On the deck of the Egret, Guan Tianpei held a telescope and watched the Swift continue to turn to the right after failing to meet the Egret after failing to meet the Egret. Nowadays, the distance from the Egret is getting farther and farther away.

Behind the Swift was a third-class sail battleship, a fourth-class sail battleship, and a cruiser, and these three battleships were like wildcats that smelled fishy, and they would soon be going farther and farther.

This is the first 'petal' of the plum blossom!

The so-called split-petal plum blossom plan is to spread the main strength of the group, and use the strength of the dispersed group, so as to break it one-on-one first. Finally, it will attack the center and achieve the ultimate strategic goal.

The king of Nanshan in Journey to the West, a wormwood flower skin leopard essence, occupied the Hidden Fog Mountain as the king, and once used the petal plum blossom trick to capture Tang Seng, and was later fascinated by Sun Wukong with a sleepy insect and died under the rake of Zhu Bajie. Because he is the only monster who died in the hands of Zhu Bajie, the strength of this Nanshan King is extraordinary garbage. And in contrast to the strength of that garbage, it is the brains that are full of people.

The strategy that monsters will use is the strategy that Guan Tianpei wants to use today. The three sailing ships, except for the Egret, which led the enemy's main force all the way to the south, the remaining two sailing ships, which were part of each attracting the enemy, turned with the four sailing warships led by Cai Lian, in order to form a situation of fighting more and less, and breaking one of the bones of the Europeans.

Without the Swift, the most battered of the dead, Guan Tianpei was left with only two ships, but these two sailboats were still like nimble mice, circling in circles with the heavy tiger of the Drake Strait Fleet.

In order not to let the enemy notice that something was wrong, Guan Tianpei was really trying his best to deal with the enemy. Take advantage of the high speed of the sailboat as much as possible to seize the "T" prefix, and avoid exposing the hull to the enemy's sidestring fire as much as possible.

However, the Europeans had twelve warships left in their Drake Passage fleet, and the gap between the two warships was huge, and this time the Europeans forced the third sailing ship, the Seagull, to 'part ways' with the Egret in just twenty minutes.

When the three cruisers rushed straight between the Seagull and the Egret in disregard, the Seagull, the lucky one who had not missed a single shell so far, had to say goodbye to Big Brother. Although the Seagull and the Egret had already repaired the three cruisers with stern and bow guns, and had succeeded in slowing down one of them.

Once again, the Seagull managed to take four warships, two fourth-class sailboats and two cruisers. The remaining enemies behind the Egret were one Rank 1 Sail Battleship, five Rank 3 Sail Battleships, and one Rank 4 Sail Battleship. Compared with the small body of the Egret, this is purely a knife to kill chickens.

At this time, Guan Tianpei didn't need to think about other problems except running to places with more ice blocks in the south.

Whether Cai Lian can reap the results depends on Cai Lian's skills, Guan Tianpei's performance is already perfect.

……

When the Swift swooped towards the Sea of Scotia [the eastern part of Estados Island] for less than an hour, it drew a large circle on the sea surface in a rounded way, and turned directly towards Estados Island.

The three European warships, led by the British battleship Labrador, also made a big turn and continued to follow the Swift's ass in close pursuit.

In European naval battles, there were many such pursuit battles, especially small-scale naval battles. Even if the enemy can take advantage of the darkness of the night, the storm, or fog to dodge, the pursuers will not give up easily.

On the vast sea, it is common for a 'pursuit game' to be played for ten days and half a month.

So the three European warships did not hesitate to chase after the Swift's ass and plunged headlong into the Le Maire Strait between Estados and Tierra del Fuego. It is a strait 60 miles wide, and the northern shore of Estados Island is just like its southern shore, with a tortuous coastline full of large and small bays. Suddenly, four Spanish-flagged naval warships rushed out of a bay on the north coast of Estados, like a sharp slash, cutting off the retirement of three European warships. The commander of the Labrador, Andrew Holland, was immediately dumbfounded. He didn't remember that there were also their warships on the northern shore of Estados.

After the battleship led by Cai Lian blocked the back path of the three European warships, he quickly withdrew the Spanish flag and hung up the blue sky and the red sky!

Holland's teeth were about to be crushed. Although he had done it himself, he had to scold it now—it was really despicable.

The enemy had one 2nd class sail battleship and three 3rd class sail battleships, plus a fast sailing ship. And what about him?

