At this time, the island of São Miguel was not very well developed, and there was only one port city in Ponta Delgada, located at the southwest tip of the island. Although Sao Miguel is the largest island in the Azores, nearly twice the size of the third largest island, Terceira, it is a volcanic island that has experienced several earthquakes and small volcanic eruptions. In addition, the terrain on the island is rugged, and the proportion of plains is not high. That's why the Portuguese have focused their development on the island of Terceira.

But in any case, the island is still very valuable for development. After all, there is still a lot to use on the 759-square-kilometer island. For example, you can grow sugar cane and grapes, and you can also graze cattle and sheep.

For the great nobility of the native Portugal, although the earthquake on the island of São Miguel and the eruption of two volcanoes were terrible. However, the fertile soil created by volcanic eruptions is also excellent farmland. Therefore, some of the great Portuguese aristocrats recruited some farmers on the island to grow sugar cane and grapes here to supply the local cane sugar and wine. Anyway, even if there was an earthquake or a volcano erupting on the island of São Miguel, it would only be his men and peasants who would die, not the nobles themselves. Perhaps, those nobles who owned large tracts of land on the island of São Miguel would never set foot on this island for the rest of their lives......

But there's no denying that the island is still valuable because of the high price of sugar and the importance of wine in Europe. The island's only port, Ponta Delgada, is also an important export port for sugar and wine. The interests of many nobles were at stake, and Portugal could not give up on it.

When six British Kirk galleons arrived at the port of Ponta Delgada, the locals were unaware of the danger. After all, for an island in the Atlantic, far from the European mainland, it is rare for an outside ship to arrive.

But when the pirate flag was hoisted by six British Kirk galleons, the port of Ponta Delgada was in chaos......

The fishermen and sailors of the port abandoned their ships and went ashore and hid in the city of Ponta Delgada, shivering within the walls. It's not a big island town, but it's pretty strong. At this time, because of the threat of pirates, more than 2,000 residents inside and outside the city took refuge, making the city extremely crowded.

Under the terrified eyes of the inhabitants of the city, more than 300 "pirates" were dispatched from six ships to land and loot all the merchant ships and fishing boats outside the city, as well as several villages outside the city.

However, for some reason, those "pirates" did not destroy the ships on the pier......

After sacking several villages near the port of Ponta Delgada, the pirates began to lay siege to the city of Ponta Delgada. However, instead of storming the city, the pirates chose to bombard the gates of Ponta Delgada with their 6-pounder guns from the bow. Six six-pounder guns on the bow of the six ships bombarded the south gate of the port of Ponta Delgada, making the south gate look a little shaky.

At the critical moment, Fonseca, the lord of Ponta Delgada, ordered the opening of the south gate to be blocked with bricks and stones and staff to prevent the enemy from breaking through after the gate was breached.

Ponta Delgada is a small city in a remote area, and the city gate naturally cannot be an iron gate, and it is not even nailed to the iron sheet. Therefore, the oak gates could not withstand the long-term bombardment of artillery.

Fortunately, the 6-pounder gun used by the pirates was not a powerful gun, and it could not break through the oak door in a short time. Therefore, before the oak gate was smashed, the inhabitants of the city finally blocked the gate hole.

In the evening, the pirate fleet left the port of Ponta Delgada for some reason, and ran to anchor elsewhere to rest. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the lord of Fonseca ordered 20 sailors to go out of the city, infiltrate a 100-ton merchant ship in the harbor, and drive the ship to leave the port of Ponta Delgada at night and go to Porto Heroísmo on the island of Terceira to ask for help.

And they didn't know that in a hidden place outside the city of Ponta Delgada, two secret agents of the Beihai Kingdom who were in charge of monitoring the city's movements put down their binoculars, smiled and high-fived each other, and said:

"It's done!"

Over the next few days, six "corsair ships" shelled the south gate of Ponta Delgada in a systematic manner, seemingly in no hurry.

……

Three days later, about 300 kilometers away in Porto Sangra, the Governor of the Azores, Rui. Silva receives a distress letter from the island of São Miguel......

"What? São Miguel Island under attack? Pirates of England? "Rui. Silva was a little confused.

"Are you sure it's an English pirate?" Rui. Silva asked incredulously.

"Sure! Your Excellency the Governor, our Lord of Fonseca said that those ships were English galleons, and their cries to attack were also in English! Said the sailor who came to report the news.

"How did the English pirates come here to do something? Didn't they always attack only the French? "Rui. Silva was a little puzzled.

In fact, if you change to those famous generals who were deeply influenced by scheming in ancient China, it is estimated that you can guess the strategy of "diverting the tiger from the mountain". After all, this kind of thing was common in ancient Chinese wars.

However, this is ancient Europe, and stratagem is not popular. And Rui. Silva wasn't a very smart person, so he didn't see the trick in it.

He didn't dare not rescue the island of São Miguel, you know, on the island of São Miguel, there are many estates of the powerful Portuguese nobles, and even a few royal estates.

He can't afford to offend any of these bigwigs, and if he doesn't rescue them, he, the governor, will be at the end of his life. Therefore, he could only decide to send a warship to the rescue.

"By the way, what are the strength of those pirates, like, firepower?" Before the rescue, Rui. Silva asked about the strength of the "pirate".

The sailor who came to report the news thought for a moment and said:

"There were more than 300 pirates who landed and ransacked the village, and it is estimated that there were hundreds more on board. As for firepower, they used 6 guns to attack the city. However, the lord of the city said that they should have three guns on each ship, arranged in the bow and stern......"

"More than 400 people...... Hiss-"Rui. Silva gasped.

You must know that he, the governor of the Azores, has only 420 sailors on 7 warships under his command. If you simply fight a broadside battle, Rui. Silva was not confident that he could beat the pirates. You know, England has a tradition of piracy, and pirates' ability to engage in broadside battles is much better than that of ordinary sailors.

Although Portugal is also a maritime power, it has never done much piracy. The Portuguese sailors mainly raided the west coast of Africa, mainly trading and landing to raid black villages, and were really not good at broadside warfare. I don't want the English, I attack the French and the French ships all day long, and the broadside battles are very familiar.

Fortunately, the Portuguese also knew their own weaknesses, so they later focused on developing the naval combat mode of artillery bombardment, and achieved success. A few years ago, the Battle of Calicut in India, although the Spaniards were the main force, it was also a great success in the artillery naval battle.

Although the Azorean fleet had only seven small ships, each ship had at least seven or eight guns. In terms of vitality, it is definitely stronger than the pirates.

To be on the safe side, Rui. Silva decided to send six warships into battle, leaving only one to protect Angra Sangra Sangra Sangra......

This news was discovered by spies sent by the North Sea State in the Azores. Then, overnight, it was passed to four warships two hundred kilometers north of the island of Terceira......

"It's going to be difficult now......" Tyral, the commander of the four ships, scratched his head. The four warships he brought were all converted British Kirk galleons, and the total number of guns on the four ships was 12. And the Portuguese warship that stayed behind in Angra Sanstomo had 10 guns on board......

If the two sides face off, although their side has a chance of winning, it is definitely not good. After all, a Portuguese warship with 10 guns will definitely make them suffer.

If it is replaced by a regular warship of the Beihai Kingdom, it is naturally not afraid of this Portuguese warship. But they used modified English Kirk galleons, thin-skinned and unbeaten. If one is sunk by a Portuguese warship, it will be a lot of fun......