Chapter 642 The Grand Duke moved to rescue soldiers!
Generals like Sidwen and Levi couldn't help but look at the soldier. After all, Grand Duke Qiang was also the commander of the army and had a respected position. If something unexpected happened, it would be difficult for these generals to explain to the king.
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As a veteran in the Spanish army, Si Dewen frowned and said, "What happened to the Grand Duke? Could it be that he encountered some accident?"
I heard the soldier glance at a few people hesitantly, and then whispered: "The Grand Duke just led people out of the port and went straight to the north!"
"Forehead?"
Subconsciously, Si Dewen and the other generals were just stunned for a moment, and quickly realized that the people present could not be fools if they could reach such a position today. Grand Duke Qiangwei left the port at this time and headed north.
It's basically an act of escape.
Almost like a conditioned reflex, Si Dewen said subconsciously: "How could the Grand Duke do this? Isn't he afraid that the army will know that his behavior of escaping from the battle will weaken the morale of the army?"
General Levi coughed lightly, looked around, and said to Si Dewen: "General Si Dewen, the Grand Duke should have returned to the country to recruit reinforcements. The Grand Duke entrusted the port to us, which is for us.
Trust me, we must hold the port until the Grand Duke comes with reinforcements."
When Si Dewen and several other generals heard what General Levi said, they had a bit of a wry smile on their faces. Everyone knew that General Levi was just covering up for Grand Duke Rose.
In fact, even Si Dewen felt a little regretful at the moment. How could he impulsively speak out what was in his heart?
No wonder General Levi is so valued by Grand Duke Qiang. His feelings are so much worse than General Levi's conduct.
Fortunately, General Levi helped him to put the situation back together. Otherwise, once his words spread, he would not only offend Grand Duke Rose, but it would also likely cause the army to lose morale. I am afraid that they would not even be able to wait for the Ming Dynasty to attack the port.
The demoralized soldiers were already defeated.
Si Dewen nodded quickly and said: "Yes, what General Levi said makes sense, but this general is overthinking it. I only hope that the Grand Duke's visit can persuade His Majesty the King to send reinforcements."
There was a loud bang, and while he was talking, the loud noise came, which immediately attracted the attention of General Levi, Sidney and others.
Looking in the direction from which the loud noise came, one could see a fort engulfed in smoke at the port a few miles away.
When the smoke cleared, it could be clearly seen that the fort had been blown to pieces and turned into a ruins.
There were four cannons placed in this fort, but the Ming fleet outside the port hit the fort and detonated the shells stored in the fort.
Four cannons and hundreds of soldiers were just destroyed in the explosion. Si Dewen and other generals felt heartbroken as they watched.
As the Ming fleet began to attack the port, the forts built in the port also began to fight back.
The advantage of the fort is that it can house powerful artillery. The more powerful the artillery, the farther the range and the greater the power. However, the disadvantage is also quite obvious, that is, it is not convenient to move. To a certain extent, only
Can be placed on land.
In order to completely control the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain has built more than a dozen forts near the Strait of Gibraltar, and there are no less than dozens of powerful artillery installed there.
It can be said that the power of the artillery in each fort is far greater than that of the artillery hit by those battleships.
If it were hit by such a powerful artillery piece, the ordinary warship would probably be directly penetrated on the spot. If it were hit a few more times, it would not be unusual for it to be blown to pieces.
When the cannons on the fort began to counterattack, it was obvious that the progress of the Ming fleet was restricted.
After all, even if it is a solid bullet, if the size and range of the solid bullet are very alarming, then the threat these forts pose to the fleet will be enough to make Yu Dayou, Qi Jingtong and other generals afraid of them.
The speed of each battleship suddenly slowed down. Standing on a flagship, Yu Dayou ignored the water columns splashing around the flagship and used his telescope to clearly see the forts everywhere in the port.
"Inform me, general. The armies are fighting on their own. First, destroy those forts!"
As the order was passed on, soon the guns of the battleships were aimed at the forts on the shore.
Dozens of warships locked onto more than a dozen forts. It could be said that dozens of warships locked onto one fort.
With the roaring sound, a faint smoke of gunpowder filled the sea, and the fort was smashed hard towards the fort.
