After the consensus of the alliance was reached, Portugal and the Ming began to discuss the formation of a joint fleet.

Time was running out, and the Spanish Armada approached Lisbon from Cape São Vicente in just a few days.

Unless, as they have done for more than seventy years, when they were caught in a storm on their expedition to England, they were blown dizzy, and thirty warships were missing, not only did the crew suffer from dysentery and typhoid, but even the masts and sail booms of the battleships were blown off and leaked by the storm, a total of 200 nautical miles, and the Armada tossed and turned in the Atlantic Ocean for more than a month.

Obviously, this time the Armada was very lucky, for several days it was calm and cloudless, and everything was a good sign of victory.

In the early morning of May 13, the 10th year of Tianwu, in the midst of all the attention, the temporary combined Ming-Portuguese combined fleet left the port of Lisbon to stop the Spanish Invincible Fleet.

The Combined Fleet consisted of 60 ships of various sizes, including 50 from the Ming Royal Navy, 10 from the Portuguese Navy, and 30 remained in Lisbon.

Portugal was to protect the national capital, while the Ming Dynasty was to protect more than 100 merchant ships that came from the sea.

The combined fleet was divided into three detachments, with the commander of the fleet by the Ming Yanping Bozhu Chenggong and the central detachment, the avant-garde detachment commanded by Viscount Shi Lang, and the rearguard detachment commanded by the Portuguese Admiral Medina.

Originally, as the host, the commander should be the Portuguese Minister of the Navy, but there were too few Portuguese warships involved in the war, and João IV really had no face to fight for it.

At ten o'clock in the morning, before the combined fleet sailed out of the waters off Lisbon, the reconnaissance ship of the avant-garde detachment detected the movement of the Invincible Fada.

Three fifth-class sail cruisers are advancing side by side in battle formation, and the observers on the deck are wearing life jackets made of cork, wearing Ming Navy hats, and telescopes, and their feet are undulating, while closely observing in eight directions.

Suddenly, an observer on the deck shouted: "Enemy ship found!" The azimuth is 180, and the distance is five miles! ”

All the binoculars were looking due south, and all the gun emplacements in the forward part of starboard turned urgently to aim due south as judged by the magnetic azimuth.

In the distant sky of the southeast sea, a group of black dots are slowly getting bigger, and the invincible armada is cleaving the waves.

Immediately, a rapid gong alarm sounded on the cruiser, and it began to speed up, and a long white spray suddenly dragged out behind the stern.

At the same time, the flags on the mast were constantly changing, signaling to the combined fleet in the rear that it had encountered the enemy.

Ten nautical miles northwest of the cruiser, the central squadron of the battleships of the Ming Dynasty was marching south in a circular formation, dragging dozens of white marks.

On the Chongzhen, the flagship of the Combined Fleet, a group of generals held binoculars to observe the sea area ahead, and they had just received a warning notice from the avant-garde detachment.

A herald said: "Marshal, the avant-garde detachment has discovered the enemy ship, Lord Shi Lang has asked for instructions, did you order an attack?" ”

Without waiting for Zhu Chenggong's order, Medina, the Portuguese Admiral who rushed to the flagship to observe the flagship, grabbed the binoculars on his chest and hesitantly dissuaded: "Your Excellency the Count, the Spanish Armada has not taken the initiative to attack us, and we cannot bear the responsibility of provoking the war first!" ”

Zhu Chenggong scolded with a smile: "What kind of bastard are you talking about, everyone is coming over with knives, you wait to be cut before you fight back?" ”

After hearing the interpreter's undisguised translation, Medina hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, the diplomatic relations between the two countries cannot be described like this, so let's wait, or send someone to hit them first to warn them of the expulsion......

Zhu Chenggong frowned, and said unhappily: "If you are afraid, don't join the war, just retreat to the back and watch, I will declare war on Spain early tomorrow, and I should fight if I encounter it!" Nothing else! ”

Zhu Chenggong's words were quite subtle, and he didn't say bluntly that you Medina are here to gild, and your Portuguese ships are also here to make up the numbers, what are you talking about!

Out of the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two countries, the surname of the country is quite restrained.

However, when he was about to fight, the most test of the commander's adaptability, he knew that if he waited for the other side to fire first and seize the initiative, it would be tantamount to handing over the lives of the soldiers of the avant-garde detachment to God.

The Daming ocean-going fleet is out of the house, far away from the Daming mainland for more than 100,000 miles, is it easy to repair ships and replenish? Even if there is attrition, it should be in the attack, not like a fool there, and someone who didn't fire a shot was wasted!

In the face of Count Daming's forcible attitude, the beads of sweat on the forehead of Admiral Medina rolled down, and he said helplessly: "Okay, you are the commander of the combined fleet, you have the final say." ”

"That's what people say."

Zhu Chenggong muttered, and suddenly shouted: "Order Shi Lang, the avant-garde detachment, find the fighter on your own, and start fighting!" ”

A few miles away, the Armadada's reconnaissance ships made a splash on the sea, and they also spotted the combined fleet, and quickly approached to get close to reconnoitre.

At this time, the three Ming cruiser battleships with the hull in front of them suddenly erupted with tongues of fire all over their bodies, and a row of guns of large and small calibers opened fire at the same time, and there was an angry roar in the sea area, and black clouds quickly covered the surroundings of the Spanish reconnaissance ship.

This unfortunate Spanish reconnaissance ship was instantly overwhelmed by the smoke of the explosion, and the gunner who had just adjusted the muzzle of the gun was completely blown up, and his head flew to the deck seven or eight meters away, and a piece of wood chips that had been blown up was stuck in his bloody forehead.

The remaining gunners lay down tightly behind the guns, and the first mate jerked the tiller, trying to maneuver the heavy hull and slowly turn around and dodge out of the sea.

However, the tiller of this era was not the round rudder of later ships, and there was no steering wheel system, and the helmsman had to operate the transverse tiller attached to the rudder.

If in bad weather conditions, it takes four people to withstand the pressure of the rudder, even if it is cloudless today, it is difficult for the experienced first mate to effectively operate the tiller alone, because the mechanism of the vertical tiller can only make the rudder rotate no more than five degrees, and it is far from being able to avoid the hail of shells of the Ming fleet in time.

It was too late, and the petite Spanish reconnaissance ship was plunged into purgatory as a result of the continuous artillery fire, with massive explosions shaking in the bow.

On the Spanish reconnaissance ship, the captain was covered in fire, and he screamed and beat himself, shouting: "Jump into the sea and abandon ship!" ”

As he spoke, he took a vertical leap and jumped into the sea.

The observers on the reconnaissance ship hurriedly threw down the compass and other instruments and ran to the side of the ship, trying to learn from the leader to jump into the sea to escape, at this time, a chain bullet of the Ming army roared, taking away a piece in an instant, and the entire deck was full of stumps that were cut into two.

The three Ming Navy cruisers obviously would not let them escape, and readjusted their orientation to beat the water dogs, and the naval soldiers aimed at the Spanish soldiers who fell into the water with muskets, and constantly practiced the headshot technique.