On January 15, 1647, the sky was overcast.

With the rough Atlantic Ocean already behind, the East Coast Fleet led by Lieutenant Commander Lu Ming slowly left the Ottoman port of Algiers and headed for the next target, the port of Pisa in Tuscany. Among the more than 30 ships, the side of the "10 August," which served as the flagship, had just undergone some emergency repairs, and some of the ship's planks damaged by shells had also been replaced.

The formidable battleship was wounded when it was intercepted by the Spanish Atlantic Fleet while breaking through the Strait of Gibraltar. The large East Coast fleet was preparing to sneak across the Channel to Italy in the dark, but the three Spanish ships patrolling there soon spotted the movement. In desperation, Lu Ming took two battleships and two frigates to drive out the enemy in order to cover the heavy transport fleet to escape. After all, this is the Strait of Gibraltar - the nest of the Spaniards, and Lu Ming, who does not know the current strength of the Spanish Navy, can only decide to annihilate or expel these three Spanish ships as much as possible, and then follow the fleet and flee immediately, he does not dare to have a decisive battle with the main force of the Spanish Navy here, because he has no bottom in his heart.

The results of the battle were obvious, two of the three Spanish ships were small-tonnage galleys, and the other was a frigate of more than 400 tons. In the face of the powerful firepower of the east coast blocking fleet, the fleet was naturally beaten to the ground. Two hours later, one galleys, the San Antonio, was sunk, the other was wounded and fled into shallow water, and the last frigate, the San Nicholas (who had been interrogated prisoners after the war), fled in the direction of Cadiz and seemed to have returned for reinforcements.

Worried about the safety of the merchant fleet, Lu Ming did not dare to pursue the Spanish ship, after throwing a small boat to more than ten Spanish sailors who had been captured. Lu Ming led four warships and hurriedly left the battle scene. Caught up with the convoy of escort ships. Then we entered the nearest friendly port, Algiers. Replenishment while repairing the ship.

On 15 January, the resupply and repair of the East Coast flotilla bid farewell to the battleship Bayezid, and then followed the warm westerly winds blowing from the Atlantic towards the port of Pisa on the west coast of Italy, where they successfully arrived on 22 January, without any interception or attack along the way, to the relief of the ever-cautious convoy.

After a week of moving merchandise and settling payments, the East Coast fleet left the port of Pisa again on 29 January and headed south into the busy Tyrrhenian Sea. This busy sea area is full of ships coming and going at this time. These range from the old galleys common in the Mediterranean to the schooners that are now becoming more and more popular. Of these, most of the ships belonged to Genoa, a few to France, Naples, and Tuscany, and as for the Spanish ships, they were really rarely seen. If they occasionally saw one, as soon as the other party saw this fleet of large ships flying the double sword goshawk flag on a red background, they immediately hid far away and did not dare to approach again. At this time, the ships on the east coast were also in a hurry to go to the Ottomans, and they didn't bother to care about these small fish and shrimp. Therefore, the two sides were at peace for a while.

But the good fortune will come to an end eventually, on February 2nd. The slightly trembling voice of the lookout on the pilot ship "Free Trade" immediately broke the quiet noon time of the entire East Coast fleet, and Lu Ming, who had just finished lunch, immediately walked to the bridge fence and began to observe the enemy situation.

"One four-masted battleship, four three-masted battleships, five two-masted battleships, eleven galleys, fifteen small transports, most of them flying the flag of the Kingdom of Spain, but a small part of them appear to be Neapolitan ships—although this place is now also part of Spanish territory. Sir, things don't look good! Jiang Yaohui, a 35th class of navigation graduates of the Corps Fort and a newly transferred intern first mate, held the binoculars and said with some concern: "They must be the fleet that has just been urgently assembled recently, maybe they have just arrived in Naples not long ago, obviously, their target is us!" ”

"Is it time to hide in a nearby port?" Lu Ming also held the binoculars while carefully observing the formation of the Spaniards. The Spaniards led a large four-masted warship with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, and the number of guns was likely to be more than 60, which was the first class of the main battleship even in the Armada of that year. Now that we have been sent to Naples, the Spaniards really look up to us! As for the rest of the warships, although they were also very troublesome, they were obviously not enough to make Lu Ming so moved. Because there is no trickery to be desired in the battle at sea, the comparison is who has more ships and more guns, whose will to fight is more tenacious, and whose ship performance is better!