Suddenly, the forts everywhere were plunged into smoke. Even though they were mentally prepared, when the shells poured down like a heavy rain, the Spanish soldiers stationed in the fort were almost driven crazy by fright.
In less than a moment, the soldiers in the fort were either blown to death or shocked to death, or they were blown up while running and were buried in the ruins.
More than a dozen forts counterattacked frantically, and as a result, as many as three warships in the Ming fleet were hit. The only good thing is that the battle situation is very favorable to Ming. Even if a warship is damaged, it can retreat calmly.
If the damage is too serious to evacuate, the soldiers on the ship can still be transferred to other ships by taking small boats, so that both the people and the ship will not be lost.
In the port, watching their own fort's crazy counterattack, Si Dewen, General Levi and others were watching from a distance, with no joy at all on their faces.
All fools know that the forts in the port cannot move at all. They can be said to be fixed targets. If there are only a few warships attacking the port, it is naturally impossible to block these forts. But the Ming Dynasty has hundreds of them at once.
No matter how powerful the fort is, it cannot stop the siege of so many warships.
For two hours, more than a dozen forts held out for almost two hours before they were completely bulldozed. At this time, generals such as Si Dewen and Levi were also ready to fight in the port.
The fleet was destroyed, and the forts near the port were completely reduced to ruins. It can be said that the next step for the Ming Dynasty was to launch a landing operation.
General Levi and Si Dewen still had some confidence in the combat effectiveness of their infantry. They thought that when their soldiers opened up colonies overseas, hundreds of them would often chase thousands or even thousands of natives.
No matter how powerful the Ming Dynasty was, could it be said that it could still break through the defense line of tens of thousands of Spanish soldiers after landing?
General Levi narrowed his eyes and said with a bit of nervousness: "Here we come!"
It was at this time that small boats were seen being lowered from the large ships at the rear, followed by dozens of soldiers heading towards the port.
There were more than a thousand soldiers in the first batch of landing. For this reason, the Ming fleet used dozens of auxiliary ships to carry these soldiers to land.
"Covering artillery fire!"
Just when the Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses landed, a group of Spanish soldiers suddenly appeared on the shore of the port. These Spanish soldiers held blazing guns in their hands and aimed them at the densely packed boats on the boats not far away.
Figure shot.
The soldiers on the small boat that was about to land could be called elites, but facing the counterattack that these Spanish soldiers had already prepared, the offensive was temporarily affected to a certain extent.
However, at this moment, a roar was heard, followed by cannonballs hitting hard one by one.
Originally, these Spanish soldiers were prepared for a defensive battle, but after the unified bombardment, the soldiers defending in front of the port were blown to pieces one by one, and many soldiers were even frightened directly by the artillery fire.
Guts screamed and ran towards the back.
General Levi, who was leading a group of soldiers sitting in the rear, saw the figures escaping one after another. A cold look flashed in his eyes. He waved his hand at the soldiers beside him and said: "Anyone who escapes from the battle will be killed without mercy. Shoot them!"
"
Immediately, he saw that under General Levi's order, a deserter did not fall into the hands of Ming soldiers, but fell into the hands of his own general.
With artillery cover, it can be said that the defensive methods prepared by General Levi and others were not effective at all.
In less than an hour, the first line of defense completely collapsed. It can be said that these Spanish soldiers are really not the kind of people who have nothing to do but can be called elites. Otherwise, even if Levi is supervising the battle from the rear, he may not be able to survive the artillery fire.
hold fast.
At least in the opinion of Yu Dayou and Qi Jingtong, under the cover of artillery fire, they were able to capture the port's first line of defense in half an hour. Unexpectedly, it took nearly twice as long.
As General Levi issued the order to retreat with difficulty, the Spanish soldiers who had almost died in the first line of defense were almost in tears when they heard the retreat horn, and crawled out one by one as if they had been granted amnesty.
He got up and fled towards the back.
Finally, one transport ship after another landed, and groups of soldiers began to land on land in an orderly manner as quickly as possible.
After drifting at sea for almost half a year, these elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty finally felt the feeling of being down to earth.
Thousands of soldiers landed. After taking care of some of the Spanish soldiers who did not retreat, the army did not take the opportunity to launch a charge. Instead, it built a line of defense in front of the port and then welcomed the army's landing.
