"Are they worried that I will attack Lisbon?"

In the towering Belém Tower at the mouth of the river, in the tall and narrow window, Fu Yuan's arm holding a silver dice pipe supported the marble window sill, and the salty sea breeze was blowing on his face, he spread out his palms in surprise and said, "I don't understand, why do you think like this." ”

The tall, narrow windows of this lonely tower with no glass or paper were used as a fort and military fortress for a long time, and it was not designed to contain any expensive windshields, and no general had ever been here to preside over military affairs.

Ordinary soldiers, do you need glass?

Fu Yuan is also not required.

He valued its location, with the solitude of the shallow sea at high tide and the road looming at low tide, the five-story Manueline tower and the lower level of the ramparts that could house sixteen guns and two hundred soldiers, and the fortress made entirely of thick marble was reassuring, despite the abundance of stone ropes or religious patterns inside and out.

Standing in front of Fu Yuan was Acosta, a former Peruvian viceroyalty monk and a staff member of the King of Spain, who did not directly answer Fu Yuan's words, but just saluted with his fists and stretched out his arms out of the window, facing the west.

In the direction of his arm, hundreds of warm brown military tents were densely and orderly arranged on the golden sand.

In the past, the military tents carried by the Beiyang Army to the east have been rotten or rotten or rotten in the humid and insect-ridden environment of Mexico, and later a batch of military tents prepared by Wu Qingbo Li Wei are too inferior in quality, so the military tents they use now are all produced in Changsheng counties.

In order to cope with the upcoming autumn and winter season in Europe, the Oriental Military Government prepared new canvas military tents, thick woolen blankets and quilts for them; These military supplies are different from the color of the past, using a special plant dye from the aborigines of North Asia, dyed in a warm brown color, in addition to the color is similar to the beach, the biggest feature is that it is moth-proof.

It is difficult to prepare for an expedition across latitude and longitude, and the biggest disadvantage of military supplies is that they are thick and impermeable, so that the flag army is not very happy to be held in the military tent when it first enters autumn, and at this moment Fu Yuan looked along Acosta's arm.

Soldiers dressed in neat military uniforms and bright cuirasses were divided into small flags, four in front and five in two rows, facing the city of Lisbon, in the same posture - the waist knife was hung on the left side of the body, and the bulging rucksack and water bottle were placed next to it, and the bird gun was placed forward on the right side of the body, and the helmet was pressed on top of the bird gun, and they sat cross-legged in silence.

At the front of each small banner are three people sitting with their backs to the city, and from their helmets it can be seen that the official positions are small flag officer, deputy flag officer, and propaganda officer, looking at their appearance, some are holding grenades, small flag arrows or bird guns to tell what the flag army under their command is talking about, and some are drawing with a spear as a pen in the sand.

There are only three kinds of people who can walk on the beach, one is the chief flag officer with a flag behind him; the other kind of pennant on the back is the herald; The last ones don't have flags on them, but their armor and helmets are different from the others.

The helmets of the Beiyang infantry were no longer used, and instead were helmets with more patterns on the brim and long red ponytail tassels, and the cuirass was more decorated, and the lower edge of the lower abdomen revealed a purple cotton iron armor skirt and two bright red belts that fell to the knees.

They are the pillars of the army, and the communication between the upper and lower levels constitutes the independent combat capability of the Beiyang Banner Army.

The beach and the city in the distance are pulled out by the wooden fence and the prefabricated iron net to be intermittent and distinct for 400 steps, the wooden fence is a prefabricated wooden square used by the baggage ship to carry a small amount of bridge, and the iron net is a simple iron wire, made by the Makino Ordnance Bureau, each boat carries a few rolls, in case of accidents such as reinforcing the mast during the voyage.

The wooden fence was defenseless, and although the Banner Army sappers would pin on it, it was not a battlefield, but only to prevent the Spaniards from approaching the camp in an easier way and causing a conflict.

