The captain looked at Fernand's swarthy face, which had been exposed to the sun for a long time, and he felt a little admiration. Seeing that the general was still so elegant and composed, he didn't mean to blame himself, so he told what he knew in his chest and told everything one by one.

"Sir, what you are afraid of is not the Chinese sailors, let alone denying the action of attacking the former cottage. It's because once we capture the former cottage, we will be bombarded by the inland artillery of the Braided Army, and we will not be able to establish an effective defense line. ”

"Moreover, because we are going to the ocean and going deep alone, the strength and supply are a short board in themselves, and we can't keep up with them and connect effectively. Even if we attack quickly and instantly take the two strategic places of Qianshanzhai and Xiangshan, once the Chinese court cuts off our fresh water supplies and material procurement, we will not be able to hold out for long, and in the end we will retreat without a fight, the gains outweigh the losses, and the battle will become meaningless. ”

At this moment, Fernand looked surprised, he didn't expect that his captain was very strategic, but in a short time, he figured out the main points, and couldn't help but ask: "Since personnel and material supplements are insufficient, then why don't we directly take Guangzhou, grasp labor to enrich the army, and grab some materials, isn't it?" ”

The captain only thought for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "That's not good, let's not talk about the loyalty of the captured laborers, is it really for us?" The army in Guangdong alone is not something we can deal with. What's more, Guangdong is adjacent to Fujian and Taiwan, and once we enter Guangzhou in a big way, then we will face pressure from three sides. ”

"Although the strength of China's sailors is average, if we want to withdraw, they can't stop them at all, but we will lose our right of residence in Macao forever, and we will no longer be able to trade with China and obtain the silk, tea, and porcelain that the nobles want most."

"Once this happens, the consequences will be unimaginable, and after returning to China, those arrogant nobles in the country will never let us go!"

The more the captain spoke, the clearer his thinking became, the farther his strategic vision became, the more he was able to see the essence through the phenomenon, the more he realized the crux of the problem, the more mature his thinking became, and the arrogance gradually faded.

At this time, Fairman was not so simple to appreciate, but felt that this young captain was good, had great potential, as long as he could survive and there were no accidents, he would definitely be his best successor in the future, completely suitable for the leader of the fleet in charge of Chinese trade, and had the talent of a commander.

However, when the general wanted to call on the captain to make him more aware of the current situation, a sailor's exclamation was heard, interrupting the conversation between the two.

"Look, look, the Chinese sailors are coming."

With this shout, all the crew members of the Raphael looked up, looking in the direction of the southwest, and the other eight warships seemed to have noticed the situation and looked over together.

I saw a large group of boats in the southwest undulating, and under the churning waves, some small boats shook extremely violently, and there was a possibility of capsizing at any time. If it weren't for the nearby big boat, which was fastened to it with ropes, it might have been overturned by the waves. The spectacular scene on the Pearl River of the Guangdong Navy Division, as it entered the windless sea area, was completely destroyed and ceased to exist, and only some large warships maintained the lineup.

The captain was stunned, completely surprised, not shocked by the scene of the ship, but he didn't expect the Chinese sailors to be like this, far beyond his imagination, how bad the Guangdong sailors had been imagined before, it seems that they are still overestimated now, and they couldn't help but raise one arm, pointed at the Guangdong sailors, and asked in disbelief: "General, those ~ those are the so-called Chinese sailors ~?" ”

"Yes, these are the Chinese sailors, with small sampans in the warship, which are very uncivilized."

However, this is also a sailor? Except for a few broken warships that can be compared with our ships, and only some medium-sized ships can barely be called warships, the others are simply fishing boats that fish in the offshore waters. Once deep in the ocean, there is no use at all, and a single wave can overturn them and sink to the bottom of the sea. ”

"Captain, although the Chinese naval division warships are not good, they still have some combat effectiveness, don't underestimate him, the fleets of many countries have suffered their losses."

"However, even if there is some combat power, some threat to the fleets of some countries, those small ships are not needed for deep-sea operations, and they will not have any effect at all. I really don't understand, what do these Chinese generals think, they actually take these small boats? ”

"Look, Captain, you're still underestimating the Chinese sailors. You are mistaken, those small boats are not intended for personnel combat rides, but are specifically designed to set fires and burn the opponent's battleships. ”

"Ah~ With just this small boat, you can burn the opponent's battleship? The general can't be, right? ”

Seeing the captain's look of disbelief, knowing that it was the first time he had seen this situation, he didn't know what was going on, as if he was reminiscing, and as if he was solving puzzles, he slowly recounted.

"The small boats you see are not used for personnel to ride, but when facing the enemy, they are specially used for fire attacks, called fire boats, and under normal circumstances, Chinese sailors will carry them."

"The reason why it is called a fireboat is because when the Chinese sailors are fighting, some medium or large warships will carry the fireboat to the upwind outlet, and then fill the small boat with fierce fire oil and ignite it instantly. These fireships will drift towards enemy ships with the help of the wind, burning the opposing ships. ”

Although Fernand explained this, the captain from the Portuguese Naval Academy did not pay attention to it at all, and did not realize that these fireships had any offensive power, and couldn't help muttering in his heart: "It's just a small sampan, even if it is clothed in flames, it still doesn't have much attack power." Although it was driving upwind and crashing into enemy ships, wouldn't those enemy ships dodge? Will you let these fireships crash into you? ”

Although he thought this in his heart, the captain's attention was on other aspects, and he wondered: "Fierce fire oil? General, what is the Fierce Fire Oil? ”

"Fierce fire oil is what we call petroleum."

Suddenly, the captain looked at the southwest direction in surprise, pointed and said: "General, look, the Chinese sailors have stopped, why did they stop so far?!" ”

At this time, Fernand turned his head, looked there, and once again focused his attention on the Guangdong sailors, not at all wondering why the Chinese sailors stopped three miles away, looking indifferent.

"There's nothing to fuss about, Captain, you're still an officer who graduated from the Imperial Military Academy, and you don't understand any of this? Although we are now allies with the Chinese sailors, we are at the time of cooperation. However, the heart of defense is indispensable, it is still necessary to ensure the safety of each other's warships, and at such a long distance, neither of the two sides can attack the other party's warships, which is called a safe distance, and has nothing to do with trust or distrust. ”

"Don't worry, the Chinese sailors will send a general in a while to coordinate with us and communicate about this operation."

When Fernand did not look back to explain, he saw a medium-sized warship from the ranks of the Guangdong Naval Division, which was very inconsistent with Qianlong's self-proclaimed identity as the Heavenly Dynasty, dilapidated and old, slowly sailing in the crashing waves, Fernand and the captain had a tacit understanding that they would no longer talk, waiting for the representative of the Chinese Naval Division to come by boat.

Soon, the Cantonese naval division approached and came to the side of the Raphael, next to each other. The sailors on the battleship seemed to be well acquainted with the affairs between the two armies, and without Fernand's order, they immediately lowered the rope ladder and let the representatives of the Cantonese naval division board the ship and come to the Raphael.

Subsequently, several Qing court sailors followed a general and appeared in Fernand's sight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, who of you is the commander of the Portuguese side, the person in charge this time? Lin Guoliang, the deputy general of the Xia Association, is the representative of the sailors who negotiated with you this time to exterminate the Black Flag Gang. (To be continued.) )