Zheng Zhilong did not want to fight the Dutch now.

This is not because the strength of the South China Sea Fleet is insufficient to face the combined forces of Portugal and the Netherlands, but Zhu Youzhen's long-term plan for the South Seas: Europe has many maritime powers, and the Ming Dynasty cannot fight against the whole of Europe on its own, and there is no need for this.

In the future of overseas trade, in order to pursue higher profits, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty will also go to Europe, if the Ming Dynasty expelled all the European forces in the South Seas, then the merchants of the Ming Dynasty will be troubled by them when they are in Europe, and even attacked, if some European forces continue to stay in the South Seas, they will inevitably treat the merchants of the Ming Dynasty in Europe in order to protect the interests of the South Seas.

Before the Ming navy could not reach Europe, this was the best way to ensure that the interests of the Ming merchants were maximized.

For the sake of Luzon and Malacca, the Ming Dynasty must expel Spain and Portugal, which is the basis of the Ming Dynasty's foothold in the South Seas, and there is no negotiation, but the Ming Dynasty is still ready to sign a contract with Spain, that is, to defeat Portugal in the future, and the Ming Dynasty will not be killed with a stick, and will retain part of Portugal's trade interests in the East.

The Dutch had a lot of trade bases in Nanyang, and if the Ming could occupy the strategic points, these trade bases would have little impact on the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming could allow them to continue to exist.

Before the Ming navy reached Europe, protecting the commercial interests of these Xiyi was to protect the future interests of the Ming maritime merchants.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong did not plan to start a war with the Netherlands for the time being, although the South China Sea Fleet and the Dutch East India Company were still at war for the time being.

The Dutch courier received a verbal promise from Zheng Zhilong and immediately returned to Batavia to report to Governor Spex.

Combined with his own estimates, Zheng Zhilong should have no plans to attack the Dutch trade base, at least not for the time being, and he was a little relieved.

However, now that the Ming were dealing with Portugal, if Portugal was defeated, would the Ming attack the various bases of the Dutch East India Company in the South Seas? Spex couldn't tell.

How can the Ming fleet truly trust the Netherlands? Can the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty really coexist peacefully in Nanyang?

Spex racked his brains.

Now that the Ming fleet is preparing to attack Malacca, what they are most worried about is that they are worried that the Dutch fleet will be↖↖ ↖ speaking from the south ↖⊕os_. threat, no matter what actual losses this threat caused to the Ming fleet, so Zheng Zhilong asked the messenger to bring a message and let the Dutch fleet return to the port.

Thinking of this, Spex was ready to show his sincerity.

He issued the latest order to his navy: "All ships should immediately return to the port, but send small clippers and merchant ships to the sea to closely monitor the movements of the Ming fleet, and in addition, all kinds of artillery batteries on land should also be strengthened to guard against the sneak attack of the Ming army." ”

"Yes, Lord Governor." The herald bowed, about to deliver Spex's order.

"Wait," Spex called to the herald, "if a friend sends someone to me, say I'm leaving Batavia for the time being." ”

"Yes, Lord Governor." The herald didn't understand what Spex meant, but he didn't need to, he just had to pass the order on.

On the one hand, Spex returned the ship to the port, saying that he would not be an enemy of Daming, let alone stab Daming from behind, on the other hand, he was not completely at ease with Zheng Zhilong, all kinds of non-combat ships kept shuttling at sea, he wanted Zheng Zhilong to understand that although he would not interfere with Daming's military operations, he was ready to protect himself.

The size of the Ming fleet was too large, and it was not impossible for Zheng Zhilong to launch a surprise attack on Batavia or other Dutch trading bases after capturing Malacca, as a victor.

Zheng Zhilong's sentinel ship had been keeping an eye on the movements of the Dutch, and when they found that the Dutch ships had returned to port, they immediately reported to Zheng Zhilong about Spex's "goodwill".

Hearing Spex's kindness, Zheng Zhilong smiled slightly, Spex is so understanding, he must be pursuing more interests in the future negotiations, he can't take care of the future negotiations for the time being, the Dutch ship has left the sea, he has no worries, he can now concentrate all his strength and take Malacca first.

The South China Sea Fleet anchored in the open sea between Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, with a number of Cangshan ships patrolling the sea at all times, with the Malacca waterway to the west, the island of Java to the south, and Borneo to the southeast.

The Malacca waterway was the target of Zheng Zhilong's military campaign, and the island of Java in the south and Borneo in the southeast had a large number of Dutch trade bases and ships, although they had now returned to the port in order to show goodwill to the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong could not be completely assured that if the ships went to sea again, it would only be an hour.

Zheng Zhilong had planned to arrive at the predetermined waters at noon, ready to begin a tentative attack, and if he could achieve victory in one go, he would send part of the fleet to the port, but due to the wind, the fleet would only come to the open sea of the Malay Peninsula in the evening.

After all, the Portuguese have been operating here for more than a century, occupying the absolute advantage of terrain and geography, and now that it is getting dark and the opponent's situation is unknown, Zheng Zhilong did not take the liberty of launching an attack on the port.

