The Portuguese fleet, or rather the Spanish fleet, was finished.

By the time the sun in the Indian Ocean shone golden on the western side of the sea, the afternoon-long naval battle had come to an end.

On the battlefield of tens of square kilometers, black smoke came out of the burning battleship, and from time to time a powder keg would be detonated by the flames, blowing up a cloud of broken wood.

Two Portuguese battleships were captured, including the Portuguese flagship Molingen, which was heavily attacked. Along with it, the Navy's trophies were accompanied by a cruiser (HMS Earl) and two destroyers (HMS Glory and HMS Courage).

The cruiser Tulip, which was interspersed by the fast fleet, was sacked by the Australian and Song soldiers and blasted because the tail was beaten to pieces, and all the masts were broken by chain bullets, completely lost power, and the hull was seriously damaged. Under the watchful eyes of thousands, it slowly sank into the sparkling sea, the afterglow of the setting sun gilding it with a golden glow.

There was also a cruiser and two destroyers that were damaged in the artillery battle below the waterline, and sank in too much water, and hundreds of Portuguese soldiers fell into the water, a small part of which unfortunately turned into food for sea fish, and most of them were rescued by the Australian Song.

At this time, on the battleship Xihai, Wang Haomin was entertaining guests from Lisbon.

"Tea, please, Mr. Major General."

Wang Haomin motioned for the adjutant to put a cup of black tea on the table in front of Francisco. This is a temporary office, Wang Haomin is in the main position, his hands are stretched out and resting on the table, his military hat is upright on the left side of his body, and he sits steadily.

His lieutenant and the staff sat behind him, and the Commissar of the Fleet sat to his right, overseeing the meeting with the Registrar.

And the man who sat near the exit of the room, with his hands tied tightly with ropes, was, of course, our Rear Admiral Francisco.

He drooped his head, and his beautiful golden curls looked very depressed at this time. Hearing Wang Haomin's words, (everyone present spoke Portuguese, and in order to avoid trouble, Wang Haomin used Portuguese to communicate with Francisco.) He looked up, squinted at the sunset that shone through the window and into his face, and stretched his bound hands forward: "Is this the attitude you invited me to?" ”

Wang Haomin and the political commissar glanced at each other and laughed in unison: "Yes, Major General, this is our attitude, and we don't want to change the fact that you are tied up in the slightest." ”

"Letting you sit here is already a preferential treatment for the surrender of the people on the flagship you lead. If you're still not happy with your current situation, we can't rule out helping you calm down. ”

Francisco lowered his head and smiled, licked his lips that were dry and hard due to lack of water, picked up the teacup with both hands a little awkwardly, and drank the warm black tea in one gulp.

Wang Haomin waited for him to finish drinking, then simply got up and put the teapot on the table in front of him, signaling that he could refill the cup himself.

After returning to his seat, Wang Haomin said lightly: "Please introduce you." ”

Francisco smiled, leaned back in his chair, adjusted his sitting position to make himself comfortable, and replied: "I am Ferdinand Luis Francisco, rear admiral of the Kingdom of Portugal, and of course now the Navy of the Kingdom of Spain. ”

"We began our journey to the East last winter as a reinforcement for the Kingdom of Spain to supplement the Asian colonies. We had already sent a number of troops to Goa, a group of men to Bangladesh and Burma, and with us a fleet of merchant ships, but they had already retreated west after encountering your navy, and now they are safe. ”

"Is your fleet made up of two navies?"

"Yes, sir, all the warships are the former Far Sea Fleet of the Kingdom of Portugal, but there are some sailors who are members of the Spanish Armada. As you may know, the British and Dutch destroyed many Spanish warships, and they now have more crews than ships. ”

Wang Haomin looked down at the report on the table and asked him, "Who is the captain of your flagship?" ”

"He is Diego Velask, a member of the declining Spanish aristocracy, a Spanish naval colonel, a very capable captain, who fought with the British for many years, was sent to the East by the kingdom, and is actually spying on me."

