After discovering the unique schooner, Villa knew that his fleet must be targeted by the Zheng pirates, and he originally wanted to rely on the speed of the schooner downwind to get rid of the tracker. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoBut the schooner, even in downwind conditions, was ridiculously fast, and easily followed their movements. You can see that it can even go faster if needed.

And the sailors who controlled the ship were also very careful, they carefully kept a distance from Villa, so that they could see the Villa's fleet clearly, so that they would not lose their target under the moonlit night, and they would not be bombarded by these armed merchant ships because they were too close. In this era, the seas were not very peaceful, and they were full of pirates, or merchant ships with cameo appearances. Whether it was the Spaniards or the Dutch, their merchant ships had cannons on them.

"These guys are very slippery, it must be those damn heretics who the Zheng family bought are controlling that ship!" Villa scolded viciously. The Spaniards have always hated the rebellion of the Dutch sons against the Empire and against God.

"Captain, should we take the initiative to chase them over and sink them?" First mate Igor asked.

"No, that's a waste of time." Villa shook her head, it was a small schooner, she was no less than herself in a downwind, maybe faster than herself, and in a headwind, she was sure to be faster. Moreover, the ship is definitely more agile than its own galleon full of cargo. So chasing such a boat is like having a clumsy sperm whale chase a dolphin. There is no possibility of catching up.

"Ignore them, the most important thing for us is to close the distance between us and the Zheng family's fleet that doesn't know where to hide as soon as possible." Villa said.

Obviously, the small boat was not armed, so it was impossible for her to pose a direct threat to herself, and the only thing that could really threaten her was the Zheng family's fleet that didn't know where it was hiding. However, Villa felt that he still had a chance to escape the threat of the Zheng family's fleet.

"The Zheng family's fleet is full of junk ships, as long as they are not sailing against the wind, the speed of these ships is not as good as ours, even if they are empty. As long as we don't just run headlong into their ranks, they can't stop us in such a wide sea. Villa said to Igor, "By the way, let the lookout post pay more attention to other directions, and find out what direction the Zheng family's fleet is." ”

As they spoke, the "Drifting Wind" over there once again shot a firework into the air. The fireworks exploded in the sky, colorful and beautiful.

"It seems that their fleet should not be too far away." Igor said.

……

"Did the lookout see anything?" Zheng Sen asked, and Gu Jiang also stood aside, eagerly waiting for an answer.

"Major General, I didn't see anything...... But judging from the fireworks just now, the distance between us and them is shrinking......" Boatswain Zhang Yu, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old child, hurriedly reported to Zheng Sen.

At this moment suddenly a bell rang from the mast, which was struck by the lookout. Then Zheng Sen heard the lookout's excited shout: "The enemy ship has been found at eleven o'clock!" There are three in total, no, there are four in total! ”

Zheng Sen slapped his hand on the teak railing and said, "Great! We've got them, and they can't escape. Great, let's catch up with them! ”

Because Zheng Sen's fleet, both the hull and the sails, were painted in a low-visibility dark gray, so when Zheng Sen and the others spotted the Spanish merchant ships with white sails, they didn't even notice the approaching Zheng fleet.

"Major General, I don't think we should chase too close." Old Jack spoke.

"You are the commander of the fleet. On the question of how to fight, you command all of us. Zheng Sen replied.

"Okay, then, order the front mainsail to be lowered, reduce the speed to six knots, and we'll follow them from a distance." Old Jack first conveyed the order, then turned to Zheng Sen and explained:

"Major General, it's night, and although there is a moon, the visibility can't be compared with daytime. If the enemy finds us, if they see our lineup clearly, they will understand that there is no hope for them, whether they run or fight. In such a situation, it is entirely possible that they will disperse and flee. With today's visibility, they are much more likely to escape than they are during the day. If we follow them as far away as we do now. First of all, because our ship is gray and not easy to see, they may not be able to spot us, and even if they do, they can't see our lineup clearly, and our speed will give them some illusions, so they will not scatter and run away, but try to throw us off directly. We followed them like this until after dawn, and then accelerated to catch up, at which point it would be useless for them to scatter and escape. ”

Zheng Sen nodded and said, "Captain Jack, thank you for your teaching. ”

In this way, the fleet remained in a state of long-range follow, and it was not until dawn that the Spaniards discovered their presence.

