Chapter 638: Destiny breaks ten million [two in one]
Obviously, someone needs to stand up and take responsibility for this defeat. As the noble Duke of Rose, it is certainly impossible to be responsible for this. Needless to say, General Levi, who persuaded Duke of Rose before, is the best candidate.
If the Spanish navy wins this battle, then General Levi will be a hero of Spain and will be praised by all people together with the Duke of Rose.
But who allowed General Levi to lose? Therefore, this defeat made General Levi a scapegoat.
The captains present were all thoughtful people, and many looked at General Levi with some sympathy in their eyes, but everyone knew that this was the inevitable result of General Levi.
From the time when General Levi persuaded Duke Rose to attack, General Levi was already involved. It can be said that if there is a failure, he will be responsible. Not only Duke Rose knows this, but General Levi himself is also very clear about this.
Standing there, General Levi's face was full of dejection. He sighed slowly and said to Duke Rose: "Your Majesty, Levi has betrayed the Duke and is willing to be punished!"
Looking at General Levi with a complicated expression, Duke Rose was actually unwilling to deal with General Levi. After all, General Levi was really a talented general, and no one in the army could deny this.
It’s just that the impact of this defeat was too great. So many fleets attacked together, but they were defeated by Akito’s fleet. Although the losses were acceptable, the Kingdom of Spain had not suffered such a defeat for decades.
Already.
Whether it is to the king or to the citizens of the kingdom, there must be an explanation, and Duke Rose has no choice.
Sighing in his heart, Duke Rose looked at General Levi and said, "Levi, is there anything else you want to say?"
General Levi raised his head, looked at Duke Rose and said: "Grand Duke, although I can't tell what those Ming people are about, I always feel that there is something we didn't expect. The Ming people's fleet must have what we have."
There is no discovered weakness, otherwise, they would be attacking our port by now!"
Many people's eyes couldn't help but light up when they heard what General Levi said, and they had to admit that what General Levi said was not bad.
You must know that when they fled back to the port in a hurry, they subconsciously thought that Akito's fleet would definitely attack the port.
If the Akito fleet really chose to attack the port at that time, given the prevailing sentiments at the time, they might be able to defend the port, but they would definitely suffer huge losses.
But when it was time to launch an attack on the port, the Akito fleet stopped outside the port and did not attack the port.
At that time, no one thought anything was wrong, but after calming down now, especially after hearing what General Levi said, many people showed doubts.
Grand Duke Qiangwei squinted at General Levi, nodded slightly, but then shook his head and said: "Although what you said, Levi, makes sense, you also said that even you can't think of the weaknesses of Akito's fleet.
What exactly is it, and if so, what’s the use?”
When the captains, whose eyes originally shone with hope, heard what Grand Duke Qiang said, they all had expressions of regret on their faces.
He waved his hand and signaled the soldiers to take General Levi down. In the hall, the morale of all the generals was low. Grand Duke Rose slowly stood up and looked at the crowd and said: "Everyone, this war crime is Levi's, and all of you are mine.
Warriors of the Kingdom of Spain, this Grand Duke hopes that everyone can cheer up, fulfill their duties for the Kingdom, and protect the territory of the Kingdom."
Many people were shocked, gathered their spirits, and promised Grand Duke Qiangwei again and again.
General Levi was brought back to Spain for trial. This was not very clear to Yu Dayou and others floating at sea.
At this moment, the fleet of Yu Dayou and others is docked in a port. This port is only a few hundred nautical miles away from the Strait of Gibraltar. At the speed of the Ming Dynasty fleet, it can appear near the Strait of Gibraltar again in one day.
Both food and fresh water can be replenished in this small port, but the shells needed by the ship cannot be replenished at all.
In a church in the port, Yu Dayou, Jiao Yuan and other generals were gathering together.
Jiao Yuan looked at the crowd and said, "Everyone, the artillery shells stored in the fleet are seriously insufficient. It can even be said that they cannot support a conventional naval battle. I suggest that we must return immediately!"
Once there are no artillery shells, just relying on the crossbows, muskets and other weapons on their ships, to be honest, there is no problem against ordinary pirates, but once they compete with the navies of several Western countries, they will definitely not be their opponents.
.
Jiao Yuan's insistence on the fleet returning was naturally based on the overall situation. After all, the environment they were in was very delicate. After the first battle, the Spanish navy was suppressed, so their situation was relatively safe.
But Youku himself knew that in order to win that battle, they fired almost all the cannonballs prepared on the ship. Fortunately, no one on the Spanish Navy could think of this. Otherwise, they might have retreated even if they wanted to.
No.
