July 4, 1690.

For Europe, it was a fateful day.

On this day, two huge fleets came into each other's field of vision. The Anglo-Dutch forces were located east of the Ming army and occupied the upper hand. The numerically inferior French were at a disadvantage. However, both sides of the encounter showed a strong intention to fight, and immediately switched to the battle line formation, and at the same time, they were also cautiously looking at the opponents in the distance.

The combined fleet, which Herbert had assembled in a few days, had 103 warships, of which 74 were British and 29 Dutch. They had an absolute advantage in the number of warships, and it can even be said that in terms of numbers, the disadvantage of the Ming army was too obvious. In observing each other from a distance, all they could do was to count the number of each other's ships, while the size and strength of the enemy's warships were difficult to find.

"We have won this naval battle!"

Herbert said to his colleagues in surprise that the Celestial Empire fleet in front of him only had sixty-two warships, of which twenty-two were armed merchant ships, and his own warships were twice as many as them, and compared to the Celestial Empire itself, they had more large warships equipped with heavy artillery. This disparity in strength has surpassed any naval battle in history.

Based on this observation, Herbert made the decision - to fight.

"Adjutant, take note of my following words, Your Majesty the Honored Kingdom......"

With a strong desire for war, Herbert sent his own letters to the London court. In the letter, he reported first-hand information that the incoming Celestial Empire fleet had more than 60 warships and had a clear disadvantage in troops, and then put forward his own opinion.

"Although we can only look at the Celestial Fleet from afar, one thing is for sure, we will be able to defeat them in naval battles...... And if we win this naval battle, then the future is at our mercy, whether it is Ireland or the Celestial Empire. ”

Subsequently, he emphasized.

"In fact, although most people are worried about the retaliation of the Celestial Empire after the defeat of the Western Fleet, I always have another view - I always say that as long as we win this naval battle and maintain a strong fleet, they will not dare to make any attempts."

Herbert, the British Earl of Torrington, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, made this judgment at the same time. On the opposite side of the Anglo-Dutch forces, Zheng Ming on the "Ganquan" also harbored a desire to engage the Anglo-Dutch forces immediately, although he was at a disadvantage in terms of troops. And the fleet is in a downwind position, which is clearly not a good thing.

"Junmen, the current wind seems to be a little unfavorable for us!"

Wu Minghui looked at the direction of the wind and said with some concern.

"How is it unfavorable? Perhaps for the attacker, the upper hand means the initiative to grasp the timing of the battle, but the downwind position is not without an advantage, and we can use the battle line to intercept the enemy's way to escape downwind, forcing him to engage us, and our own side can retreat at any time. This is naturally another kind of belligerent initiative......"

When Zheng Ming emphasized these "advantages", he did not point out the disadvantages of this position, and it could not choose a specific time to engage, and it was inevitable that there would be flaws in the process of pressing the enemy, which would be taken advantage of by the cunning enemy. And for fleet commanders, the upwind position often has a better view of the battlefield - the sea breeze will constantly blow the smoke of artillery fire downwind instead of hanging around the battleship. As a result, the fleet commander is better able to observe the situation and the flag signal is better communicated and executed. If it is downwind, the fleet will be surrounded by thick gunpowder smoke blown by the upwind wind, and the command and operation will be greatly disrupted. Although both positions have their pros and cons, any admiral prefers the upper hand.

"Yes, we do have some initiative......"

Wu Minghui, who seemed to be calm, smiled bitterly in his heart.

Puzzled by the Anglo-Dutch combined fleet within visual distance. He knew that the adversary of the ships was not only the fleet that was far away, but also the nature that controlled the wind direction and tides of the strait. The English Channel is a well-known tidal water in Europe, and its tides are unusually frequent and complex. The currents sometimes pour from the Atlantic into the narrow strait, and sometimes retreat from the strait to the sea. Commanders who fail to judge the rise and fall of the tide in time can leave the fleet swept away by currents, or push an inferior side to a stronger enemy, or let the pursuing army drift away.