However, the Spaniards were not completely desperate, and in Villa's opinion, they were still far away, more than three nautical miles, and under normal circumstances, it would not be easy to catch up with such distances. If the sailors are not skilled enough, they may not be able to catch up all day. And as long as they can survive until night, then they have a better chance of escaping.

"It's really not possible, you can also throw away some of the goods." Villa thought so, although throwing away any bit of goods would make people feel so distressed that they almost fainted, but in order to save their lives, gold is necessary when necessary, and it is not impossible to lose it.

"Raise the front mainsail and hoist our flag!" Captain Jack, who had just gone back to sleep, stood at the stern of the ship in good spirits and gave orders, holding a telescope in one hand and a wine bottle in the other, which was full of sugarcane soju (rum) produced in Taiwan. He lifted the bottle, took a sip to his mouth, and then shouted, "Boys, sing, let's go full speed!" Get them! ”

So the dark grey front mainsail was unfurled, and a red triangular flag was hoisted. The sailors sang loudly:

"We are pirates, ferocious pirates.

In his left hand he holds a wine bottle, and in his right hand he holds a treasure.

We are pirates, pirates with skills......"

Listening to this singing, Zheng Sen couldn't help but turn his face away, and saw that Gu Jiang also happened to turn his face around, and the two looked at each other and couldn't help laughing together.

"This song is another Tessie song." Gu Jiang smiled, "I really didn't expect that there would be a song about being a robber in this world." ”

"How's this song?" Zheng Sen asked.

"Vulgar." Gu Jiang said, "However, it doesn't hurt the truth. However, if 'the prodigal son does not return, and it is difficult to keep the empty bed alone', 'why not make a high decision, first ask for Lujin', 'It is better to drink good wine, and be served and vegetarian' is not vulgar, but if it is true, it will be interesting. ”

Zheng Sen also smiled and said, "Brother Ning Ren is really high. ”

In the midst of this song, the speed of the fleet began to increase rapidly. But after a quarter of an hour or so, their ship had accelerated to about eleven knots. At this speed, in just over half an hour, they caught up with the Spanish fleet.

"Let people shout to them and demand that they surrender." Captain Jack shouted, then he turned his head and said to Zheng Sen, "Major General, what are you going to do with those Spaniards?" Do you want to kill them all? ”

"If they are willing to surrender and they are not directly involved in the Spanish massacre in Luzon, then I can guarantee their personal safety. If they refuse to surrender before we attack, we must open fire......" Zheng Sen lowered his head and thought for a while: "If they surrender after we open fire, let them draw lots, and we will hang one-third of those who surrender." ”

Gu Jiang listened, looked at Zheng Sen, but did not speak.

By this time, the distance between the two anti-Japanese was quite close, and a group of Spanish-speaking sailors specially hired from Batavia shouted at the Spaniard at the beginning of Captain Jack, and ordered them to immediately put away their sails, lower their anchor chains, and surrender. Now they are upwind, and this cry can drift far away with the wind.

"Captain, what shall we do?" Igor asked with a pale face, the speed of the opponent was really beyond his expectations.

Villa gritted his teeth and stared at the Zheng family's fleet chasing behind, listening to the voice of persuasion from there, his face was red and white. He turned his face and looked at the sailors on board.

"Captain, they have four cruisers, we can't beat them, and we can't escape them." A sailor couldn't help but say.

"Yes, Captain, there's no way we're going to deal with a dozen warships, it's hopeless." Another sailor chimed in.

Zheng Sen's fleet, including the Endeavour, consisted of four cruisers, in addition to eight converted fast whaling vessels. It couldn't be easier to deal with the four merchant ships. Villa also understood that his fleet was no match at all, and with the morale of the sailors now, he was afraid that even if he ordered resistance, it might not be carried out, and even it was not impossible for the sailors to start a rebellion.

"Captain, we have come to the Far East to make a fortune, not to fight desperately ......with so many warships," said another sailor.

"Captain ......"

"Do you believe what they say?" Villa asked.

"We are seafarers, and we have not killed anyone on land, let alone civilians." Said a sailor.

"They killed the Chinese, and the money they grabbed was not distributed to us......"

"Captain, if we don't believe them, we're going to die, right? If we believe them, we're dead at best, aren't we? ”

"Captain ......"

"Okay." Villa looked at everyone and said, "That's what you mean. Then we'll ......," he said, turning his face to look at the huge battleship following behind, and sighed, "then let's surrender as they say." ”