As always, before every war, the Great Ming would first publish the declaration of war by the Great Ming Emperor in the "Great Ming Newspaper," followed by an explanation of the cause of the war—the Portuguese barbarians, under the guise of drying goods, were actually trespassing and gained the right to reside in Macau by bribing officials. Now, they refused to submit to the Heavenly Dynasty's rule and intended to occupy Macau. How could this be tolerated?
Following this, Luo Xingchang, the Commander of the Sixth Army, who was originally in Jinan to attend the year-end grand court assembly, and Lin Pan, the Commander of the Nanhai Fleet, rerouted to Dengzhou and Laizhou, then sailed south to Guangzhou. The entire city of Guangzhou entered a state of military control, reinstating the curfew that had been abolished. The Sixth Army stationed in Guangzhou began recalling all on-leave soldiers and distributing ammunition, while the Nanhai Fleet stationed in Leizhou and Qiongzhou started transporting supplies and ammunition to their ships.
In the 4487th year of the Yellow Emperor's reign, the fourth year of Zhu Jinsong's enthronement, in the Xinchou month, on the Jiwei day, which was the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the artillery regiment directly under the Sixth Army and the Eighteenth Division stationed near Xinhui began to blockade Guan Zha, and the Nanhai Fleet began to blockade the waters near Macau.
Upon receiving this news, Castro, the Portuguese Minister of Overseas Colonies, and the chief justice and city council members were utterly bewildered.
These Portuguese, with their sharp teeth, possessed a remarkably peculiar train of thought.
If the Tartar Qing dynasty were still in power, let alone the annual rent of five hundred taels of silver, they wouldn't hesitate for a moment to kneel to welcome the "Tartar Qing Macau Prefect."
In the eyes of these Portuguese, the Tartar Qing was an immensely vast empire that Portugal could not afford to provoke. If they truly angered the Tartar Qing, the Portuguese in Macau would be the ones to suffer.
But—hadn't the Tartar Qing gone "liang liang" (sank)? Hundreds of rebel factions of all sizes claimed to be the legitimate inheritors of the Great Ming, and the Tartar Qing court had retreated to Zhili. In this situation, even if these Portuguese wanted to pay the five hundred taels of rent, they wouldn't know who to give it to.
When these rebels, big and small, finally finished their fighting, and the freshly minted "Great Ming Emperor" unified the Central Plains again, these Portuguese suddenly no longer wanted to pay the five hundred taels of rent.
Macau was forcibly occupied by the Portuguese army from the "Ming Kingdom" more than two hundred years ago. Paying five hundred taels of rent to their Tartar Qing was entirely for the sake of "friendly relations between the Qing and Portugal." What business did this rebel, who was bound to be severely weakened, have with it?
Of course, if they wanted the five hundred taels of rent, it was fine. Anyway, Portugal had money, and they could spare a few hundred taels of silver, considering it a handout to beggars. But they had to acknowledge Portugal's dominion over Macau, otherwise, not a single coin would be paid!
But!
These Portuguese never expected that after they had just rebuffed Zou Taicheng, who claimed to be the "Imperial Appointed Macau Prefect of the Great Ming," the army of the "rebel Ming Kingdom" would come to blockade "Guan Zha" immediately after.
Guan Zha was the only passage from Macau to Guangdong, and it was also Macau's only supply route besides the sea. Once the so-called "Ming Kingdom army" completely blocked Guan Zha, it would basically mean that the Portuguese in Macau had completely lost their source of supplies.
Relying on maritime supplies?
That was nonsense. How many ships would it take to supply the entire Macau?
To put it bluntly, Castro and the chief justice and city council members had intended to show off and scare away the Ming army, thereby solidifying Macau's status as a Portuguese colony. They just didn't expect this display to be a bit too much, directly summoning the Ming army.
Bewildered, Castro, the Portuguese Minister of Overseas Colonies, quickly summoned the so-called chief justice and city council members to the Governor's Mansion to discuss countermeasures.
However, these Portuguese argued from morning till night, and from night till morning, yet still couldn't reach a conclusion.
How many troops did Portugal have in Macau?
At most, two thousand.
How many troops did the Ming army have? How many firearms did they possess? How many ships did their maritime fleet have? What was the combat spirit of the army?
Castro, with bloodshot eyes, waved the newspaper in his hand and shouted at the chief justice and the city council members, "Gentlemen! Listen to me, gentlemen! The Ming army has mobilized the Sixth Army and the Nanhai Fleet—this is one of the only two pieces of information we know."
When the chief justice and the city council members turned their gazes towards him, Castro continued, "The other piece of information we know is that the Sixth Army was reorganized last year, and the Nanhai Fleet was also newly established last year."
"Although we don't know their exact numbers, according to the information we have obtained, the so-called Sixth Army of the Great Ming is stationed in Panyu, Xinhui, and Xin'an. The Nanhai Fleet is stationed in Leizhou and Qiongzhou."
"Although the Great Ming has just quelled all rebellions in their country, and their army's combat effectiveness should be high, but! Gentlemen, I think you know how expensive it is to maintain a large army. An army stationed in three different places like this should be just enough to maintain order, and their numbers cannot be too large."
"Also, although the Ming officials want to evacuate their civilians, you know that there are still many civilians who are loyal to the Tartar Qing or who are aligned with us who remain here. The Ming should not ignore their plight."
Then the chief justice and the city council members looked at Castro as if he were an idiot.
Yes, even an idiot knew that maintaining a large army was expensive, but the former Ming dynasty, and later the Tartar Qing, which of them didn't have a large army?
