Seeing Colonel Nelson full of fighting spirit, Governor Aquila was also very satisfied. So he nodded and said www.biquge.info "Very well, Colonel, let's discuss how we should fight......

……

Hao Ren poured a mouthful of water into his mouth to help him swallow the whale jerky, which was as hard as mahogany. In order to reduce the chance of being spotted by the Dutch, the reconnaissance team was strictly forbidden to light fires during the day, because it was impossible to find dry, non-smoking wood in the rainforest. During the day, the smoke from the fire will expose them. Therefore, their staple food can only be these hard beef jerky that do not need to be cooked over a fire. Fortunately, at night, when it was dark all around, they could go to the valley below and light a fire, and the overlapping peaks, the layers of trees, and the vines would block the fire, but they did not have to worry that the fire would be seen by the Spaniards. So, every night, they can also boil some boiling water for the next day. This is what life in the wild must guarantee, and without clean drinking water, they would not have been able to stay here for so long.

Reluctantly swallowing the hard whale jerky, Hao Ren took two more sips of water, then carefully tucked the stopper of the copper kettle tightly and tied it around his waist. Then he took out a small jar of ointment and smeared some on his face, neck, and hands. These ointments are made from some plants with a special smell, and their main function is to repel all kinds of insects, otherwise, mosquitoes, leeches and other things in the rainforest can simply kill people. Being bitten by mosquitoes is not just a matter of itching, it is likely to get sick because of it, although the team also has some medicines here, such as cinchona or something that has just been introduced, but it is always very troublesome to get sick under such conditions, and the boat transporting supplies will only come quietly once a month, if they don't take precautions, a month is enough for them to die of illness several times.

Feeling the ointment, Hao Ren began to climb towards the canopy of the banyan tree: it was almost time for him to be on duty.

He climbed up the canopy, and Lao He was holding a telescope looking out at the port of Manila.

"Lao He, is there any movement?" Hao Ren asked.

"There was no movement, and still not a single ship left the port." Lao He put down the binoculars and replied.

"It seems that they have noticed the interception of our fleet." Hao Ren said, "How many warships and merchant ships have entered the port these days? ”

"There are no new ships coming into port today." Lao He replied.

Hao Ren nodded, this answer means that there are still ten warships in the port, and there are still twelve other merchant ships.

"You can go down and rest." Hao Ren said, "Now it's my turn." ”

Lao He handed the telescope to Hao Ren and climbed down. Hao Ren climbed to the branch where Lao He was sitting just now and sat down, raised his binoculars and continued to observe the port of Manila......

Not long after Lao He went down, Hao Ren suddenly saw that the Spanish warships in the harbor began to raise their sails.

"They're going to go?" Hao Ren suddenly became alert.

The ten Spanish warships left the port first, but they did not leave directly, but formed a queue in the bay not far away, and slowly turned in circles.

At this time, the other merchant ships in the harbor also raised their sails one after another, sailed out of the harbor, and they also formed a group, and then sailed westward. When the merchant ships had gone far away, and almost the sails had sunk below the surface of the sea, the warships began to move, following their course and heading west at a speed comparable to that of the merchant ships.

"Let the merchant ships be the bait in front first, and the warships will follow behind...... Hao Ren laughed, if they weren't watching, this trick would really have caused their fleet to suffer a little loss, but now......

"Captain Hao, is there any situation?" Suddenly there was such a sentence below.

Hao Ren put down the binoculars and looked down, but saw that team member Wang Haiyang was climbing up from below, and it seemed that it was time to change shifts. It took some time for the ships to leave the harbor just now.

"The merchant ships and warships in the harbor have all come out." Hao Ren said, "If you come up now, you can still see those warships, and as for the merchant ships, they have already gone far." ”

……

Hao Ren and the others naturally immediately sent out the information with carrier pigeons, but what they didn't know was that the information they sent this time was actually of little significance, because Zheng Sen's fleet had already left Batavia at this time, and was now on the sea east of Luzon.

"Major General, we continue to the east, and there is an uninhabited island in front of us, and there is a nice bay on the other side that can be used as an anchorage, where my ships used to anchor in those days." Old Jack said to Zheng Sen.

"Can that bay hold so many of our ships?" Zheng Sen asked.

"Yes, Major General. The bay was in good condition. The island encloses it on three sides, shielding it from the sea breeze, and the bay is very calm and the water is deep, and it would be a good harbour if it were not for the lack of fresh water on the island. Old Jack said.

"There is no fresh water on the island?" Zheng Sen shook his head a little disappointed.

"Yes, Major General. There is no fresh water, there are not even trees on the island, it is all stones. There are quite a few seabirds. Old Jack replied.

"There are seabirds? Is there struvite in that? Zheng Sen asked.

"Maybe, but I didn't really look for it on the island at the time. But I guess it's not going to be much. That island is too small, and the Major General will know when you see that island, it's just a small strip. Old Jack replied.

Soon the "little strips" that Old Jack called appeared in front of them, a small island full of steep rocks, because the sea breeze blew all year round, and the island did not accumulate any soil, so it was bare and there were no trees. After the flotilla circled the front of the island, a bay appeared in front of Zheng Sen and them.

