However, Lin Guoliang, the deputy general of the association, did not get an answer from the other party when he asked questions and revealed his identity, only to see Fernand and the captain looking at themselves with a blank look on their faces. Only then did he realize that the other party could not understand Chinese, so he hurriedly said to the deputy next to him: "Translate what I just said to them." ”

"Yes, sir, my subordinates will translate."

Subsequently, the deputy translated Lin Guoliang's words into Portuguese, explained the intention of his group, and revealed his identity.

Fernand's indifference disappeared, replaced by a friendly smile, and under the translation of the deputy, he invited Lin Guoliang, the deputy general of the association, to enter the cabin to taste tea, and slowly discuss the specific matters of exterminating the pirates.

In the cabin, at this time, only the assistant general Lin Guoliang, Fernand, the captain and the translator, and the others were guarding the door outside the cabin, responsible for guarding the confidentiality of the content of the conversation and not being known by the fifth person.

"General Lin, I don't know how the Admiral Guishui Division planned this operation to exterminate the Black Flag Gang? How are you going to make our royal fleet cooperate? ”

"Uh~ General Fernand, all the previous extermination and attack of the Haikou were mainly based on your fleet, and this time is of course no exception, our Guangdong Navy Division is still responsible for cooperating to provide you with supplies and repair warships."

"Well, since this is the case, General Lin said so, as in the past, our Portuguese fleet will be the main attacker."

"General Lin, I don't know if you have any detailed information about the Black Flag Gang, we only know here that they are entrenched in Lantau Island, and we don't know anything about their equipment and other related information, so we don't know much about it. After all, as allies, shouldn't you provide us with some information? ”

"Yes, of course, but not very detailed."

"General Lin, please speak, there is always more detail than ours, and the more detailed the intelligence, the more our royal fleet can understand our common enemy and formulate corresponding battle strategies, so that the attack on the enemy will be more targeted and the strike effect will be the greatest, isn't it?"

"According to the information we have obtained, because Lantau Island is surrounded by reefs in the northwest and northeast, warships cannot get close to it, let alone land and land through it. Therefore, their main firepower is mainly concentrated in the southeast and southwest, as well as the places where they enter and exit, and there are a large number of artillery batteries along the coast, and dozens of large warships, but they cannot be compared with these warships of your army. ”

"Hundreds of other medium ships and small boats were anchored in the harbor, or in the lakes of the island. The number of combatants is thousands, but most of them are broadswords and spears, which cannot be compared to all of our birds. ”

"If that's the case, General Lin, the medium-sized warships and pirate personnel of the Black Flag Gang will be handed over to your sailors, and our Royal Fleet is only responsible for dealing with the warships of the Black Flag Gang, and the rest of our Portuguese Navy will not participate, General Lin, I believe you have also seen the reason, we only have nine ships, and the personnel are only about 2,000 people."

"By the way, General Lin, has your Admiral Admiral set a date for attacking the Black Flag Gang? When will we reach Lantau Island and attack? ”

"Tomorrow, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival of our dynasty, is the most suitable time for us to attack the Black Flag Gang, and it will definitely have a surprising effect."

"Tomorrow? General Lin, is the time too rushed? Rushed over overnight, can the soldiers stand it? ”

"General Fernand, tomorrow is an excellent date, the Dragon Boat Festival is our traditional festival, since most of the Black Flag gangs are traitors from the interior, they will definitely hold a celebration, at that time, if we attack Lantau again, we will definitely be surprised and catch him off guard! General Fernand, that would make our actions much easier, and reduce a lot of casualties on both sides. ”

He couldn't help but show a hint of smugness between his eyebrows, because he suggested the date of the attack.

Fernand André was silent, thinking. As a senior admiral of the Portuguese navy, he has lived in Macao for many years, and although he lives in a Portuguese gathering area and has little contact with the ordinary people of the Qing Dynasty, he still knows something about some Chinese festivals. After all, after such a long time, he Fernand can be regarded as a half-China expert.

After just pondering for a moment, he agreed, and then said, "General Lin, should we talk about this naval battle and how it should be conducted?" When is the attack launched? ”

After some greetings, the assistant general left with his personnel, leaving General Fernand and the captain sitting in the cabin, silent and thoughtful.

At this moment, the captain's face was filled with a faint dissatisfaction, and he wondered why General Fernand agreed to this plan of action. At a glance, it was clear that the Royal Fleet was in charge of the main attack, and it would be attacked by the main firepower of the pirate side, and it would face heavy losses in personnel and warships.

This dissatisfaction brewed in the captain's chest, surging and agitating in his chest, intensifying, and there was an impulse that was suppressed, and finally he couldn't help asking: "General Fernand, this operation is not good for us at all, why do you still agree to them?" ”

"Captain, just looking at this operation, yes, we are indeed at a loss, it is simply thankless, it does us no good, and we have to bear the risk of losing the battleship, but we have to do this, otherwise we will not be able to face those merchants of our country at all, and we will not be able to account for it after returning home."

"General, why do you say that? Is there any reason for this? ”

"That's the case, the merchants who purchase goods in China in our country every year will be blackmailed and extorted by pirates almost every time, and even more serious will be wiped out, people and ships will be destroyed, goods will be plundered, and the losses will far exceed the cost of building our royal fleet several times."

"What? The incident occurred in China's waters, does the Chinese imperial court not care about this? ”

"Captain, you are naïve, those officials of the Chinese court only know how to accept bribes from us, so as to give our merchants an advantage in trade and suppress those merchants in their own country, nothing more. If our merchant ships are attacked and there are casualties, they will only record it, and in the end, they will not care about it. ”

"And every time a pirate attack targets a foreigner like us, people are slaughtered or ransom is demanded. If they were their own people, the pirates would only plunder the goods and money, and finally leave the ships to let them go, and their lives could be saved. ”

"Captain, this is also the reason why we have taken the initiative to take the initiative to take the lead in every fight against pirates, and we have to protect our merchants from being looted and slaughtered!"

"I see, I said that every time I mention fighting pirates with those British, why do they agree to cooperate when they always find fault in the past, and they are very active, without mentioning any conditions, it turns out that they are also deeply affected by pirates and want to exterminate pirates."

"It's good to know, Captain, go and rest, there will be a fierce battle in the next two days, the combat power of those pirates is not simple, much stronger than the Chinese sailors, otherwise we would not have been invited to participate in this crackdown? Therefore, this operation to exterminate the Black Flag Gang will never be as easy as General Lin said. ”

As night approached, the sea was about to fall into darkness, and the Cantonese sailors and the Portuguese royal fleet sailed northeast, wearing the stars and the moon, the warships moving slowly, the oars rowing across the water, colliding with the turbulent waves, splashing the waves.

Among the Chinese troops of the Guangdong Naval Division, in the command of the warship, Lin Guoliang, the assistant general, explained the situation to Sun Chuanmou, the commander of the naval division, and explained the contents of the conversation with Fernand this afternoon. Subsequently, he began to talk about the specific actions to exterminate the Black Flag Gang.

"General Lin, tomorrow you and the commander-in-chief Xu Tinggui and Shi Mingzhi will be responsible for occupying Chili Jiao, using this as a base point to establish forts and shotgun positions, and when the Portuguese fleet attacks from Mawan, you will shell across the sea, and quickly send troops to attack the coast in small boats."

"Therefore, it is very important for you to occupy Cape Chili tomorrow, almost no less than the role of the Portuguese fleet." (To be continued.) )