Time goes by slowly, seeing that the middle of May is coming, the northerly monsoon is slowing down, and if you don't set off, you can't follow the monsoon to the southeast coast of Daming, in that case, it will take at least more than a month on the road.

Brower is an explorer and a navigator, he naturally will not make this kind of mistake, after training for more than ten days, fresh water, food, weapons, ammunition, fire extinguishing facilities, etc. are almost ready, and all the warships and armed merchant ships that can be assembled have all gathered in the port of Batavia, and Brower finally decided to set off to clean up the southeast governor of the Ming Empire!

On this morning, the battleships of Batavia Harbor gathered, more than 50 super battleships, more than 100 armed merchant ships neatly arranged on both sides of the wharf, sails lined up, covering the sky and the sun, although the Netherlands claimed to have more than 15,000 ocean-going merchant ships and warships during this period, but it seemed that it was the first time that so many merchant ships and warships had been assembled at one time like this.

Brower was not as reckless as Speix, and he gathered as many armed merchant ships and warships as he mustered and left, leaving not a single battleship and merchant ship in Batavia, which was also sick in the brain.

He will only take fifty super battleships and a hundred armed merchant ships on the expedition this time, and he will keep the remaining super battleships and armed merchant ships and hand them over to the command of Rear Admiral Pradley, an idiot in Spex's mouth, to cooperate with the infantry and protect Batavia.

He knew that in fact, Major General Pradley was not an idiot, Spex was a combat idiot, and if the big battle last year had been handed over to Pradley's command, he would not have been "beaten" so badly by the Ming Empire.

Of course, there are no ifs in this world, and he doesn't want the Spanish Navy to come and occupy Batavia as soon as he goes on the expedition, and then he sighs that it would be good if he left a few warships to guard his home.

He would not make this kind of mistake at all, and leaving a few warships and merchant ships would not affect the outcome of the battle, he believed that with fifty super battleships and a hundred armed merchant ships, it was more than enough to clean up the southeastern governor of the Ming Empire.

Soon after the hour, Brower waved goodbye to Brock and Pradley, who had come to see him off, and resolutely boarded the flagship, and soon, fifty super battleships and one hundred armed merchant ships set off one after another, all the way north, straight to the southeast coast of the Ming Empire.

At this time, Zhao Xingzheng, as usual, asked his soldiers of the special operations battalion to drive fishing boats and "fish" on the sea not far from the port of Batavia, preparing to observe the Dutch drills nearby.

As a result, this time the Dutch did not stay in the sea area where they often practiced, first fifty armed merchant ships passed in a neat line, then fifty super battleships also passed in a neat line, and finally, fifty armed merchant ships passed in a neat line, until the Dutch fleet disappeared into the sea in front of them, and even the black spots could not be seen, Zhao Xing shouted as if he had just woken up from a dream: "Hurry up, go back to the fishing port, the Dutch are afraid that they have really set off this time!" ”

This time, because the sentinels were more skilled in communication, four days later, Zhang Bin received the news that fifty super battleships and one hundred armed merchant ships were a bit huge, but they had not yet surprised Zhang Bin, and if he fought with all his might, it was not impossible to defeat them.

The enemy really set off this time, and after receiving the confirmation of Bangka Island, Zhang Bin immediately issued a summoning order, summoning all the generals to come to the Dayuan Governor's Mansion and arrange everything.

On the morning of the sixth day of the departure of the fleet of the Dutch East India Company, the lobby of the Governor's Palace was star-studded, and there were more than 20 generals above the third rank. ”

When the generals heard this, they were all shocked, they still remembered the last battle, the Dutch seemed to be vulnerable, but the reward given by the governor after the war was extremely rich, and no one did not want to fight this kind of battle.

Seeing the contempt that the generals inadvertently shown, Zhang Bin immediately warned: "Don't think that the Dutch are still as vulnerable as last time, last time their commander was a businessman who can only do business, but this time, their commander is an admiral with rich combat experience, and the number of armed merchant ships they have nearly doubled this time, the situation is very unfavorable to us." This time, it must be a bitter battle, and everyone must be prepared. ”

When the generals heard this, they hurriedly put away their contempt and showed solemn expressions.

