Years later, Zheng Zhilong sent his fifth brother Zheng Zhibao to transport 30,000 soldiers and horses to the Spanish mainland. At this time, Jiexuan was just setting off with his troops to prepare for northern France. This did not stop the flow and ensured continued military pressure on the Western Barbarians. .
Including the original 50,000 people, the army in the Iberian Peninsula reached 80,000, accounting for more than half of the army under Zheng Zhilong's command.
There is nothing that can be done about it. The eldest son is leading an expedition for the first time, and the father must give him strong support. After all, a poor family has a rich life!
What's more, this is the established strategy of Emperor Haojing and the court. Besides, it can be used as a substitute for training, and by scraping some profit, it is equivalent to earning back the tuition fees.
The Zheng family has contributed to the imperial court for a long time, and this time it is considered a chance to repay the capital, and it can also improve the abilities of the eldest son, so that he can inherit the family business in the future. Zheng Zhilong will certainly not be stingy with troops, horses, and money.
Now that Zheng Zhilong is getting older, he no longer personally leads troops. He is basically in a semi-retired state and will officially retire in a few years.
What he left to his son was an army of 100,000 men, more than 60 armored ships, thousands of ocean-going merchant ships, and more than 50 million taels of working capital.
Coupled with the trade routes that reach the Ottomans in the west, North America in the east, New Zealand in the south, and Kamchatka in the north, as well as the shares of two golden mountains, I will definitely not worry about livelihood in the future.
Regarding his son, Zheng Zhilong only told Zheng Chenggong one thing, that is, to be a disciple of the emperor well. It is not difficult to be a disciple of the emperor for a day, but the difficult thing is to be a disciple well every day!
There is no doubt that Emperor Haojing was a wise emperor, and even surpassed the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di in terms of civil and martial arts.
The territory of the Ming Dynasty has reached an unprecedented scope. Counting the East (North America), South (Australia) and North (Xianbelia), it now exceeds the heyday of the Mongol and Yuan Dynasties, and it will be even more incredible in the future.
The most important thing is that the current scientific and technological strength and military strength of the Ming Dynasty are very different from those of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and previous dynasties.
In the past, the main threats to the Han Dynasty came from the north. If the Donglu were also classified as the "Great North".
However, after Emperor Haojing's efforts to govern and prepare for war, the severely damaged Donglu were driven away, and most of the impoverished Menggu had surrendered.
Now that the threat has been basically eliminated, and with the two epoch-making weapons of the railway and the tank, these former enemies will not be enough of a threat to the Ming Dynasty in the future.
With the rapid improvement of strength in all aspects, Ming Dynasty can only become stronger and stronger in the future, and its goal of dominating the world is not far away.
Zheng Zhilong initially cooperated with Emperor Haojing to make money, but later he gradually discovered that this partner's abilities were almost universal.
That is a real backer. I have been working hard for many years, and I have become a dignified Lord Zhenhai who is the envy of others!
He had never dared to think about such a glorious family affair before, especially since the eldest son had become the emperor's disciple.
The emperor's disciples are much more valuable than the duke, because they can learn real skills from real people.
As long as the Zheng family does not rebel in the future, it means that future generations will be blessed.
With all aspects arranged, Zheng Zhilong can live a long life.
Zheng Zhilong didn't dare to hope for a family with two fathers-in-law.
I just hope that my title can be passed on to my eldest son smoothly, and that would be the end of my biggest worry.
"Uncle Five!"
"success!"
"Your father asked me to bring you 30,000 troops and horses. However, we are short of horses. We only have troops plus some artillery and ammunition, as well as military rations, medicines, tents, and uniforms!"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. My nephew just purchased tens of thousands of war horses from France and the Ottomans. It's just the right time to support him!"
"How's the battle going?"
"There was a battle outside the city a month ago, and more than 100,000 Xiyi were killed and injured. After that, the Xiyi were too frightened to leave the city to fight, so I asked the soldiers to dig trenches around the city, besiege the Xiyi, and also besiege the city. Call for reinforcements.”
"Yeah! Very kind! If you can do something like this, your father will feel relieved back home. That Xiyi is so scheming, bloodthirsty and cruel, so be careful and don't underestimate the enemy!"
Zheng Zhibao came here this time, firstly to transport reinforcements to Zheng Chenggong, and secondly to conduct an on-site inspection.
If you don't see it with your own eyes, you won't be able to report the battle situation thousands of miles away to your eldest brother Zheng Zhilong when you go back.
"Please rest assured, Fifth Uncle. Since my nephew landed in Spain, he has adopted a steady and steady strategy to prevent the Western barbarians from taking advantage. At the moment, they don't even plan to use sieges and street fighting. They just besiege the city and bring reinforcements to trap the Western barbarians in the city."