After all, the army dispatched by the Ming Dynasty this time had as many as 20,000 infantry soldiers, so 20,000 elite soldiers were nothing compared to the Ming Dynasty.
The key is in the West. Even countries as powerful as Spain and Portugal may not be able to casually dispatch tens of thousands of soldiers to march to countries thousands of miles away if they really want to mobilize.
After all, tens of thousands of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty would not even account for a dozen of the country's entire army, but it is different in the West. Twenty thousand soldiers is not a small number in any country, and some small countries even spend all their troops.
Even with all our strength, we may not be able to arm an army of 20,000 people.
As the sky darkens, from the time the army launched to attack the port to the destruction of the Spanish fleet, to the clearing of the forts in the port, and now the occupation of the frontier of the port, the sky is now dark, the sun is setting, and it will be night soon.
When the lights came on, all the soldiers on the ship moved to the port.
A few miles away, Si Dewen, General Levi and other Spanish generals were naturally not in a good mood at the moment. Almost half of the ports they guarded had been lost. For these soldiers, the country they guarded was at stake.
Throwing it away in your own hands would be a huge stain.
"Damn it, aren't these Ming people human? Their combat effectiveness is so strong. Looking around the countries around the Mediterranean, I'm afraid I can't find any country that can compare with it."
This was the emotion that a group of Spanish soldiers had after witnessing the Ming Dynasty's infantry formations and strict military discipline.
Si Dewen glanced at General Levi and said: "General Levi, how long do you think we can hold on and send reinforcements to the country?"
The other generals also looked at General Levi. They were very convinced of General Levi's judgment, so in this panic situation, all the generals wanted to hear what General Levi thought.
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General Levi glanced at Sidwen, narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said with a hint of encouragement on his face: "You don't have to be discouraged. Although the Ming Dynasty is very strong, our Kingdom of Spain is not weak either. Navy
The warships are not the fault of Ming Dynasty's naval rivals, but Ming's warships are simply too powerful. If they had been replaced by the same ships, Ming Dynasty's fleet would have been destroyed long ago."
To encourage the generals, General Levi could not tell them that in his opinion, their soldiers alone might not be able to stop it for too long.
If you say this, I am afraid that these generals will not have any confidence at all, and maybe even the army may collapse in an instant.
As night falls, there are very few examples of field battles in this era. Even elite armies generally do not engage in night battles, because if they are not careful, it may have a great impact. It may even turn an originally victorious war into a turn.
Victory becomes defeat.
In the early morning of the second day, as a red sun emerged from the sea, its light shone on the earth, and they had a delicious meal. After a night's rest, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had completed preparations to recharge their batteries. Every soldier was full of energy and full of expectations.
Look at Yu Dayou, Qi Jingtong and others.
As soon as Yu Dayou gave an order, he saw a famous general leading his soldiers straight towards the depths of the port.
"Woooooooooo..."
The desolate and urgent sound of the horn sounded in the harbor. The Spanish soldiers who had been preparing early were shocked when they heard the sound.
At the suggestion of General Levi, almost all the Spanish soldiers mobilized from all directions were gathered in the port.
Tens of thousands of Spanish soldiers were in the right place at the right time, but they failed because of their own insufficient artillery equipment.
"Delay it, we must delay it no matter what, the port cannot be lost, the Strait of Gibraltar must not be lost, otherwise we will never escape the military court."
General Levi just glanced at Si Dewen, who was muttering incessantly, and said: "Even if you want to go to a military court, you must first defend the port and save your own life."
While speaking, General Levi looked at the generals and said: "Gentlemen, I won't say much else. If the port is lost, the Strait of Gibraltar will definitely fall into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, there will be an uproar in the country. Your Majesty the King.
We will never be spared lightly, or even if we escape back to the capital, we will not be able to escape the trial of the military court."
General Levi's words made many generals look pale. They originally wanted to surrender, but the Strait of Gibraltar is too important. If it is really lost, even if they surrender, they will probably be redeemed in the future and become
A scapegoat to quell domestic grievances.
The ground shook slightly, and along with a burst of noise, groups of Ming soldiers were seen pouring into the depths of the port like a torrent, and the two groups suddenly met.
