In the first month of the seventh year of Zhengde, Zhengde led the royal sailors south to Manjia, and at the same time that the fleet of the Triple Alliance also left the port of Belori in the Ceylon Mountains. [No pop-up novel network]

The composition of the sailors of the Ming army was relatively simple, fifty steamships, all of which were standard, and if you didn't look at the flags and liveries, it was difficult to distinguish them from the appearance alone. Followed by a large fleet of Fuku, Canton, and about 200 flywheel warships.

The composition of the fleet on the side of the alliance is relatively much more complicated. Overall, it is a combined fleet of 250 large ships of more than 3 masts, and more than 300 small and medium-sized ships of all kinds with single and double masts.

Among them were merchant ships, war ships, and expedition ships among the small ships. The Spanish ships were dominated by the old Carrick sailing boats, mixed with some new Galen galleons; The Portuguese are still enthusiastic about the caravel yachts developed in their own country.

The boats used by the Dutch are more mixed, including the Kirk sailing boat, which is popular in Northern Europe and is more suitable for sailing in strong winds and waves, and the Galen boat, which is loved by the British, and some composite sailing ships that are difficult to summarize due to the advantages of all parties. The coachman of the sea has always been practical, and he has no concern for the type of boat.

In addition to European ships, there are also a large number of Arabian galleons with unusual shapes, the most distinctive feature of which is the spinnaker on board. In terms of seaworthiness characteristics, this kind of ship is somewhat similar to the fortune ship of the Ming Dynasty, and the ocean-going surname can be very general, but it has a fairly flexible surname in the offshore sea, and the requirements for the port are not very high, and it can also be used for both business and war.

At this time, the European countries had not yet conquered Arabia, and the two sides were in a relationship of competition and cooperation. Of course, this relationship is confined to the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean, as well as to the Arabian Sea, beyond which there is nothing to do with the Arabs.

Arabia is just a general title, it is no longer the era of the expansion of the Great Eclipse, the beliefs of the emirates are the same, but there are many contradictions between them, they have no ability and no mood to expand overseas, and the Sulu country of Luzon is just a special case.

This time, they joined the combined fleet in the form of mercenaries. For a long time, they had a deep understanding of the strength of the European continent, and they had full confidence in the victory in the battle; In addition, the rewards promised by several governors were also very desirable to Allah's followers.

A thousand years ago, their ancestors longed for the rich country of the East, but unfortunately, even at the peak of the Arabs' power, they were still defeated by the powerful Tang people, and they could only sigh.

Now, they finally have the opportunity to defeat the fleets of the Ming Empire, invade the land of the Ming Kingdom, and plunder each other's wealth together with the powerful Europeans, all of which make them suddenly become fanatical, as if the scene of a thousand years ago has been recreated.

With different minds, the will of both sides is very firm, and the two most powerful forces in the world, with their most powerful forces, are about to collide together! What they are about to set off is also an unprecedented war!

"The Easterners did not retreat? Still building a fortress? What a bunch of guys who don't cry when they don't see the coffin! ”

Sander gritted his teeth and roared: "Gentlemen, we can't give them this opportunity, we were not prepared before, so we were entangled by the Easterners in Banda Aceh, and now we have assembled an invincible fleet that can be called invincible in the world, and we should destroy their fortress in one fell swoop with a thunderous force, no, we should occupy it as a bridgehead for the nations to enter the East!" ”

As a Spanish aristocrat, Sander hadn't experienced the kind of humiliation that Yang Min had brought to him for a long time. After the breakdown of the negotiations, Spain's positive attitude was certainly due to the Spaniards' empty surname, but it was also related to Sander's anger, who could not wait to give the Orientals who dared to defy Spain's honor a disadvantage.

He did it, and he failed at the same time.

In terms of navigation technology and naval warfare concepts, the royal sailors have caught up with the West, but the Ming Dynasty has not reached it overall, and the development of the South China Sea is a top priority.

Unlike those small Western countries that do not have strong control over their own countries, the Ming Dynasty has enough dominance to allow maritime merchants to act in an orderly manner, and also has a strong enough sailor to use it to compete for maritime supremacy.

The disparity in equipment had dealt a heavy blow to the maritime raids, but the Spaniards were not unscathed.

The incendiary bombs of the flywheel battleship exceeded their expectations, and more than a dozen warships were reduced to ashes in the fire; In addition, after all, the maritime merchants were outnumbered, the ships were relatively flexible, and the traditional broadside combat was not completely useless, and the tactics of the sea of people caused Spain to lose five warships.

In Sander's opinion, this was an unprecedented heavy loss suffered by the Spanish Navy, and it did not achieve the desired effect at all, so to speak, it was a battle without a winner.

"Intelligence shows that the Ming army is also gathering ships, and it seems that they are sworn to defend this gate of the South China Sea." Reinhardt lowered his binoculars, revealing his silver-gray eyes.

In his opinion, the maritime merchants he encountered before should have been a death squad sent by the Ming army, in order to delay the pace of the combined fleet and buy time for the construction of the rear fortress. In the usual sense, his thoughts are not wrong, but the current Da Ming is not the kind in the usual sense, so he misunderstood.

