, and the noisy curses and strange screams could be clearly heard. At the same time, people were throwing stones.
Ji Ye frantically threw stones over. Although most of them fell into the sea, a lot of them still landed on Ming warships.
"Ouch!" A scream sounded, Zhang Yanling turned around and saw a soldier covering his head and falling on the deck, blood gushing out from between his fingers. Several soldiers quickly helped him up and helped him to the
aside.
The Ceylonese people on the pier cheered loudly. Zhang Yanling's face turned pale and his eyes became sharp.
"Warning shot!" Chen Shiyi ordered loudly.
Several dragon chant cannons opened fire. The explosive shells exploded near the gathering crowd, sending up a cloud of smoke and dust. The gathered Ceylonese people were a little commotion, but they did not flinch.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid at all. We are protected by the Buddha, and we are protected by the tooth of the Buddha."
"Yes, when we die, we will escape from the sea of suffering and achieve bliss. Don't be afraid, Buddha bless us!"
"Avenge His Majesty the King. The Buddha has appeared and will make us invulnerable and protected by Vajra."
Someone in the crowd shouted loudly, causing the rioting crowd to quickly calm down and start shouting loudly, almost like crazy.
Suddenly, more than a dozen Ceylonese people carrying a crossbow cart rushed down from the crowd and rushed to the arrival dock. They set up the crossbow cart as quickly as possible and headed towards the Yansui armored ship closest to the shore.
The ship fired a crossbow arrow.
In order to hit a target, the Yansui approached the shore two hundred steps, and was only five or six hundred steps away from the dock. It was now within the range of the crossbow. The crossbow arrow was shot from the shore, high and floating.
, passed by about a foot high on the deck, but did not hurt any Ming soldiers.
However, with a loud bang, the crossbow arrow happened to hit the main mast. The main mast was as thick as a bucket, and below it was a cylinder fixed with fine iron skin. The crossbow arrow naturally did no harm to it. But it was a good death.
Unexpectedly, the crossbow arrow hit a rope and broke the other rope.
This rope was a rope that tied the flag and was used to raise the flag to the top of the mast. After it was shot off, the Ming Dynasty dragon flag fluttering in the wind and rain at the top of the mast fell from the sky.
This scene was witnessed by all the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty and the Ceylonese people on the shore. The Ceylonese people burst into a burst of enthusiastic cheers and were very happy. Zhang Yanling's face was ashen, and the muscles on his face had begun to twist.
"These people will not wake up if we don't let them see the might of my Ming Dynasty. The barbarians cannot be taught benevolence and righteousness. Only cannons and death may be able to teach them." Zhang Yanling sighed, turned around and walked down the steps.
Enter the boat hall.
Chen Shiyi's angry voice sounded on the deck: "Fire artillery, indiscriminate bombardment, blast them into pieces, and burn the streets to the ground."
The gun holes on the sides of all the armored ships were quickly opened, and the black muzzles stuck out. A moment later, a huge roar sounded, and smoke and fire quickly rose and appeared on the sea, and then quickly dissipated.
For a moment, the dock was ablaze with fire, sand was flying, and smoke was everywhere. The place where the black Ceylonese people gathered at several intersections was instantly covered with blood and flesh, and black smoke filled the air.
The residential building where the trebuchet above was located was also bombarded by dozens of explosive shells and was instantly engulfed in smoke and fire.
The sound of artillery continued continuously. Along the position above the pier, within two miles of the city, the artillery shells exploded like raindrops. Houses were collapsing, trees were overturning, mud and rocks were flying, and broken limbs were scattered in the smoke.
Flying up and down. Even the roar of artillery could not cover up the screams, and the sound of bombings and smoke penetrated the air and echoed in the air.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's Invincible Fleet were expressionless and kept firing out cannonballs, completely ignoring the situation on the shore. After experiencing too many battles and deaths, they had long been accustomed to facing such scenes. They would not go
Is it right or wrong to want to do this? Their duty is to obey orders, do things within their responsibilities, and follow orders.
The soldiers belonging to this invincible fleet have been trained to become a force of iron-blooded warriors who show no mercy to any enemy.
In the cabin, Catherine stared blankly at the tragic scene on the shore outside the porthole with her big eyes wide open. Her chest heaved violently and she couldn't breathe.