Chapter 555: The Ming-Portuguese War (9)

For heavy cannons, an unprepared gun position does not meet proper firing standards. So before the cannons even reached their designated positions, soldiers wearing engineer armbands and artillery armbands had already moved ahead to the positions and begun emergency ground preparation.

Historically, after the Later Jin troops recruited the Liaozhou Rebels and obtained Kong Youde's forces' 18-pounder heavy cannons, they gained the strategic capability to storm fortresses.

However, for a primitive force like the Later Jin, using Western naval cannons was naturally extremely troublesome. Before each shot, they not only had to dig earth and build up a mound at the muzzle, but after firing they also spent even more time repositioning and using wedges to fix the cannon in place — utterly inefficient.

As a result, forget about any hit rate — they could only use them to bombard enemy city walls during a siege, or blindly fire at large enemy formations during a major battle.

The cannons produced by the transmigrator were naturally not that crude. Although they were all naval heavy cannons, and the ones being used to attack the city today were 24-pounder heavy cannons, these high-grade goods came with a full set of accessories — gun carriage, self-developed recoil spade, and even various elevation and sighting systems, all complete.

However, the preparation work for high-grade goods was still quite tedious. After the three siege cannons were in place, it took nearly half an hour before they entered firing condition.

At this, Sha Ying had a blade pressed to the Portuguese man's chest, and the people inside the fort were stricken with panic.

Throughout the entire process of the heavy cannons traveling and getting into position, the Portuguese had not actually been idle — they organized several waves of counterattacks. Yet no matter the counterattack, they all shamefully failed in the face of the rifled guns and elite marksmen waiting in full battle array. After all, a deal where you die the moment you show your head is not something just anyone can keep doing indefinitely.

The Portuguese's greatest achievement was self-taught: using the method learned from the black uncles of later generations — holding guns high and firing blindly without exposing their heads — like a blind cat bumping into a dead rat, they caused a small number of casualties among the siege troops. Unfortunately, this was the limit of what the Portuguese could do. In this round, they were soundly defeated in the confrontation with fresh troops and missed the best opportunity to suppress the siege.

While the Portuguese were burning with anxiety, He Rubin, watching the battle from far in the rear, likewise saw that the Portuguese cause was already lost.

During the earlier standoff, He Rubin himself had actually been quite nervous. He had already recognized the formidable aspects of the barbette, yet with his store of knowledge, he could not find a solution.

He never expected that during this standoff, the Portuguese would be utterly suppressed by that bunch of "stray soldiers and wanderers," completely unable to fight back, until the cannons arrived at their doorstep. Now anyone could see that the "Ming Army" was actually handling things with ease and held an overwhelming advantage.

And this was precisely where He Rubin's frustration lay: he had already vaguely realized that his own side was outdated. This struggle between the Red-haired People and the Cao Family troops was like two giants wrestling, containing its own internal logic. What looked like casual, long-distance gesturing was in truth far more lethal and formidable than the Great Ming's methods of war!

Exhaling softly, he lowered the thousand-li lens in his hand. He Rubin once again took out his handkerchief and wiped the faint cold sweat from his forehead. "I never imagined firearms tactics could be employed to this extent. Today has truly opened my eyes — it is I, this general, who have been making a fuss over nothing!"

"If Your Excellency is interested, after this matter concludes, you may visit the camp to observe and offer your appraisal and guidance."

Zhang Dongdong's words were no longer modest. They were not afraid of you coming to study; they were only afraid you would shut the country in isolation and cling to your outdated ways. The more you studied, the more you would understand its power, and the less impulsive you would be in the future.

Hearing this, He Rubin showed no displeasure; instead, he nodded very solemnly. "I shall indeed have to impose upon you for a time."

Just as the two big shots were in discussion, the sound of cannon fire rang out from the front. The very first shot blasted open the main gate of the Fortaleza do Monte's outer fort.

The outer fort was a structure the Portuguese added after the situation deteriorated. The most important function of this kind of outer fort was to protect the main gate of the fort; in the Ming country, such a structure was called a barbican.

The outer fort was rectangular — essentially a courtyard enclosed by three walls. Although it was a temporary structure with very thin walls, this kind of construction was very effective in traditional siege warfare. The attacking side could not observe whether the enemy troops inside the city were sallying forth, and even if they fought their way into the outer fort, they would still come under three-dimensional attack from above and the front.

Before this, to show deference, the Fortaleza do Monte the Portuguese built not only had a main gate facing the direction of the Ming country, but also had no cannons placed on its walls. Now, all of this had become a problem, though the Portuguese had done their best to make amends.

Yet all the patchwork seemed so powerless before the 24-pounder long-barreled heavy cannons.

The 24-pounder cannon, at a straight-line distance of only 200 meters from the outer fort, pierced through the outer fort's main gate on its very first shot. The iron ball, carrying immense kinetic energy, instantly smashed a huge hole through the gate, which was reinforced with support ribs and iron bars behind it. Wood splinters and debris flew everywhere. Several Portuguese soldiers hiding inside the fort were caught off guard, suffering death and injury, leaving the scene in complete chaos.

After the first shot hit, the other two cannons, having obtained the firing parameters, immediately opened fire. Soon, after four or five salvos, the outer fort's main gate and the nearby enclosing wall were brutally torn open.

