"Major López," Du Chen turned and nodded to the officer, "the enemy is more than 4,000 people, and according to Kasro, they are very different from the previous Ming army, and it seems that their combat effectiveness is not weak. ”

"Four thousand Orientals." López shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Your Excellency the Governor, when 2,000 Helan soldiers and more than a dozen warships attacked Macao, we had fewer men than we do now. What did it end up with? We still relied on the walls and artillery to drive them away.

"What we are worried about is that the Ming Kingdom will cut off our food and fresh water sources, and we have had to give in because of this in the past."

"They're going to do it again this time." Du Chen said in frustration.

"No, this time is different." López immediately said, "My lord, did you forget that Alfredo's three-ship boat was parked in the inner harbor?" ”

Alfredo? Du Chen immediately reacted, this is a Spanish businessman, a while ago the Ming Kingdom bought grain at a high price, he entered three major ships to transport goods to Zhao'an.

Unexpectedly, as soon as his ship was halfway through, the news came that the Helan people had killed the Spanish merchant ship at sea. He was unwilling to give up the big deal easily, so he temporarily berthed the ship in the port of Macao, and paid a berthing fee for it.

"What does the major mean?"

"This grain was requisitioned during wartime. Enough for our soldiers and helpers to eat for more than four months. ”

"But it will anger the Spaniards."

"Lord Governor, I think this is possible." "As long as we can get Macau permanently, we can even compensate Alfredo three or four times as much, and he should be satisfied."

"It's nothing compared to what we're going to do in the Far East.

"And in my judgment, we're going to use only a small portion of it. I believe that in a month at most, Governor Ding will definitely make a big move in Wuzhou. At that time, the arrogant auxiliary king had to withdraw his troops to deal with the emperor of Guangxi. ”

Du Chen looked at the confident eyes of his two subordinates, one scholar and one martial arts, and nodded slowly: "It seems that this is the only way."

"Major López, I authorize you to requisition the grain from the Spanish merchant ships and bring them into the city with troops. In addition, prepare more fresh water and ammunition to prepare for the defense of the city. ”

He also instructed Kasro, "I will leave the matter of negotiating with the Ming Court to you, and try to find a way to delay the enemy's pace." ”

"Yes, Lord Governor."

Seeing them turn around, Du Chen hesitated a little and said, "If, Governor Ding......" he swallowed and spat, "If we fail to win the war, then we will be in big trouble." ”

"Your Excellency, you're too worried." "Governor Ding's main force is more than 16,000 people, and thousands of reinforcements from Yunnan have recently arrived. With such superior forces, it shouldn't be a problem to defeat that auxiliary king. ”

López also added on the side: "The batch of heavy artillery purchased by Ding Kuichu has been shipped away in more than ten days, and it should arrive in Wuzhou soon." Even if so many cannons are handed over to idiots, they can easily defeat four thousand Orientals. ”

When the two said this, they couldn't help but look at each other with confidence and smile.

……

At noon the day after Carlos left, the main force of the all-mule and horse-driven Dragon Guard had galloped through the lotus stem artery connecting Xiangshan and Macao, looking at the city of Macau.

What appeared in Zhu Linmi's telescope was a small city of sixty or seventy zhang square.

The city wall is built with mud, gravel, grass ash mixed with oyster shell powder, the height is only about two zhang, but the thickness is one zhang two or three, and the side facing outward is obviously inclined plane, at first glance it is used to defend against cannons.

The main challenge to the Portuguese in Macao came from the Dutch and the British, who often arrived in warships and carried a large amount of artillery to attack the city.

As for the Ming Dynasty, it was not an imaginary enemy of the Portuguese at all. On the one hand, they still have to do business with the Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, they are also more afraid that the Xiangshan government will cut off water and food to them, so they mainly use bribery and deception to deal with the Ming Dynasty.

Fortunately, the Portuguese did not build a fortress here, and it seems that they did not dare to be too presumptuous. Zhu Linmiao carefully observed the structure of the city wall of Macao, although there were nearly ten cannons on each side of the city wall, but it was indeed a single-story structure, and it was much simpler than a multi-layered defensive fortress if it was really attacked.

Not far away, Zhang Jiayu came quickly, and when he got closer, he saluted and said, "My lord, the army has set up camp in Qili north of the city. ”

He looked at the city wall of Macao again, and continued: "My lord, these Hongyi have no intention of agreeing to your request at all. At noon, Yi people came to send three thousand taels of silver to their subordinates, and asked their subordinates to advise the adults not to attack the city, but they were scolded back by their subordinates. It is said that they went to Xuanqing to pay bribes again......

"If the thief's heart is not dead, let's attack the city immediately, why give them a two-day deadline?"

Zhu Linmiao nodded and said, "I know that Yiren will not be easy to comply. They have been entrenched in Macao for hundreds of years, and they have long regarded this place as their own thing, and they will not leave without suffering a little.

"I left these two days for the Long Wei army to march and repair, so that the Guangzhou coastal defense and inspection of the history of the sea road will have time to lead the army to come."

He patted Zhang Jiayu on the shoulder again and said with a smile: "But what Yuanzi did is very inappropriate." ”

Zhang Jiayu hurriedly said: "Please also make it clear." ”

"Francophone Baba came to give us military pay, but you refused, how chilling." Zhu Linmiao said, "You immediately order, as long as they come to send money, they will all accept it and hand it over to you." When I went back to build Macau, there were many places where I used money. ”

Zhang Jiayu was stunned for a moment, and arched his hand: "My lord, then we won't attack the city?" ”

"What did Motoko say?" Zhu Linmiao pretended to be serious and said, "Macao is my Ming land, how can I allow foreign people to steal it?" If you should fight, you have to fight! ”

"Yes, my subordinates understand."

To say that the Portuguese were sincere enough, until half an hour before the Dragon Guard army began to attack the Portuguese city of Macau, someone sent Xia Fu more than 2,000 taels of silver first. So far, a total of more than a dozen officers of the Dragon Guard Army have received bribes, totaling nearly 40,000 taels.

Of course, during the period, there were also Xiangshan Zhixian, Yongmo General Bing and others to advise Zhu Linmiao, saying that "Hongyi is humble and respectful, or can be polite and educated".

Zhu Linmiao drove them away directly, and then ordered Jinyi Weinan Town to carefully investigate the bottom of these people.

……

As Zhu Linmiao expected, the two-day deadline had arrived, and the Portuguese did not say anything at all, but could see a large number of soldiers gathered at the head of the city, ready to start the battle with real guns and ammunition.

Under the city of Macau, Zhu Linmiao looked at the pocket watch and said to Zhang Jiayu: "Start attacking the city." ”

"Yes!"

At the same time, the Guangzhou Haiphong Tongzhi, who was supposed to be in charge of Macao's defense, was also ordered by Zhu Linmiao to bring five or six hundred soldiers with him to block all roads leading to Macao and prohibit anyone from entering or leaving.