Chapter 1753 A Person's Diary - Facing the Navy of the Ottoman Empire
"What did you say?" Wen Di asked. He was not pretending to be stupid, nor was he asking in surprise. What Alfonso blurted out was Castilian, and Wen Di could only speak Castilian.
He didn't understand what Alfonso just said.
Alfonso knew from his expression that he didn't understand, and wanted to use words that Wen Di could understand. But Alfonso's Chinese was also very poor, and he was talking like a duck. After struggling for a while, they still couldn't understand each other.
What was the other party talking about? They couldn't communicate until Clavijo hurriedly came to translate.
After Claviyo's translation, Wen Di finally understood what Alfonso was talking about, and suddenly shouted in surprise: "Didn't you say that the navy of the Ottoman Kingdom was at war with the navy of the Republic of Venice? How could it suddenly appear in Egypt?"
"
"I was careless." Alfonso also said with an annoyed look on his face: "I thought that because of the entanglement of the Venetians, it was impossible for the Ottoman Empire's navy to come. But I forgot that the Venetians did not want to be controlled by our two countries.
Egypt, even though it was in conflict with the Ottoman Empire, would never pursue the Ottoman navy when it wanted to retreat."
"And after the armistice between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire, in order to prevent the Venetians from using their navy to attack their colonies, the Genoese also withdrew most of their warships, leaving only a dozen ships. Only these dozen ships and Cass
Although the unrepaired warships of the two kingdoms of Tilia and Aragon caused some trouble to the Ottoman navy, they still broke into the Nile."
"Can't we stop them? I remember that in Chinese history there was an incident where iron ropes crossed the river." Wen Di said.
"It's too late! It's only been a few days since Rashid arrived in Cairo from the mouth of the Nile. There's no time to build anything that can stop them!" Alfonso said.
"What should we do?" Wen Di shouted. The only thing they can take the initiative now is warships, but now the Ottoman warships are coming, and there are more warships than the Castilian warships. Cairo is
In the delta, if the navy could not gain an advantage, how could they possibly capture the city of Cairo?
"General Cao, immediately gather all the main soldiers and attack Cairo City with the cooperation of the Castilian warships!" Wen Di suddenly ordered Cao Xing.
"Your Highness, it will be dark soon. How will the soldiers fight after dark?" Cao Xing said.
"But," Wen Ding was about to say something, but Cao Xing saw that he was a little panicked and had to interrupt: "Your Highness, even if the Ottoman Navy arrives in Cairo, the heavenly troops may not be able to capture Cairo City."
"How to do it?" Wen Di asked immediately.
"Since they have more warships than Castile, they can just sink the warships," Cao Xing said.
"General Cao," Alfonso said: "If you want to sink warships from land, you can only rely on artillery, but it is very difficult to sink Ottoman warships. First of all, warships can be moved, but artillery positions are difficult
Moving, as far as I know, the hit rate of artillery is not high. It is difficult to succeed with immovable artillery bombarding movable warships. Secondly, the Ottoman Empire's warships also have artillery, and there are a lot of them. They can completely compete with our army.
Our artillery may not be able to win against a bombardment."
"If you can't win with more than 200 cannons, then bring in another 200, or even 300, or 500 cannons!" Cao Xing said: "There are still thousands of cannons on the warships of the Indian Ocean Fleet. Anyway, we can't do it now.
We need warships to go into battle, and half of the cannons have been dismantled and transported here to bombard the Ottoman warships!"
"Adjust five hundred more artillery pieces!" After hearing what the translator said, Alfonso was stunned. After a while, he came to his senses, glanced at Cao Xing, and then at Wen Di, without saying anything. But he looked at
From his appearance, everyone knows what he is thinking.
"Bring in five hundred artillery pieces!" Wen Di was also stunned for a moment, shocked by Cao Xing's generosity. But he then realized that Cao Xing's method was indeed effective, and said to Li Jiqian without analyzing the pros and cons.
"Is this too expensive?" Li Jiqian did not immediately accept Wen Di's order and said hesitantly. It is easy to transport five hundred artillery pieces, but using so many artillery pieces would cost too much.
"Don't worry about the expenses." Cao Xing said: "After landing at Sefaje Port to Cairo, the money obtained along the way is enough for the expenses. Besides, after conquering the city of Cairo, we can also get a large amount of gold and silver."
"Moreover," Cao Xing saw that Li Jiqian wanted to retort, and said, "Don't you remember His Majesty's instructions before leaving? We must shock the other countries and let them know how powerful the Ming Dynasty is. Using so many artillery pieces at the same time will definitely make people
It will impress all the countries, and your Majesty's goal will be achieved."
"I understand." Li Jiqian agreed.
