The oncoming fleet was naturally the main force of the South Sea Fleet led by Shi Shibiao and the Spanish Cadiz fleet, and when he saw the dozen or so cruisers in front of him raising the golden dragon flag, Shi Shibi also did not order to slow down, he was not to underestimate the enemy, because his fleet was going against the wind, and besides, he was also worried that the Portuguese fleet would see that the situation was not good, and the soles of his feet would be smeared with oil.

As the two fleets approached rapidly, Lin Wei also saw clearly the golden dragon flag hanging on the opponent's fleet, and couldn't help but relax completely, so he ordered, "Disarm the combat readiness." "The Anglo-Portuguese coalition is still more than ten nautical miles away from them, and even if they pursue at full speed, it will take half an hour for a big battle to break out, there is no need to make the soldiers too nervous, and the soldiers must be allowed to relax before the big battle.

More than an hour later, the two fleets converged, Lin Wei changed the boat and boarded Shi Shibiu's flagship, Shi Shibi was standing at the bow of the ship, holding a telescope to observe the situation of the Portuguese battleship, the Portuguese fleet had lowered half of the sails, slowed down, and began to arrange the battle formation, at this speed, without two hours, the two fleets could not start a war at all.

Lin Wei, who was waiting, stepped forward to salute, and Shi Shibiao put down the binoculars, glanced at the generals behind him, and said, "It's still early to start the war, everyone enter the command cabin." As he spoke, he commanded: "Pay attention to observation, if the other party has any abnormal movements, report it urgently at any time." ”

In the command cabin, Lin Wei gave a detailed report on the robbery of merchant ships before he said in a deep voice: "The fleet on the opposite side is the Anglo-Portuguese coalition army, with twelve third-class battleships, twenty fourth-class battleships, and ten cruisers, a total of forty-two large and small warships, and the number of Anglo-Portuguese battleships is roughly the same. ”

Hearing that the opposite side was the Anglo-Portuguese coalition army, Shi Shibiao couldn't help but glance at Archer, the commander of the Cadiz fleet fleet, although the main battleship of the enemy fleet was a little large, but it was not impossible to eat, but it was just a little more time, this sea area was already more than fifty nautical miles away from the port of Lisbon, with the artillery power of the South Ocean Fleet, they had no chance to escape back.

Moaned slightly. He asked: "General Archer, you are very familiar with the situation in Britain and Portugal, do you think that the commander of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance on the other side should be Portuguese or British?" ”

Listening to Lin Wei's report, Archer couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, the British actually took the initiative to come in, which was an unexpected joy, as long as the war started, the Qing people were firmly tied to the chariot of the Franco-Spanish Alliance. Now there is no need to worry that Gibraltar will not be recovered, although the size of the fleets of the two sides is comparable, both have the artillery advantage of the Qing fleet, this battle should be no suspense, of course, this also depends on the quality of the Qing navy, however, as long as it is not too cowardly, this battle will be won, I don't know how many warships can be captured in this battle. The British are not easy to gnaw on this hard bone.

He was busy playing his own little abacus in his heart, and listened to Shi Shibi's words. He groaned slightly before he spoke: "Wells, the commander of the British fleet in Lisbon, is a veteran of a hundred battles and extremely experienced in naval warfare, but he is arrogant and will never be subservient. I think the commander of the fleet of the Anglo-Portuguese forces must have been Wells. ”

The British commanded? Shi Shibiao pondered for a moment before he said: "It is reported that the British are fighting a naval battle. I always like to seize the upper hand, and they are all lined up in battle lines, is that so? ”

"Not bad." Archer nodded and said: "The major naval powers in Europe are all striving to gain the upper hand in naval battles, but the British are the only ones who will seize the upper hand in every battle." ”

Lin Wei has heard of this habitual style of the British, but he has never understood why the British are so unique? In naval warfare, the benefits are obvious, because in the downwind, it can be said that the battle retreats freely, and if you can fight, the situation is not good, you can raise the anchor and raise the sail to withdraw from the battle at any time, but the upwind outlet is not, if you want to escape the artillery, there is no chance at all, because as soon as Yang Fan lifts the anchor, the battleship will be sent to the opponent's gun port downwind, which is one of them.

Second, the sea wind and waves are strong, in the downwind outlet, the waves hit the waves, all the gun positions can be on the sea surface, which is conducive to maximizing the power of the artillery, and in the upwind outlet, the hull often leans forward under the action of the wind and waves, if the waves are large, the lowest gun port, that is, the heavy artillery can not even open the gun door, which greatly affects the power of the artillery.