Yu Dayou couldn't help frowning when he heard this. With Yu Dayou's temperament, he was naturally unwilling to retreat like this. He finally entered the vicinity of the Mediterranean Sea. If he went further, he could enter the Mediterranean Sea.
But at this time, the cannonballs on their ship were not enough. How could this not put Yu Dayou in trouble?
With a slight cough, Yue Buqun looked at Yu Dayou's hesitant look and said slowly: "General Yu, Yue has something to say and I don't know whether to say it or not."
After taking a look at Yue Buqun, Yu Dayou naturally knew Yue Buqun's identity and did not dare to underestimate him.
Yue Buqun is the commander of the Jin Yiwei. Who doesn't know that the Jin Yiwei is the emperor's spy, and as a person within the Jin Yiwei who can almost compete with Qian Ning, it is conceivable that Yue Buqun must be a popular person in front of the emperor.
Yu Dayou looked at Yue Buqun and said, "Master Yue, you might as well just speak up."
Yue Buqun has always been very kind to him. If it weren't for Yue Buqun's strong support, to be honest, it would be really difficult for Yu Dayou to suppress so many captains. After all, there are many captains in the Ming Dynasty army nowadays.
It’s hard to say what qualifications are, everything depends on strength.
Yu Dayou was still young, so it was naturally difficult for him to convince the public, so at the beginning, Yue Buqun stood by Yu Dayou's side and suppressed all the captains for Yu Dayou. Today, although Yu Dayou does not need Yue Buqun to help him stand up,
, after all, he has won the trust and respect of many generals by virtue of his outstanding commander-in-chief.
Therefore, no matter what aspect he considered, Yu Dayou did not dare to be careless or ignore Yue Buqun's suggestions.
Only to hear Yue Buqun say: "General Yu, Yue thinks Master Jiao's words are reasonable. Everything is for the sake of the overall situation. Please ask General Yu to withdraw his troops and return home!"
Although he had vague expectations in his heart, when he heard what Yue Buqun said, Yu Dayou couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Yu Dayou did not feel surprised that Yue Buqun did not stand on his side this time. In fact, he himself was extremely hesitant.
As the commander-in-chief of the first army, Jiao Yuan, Yue Buqun and others can only persuade Yu Dayou. As for what kind of decision Yu Dayou will make, everything depends on Yu Dayou himself.
Even if Yu Dayou finally chooses to stay, they will only obey orders. They can raise their opinions, but once an order is given, they must obey the order first.
Day after day passed, the Ming fleet neither retreated nor headed to the Strait of Gibraltar to provoke the Spanish.
The Spaniards had already received the news the day after the Ming Dynasty fleet retreated.
To be honest, the distance of hundreds of nautical miles is not too far for the Strait of Gibraltar. It is only a day's journey at most. For the Strait of Gibraltar, the existence of this Ming fleet is obviously a great threat.
No one can guarantee when the Ming fleet will suddenly appear outside the port. Therefore, tens of thousands of Spanish soldiers have never dared to relax in the entire Strait of Gibraltar port. Even the Grand Duke Rose has mobilized thousands of soldiers from other places.
Soldiers and horses.
Under the command of Grand Duke Rose, it only took half a month. In the Strait of Gibraltar, the navy did not change much, but the army increased by thousands.
In addition to the tens of thousands of troops and horses that already existed, the total number was no less than 20,000, accounting for almost more than half of the troops that Spain could use.
One month, two months, time passed very quickly. If we say at the beginning, the Spaniards were nervous all day long and sent out countless people to watch the movements on the sea.
However, after a few months, the Ming Dynasty fleet was not seen outside the Strait of Gibraltar. Naturally, the defense of the Strait of Gibraltar was obviously relaxed a lot.
People are forgetful. Even at this time, if Grand Duke Qiang hadn't been reading the news from people below every day that the Ming fleet was anchored in a port hundreds of nautical miles away, Grand Duke Qiang would have forgotten the Ming Dynasty.
The existence of the fleet was forgotten.
Grand Duke Qiangwei tapped the table gently with one hand and looked at the general in front of him. This man was none other than General Levi.
General Levi said with great gratitude to Grand Duke Qiang: "Levi thanks the Grand Duke for rescuing me. Otherwise, I'm afraid Levi would have to die to apologize."
No one expected that Grand Duke Qiang would actually save General Levi through his connections, and even bring Levi under his command again.
Grand Duke Qiangwei just smiled slightly and said: "I just don't want Levi to die of frustration because of your talents. If so, it would be a pity."
Signaling General Levi to sit down, Grand Duke Qiang looked at General Levi, handed a stack of information to General Levi and said, "Just take a look and tell me what you think."