"Sir, given the current direction of the wind and currents, we are no longer able to turn around on the spot. On the left and right sides of the Tyrrhenian Sea, both Naples and Sardinia are now the territory of the Kingdom of Spain. Jiang Yaohui said helplessly: "Now our only chance is to defeat the Spaniards in front of us." Or at least make a bloody way, and then cover the ineffective convoy to quickly pass through the Strait of Guò Messina, enter the Ionian Sea, and run all the way to the Ottoman-controlled area. There is no other way, sir, I propose to fight head-on, this is the most reasonable way to deal with it. ”

"I agree with you, trainee first officer, now go and hang the red battle signal flag. At the same time, a traffic boat was sent to contact John of the 'Cadiz Rock'. Captain Ston asked him to take the four ships "Grouper", "Sagetail Cod", "Piranha" and "Totoaba" to form a breakthrough fleet and fully escort the 17 transport ships to break through to the southwest. By the way, the captains of these four frigates must also send someone to inform them immediately. Go and deliver the order at once, my adjutant. Since there was no way back, Lu Ming, the experienced fleet commander who had already participated in five or six naval battles, immediately entered the role and began to give orders.

Jiang Yaohui gave a military salute and immediately got off the bridge and began to give orders. After he left, another trainee officer stood beside Lu Ming with a pen and paper, ready to record orders at any time.

"Hang three large green triangle signal flags on top of the second mast and let the other three battleships follow the flagship. A guerrilla fleet was formed by our four most powerful and maneuverable battleships, seeking the enemy's main battleships for a decisive battle, so as to buy time for the transport fleet to break through. Lu Ming never put down the binoculars on his chest, he still gave orders while observing: "Send the transport boats to the 'Swordfish', 'Salmon', 'Salmon' and 'Saury' to give orders, under the unified command of Lieutenant Ding Yiyu, the captain of the 'Swordfish', to form a rearguard fleet to closely guard the flanks and rear of the transport fleet, and prevent those galleys or small transport ships loaded with Spanish Army soldiers from approaching and sneaking attacks." ”

After the trainee officer recorded the order and repeated it loudly without objection, he hurriedly went downstairs to pass the order, and after he left, the third trainee officer was handed over to Lu Ming's side. Lu Ming, who had finished arranging the strategy, finally put down the telescope on his chest at this time, smiled at the young trainee officer behind him, and said, "Don't be nervous, young man." The Spaniard's largest battleship was only one of the four battleships that had just rivaled ours, and it was far less maneuverable than ours. As for the other four three-masted battleships, they are of the same level as our eight frigates, and they may be slightly inferior in caliber and power of their guns. Finally, those two-masted ships, galleys, small dhows, hehe, such ships are also sent out to fight, what a ridiculous! After all, the Spaniards still did not understand the theoretical essence of naval warfare on the battle line, and these small ships were not qualified to go on the battle line to bombard us, and they could not even withstand the first two or three rounds of shelling. Perhaps the only purpose of these ships would be to carry some Spanish or Neapolitan army soldiers to capture our transports, but I can only say that they have little chance. ”

"Sir, I'm ...... I wasn't nervous. Beads of sweat oozed from the young man's forehead, but when he first entered the battlefield, he still tried his best to calm down: "The Spanish Mediterranean Fleet has been completely wiped out in the Battle of Dons, the main force of the Atlantic Fleet has also been annihilated, and even Portugal and Naples have lost a lot of ships in that naval battle and suffered heavy casualties. Therefore, I think it will be very difficult for the Spaniards to raise a working fleet in the Mediterranean in a short time. At the moment they were able to organize ten specialized warships in the Tyrrhenian Sea to intercept us, which already surprised me. In fact, I suspect that they may have misestimated the strength of our fleet, and that they still cling to the old ways of thinking, which doomed them to failure in the first place. ”

"I love it when you say that, young man." Lu Ming laughed, patted the young man beside him on the shoulder, and then said: "Our four battleships that have been converted into steam, even against all ten Spanish battleships, I am sure that we will not fall behind, and even make the enemy pay a considerable price." Look at it, young man, I don't care what the Spaniards think, but they are clearly underestimating our strength and determination to fight now. So, let them use blood to wash away this doomed and irreparable mistake. ”

February 2, 1647, at half past one o'clock in the afternoon, the Tyrrhenian Sea, westerly wind force five. With a correction round from the bow 12-pounder cannon of the battleship "Free Trade", the naval battle between the convoy of the Republic of China on the east coast of China and part of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Spanish Navy finally began. (To be continued......)