The Labrador was a 3rd class sail battleship that had been in the water for 20 years, the Spaniards' 4th class sail battleship Blanca, and the British cruiser Elgin.

This combat effectiveness is much worse than the three ships of the Chinese.

At least that damn sailing ship will be able to take on the Labrador alone, and the remaining four sailing ships will be able to carry the Blanca and Elgin to the bottom with ease.

The guns on the left side of the Labrador are already firing, but it doesn't matter, pull the diagonal direction, and the main guns on the starboard side can also hit. Holland yelled, and now he was yelling at everything. The Swift had completely entangled it, using its high speed to occupy the T-shape again and again, forcing the Labrador to deflect directionally.

The Le Maire Strait, like the wind-directed currents of the Drake Passage, runs from west to east. The four Chinese warships led by Liu Yu had already intercepted the back of the Europeans, and if Holland wanted to break out of the Le Maire Strait and escape, he could only sail west and break through the interception of the Swift.

But the problem now is that the Swift has wrapped it up completely.

The Labrador, which was covered in wood, did not have the confidence to resist the bombardment of the hexagonal guns, and in addition to the two turrets in the front and rear, the Swift also had twenty-six guns on each side of the ship, and the firepower seemed to be much weaker than that of a normal third-class sail battleship, but it was definitely not to be underestimated.

At this time, another shell fell around the Labrador ship. The shell landed almost against the side of the Labrador, but the hexagonal shell was not a high-explosive shell and did not cause any damage except for bathing the sailors on the deck of the Labrador.

The Swift suddenly accelerated to the left full rudder and approached the Labrador in a straight line. The distance between the two sides is rapidly closing......

At the moment when the sun set, the Egret with a few more patches on its body arrived in the northeast waters of Estados Island as scheduled before the sun set, Guan Tianpei saw the four sail warships led by Cai Lian, and the Swift that was urgently repairing the mainmast and repairing the turret, but even when the sun completely set below the western horizon, they did not wait for the Seagull.

Guan Tianpei was cast a shadow on his heart, but this is called war.

The figure of the whole fleet was sunset in the last rays of the setting sun into the waters of the eastern coast of the American continent, they did not wait in place for the Seagull, or the latter did not sink, they just 'lost', but the war did not give them extra time to wait to find their comrades.

It's brutal, it's brutal, it's very cold-blooded.

Guan Tianpei didn't sleep all night, not because he didn't know what war was, but because the Seagull was commanded by him before. If the Seagull was really sunk in the sea, it would be equivalent to Guan Tianpei personally sending them to the point of no return.

But the war does not give them extra time to 'wait' for their comrades, and the war does not give Guan Tianpei extra time to make him chagrin, miss and remember, and the new order is delivered to him when the sun rises on a new day - he is to lead the Egret and the Swift to the east entrance of the Strait of Magellan to harass the European fleet stationed there, and if he can get the cannonballs into Greck, Guan Tianpei is a hero.

At the same time within the Strait of Magellan, southeast of the Braunschweig Peninsula and northeast of Cape Freud. The fleet that has always been large is sailing in the sea area, and the vanguard of the Grand Fleet has already sailed through the second narrow channel, and the elite army scouts accompanying the ship have carefully searched the mountains on both sides of the second narrow channel, but they have not found any enemy observation posts, nor have they seen any traces of human activity.

The first narrow channel of the Strait of Magellan, the most challenging one, is right in front of you. The Europeans gave up on the second narrow waterway, but there will definitely be a fierce battle in the first narrow waterway.

It is already a kind of luck to be able to let Chen Han walk safely through the second narrow waterway.

Ye Tingyang, who is in charge of the commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet, does not think about the existence of Cai Lian's fleet at all, it is so far away, and when the two sides are completely unable to contact, Ye Tingyang only thinks that Cai Lian's fleet does not exist, and the ghost knows how much of a role the latter can play.

If they want to break through the first narrow waterway, they still rely on the Grand Fleet themselves.

Ye Tingyang had already gathered two regiments of marines, and they would go ashore at the first narrow waterway and wipe out from the land route to the eastern end of the first narrow waterway, Greck.

The Marines could not carry heavy artillery, and even rockets were limited, and although Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by people such as the Ona of the Indian community, they were very sparsely populated. Moreover, in recent years, the Military Intelligence Agency has instructed naturalized Indians to go to Tierra del Fuego to make contact, but several times without success, and some have not been able to find anyone at all. Without the Indians to respond, this land attack was very inconvenient, and it could even be said that it was very dangerous.

