Six steamships, four sorties, more than forty sailing ships, thirty sorties.

Not all of them were dispatched, just because it was necessary to leave some behind as a guard for the territorial waters of the republic. In recent times, many smugglers have taken advantage of the undefended loopholes in the coastal waters to smuggle, and most importantly, no one knows whether the enemy will bypass the main force and come to attack the Burmese province.

Therefore, the necessary guards still have to stay. But in the face of the so-called Portuguese-Spanish coalition army, a fleet of this size was enough to crush them.

Today's weather was good, cloudy but not raining, the sea breeze blowing on the face, still very comfortable.

There is no scorching summer, no downpour, and no monstrous wind, but it is the best day to go to sea. On top of that, for fishing boats, such cloudy fish will also be active, their fishing hours can be extended, and their harvest can be increased. Of course, this navy has nothing to do with it.

The huge fleet began to sail in the southeast direction, and no one expected that it would happen so suddenly. Even the special reporter learned about it after three hours, and then he could only write it depressedly as the headline of tomorrow's newspaper. It's just that when the time comes, I'm afraid that everyone will know about this matter, and the news will lose its timeliness, so is it still called news?

Liu Ruoqi did not react to the reporter's feelings, he only knew to control this force well, crossing and even sinking the Portuguese-Spanish coalition army, and then advancing northeast until he reached Taiwan. His goal at this stage was to defeat and drive the Dutch army out of the island of Taiwan. There is also a mission, that is, in order to ensure the safety of the island of Taiwan, not only ten sailing ships will be stationed on it, but also Zheng Zhilong and his gang of pirates along the coast will be driven north of Nanjing.

Yes, since the arrival of the army in Taiwan, Zheng Zhilong could only operate in the area north of Nanjing, and if it were not for the sake of his trade with the Republic, the forces under his command would have been directly wiped out by the navy of the Republic. After all, there is direct evidence that this guy is united with the Manchus. Although there is no danger to the interests of China, this kind of collusion with foreign races to make them grow stronger is also a traitorous act.

In other words, the fundamental reason why he did not directly attack Zheng Zhilong was because Zhang Hongbin also hoped that the Manchu invasion of the Japanese would be stronger.

According to the latest intelligence proof, the Manchu Qing set off a monstrous killing in the entire Kyushu Island, and Japan was originally in a population crisis because of the previous Warring States Period, and it was the time when it was necessary to recuperate, but they didn't want the Manchus to intervene and kill directly.

The population of Kyushu was declining sharply, and all the good-looking women were taken captive by the Manchus, either for their own enjoyment, or as a reward for the traitors or sold to the Republic. The men here are either obedient or die, and obedience is not enough, and they also need to shave their hair and be easy to wear. A rat-tail pigtail on their head was an insult to their personality and dignity, but if they didn't, what awaited them was the merciless slaughter of the Manchus.

The Manchus needed to expand their gains, they needed more resources, more slaves, and more booty. Therefore, they will not be polite to those who dare to resist them. In just a few days, several no-man's lands and mass graves have been created, and their bad course does not have to be the war of aggression against China.

But then again, the Han people killed after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs are counted, and I am afraid that compared to the killings during the invasion of China, it is more than that.

Zhang Hongbin likes to see the two countries fighting to the death, even if it seems that the Manchu Qing at this moment is still on the side of the slaughter. But it doesn't matter, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who is the general of the Seiyi, will naturally not continue to tolerate such a situation. He had already mobilized the forces of the feudal lords in various places, at least 50,000 people, and began to launch a counterattack in the Kyushu region, and he did not know what the result would be.

In order not to spoil such a beautiful thing, and in order to continue the stalemate in the battle between the two sides, Zhang Hongbin naturally did not allow Zheng Zhilong to be destroyed so quickly.

As long as you get north of Nanjing, that's fine. Zheng Zhilong is so smart, he knows what he should do.

Five days later, the fleet entered the South Seas and began to move northeast along a fixed route.

As a result, they came across a patrolling fleet, which was supposed to be a Spanish fleet.

"Just right, use it to practice your hands! Let the sailboats below listen to the order, catch up, and test the results of their maneuvers! After confirming that there was no fleet around him, Liu Ruoqi gave the order to attack.

The sailors left the group and began to kill the flotilla of about ten ships.

As for the four steamboats, they were cruising around, and they were also worried that this was an ambush set by the other party.

In fact, the cost of constant patrols for a combined fleet is beyond the reach of the two governors. They can only target, and after receiving early warning, they can converge and launch attacks at a very rapid pace. But before receiving the early warning, the patrol standard of ten ships was already considered very high.

Who would have thought that because of the scarcity of sorties, these ten ships were soon surrounded by thirty sailing ships, and they fired at them for a while.

The artillery fire was constantly vented on the sea, hitting one column after another of water. Of course, more of a shell smashed on a local ship and exploded. I don't know if it was to retaliate for their surprise attack before, this shelling was so ferocious that after a round of shelling, ten ships were completely sunk, and there was no possibility of repair or capture, and it was not suitable for prisoners.

The crew of the ship, lucky enough to float on the surface of the sea, hold the wreckage and survive. The army of the Republic will not send people to kill them, but they will also not send people to rescue them, after all, their mission is not to take revenge on the Portuguese-Spanish coalition army, but to go north to retake the island of Taiwan.

After confirming that the enemy had been eliminated, Liu Ruoqi gave the order to continue to set off.

The army quickly converged and continued northward.

Along the way, three or four patrolling fleets were killed one after another, so that even if the two countries wanted to join forces, they could only huddle in the harbor and pray that the enemy would not land and fight. Otherwise, what happened in the port of Malacca is their best example.

In fact, the naval forces did not land, they simply fulfilled their duties very faithfully. Besides, in order to cope with the war that is about to start, it is better to reduce unnecessary battles. Naval warfare may hone the naval combat capabilities of the navy, but the landing war has little effect on the navy, or even has little meaning.

It's not a Marine Corps, so there's no need to fight so hard.

Heading north, three days later, near the waters of Taiwan, Shun lì arrived.

Holland, here comes the master!