"This ...... This is a surrender? We didn't even hit a single shell. "Gu Jiang looked at the four Spanish merchant ships that had put away their sails and dropped anchor in a daze, "Didn't you say that the Spaniards were very fierce?"www.biquge.info It's not going to be a fraud, is it? ”

"Spaniards are fierce, but not fools." Zheng Sen smiled, "There are only four ships in total, and they are all merchant ships, and there will be no more than eight cannons on them, and it is estimated that they are all 12-pound small things." It's impossible for such a thing to even penetrate the planks of our ship. But almost every shot we were able to penetrate their planks. If they really want to fight, what other results can they have than exchange their lives for our shells? Moreover, they are just some businessmen, not a regular army, and their will to fight is naturally not too high. As for fraud, what tricks can they play in this situation? And in the habit of the Tessians, when they are in a hopeless and desperate situation, surrender is not something that cannot be tolerated. ”

At this time, Old Jack had also ordered the mainsail to be lowered and lowered his speed. Several boats were lowered from the cruisers, and the Model Army Marines began to climb up the skiffles with flintlock pistols on their backs.

"Rear Admiral, the Marines will be responsible for keeping the ship in its vital positions and keeping most of the Spanish sailors in the cabin. Then our sailors went over and took control of the boats. Then our fleet returned to Batavia, sold the contents of these ships to the Dutch, and sent them back to the Commander with the prisoners. Many of these captives must have been old sailors, which were very useful. Old Jack said to Zheng Sen.

"I know." Zheng Sen nodded and said. These sailors, of course, are useful. Of course, only if they are willing to obey. But if they don't listen, it's just as useful. In general, the mineral resources of the island of Taiwan are very average, especially the lack of good iron ore and coal mines, but it is rich in sulfur. In some of the caves in the Central Mountains, there is a large amount of natural sulphur that can be mined. However, the environment in which sulphur ore is mined is always very poor. Such caves are always filled with a pungent poisonous gas (sulphur dioxide), which can seriously damage the health of miners. (In Indonesia today, there are still miners who dig for natural sulphur in the traditional way in the mines, and the average lifespan of them generally does not exceed 45 years) In Zheng Sen's day, there are few decent protections. At most, Zheng Sen could only prepare sandwich masks with charcoal (barely posing as activated carbon) for the miners, but the effect was quite limited, and this thing could not protect the eyes. So in the beginning, when mining these things with his own people, Zheng Sen could only have the lumberjacks take turns to dig up sulfur for one or two days every month, and stipulated that each person could not go to the mine more than twice a day, and each time could not exceed half an hour. After that, you have to rely on blessings. Longevity. The anointing attracted the natives to the work. But the natives are not stupid, the asking price is getting higher and higher, and the work is not efficient. In the end, it was not until the soldiers of the Model Army sent back some Tartar prisoners from Jinghai that the problem of mining was temporarily solved. However, this solution is only temporary, because according to estimates, these Tartar miners should be scrapped and disposed of by next summer at most. If the Spanish sailors were not willing to cooperate, they would be good successors.

By this time, the dinghy in which the Marines were traveling had docked the Spanish merchant ship. The rope ladder was thrown down on the merchant ship, and the squad leader Song Ran put the gun on his back and took the lead to climb up. Then there is Huang Hu, who is in charge of translation.

"Where's your captain?" Huang Hu asked.

"I'm the captain, and I hope you'll keep your promise to keep us safe." Villa walked up and said.

"As long as you don't mess around, we don't want to be troublesome. Now let your sailors hand over all kinds of weapons. Huang Hu said.

The Spaniards were honest at this time, and did not resist anything. The sailors threw all sorts of weapons on the deck and were put in the cabin. As for the captain, first mate, second officer, third officer, boatswain, doctor, etc., they were all imprisoned in other places. Of course, this was done so that the sailors would not be left without a leader, so as not to make any trouble.

Soon, the four ships were controlled by the sailors from the Zheng family's fleet, and all the ships lifted anchor, spread their sails, turned around, and headed for Batavia.

……

Just as the Dutch had spies in Manila, the Spaniards never relaxed their surveillance of Batavia. Maldini, an Italian merchant who also served as a Spanish spy, had a small building in Batavia and traded spices and other things. At the same time, some Batavia dynamics are sold to the Spaniards every month.