But in order to pass through the Strait of Magellan smoothly, no matter how dangerous it is, Ye Tingyang must also do it.

In addition, there are mines, whether triggered mines or incense-burning open flame mines, which flow from west to east through the Strait of Magellan, which can pose a certain threat to European warships.

It is based on the terrain of the northern part of Tierra del Fuego, and the information collected by the Military Intelligence Bureau over the years is only the most basic information, which is dominated by glacial terrain, lakes and moraines, and the west and south of the island and the surrounding islets are the extension of the Andes Mountains, and the peaks are more than 2,000 meters above sea level. However, the terrain around Greck is low, and the eastern coast of the First Narrow Waterway is relatively flat, and although there are still many places where troops cannot be stationed, at least there are troops stationed around Greck.

If Greck is not taken, the already narrow waterway is half blocked by the cannons, which will be even more uncomfortable. Of course, more importantly, if Chen Han can take Greck, it will greatly help them break through the blockade.

Guan Tianpei, who was ordered to go to the first narrow waterway, didn't know that the Grand Fleet had simply ignored them.

Guan Tianpei rushed to the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan with the Egret and the Swift as fast as possible, and the time used up a full day and a half, while Cai Lian commanded four sail warships to enter the vast Atlantic Ocean with the Drake Strait Fleet that was chasing closely behind.

The Europeans who suffered a big loss will not let Cai Lian go. They are also not sure whether China will divide its troops again, but they themselves do not dare to divide their forces again. Eat a trench and grow a wisdom, and people who fall into the same pit twice are stupid.

The distance from the east sea of Estados Island to the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan is close to 200 nautical miles, and the further north you go, the less icebergs will be on the surface, and at normal speeds, one day is enough. But during the voyage they also had to pay attention to dodging the cruising warships of the Europeans, which wasted some time. By the time they arrived at their destination, it had taken them a whole day and a half.

It was nearly four o'clock, and in three hours, the sun was about to set. But this did not delay Guan Tianpei commanding two sailing ships to do another business, and as soon as they arrived at their destination, they saw a merchant ship under the Portuguese flag heading towards the entrance to the Strait of Magellan.

It is certain that this is a pure merchant ship, and although there are several guns installed on the deck, it is as fragile as an eggshell compared to a regular warship.

The Egret and the Swift, with the American flag flying high on the mast, approached the Portuguese merchant ship with great ease, and when the latter saw the Egret from a distance, he first issued a salute but quickly turned around and ran north.

Guan Tianpei didn't have to think about it to know that his two ships were exposed. No way, the Egret and the Swift are all hard-sailed sailboats. If a soft-sail sailing ship with an American flag could still be found in the southernmost part of the Americas, a sailing ship with a stiff sail would never be possible. Even though the Europeans knew that the hard sail was more convenient than the soft sail, they would not come to learn the Chinese hard sail for the sake of pride and the speed of the ship.

"Catch up, catch up—" Guan Tianpei's order was very decisive.

The distance between the two sides is only six or seven miles, that is, two nautical miles, and it will not take an hour for the all-powerful Egret to catch up with each other.

Capturing a merchant ship would re-enriche the half-empty cabins of the Egret and Swift, which had been on voyage for more than a month.

Whether it's food, artillery, or all kinds of materials for repairing the ship, you can get it from this merchant ship.

It took them nearly a month to get through the Drake Passage. In the sea, large and small, all kinds of icebergs made the seven warships of the advance fleet not have a moment to open their sails.

Although this also left the ship's coal savings almost unused.

There is no shortage of water in the Drake Passage, any iceberg is a source of fresh water, and the most expensive thing in the strait is food and materials for repairing the hull, even wood.

The distance of two nautical miles is really not an insurmountable distance compared to a sailboat. The speed of Portuguese merchant ships is less than five knots, and the speed of Western-style sailing ships in the case of headwinds is quite sensitive, but what about the Egret? Hard sails can blow winds from all directions, and hard sailing ships can run faster than soft sailing ships in headwinds, not to mention that they also have steam engines.

The distance between the two sides was soon reduced to less than a kilometer. The Swift's forward turret fired first, followed by the Egret, and when the distance was shortened to six or seven hundred meters, the stern guns of the Portuguese merchant ships began to fire. Hehe, it turned out to be a bunch of smoothbore guns.

Guan Tianpei was completely relieved, if they were armed with hexagonal cannons and were defeated by a bunch of smoothbore cannons, it would be contrary to the truth.