The fleet can't enter Hele Harbor now, and Chen Shouxuan doesn't want to go in either. He chose the narrow channel between the two islands off Hele Harbor as a temporary anchorage. It is between the small island outside of the port and the large island further outer. The islands are uninhabited, and the shipping channel between the two islands is only 2 nautical miles wide. Carefully probed the ocean floor with longboats, and the channel near the side of the island was deep enough to accommodate the entire fleet. On the southeast side of the island, there is a sandy beach with fine sand on the bottom of the island, making it a good anchorage. The sailors tied the captured warship with a cable and dragged it to the shore with great difficulty, where it anchored and stopped.

The island is roughly rectangular in shape, 4 miles long and 2 miles wide. There are some deep crevices between the rocks on the island, and the sea water penetrates deep into the crevices, cutting the terrain very hard. This means that it will be difficult to land on the other side of the island and then attack the fleet anchored on this side. The sailors who came ashore did not find mosquitoes, which also meant that there would be no malaria and yellow fever on the island.

The fleet anchored the cruisers in a line along the coastline of the islands. The ships lowered their longboats, and the fleet deployed its forces on the longboats. Hang up the sails, and the longboat becomes an oared warship on a par with the small speedboats of the Sulus. Sailors will be on longboats as a guard force in the channel.

The Storm and the Adventure blocked both sides of the channel as warships on duty. The versatility of the sloop is on full display here. Chen Shouxu once again felt sorry for the number of dloops in the fleet was too small, and if he built his own ship, the sloops would be his first choice.

There is no shelter from the wind on the island, and there are some strangely shaped trees under the sea breeze. Marines cut down the trunks of trees thick enough and worked overnight to build makeshift artillery barricades on both sides of the island. The Marmont, Stirling, and Collingwood ships had unloaded some of their cannons, and the Raiders had unloaded all of their cannons, and the soldiers were placing these dismantled naval guns in the forts.

After settling down at the anchorage, Chen Shouxuan had time to look through the confessions of the prisoners who had been sorted out.

The officer confessed that in fact, the Spaniards had learned about Chen Shouxu's fleet, but the information they had was not very reliable. The specific strength of the fleet, the state of the battleships and their current location are not known. In classical times, hearsay should not be the basis for military decisions, and only information on contact, preferably combat contact, was reliable.

Before the battle broke out, the Spaniards did not find Chen Shouxu's fleet, and the forces sent by the Sultan to the island in advance played a role, cutting off the ground communication between Hele City and the outlying strongholds.

This is not the most important factor, there is a field of Sulu galleys in front of him, and the commander of the fleet stationed in Hele Harbor is not going to sit idly by and watch the Sulu land and besiege the city with three Galen and two notification ships, even if it is out of honor.

Because the flagship was the most combat-ready warship in the fleet, the Spanish commander sent two schooners to fight in conjunction with the two weaker galins. Chen Shouxu couldn't help but nod lightly when he saw this, this was a very correct choice, and he would do the same. In European countries at this time, fleet commanders and captains were not safe positions in naval battles. As on land, commanders and captains generally wear the most splendid costumes and stand upright on the stern to direct the battle, and the conspicuous clothing is so that the sailors can see the captain with them at all times.

The space on the ship was cramped, and high-ranking officers in flamboyant costumes often became the priority targets of enemy troops. As a result, senior officers in naval warfare may be more prone to casualties than in ground combat. It is not uncommon for the entire ship to suffer casualties that are not significant, but the captain is killed in battle.

If you don't have the consciousness of sacrifice, you will definitely not be a good captain, let alone a commander. Spain's current commander of the army in the Philippines, Commander of the Army, Lorenzo. Jurgard. Morality. Aureliana and Admiral Sebastian. Lopez are two very capable generals. Under their tutelage, the combat effectiveness of the army and navy is very strong.

Harris: "The Spanish fleet commander gave the order to die together, but after he was killed, the soldiers did not carry it out. ”

Chen Shouxu sighed: "Find out his body and bury it at sea according to the official etiquette." "There are also Jesuit friars captured in Portovello, who are not Castilian either. After such a long voyage together, Chen Shouxu is not bad with them. It's like a circumnavigation experience, and not everyone has the opportunity to experience it.

Harris: "Yes, Captain. Captain, what to do with the captives? ”

Chen Shouxu thought for a while, "You ask Cai Yuanding to take someone to screen and cross-interrogate." Find out what role these captives played in the Manila massacre, and if there is nothing to blame, let them go. ”

News of the Manila massacre had now spread on the battleship, and the massacre had not yet taken place when the Chinese sailors aboard the Changshui left Manila for Acapulco. Now that they know about it, it means that there is little hope that their relatives and friends in Manila will survive. Many people are in grief during this time.

