"Give the English a signal to immediately go into battle." Zeng Guangxian shouted.

Suddenly, the Pearl's hull shook, and a shell hit the right side of the Pearl.

"Sir." Da Silva wanted to come over and help Zeng Guangxian, Zeng Guangxian pushed Da Silva away, "Let the English enter the war immediately, immediately!" ”

Weddell, who received the signal, still did not give the order to attack: "Mr. Montney, do you think we should be involved in the battle now?" ”

"Your Excellency." Monteney couldn't make up his mind, "Daming's fleet doesn't take advantage of it now, our participation in the battle at this time may help them achieve victory, but our losses will also be great, there are too many warships on the Dutch side." ”

"But if we don't move, then I'm worried that the conditions that the Ming Dynasty promised us will be discounted."

"Your Excellency said yes." Montney is a private business representative, and his first consideration is always interests, and he asked, "Your Excellency can let our warship slowly come over and see the situation first." We're downwind now, and the slower speed can be explained. ”

The six British warships were moving slowly at a speed of less than two knots, and now the whole thing was disorganized, and the three large ships of the direct fleet were no longer in formation, and they were all fighting on their own.

"These damned Englishmen." Zeng Guangxian scolded bitterly but had no choice but to pick up the radio again, "No. 777, Xin Jiaju, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Report sir, we have to wait, we are already cooling the engine, it may be more than ten minutes."

"Can't wait any longer." Five or six warships had been surrounded by the Pearl, and the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, "The Westerners seem to have to rely on help." Xin Jiaju, if we rely on helping to pick up the shipboard, we will suffer a big loss. I command you to activate 777 and sink their flagship no matter what. ”

"I understand." Xin Jiaju knew that it was time for a moment.

Putting down the microphone, Xin Jiaju picked up the binoculars and looked at it for a while and saw the doorway. The opponent's flagship is still about 3,000 meters away from him, and as long as he rushes through more than 2,000 meters and can block the front of the Pearl, then the 37 mm guns and two 30 mm guns will completely kill any Western warship.

Xin Jiaju was ruthless: "Order, start No. 777 and rush over at full speed." ”

"Sir, there will be a problem with the startup now."

"I can't wait, start it right away."

No. 777 restarted with a loud roar, rushed less than 1,500 meters, and the engine stalled again. But the location of No. 777 is right, and the other party's flagship can already be clearly seen.

Xin Jiaju finally smiled: "Order, 37mm guns, 30mm guns, target the opponent's flagship, fire." ”

Flames erupted from the muzzles of three cannons, and a volley of modern shells hit the flagship of the Dutch. A row of gun holes was punched out of the port side of the flagship of the Batavian governor Antony, which ignited a raging fire.

"Drop the dinghy." Van Rude commanded loudly, "Your Excellency, we must abandon ship." ”

Anthony was dumbfounded, what kind of artillery did the other side use, his 800-ton battleship was like firewood in a furnace under the opponent's artillery blows, only burning.

Weddell was also dumbfounded, could it be that Daming's battleship was possessed by the devil.

Weddell's reaction was quite quick: "Immediately signal the ships, go full speed, and join the battle." ”

Zeng Guangxian's mood finally relaxed a little: "Da Silva, send a signal to the other side, armistice negotiations." ”

The joint command in Yulin Bay held another meeting.

"The situation in all aspects has come back a bit, let me talk about it first." Zhang Guodong was the first to speak, "Beijing and Ningyuan are in a stalemate, Abatai can't beat Ningyuan, but Wu Sangui didn't attack. Tao Gong has been driven to Beijing by Lin Zhaolong and Xu Lang, and he should have joined Tao Min. According to the information of the Second General Affairs Department, Huang Taiji has sent someone to infiltrate Beijing and is in contact with Gao Qiqian. ”

Wang Hua added: "I don't know who Huang Taiji's envoy is, but I have already given Ge Tao an order to try to kill him. ”

Zhang Guodong continued: "There should have been a fight on the Singapore side, and I don't know what the specific situation is. ”

"There shouldn't be much in Singapore." Leng Tianbing said, "After all, we have number 777. ”

"You can't be careless." Han Wantao interjected, "Didn't the news that came back a few days ago say that there is a problem with the engine of No. 777. ”

Zhang Guodong waved his hand: "Just let Zeng Guangxian and Wang Zhaoxing deal with the affairs of Singapore, and we can't do it." ”

Xia Yang asked, "What is the situation in Xi'an and Datong Xuanfu?" ”

"Li Zicheng didn't fight Xi'an, but it seems that Zhang Xianzhong and others are moving to Xi'an, and there will be a big battle in Xi'an." Zhang Guodong replied, "The 20,000 Mongol troops have plundered Datong and Xuanfu, and now they are also moving towards Beijing. ”

"The Mongols are going to Beijing?" The participants were a little surprised, "If the Mongols go to Beijing, then the Manchu troops in Beijing will reach more than 100,000, and Beijing will be in danger." ”

"This incident also illustrates a problem." Zhang Guodong analyzed, "Tao Min wants to increase the pressure on Beijing, he probably wants to reach an armistice agreement with Chongzhen as soon as possible, he can't afford it in Beijing." ”

"Principal Wang." Xia Yang asked, "If you kill Huang Taiji's envoy, do you think it is still possible for the Manchu Qing and Chongzhen to make peace?" ”

"I can't say no." Wang Hua replied, "But the probability of success will be greatly reduced." ”

Everyone discussed for a while, and Leng Tianbing asked, "Everyone, you all know Xu Lang's idea of recovering Lushun. Now that Tao Min Taogong has been dragged in Beijing, we don't care whether Huang Taiji can make peace with Chongzhen, the war on the Singapore side may soon subside, but the possibility of a truce in Xi'an is very small. Our Yanchang County has not yet been recovered, and our next step is to choose Lushun or Yanchang County. ”

The Joint Command has actually discussed this matter several times, but has never been able to come up with an idea. There are two problems here, one is the problem of transportation capacity, and no one is sure whether there will be time to transport the newly formed Second Independent Division to Lushun. The second is that no one knows what will happen to the Singapore side, and whether the Combined Fleet needs to be repaired.

"I think this matter will wait for Zeng Guangxian and the others to come back." Xia Yang said, "Our independent second division is not yet fully manned, and it is all infantry, and there is no cavalry and artillery. If you attack Lushun, you can use the guns on the battleship, but I am afraid it will not be so easy to attack Li Zicheng. ”