A standard medium-sized Galen ship is heading north against a northwesterly wind.

At this time, the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and the wind direction at sea is mostly west and north, which is not a good time for Beihang; However, Alfonso relied on his large ship and good navigation skills, so he decided to go north to Ushijima to find the Ming country Xiucai who had helped him get out of his predicament.

The purpose of this trip was to sell his remaining 500 Lu Mi guns, and in order to sell Lu Mi guns, he remembered the repeated advice of Ming Guo Xiucai, and recruited a group of craftsmen in Macao—from clock-makers, to silversmiths who made tableware, and craftsmen who had made black fire* for the army, and of course, the Venetian Francis, who could only make cloudy glass, a total of fifteen people; In addition, he figured out the needs of Ming Guo Xiucai, and purchased a batch of Western goods that Chu Fan might buy in Macau.

And, as an overly savvy businessman, Alfonso had one more goal on his trip: silk and porcelain!

As soon as Alfonso fired the cannon, he began to think about organizing a supply back to Europe, and silk and porcelain would always be the best gifts to Europe from this magical land of the East; But when Alfonso had browsed all the shops in Canton, he found that he had no goods to get what he wanted—the Chinese merchants who adhered to supreme credibility had their own permanent Western agents, most of them damned Arabs, so they promised to sell him crudely broken silk and bulky porcelain.

And those fine silk fabrics that are light and soft enough to transmit light and fine porcelain painted with castles and churches are not even sold to him!

In the end, Alfonso remembered to try his luck with Chu Fan - this little showman, who was his first Chinese friend, would he surprise him?

Half a month after leaving Macau, he finally arrived at the site of 127 degrees 35 minutes east longitude and 32 degrees 06 minutes north latitude, struggling to make his way in the whistling northwest wind - according to the captains of the boats who ran across the sea in Macau, the small island called Niudao should be near here. Because they gave Alfonso detailed coordinates: 127 degrees east longitude and 33 degrees north latitude.

"Woo~~Toot~~"

A muffled sound of conch came from the watchtower of the mainmast, and Alfonso, who had been in the cabin, hurriedly put on his clothes and raised his clairing mirror to look in the northwest direction indicated by the lookout.

In the mirror, a faint black line can already be seen at the intersection of the sea and the sky, and there is a slight bulge on the black line - that means that there is land dozens of nautical miles away! I guess it's the so-called Ushijima.

But to Alfonso's headache, two strange black dots lay between him and Ushijima - the reason why I say strange is because these two black dots do not quite resemble the outlines of Alfonso's usual oriental ships!

"Turn the rudder! …… Due east! …… Full sails! ”

Alfonso's eyes were still on the two black dots. The order had already been given in his mouth - he couldn't figure out what the two black dots were, and it was better to go around them just to be on the safe side.

After a period of chaos, the Galen ship had already adjusted its course, and the two black dots had already revealed their clear figures.

They were two medium-sized ships commonly called by the Chinese, Haicang and Sha, but they were special in that they had two tall masts erected at their waists, from which two huge triangular sails were pulled. It looks like it's got wings!

"What's this weird thing?"

Seeing clearly, Alfonso muttered contemptuously, then turned his head and took a stand in front of the steering gear, taking the helm himself in order to make a ride to the north at the best time.

As a European who had crossed the ocean to the East, Alfonso was dismissive of the bulky and ugly ships of China, which were as slow as turtles crawling; In his opinion, the use of stiff sails braided on bamboo ribs was one of the manifestations of the uncivilized orientals - these Godless pagans were too stupid. You can't learn to maneuver a flexible and efficient soft sail!

His own Galen was exactly the same as the Galen ships of the Dutch East India Company: the tall foremast and mainmast, with huge quadrangular sails providing sufficient propulsion. The foresail on the foremast and the jib on the backmast provided enough steering force – a model that had been perfected by centuries of European sailing experience, comparable to the heavy wooden ships of the East!

So Alfonso didn't worry about his back at all, he believed that his Galen, which had condensed the crystallization of European wisdom, would soon be able to throw those two Chinese sailing ships far away!

Even if the two ships had a pair of wings more than the usual Chinese ships, Alfonso was equally reluctant to look at them. Until......

"Captain! Look! The Chinese are catching up! It's coming so fast! ”

The panicked boatswain stumbled up the tall aft tower and shouted at Alfonso like a ghost, "God! How could their ships be so fast? ”

Alfonso was not satisfied with the boatswain's desertion, which the boatswain should have been in the aft wheelhouse, and he wondered if the boatswain was drunk in broad daylight, and what nonsense he was talking about, considering that this guy had always been a drunkard.

Just the boats in China that are as slow as a turtle. Still want to catch up...... Yes! How can it be!

Alfonso, who turned his head, felt as if he had been smashed by Thor's hammer, and his hair stood on end!

The two Chinese ships behind him had already chased one after the other to a place only a few hundred meters away from him!

The sharp bow was raised high, and it seemed effortlessly to plow through the rough sea; The mainsail, covered with bamboo ribs, was full of the wind and bent forward slightly; What is particularly impressive is the two spinnakers on the side of the boat, which are blown round by the wind - oh my God! It's a soft sail! When did the stupid Chinese learn to use soft sails!

"Quick! Open the cannon window! Alfonso reacted immediately, jumping to his feet and shouting, "Artillery ready!" Powder kegs and shells are brought up! Fast! ”

Seeing the sailors on the deck scurrying around like anthills doused with boiling water, Alfonso felt a little more at ease: there were 12 18-pounder guns on each side of the Galen ship, and he was not afraid of the Chinese ship coming up at all—no matter how fast it was, it was not that there was nothing he could do!

Now his curiosity returned to the two Chinese ships with soft sails - it didn't make sense, even with two more huge spinnakers, the Chinese ship should not be so fast, and it could catch up with the Galen with all soft sails! It's weird!

Turning behind the railing at the top of the aft cabin, Alfonso carefully observed the two ships, and was startled when he saw it—the sea ship in front was just that, and the sand boat in the bow a little later actually had a ballista!

What made his scalp tingle even more was that he clearly saw that the ballista was slowly rotating under the control of several sailors, and the crossbow arrow with a thick arrow was slowly aimed at him!

Stunned, Alfonso muttered to himself, "Oh God! Are these Chinese sent by the devil? Why does the ballista still turn? ”

The reason why he was so shocked was because he had been a captain for so many years, and he naturally knew very well that in this position, the other party could hit him, but he had no power to fight back - the stern of the Galen ship was not equipped with artillery!

The only thing that can compete with the other side now is to risk the entire ship capsizing or even breaking, and slam sideways, so that the 18-pounder gun on the side of the Galen ship can be unleashed!

Just as he was about to turn around and run towards the servo, Alfonso suddenly stopped.

Wait, what's that? (To be continued.) )