Harris, "Yes. What if it's sinful? Hanged? ”

Chen Shouxu: "No need. Just hand them over to the Sulus. ”

Harris was stunned, and handing over the Spanish captives to the Sulu might have been worse than hanging them.

Chen Shouxu dispatched a group of craftsmen and sailors from the battleships of the fleet and immediately engaged in the inspection work. Chen Shouxu saw that the repair work could not be made in a short period of time, so he transferred to the Excellence. The sloop was much more convenient than the cruiser in the choice of course, and after a few changes of sideboard, it arrived close to the port of Horaku.

Chen Shouxu pulled open the binoculars. The siege of the island had only just begun, and the Sultan's infantry took advantage of their numerical superiority to crush the Spanish defenders into the city.

Lindenberg's Army Artillery had only completed the transfer, and it was still too early for the movement to be in place.

The Spaniards did not build a fortress in Horaku, and the existing fortifications only followed the Sulu walls. Cities are not big, and like many Asian cities, the main residential areas are outside the city. There are some fallen corpses outside the walls, and it seems that the Sulu people once launched a tentative assault on the walls.

The defensive fire on the walls was about 20 large and small guns. The Sulus began to build camps and fortifications outside of artillery range. From time to time, the Spaniards fired a shell from outside the city, and it was natural that they could not fire at such a distance. The Sulu people also turned a deaf ear to the shelling and continued to get busy with the work at hand.

A Korakola ship approached the Excellence, and the messenger said that the Sultan had asked the Admiral to go to the camp.

Chen Shouxu took Tiqi and several sailors on board the boat and landed on Hele Island. Chen Shouxu stepped on the first foot when he went ashore. He frowned and stamped his foot. It may be because it rained recently and the ground is very muddy. Except around the city, there are no hardened roads on the island. The few good roads were all within the reach of the Spaniards. Chen Shouxu had no choice

Find the Sulu camp in the mud one foot deep and one foot shallow. The Sultan's place was very conspicuous, and now that the fortifications had just begun to be built, the Sultan's tent had been erected.

Chen Shouxu lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in. The floor was covered with a Persian carpet, and the Sultan and his leading officers gathered in front of the map. Among the officers, Chen Shouxu knew only Alimoud alone. It seems that the deployment of the siege is being discussed.

When the Sultan saw Chen Shouxu, he immediately smiled all over his face, and he poured a glass of wine and handed it to Chen Shouxu. "Welcome to our valiant Admiral, who defeated the Frankish navy."

The other generals met their Sultan, and there was a burst of cheers in the tent. Chen Shouxu saw that the joy on the faces of the officers was a little reluctant, and he knew that the siege was not going well. The Sultan also wanted to use the victory in the naval battle to boost the morale of the officers.

Chen Shouxu took the wine glass, well, made of silver. It seems that the Sultan has not lost all his possessions. He happened to be a little thirsty too, "Thank you, Sultan." He took the glass and drank it down.

Chen Shouxu took out a list of materials needed to repair the ship, which the shipwrights had just sorted out. "Sultan, although my fleet has won, it has suffered some damage. Please follow the list above to refill us. ”

When the Sultan took it, he saw that it was made of wood, coconut whiskers, asphalt, flax, tung oil, iron bars, and the like. Although the canvas was slightly difficult, the absence of silver had already relieved the Sultan. The Spanish battleships were simply beaten away, and no one knew when they would come again. He is still inseparable from Chen Shouxu's fleet, and his requirements must naturally be met as much as possible. The Sultan called Alimoud, handed him the list, and told him to go down and do the work.

The land war was now none of Chen's business, and when he achieved his goal, he took his leave to the Sultan and walked out of the big tent. Sulu soldiers are toiling in the mud digging pits.

Fighting a war requires both warriors and coolies.

Soon, Alimoud collected materials from the Sultan's fleet except for Damu and handed them to Chen Shouxu. Alimoud said that the big timbers that could be used to make masts would need to be requisitioned from the rear, and that they would have to wait.

Chen Shouxu simply urged, and the order of replacing the mast was after repairing the hull and rudder.

Chen Shouxu summoned all the carpenters and senior sailors of the fleet to discuss the repair plan of the battleship. The stern outer sheet of the battleship was punctured, and there was already some entry into the water.

The first is drainage, 2 of the original 3 water pumps on the battleship were broken, and only 1 is still working. This was not enough, only the sailors could be arranged to relay with barrels to drain the seawater.