Our troops are not fighting alone. News came from the north that Turena has led his troops to capture Barcelona, and is now leading a hundred thousand French troops to march straight in and besiege Zaragoza, another strategic town.
It can be said that at present, their own troops and the French army are echoing each other in the north and south, making the Spaniards overwhelmed. In the future, the situation will only become more and more favorable to them.
"Does the Western Yi have troops to relieve the siege?"
"Uncle Wu, don't worry. Northern Spain has been ravaged by 100,000 French troops. The southern coastal areas have been successively captured by the Marines led by Jiexuan. Now only the defenders in the central area are still resisting. If the reinforcements from the Western Yi don't come, there will be no danger. Now, when they come, they will never come back. Uncle Wu came at the right time to escort a large number of captives back to the mainland or the Nanyang gold mining area. These Westerners are strong and strong, but they are good miners! "
Zheng Chenggong has now captured many Xiyi, but firstly he lacks the escort troops, and secondly, the shipping ships are also nervous. When the fifth uncle comes, the problem is solved.
Even if only 300 ships come, 30,000 Westerners can be transported away.
There are tens of millions of Xiyi here. At worst, a foolish old man will move the mountains.
If you persist, you can always remove more than half of the local Xiyi.
"Haha, if that's the case, then Uncle Wu is welcome. This is our travel expenses!"
In fact, Zheng Zhibao didn't need this little money at all, he was just telling a joke to his nephew.
"Uncle Wu just sends people to load the ship. No need to be polite, you can load it as much as you want. Just be careful not to let Xi Yi die or get sick on the way, otherwise you will get twice the result with half the effort."
Anyway, there is nothing here now, but Xiyi has a lot. Uncle Wu doesn't mind it and can load it on the ship as he likes. It is regarded as a gift to the elders. Zheng Chenggong doesn't mind at all.
"Huh? Seriously?"
"It's absolutely true. If my fifth uncle was in his prime, he would be able to ride the Ocean Horse. It's just that I can't explain it to my aunts when I go back!"
"Hahahaha... How can I let Uncle Shung look down on me? I'm afraid that the foreign horse looks like a devil, which will make Uncle Wei extremely disgusted!"
Zheng Zhibao will not surrender to old age. At his age in the country, it is a good time to marry a teenage concubine!
"Please rest assured, Fifth Uncle, it will never happen. My nephew guarantees that the foreign horses here are authentic!"
Zheng Chenggong originally thought it was a joke, but he didn't expect that his uncle was really interested in it.
"Okay! Very kind! Then I'll just wait for the good news. Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to go back now that I'm here!"
Zheng Zhibao has been wandering at sea for several months. It must be a lie to say that he doesn't want women. As long as he still has the energy, he will naturally not refuse.
"Come here, invite all the high-quality foreign horses that have been captured to sing and dance for Uncle Wu!"
Zheng Chenggong immediately held a banquet in honor of his uncle who had come from afar. Although the local ingredients were not very rich, there was plenty of meat.
In order to besiege Madrid for a long time, Zheng Chenggong also sent people to raise a lot of livestock and poultry so that he could eat fresh meat at any time.
Don’t worry about Zhengzhouying. You can eat seafood every day on the Valencia coast.
This is a bit like Zheng Guangying's two expeditions to America with Jiexuan. The journey was hard, but when he came back, he not only didn't lose weight, but also gained weight.
The words they said were unpalatable to the ears. Shenzi beef was injured there, bison and domestic cattle ate it every meal...
Although tractors have been sold on a large scale in China, in many places in Fujian, the main force of plowing is still cattle.
There are very few meats on the market that include beef. It is simply unimaginable that tens of thousands of people on the fleet collectively feast on beef.
The cattle captured in the Northeast battlefield would naturally not be slaughtered. It was not until the Myanmar battlefield that Zheng Chenggong and others realized the content of Zheng Guangying's previous words.
Fighting overseas is simply a feast for the eyes, especially in enemy territory that does not need to be occupied. You can fight to support the war and eat and drink as you like.
And there is no need to worry about adverse effects, because Emperor Haojing, the respected master, also encouraged the officers and soldiers of the royal division to act in this way.
Eating all the barbarian livestock and poultry is also a blow to their strength!
Not to mention sending 50,000 troops, even if 50,000 losers are sent, it is still a terrible thing!
It's impossible to just give them rice. These 50,000 people need to eat meat. It's best if they can eat meat every meal!
At that time, Wallenstein had an army of 300,000 locusts. Wherever the army went, there was no wheat, and even the emperor was afraid.
