The Spanish fleet is coming!

The news quickly spread throughout Luzon.

The administrative system established by Ming officials in various localities began to be urgently mobilized, and the main task was to strengthen security and guard against internal moles.

You must know that during the Spanish rule of Luzon, they still cultivated a lot of dogs. After the arrival of the Ming army, these people lost their former glory and lived in fear, dreaming that the Spaniards would make a comeback and let them relive the majesty of being lackeys.

Now that the Spanish fleet is approaching the city, this part of the population is preparing to make some trouble in Luzon in order to meet the Spaniards. For such hidden dangers, the Ming regime naturally had to cut them off first.

The task of the reconnaissance battalion was mainly to guard the coastal defense and prevent the Spanish army from taking advantage of the opportunity to land. Speaking of which, the strength of the survey battalion on Luzon Island is five or six thousand, and it is equipped with new firearms, and even if the Spanish army has twice the strength of the army, it is no match for the survey battalion. However, in the past few months, the Ming army had established a number of industries in Luzon, especially a large number of mines under development, which would have been somewhat costly if they had been damaged by the Spaniards.

The busiest is naturally Deng Zilong's water army. A large number of scouts traveled back and forth between the open sea and the harbor in light boats, reporting on the movements of the Spanish fleet. Deng Zilong, Su Hao and others were in the command post set up on the 6,000-material treasure ship, calculating the itinerary of the Spanish fleet with nautical charts, preparing to choose the best time to give the Spaniards a head-on blow.

"Okay, it's time for the old man to go to sea."

Deng Zilong put down the magnifying glass in his hand and said to Su Hao with a smile.

"General Deng, do you really want to go to sea in person?" Su Hao asked unwillingly.

Deng Zilong said: "This is natural, this battle is very important, and it is the first major battle since the establishment of our naval division, how can the old man not come to command in person?" ”

Su Hao said: "Actually, the matter is not so serious, we can't ask for a big victory, and it's not a piece of cake to ask for a small victory." General Deng, if you don't underestimate the juniors. Let Hao carry out the task of intercepting the Spaniards on your behalf. Besides, there are other generals of your sailors on board, and you should be assured of their quality. ”

"Anyway, the old man hasn't stolen the limelight of this land war with you. Finally, there was a naval battle, don't you want the old man to be beautiful? Deng Zilong said with a smile, "It's not a secret, the old man wants to command in person, but it's not because he can trust anyone." Or who you can't trust. It's just that the old man has been the chief soldier of this water division since then. hasn't really fought a naval battle yet, how can the old man not have such an opportunity? ”

"Uh...... The junior had nothing to say. Su Hao is indeed speechless, some people may be born to live for war. No one can deprive them of the right to war.

Deng Zilong put on his armor, and with an order, he led 8 warships out of the harbor and made a detour towards the flank and rear of the Spanish fleet. At the same time, Hao Tong took 10 warships responsible for meeting the enemy, and also set sail, facing the direction of the Spanish fleet, breaking the waves.

On the sea, the Spanish fleet of 20 warships was also moving forward with murderous vigour. On the flagship of the Saint-Martin, the commander of the Spanish fleet, Valdo, was in high tension observing the sea, waiting for the arrival of the Ming army.

Three months ago, Kevin fled Luzon with the remnants of his fleet. Came to the base of the Spanish fleet on the island of Sumatra, joined up with Valdo and reported to Valdo about the landing of the Ming army on Luzon. Kevin made a point of emphasizing that the Ming army possessed a powerful explosive, and that it was used to create flowering shells that could be fired with gunpowder. For such a reason, Valdo could not hold Kevin accountable for the loss of the warship.

The Chinese sent troops to Luzon and expelled all the Spaniards from Luzon, which was intolerable to the Spaniards. Therefore, Valdo decided to devote all the strength of the fleet to teach the Chinese a lesson. His idea was to first deal with the Chinese navy in a naval battle, and then escort it by warships and transport the army to the island for a decisive battle with the Chinese army on the island. With naval cover, the army will have absolute superiority in coastal operations.

With this in mind, Valdo concentrated 20 warships and went to Luzon. Compared with the Spanish Armada, which once had more than 1,000 ships, Valdo's strength was relatively thin, but he believed that with the combat experience of the Spanish Navy, there should be no difficulty in dealing with the Chinese Navy.

The only thing that made Valdo feel unsteady was the flowering shells of the Chinese Navy. After all, this is something he has never seen before, and he can't imagine what kind of changes this weapon will bring when it is used in naval warfare.

"Kevin, do you know what the range of the artillery of the Chinese fleet is?" For the tenth time, Waldo asked Kevin, who was standing aside.