Because they had not originally anticipated this kind of situation where they would be brainlessly suppressed, when the Portuguese built the outer fort, they had deliberately lowered the height of the fort walls somewhat, so as to create a staggered high-low three-dimensional field of fire with the fort behind.

As a result, this led to the awkward scene unfolding now: the fort behind could not return fire, because the opponents below the city had a clear field of fire.

While the defenders were in extreme torment, the attackers could not care less. Now that the fort gate was breached, a team of soldiers quickly charged in. Yet no fierce battle ensued — apart from the corpses of those killed by the earlier cannon fire, the outer fort was completely empty. The Portuguese had preemptively yielded this critical node.

There was no helping it. Having lost the advantage of striking down at enemies inside the fort from high ground, the Portuguese were now constrained at every turn; any terrain unfavorable for leveraging their defensive advantage had to be given up.

The enemy retreats, we advance.

After securing the outer fort, large numbers of soldiers soon arrived beneath the city wall and aimed their guns at the ramparts. At the same time, engineers arrived with explosives.

In a short while, first came a few muffled rumbles, then, accompanied by the rhythmic shouts of the soldiers — the front wall of the outer fort was completely pushed down, clearing the field of fire.

After another interval, the soldiers first withdrew from the outer fort. Before the people on the wall could react, two enormous booms followed: the south gate of the Fortaleza do Monte had been subjected to a focused demolition. When the surging cloud of smoke settled, the original main gate of the fort had become a ramp formed from broken bricks and stones.

Sharp whistles immediately sounded, and the soldiers swarmed forward. Soon, the stream of people disappeared over the top of the ramp.

Up to this moment, advanced weapons and tactics had made the transmigrator's army sweep all before them, beating the Portuguese utterly helpless. Everything was proceeding methodically, without any disturbance.

The next moment, dense gunfire erupted, followed by a wave of battle cries, and then — the soldiers who had just charged over the ramp retreated back...

"What's going on? Report the situation!"

Seeing the soldiers who had charged in retreating back out, Yu Mingjie, at the command post already advanced near the fort, angrily threw down the telescope in his hand. He rushed out together with Wei Yuan and several other high-ranking officers, intercepting the deputy company commander responsible for on-site command. He roared furiously, "Yang Weili, you explain to me right now — why have you retreated?!"

Yang Weili, who had retreated covered in dust and grime, now had the half of his face with the birthmark flushed a purplish red. Seeing the governor explode in rage, the young man felt both humiliated and ashamed, but military orders could not be disobeyed, so he honestly reported the truth.

It turned out that after the first wave of troops charged over the ramp, they discovered that the interior of the fort had been secretly remodeled by the Portuguese. The inside of the fort, originally similar to a small city, now had several additional isolation walls dividing the space.

As a result, the troops came under flanking and rear fire similar to that of a barbette.

That was not all. Although the defenders had seized the initiative, the firing density of matchlocks was not high after all, so the troops pressed on with their charge while exchanging fire, enduring the casualties.

Just as the troops were about to rush into the interior of the fort opposite them in one breath, the Portuguese defenders suddenly charged out, blocking their path with a formation combining long spears and matchlocks.

Thus, with no room to deploy troops, under attack from all sides, and with bayonets at a disadvantage in the frontal engagement, the on-site commander Yang Weili had no choice but to issue the order to retreat.

After hearing the report, before Yu Mingjie could react, Wei Yuan, who had been watching the excitement from the side, burst into loud laughter. "The Spanish Square, huh? This is the signature skill of those red-haired devils' cheap older cousin. You've run right into it today, kid."

After thinking for a moment, Wei Yuan, who had personally experienced urban street fighting in later generations, shook his head and laughed again. "You know, in this specific environment, the Spanish Square really can be useful. Whose fault is it that we didn't issue hand grenades to the troops?... Deputy Company Commander Yang, your retreat order was correct — very timely."

Yu Mingjie also caught on at this moment. "Right, what the hell kind of damn square formation is this — isn't it just a matter of a few hand grenades? Ah, traitors to the nation, this mess is all the fault of those traitors!... Hey, Deputy Company Commander Yang, how many casualties?"

Yang Weili: "......"

After this battle, the Cabinet, having faced accusations of being traitors to the nation from the frontline commanders, ultimately approved the addition of a hand grenade workshop at the newly established Guangzhou Shijing Arsenal — but that is a story for later.

A hand grenade production line was water far away, no cure for present thirst. After the failure of the first siege that day, the attacking side, possessing a technological advantage, quickly found a countermeasure. It was very simple: just have a small number of soldiers maintain uninterrupted contact.

The Spanish Square seemed effective, but deploying, moving, and retreating with it was far less nimble. Later that day, Yu Mingjie ordered soldiers to infiltrate and fire in turns from the ramp.

This immediately proved fatal for the square formation: the target was huge in volume, and the siege soldiers only needed to fire cold shots from a prone position, using their range advantage to easily break the formation apart.

After this, as two other sections of the city wall were successively breached by explosives, the defenders inside Fort São Paulo could finally no longer withstand the cold shots coming from all directions and began a full retreat.

This retreat ceded the high ground: heavy cannons set up at the Fortaleza do Monte could cover the entire city of Macau.

Three days later, the thoroughly despairing Portuguese finally sent men out of the city to negotiate. Macau surrendered unconditionally.

April 18, 1631. Colored ribbons danced and military music rang out brightly. Soldiers wearing large leather boots bellowed resounding slogans — the Macau city-entry ceremony officially began.