Then it was time to clear the mast, and the battleship's stout foremast, main, and main-mast were all fine. The foremast was interrupted, as was the mainmast. The rear mast needs to be replaced entirely. Hearing that the foremast and the main mast were fine, Chen Shouxuan was greatly relieved. The mast is rigidly attached to the hull by the mast, and the fact that the mast has to be replaced means that the mast repair is much less work.

Many of the crossbeams were also broken and needed to be replaced.

The craftsmen dismantled the scrapped masts, and the entire battleship became bare.

The third step was supposed to be to adjust the hull counterweight to roll the hull. But there aren't long enough gentle beaches on the island to do that. Chen Shouxu decided to clean up the supplies on board, and all the ammunition, food, coal, hammocks, etc. were brought ashore one by one, which made the draft of the ship shallow.

The fourth step is to send personnel to inspect the water. The fleet sent 5 waves of divers in a row, and the divers reported that the stern draft was close to 5 meters, not only the rudder was damaged, but the outer sheet of the stern was torn and needed to be replaced.

The craftsman hurried down to the Ladies Cave of the battleship. Located in the stern bilge, there will be women and children hiding here during wartime, known as the Ladies Cave. It's still filled with seawater, and it's impossible to observe.

"Commander, we need to raise the stern. Otherwise, it can't be repaired. ”

Chen Shouxu just wanted to scold his mother. This is a big problem.

Well, it was only possible to send small boats to carefully search the beach in order to find a shoal that, at least in width, was sufficient to accommodate the battleship. Fortunately, there are.

The tonnage of galleons was really large, so Chen Shouxuan had no choice but to collect vats from the whole fleet and tie them together. The dismantled scrapped mast was not enough, almost the wood on the island was also cut down and tied to the masts. The ground near the selected sandy beaches is also groomed.

At the same time, someone was sent to inquire about the tides in the vicinity. It was learned that there was a big tide 4 days later. All work is limited to high tides.

On the day of high tide, all the barrels were pulled from the bottom of the boat, and the masts were tied to the sides of the ship. The ballast stone moved to the bow of the ship, cocked the stern.

Then hundreds of officers and men on the shore shouted the horn to pull the hull of the boat, and while the boat was still floating, they pulled the war boat to the beach and ran aground. By the time the tide was low in the afternoon, the stern draft was only 2 meters. The front half of the hull is still floating in the water, anchored and secured with wood to avoid disturbance caused by the waves. The damaged decking has been completely exposed to the sea.

Blacksmiths have used this time to create many iron parts for ship repairs. All the carpenters hurried to repair the ship during this time. The rudder shaft is fine, and the rudder blades are all replaced. The cladding should also be repaired as soon as possible.

Chen Shouxu asked the carpenter worriedly: "The cladding of this ship is damaged, is it possible for maggots to enter the skeleton of the ship?" ”

If the outer plate is drilled by the ship's maggots, it can also be solved by replacement. If the ship's maggots get into the ribs of the keel, then the ship is of little repair value. It took a while, and then it was all dismantled, and the keel ribs were rebuilt with new ones.

One of the carpenters in the fleet who was most respected by Chen Shouxu inspected the section and reported that there was no problem.

Chen Shouxu was still a little worried. The battleship had some sulfur in reserve, and the sailors believed that this thing could be sterilized. There are also some strong liquors. Whether it was useful or not, Chen Shouxu ordered all the skeletons near the fracture to be smoked, and then smeared with spirits, hoping to kill the larvae that adhered to the surface. He's almost out of obsessive-compulsive disorder by ship maggots now.

The carpenter shook his head at Chen Shouxu's behavior, but he didn't stop it.

It took four days for the battleship to be repaired. Install the planks and coat the seams with linen, chopped wool and tung oil. In some places, asphalt is also used. Then apply the coating to the area where it can be applied.

Before the ship was launched, the carpenter said to Chen Shouxu: "Commander, with the current conditions, we can only go so far. There will be no problems in a few months, but if you want the ship to remain in service, it is better to dock for repairs. ”

Chen Shouxu is also very helpless, the dock is still a dream. He looked at the entire fleet, which had been adrift at sea for a long time. It's best to dock them all for maintenance.

Take advantage of a tide and send the battleship into the water. Alimoud finally brought the mast timber.

Repairing masts and replacing crossbeams is a common repair job on sailboats. Chen Shouxu is not continuing to stare at the scene, and the craftsmen will take care of it.

The Sulu people did not fight well on land, and the siege of the city for so long still did not improve. The Spaniards, on the other hand, resisted valiantly.

Chen Shouxu decided not to wait any longer, and he ordered Harris, "Inform Allemand and Edward, prepare the Long Wave and Lima, and then inform Merlot to prepare the Excellence." We're going to help the Sulus. ”