Through the telescope, you can clearly see that the small boat exploded from the center and was torn into pieces. As for the dozen or so navy soldiers on the boat, they were injured almost to death on the spot.
Seeing this scene, Earl Harry and Governor George couldn't help but frown. Earl Harry said with some relief: "This is just the luck of these Easterners. It would be our navy."
If we shelled it, perhaps the result would be even greater."
While speaking, Governor George shouted loudly: "Look, our people are fighting back!"
Just as Governor George was speaking, flames suddenly burst out from a dozen ships rushing towards the port on the sea surface, and a dozen cannons opened fire in unison.
Cannonballs shot out one after another, heading straight for the forts above the port.
Boom, boom, one solid bullet hit the fort made of huge rocks. Although pieces of gravel were splashed, the fort was nearly two meters thick. Even with the impact of the shells,
It's amazing, but it can't shake the fort when it hits it.
The two sides came and went, and the artillery bombarded them non-stop. As the defensive side, the Ming side's fort suffered the disadvantage of being unable to move, but the advantage was that the fort was extremely thick. Even if it was unlucky and was directly hit by a cannonball, it would only cause some splash.
Just gravel.
Judging from the strength of the fort, I am afraid that it would only be possible to destroy the fort if it was hit more than a dozen times in a row.
Although the Dutch and Portuguese coalition forces did not have much protection on the sea, they were able to move flexibly to avoid shelling one after another.
His face was scratched by a piece of gravel and stained with blood. Cheng Yan looked quite embarrassed. At this moment, Cheng Yan was staring solemnly at the ships that were getting closer and closer to the port.
There were originally more than a dozen ships, but after such a quick exchange of fire, the opponent had been damaged and almost four or five ships had been sunk. Now there were about seven or eight ships left.
But now these ships have arrived near the port and can log in at any time.
On the flagship, Governor George and Earl Harry secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at each other, Earl Harry laughed and said: "The Great Ming Dynasty has artillery weapons, but it has not exerted the power of these artillery weapons."
The power of the Ming Dynasty artillery was obviously stronger than the artillery on their ships. Governor George and Earl Harry were not idiots, so they knew what these artillery meant to them.
If their ships can be equipped with such powerful artillery, then their naval combat power can at least increase by several hundred percent.
"Get these cannons no matter what."
Just like the idea that Dalikis had after discovering the power of the Ming artillery they fought with, Governor George and Earl Harry both focused on these artillery.
"All ships, attack together, must occupy the port in the shortest possible time!"
Thinking that they had tested the combat power of the Ming Navy, and coupled with the temptation of the power of the new artillery displayed by the Ming Dynasty, Governor George and Earl Harry finally couldn't help but made up their minds and pressed forward with their entire army.
Suddenly, hundreds of ships rushed towards the port, and dozens of warships fired their guns in unison.
Suddenly, hundreds of soldiers under Cheng Yan's command were suppressed by the coalition's artillery in the port and could hardly raise their heads. They could only hide in their hiding places and wait for the enemy's artillery fire.
Under the cover of dozens of ships from the other side, even the four forts suffered disaster. Although the forts were extremely thick and it was not a problem to receive a few shots, the artillery placed on the key forts was now
Several doors were destroyed.
Cheng Yan braved the bombardment of the coalition forces and looked outside the port, and saw a dense darkness, with hundreds of ships rushing over at the same time.
Several forts around were also suppressed at this moment, with almost no power to fight back. Cheng Yan sighed secretly in his heart and released the signal bomb.
Suddenly fireworks exploded in the sky, and as the fireworks exploded, the sound of shelling could be heard coming from the port.
Suddenly, several coalition warships were hit by artillery fire on the spot. Either the warships caught fire or their hulls were shattered.
Several new warships rushed out from the many merchant ships docked in the port and rushed towards the coalition warships not far away.
This sudden blow stunned the coalition forces, but when they saw that there were only a few warships rushing out, Governor George and Earl Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
There were too many warships with such ferocious firepower. If there were twenty or thirty warships, they would probably consider retreating.
But there are only three or five battleships, and Governor George and Earl Harry really don't care about them.
The warships of both sides were fighting together.
Cheng Yan is a qualified general, but he is not a qualified naval general. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the new warships built by the Ming Dynasty, the best way to fight is to maintain a certain distance and fight with them, rather than fighting them like
Now the two sides are fighting together.
As the distance gets closer, there will be more follow-up battles, and the artillery will have no place to use it, which is equivalent to giving up its own strengths and fighting with others.
Relying on the strength of their numbers, several battleships surrounded one battleship. No matter how brave the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were, they would still be unable to defeat four hands with their fists. It didn't take long for the resistance of the several battleships to become weaker and weaker.
When Cheng Yan saw this scene, he couldn't help but punched the fort. His fist was dripping with blood, but he still looked unknown and said with red eyes: "How is the evacuation going?"
At this moment, a messenger said to Cheng Yan: "General, 90% of the people in the port have evacuated..."
Cheng Yan, with red eyes, suddenly turned around and looked at the soldier and said, "Why hasn't anyone evacuated?"