This morning, Maldini arrived near the docks as usual, and today there will be a ship to the Americas, and Maldini has some goods to be transported to Mexico by this ship. The Dutch ship was going to stop in Manila, so Maldini could also use this ship to deliver information to the Spaniards.

"Captain Laudrup, I have a letter here addressed to my business partner, Mr. Sherlock, in Manila. Can I ask you to bring this letter with me? Maldini said to Captain Laudrup, who was about to depart.

"How can I find this Mr. Sherlock?" Laudrup said.

"He opened a 'Sherlock Bank' on the dock in Manila to provide some financial services. You should be able to find this bank easily. Maldini replied.

"Sherlock Bank? Is your business partner a Jew? Well, nothing is a problem. ”

While the two men were talking, they saw another fleet enter the harbor. Maldini could see at a glance that this was the Zheng family's fleet that had left the port a few days ago.

Maldini naturally knew about the fact that the Zheng family had declared war on Spain, and in fact, an important part of his report was to report that the Zheng family's fleet had been transferred to Batavia. It was only because of the limitations of the means of communication that he was not able to send this report out until today. (Only the big merchant groups have the necessity of using carrier pigeons, and the guy who makes a small deal with Maldini and then makes an amateur cameo as an intelligence officer, if he raises carrier pigeons, I am afraid that he will be exposed in a minute.) So his information could only be passed on by ships. ）

In addition, Maldini also saw at a glance that there were four more merchant ships in the Zheng family's fleet, and judging from the names painted on the sterns of these merchant ships, these ships should be Spanish merchant ships. Obviously, they were all hunted by the Zheng family's fleet.

"What is wrong with you, Mr. Maldini? Uncomfortable? Laudrup could see that there was something wrong with Maldini's expression.

"Ah, my friend, I may have eaten something bad last night...... Ah, allow me to leave me alone......" Maldini said with a bitter face, and without waiting for Laudrup to say anything more, he ran into his shop as fast as he could.

"This guy is really laughing...... "Laudrup laughed, shaking his head.

Maldini, of course, didn't really have a stomach, but he had to quickly add a little content to the information that had already been written.

……

On the way, Zheng Sen and the others had already counted the goods on the Spanish ships, and the main goods on these four ships were silk, porcelain, tea, and spices. Many of these things were sold by the Zheng family. Of course, according to the agreement reached between the Zheng family and the Dutch, these things were to be sold to the Dutch. The two sides quickly negotiated the price, and then the Dutch sent men on board to unload the cargo. Zheng Sen and the others took advantage of this time to trim up and prepare for the next attack.

"Ningren, I estimate that in another half a month to a month, we will meet the Spanish fleet, the real combat fleet. When the time comes, there will be no such easy things. And this battle may be decisive. Zheng Sen said to Gu Jiang while crouching on the railing of the small building, watching the dock workers hired by the Dutch continue to move all kinds of goods from the Spanish merchant ships they captured like a swarm of ants.

Gu Jiang nodded, leaned on the railing like Zheng Sen and said, "You told me that the Spaniards and the Dutch have always been intrigued, and Batavia is the most important stronghold of the Dutch here. So it is impossible for the Spaniards, as long as they are not fools, not to arrange for people to monitor their movements here. And this is a port, people come and go, and it is not difficult to arrange such people. Of course, Manila is no different. I reckon in Manila, too, there are Dutch spies. Our fleet is so large, and the captured ships are so conspicuous, it is impossible for these spies not to notice. I guess the information they gave to the Spaniards was already on its way. ”

"The Dutch don't allow anyone else to use carrier pigeons in Batavia, with our exception. And in a real emergency, the Spanish spies may also use carrier pigeons. However, I don't think the current Spanish spies will have this in their hands. Because with this, you can't keep it in a cage all the time and not let it fly. Zheng Sen said, "So, I guess this information should be transmitted through the ships that come and go." Considering that when we went to declare war on Spain, there was no sign of a fleet build-up in Manila, and our reconnaissance team has been monitoring Manila since then, and they have not sent back information about the fleet build-up of the Spaniards. So, if they send out the information after our fleet appears in Batavia, I think it will take at least half a month for the Spaniards to gather their fleet to fight us......"

At this time, Liu De came out of the room and said, "Major General, Captain Jack has something to do with you." ”