This stack of information is a record of some of the activities of the Ming fleet in the past few months. It is obvious that Grand Duke Qiangwei has been sending people to keep an eye on every move of the Ming fleet.
Looking at the stack of information, General Levi's eyes seemed to see the Ming Dynasty fleet through the line of description.
"Why, why?"
General Levi was almost scratching his head and head. He had an idea in his mind, but he couldn't grasp it no matter what. He always felt that there was still a little missing.
Grand Duke Rose looked at Levi's expression and said slowly: "Can you guess why the Akito fleet is docked in the port?"
There was some hesitation in General Levi's expression, and suddenly General Levi shouted: "I thought of it, hahaha, I really thought of it, God bless me, Spain will definitely be able to survive the snow
Shame, the Ming fleet will definitely be defeated..."
To be honest, seeing Levi's excited look, Duke Rose listened to Levi's words and felt a bit of expectation in his heart. However, after the previous lesson, Duke Rose was only a little excited this time.
"Levi, what did you think of? But have you discovered the weakness of the Ming fleet?"
General Levi, who looked excited, stared at Grand Duke Qiang and said: "Grand Duke, I have thought of it, I really have thought of it, the weakness of the Ming Dynasty fleet is the lack of artillery fire!"
There was a pop, and Grand Duke Qiangwei, who was drinking tea, almost spat out a mouthful of tea. He coughed violently, and Grand Duke Qiangwei, who choked on a mouthful of saliva, almost coughed out all his internal organs.
After finally regaining his balance, Grand Duke Qiang looked at General Levi with some suspicion and said, "Levi, are you kidding me? How could a fleet make such a low-level mistake and not be equipped with enough artillery shells?"
?”
However, as he spoke, Grand Duke Qiangwei gradually showed a bright light in his eyes, and he patted the table and said: "No, it is really possible. The Ming fleet is not backed by the kingdom like us, and can receive abundant supplies at any time, but the Ming fleet
The fleet is different and cannot obtain logistical supplies in time. No wonder they did not attack the port twice. It seems that there are not enough artillery shells on the ship."
Levi nodded with deep understanding and said: "That's right. Apart from the lack of artillery support of the Ming fleet, there is no way to explain the many unreasonable actions of the Ming fleet."
Grand Duke Qiangwei walked excitedly in the hall and rubbed his hands from time to time. It was obvious that Grand Duke Qiangwei was very hesitant in his heart.
General Levi opened his mouth, but then he thought that he was no longer the captain, but just a guard under Grand Duke Rose.
Grand Duke Qiangwei suddenly raised his head and said to General Levi: "Levi, I am going to let you lead a small fleet to test the strength and depth of the Ming fleet. Do you have the courage?"
Although Levi said he had gone through a military court, he was saved by Grand Duke Rose. Although he went through hardships, his temperament remained unchanged.
I heard Levi say excitedly: "Don't worry, Grand Duke, I, Levi, am willing to guarantee my life. No matter what the loss is, I will definitely find out the details of the Ming fleet for the Grand Duke!"
Grand Duke Qiangwei stepped forward and slapped Levi on the shoulder, laughing loudly: "Okay, okay, Levi, you really did not disappoint me."
A fleet of only three ships headed straight for the port a hundred miles away under the leadership of Levi.
Within a few months, Yu Dayou and others sent ships to look for the supply ships sent by the Ming Dynasty, while preparing various supplies in the port.
It can be said that after some training and adjustment, the Ming fleet has already returned to its peak state. It is a pity that the Ming fleet does not have enough artillery shells, and it is like a tiger without claws.
In the church, Yu Dayou looked at Jiao Yuan and said: "Master Jiao, what's going on with the cannonballs? Can the craftsmen on the ship alone make the bombs come out, even if the quality is slightly worse?"
Jiao Yuan couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this. To be honest, if he didn't know Yu Dayou well, Jiao Yuan would have doubted whether Yu Dayou had any disobedient intentions.
A few months ago, Yu Dayou exercised his authority as the commander-in-chief and decided to stay. He even gathered the craftsmen on the ship and tried every means to make cannonballs in the port.
Jiao Yuan shook his head and looked at Yu Dayou and said: "My lord, I'm afraid you are going to be disappointed. The formula of the gunpowder required for the blooming bomb is only available to the Ministry of War. We don't have the formula, and it is difficult to prepare gunpowder with amazing explosive power, so blooming
If the bullet does not have enough powerful gunpowder, it will be almost the same as a solid bullet, or even worse than a solid bullet."
Yu Dayou, who had a look of disappointment on his face, nodded slightly, while Jiao Yuan said: "Although it is said that we have not been able to develop blooming bullets, we have produced a batch of solid bullets."
