Shang Yi lay on a hill by the sea, and looked at the Spanish warships in the distance one by one with a telescope. Some soldiers rushed to the land with their passes and were setting up temporary positions on the beach.
Although the Habsburg dynasty in Spain was at the end of its strength at this time, it was also the overlord of Europe for a hundred years. After a hundred years of war baptism, the quality of the army was extraordinary. Because of the accumulated military experience, it was even more important.
For precious wealth, I saw that the outermost circle of the position was a trench distributed in concave shapes. There was an earth wall and dozens of artillery behind the trench. The innermost circle was then the soldiers' camp and various warehouses.
Although the position has not been fully constructed, it can also be seen that the entire position is distributed at the level and is sparse and dense, which shows that it is well-trained.
Shang Yi looked at it and drew a simple picture on the drawings. The hill where they were located was five or six kilometers away from the Spanish army's position. Even if they were using the monocular telescope of the merchant army, they could only see figures at most, the size of mice.
Only Shang Yi's high-power binoculars can see each soldier's clothes clearly and see what is placed in each warehouse. At the same time, he doesn't need to be discovered by the Spanish army.
After looking for a while, Duan Peng suddenly said, "Why do the Ganti La people know how to dig trenches? This is a tactic that only our merchant army can use!"
Shang Yi smiled and said, "This tactic was originally created by the countries of Taixi, and it has been used for decades. I just learned them myself. Do you still have the nerve to say that only our merchant army can use it.
?”
Duan Peng stuck out his tongue and said, "So that's the case. I thought it was created by you, lord. It seems that this relationship with the laguna still has a few tricks."
At this time, Shang Yi drew the drawings with the scriptures, took a photo on Duan Peng's head, and said, "Although our land of China is vast, the world overseas is even more vast. Compared with the countries of Taixi, we can only be considered to have their own unique features.
Therefore, we should learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, so we should not be arrogant."
Duan Peng nodded and said, "I understand, sir. Anyway, as long as others are better than us, we should learn from others."
Shang Yi smiled in praise and said, "This attitude is very right. Okay, I have finished reading all the things I should read, let's go back."
In fact, the unexpected appearance of the Spanish fleet was not entirely a bad thing for Shang Yi. At least it had an excellent excuse to treat Beijing's envoys.
It turned out that after many days of quarrel, the Ming Dynasty court finally came up with a decision, first sending two envoys to Shanhaiguan and Nanjing to interrogate Wu Sangui and Wu Yan, whether they can send troops to rescue Beijing at present, and then make a final decision.
Although Chongzhen was inclined to transfer Wu Yan at this time, but in fact he was to transfer Shang Yi back to Beijing to protect the siege, he was in chaos at this time, so he also made the minister's proposal and sent envoys to Shanhaiguan and Nanjing respectively.
After the envoy arrived in Nanjing, he first met Wu Yan and explained his purpose to Wu Yan. Wu Yan is now smart. He will never make a statement easily before getting Shang Yi's reply, so he brought the envoy again.
Come to Hangzhou to find Shang Yi.
Of course, Shang Yi would not send troops north at this time. He was originally looking for excuses to delay, but the Spanish fleet arrived at this time, but he didn't even have to find excuses. However, Shang Yi still swears in front of the envoy and Wu Qi, saying that the state is in danger now,
It is my responsibility to rescue the carriage in Beijing. But now, foreigners dispatched more than 300 large and small warships, including more than 80 giant ships, and more than 70,000 large and storms invaded the southeast coast. Zhejiang is also in danger, and it is absolutely impossible to do so.
He may fight on both sides, so he asked the court to issue a formal order to allow himself to give up the land of Zhejiang, so he would immediately lead his army north to serve the king.
Although Wu Yan estimated that Shang Yi intended to exaggerate the number of Spanish fleets, it is normal to deliberately exaggerate the number of enemy troops at this time. If you win, you can boast about your military achievements to show that you are defeating the strong with the weak and the weak with the few
Many people, and if you lose, you can find sufficient excuses for yourself, and you are outnumbered. Therefore, Shang Yi's approach is understandable. At the same time, Wu Xuan also knew that you must be extremely careful when dealing with the emperor now. Maybe it is not only thankless to do it.
, and he will be a scapegoat by the emperor. Therefore, the emperor must leave a decree as evidence in everything so that his responsibilities can be completely suppose.
So Wu Qi also told the envoy that under the current circumstances, once he or Shang Yi led his army north, not to mention Zhejiang, even Nanjing would be difficult to preserve. Therefore, he asked the envoy to return to Beijing to clearly report the situation here to the emperor.
, If you still want to transfer yourself to the upper level, then ask the court to issue an order to determine whether to release Zhejiang. At the same time, Wu Yan wrote a memorial and asked the envoy to take it back to Beijing and submit it to Chongzhen.
After Wu Yan and the envoy left, Shang Yi was relieved. Even if Chongzhen decided to give up Zhejiang, Zhongyuan Ji was now occupied by Li Zicheng, and there was a New Year in the middle, so he waited for the imperial edict from the court to pass it to Hangzhou.
At least it will be February next year, and I will delay it myself and probably won’t have to go north anymore.