In comparison, the Zheng army landed only 80,000 troops, but there were still so many sailors at sea.
The total should reach 150,000. Sailors also need to eat at sea.
Zheng Shengying heard that the Mediterranean is rich in tuna. After catching a few and tasting them, he felt that they tasted really good.
So when he couldn't catch the Spanish ship, he took the fleet to catch fish...
Don't think that this guy is really not doing his job properly. Everyone in the fleet needs to replenish nutrition at any time to ensure sufficient physical strength and morale, which adds up to combat effectiveness.
Fighting overseas thousands of miles away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, this was the only way to allow the soldiers to eat fresh meat without spending any money in their pockets.
The King of Ming Dynasty simply brought fishing nets with him wherever he went, especially the navy. Every ship was equipped with fishing nets for fishing at sea. This was an absolute guarantee of food!
Since the West lags far behind the Ming Dynasty in the materials used to make fishing nets, the fishing of medium-sized carnivorous fish such as tuna is not very successful.
This is even more true for the Ottoman side. This gives Zheng Shengying's fleet an advantage, almost all the way from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean...
The food outside the city is very good, but it is hard to say that in the city.
Carlos II's food was as good as ever, but Pingmin's food was far from rich.
Under the siege of yellow-skinned monkeys, it is difficult to find even fruits, vegetables and meat.
Every night there are people who choose to break out, including soldiers and Pingmin.
There may be a chance of survival if you go out, but if you stay in the city, you will be waiting for death.
Seeing the yellow-skinned monkeys digging trenches, the people in the city guessed that the opponent was going to besiege Madrid for a long time.
Especially after they suffered a disastrous defeat when they went out to fight against the city, and the reinforcements failed to arrive, even more people planned to go out of the city.
With the support of the Marquis of Bonifaz, Carlos II did not punish those who escaped and were beaten back halfway.
Even if you can escape, at least you can reduce food consumption.
Those who run back do not need to be punished, otherwise it will affect military morale and morale.
Because many of them are soldiers or even family members of the regular army, being severely punished can easily lead to mutiny.
It would not affect Carlos II, but everyone has broken through and even surrendered. Who will defend the royal family?
Madrid is so big that it cannot be defended without 100,000 people.
The current defensive strength is enough to block the opponent's strong attack.
But if the opponent does not attack, it will be a siege. At least it can make Carlos II hold on for a while.
As for what to do next, both the monarch and his ministers looked confused...
Especially after news came that Barcelona had been lost and the French army was besieging Zaragoza.
As the news spread in the city, the morale of the defenders became even lower.
Someone has already advised Carlos II to take advantage of the fact that the French army has not completely captured the northern part of the mainland.
You can break out of the siege first, and after arriving in A Coruña, take a boat to the Viceroyalty of the Americas.
The situation there should be much better than at home. At least the area is large enough to deal with the enemy.
There was only a small part of the empire. There were 100,000 French troops in the north and 100,000 yellow-skinned monkeys in the south.
It would be okay if the other party took the initiative to retreat, but it would be terrible if they refused to retreat and insisted on destroying the empire.
Carlos II had already sent someone to tentatively ask Turena, and the other party's answer was simple.
The Spanish mainland will be annexed to the French mainland, and the Viceroyalty of New Spain will be annexed to New France!
As for the Spaniards up here…
Judging from the current war situation, there should be no Spaniards on these two pieces of land in the future!
Is this answer cruel enough?
After conquering Barcelona, the morale of the French army was high, and Turenne had the confidence to say this.
Even if Barcelona is not defeated, Turena will not bow to Spain, let alone make compromises and concessions.
The French army did not go deep alone, but with the cooperation of allies. The two armies launched operations at the same time, attacking Spain from the north and the south.
Not only in Spain itself, the troops of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in North America had only been fighting yellow-skinned monkeys.
After Prince Condé arrived in New France, he led tens of thousands of French troops southward.
The Prince of Condé was not the one to sit back and enjoy the success. First there were Boudes and then Turenne, both of whom were the king's favorite generals.
He was so squeezed that he had no choice but to finally reach North America. If he could lead his own troops to fight, of course he would have to fight in a big way.
Now the Viceroyalty of New Spain was under attack, and the war in the Viceroyalty of Peru continued.
The mainland was besieged by the French army and yellow-skinned monkeys again, let alone the Apennine Peninsula.
Carlos II can only stare at the map in a daze every day. The current situation is worse than during the European War.
The British ally has too much time to take care of itself and will not come to its aid at all.
If you have to rely on yourself for everything, it will be very difficult to reverse the current decline...
