"Ahh ”

A short and fat man beside him replied, "Yes, yes, my commission will be ...... the day after tomorrow" He calculated for a while, and finally came up with an answer, "Two taels of silver every ten days, which is almost two ducats!" ”

"Simao, my five-year-old nephew is faster than you." Someone laughed at him, and then sighed, "If only this comfortable life could last forever." ”

"Hehe, stop dreaming." A little farther away, a middle-aged man took a puff of his pipe and waved his hand, "These Orientals have never been in a loss-making business. ”

He glanced at the more than three hundred Portuguese mercenaries behind the earthen ramparts, "There are five mercenary teams here, plus dozens of Franc Mechanic naval soldiers, and the governor surnamed Ding will pay more than two thousand taels of silver a month.

"The fact that he can be so generous shows that it will definitely not be an easy battle that awaits us."

"Bento is right."

As a tall, curly-haired officer approached, the mercenaries, who had been looking lazy just a moment ago, immediately straightened their heads and saluted him, "Lieutenant Fausto." ”

Fausto pointed to the east, "Get ready for me." There is information that the auxiliary king of the country led a force of 4,000 men, and last night he had passed through Longmen County, oh, about a hundred lorries from here. ”

He said that a hundred lorries were about 160 miles.

"Oh, Deus! That's how the good days are over......" Blanco muttered quietly.

Fausto tapped his scabbard on his thigh and said in a loud voice: "Prepare enough lead bullets, polish the cannon, receive the fire rope in advance, and the earthen ramparts should be made higher!"

"If you want to get the reward for victory, cheer me up!"

According to the contract between these mercenaries and Ding Kuichu, every ten days, the commission will be increased by one percent, the commission for participating in the battle will be doubled, and the commission will be doubled if the battle is won.

The Portuguese around him excitedly replied, "Yes, sir! ”

When the lieutenant was far away, Simon rubbed his fat hand and said, "It seems that there are many enemies......

"It's not like you've never seen an army of the Orientals," Blanco pouted disdainfully, "the tactics are old, the weapons are inferior, and they are undisciplined. ”

"That's right." A swarthy man named Nunez rubbed the Spanish heavy musket in his hand and continued, "They have always lined up in a messy formation. The musketeers would only hide behind the fortifications, and they would also carry light arquebuses of half an ounce - the kind commonly used by the Colonial Patrolmen.

"I've heard that even the commissions paid to us are stolen from their own civilians. This kind of army does not have to worry at all. ”

The self-righteous Portuguese had apparently confused the Dragon Guard with the old Ming army.

He also pointed to Tong Yizhen's camp outside Guangzhou, "Besides, we don't have more than 3,000 Orientals here......

Only Bento shook his head slightly, "But the news I heard, this auxiliary king seems to be very difficult. It is said that he defeated the 20,000-strong army of the governor of Ding in Fujing with an army of 6,000 men. ”

"Hey, you're worrying too much." Nunez laughed, "I used to follow the army of this empire to suppress rebellions in the north, and those rebels who claimed to be able to defeat ten times the empire's forces," he said, glancing at Blanco, "there were more than two thousand, and we only had two hundred and thirty men.

"The result? Defeated them in half an afternoon! ”

Blanco immediately nodded and said, "These Orientals are all the same. It doesn't matter if it's a rebel or an auxiliary king, as long as they keep shooting steadily, they will soon be scattered. ”

Bento no longer answered, and vigorously wiped the twelve-pounder cannon he was responsible for, and his gaze casually swept over the Pearl River not far away. There were seven or eight sentinel boats patrolling back and forth on the river, each with a Franc cannon fixed on a wooden frame at the bow and stern.

He knew that there were dozens of similar armed patrol boats, and even two large boats of more than a hundred loads, hoping that they would keep the army of the auxiliary king at bay across the river. He hadn't been home for four or five years, and now his biggest wish was to go home to see his two sons after the battle safely.

……

"No, General, you must deploy your army along the line of defense along the river." Lieutenant Fausto said to Tong Yi solemnly, "When the enemy has just landed on the west bank of the Pearl River, it is our best chance!" ”

Tong Yizhen listened to the translation, but his eyes were full of hesitation.

He had seen the combat effectiveness of the Longwei Army in Jiangxi, and a while ago, Zhu Linmiao annihilated the main force of the 20,000 Cantonese army in Fujing.

With 3,000 men and horses in his hands and more than 300 Frankie mercenaries, he was not confident that he could defeat Zhu Linmiao's army.

It was because he had always planned to garrison Guangzhou and defend the city. For this reason, he also specially grabbed four or five months' worth of grain and grass.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Fausto hurriedly said: "Don't forget, the real focus can be in Wuzhou!" ”

Tong Yizhen was stunned when he heard this. A few days ago, Ding Dutang had sent a strict order to him to stop the imperial army in Guangzhou.

He has already heard the rumors, Lord Ding may have a big move recently, and the two Guang are likely to change the sky. At that time, he can also be regarded as a hero from the dragon, just waiting to soar into the sky.

But all this must first ensure that the auxiliary king's men and horses cannot attack Wuzhou in a short time, as long as "that" inherits the unification, maybe He Tengjiao, Sha Dingzhou and others will take Wuzhou as the right one.

At that time, reinforcements from Huguang and Yunnan will come in a steady stream, and the troops from Korea, Jiangxi and Fujian will not be opponents.

While he was thinking about it, he heard Fausto say again: "If the general insists on defending the city, the enemy army is likely to bypass Canton and continue westward, and then we will have to go out of the city to intercept it, and finally we can only fight a decisive battle in the place they have chosen."

"Do you think that the defense along the river or the field battle, which one has a greater chance of winning?"

When Tong Yizhen heard that he was going to open a decisive battle with the Dragon Guard, he couldn't help but feel a spirit-Su Ping's corpse was just cold, and his 20,000 troops were not opponents, let alone himself?

"Please rest assured, general, our mercenaries are the elite of countless battles." Fausto didn't say nonsense, if he didn't have any ability in his hands, daring to come to the Far East to pan for gold was no different from sending him to death.

He continued: "There are your patrol gunboats on the Pearl River, but the enemy has no warships to match them. Therefore, except for the narrowest section at the southern end of the Pearl River, if they want to force their way from elsewhere, they will definitely be sunk by patrol boats.

"I also brought three twelve-pounder guns. We relied on earth ramparts to hold the southern section of the Pearl River, and if that auxiliary king tried to force his way through, these cannons and my musketeers would surely make him regret it! ”

Tong Yizhen hesitated again and again when he heard this, and felt that this Franky person had analyzed it reasonably, as long as he stubbornly guarded the Pearl River ferry, he would indeed have a great chance of dragging it to Wuzhou.