Zhang Bin nodded, and ordered loudly: "Yu Chenglong, I order you to lead twenty Weiyuan battleships, ten Zhenyuan cruisers, and two hundred and fifty wheels to assemble on Nanao Island and stand by, ready to support Zhuhai and Yuegang at any time." ”

Yu Chenglong immediately bowed his hand and said: "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhang Bin then ordered: "Zheng Zhilong ordered you to lead five super battleships, twenty-five armed merchant ships, and three hundred capital warships to assemble in Penghu and stand by, ready to fight the Dutch at any time!" ”

Zheng Zhilong immediately bowed his hand and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhang Bin then ordered: "Zheng Cai, give you 5,000 foot soldiers to defend the Zhuhai Fortress, Zheng Hua, give you 3,000 sailors and soldiers, 150 Centipede Ships, Fire Dragon Ships, Mother and Child Ships, etc., prepare more dry firewood, fire pots, and rockets, and each soldier will receive five earth-shaking thunderbolts, relying on the Zhuhai Fortress to prepare for fire attack." ”

When Zheng Cai and Zheng Hua heard this, they immediately bowed their hands and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhang Bin then ordered: "Zheng Zhibao, give you 5,000 foot soldiers to defend the Yuegang Fortress, Zheng Zhihu, give you 3,000 sailors and soldiers, 150 centipede ships, fire dragon ships, and sub-mother ships, prepare more dry firewood, fire pots, and rockets, and each soldier will receive five earth-shaking thunderbolts, relying on the Yuegang Fortress to prepare for a fire attack." ”

When Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Zhihu heard this, they immediately bowed their hands and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhang Bin then ordered: "Cao Bianjiao, give you 5,000 foot soldiers, defend the Penghu Fortress, Cao Wenzhao, give you 5,000 foot soldiers, guard the Gelanza Castle, Gan Hui, give you 3,000 sailors, 150 centipede boats, fire dragon ships, and mother ships, etc., prepare more dry firewood, fire pots, and rockets, and each soldier will receive five earth-shaking thunderbolts, relying on the Gerancha Castle, and prepare for fire attack." ”

When Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao and Gan Hui heard this, they immediately bowed their hands and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhang Bin then ordered: "Qi Yuangong, order you to lead 10,000 Qi family army foot soldiers to garrison the big soldiers, Meng Zou Wei ordered you to bring 5,000 foot soldiers to garrison Guangzhou, and Hong Xianchun ordered you to bring 5,000 foot soldiers to garrison Fuzhou." ”

Qi Yuangong, Meng Zou Wei and Hong Xianchun immediately bowed their hands and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhang Bin finally stood up and said loudly: "There are other guards along the coast in the east and nine guards, the soldiers are assembled, the garrison is tightly guarded, and the Dutch are strictly prevented from landing and supplying, everyone remember, brave and fearless can defeat the enemy and win, go!" ”

When the generals heard this, they suddenly agreed to the promise, and the deployment of troops was completed.

This time, due to the large size of the enemy's fleet, Zhang Bin only deployed 5,000 foot soldiers and 150 arson ships as the first defense in Dayuan, Yuegang, Zhuhai and other important places, while the main fleet led by Yu Chenglong and Zheng Chenggong were on standby at the two nodes of Nanao and Penghu, preparing to concentrate all their efforts on a decisive battle with the Dutch.

In this way, intelligence work is quite important, and it is necessary to keep abreast of the movements of the main fleet of the Dutch East India Company, otherwise, it is very likely that it will not be able to support it.

For this reason, after Zhang Bin finished deploying his troops, he sent five groups of 50 elite teams of special operations battalions to drive the remaining 50 wheels and boats to spread over the vast sea areas south of Zhuhai, Penghu, and Dayuan, spreading out like a big net, waiting for the Dutch to enter the net.

At the same time, he also transported the 20,000 jin Hongyi cannons that had just been produced to Yuegang and Zhuhai respectively, and equipped ten of them in each of these two fortresses, although the ten 10,000 jin Hongyi cannons are unlikely to sink the enemy's super battleships, but they can cause huge damage to the enemy, if the enemy chooses the decisive battle location in Zhuhai or Yuegang, these 10,000 jin Hongyi cannons can have a certain impact on the battle situation.

Where will Brower choose to attack?

This is the same mistake as he Spex, he also believes that the Ming Empire has a vast territory and a large population, and the number of army must be terrifying, and coastal cities such as Zhuhai and Yuegang cannot be defended even if they are defeated.

He was more crisp than Spex, he didn't bother to go to Zhuhai and Yuegang, he directly chose the most common route taken by the Dutch East India Company, and went straight from Batavia to Dongfan, he decided to go all out to conquer the castle of Geranza, and then take the big man first!

So, will the sentinels sent by Zhang Bin find out his intentions?

Moon Island is a coral island bent like a full moon, it is located in the east of the Guangdong Chengxuan Political Envoy Division, directly south of Dongfan, away from Zhuhai, almost a thousand miles away from the Dayuan, is the best place to monitor the movements of the Dutch, therefore, Xie Zhenggang personally led his ten teams to control the waters around Moon Island, monitoring the two shipping lanes of Nanyang to Dongfan and Zhuhai.