Kevin said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Valdo, but I don't have the actual numbers. However, from what I heard from the people on the army side, the Chinese fleet was firing less than half a mile from them. In addition, judging from the news from our missionaries, the effective range of the Chinese artillery is generally only one-third of a mile away, which is about the same as the effective range of our Kophilin guns. ”

"However, our Kophilin cannons do not have the power to destroy ships, and in order to destroy the enemy's ships, we must use short-range cannons. And within the range of the cannon, the flowering shells of the Chinese are already capable of posing a serious threat to us. Valdo said apprehensively.

Kevin said, "Mr. Valdo, I can understand your concerns. However, we can first use light clippers to get close to harass and interfere with the tactics of the Chinese. The four-masted ships took the opportunity to approach and carry out intensive attacks on the enemy with cannons, so that the Chinese would be taken by surprise and broken by each of us. ”

"Tactical things, I'll arrange it naturally. Kevin, you're in charge of your own four ships. "By the way, let me remind you that the best way to deal with the burning of gunpowder is to prepare some wet sand, and I think your ship is ready too, right?" ”

"Yes, we have prepared wet sand, and once our ship is hit by a flowering shell from the Chinese and catches fire, my sailors can extinguish the fire in the shortest possible time." Kevin obediently replied that Valdo was his immediate boss, and he would not dare to fight with Valdo.

Waldo looked at the chart in front of him and said, "Okay, we're close to the coast of Luzon." I just saw a small Chinese boat passing in the distance, which should be a reconnaissance ship sent by them. If I'm not mistaken, the Chinese fleet has already set out to fight us, Mr. Kevin, return to your command position. ”

"Yes, Mr. Waldo." Kevin agreed, disembarked the St. Martin, and returned to his own flagship, the St. Mary's, on a sampan.

"Enemy ships spotted!"

No sooner had Kevin returned to his flagship than the lookout on the St. Martin reported the enemy to Valdo. From the top of the high mast, the lookout could see seven or eight black dots appear on the sea level in the distance, and from many years of experience in naval warfare, he knew that this must be the enemy's fleet.

"Raise the battle alarm!" Waldo ordered.

Two cannons rang out on the St. Martin, and for a time the captains, sailors, and gunners of the ships of the Spanish fleet were all busy. The sails of the ship were pulled to the very top of the mast at once, and the sailing ship took advantage of the sea breeze to speed up and pounce on the enemy on the opposite side. The gunners wiped the chamber of the gun, plugged the projectiles made of gunpowder and pig iron one after another, and made all kinds of preparations before firing.

"Tovey, Yas, come forward to meet the enemy!" Kevin also gave orders on his own flagship, and as the commander of the fleet in Luzon, he was obliged to be the vanguard in this battle, and he needed to make contact with the Ming army first.

The two caravels rushed out lightly and quickly and headed straight for the Ming fleet.

"The Spaniards are coming up, ready to fight!" On the Weiyuan, the flagship of the Ming fleet, Hao Tong also issued a combat order. With the help of high-powered telescopes, the Ming army discovered the other side earlier than the Spaniards, and also identified the type of opposing warship, firepower configuration, etc. For the two light sailing boats that came straight to him, Hao Tong really felt no pressure.

2000 steps, 1500 steps, 1000 steps......

The distance between the two armies was getting closer and closer, and the two Spanish caravans had already entered the effective range of the Ming army's artillery fire, but Hao Tong did not give the order to open the cannon for a long time.

"What's going on? Why don't you let us fire yet? The gunners in the cabin looked through the viewing window at the oncoming enemy ships on the surface of the sea and couldn't help muttering.

"You know the!" The little flag officer reprimanded, "Guerrilla Hao said, we can only shoot at close range in this battle, not from a distance, didn't you notice that the propellant just now was all fired at close range?" ”

"Why?" The gunner was surprised.

"Well...... This is a clever plan discussed by General Deng and General Su Bing, how can you know about it? The little flag officer replied sneeringly. The strategy of showing weakness and arrogance to the enemy has not been conveyed to the officers and men at the grassroots level, and its purpose is also to worry that there will be too many people and rumors will leak out. The little flag officer only knew that he had received an order not to shoot from a distance, and to use solid bullets and flowering shells with a small charge, but he did not know why.

"Maybe the chief soldier is worried that our artillery operation time is too short and the long-range hit rate is not enough, right?" The gunners themselves found a reason for themselves, "Alas, in fact, they don't have to worry at all, we have been practicing on the water of the Yangtze River for so long, if we can't hit the enemy ship at a distance of 1,200 steps, shouldn't we be ashamed to death?" ”

The small flag officer said: "What are you complaining about, will there be anything wrong with the general soldier's strategy?" Give me mental points, observers, see it, and when the enemy ship reaches 500 paces, notify me. ”

"Order!" The soldier in charge of observation held up the binoculars, his eyes widened, and carefully judged the distance of the enemy ship by carefully distinguishing the size of the enemy ship in the lens.