The fleet dropped anchor in the open sea.

Zheng Zhilong did not fall asleep early like a soldier, and Ma Liujia, who haunted him, is now under his nose, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, it will belong to Daming.

He stood alone on the deck of the "Nanhai" ship, and the southeast wind blowing from the sea almost ruffled his hair, and he didn't care at all.

Zheng Zhilong faced southwest, standing still, looking ahead, in fact, he couldn't see anything, the darkness had already swallowed a qiē, and Ma Liujia was not in his line of sight at all.

He's thinking about tomorrow's battle.

Although he already has a detailed plan, he is still thinking about it to see if there is anything missing.

The night also made him a little worried, he was born as a pirate, he knew that the darkness was the paradise of the sneak attacker, the strong wind and waves on the sea, and provided sufficient cover for the sneak attacker, although he had sent a large number of Cangshan boats out to patrol, but the sea was too wide, any omission, may provide a passage for the sneak attacker.

Once the Portuguese sneak attack, with the speed of the wide ship and the condition of anchoring in the open sea, it will definitely become a target ship for the other side.

The South China Sea Fleet was too large to evade the Portuguese sentinel ships.

If it was daytime, with the number of warships and artillery of the South China Sea Fleet, Zheng Zhilong would have absolutely sure of defeating the opponent, but now it was night, and it was as dark as the bottom of a pot, which was an opportunity for the Grape People, and he was worried that the Portuguese would send small ships to sneak attack.

As long as this night passes, the day will be the world of the South China Sea Fleet.

Zheng Zhilong didn't wait for the Grape Man to come and attack.

The thin mist, which had been diluted by the sea breeze, began to show a glimmer of dawn in the east, and then it was engulfed in darkness again, until the light appeared again, and it was not completely free from the fetters of darkness.

The soldiers on the Cangshan ship, after a busy night, finally reassured that the Portuguese would not come to sneak attack, and they anchored and rested on the periphery.

With the arrival of daylight, there will be a needle-to-needle war between the Ming and the Portuguese, and the Ming soldiers are convinced that war is inevitable unless the Portuguese take the initiative to retreat and give way to the Malacca waterway.

The Portuguese, who have already tasted the sweetness, will definitely not give up the benefits they have already received lightly.

More than forty ships, large and small, were waiting in the port of Malacca, and although they were not sure of victory, they surrendered without firing a shot, or fled back to Portugal, and could not account for their king when they returned.

The ship did not leave the port, and the Portuguese soldiers were praying, praying that the target of the Ming navy was not Malacca, maybe the Ming army was just to open the Guò Malacca waterway, for God's sake, maybe they would let it go.

The ideal is very plump, but the reality is very skinny.

Countless facts have proven that the more worrying things are, the more likely they are to happen.

A crystal light reflected from the sea, and the sun had not yet appeared, but the morning glow had already dyed the eastern sea water crimson, as if it was preparing a vigorous appearance ceremony for the sun.

More than 10 ships of the South China Sea Fleet and Cangshan boats, along the direction of the morning glow, slowly sailed to the Malacca waterway, the fishermen seem to have smelled the smell of gunpowder on both ships, usually at this time, the sea is already crowded with fishing boats, but today's sea is quiet, within the scope of vision, there is no fishing boat, only the sea breeze and waves for these Ming ships.

The Portuguese ships couldn't stay in the port, and the ships of the Ming army came under their noses, and they couldn't turn a blind eye, and more than a dozen small ships dared to attack the Malacca waterway, which was simply a slap in the face to the Portuguese navy.

More than 30 Portuguese ships of all kinds were dispatched, and they sailed towards the Ming ships in the glow, trying to force the Ming ships back.

The Portuguese waved the flag, but the Ming army ignored it, as if they didn't understand the Portuguese flag, or didn't see the Portuguese ships at all.

Only then did the Portuguese remember that the last time they participated in the siege of the Ming Navy by the Combined Fleet, it was already an undeclared war, and the Ming Army was retaliating against them.

But the arrow was ready to be sent, and they let it go.

The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, and neither has a way out.

The ships of the Ming Dynasty were downwind, but they were not full of sails, and the speed was not fast, so they sailed over slowly, which was not like a war, but like a day trip to the Malacca waterway.

The ships of the two sides met in the open sea east of the Mahaka waterway, and when it was about five miles, the ships of the Ming Dynasty quickly hung up their full sails, lined up, the bow of the ship to the north, and aimed at the Portuguese ships with the naval guns on the starboard side, the Portuguese fleet was not to be outdone, they were also horizontally swinged, and the large battleships were in front, facing the Ming fleet with starboard guns.

By this time, everyone knew that although neither side had declared war, the war had actually happened, whether it was the Ming army undeclared war or the Portuguese provoked in front, it was only a matter at the post-war negotiating table, and for the soldiers on both sides, defeating the opponent on the battlefield was the only goal now.