There was a resentful glint in Francisco's eyes.

"In front of him, I can't do anything at all, and he won't let me interfere in the command of the fleet. I just need to be a rubber stamp, what kind of orders he wants to give to the fleet. ”

He laughed again: "I know how many pounds and taels I have, and if I really want to be the master of the fleet, I can't do anything." But I'm going to have to be even more depraved, I'm going to be a waste everywhere, I'm going to tremble with fear, I'm going to ask all sorts of stupid questions, and I'm going to make every crew member think I'm a fool, and that's the only way I'm going to be a major general. ”

"If I behave in line with the talents of a general, Velasker will let me live in India for the rest of my life."

Wang Haomin nodded and looked at the clerk on his right, who was quickly recording Francisco's words.

After the clerk finished writing, Wang Haomin continued to ask: "What is the status of your family in Portugal?" ”

Francisco looked up, a little surprised Wang Haomin asked this question. He swallowed and replied, "We... It was in favor of Philip II's succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Portugal. ”

Wang Haomin smiled. Now the situation of this fleet is clear, the fleet commander sent by the anti-bone family, the flagship captain of purebred Spain sent by the Invincible Armada, and the Portuguese warship manned by Spanish sailors... Well, it's a messy fleet, no wonder they feel so sluggish in this fight.

Hurried footsteps suddenly came from the corridor, and a staff officer panted and pushed open the office door and handed a letter to Wang Haomin: "Report, letter from the second formation." ”

Wang Haomin nodded, smiled at Francisco, who was looking at him, checked the integrity of the envelope with the political commissar, and then took out the letter to read under the supervision of everyone.

A few minutes later, Wang Haomin laughed and handed the letter to the political commissar and said to Francisco: "Mr. Rear Admiral, your retreating fleet has been captured by our second formation. By the time the letter arrived, the two sides were already at war. ”

"If nothing else, you'll see the captured fleet tonight."

Francisco looked at Wang Haomin steadily, and his body suddenly collapsed in his chair, as if he had lost all his strength.

While the first formation was cleaning up the battlefield, on the sea more than 200 kilometers east of Minikoy Island, a group of Australian and Song soldiers with short-barreled shotguns were waiting in the corridor of the merchant ship Rose.

It is an extraordinarily ornately decorated merchant ship, or a cruise ship. Its beauty led to the fact that the commander of the second formation, Rear Admiral Long Gang, immediately came to search for it after disarming the Portuguese transport fleet.

Instead of following the order to stop resisting, the soldiers on the merchant ship set up artillery that should not have existed on a cruise ship to resist stubbornly, and the soldiers on it were also very effective and had a very strong fighting spirit.

Rear Admiral Long Gang watched the cruise ship with amusement, and asked the deputy commander to sail to Sri Lanka with the surrendered Portuguese transport ship first, while he himself sat down on the deck of the flagship and watched the young men of the Marine Corps launch a siege on the cruise ship.

The battle lasted about half an hour. This was partly due to the stubborn resistance of the Portuguese, and on the other hand, the Aussie adopted a very conservative offensive method in order to reduce casualties.

But at the end of the day, the Portuguese sailors who dared to take up their guns to fight were dead, and the Australian and Song soldiers, armed with shotguns designed for street fighting, swept the cabins layer by layer, and found a well-guarded room in the third cabin.

The pale white ivory gate is carved with beautiful images, and the gilded doorknob is made of beautiful mahogany, and every pattern on it exudes the air of "expensive to death". Well, if it weren't for the blood of a couple of Portuguese soldiers splattered on it, the door would have been a work of art in itself.

The soldiers carefully watched the closed ivory door until Major General Long Gang himself came into the hallway.

Stepping on a comfortable Persian carpet, the major general, carefully avoiding the blood of the Portuguese sailors, ordered: "Knock on the door." If you don't open the door inside, just take a gun and break it open. ”