The seventh day of the seventh month of the eighteenth year of Chongzheng in the Ming Dynasty is a day that can be recorded in history.

At about noh in the afternoon of that day, the combined fleet of the Ming Empire, Spain, and Portugal encountered the combined fleet of the anti-Habsburg coalition powers on the ocean more than 200 miles northwest of Lisbon.

In this battle, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Habsburg Alliance was Zheng Chenggong, the generalissimo of the Ming Empire, and the commander-in-chief of the anti-Habsburg Alliance was Dutch Admiral Van Mendi.

As soon as the two sides encountered, Zheng Chenggong, who was in command of the middle of the combined fleet of the Daming Habsburg Alliance, received a message from all sides, and the speed of the transmission was simply instantaneous.

Zheng Chenggong only thought about it for a moment, and then decisively ordered: "

Order the first to third divisions of the ironclad battleships to form three columns, with the cruisers in front and the battleships behind, to penetrate through the middle of the Nanyang Naval Division and the Beiyang Naval Division directly in front and penetrate directly into the enemy fleet in the left front;

ordered the Portuguese fleet to divide the front and rear and flow out of a passage about a mile wide for the passage of ironclad warships;

ordered the South Sea Fleet to immediately turn around and move closer to the Portuguese fleet;

ordered the four to seven detachments of ironclad battleships to form four columns, with cruisers in front and battleships behind, to penetrate through the middle of the Portuguese fleet directly on the left, and penetrate directly into the enemy fleet on the left;

ordered the ironclad battleships to form three columns, with cruisers in front and battleships behind, to penetrate through the middle of the Spanish fleet directly behind and penetrate the enemy fleet in the left rear;

The rest of the fleet, slow down and stop advancing, waiting for orders. “

With his order, the flag-bearers around continued to wave the command flag in their hands, and soon, the ironclad battleship in the middle moved, followed by the Portuguese fleet on the left, and then, the South China Sea Fleet on the right also moved, and the three hundred ironclad battleships were like three sharp arrows, piercing through the wooden battleship lineup on the periphery and penetrating directly into the fleets of the anti-Habsburg alliance.

At this time, Van Mendy, who was in the Dutch naval fleet directly on the left, had just received a message from the front that he had discovered the combined fleet of the Daming Habsburg Alliance!

Before he could give an order, news suddenly came from the front that more than a hundred warships were rushing in the direction of his fleet.

Fan Mendi was stunned for a moment, what kind of tactic is this, is it a death tactic?

Due to the limited information conveyed by the flag, he didn't know that it was an ironclad battleship rushing in front of him, and he just thought that the enemy was crazy.

More than 100 warships, to attack more than 600 warships, this is not what to do with death, he immediately ordered: "Order all warships, the bow cannon is loaded with shells, aim at the enemy ships, and bombard them as soon as they enter the firing range." “

The distance of more than ten miles was only about a quarter of an hour's voyage for a steam-powered warship, and soon the roar of artillery sounded in the fleet of the anti-Habsburg coalition, and it was clear that the enemy's warships were already within range.

Van Mendi couldn't help but run to the bow of the flagship, pull out his binoculars, and look ahead.

At this distance, he should be able to see the enemy warship.

However, he was now in the middle of the fleet, and there were many of his own warships in front of him, so for a while, he could not see the enemy's warships.

also blamed himself for the neat formation on his side, and he immediately ordered: "Order, the flagship is offset to the left by one degree." ”

Following his command, the flagship shifted slightly to the left in the orderly queue as it marched.

At this time, he finally saw the enemy's warships, and saw more than 100 enemy ships rushing at full speed in the face of artillery fire, moving forward with an indomitable momentum.

Is this a desperate end?

He's really a little confused, how can there be such a deadly way to fight!

At this time, a shell happened to hit the enemy ship he was concerned about, and it happened to hit the bow of the enemy ship a little lower.

It stands to reason that at least a basin-sized hole would have been smashed out of the bow of the enemy ship this time, but the shell was actually bounced off, and the bow of the enemy ship seemed to have nothing to do!

What's going on here?

He hurriedly adjusted his binoculars and looked at the spot where the shell had landed.

Lack of k, it turned out to be an iron plate, and his face changed suddenly.

Iron plate, the outer layer of the enemy ship is actually covered with iron plate!

He couldn't help but hold up the binoculars and look at the other positions of this enemy ship.

At this moment, the ironclad cruiser in the front row of the Ming army finally opened fire, and in a roar of "boom, boom, boom", hundreds of cannonballs the size of a basin flew directly over.

There was a terrible sound of wood splintering, and dozens of warships were shot.

Fanmendi couldn't help but sweep the telescope towards one of his own battleships that had been shot, oh my God, a huge hole was smashed into the deck of that battleship that was a man wide, and I don't know what happened to the artillery below.

While he was stunned, the enemy's warships had already rushed into his own fleet.

There was a chaotic sound of "click", and the battleships that were hit cracked one after another, slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

How can you fight this, the enemy is all ironclad battleships!

Van Mendi hurriedly ordered: "Hurry, hurry, order all the warships to retreat and retreat to the English Channel." “

At this time, in the middle of the Daming Habsburg Combined Fleet, Zheng Chenggong on the flagship Daming had received news from the periphery that the enemy's fleet was about to collapse at the touch of a button, and all fled north.

Want to run? How can it be so easy!

He immediately ordered: "Order the Spanish fleet and the ironclad battleships to be eight to ten squadrons, intercept the enemy fleet in the left rear, and annihilate them on the spot, and the rest of the battleships, scattered, pursue to the north, all the huge guns in the bow, and attack freely at any time." “

The combined fleet of the Habsburgs was soon split into two, and the two Spanish fleets in the rear immediately turned to the left to surround the more than 500 warships behind the enemy, while the four fleets in front scattered and pursued all the way north. ”

This chase lasted three days and three nights, and the Daming Habsburg Combined Fleet pursued all the way to the English Channel.

It was not until the pursuit reached the vicinity of Dover and Calais that Zheng Chenggong ordered the entire fleet to assemble at the flagship position.

By this time, the combined fleet of the anti-Habsburg coalition had dispersed and fled into the ports of Dover and Calais, both of which were fortified and heavily defended.

Britain and France suffered a big loss, lost both ports once, and were directly ransomed by the Ming Habsburg Union for 90 million taels, and they naturally did not dare to relax anymore.

In order to ensure that these two ports would no longer be occupied by the enemy, Britain and France chose to build fortresses and forts, and directly built these two into steel fortresses!

This can stump Zheng Chenggong, and the battleship went to attack the fortress and battery on the coast, which seemed to be a loss.

However, relying on the ironclad battleship, he still led the army to try to attack the French port of Calais, and the result can be imagined, even if the ironclad battleship went up, it would only be beaten, and the solid bullet had no way to take the fort and the fort at all.

In the end, Zheng Chenggong had to order the fleet to temporarily retreat to the mouth of the Guadiana River.

Of course, he didn't plan to give up, he was going to go back to replenish his ammunition and bring some armored combat vehicles over.

When the time comes, first find a place near Calais and Dover to land on the beach, unload the armored combat vehicles, and then make a joint attack by land and sea, he will not believe that he will not be able to capture these two ports!