Rear Admiral Ferdinand Luis Francisco closed the door to the room, and his image of being strong and unyielding collapsed in an instant.

He leaned against the wooden wall wearily, his legs, which had been deliberately stiffened so that he could not tremble, immediately trembled uncontrollably, and his heartbeat remained at a dangerous rate, as if he was about to burst out of his chest in the next moment.

The major general tilted his head, reached out and wiped the sweat from his face vigorously, and opened his mouth to breathe like a fish caught out of water.

It took him five minutes to regain his breath, and he slowly walked to the window while leaning against the wall, and sat down at the delicate bedside table.

He reached out and pulled open the bottom drawer of the bedside table, took out a Portuguese Bible from it, and clung to it like a drowning man grasping at a straw, his fingers turning white from too much force.

With the Bible on his lap, Francisco bent down and pressed his forehead against the book, reached into his collar with his right hand and felt a silver cross kissed on the lips, his body curled up and motionless.

In front of him was a round porthole with a view of the sea in the northern Indian Ocean at the end of February. But seeing that the afternoon sun was shining, the blue sea was blown by the sea breeze and rolled waves, churning white water foam, layer after layer. More than 200 kilometers further north is the South Asian subcontinent.

"It's just... Can I still see the mainland? Francisco thought with some despair.

Finally, with red eyes, he threw the Bible on the bed, tore open a drawer, pulled out a few boxes from it, and took out the polished medallion and placed it on the table. He hurriedly untied the cumbersome aristocratic costume, strode to the wardrobe on the other side of the room, grabbed the major general's dress that he hated to be too hot and had not worn for a long time, quickly changed into it, and then carefully put on the medal, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

His room was on the best floor of the flagship, and the corridors were all the cabins of the upper echelons of the fleet, and only his lieutenant and a few staff officers were waiting for him.

"Gentlemen, let's go to the captain's quarters." Francisco squeezed out a smile and showed as fearlessness as he could.

At this time, in the battleship Xihai, the flagship of the first formation, the chief of staff of the fleet was giving advice to Wang Haomin.

"The ship is covered with steel armor. According to experiments, it was impossible for the Portuguese naval guns under 20 pounds to penetrate our defenses at an engagement distance, and only solid guns of more than 25 pounds could pose a threat to us. ”

"At the same time we have added up the speed, and even if the mast is broken by the Portuguese, we can keep maneuvering with a steam engine and not lose power."

"Therefore, I propose that the flagship be the lead ship of the battle line."

Wang Haomin nodded slightly, and said to the staff officer standing at the liaison entrance: "Ask how the Portuguese form a formation." ”

The staff officer agreed, put his mouth close to the iron pipe, and loudly inquired about the situation to the sailors on the deck, then turned his head sideways and shoved his ear into the iron pipe.

A few minutes later, the staff officer replied: "The other side has put some boats to retreat, and it looks like transport ships." The main battleships were being lined up in a battle line, with destroyers in front and capital ships behind. ”

Wang Haomin raised his eyebrows: "Yo Xi, are the Portuguese going to use destroyers to attract firepower?" ”

He shrugged his shoulders and paced to the glass-enclosed window, looking out at the endless ocean, revealing the back of a discerning strategist.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Haomin said categorically: "That's it!" ”

Let's turn the lens again to the Portuguese fleet opposite.

In the captain's room, Rear Admiral Francisco was sitting quietly on a high chair, a gorgeous rear admiral's dress spotless, tightly attached to his slender and toned torso, looking heroic; Three medallions adorned with gold and diamonds and hanging ribbons pinned to his chest, showing his aristocratic origins and adding a touch of nobility to this dignified soldier.

"Has Her Royal Highness retreated?" He suddenly raised his head, breaking the calm image he had maintained.

But before the adjutant could answer, he lowered his head again and muttered a little nervously: "By the way, the princess has been transferred to the merchant ship and withdrawn." Withdraw, withdraw, it was my personal order ... Damn..."

His adjutant - La Chuaa - looked with some pity at the rear admiral who sat in a chair as a sculpture. The general, who had just been sent to Asia from Lisbon by his family, was ambushed by the Austro-Song fleet, and now it seems that something is going wrong with his spirit.

"It's good that it's not the captain who is crazy." "Just an embroidered pillow, even if he goes to sleep, it won't change anything." ”

Although he was slandering the fleet commander this time, the adjutant still looked at the captain who was personally piloting the battleship Moringen. He was staring intently at the ocean and at the Ao-Song fleet, which was getting closer and closer, and from time to time asked the first mate and the second officer to report the situation, and to issue orders to the whole fleet on behalf of the rear admiral.

Obviously, looking at the captain's proficiency, this is not the first time this kind of thing has been done. It's just that in the past, I encountered at most some Muslim pirates who didn't know whether they were alive or dead, but this time I encountered the Ao-Song people who turned the Portuguese Far Sea Fleet into the Bay of Bengal Coast Guard.

"First mate, how far is the goal?" The captain asked, his beautiful mustache twitching, and the shiny sweat reflected a tiny light on his beard.

The first mate grabbed a ruler in his right hand, straightened his arm, squinted his left eye and looked at it, then leaned down on the table and made a quick calculation, raised his head and replied, "There are about 20 kilometers left." ”

The captain nodded, glanced back at the rear admiral who was still motionless in his chair, turned his head and ordered the first mate: "Let the flag be waved above, the destroyer will break away from the formation after the first battle line, and the destroyer Oak will be commanded, and attack the cruiser or battleship of the Ao Song Dynasty as the situation may be." ”

"Tell the boys that the cannons on the upper deck are replaced with chain shells, and the cannons below the second floor are loaded with solid bullets, and the first round is fired under the ship."

The second mate immediately ran out of the captain's room and conveyed orders to the gunners layer by layer.

"Let the lookout open its eyes wide, find out the flagship of Ao Song, the first battle line will all hit the flagship, and Lao Tzu will not be allowed to fight indiscriminately."

"This time, everyone will send three escudos, and the deceased will send one Johannes and three escudos."

"Sailors don't go up to the deck first, and then go up when the battle line is over."

One order after another was issued by the captain in an orderly manner, and the entire fleet was launched like a high-speed machine, and the war machine that had traveled tens of thousands of kilometers gradually entered the best state.

Looking at the fleet with black smoke in the sky, the captain whispered: "God bless us, you must let us take the strings!" ”

"Don't let them pick up the strings!"

Wang Haomin said loudly, "We painted the steel plates the color of wood so that the Portuguese would fight at least one round of artillery battles with us. ”

"Wait until we wash their decks, and then we'll decide whether to connect the strings or just sink them!"

"Tell me that if the Portuguese fight with us on the battle line, in the first round all the battleships will concentrate fire on their first destroyer, and give me one blow; All cruisers hit the second destroyer, all destroyers hit the third. ”

"After that, the three types of warships will be based on their first ship of the same kind, and whichever one the first ship hits, they will follow!"