On this day, it was the tenth day of his visit to Moon Island, and early in the morning, as usual, he sent two groups and four wheels to the west and south to monitor the channel of Nanyang to Zhuhai and Nanyang to Dongfan, respectively, while he waited in the harbor of Moon Island with two wheels, waiting for news from both sides.

He estimated that in the past two days, the Dutch fleet should have passed through here, because the sentinels in the direction of Manila and Hainan Island had come over a few days ago, and according to the news they came, the Dutch fleet had entered the southeast sea of Daming, but it was not known whether they would go west to Zhuhai or go north to Dongfan.

Near noon, a wheel suddenly appeared on the south sea, full speed towards Moon Island, Xie Zheng just received the report, immediately got out of the cabin, walked to the bow of the ship and took out the binoculars to sweep the wheel, in the telescope, a team leader under his command was standing at the bow of the ship, full of excitement urging his subordinates, in that way, it is estimated that the Dutch fleet has been discovered!

Sure enough, as soon as the wheel boat sailed into the harbor of Moon Island, the squad leader excitedly shouted, "Lord Xie, Lord Xie, we have discovered the fleet of the Dutch!" ”

When Xie Zhenggang heard this, he immediately ordered his subordinates to start the wheels, leaned in, and waved his hand: "Quick, lead the way ahead, take me to have a look." ”

The sentinel points of the two teams in the south are not very far from Moon Island, about fifty miles, and at the speed of wheels, they will arrive in about a quarter of an hour.

This is also a coral island, but it is not as big as Moon Island, about a few tens of zhang square, at this time, the captain of another team is lying on Coral Island, watching the forward direction seriously.

Xie Zhenggang ordered his team to lean the wheels up, then flew up and jumped on Coral Island, climbed to the top, patted the squad leader on the shoulder and asked, "Where is it?" ”

The team leader looked back and saw that it was Xie Zhenggang, and hurriedly stretched out his hand and pointed to the northeast direction: "It's there." ”

Xie Zhenggang squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of his finger, it was a row of small black dots, which looked the size of a grain of rice, if you didn't stare carefully, you wouldn't know that there was something on the sea over there.

These young men have really good eyes, Xie Zhenggang secretly praised in his heart, and then took out his binoculars and looked in that direction, and it could be seen from the binoculars that there was indeed a huge fleet over there, with hundreds of warships and warships densely lined up in three pieces, which was the main fleet of the Dutch East India Company.

Xie Zhenggang put down the binoculars, looked up at the direction of the sun, and then looked at the direction of those black dots, and immediately judged that the main fleet of the Dutch was heading due north, and their target was Dacheng!

He immediately shouted to the squad leader looking below: "Quick, go and inform Li Ji in the north, the Dutch fleet is heading all the way north, and the estimated target is the big man." ”

The news soon spread to the north, and within a day, it reached the governor's palace, Zhang Bin did not dare to go to the backyard to tease his daughter at this time, he sat in the study in the front yard every day to receive reports from all sides, and closely watched the movements of the main fleet of the Dutch East India Company.

At this time, the main fleet of the Dutch East India Company had entered the southeast sea area of Daming, and entered the sentinel net he had cast, and a map of the southeast sea area of Daming was placed on the desk, representing that the black line of the Dutch fleet had extended to the sea area less than 800 miles from the east.

The main fleet of the Dutch East India Company is still heading north, and it is unlikely that they will turn back and go straight to Zhuhai, because there are still about two days to go, and they will arrive at Dayuan!

Zhang Bin immediately issued an order, ordering Yu Chenglong to lead 20 Weiyuan battleships, 10 Zhenyuan cruisers, and 250 wheels to Penghu to assemble; Zheng Zhilong led five super battleships, twenty-five armed merchant ships, and three hundred main warships to Dongfan Zhongwei to assemble; Zheng Zhihu led 150 arson ships to Dongfan Zhongwei to assemble.

In addition to the 150 arson ships in Dayuan Port, Zhang Bin gathered a total of nearly 1,000 warships of various sizes and warships, except for the 150 arson ships in Zhuhai who couldn't catch up because of the distance, almost all the sailors in his hands were gathered near Dayuan.

An unprecedented naval battle is about to begin, which is a major war between the Netherlands, the maritime hegemon of the European continent, and the Ming Empire, the hegemon of the Far East, for the control of the maritime trade in the Far East.

This battle will directly determine the control of the Far East Seas, and it is a bit ridiculous that neither the Netherlands nor the Ming Dynasty are fighting in the name of the country, one side of the war is only the Governor of Fuguang of the Ming Dynasty, and the other side of the war is a company!