Chapter 477 36. Each Pedestrian Has a Cannon on His Waist

I was waiting for you to say this!

Xiao Pingtai grabbed William's hand, bit his tongue lightly, and immediately shed tears of emotion.

"The Holy Father has seen your dedication. One day, you will surely ascend to heaven and sit at the right hand of the Almighty Father God, enjoying all the promised blessings. Believers all over the world call you holy and blessed. Amen!" [Note 1]

Xiao Pingtai knelt on one knee in front of William. William touched Xiao Pingtai's bald head with his hand and was very moved by Xiao Pingtai's words.

"I will go to the synagogue now to gather believers to join the war together!"

As for the assistant clerk of the East India Company, it was okay. There were only a few dozen people left in the Nanman Trading House, and the rest were just servants and handymen, with no combat power. Together with the crew of the Nanman trading ship in the port, there were only 200 people at most.

Whether to join the war depends on the willingness of the trading ship owner and the willingness of these foreigners themselves. Normally, although those who dare to come to Japan from Europe have the gene of adventure in their bones. But if they participate in the local military struggle, most people are relatively cautious.

However, there are records of hiring Spanish and Portuguese adventurers and merchants to participate in the war in Southeast Asia, such as the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the Toungoo Kingdom, and the Aceh Sultanate. It depends on the personal wishes of these colonists.

Besides, Xiao Pingtai already has tens of thousands of soldiers, and Xiao Pingtai doesn't care if there are hundreds of Christian soldiers. What he cares about is the eight Portuguese cannons on the trading ship and the skilled gunners on the ship.

In fact, the gunners trained by the Yamauchi family have not graduated at all. Artillery has always been a technical branch of the army. If you can't do it, you can't do it. You won't reason with you at all.

Otherwise, Xiao Pingtai would not have to play a sad drama with Father William, even biting his tongue, crying, and flattering foreigners. Isn't it just because he can't fire a cannon?

If you don't know the owner of the trading ship, and you rashly ask them to unload the cannons from the ship and send the crew to Kanto to participate in the war, they will definitely not agree!

The Nanman trading ships are here to do business and open up routes, not to establish colonies.

But with the blessing of William, a real Anglican priest, it's different. How devout do you think these merchants are? It's hard to say, but there is no need to say much about the prestige and influence of the Anglican Church. Especially for the Spanish and Portuguese sailors.

You should know that at the most exaggerated time, the King of Portugal issued an edict before his death to donate the entire country to the church and the Knights Templar (of course, it didn't work out in the end).

Others don't listen to God's call, but the Spanish and Portuguese will definitely listen to God's call.

Now they don't have to personally carry guns to participate in the war, but just fire (shield) cannons on high ground to help with their prestige, and the risk factor is not that exaggerated.

Xiao Pingtai didn't make it difficult for them, and proposed a monthly salary of five taels of gold for each foreign soldier. When Father William went to mobilize, there would not be much resistance. It was common for merchant ships to stay in the port for a month, and the crew had plenty of time to make extra money.

Sure enough, not long after the two left, the bells rang in the Christian church under the city, and Christians from the towns under the city and nearby villages went to the church to gather.

One night later, the result that Xiao Pingtai hoped for came as expected. Nanban Town was willing to provide 20 skilled sailors and gunners, 40 infantrymen equipped with muskets, armor, and long swords, and 140 armed religious militiamen.

Xiao Pingtai immediately equipped them with enough cattle and horses to pull the four Portuguese cannons unloaded from the ship, as well as necessities such as bullets and gunpowder.

Christians did not simply hold a flag with a black cross on a white background. The Christian militiamen surrounding William held the holy painting of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and the holy painting of the great saint John the Carpenter, the patron saint of Jesus, the father of the world, holding the cross.

The foreign soldiers on the Nanman trade ship carried the holy image of Santiago. Santiago is not actually a place name, but the Spanish translation of St. James, the first martyr for the Lord. His remains were brought to Spain for burial, and he immediately became the patron saint of all Spain.

These mercenaries looked really elite. There were fewer and fewer armored infantrymen on the European continent. With the development of gunpowder weapons, the infantrymen finally all wore cloth clothes to fight.

In Asia, gunpowder weapons were not so popular yet, and there were still many swords, guns, bows and arrows. These mercenaries wore Milan-style infantry cockscomb helmets and a half-breastplate for sailors on their chests. The rich ones had skirt armor, and the poor ones had velvet clothes.

There was also an infantryman who served three roles in the team. He carried a flag, a sword in one hand, and a thing that looked like a whistle and a flute in his mouth. Standing in the middle of the mercenary queue, he was not considered an officer, but he was quite respected by the mercenaries.

…………

The troops gathered and could not be delayed. Xiao Pingtai broke camp and rushed to the mansion with tens of thousands of troops.

Uncle Tsunayoshi, Iwase Mototaka, Shimizu Yoshitsuna, Kobayashi Motoharu and others who stayed behind presented Kobayata with chestnuts, vinegar cloth and wine to wish him a victory. They prayed that Kobayata's rescue of Musashi would be successful and that the Yamanouchi family, which was already in a precarious situation, would be saved.

In the main team, the 200 men and horses that joined William were even larger, and four pack horses quickly dragged the cannon forward. The Spanish mercenaries were also in order, and they were led by a second mate on the ship.

Father William was not nervous at all before going into battle. He rode on a wooden horse with a shoulder height of 1.2 meters, like an ascetic preacher riding a donkey to preach in the wilderness.

Holding a rosary in his hand, he was chanting something. Behind him were three servants, leading three packhorses. They were carrying a lot of things, including a small wooden cross.

"Father, you brought so much luggage? All the sacrificial vessels and the entire altar?"

"Mainly some medicines, medical equipment, and some cotton cloth for bandaging wounds."

Medical supplies?

When we go to war, people get hurt. You treat them and spread the word while you treat them.

I use you to fool the gunners, and you follow me to harvest a wave of faith and develop a wave of Christians.

There really is no one in this world who is really stupid!

[Note 1]: The word Amen is actually not a completely special religious word. It is not even pronounced as amen, but more like amian (face). Its meaning is that the words spoken before God are without falsehood, full of piety, and wholehearted.

Because in Christian doctrine, God is omnipresent and omniscient. Whether it is a large church with thousands of people or a small gathering of two or three people, believers can end all their prayers with Amen. Even blessings and exchanges with brothers and sisters in the Lord can end with Amen.

The use of Amen at the end here is more to coax Father William into thinking that Xiao Pingtai has developed faith.