News of the Zheng family's fleet attack was quickly transmitted to Manila through carrier pigeons. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"General, the enemy has set off." An officer said to Major General Duke.

"Ah, José, when did this happen?" Major General Duke asked, putting down the teacup in his hand.

"Your Excellency, it was eight o'clock in the morning two days ago." The officer, José, replied, "There are two battleships—the one of theirs, which has the size of a first-class battleship and a little more firepower than a cruiser, and eight frigates—and their cruisers are not much different from ours. But we have a numerical advantage. ”

Major General Duke nodded and said, "That said, it's almost three days now." Ah, José, go get the charts out. By the way, is there any news of the enemy's transports? ”

José opened the drawer, pulled out a stack of charts, and as he put them together on the large table, he replied, "No, General." However, they also have a lot of ports, and these convoys may depart from other ports. You know, some ports are closed to foreigners. ”

Rear Admiral Duque drew on the chart with a ruler and compass for a long time, and then said, "José, we're going to leave right away." ”

"Yes, General." José replied.

The dispatch of the Spanish fleet also failed to hide the eyes of the Zheng family, just like last time, the model soldiers lurking in the jungle discovered the movements of the Spanish fleet, and even compared to the Spaniards, they had more effective tracking methods.

"General, you should probably go up to the deck and take a look, there's a ship following us." José said to Major General Duque.

"Is it a Chinese ship?" Major General Duke asked, putting on his hat.

"Yes, it should be the kind of clipper boat of the Chinese." José said as he handed him Major General Duque's command knife.

It was not the first time that the Spaniards had seen the Zheng family's fast transport boat, and they also had a certain understanding of this kind of fast-running boat. They also made plans to copy such ships, but they did not go well. So at least now, in the Spanish fleet, there are no ships that can catch up with fast traffic ships.

Rear Admiral Duke Jiang Zhizhi Island hung on his waist and walked out of the cabin. A captain waited at the door and saluted Duke when he saw him.

Duke returned the salute, and then said, "Soldo, are you on duty today?" Where is the ship? ”

"Yes, General. That boat was behind us on the right. Their colors are painted weirdly and are easily overlooked. Thordo replied.

Duke walked over to starboard, followed by José and Soldo.

"It's there, General, you see, it's right there." Thordo pointed in that direction.

Duke raised his binoculars and looked in the direction that Sordo pointed, only to see that the sea and sky were vast, and there seemed to be nothing.

"Where?" Duke asked. But before Sordo could reply, he immediately said, "Ah, I see it, it's not easy to see...... How did you find out? ”

Duke did see the high-speed boat, which was grayish-blue, almost hidden from the blue of the sea and sky from a distance. In addition to the gray-blue background, the sails and hull of the ship were also smeared into large and small, chaotic pieces with various shades of blue or purple mixed with a little white, which made the outline of the whole ship destroyed, and from a distance, only dark or light color blocks were seen, like the sea with white waves, or the sky with white clouds. And it is almost impossible to see the silhouette of the complete ship. So, if it hadn't been for Soldo saying in advance that there was a boat here, and pointing his finger in the direction, Duke wouldn't have been able to spot her. In fact, when Duke asked, "Where?" just now, the telescope in his hand had already swung from the target area twice.

"General, the guy on the other side is also looking at us with a telescope, and their telescope is reflective." Captain Sordo replied.

"General, shall we send a boat to expel them?" José, who was standing on the side, asked.

"There's no need." Rear Admiral Duke shook his head, "Our ships are slower than theirs, and we can't leave a cruiser to entangle with this kind of small ship." ”

"But...... They may use carrier pigeons to constantly inform the enemy of our situation and location. Jose said.

"José, you're right. But if you think about it, the size of our fleet, they have seen it clearly. Even if we succeed in driving them out now, I guess they've already been sent out with carrier pigeons. As for our actions, they would have sent the news back with carrier pigeons. And what can those Chinese do to send this information to their fleet? Sending messages by boat? Of course, this is possible, but by the time their fleet gets the news, it is estimated that it will be several days later. The significance of these messages is limited. But we really can't let them just follow us. In the evening, we ......"

……

Zheng Sen's main fleet successfully met in Penghu and the twelve armed whaling ships waiting here, as well as four fast traffic ships. At the same time, he received news that the Spanish fleet had sailed from Manila.

"Major General, the Spaniards are out. Pouring out of the nest. Do we continue to move south in search of a decisive battle? Old Jack asked.