Yu Dayou nodded slowly and said: "Although there are no explosive bullets, it is good to have solid bullets. At least if we encounter the enemy, we will not be unable to fight back."
There was a rush of footsteps running over, and a messenger was heard shouting: "My lord, my lord, the Spanish fleet has been discovered!"
Yu Dayou was stunned for a moment, then sneered and said: "It's fine if we don't go looking for trouble with them. I didn't expect that they would dare to provoke them!"
Needless to say, in Yu Dayou's view, if the Spanish fleet dared to appear outside the port, it would be a provocation to them.
Of course, what Yu Dayou thought was correct. Levi led several warships to come, which was a provocation to the Ming Dynasty.
When Yu Dayou rushed to the port, he found that there were only three warships on the sea facing the Ming fleet.
When the two sides were sizing each other up, Levi suddenly ordered three warships to move forward at high speed and directly approach the port.
As soon as the warship approached the port, it saw shells roaring in one after another. The digital display opened fire. The provocative meaning was self-evident.
At the port, Yue Buqun, Lin Pingzhi, Jiao Yuan and others, who had already rushed over after receiving the news, were all stunned when they saw this situation.
Lin Pingzhi could only be heard muttering softly: "It's really strange. Have the Spaniards forgotten the previous defeat and dared to come and provoke us?"
Yue Buqun frowned, with a thoughtful look on his face, obviously thinking about the deep meaning behind the Spaniard's behavior.
At this moment, Jiao Yuan's expression changed slightly, and he said with determination: "I understand, the Spanish are trying to test our reality. Tell Yu Dayou quickly and make sure he doesn't reveal the shortage of our artillery.
.”
"Shoot me!"
Before the news of Jiao Yuan was conveyed to Yu Dayou, Yu Dayou couldn't help but immediately ordered the firing.
What flew out this time were not explosive bombs but solid bullets one after another.
These solid bullets are all made in the port by the craftsmen carried by the fleet. After all, solid bullets do not have much technical content. As long as there are enough materials, solid bullets are just big iron balls. No matter who looks at it,
You can make a bunch of them.
Click, click
Both sides were shelling for a while, and suddenly a shell hit the battleship Levi was on.
When the cannonball hit the deck of the battleship, sawdust suddenly flew everywhere. Levi, who was not far away, was almost injured by the flying sawdust, but Levi was staring at the hole made by the cannonball.
When he was sure that the cannonball had not exploded, Levi couldn't help laughing, and said while laughing: "Solid bullet, hahaha, it's really a solid bullet, I didn't expect it wrong, I didn't expect it wrong!"
No wonder Levi was so excited. After all, in the previous battles, almost all of the Ming fleet used explosive bombs, but this time, in the face of their provocation, the Ming fleet used only solid bombs!
Several more waves of shells came down, and one of the battleships was smashed into pieces by solid bullets. Even the battleship Levi was riding began to take in water, but Levi gave up without hesitation.
The boat left at an extremely fast speed in a small boat.
Seeing the boat Levi was riding go away quickly with its flexibility and speed, Yu Dayou, who had just received Jiao Yuan's message, immediately reacted.
It's just that the speed of reaction is indeed a bit slow. Even if it is to send a ship to catch up now, it is too late.
"If you are exposed, you are exposed. Even if the whole army uses solid bullets, I, Yu Dayou, will have nothing to fear!"
North America
When the Ming fleet set foot on the land of North America, these soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who were born from simple peasant families couldn't help but cheered when they looked at the fertile land under their feet.
In less than a month, this squadron discovered several silver, gold and iron mines.
Xu Tianzuo looked at all the news compiled by his men, his face full of surprise and excitement and said: "No wonder the Xiyi people are never short of gold and silver. This is really as your Majesty said, it is a treasure land. I would have known it was like this."
If so, my Ming Dynasty should have dispatched an army to capture it as early as possible! If we do not capture this treasure land, we will be cursed by future generations!"
Several generals obviously had the same idea as Xu Tianzuo, especially when they looked at the natural gold nugget in front of them, which was brilliant and shining with charming brilliance.
Not to mention anything else, just looking at the gold and silver mines that can be mined almost in the open air, these generals have tried their best to restrain themselves without losing their composure.
"Long live the Ming Dynasty, may your Majesty live forever!"
"Long live the Ming Dynasty, may your Majesty live forever!"
Capital
Prince Wu's Mansion, Secret Room
Zhu Houzhao was wearing regular clothes and sitting on a futon in the secret room. What was placed in front of him was the altar.
Looking at the altar in front of him, Zhu Houzhao looked deeply and murmured softly: "The fortune is more than 7.8 million, coming soon, coming soon, with only 10 million, my Ming Dynasty will enter another world!"