Compared to the Ming army, the British obviously knew more about this sea area.

As the two large fleets approached each other within visual distance, the steep and white Cape Beech stood on the shore of the English Channel. It is a white cliff that stretches for miles, looking out at a huge group of ships not far away, about to witness the moment that will determine the fate of Europe.

A gentle northeast wind blows on the sea, and it can be quite chilly on a summer morning. Li Jie, who was on the cruiser "Suili," was also looking into the distance. From his position, he could clearly see that in the upwind position on the port side of the fleet, the Anglo-Dutch forces formed 103 warships into a single column in good order, sailed to the southwest, and slowly sailed towards them in an offensive posture.

"The battle is about to begin!"

While Li Jie was talking to himself, the sixty-two warships of the Western Fleet also maintained a single column, heading towards the Anglo-Dutch forces, and by Li Jie's side. The not tall Sun Qianqin, who was only 15 years old as a cadet officer of the navy, although his face was childish, he still stood there with a solemn expression, and like his comrades-in-arms, he gave orders from time to time, and on the deck, the gunners operating the guns all stared solemnly at the front.

Everyone knew that a naval battle would soon begin.

The Anglo-Dutch forces seemed to have the upper hand over them, having formed their columns and having the upper hand, and were now rushing at full speed towards them, perhaps at the very beginning of which they would have to suffer heavy losses. All this, at the beginning of the war, put the officers and men of the Western Fleet under tremendous psychological pressure.

"Everyone, pay attention, the first shot must not be fired by me!"

When he received the signal from the flagship again, Li Jie once again issued this order through the first officer.

When the order was given, the gunners on the deck immediately complained softly.

"Damn, what kind of order did Marquis Zheng give!"

"That's it, isn't it for the brethren to stand up to the barbarian fire!"

"What is hard support, it is clearly to let us be beaten for a while, and take the lives of the brothers seriously......"

For ordinary sailors, of course, they can't understand what so-called "reasons" and excuses, in their opinion, since they have already reached this point, then the next thing could not be simpler.

Hit!

However, an order is an order.

Without an order, you must not fire.

In fact, if Herbert, as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, could have calmed down, perhaps, this naval battle would not have broken out at all, but everything changed at about 8 o'clock in the morning.

"Raise the offensive flag!"

With Herbert's order, the "Royal Monarchy" raised the signal to attack, and the Anglo-Dutch army began to approach the Ming line with all its might.

"The "Royal Monarchy" has raised an attack letter~!"

The shout of the lookout hand made Zheng Ming grin, and even breathed a sigh of relief. The worst fears, finally no need to worry about, there is no doubt that the responsibility for this war lies with the British.

"They're coming!"

While saying this with a smile, Zheng Ming ordered the adjutant again.

"Record, at 8:11 a.m., the British side first raised the offensive flag, and our side was forced to respond."

Subsequently, Zheng Ming ordered.

"Prepare for battle."

Compared with the British, Zheng Ming still did not give the order to raise the flag of attack, but drove towards the Anglo-Dutch army in a good formation. The 22 Dutch warships, which were the vanguard of the combined fleet, sailed under the command of Admiral Iverson and rushed to the front.

On the surface, the strength of the Dutch fleet alone was comparable to that of the Western fleet, and both the British and Dutch were confident that their fighting qualities were not inferior to the Ming army, and even far superior to the Ming army in terms of combat experience.

"Tell the big guys, teach those Oriental Yankees a good lesson, and let them know what naval warfare is!"

In the past so many years, the Netherlands has been squeezed by the Celestial Empire, step by step towards the predicament, for the Netherlands, this is a rare opportunity, a chance for the Netherlands to regain everything. Compared with the Western fleet, the Dutch did have a reason for their self-confidence, although there were only about 30 warships, but 24 of them were large warships equipped with more than 70 guns and more than 32 pounds of heavy guns, and there was a clear difference in strength between the two sides.

It is precisely because of this that Iverson appears so confident, of course, this self-confidence is more due to confidence in the strong strength of the Combined Fleet.

