In September of the first year of the Apocalypse, Captain Barbasa, a representative of the Portuguese East India Company, came to Weihai with five ships and met with Marquis Ping Liao, hoping to go to Japan with this "upright and friendly gentleman" to promote the Catholic cause.
Captain Barça brought five warships, sixty cannons, two thousand flintlock muskets, five hundred Portuguese soldiers, and ten black girls on this trip.
In the Wendeng County government office, the "upright and friendly gentleman" chose to accept the artillery and blunderbuss, but declined several black girls.
As soon as Captain Barcelona met Marquis Pingliao, he began to talk endlessly about their battle with the Spaniards last year:
We fought with the Spaniards in Cabares last October. In that battle, two hundred of our troops were killed, and those who survived were driven away by the Spanish cavalry sent from Badajoz. We retreated to Austria. When Levensa arrived, he still brought with him the loot he had robbed in Barcaro, but he was not very excited about it...
The Portuguese Empire was losing ground in colonies around the world. It was either beaten hard by the newly-rising England, bullied by the old empire Spain, and expelled by the Japanese shogunate in Asia. It was in an embarrassing situation.
Liu Zhaosun looked at the dejected colonial leader in front of him and waved his hand to interrupt his chatter.
"Mr. Barcelona, please stop talking for now. I know nothing about these geography, and I don't know much about the war between your country and Spain. We are in Ming Dynasty now, so let's talk about the things in front of us."
The matter at hand is how to deal with Japan, how to land and occupy Kyushu Island, and how to return the pagan Tokugawa Hidetada to the right path of believing in God.
The Portuguese rubbed his big nose, said sorry to Marquis Pingliao in a low voice, and began to discuss the combat operation to land in Kyushu.
"We will provide you with five warships to cut off the Dutch's reinforcements to the shogunate, that is, to blockade the Japanese country."
Liu Zhaosun expressed doubts about the current strength of the Portuguese East India Company. After all, they have been in decline for a long time, but their combat power must not be too bad.
He is not ignorant of the heinous crimes committed by the Portuguese in the South China Sea, but the enemy of his enemy is his friend. When besieging a maritime country like Japan, it is always good to have an extra ally.
"Marquis Pingliao, I heard that the shogunate has issued a proclamation. They have sophisticated weapons, more warriors than sand, and bullets like leaves. I wonder if you can defeat these heretics?"
Liu Zhaosun looked at Barcelona in surprise. He did not expect that he would receive a message from the shogunate as far away as Macau. It is no wonder that in this era, the Japanese red seal ship has traveled all over the East Asian seas, and can be said to be the overlord of this sea area.
Of course Liu Zhaosun had read Tokugawa Hidetada's message to the Korean King Li Hui, but he just took it as a joke. The text is as follows:
The Japanese general who conquered the barbarians would like to answer the question of the king of Korea. The various Taoists in our country have been separated for a long time, abolishing the laws and regulations, and obstructing the emperor's orders. A generation of generals who conquered the barbarians were so angry that they armed themselves with military equipment and marched westward to the east. Within a few years, they conquered more than 120 countries. Xiu Zhong was in the mother's womb. The mother dreamed that the sun was in her arms. The person who dreamed of it said: "Wherever the sun comes, it will be penetrating. In the prime of life, it will shine with the eight powers." 'Therefore, if you follow your father, you will win in battle, and you will capture when you attack. Nowadays, the country is under rule, the people are rich and wealthy, and the imperial capital is prosperous, unparalleled in the past and ancient times. My wife has lived in this world for less than a hundred years since ancient times. How can I live here in depression for a long time? I want to guide your country through the mountains and seas, and go straight into the Ming Dynasty, so that all its four hundred states can be converted into customs, so that the king can govern for hundreds of millions of years. This is how I show my loyalty and ambition. All the overseas vassals, those who came to serve were not released. If your country repairs envoy coins first, the emperor will highly praise it. On the day Hideyoshi entered the Ming Dynasty, he led his soldiers to the military camp and thought that I would lead the way. "
This memorandum was basically copied from what Toyonari Hideyoshi wrote to North Korea when he launched the Imjin Japanese Rebellion more than 20 years ago. Tokugawa Hidetada only changed a few words and made it his own.
