In order to avoid the surveillance of the Ming Imperial Navy in Star City Port, after setting out from Batavia, Fan Mendi did not take the conventional channel near Star City Port in the west, but chose to bypass Borneo from the northeast, pass through the Sulu Sea, and reach Luzon.

Although it took more than half a circle and the voyage was almost half longer, it was better to be hidden, and Fan Mendi believed that it was impossible for the Ming Empire to cross Borneo to set up sentinel ships boringly, but he never thought that the Ming Empire not only crossed Borneo to set up sentinel ships, but even set up sentinel ships in the Sulu Islands, Luzon Islands and Palawan.

More importantly, Batavia has Jinyiwei's secret agents to monitor at all times, and as soon as he left Batavia with the combined fleet, Jinyiwei's secret agents took out the hidden steamer and rushed to Star City Port to report the news.

At this time, the speed of the ship has become the key link that determines the success or failure of the war, and most of the Ming Imperial Navy has been replaced by ships, and the combined fleet is still a sailing ship, which means that from the beginning, the combined fleet is at an absolute disadvantage, because the speed of the ship is almost three times that of the sailboat, and there is no need to care about the wind direction and water flow at all.

From Batavia to the port of Star City, it takes at least ten days to drive a sailboat, but only three days to drive a steamer; It takes about half a month to drive a sailboat from the port of Star City to Manila, and it takes five days to drive a steamer!

In other words, even if he took the conventional shipping route, it would take more than twenty days for the combined fleet led by Van Mendi to rush from Batavia to Manila, and now he has made a circle for most of the time, and it would be good to be able to arrive in a month.

On the side of the Ming army, the Jinyi Wei secret agent rushed to Xingcheng Port in three days, even if Zheng Chenggong needed to prepare for a few days and then lead the fleet to Manila Bay, he could arrive at least half a month earlier than the combined fleet!

However, Zheng Chenggong did not choose to go directly to Manila Bay, because there must be Dutch sentinel ships there, and if the huge fleet sailed into Manila Bay and was discovered, Van Mendi would definitely turn around and leave, and the plan to lure the snake out of the hole would be in vain.

He chose to hide behind Palawan, and after determining the route of the combined fleet, he rushed out of the strait between Palawan and Borneo to encircle and annihilate the combined fleet of the anti-Habsburg powers in the Sulu Sea.

With plenty of time, he even organized a meeting of the fleet commander to plan for the next operations.

There were not many people attending the meeting, because the Ming Dynasty now has a total of five fleets, and even if all the fleet commanders are all there, there are only five people, not to mention that the North Sea Fleet is still in Goa.

This time, Zheng Chenggong sat on the throne in the name of the generalissimo of the Ming Empire, and his left head was:

Zheng Zhilong, the king of Zhennan and the governor of Nanyang;

Admiral Chen Hui of the East China Sea Fleet;

Ma Xianglin, commander of the Second Army Corps of the Border Guards;

His right head is, in order:

Zheng Zhihu, the chief general of the Nanyang Naval Division;

Admiral Yang Geng, Chief of the North Sea Fleet;

Zheng Xing, the chief general of the South China Sea Fleet.

Although Zheng Chenggong has not presided over the combat meeting, but the number of times he has seen the combat meeting is very much, under the deliberate cultivation of Zhu Cijiong, he has been quite a general, after everyone sat down, he picked up the ash rod in front of him, pointed to the map of the South Seas on the conference table and said: "Everyone, the fish has finally taken the bait, according to the Jinyi Wei secret agent, the combined fleet of the anti-Habsburg alliance powers has left Batavia four days ago, preparing to take the Sulu Sea and attack Manila. ”

After that, he stopped and glanced around the people present to see how the generals reacted, and whether the desire to fight was strong, which he also learned from Zhu Cijiong.

The generals were naturally gearing up, eager to clean up the combined fleet immediately, and Zheng Zhilong couldn't wait to say: "Sen'er, oh, no, generalissimo, then let's set off quickly to kill them." “

Zheng Chenggong rolled his eyes, shook his head and said, "No, we can't set off yet, we must determine their intentions before we can go." If they suddenly turn around while walking and go straight to Star City Harbor, then we will be in big trouble! “

Zheng Zhilong was directly choked speechless, although this possibility is very small, but there is still some, if Fan Mendi really does this, it will be really troublesome, because, if you want to completely annihilate the combined fleet, the Ming Navy must go all out, and when the fleet is all gone, it is really possible that the batteries and fortresses alone will not be able to withstand the repeated attacks of more than a hundred super battleships.

Zheng Chenggong pointed to the sea east of Borneo and continued: "Here, we have set up sentinel ships, and if the sentinel ships see the combined fleet passing by here, we can attack, because, when they reach this position, it is unlikely that they will turn back. “

When the generals heard this, they all nodded in agreement, and they turned back after running halfway, unless Fan Mendi was sick!

Zheng Chenggong continued to analyze: "According to the speed of the sailboat, it will take them at least more than ten days to arrive here, plus the time for the sentinel ship to return, we still have at least half a month to prepare, so everyone should not be in a hurry, take a good rest, practice well, if we don't attack, we will take down their fleet and the station in Batavia!" “

is so courageous, Zheng Zhilong looked at his baby son, that is called a smugness, and the generals are also admired, and they all show expressions of appreciation.

Zheng Chenggong then gave a solemn order: "Now, I order that the Nanyang Naval Division, the South China Sea Fleet, the North Sea Fleet, all battleships and Fuchuan battleships all move to the sea east of Xingcheng Harbor, step up drills, and prepare for an attack. “

When Zheng Zhihu, Yang Geng, and Zheng Xing heard this, they stood up and arched their hands: "The last general will obey the order." “

Zheng Chenggong nodded, waved his hand and motioned for them to sit down, and then continued: "Order, the East China Sea Fleet and the Second Army Corps of the Frontier Army will move south of Xingcheng Port to step up the training of joint landing operations and prepare for the attack. “

When Chen Hui and Ma Xianglin heard this, they also stood up and arched their hands: "The last general will obey the order." “

Zheng Chenggong nodded, waved their hands and motioned for them to sit down, and was about to continue to discuss specific combat matters, but Zheng Zhilong interjected again: "Generalissimo, then what am I doing?" “

This father, why do you always make trouble, it seems that it will not work if you don't teach a lesson, Zheng Chenggong directly turned his face and said seriously: "His Royal Highness the King of Zhennan, please pay attention to the discipline of the meeting, now I am presiding over the meeting, the generalissimo didn't ask you to speak, don't interject." “

With such an iron-faced and selfless son, Zheng Zhilong didn't know whether to be happy or sad, but he was always a little uncomfortable after being trained by his baby son, he sat there with an aggrieved face, and he looked like an angry little daughter-in-law.

Almost all the generals are Zheng Zhilong's old subordinates, and they naturally know that Zheng Zhilong is very good at Zheng Chenggong's baby, and now seeing him angry, he can't help but hold back a smile, and his face is flushed.

Seeing this, Zheng Chenggong shook his head helplessly, and comforted: "Father, haven't I finished talking yet, this expedition only brings battleships and Fuchuan battleships, and all other warships must stay, so you can lead these warships to stay in Xingcheng Harbor just in case." “