The soldier was startled by Cheng Yan's expression, and said in a trembling voice: "Then...those people refused to evacuate even to the death, and were hiding on the boat one by one. We are short of manpower, and we simply cannot force everyone to evacuate at the moment.
People evacuate!”
At this time, Cheng Yan noticed that several attacking warships gradually fell into the siege of the opponent after sinking several coalition warships. He already knew the fate of these warships. Now when he heard what the ordering soldier said, Cheng Yan
Yan gritted his teeth and said, "In that case, whether it's life or death, let them go."
Cheng said in a serious voice: "Everyone evacuates the port and sets up defenses in Qingtian Town. We must block incoming enemies outside Qingtian Town."
Capital
Since Gu Dayong, the Chief Supervisor of Ceremonies, committed suicide, there has been no new Chief Supervisor of Ceremonies for a while. Although many of the servants are eyeing the position below one person and above ten thousand people.
, but everyone knew that the emperor was in a bad mood at the moment, so naturally no one would take the lead.
The position of the Chief Supervisor of Ceremonies is vacant, and the officials are naturally happy to see it happen. Without the Chief Supervisor, the Superintendent of Ceremonies will naturally have less oppression on the civil and military officials. Although apart from the Chief Supervisor, there are other officials, big and small,
There were dozens of eunuchs, but apart from assisting the emperor, these eunuchs did not have the authority to review memorials and use seals.
The seat of the Chief of Ceremonies can be left vacant, and the officials will not have any objections, but the seat of the Chief Assistant to the Cabinet cannot be left vacant.
Jiao Fang was assassinated on Changjie, and his body and bones were injured. Obviously, he was not suitable to continue to be the chief minister of the cabinet. After all, as the chief minister of the cabinet, he should lead all civil and military officials to assist the emperor. Jiao Fang lay on the bed every day, but he
Very inappropriate.
In recent days, there have been rumors circulating in the capital that Jiao Fang's corpse is sitting on a plain table, occupying the position and not doing anything. Apparently, the civil and military officials are already planning to replace the chief minister of the cabinet.
The chief minister of the cabinet can be said to be a very powerful person. Once he becomes the chief minister of the cabinet, he will reach the pinnacle that an official can reach in his life.
There are not too many officials in the DPRK and China who are qualified to compete for the position of chief minister of the cabinet, but there are too few.
When it comes to ability, Wang Shouren and Yang Yiqing are naturally no weaker than anyone else, or even stronger, but there is a slight gap between the two. What's more, Wang Shouren leads an army to quell the chaos outside the pass, so naturally there is no advantage.
Wang Hua and Chen Ding have sufficient qualifications, but both of them are old. With Jiao Fang's example, the emperor may not appoint an old minister as the new chief minister of the cabinet.
In the early morning, all civil and military officials gathered at the court.
At a glance, the hall was densely packed, with almost half as many officials as usual.
In the court hall, several officials were seen standing in line in the main hall to impeach Jiao Fang's corpse, imploring the emperor to remove Jiao Fang from his position as chief minister of the cabinet and appoint a more capable person.
Even though Jiao Fang is Chu Yi's confidant and can be regarded as one of the core figures of the Eunuch Party, there are fights wherever there are people, and there are also factions within the Eunuch Party.
Jiao Fang represents the earliest batch of civil servants and generals who attached themselves to Chu Yi, while Wang Shouren and Yang Yiqing represent the later officials who attached themselves to Chu Yi.
Although there is competition between the two sides on a daily basis, they are all restrained within the scope of healthy competition by Jiao Fang, Wang Shouren, and Yang Yiqing.
Now that it was clear that Jiao Fang could no longer sit down as the chief minister of the cabinet, it naturally attracted factions in the court to make moves.
Zhu Houzhao sat there, high up, watching the officials below criticizing each other. If you say something wrong with me, I will expose your shortcomings. Zhu Houzhao watched with great interest.
A full half day passed, and many officials were blushing and furious, as if if they won here, the emperor would choose the person they recommended as the chief minister of the cabinet.
There was a slight cough, and at this moment, Emperor Zhu Houzhao, who had been silent and just sitting there letting the ministers below him perform their duties, suddenly spoke.
Zhu Houzhao's voice was rich and unyielding, and his eyes swept across the civil and military officials like torches, as if they could see through people's hearts. Many officials did not dare to look at Zhu Houzhao, and they lowered their heads to avoid him one by one.
"The Duke of Jin Dynasty, Yang Yiqing, is unparalleled in his literary and military skills, civil and martial arts in the country, and there is no one who can surpass him. I specially selected him as the chief minister of the cabinet..."
"Your Majesty, no..."
7 An official who had just been arguing with someone subconsciously shouted, but what followed was Zhu Houzhao's gaze. Zhu Houzhao's face was expressionless and he said quietly: "Are you questioning my decision?"
Zhu Houzhao's voice was low and filled with infinite majesty, echoing in the court hall.
Everyone lowered their heads and did not dare to look at the emperor. The emperor was really too majestic, especially the attitude of not being able to refuse when he spoke, which refreshed their understanding of Zhu Houzhao.
With a pop, the official's body went limp and he knelt down on the ground. His forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he kowtowed to the emperor tremblingly: "I...I don't dare, please forgive me!"