Fu Yuan was very satisfied with the performance of his banner army, but the more satisfied he was with the flag army, the more dissatisfied he was with the accusations that Acosta had come to convey from Philip's court: "I have tried my best to restrain my subordinates, they have been kept on the ship by me for two whole months, and only half a day to disembark in the Azores, and now Fu must give each of them five days to be ashore, just this sandy land." ”

When it comes to the ups and downs of the sea for two months, even Fu Yuan, who has an independent captain's room, has palpitations, and the mentality of the flag army crammed into the small flag cabin can be imagined.

You, do you think His Royal Highness blames you for restraining the soldiers?

My legionnaires from Great Spain walked to Lisbon, not to mention sitting quietly, as long as they didn't burn the suburbs on fire, thank God, what was there not to be satisfied with?

This is not an exaggeration, as they did so during the brief campaign in which the Duke of Alva led his men through Portugal.

Their king, who had just repaid the interest on a few bankers' loans during the two years of the Mingxi trade, had reduced the arrears of wages from the general six months to one year to three months, the great progress that had just been made this year.

The Spanish Legion was never known for its strict military discipline.

Acosta withdrew his arm from the windowsill and looked like he wanted to slap twice in front of him, but he just waved his hands meaninglessly in front of him, and finally he rubbed his forehead and said, "In fact, it is the well-trained soldiers of the Ming Empire that makes the palace generals nervous. ”

"I know that you send your best soldiers to the ship, but others do not know, and I say that they do not believe it either, and that people fear that you are going to France under the pretext that your real purpose is to attack Lisbon or all of Spain...... You have too many armies. ”

"Even if the general only sent two thousand men ashore, there were a thousand soldiers and a fleet on standby in the port, and two sub-fleets at sea to control the access to the sea, not to mention the intelligence from the Azores, where the Ming army occupied two islands; And when you landed on the shore, you requisitioned the Belém Tower, drove the company stationed here ten miles away, and occupied the beach; Let Spain prepare to carry a heavy burden but still do not meet the king to this day, the court can hardly believe that the Ming fleet came without hostility. ”

Alas!

Fu Yuan let out a long sigh, looked at Acosta, an old acquaintance who was running for the king, put down his pipe and patted him on the shoulder, smiled helplessly, and then said: "If the two countries were to go to war, they would have started a war a long time ago, when Alva was still in Mexico City, you knew that our reinforcements had arrived, if you wanted to attack Spain, wouldn't it be the best opportunity to defeat the 30,000 veterans of the West in a war at that time?" ”

"Every year, the Mingxi trade is not only made by your king, but also by the Oriental military government; In the past, King Philip couldn't make so much money by governing the country, and we couldn't make so much money even if we fought Spain, so why go to war, isn't it good to make money together and spend it? ”

The reason why Fu Yuan laughed was because before he set out for the expedition, he found the Western military training book captured in the early years and read it twice, and his extreme disdain for the Spanish Navy also happened at that time.

Not to mention that Chen Mu's order to him was not to attack Spain, even if he was asked to attack Spain, he would have a light enemy mentality towards the Spanish Navy; This light enemy did not come from the ship, but from a subtle rule: the Spanish ship had two systems of command, one for sailors and one for the army.

In the event of war, sailors, sailors, and armies must take part in the battle; However, sailors and sailors were not allowed to pick up weapons until the battle began.

This regulation can already reveal a lot of things.

Limited to Fu Yuan's understanding of the character and experience of the seafarers in Spain and Portugal, the army was on board with weapons and firearms, and I was afraid that in addition to broadside battles and landing operations, it would also have to be ready to deal with the rebellion of the crew at any time.

"Fu Mou is also in military affairs, the matter of visiting the king should wait for me to return, please rest assured that King Philip will not lead troops to stay in Lisbon for more, as long as the western country has enough food and grass and the flag army is on vacation, I will leave for Beishan immediately."