After a little hesitation, Lin Wei shamelessly asked: "General Archer, the British have an extraordinary record, is it related to seizing the upper hand?" ”

Archer shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and said: "This is only known to God, and everyone knows the disadvantages of the upper hand, so no one wants to learn, and besides, the British Yankee's record is not outstanding." ”

At the moment of the war, Shi Shibiao would not waste time discussing this issue, he just confirmed the combat habits and style of the British, and coughed lightly before he said in a deep voice: "This matter will be discussed later." ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "The number of battleships - battleships on both sides is equal, and our side far exceeds the other side in the number of cruisers, this battle is not only the first battle of the Nanyang Fleet in Europe, but also the first joint battle between the Qing Empire and the Spanish Empire. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at everyone with a majestic expression, and said in a deep voice: "The generals will listen to the order." ”

Everyone in the cabin immediately got up and stood solemnly, all of them were full of eagerness, looking at Shi Shibiu, the quality of the combat mission is directly related to the size of the battle exploits, and it is related to the promotion in the future, how can the generals not care?

"It's four minutes now." Shi Shibiao said and took out a pocket watch given by Archer and looked at it, and said: "That is, at four o'clock in the afternoon, I will give you half an hour to prepare, and at five o'clock in the afternoon, I will hear the sound of artillery roaring." The entire fleet is divided into five squads, each fighting separately, Archer, you lead all the battleships of the Cadiz fleet, and try to concentrate your artillery fire on the enemy's fourth-tier battleships. ”

The Cadiz fleet has four third-class battleships and four fourth-class battleships, which are both fighting separately and fighting each other's fourth-class battleships, which is quite taking care of them, Archer hurriedly gave a military salute and said, "Obey, general." ”

Shi Shibiao then said: "The main battleships of the Nanyang Fleet are divided into two squads, led by Ben Shuai and Vice Admiral Lin, to attack both sides of the opponent's battle formation. ”

"The last will obey." Lin Wei hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"All the cruisers of the fleet are divided into two teams according to the fleet to which they belong, and there are Lin Haifeng and Afril respectively, who are responsible for annihilating the opponent's cruisers and preventing the opponent's battleships from escaping the battlefield. In this battle, not a single fish is allowed to slip through the net! Do you understand everything?"

"The last general respects his life!" Lin Haifeng hurriedly replied in a deep voice.

Listening to the interpreter, Afriel also followed suit: "Honor, General." ”

Shi Shibiao nodded, and said: "Hurt his ten fingers, it is better to cut off one of his fingers, bite one, and sink one for me, lose his courage and take his courage, in order to achieve miraculous results, this battle, must play the momentum of my Qing Empire, must play the majesty of my Qing fleet, do you have confidence?" ”

"Yes!" The crowd immediately responded.

At this time, the Anglo-Portuguese alliance was a different scene, the warships of the entire fleet had been lowered from half-sail to full-sail, and the battleships were moving slowly forward with the current, and the speed would not exceed three nautical miles per hour.

Looking at the formation that had been preliminarily formed, Fleet Commander Wells couldn't help but feel satisfied, turned around and glanced at Herbert, and then instructed the adjutant: "Let the band play some light tunes to ease the atmosphere before the war, and in addition, bring us a glass of wine." ”

"Yes, General." The adjutant hurriedly replied, and was about to turn around, when Wells continued: "Oh, don't forget, give the commander of the Portuguese fleet, a bottle of my treasured French wine, and good luck to him." ”

Herbert added: "Order the soldiers to eat as soon as possible. ”

The sound of relaxing and soothing music soon sounded in the stern of the battleship, and the captains of the main battleships also inherited this tradition, playing music, having dinners, the captains began to exchange greetings with each other, the soldiers stayed at their respective posts and enjoyed dinner quietly, and countless small boats began to shuttle back and forth between the main battleships, bringing gifts and cordial greetings and encouragement to the battleships, and the whole fleet was filled with a relaxed and quiet atmosphere.

However, the abnormal behavior of the Qingxi Combined Fleet quickly broke this relaxed and quiet atmosphere, and Wells had just finished drinking two glasses of wine when the lookout post on the mast issued a warning that the enemy fleet was moving!

Raising the binoculars to see, Wells couldn't help but be full of surprise, the battleships of the Qingxi fleet actually raised their full sails, and the battleships began to move in a disorderly manner, he couldn't help but be stunned: "Is the enemy planning to retreat without a fight?" ”

After a moment of silence, Herbert said in a deep voice: "Probably not, I'll understand later." ”

Under their close gaze, the Qingxi fleet quickly moved into place, gradually forming five obvious battle teams, Herbert's expression couldn't help but become serious, and he groaned before he said, "Is this the new tactics of the Qing people?" ”

"Can the Qing people create new tactics?" Wells said disdainfully: "The battle line array can give full play to the greatest artillery advantage of the battleship, which has been tested in countless battles, and how many large-scale naval battles have the Qing fleet fought?" Will they be able to research new battle formations? What a joke! ”

"Shall we consider changing our formation to meet the enemy?" Herbert asked with a worried expression.

"No, you don't." Wells didn't think about it, so he refused: "Changing the formation now can only make the fleet chaotic, and if the other party takes the opportunity to attack, it will turn into a melee." ”

Shi Shibiao naturally didn't know that the other party had no intention of changing the formation at all, seeing that the five battle teams of his own fleet had been formed, and the other party was still in the battle line formation, he couldn't help but smile slightly, the rigid European, after a little groaning, he said in a deep voice: "Raise the battle flag!" Trumpet! Offensive! ”