Claviyo did not translate what he said just now, but seeing the expressions of several people, Alfonso could understand that the Ming people had reached a consensus. At this time, he had calmed down and said: "If the Ming Dynasty can really use five more
With hundreds of artillery pieces, it will definitely be able to defeat the Ottoman Empire's navy, and this battle will definitely be won."
"Don't worry, the Ming Dynasty will definitely use five hundred more artillery pieces to let the Ottomans know the despair of being roared by ten thousand artillery pieces." Wen Di said.
‘Let all European countries know the great national power of the Ming Dynasty.’ Alfonso added in his heart.
…
…
"..., on the third day, the Ottoman Empire's navy arrived in Cairo, and the Castilian Kingdom's warships withdrew to the upper reaches. The Ottoman Empire's naval admiral ordered the Ming Army and the Castile Kingdom to build a temporary camp on the seaside.
The artillery shells were fired, destroying these simple houses. During this period, the Ming artillery did not fight back. This made the Ottoman general feel contempt for the Ming Dynasty. He even ordered all the soldiers on the ship to shout words that humiliated the Ming Dynasty.
, the Ming army still has no response."
"But this does not mean that the Ming army will tolerate these insults. They are just waiting for the delivery of five hundred artillery pieces. Five days later, on the eighth day, the artillery pieces removed from the battleships of the Ming Dynasty's Indian Ocean Fleet
Wen Di, the seventh emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered that artillery positions be set up overnight, and at around four o'clock in the morning of the next day, before it was fully light, they bombarded the Ottoman Empire's navy."
"In an instant, more than 800 shells left the barrel and fired at the Ottoman Empire's navy. Although the accuracy of the artillery was very poor, with a hit rate of only 3% even when facing fixed targets, the Ottoman Empire's navy's warships were moving along the river.
The east side of the delta was lined up, and the Ming Dynasty fired too many artillery shells. More than fifty warships were hit in the first salvo. Among them, more than ten warships were hit by more artillery shells.
Sunk. Fortunately, the water at the dock is not deep, and these ships have not completely sunk to the bottom of the sea. They can still be fished out and repaired. However, this may not be a good thing for the Ottoman Empire."
"When they heard the sound of shelling or felt the vibration of the ship's hull, the sailors were awakened and ran around trying to find out what happened. When they learned that it was the Ming army's shelling, some people had incredible looks on their faces: The Ming army actually
Will you fight back?"
"However, after all, these sailors are all experienced in combat. After being surprised, they immediately ran to the deck and cleaned the deck under the command of the first mate and second mate, or rescued the ships nearby. Some even opened the cannon jackets to bombard the Ming Dynasty's ships.
artillery."
"But at this moment, the second salvo of artillery shells has arrived above their heads. I believe this will be a scene they will never forget. More than 800 artillery shells of different sizes were flying in the air, and with the help of the first salvo,
The post-shooting correction became more focused, and I was so shocked even as a bystander that I was determined to paint the scene, let alone an Ottoman sailor."
"But most of them did not have the opportunity to tell others about this unforgettable situation. Eight hundred shells hit more than fifty warships. Some of the warships were hit in the first round, and were hit again in the second salvo.
It sank on the dock soon after being hit."
"At this time, the captains of some battleships began to instruct the sailors to steer the ship away from the dock, and at the same time ordered the gunners to fire randomly. But many sailors were still in shock, and the ship was moving very slowly."
"At this time, the third salvo of shells was fired again. Many ships were hit again. But after this salvo, all captains began to direct the ships to leave the dock and want to sail downstream. But the Nile River east of the Delta
The width of this section is only a hundred feet wide, so the chaotic movement of so many ships soon blocked the river, and many ships were unable to move."
"The Ming army then carried out the fourth and fifth rounds of shelling. More ships were sunk and more ships were damaged. Of course, at this time the Ottoman Empire's navy also counterattacked, destroying the Ming Dynasty's
There were some artillery pieces, but because they could not form a salvo and had limited power, the losses caused were simply negligible compared to the number of artillery pieces of the Ming army."
"Finally, under the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, the Ottoman Empire's navy restored order. The remaining warships retreated northward one after another, and after paying some losses, they escaped from the coverage of the Ming army's artillery. It seemed that they could take a breather."
"But at this time, the warships of the Kingdom of Castile and Aragon caught up. The warships of these two countries were intact, with sufficient cannonballs, and the sailors and gunners were energetic; however, many of the remaining warships of the Ottoman Empire were damaged.
The place is in urgent need of repairs, there are not enough shells, and the sailors and gunners are tired."
"In this case, even though the warships of the Kingdom of Castile and Aragon were no more than those of the Ottoman Empire, the battle was one-sided. Although the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire fought with all their strength, they also caused casualties to the enemy.
, and sank several ships, but it failed to reverse the situation. In the end, except for a handful of ships that escaped, most of the ships were sunk or had to sit on the beach."