After resting in Manila for two days and replenishing food and fresh water, the Dutch fleet reunited with twelve Spanish warships and regrouped and sailed northeast.

Fifty-five large Western warships sailed on the vast ocean with the wind and waves, and in the middle were the thirty warships brought by the Kuiyi, with the Batavian fleet on the left and the Manila fleet of the Spaniards on the right.

Looking at such a majestic fleet, Colonel Francisco, who led the Spanish fleet, was full of spirit: "Your Excellency, I have every reason to believe that this time our operation will definitely be able to recover Dayuan Island." ”

Before the start of the battle with the enemy, the main commanders of both sides gathered on the Dutch flagship "Victor", one for the run-in between the two sides before the battle, and the other was to communicate the combat strategy.

The Dutch and the Spaniards had already prepared for the post-war partition, and the Spaniards' demand was not high, that is, to recover Keelung.

"I agree with the Colonel's point of view." The Spanish fleet dispatched this time was quite powerful, and the number of Spanish galleons alone reached five, and the increase in the strength of the fleet also gave Yu Yi greater confidence. With the Spaniards present, of course, some of the worries of the Spaniards will not be on his face, and he hopes that the Spaniards will be more courageous after the start of the war.

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"Report to the commander, the fleet of the Europeans is about two hundred kilometers from the intended area of operations in Palawan, and judging by the speed, the time of their arrival is exactly night." Chief of Staff Li Zixiong made a routine report on the enemy's movements.

After three days of sailing, the Tiance fleet has reached the predetermined area and has been waiting here for four days.

Although Wang Yue has handed over command to the navy, the strategic dynamics of the enemy and us are under control at any time.

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Wang Yue asked.

Li Zixiong said: "The enemy's fleet will definitely not be able to fight at night, although our army can fight at night, but the strength of our army is overwhelming, there is no need to fight at night and create an opportunity for the enemy to escape." In order to capture more enemy ships, the battle will be scheduled at dawn. Therefore, our fleet will adjust its position and block it one hundred and ten kilometers north of Palawan, and the enemy fleet will meet us before dawn. ”

The sail warships of this era could sail day and night, the positioning instrument was a sextant, and the sun was seen during the day and the North Star at night, and the speed of the voyage at night was slowed down in order to ensure the safety of navigation.

Wang Yue looked at the map and said, "Just follow the advice of your staff." "Anyway, compared to the warships of the Tiance Army, the wooden warships of the Europeans are all devastated, if it weren't for the fact that the warships of the Europeans would scatter and flee, the Tiance Army only needs to send two or three warships to easily defeat them.

At 5:15 a.m. on 21 October, the combined fleet of Europeans was still slowly navigating in the night, the whole fleet was sparsely lit, and the vast majority of the crew was still asleep.

Suddenly, "Dang Dang Dang!" The alarm bell rang and immediately woke up the entire Combined Fleet.

Van Persie, the captain of the flagship "Victor", strode to the cabin of the Victorious, and while banging on the hatch vigorously, he shouted: "General Victorious, discover the Ming fleet." ”

While getting dressed, he opened the hatch and asked loudly, "Mr. Captain, where is the location of the Ming Fleet?" What is the distance? What is the quantity? ”

Captain Van Persie replied with a ghostly expression: "There are enemy ships thirty-five degrees in front of the left and forty-five degrees in front of the right of our fleet, the number is fifteen, and the distance is about ten kilometers. General Kuiyi, you can go out and have a look, it's incredible. ”

The process of discovering the Ming fleet was indeed like hell, tonight's night was cloudy, the moonlight was dim, and the visibility was very low. The entire Combined Fleet was driving with its head suffled under the thin moonlight, but suddenly the lights were bright ahead, and the huge warships of the Tiance Navy suddenly appeared, which frightened the observing sailors of the Combined Fleet.

Putting on a tunic and buttoning it up, he put on his military hat casually and hurried onto the foredeck.

Seeing the scene ahead, he forgot to continue buttoning and was completely stunned.

Without the help of binoculars, the dozen or so warships of the Tiance Army could see clearly, because the battleships of the Tiance Army were too large, and the entire hull seemed to be glowing.

Not only that, more than a dozen intense pillars of light shot from the direction of the Tiance Army, constantly sweeping over every warship of the Combined Fleet, but anyone who was swept by the pillar of light would be temporarily blinded.

"Oh my God! This is the warship of the Ming people? He muttered.

The warships of the Tiance Army are indeed too huge, and some of them are more than ten times larger than the 1,500-ton flagship "Victorious", such as the 23,000-ton supply ship.

Colonel Ryan also hurried to the foredeck and said, "General, Colonel Francisco has rushed to his own fleet, and we are waiting for your further orders." ”

Only then did he react from the shock and ordered: "Send a signal to all ships, and all of them retreat the same way and distance themselves from the enemy." The Ming people are waiting for us here, there must be a trap, and we can't let them succeed easily. Drag it until dawn, and then see the situation. ”

Can't be led by the nose by the enemy, the experience of the one is still very old-fashioned, in fact, it is more to be surprised by the huge size of the enemy ship, although the information has been obtained in advance, but when I really saw it, I was still shocked.

"Fifty-five enemy ships, after discovering our fleet, began to retreat to the southwest at a speed of seven .5 knots." A young operational staff officer reported.

"Order, all my warships are pressed synchronously, keeping a distance." Navy Commander Wei Xiaoliang said: "Let me ask again where the Nanyang Detachment led by Commander Zhuang is now?" ”

After recording the order, the combat staff officer turned and left.

"There is still more than an hour before dawn, and with the speed of the warships of the Europeans, it should be in this position after dawn." Li Zixiong pointed to the map and said, "It seems that Yu Yi was shocked by our hand." ”

Wei Xiaoliang said with a smile: "The Dutch are worthy of being a seafaring power, they have rich experience in naval warfare, and they react very quickly, so they probably think we have some conspiracy!" ”

Li Zixiong was also happy: "Does our army still need a conspiracy?" ”

"Actually, if you were me, you would have to retreat temporarily, our battleship is too big, and it's intimidating to look at." Wei Xiaoliang said, with indescribable pride in his tone.

"Report, Commander Zhuang, they are now located forty kilometers southwest of the fleet of the Europeans, and it is expected that voice communication with the main fleet will be restored in two hours." The operations staff officer reported when he came in.

The Tiance Navy has laid a wide net, and the fate of the combined fleet seems to be doomed.

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