In this way, with the confidence of victory, the Dutch fleet gradually approached the French avant-garde, while the Western fleet only moved forward unhurriedly. The British troops, who were in the upper hand, maintained a tight formation and cautiously approached.

The battle had not yet begun, but the atmosphere on the sea was tense to the extreme. The Western Fleet, which was inferior in numbers, was in a disadvantageous position, and it was clear to everyone that by the time the shelling began, the smoke of the battlefield would make it difficult to convey important maneuver commands. The reason why Iverson will be desperate for the impact is precisely because he wants to seize this weakness of the Western Fleet.

At nine o'clock in the morning, after almost an hour's voyage, Iverson's 29 Dutch ships finally came to the rescue.

"It's really an old maritime power!"

Even as an enemy, Zheng Ming couldn't help but praise the Dutch sailors for their superb ship skills, and they still maintained a tight formation when the wind struck. Judging by the quality they showed, they really lived up to the title of sea coachmen.

The Dutch fleet sailed directly to a very close distance from the Western fleet, and then quickly turned to form a battle line. In the process, the battle lines of the two sides quickly approached, and the sailors on both sides were so close that they could even see each other's faces, they were all staring at each other through the cannon windows, and they even felt that they could hear each other's breathing.

"Military Gate!"

The first mate standing in the stern of the ship shouted excitedly as he stared at the Dutchman who was getting closer and closer.

"Wait!"

Zheng Ming ordered without hesitation,

He stood on the deck, his eyes fixed on each other, and through the binoculars he could see that the Dutch sailors were ready for battle, and that the ignition rods in the hands of their gunners were already lit, and even "zez" was burning.

Their technology is at least twenty years behind the Ming Dynasty...... As early as more than twenty years ago, the naval artillery of the Ming Dynasty completely switched to flintlock igniter ignition instead of the open flame of the ignition rope.

Zheng Ming's heart suddenly popped up with such a thought, at this moment, he seemed to understand why in the past twenty years, His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized technological superiority, and even while Da Ming Ming has maintained technological superiority, he is still constantly pursuing to expand technological superiority.

The reason for this is probably because of the technological superiority, which can be transformed into a military superiority, which is the fundamental way to ensure the future of the Celestial Empire!

Of course, for Iverson, he didn't know that the ignition rod in the hands of the gunners would cause so many associations among the admirals of the Western fleet, in fact, as early as more than ten years ago, the flintlock igniter of artillery has been introduced to Europe, but many old artillery pieces can not use flintlock igniters, and those expensive heavy guns will not be easily eliminated before their life is reached.

They didn't shoot!

Staring at the approaching Ming fleet, Iverson's heart also seemed extremely nervous, staring at the enemy's huge warships on the sea, he secretly prayed to God, praying for God's blessing.

Fight for God, and all glory be to God......

While praying inwardly, staring at the enemy in sight, Iverson swallowed, and the most important moment finally arrived.

"Fire!"

Less than 300 yards away, with Iverson's order. The Netherlands, who had been waiting for a long time, first began to bombard the Western fleet with broadside guns. The Dutch were the first to ignite the battle on the sea, as they wished.

Almost as huge clouds of flames and white smoke erupted from the gun windows of the Dutchman's warships, the stone in Zheng Ming's heart finally fell.

The most worrying thing is finally no longer to worry about.

"Gunmen, the Dutch have opened fire!"

There was no need for warning, the sound of cannon was already ringing out on the sea, and everyone could see the flames and smoke gushing out of the Dutchmanship.

For Zheng Ming, the "incident" that he had painstakingly planned for many days was finally realized at the moment when the Dutch opened fire, and when the stone in his heart was put down, the "Ganquan", as the vanguard of the battle line, led the whole army to advance slowly. He turned a complete blind eye to the fierceness of the Dutch,

Taking a deep breath, Zheng Ming knew that in this war, the confrontation between the Celestial Empire and the European fleets began.

The war has begun!

Destiny is sealed!