Just as Wu Yan and the envoy rushed to Hangzhou, the letter from Suzhou weaving eunuch Zheng Jinggao to Shang Yi was also delivered to the Nanjing eunuch Han Zanzhou. After reading the letter, Han Zanzhou couldn't help but smile bitterly. At this time, he was the time.
Who can still touch Shang Yi? Even the emperor asked him. To put it bluntly, as long as Shang Yi did not rebel openly, the court would not blame him no matter what he did. If he wrote a letter to Beijing to sue Shang Yi, he would only
I am afraid that I will be complained by the emperor immediately. If Shang Yi still insists on his resignation, he might not even be able to protect himself, the eunuch in Nanjing. Therefore, he wrote back to Zheng Jinggao that he could not help him and let him stay calm for the time being.
Fight against Shang Yi.
After sending Wu Yan and the envoy away, Shang Yi immediately mobilized his troops to prepare to fight the Spanish army. Although Shang Yi estimated that the number of troops to the Spanish army would not be too large, and the total force should be about 10,000, he did not dare to
The general idea. Not only because Spain is still a powerful European country, but also because it is an unprecedented opponent. The battles of this era, whether from the East or the West, have almost no reference value for this war.
Therefore, Shang Yi mobilized almost all the troops he could mobilize. The Second and Fifth Regiments who were left in Hangzhou and the newly formed Sixth Regiment will all go to the battle, and will also draw all the remaining muskets to the Sixth Regiment and assemble a musket.
The battalion came and dispatched a cavalry battalion and two reconnaissance companies. Only one cavalry battalion, one reconnaissance company, two new battalions and the reserve army guarded Hangzhou, and at the same time, a reserve army battalion was sent to strengthen the guards of the shipyard. And there was also a garrison.
A musket battalion and an artillery battalion were drawn from the Second Regiment of Suzhou, plus a foreign mercenary group to participate in the battle. The merchant army dispatched a total of more than 13,000 soldiers, with more than 7,500 muskets.
More than 200 artillery cannons.
At the same time, Shang Yi also ordered Shen Shouchong of Changguowei to dispatch troops from both land and sea to station the navy at the back of Dinghai. The army rushed to Dinghai County to station, and Huaibei fought against the Spanish army with him.
At this time, the Spanish army occupied Dinghai Island through its majesty. Because the southern islands of Dinghai Island are dense and densely populated with reefs, it is not conducive to the large ships' function. Therefore, the Spanish army is likely to take the sea route north of Dinghai Island, in the north of Ningbo Prefecture or Shaoxing Prefecture
The northeastern part of the landed. Therefore, Shang Yi personally led a large army to station in Cixi County, ordered Zhou Shaohuan to lead the Second Regiment to guard Guanhaiwei, forming a triangle with Dinghai County, and was ready to take shape.
As expected by Shang Yi, the Spanish army landed near Shigong Mountain in Ningbo Prefecture, and Shang Yi personally took Duan Peng's reconnaissance company to observe the Spanish army's stationing situation.
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At this time, on the temporary position of the Spanish army, a small boat stopped on the coast. Surrounded by more than ten guards, Dela Pena finally stepped onto Ding China's land.
Because the draft of large sailboats is relatively deep, they cannot approach the shore. They can only dock about 100 meters away from the coastline to anchor, and then build a pontoon springboard, or carry it to the shore by a small boat.
Several pontoon bridges were carrying supplies ashore, so De La Pena could only take a small boat to the shore.
After getting ashore, De La Pena walked into the tent built with the Scriptures. At this time, several Spanish officers and two guides were waiting for De La Pena's arrival here.
In the middle of the bulging, a large long square table was nailed with a few wooden boards and a map was laid.
After entering the bill, De La Pena immediately came to the square table, looked at the map, and said, "Where are we now?"
Two guides, one is Yuan Pu and the other is Wu Yanming. They are both Chinese businessmen who do business in Manila. They have close business relationships with Spaniards stationed in Manila. They also have settled families in Manila, so this time they are also
Half forced and half voluntarily came to serve as a guide for the Spanish army.
Because after staying in Manila for a long time, both of them could speak Spanish, so they didn't need to translate. After listening to De La Pena's words, Yuan Pu first came to De La Pena, pointed to the map and said, "General, we
Now here, it is called Ningbo Prefecture, and it is a place in Zhejiang Province.”
De La Pena nodded and said, "Are there any towns nearby?"
Wu Yanming pointed to the map and said, "There is a county town, Cixi County, which is less than twenty miles southwest, and is a city closest to us."
When Delapena heard this, she couldn't help laughing and said, "Since there is a city so close to the shore, why don't we seize it and build something on the beach as our settlement.
position."
One officer said, "Your Excellency, is it too risky to do this?"
Delapena said "slightly" and said, "Adventure? Our expedition is the biggest adventure! Ricardo, you are too brave."
Then another officer stepped forward and said, "Her Count, I am willing to lead the army to seize our first city here."
Delapena patted his shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Soldado, your courage has not disappointed me. I will give you three battalions of troops, and you can also bring some of the indigenous soldiers to attack this immediately.
A city called Cixi. After conquering it, I will name this city with your last name.”