Spex knew that the Ming Empire would definitely clean up those pirates first, as the Ming Empire had done in Formosa before.

At the beginning, if the Ming Empire had not subdued Zheng Zhilong first and exterminated Liu Xiang and other pirates, they would definitely not dare to attack Formosa, because they were afraid that they would be cut off by pirates.

Now it's the same, the reason why he let those pirates build their lair between Malacca and Ceylon is to let them be cannon fodder, if the Ming Empire's navy attacks, they will definitely clean up the pirates first, because they are also afraid that the pirates will cut them off.

Waiting was always anxious, and he was even a little suspicious, what if the Ming Empire didn't know where the pirates' lair was?

It's impossible, he didn't care about those pirates, he didn't care how those people tossed or recruited, he just asked them to plunder the merchant ships of other countries with great fanfare.

He is so careless, won't the Portuguese send spies to get in, won't the Spaniards send spies to get in, won't the Ming Empire send spies in?

......

He didn't know how long he had been walking back and forth in the office, when the guards outside suddenly shouted, "Report, Lord Governor, Andaman asks to see you." ”

Andaman is the pirate leader he supports, this guy is the illegitimate son of an old East India Company employee and an indigenous woman here, who has been messing around in this area since he was a child, and is quite familiar with the waters from Malacca to Ceylon, so he was chosen.

Why is this guy here, why didn't those spy clippers come back to report it?

He thought about it, simply sat down behind the desk, calmed down his nervousness, and then said aloud, "Let him in." ”

With a "bang", as soon as his words fell, the door was pushed open, and the pirate leader Andaman ran in with a panicked face, panting and saying: "Lord Governor, it's not good, the navy of the Ming Empire is coming." ”

What's so strange about this, the navy of the Ming Empire has arrived in Malacca, so it's strange that they don't fight.

Spex pretended to be calm and said, "What's the panic, look at the scared you, aren't you okay?" How many warships did they dispatch, and how many warships? ”

Andaman looked frightened and said: "There are a lot, I am afraid that there are thousands of warships, several islands on our side are surrounded by groups, and there are at least hundreds of super battleships, anyway, it is densely packed, I ran away as soon as I saw that the situation was not good, and I didn't count the specifics." ”

"Ahh , Spex jumped up from his chair in fright, and asked eagerly: "You read that right, thousands of warships, hundreds of super battleships, it is possible that the Ming Empire has so many warships, how can they have so many super battleships?" ”

Andaman panicked and hurriedly said: "Really, Lord Governor, I have only run out of the four water villages for less than ten miles and have been pierced by them, and the roar of the artillery is the same as thunder, and it takes at least tens of thousands of artillery pieces to fire at the same time to make such a loud sound!" ”

Less than ten miles, isn't that less than twenty minutes!

Tens of thousands of guns, that's not at least two hundred super battleships!

It seems that this guy is really not lying, if the Ming Empire does not have so many super battleships, it is impossible to penetrate such a large four water villages at once, it seems that he can only run away.

This guy is very familiar with this side of the sea, and it will be easier to take him and avoid the Ming Empire's navy.

Spex thought for a while, eased his face, and comforted: "Andaman, don't be afraid, as long as you escape, it's okay, can you recruit again if the people are gone, the ship is gone, you can rob it again." By the way, how many boats did you take to escape? ”

Andaman said with a sad face: "There are only three sailing boats, if I hadn't asked my subordinates to take turns rowing and rowing desperately, I guess I wouldn't have been able to run out." ”

Three sailboats, that should be about the same speed as the clipper I sent out, why hasn't the clipper I sent out come back yet?

Spexes couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you meet our clippers on the way back?" ”

Andaman shook his head again and again: "No, I crossed the ocean from the ocean, and I didn't take the channel of a merchant ship at all. ”

No wonder he was able to run back so quickly, and he could come so far closer than he could have come around the shoreline.

This guy is really fierce, he dares to run around on the ocean, and it is thousands of miles from their lair to here, and if they have to deviate a little, or encounter a storm at sea, they will never come back!

However, this also proves that this guy is very familiar with this side of the sea, and such a good guide must be brought.

Thinking of this, Spex hurriedly walked out from behind his desk, patted Andaman on the shoulder and said, "It's okay if you're okay, when the navy of the Ming Empire retreats, I'll give you a few more ships and some muskets, I believe that with your ability, you will soon be able to gather tens of thousands of subordinates." However, now we have to avoid the limelight, the Ming Imperial Navy is all dispatched, and we can't hold Colombo. ”

Andaman nodded movingly, and then asked, "Then where are we going, should we go back to Europe first?" ”

Spex shook his head slowly and said: "No, we can't run west, because we can't be sure whether the Ming Empire will withdraw if it occupies Ceylon, if they don't withdraw their troops, we are likely to be caught up by them if we run west, because the speed of the Ming Empire's warships is already faster than ours, plus we carry too much cargo, and the ocean currents and wind direction are not right, we can't run fast at all, if the Ming Empire wants to catch up with us, it will be easy to catch up." So, we have to run where they don't expect it, hide so they can't find us. ”

When Andaman heard this, his eyes rolled, and then he said gloomily: "Your Excellency, what do you mean, let's run south?" Going to the Maldives? ”

Spex patted him on the shoulder and complimented, "Yes, let's go to the Maldives, you know each other over there, right?" ”

Andaman nodded proudly and said, "Of course, there is no place I am not familiar with here." ”

Spex nodded, pointed out the door and said, "Okay, let's go now, everything is packed, you just need to command the Clippers to lead the way in front." ”

In this way, Spex ran away with more than twenty battleships and more than forty armed merchant ships, with the employees of the East India Company, with all the belongings and important documents, leaving only an empty Colombo city, which, of course, he did not take with him, and he did not even have time to remove the artillery on the city walls.

About two days later, the port of Kulombo was surrounded by dense Ming warships, but surprisingly, there was not a single Dutch warship or armed merchant ship in the port, and there was no Dutch flag on the city walls.

Zhang Bin ordered the handsome ship to step forward, scanned it with a telescope, and then pretended to have a cool expression, and said coldly: "The Dutch ran away, order, and the Fuguang army landed directly from the port wharf and occupied Colombo City." ”

What's going on here?

Schwila was stunned again, the Dutch actually ran away, and left Colombo City without any resistance!