"I also sent a memorandum to the Emperor of Japan. In the memorandum, I ordered him to immediately kill the Lord of the Kaga Domain, kill the shogun, and apologize to me. In this way, his life may be spared."
Captain Basa saw that Marquis Pingliao was full of murderous intent and quickly prayed to God to ask the Lord to forgive this fanatical war maniac.
Liu Zhaosun explained to the Portuguese:
"The place where they (Yamato people) live has frequent volcanoes and earthquakes. In addition, they are densely populated and have excessive pressure to survive. Therefore, their thoughts are abnormal. What the shogunate does is not something that civilized people like you and me can understand. This point, I hope the Barcelona captain understands."
After that, he raised the blood-red wine and clinked the glasses with the Portuguese, setting the tone for the joint military action between the two sides.
"After this is accomplished, you can continue to preach and do business in Japan. There will no longer be any infidels like Tokugawa Hidetada who will stop you, and no Dutch or British will come to you. The business interests will also be re-divided by us, and the Dutch will , the British must stay away from East Asia, I only want the territory of Kyushu, which is an integral part of the Ming Dynasty."
When Captain Basa heard that "the ownership of Edo also belongs to the Ming Dynasty", he had already begun to sympathize with the shogun who lived in Edo City.
"The Japanese people live like pigs and dogs, eating chaffy vegetables, and even the rice is eaten by samurai and daimyo. The life of the people at the bottom is similar to that of beggars in Lisbon. They need God and the Kaiyuan Army."
In the past few years, the Portuguese church power in Japan has been continuously squeezed. There were originally 500,000 or 600,000 Japanese Catholic believers at its peak, but now there are less than 10,000 left.
In the original history, these believers were like frightened birds, hiding in various vassals. Until the eve of the Meiji Restoration, there were still a large number of them lurking in Japan. .
"Marquis Pinliao said it very well. Please allow me to thank you on behalf of the King of Portugal. You are Portugal's best friend."
Liu Zhaosun chuckled and ended the meeting:
"On October 6th, the war officially begins. I hope you can show your European knight style and educate those barbaric Japanese monkeys."
Over the next few days, Marquis Pingliao took his Portuguese allies on a tour of his brand new fleet, and Captain Bassa was horrified after witnessing a Ghost of Tsushima exercise.
In the inherent impression of Captain Barcelona, neither the Ming Dynasty navy nor the southeastern pirate forces used artillery very much. The only way to fight was to gather together, approach the enemy ship, throw a large amount of lime to blind the enemy's eyes, and then launch the ship from the bow. Lou threw flaming spears on his head made of various hardwoods, which he used as javelins. Some Ming armies also used large quantities of stones.
Anyway, once they got close enough to the enemy ship, the battle immediately kicked into high gear as they were able to engage in a boarding battle.
However, the combat power displayed by the fleet in this landing exercise was far beyond his knowledge.
Liu Zhaosun ignored the stunned blond Portuguese captain, pointed to the deck, called a recruit, and questioned him in front of his chief officer:
"The ship is moving slowly and arrives at the combat position late. What should we do?"
The tanned recruit immediately replied:
"If the ship sails late and arrives late, behead the boss and helmsman!"
Liu Zhaosun asked again: "What if we get stranded?"
The soldier replied: "If you encounter someone who is weak, kill him and pull him back!"
"The ship arrived first. What should we do if we don't fight for fear of the enemy?"
"The ship arrives first and does not shoot directly at the pirate ship. If it passes by, behead the commander and helmsman! Kill them!"
·······
Liu Zhaosun nodded with satisfaction, and Meng Jinbao, standing next to him, wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"What's your name? Any position in the fleet?"
"Coming back to Commander, the younger one's name is Huang Erduo, and he is a No. 2 flat-armor sailor."