Take the recent melee, for example. Which of the participating factions didn't have tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of subordinates?
Even if the Sixth Army stationed in Panyu, Xinhui, and Xin'an wasn't too large, as long as there were six thousand men, a third of them would be two thousand men, which was equal to the entire troop strength that the Macau Governor's Mansion could mobilize. If we added the Nanhai Fleet...
Furthermore, the Ming government wouldn't ignore the plight of the Ming people?
The newspapers clearly stated that all Ming people were required to obey the arrangements of the Macau Prefect and to evacuate Macau within a deadline. Those who did not leave within the deadline would be considered to have voluntarily forfeited their status as Great Ming citizens, and the Ming army would no longer protect them. Did you, Governor Castro, not see this point?
Or did Portuguese people withdraw with that Ming official, Zou, a few days ago?
Seeing the strange glances from the chief justice and the city council members, Castro chuckled and continued, "Of course, no matter what, fighting and killing for five hundred taels of silver is not a glorious matter. Therefore, I have decided to invite that Ming official, Zou, to invite him back for negotiations."
"As long as we can return to the previous arrangement, we will pay them five hundred taels of silver in rent annually."
"Now, please vote, gentlemen!"
As Castro finished speaking, a forest of arms was raised in the assembly hall.
This made Castro very angry. It was these council members who had wanted to deal forcefully with the Ming, and now they were the ones who wanted to back down. However, whether it was to be forceful or to back down, it was always himself, the colonial governor, who had to step forward.
Simply outrageous!
However, the messenger sent by Castro to request an audience with "Zou Taicheng, the Imperial Appointed Macau Prefect of the Great Ming Empire," did not manage to meet Zou Taicheng.
Du Fei had said, it's easy to send gods away, but hard to invite them back.
After Castro had uttered those harsh words, Zou Taicheng had directly returned to Panyu, and the pass to Panyu was blocked by the Great Ming army. Castro wouldn't be able to see Zou Taicheng for a while.
...
The Great Ming's army was constantly being reorganized. For example, soldiers who originally came from the north were mostly transferred to the south, and soldiers from the south were transferred to the north. Even those whose homes were closest were separated by a province, and it was never the case that soldiers served in their own province.
It was under these circumstances that Yang Daniu was transferred to the Eighteenth Division of the Great Ming's Sixth Army.
Yang Daniu, who was originally quite vexed, was almost laughing his head off.
Having served in the army for two years, he had fought in at least eight or ten battles and had already been promoted to company commander through meritorious service. If he could earn more military achievements, he would probably be promoted to battalion commander.
The problem lay with these merits—as many provinces were " pacified by proclamation," there were fewer places that required fighting. To earn military achievements, one could only wait for the campaign against the Tartar Qing or against Jiaozhi and Joseon.
The key was that no one knew when His Majesty would wage war against the Tartar Qing or Jiaozhi and Joseon.
If the Tartar Qing were to be eliminated within two or three years, it would be fine. But if it took ten or eight years, he would probably be retired, and then he would never have the chance to go to the battlefield again.
Yang Daniu had almost given up hope, but unexpectedly, he never expected that these Portuguese barbarians occupying Macau would actually come to him!
With his company of soldiers ready at Guan Zha, Yang Daniu took a deep breath and said to the signalman beside him, "Tell Battalion Commander Lin of the artillery battalion that our second company is ready. Let them first unleash three rounds of covering fire, and then extend the frontline firepower by three li."
The signalman pursed his lips and ran back towards the artillery position—three rounds of covering fire. An artillery battalion would likely fire fifty-four shells. If we added the Shenji Arrows from the artillery battalion... it was estimated that after these three rounds, nearly four hundred shells would be fired.
Coupled with the extension of the frontline firepower by three li, as Yang Daniu mentioned, Battalion Commander Lin of the artillery battalion would likely expend half of his shells!
So, what was the point of the second company being ready or not? They could just bombard them with shells. After the bombardment, it was estimated that only a few of the Portuguese with their teeth would be left, and the second company could just go in to collect the bodies.
However, in the army, rank always commanded absolute obedience. Military orders, whether understood or not, had to be executed, so the signalman faithfully ran to the artillery battalion to deliver the message.
Then Battalion Commander Lin of the artillery battalion unleashed a bombardment of unprecedented scale—whether it was what was reported in the "Great Ming Newspaper" or the messages conveyed down through the ranks, Battalion Commander Lin knew that Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, was extremely angered by these Portuguese barbarians.
Precisely because of this, from the very beginning, when it was decided that the Eighteenth Division would launch the attack, the Commander of the Sixth Army had issued a military order: strive to plow through the entire Macau with artillery shells. After the shells were used up, switch to grenades for further clearance, until there was no barbarian left breathing in Macau.
The Emperor said to keep those who were physically sound as laborers?
Well, the barbarians were surely not stupid, right? After being shelled, the barbarians would surely try to escape to the sea. Those who remained in Macau were likely the ones with mental problems—and mental problems could be considered a form of disability?
Therefore, let the Nanhai Fleet handle the matter of capturing laborers. Their Eighteenth Division would not compete for merit with the Nanhai Fleet.
Meanwhile, on the flagship of the Nanhai Fleet, the Treasure Ship, Lin Pan, the Commander of the Nanhai Fleet, was addressing his subordinates.
"I do not want to see any more ships flying the Portuguese flag on the sea! Be it warships or merchant ships, I don't want to see them! Listen carefully, I don't need any survivors! Let the army handle capturing laborers!"
ps: My head hurts. Today, only one update. I will resume two or more updates tomorrow.