The fleet is out of port!

In the early morning, when the people near Medway Harbour woke up, they were surprised to find that dozens of British and Dutch warships that had been anchored here had disappeared, and they all sailed out of Medway Harbour and sailed out into the sea.

While the British were shocked when they learned the news of the attack of the Ming Western Fleet, they were also mobilizing their troops and mobilizing their forces as much as possible in order to defeat this fleet of laborers in a naval battle.

Initially, the Anglo-Dutch fleet consisted of more than 80 warships along the Channel, but it was spread across several ports, including Medway and Portsmouth. In order to further defeat the Western Fleet, Admiral Edward Russell ordered Vice Admiral Henry Colglow to draw a powerful fleet of 30 warships from Portsmouth, hoping to enter the Thames before the Celestial Fleet arrived, and then concentrate his forces to defeat the Celestial Fleet in the English Channel.

On 1 July, while the Western Fleet was still on the way, 17 Dutch warships were joined by the British, led by Admiral Correis Ivetsson, and several more were soon there.

On 5 July, the fleet that had sailed away from Port Medway did not sail far, but anchored at a mooring near the mouth of the Thames, where the Anglo-Dutch Grand Fleet, laden with operational supplies, was quietly anchored in the summer breeze. Admiral Herbert had already boarded the flagship "Sea King", and his flag was flying high on the mainmast of the 104-gun ship.

After the fleet completed its combat preparations, and the warships and generals at all levels determined their respective positions, the only thing that needed to wait was the weather suitable for the large fleet to sail, and of course, the information of the Western Fleet of the Celestial Empire. That's not a problem.

In order to deal with the French threat, Britain also set up light galleons and fast horses for communication in various ports along the Channel, and could send information found in each port of the Channel to London by land or sea at any time, where Admiral Edward Russell sat and connected with the Grand Fleet. The letters of the Lord of the Admiralty were delivered by a full-time postman by speedy horse between the anchorage and London.

At this moment, this grand battle plan has been perfectly implemented.

For Admiral Herbert, he was pleased that the Dutch allies had brought their huge ships as promised. In the morning breeze, in the dining room of the "Sea King", the British and Dutch generals gathered together for a dinner, and Herbert stood up and raised his wine glass.

"Admiral Corellis, please let us cheer for the upcoming victory once again, and allow me to celebrate our victory in advance!"

The reason why he was so excited was because of the 32 battleships sent by the Dutch, including 16 large battleships with more than 70 guns, with a gun power of 1,274 guns, plus 71 British battleships commanded by Herbert, of which 25 had more than 70 guns and more than 3,000 guns. It was the most powerful fleet ever built, and this was the fundamental reason why Herbert would have believed in victory.

"Your Excellency, it seems that it is a little early to celebrate the victory!"

Admiral Corellis stood up and said with a smile.

"Of course, it seems a little early, but it is all predestined, we have now mobilized the most powerful fleet in the world, this fleet far exceeds our enemies, and I believe that in the future there will be more naval battles than any other in history, and even in the future there will be no more naval battles of greater scale, and we will be able to defend Christendom in this naval battle and prevent the invasion of the pagans of the East......"

Like all the British at this time, Herbert also gave a special meaning to this war - the war of civilizations, which is the meaning that some of the press in London borrowed from the ideas of the Celestial Empire and gave to this war, they were not only fighting for Britain, but also for civilization, for the civilization of Christendom, even if the Pope actually did not recognize Protestantism, it didn't matter, it was better to have a high-sounding reason than no reason at all.

"Indeed, victory must be ours!"

Corellis laughed, he was equally confident, in fact, everyone was like that, after all, their fleet was so powerful.

The reason why the Netherlands was involved in this war was not only because the Dutch ruler was now the king of the United Kingdom, but also for the sake of interests, with the rise of the Ming Dynasty, the Netherlands was not only driven out of Asia, driven out of the Cape of Good Hope, and even together with the foundation of their survival - the maritime transportation industry, they also had to face competition from the Celestial Empire, thousands of Celestial Empire merchant ships, not only appeared in the Atlantic, but also appeared in the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and other places, under their squeeze, the Dutch advantage in many traditional routes is disappearing, The shipowners in the Netherlands are going bankrupt and the country is in decline.

Compared to the British, for the Dutch, they hated the Celestial Empire even more, because the Celestial Empire defeated them in what they did best - the title of "Coachman of the Sea" had been taken away by the Celestial Dynasty, and in another ten years, what would be left of the Netherlands?

In the past, the Dutch were patient because they knew they were not capable of challenging the Celestial Empire, but with the addition of the British, the balance of power would change radically. In order to seize the trade advantage at sea and regain the trade routes at sea, the Dutch chose to support the British in a desperate way.

As the Dutch suspected, the Anglo-Dutch fleets together were indeed the most powerful fleets of our time—with more than 100 warships and more than 4,000 guns, there was no more powerful fleet in the history of Europe.

No one would have doubted that such a large fleet would win the war, and even the French, who had been sitting on the hill and watching the battle, began to worry that maybe the situation would not be as they imagined, and that the British would not only win, but most likely not lose too much in a naval battle, after all, their fleet was simply too strong.

"Let's have a cup together! For victory! ”

At Corellis's proposal, the British and Dutch generals stood up and raised their glasses, and they all cheered with smiles on their faces and cheered for the coming victory. In addition to the cheers, each of them seemed very anxious, perhaps because there were too many expectations for this battle, and everyone became more and more impatient in waiting.

This is a predestined victory, as long as the Celestial Fleet arrives, they will surely win the war!

It was while they were cheering that a fast horse sent from London came to the mouth of the river and brought the expected news to the "King of the Seas".

After opening Edward Russell's secret letter and taking a brief look, Herbert looked at the smiling crowd and smiled.