It was a calm bay, with steep islands half-bent over it, blocking the north-east breeze and leaving only a hole in the south. The flotilla sailed into the bay and began to set sail and drop anchor.

"It's a good location." Zheng Sen said, "Does anyone else know about this place?" ”

"Those former crew members of mine know. But as you know, there is no fresh water here, so very few ships will anchor here. Old Jack replied.

The lack of fresh water is indeed a major flaw in the bay, but if it weren't for this flaw, perhaps it would have been seen as a port as an important supply point on the route from Mexico to Manila.

"Major General, we'll stop the fleet here, and then send the reconnaissance team to several nearby islands by clipper. Use them to expand our surveillance. Then use the clippers to fill in the gaps, so that it is almost impossible for the Spaniards' silver fleet to escape our search. In addition, I will send a boat further south, and after walking there for about half a day, I will find an island with fresh water. ”

"Very well, Captain Jack, you are the commander-in-chief of this operation, and you can make your own decisions about things like this. All people, including me, are subject to your commands. Zheng Sen said.

……

Song Ran and several Marines rowed a small boat and landed on the island. Several men brought several wooden barrels down from the boat and prepared to fill them in the nearby creek.

"Be careful, get all the muskets ready!" Song Ran shouted, "The commander said that there are man-eating monsters on this island!" ”

"Got it, squad leader." Private Zhang Chao said, "It's good that there are really monsters, these days I either eat dry food or whale jerky, and I have long wanted to change my taste." ”

The others laughed too.

But laughing back at the smile, everyone still honestly loaded the flintlock pistol with bullets according to Song Ran's instructions. He also put on the bayonet. In addition, Song Ran also had a single-shot flintlock pistol - a prize he won at the Model Army Shooting Competition. Song Ran also carefully loaded it with bullets.

Song Ran walked in front with a pistol, followed by three soldiers with flintlock pistols, and then two soldiers, each carrying a flintlock pistol on their backs, and then each carrying two buckets at the end. The creek was in front of them, but the mouth of the creek was full of reefs, so the boats could not get close to it, so they had to go ashore from the beach next to it, and then walk through the rocky beach in front of them to the creek.

The group walked to the stream. The stream was three or four feet wide, but the water was so shallow that it barely reached the surface of the foot. Therefore, they could not fill the bucket at once, so they could only put the bucket aside and scoop water into the bucket with a gourd. The other soldiers were guns in hand, watching their surroundings.

At this time, the two wild boars came out of the woods on the upper side, glanced at Song Ran and them with a chirp, and then ran directly towards the stream, obviously they came out to drink water, and because they had never seen anyone, they had no intention of avoiding Song Ran and them.

"Two pigs! There's something good to eat now! Zhang Chao shouted.

"Shut up! Scare the pigs away, and we'll eat you! Song Ran lowered his voice and said viciously. At the same time, he stuck his pistol in and took the flintlock rifle from his back, apparently, the two pigs were also a great temptation for him.

"I'll strike the front one, and you will strike the one behind you. When they started drinking, we shot together. Song Ran said. There is only a distance of forty or fifty steps between these two wild boars and them, at this distance, Song Ran is very confident in his marksmanship, but in his opinion, the shooting hit rate of several other people at such a distance is not necessarily very reliable, but three guns salvo hitting a target should still be able to guarantee a hit.

Song Ran aimed his flintlock pistol at the wild boar walking in front, and the wild boar walked to the stream, lowered his head and began to drink, while another wild boar also came over. Just as the wild boar was about to bow its head to drink, a large gray-black stone next to it suddenly came to life, and at an astonishing speed, it came to life at once, and bit the wild boar's hind leg in one bite.

The other boar jumped up at once, and then sped towards the woods at an alarming speed.

"Bang!" Song Ran fired, but the target was no longer the wild boar, but the stone that suddenly came to life.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! The other soldiers also fired, and their target was not the boar, but the same monster that was biting the boar.

The monster fell to the ground, twitched and didn't move. The wild boar that was bitten by it hurriedly broke free from its fanged mouth, trying to escape. At this time, Song Ran had already taken a loaded flintlock rifle from a soldier who was scooping water, and with a "bang" shot, the wild boar that broke its hind leg and was limping to the woods knocked it to the ground.

"Squad leader, what the hell is that!" Zhang Chao asked.

"You ask me, who do I ask? It's also the first time I've seen anything like this. Song Ran said.

"Squad leader, did you say that thing is dead?" Another soldier said.

"If you are hit by our guns, even a cow or a tiger can't withstand it. What's more, we hit it at least twice, the squad leader hit one, and the other shot was hit by me, two shots, and there are immortal ones? Zhang Chaodao.

"I hit that shot!" Another soldier said.

"Okay, let's stop arguing, load the bullets first, and then we'll go over and see what the hell that is." Song Ran said.

After a while, several soldiers reloaded their bullets, and several people, including those carrying water, also threw their buckets aside, and walked cautiously with their guns in hand. They walked not far from the dead monster, and together they exclaimed, "Oh damn, how can there be such a big gecko!" ”