"Let's move forward with all our might, and achieve a brilliant victory." Frederick was a relatively steady man, but he was the most active host, and he was the one who started the alliance. He found that the Ming army did not have artillery, nor did it lack advanced sea ships, but the number was relatively small.

Before the Great Frontier, it was a similar situation in Europe. The Clergy's intelligence was right, this was an empire in a rapidly changing state, and it was necessary to keep their momentum down before they were fully ready, or at least to keep the battlefield in the South China Sea, so as not to threaten the rest of Portugal's colonies.

With this in mind, the Combined Fleet arrived at Banda Aceh and rested for a while, and then rushed to its final destination. On the other hand, after discovering their movements, the Ming army, which was waiting in Mangathorn, did not evade it at all, and directly met them.

At the western exit of the strait, the two sides encountered.

"Oh God! What is that? A ship emitting black smoke? Could it be a demon ship that sailed out of hell? ”

"God forbid, don't the Easterners have only boats? What the hell is this now? I'm afraid this ship is more than 1,000 tons, right? And there are fifty of them! ”

"And the cannons, look, a lot of cannon doors, one or two...... Forty cannons on one side of the ship? Such firepower! ”

"Allah Allah is on ......"

As soon as Bu encountered, the coalition forces were taken aback, and the relationship between God and Allah, two gods who were once incompatible, suddenly became harmonious, and the names of the two of them came and went in the fleet.

The lookout and herald on the flagship of the "Admiral...... saw more clearly, it was obviously the direction of the westerly wind, but the other party's ship was sailing at a higher speed than his own, and the ship was obviously very mysterious.

"Stay in formation and prepare for an artillery battle!" Sander spat out a few words from between his teeth.

He really didn't expect that the Ming army would hide such a killer feature. The most important thing in naval battles is firepower and speed, in terms of the combat power of a single ship, the opponent's ship has comprehensively surpassed the Spanish galleon, and the black smoke makes him have an ominous premonition.

But now there is no way to retreat, and to flee in front of an enemy who is faster than him is tantamount to suicide, which will lead to a great rout, and it is not known whether he will be able to return to the mountains of Ceylon safely with a tenth of the ships.

Fortunately, there are not many ships on the other side, and even if the combined fleet has to allocate some of its energy to deal with the miscellaneous ships of the Ming army, it can still maintain a two-on-one or even three-to-one posture in an artillery battle. Although it will pay a heavy price, this battle should be won, and he repeatedly convinced himself in his heart that for the time being, he succeeded.

The Strait of Malacca is a long and narrow bay, and although the exit is quite wide, there are more than 1,000 ships of all kinds spread on the sea, which is also quite crowded.

When the large battleship of the Combined Fleet slowly turned its hull, the gun doors on the side of the ship opened one after another, and the muzzles of Hessesen poked out, many people in the Ming army array had the idea that they had nowhere to hide, especially those who had seen a hundred cannons firing in unison, and their feelings were even more profound.

Large ships are on the lookout, while smaller ships are patrolling around. Originally, they were supposed to step forward to play the role of harassment, but the Ming army had more small boats and were faster, so they simply recovered them and formed a barrier in front of the gunboats.

"Master Hou, blocked by these small boats, it is difficult for the flywheel battleship to break through to the enemy ship." Wang Hai's brows furrowed tightly.

In addition to the steamer, the best way to deal with the Westerners is the flywheel battleship, although the range of the two sides is very different, but the mobility is that the flywheel battleship has the upper hand, and the weapons used, the Westerners have no way to restrain it for the time being. After receiving Yang Min's summons, Wang Hai gathered all the expedition teams and fought desperately.

"Didn't you say that? It is the duty of the navy to prepare the maritime merchants to pursue them, and it is the duty of the navy to fight head-on. Xie Hong held the binoculars and looked at the fleet on the opposite side for a moment, it was a very rare opportunity to observe the fleet of the Age of Discovery up close, and in the future generations he could only look at the models and pictures.

"But ......"

"No, how can the navy under my personal command lose? By the way, why hasn't my flag been hung yet? I tell you, Aiqing, if you don't hurry up and hang up the flag, I will kick you all into the sea! Zhengde pointed to the mast very dissatisfied, and issued a strong threat to Wang Hai and others.

“…… Wechen obeyed. ”

Since Zhengde got on the ship, Wang Hai became a staff officer, and Liang Cheng was demoted to a captain, but this was not a reason for them to smile bitterly. They all know what artillery warfare is all about, that thing has a range of miles, and if they find an important target, such as a flagship or something, then why don't they immediately concentrate fire and attack?

As soon as the flag of Zhengde is erected, even if there are no two priests who have stayed in Daming, Xifan should have found an abnormality, and the artillery battle will not have the upper hand, so if you do it, isn't it bad?

But now that the emperor has issued a holy decree, and the Hou Ye is silent, they have no choice but to carry out the order in a stupid manner. I was secretly guessing in my heart, did Hou Ye come up with some new tricks? For example, the range of the cannon has been increased, etc.?

(To be continued)