"Now, gentlemen, I have good news for you—"

After a deliberate pause, Herbert said as all eyes were on him.

"The Celestial Fleet is here!"

As he said this, everyone in the hatch first held their breath, and then suddenly cheered loudly with excitement, and in the cheers, Herbert gave the order for the fleet to attack with some excitement, and Corellis also said to him with some excitement.

"Admiral Herbert, your choice is exactly what I was looking forward to. In this case, you will win glory unprecedented in the history of the navy, and it is God's will! ”

It turns out that God is on their side to some extent.

On July 3, 1690, the voyage of the Atlantic Ocean by the Western Fleet in a gentle sea breeze for thirteen days seemed to have gone very smoothly. The Western Fleet was organized into three parallel columns according to its subordinate subfleets, with the flagship of each sub-fleet as the lead. The six battleships and six cruisers of the Western Fleet were equipped with steam engines, so they formed the First Fleet, while the other 22 warships were pure sail warships, which formed the Second Fleet, and the Third Fleet was composed of 22 merchant ships and 8 sail ships. The flagships of the three fleets were located at the front of the fleet, which not only facilitated the transmission of orders at any time, but also facilitated communication between generals. Another advantage of this formation is that it is compact and flexible, which allows it to adapt to sudden changes in wind direction and enemy forces.

Everything went in order, but the most crucial factor in the naval battle betrayed at this most critical moment. The gentle sea breeze that carried them along the way, but as they sailed into the Celtic Sea between England and Ireland, the wind and waves suddenly became furious.

For the sailing ship, the turbulent seas at sea directly affected the next battle plan, and even made Zheng Ming have to change his battle plan, originally according to his plan, he would lead the fleet all the way to attack the coast of England, which could not only severely damage the morale of Britain, but also force the Anglo-Dutch fleet to go out and fight a decisive battle with him, but now, the waves have made his plan come to naught.

The raging sea breeze lapped the waves against the warship. When the waves hit the stern, feeling the coldness of the sea water lapping on his body, Zheng Ming's face looked a little ugly. His eyes were fixed on the stormy waves on the sea, he didn't expect that there would be such a thing.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, he didn't need to look back, Zheng Ming also knew that it was Wu Minghui.

"Naruhito. What do you see the weather? ”

Zheng Ming was born in Xungui, and Wu Minghui is a commoner's son, although the two are from different backgrounds, but all along, the two have cooperated very tacitly.

"Junmen, the weather is really bad this time......

Wu Minghui's tone was also helpless, running thousands of miles, but he encountered such a storm at the door, what is the sign. Will it deal a blow to the morale of the military?

"Actually, it doesn't matter if it's a sign or something......"

Walking to the side, Zheng Ming's eyes turned towards the angry sea, and he said in an extremely calm tone.

"Perhaps, many people think that this war was provoked by us on our own initiative, that we have ill intentions, and that it is the selfish motives of the foreign envoys and the Governor, but history will prove that this war is inevitable, and that there is a war of civilizations between us and the Westerners, and it is destined to break out, but sooner or later, it will break out, and for us, perhaps, now is the best time, because the relationship between James II, the hostile relationship between France and England, makes it impossible for Europe to form an alliance against us, It also allows us to attack Britain without having to face the power of the whole of Europe......"

As a noble general, for Zheng Ming, he doesn't care about the affairs that military merits can bring him, he cares more about a more far-reaching thing than personal glory, and personal honor has always been closely related to the interests of the country.

"On the other hand, what we can see is that now the whole of Europe is watching us, whether we can achieve victory, whether we can defeat the British, all this directly determines us, determines the future prestige of the Celestial Empire in Europe, and on the other hand...... The Prince of Orange (William III) is overwhelmed in all respects, and a victory in this battle will not only thwart his cause, but will also help James II to consolidate his rule in Ireland......"

When it comes to the future of Britain, Zheng Ming also said in a very explicit tone.

"Actually, I don't care who will be the king of Britain at all, but if Britain can be divided, then it would be better for the Ming Dynasty, a divided Britain and a divided Europe will be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty......"

"Hmm!"

Nodding, Wu Minghui didn't think as much as Zheng Ming, he was the chief of staff, all he needed was to make a battle plan, that's all, and because of this, compared to the future, he was more concerned about the weather in front of him, his eyes looked at the waves in the distance, the wind and waves in the distance were urgent, this was obviously not a good weather for naval warfare, if in such weather still according to the previous plan, to attack the British coast, he would definitely not be able to take advantage, after all, he needed to face a counterattack from the shore, when the wind was calm, in order to strike at targets on shore.

"It's really not a good weather!"

Glancing at Zheng Ming, Wu Minghui said.

"It didn't fit into our original plan."

"But if we don't attack the British coast, then there is a good chance that the combined Anglo-Dutch fleet will not gather their main forces, and no one can guarantee that they will act according to our ideas!"

Zheng Ming said with some concern.

"The attack on the British coast was to put pressure on Edward Russell to mobilize the main force of his fleet for a decisive battle with us. If you can't......"

Zheng Ming's brows tightened, and then he said.

"We can't afford to spend it, let alone drag it out!"

"However, if you attack the coast in such weather, the damage may be great."

Wu Minghui suggested.

"Give it a try, you can always try it! What if you're lucky? ”

In war, sometimes, luck is really very important, although it is a bit irresponsible to know that this kind of "luck", but also knowing that such weather, in fact, has declared the failure of the plan, Zheng Ming sighed, and then frowned and thought deeply.

After pondering for a moment, Zheng Ming nodded vigorously and then ordered Wu Minghui.

"Turn around the English Channel!"

After giving this order, Zheng Ming glanced at it from a distance, and finally shook his head and said.

"Hopefully, they'll choose it that way!"