"Do you think our current strength can win in battle?" Zheng Sen asked.

"We're going to win." Old Jack replied without hesitation, but after a pause, he added, "However, this time the enemy has heavy warships there, and it is unlikely that we will win as easily as last time." We can defeat the enemy, but Rear Admiral, we may also have to pay the price of the destruction of many ships, and for a long time the fleet will lose its combat effectiveness. ”

Zheng Sen thought for a moment and said, "Since this is the case, then let's set off and fight the Spaniards to the death." We will now divide the fleet into three parts. The first is the leading fleet, consisting of four fast transport ships, which are responsible for searching for enemy fleets in front of the main fleet. This fleet was commanded by Captain Kinichiro Kuroshima. After encountering enemy ships, do not get too close, keep a distance, see clearly their number and composition, and provide reliable support information for the main force, which is the first achievement of this battle. ”

Kuroshima Renichiro's father was originally a wandering samurai from the dead lord's family, and later became Zheng Zhilong's personal guard. The son of a samurai should naturally also be a samurai, so Zheng Zhilong asked him to follow Zheng Sen, and later Zheng Sen left him with Old Jack to learn how to sail a European-style sailing ship, and then served as the captain of the "Blue Bird", and the "Blue Bird" has long been performing tasks such as ocean navigation and reconnaissance, so Zheng Sen gave him this position.

When Kuroshima Renichiro heard this, he immediately stood up and bowed to Zheng Sen: "I am willing to die for the young general." ”

"Well, Kuroshima, I don't need you to fight with those Spaniards, as long as you find them and pass the message to us as soon as possible. In addition, I plan to let Ado get on your boat so that he can learn from you. Zheng Sen said.

Listening to this, Ryichiro Kuroshima knew that this was Zheng Sen's trust in him. immediately said: "The subordinates must protect the second son to the death." will not let the second son encounter any danger. ”

Zheng Sen nodded and said, "So I'll leave it to you." Then he turned to Old Jack and said, "The rest of the fleet, I will divide it into two detachments, the first with the 'Endeavour' as the flagship, the second with the 'Brave' as the flagship, and each detachment is four frigates and six armed whaling ships. What do you think of me as the commander of the first detachment, and Mr. Jack, as the commander of the second detachment? ”

Old Jack thought for a moment and asked, "Why did the major general divide the fleet into two detachments?" ”

Zheng Sen listened and said, "Mr. Jack, I do have an idea......

Zheng Sen's idea was actually very simple, that is, to copy Lord Nelson's tactics in the Battle of Trafalgar and use the two-column assault tactics to defeat the Spanish fleet in one fell swoop.

Generally speaking, when the two fleets clash, they will form their own fleets into a column, and try to make their warship's side facing the enemy's bow as much as possible, that is, to grab the T-head position of the opponent's column, so as to exert their own firepower and limit the opponent's firepower. But in the Battle of Trafalgar, in the face of the combined French and Spanish fleets, the British navy, which was numerically inferior, under the command of Lord Nelson, divided the fleet into two detachments, and in a column, directly ceded the T-head, and then inserted into their battle lines against the cannon fire of the combined fleet, so that the warships of both sides formed a double cross state, in such a state, each of the battleships of the British fleet with a double column could effectively attack the opponent at the same time with all the guns on both sides, In particular, the French battleships that were caught in the middle of the double column of the British army were even more exposed to the enemy. On the other hand, the Combined Fleet was disorganized and its firepower was difficult to use, and although they also put up stubborn resistance, they were finally completely defeated by the British fleet at a relatively small cost. Through this battle, the British Royal Navy completely defeated any possible challenger, thus establishing an unshakable sea power throughout the world for a hundred years.

"Rear Admiral, you are truly a genius admiral." After listening to Zheng Sen's idea, Old Jack sighed, "I'm sure that by using such means, you will definitely be able to completely defeat the Spanish fleet in this battle." And our losses will be much smaller than expected. But, Rear Admiral, you intend to use your flagship as the leader of the attack, which means that your flagship will be in a situation where it will be hit by the concentrated fire of the Spanish fleet for a certain period of time - is this a little more dangerous? ”

"Captain Jack, you, as the commander of another detachment, will be in such a state as your flagship, and you should be careful. However, war is inherently a dangerous thing, and even navigation itself is a dangerous thing, isn't it? Since ancient times, those heroes who have achieved great things, who have not taken risks, where is there something that can succeed without taking any risks? ”