Zhu Jie waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "Okay, it's useless to say anything now, the combined fleet is already on the way, at most three months, it will be able to reach the South Seas, there is not much time left for us, the soldiers will block, who will cover the earth, there is nothing polite, pass the order, the first fleet and the second fleet will strengthen the reconnaissance of the Indian Ocean region, and the intelligence department will send people to me to further places, especially the important ports west of Malacca, such a huge fleet, it needs to be constantly replenished, We need to keep abreast of the latest movements of the Combined Fleet! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Gao Jie hurriedly agreed, and no longer stayed in the palace, and went down overnight to deploy the affairs of the Intelligence Department.

Zhu Jie looked at Xu Yifan and Cha Xuan, and asked: "Yifan, this big battle is not trivial, it can be said to be a battle that will determine the future fate of the Ming Empire, either I or you go, what do you say?" ”

Xu Yifan said in a deep voice: "At the moment of the great enemy, the minister is naturally the one who will not give in, the fleet will be handed over to Lao Cha, and the minister will personally go to Malacca to take the town!" ”

Zhu Jie smiled bitterly: "As soon as you leave, but you threw the mess in the court to me, to be honest, I really want to go to the army again." ”

Xu Yifan's face was straight, and he replied: "Your Majesty, the so-called gentleman does not stand under the dangerous wall, you are the Ninety-Five, the soul of the Ming Dynasty, and you must not take any more personal risks, even if the ministers make a mistake on the battlefield and are defeated, as long as you are there, the Daimyo will not collapse, but, Your Majesty, if you make a mistake, the princes are young, and the Ming Dynasty will collapse......

Cha Xuan nodded and said: "Your Majesty, what Brother Yifan said is right, this time the minister and Brother Yifan are personally in charge of the South Seas, presumably the Western Fleet will not be able to turn the sky, even if they can't win the battle, they are still very sure of keeping them out of the Strait of Malacca......

"Tell me, how to deploy this time?"

Zhu Jie asked.

Cha Shu replied: "Your Majesty, the Strait of Malacca is extremely narrow, and Tan Guilin has built dozens of batteries on both sides of the Strait of Malacca in the past two years, deployed more than 200 cannons, and stored more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition. ”

Xu Yifan continued: "Lao Cha is right, forcibly passing through the Strait of Malacca, is the next policy, as long as the combined fleet understands the strength of the Strait of Malacca fortress, compared to the will change its course, looking for other opportunities, the minister thought that they would give up the direct attack on Malacca, and instead choose to land from Sumatra or the Malay Peninsula, behind the Malacca coastal defense fortress, so, the minister believes that this battle, Sumatra Island and the Malay Peninsula side is the key, with the current Nanyang three towns of the army, just formed, limited combat powerIt is absolutely difficult to block the landing operation of the combined fleet, and the minister wants to mobilize the three towns of the Tianxiong Army to the South Seas again, sitting on Sumatra Island and the Malay Peninsula! As long as the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra Island are safe, the Ming Empire will be as stable as Mount Tai! ”

"Unexpectedly won, unexpectedly defeated, yes, still so steady!"

Zhu Jie said with a smile.

Cha Shu replied: "Your Majesty, as long as we take the Strait of Malacca and do not give the Western countries the opportunity to enter the South Seas, it will not be long before the Western countries that come from afar will be numb, and they will collapse without a fight, the longer it drags on, the greater the price they pay, and they will definitely not be able to support it for too long, our fleet is on the west side of the Strait of Malacca, ready to attack at any time, but there is absolutely no hurry to attack, the longer the time, it will be beneficial to us!" Our warships are being launched one after another, and half a year is enough for us to build ten huge ships! ”

Zhu Jie nodded and replied: "There is another point, you should pay attention, that is, although the main shipping route in the South China Sea is the Strait of Malacca, it cannot be ruled out that there are other shipping lanes that can enter the South Sea from the Indian Ocean, but you must be prepared, once the Western Ocean finds a channel to enter the South Sea from other directions, then your deployment in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula will all become a joke......

Xu Yifan and Cha Xuan's hearts were shocked, other waterways, the two of them really didn't think about this matter, once they really let the Western Fleet repair the plank road and secretly Chen Cang, it would not only be Nanyang that would be threatened, and it was even possible to bypass Nanyang and enter the Daming coast!

"W-That's unlikely, isn't it? Are there any other routes? And if the road is too far, the Western countries should not be reluctant to seek the near and far, after all, they have come from afar, and what they want to do most is to fight quickly, and if they bypass the South Seas, their supplies will encounter great difficulties......"

Cha's words are getting smaller and smaller, his own words, he doesn't believe it very much, he has been through a hundred battles, what kind of situation has not been encountered, he is willing to seek the near and far, in the war, it is not nothing, as long as he can win the final victory, what is it to run a long way?

"Your Majesty!"

Wu Xing on the side suddenly said, "Chen seems to really have the impression that there is another route in the South Seas that can bypass the Strait of Malacca and enter the hinterland of the South Seas......"

Several people's hearts were shocked, and Wu Xing was brought over with a handful of checks.

"Marquis Xiongwu, what do you mean?"

Cha Shou shouted.

Wu Xing was really jumped, and hurriedly replied: "Lu Guogong, Lu Guogong, tap, tap, tap......"

"Lao Cha!"

Xu Yifan hurriedly shouted, "Don't be impatient, let Xiongwu Hou speak slowly!" ”

Cha Zhu hurriedly let go of Wu Xing.

"Emperor Qizuo, the minister just said that he had obtained a lot of nautical charts in Mexico, and I vaguely remember that there was a route that was first pioneered by Magellan, that is, he found a way from the Americas to the Luzon Islands, and then from the Luzon Islands did not pass through the Strait of Malacca, but from the south of a shipping route, bypassing Sumatra into the Indian Ocean, all the way back to the West......"

Wu Xing said in a snort.

"What about nautical charts?"

Cha Bolt asked urgently.

"Uh......"

Wu Xing said, "Lu Guogong, the situation at that time was very chaotic, we were anxious to get rid of the pursuit of the Spanish fleet, and a batch of nautical charts were lost in the sea, including this nautical chart!" ”

I rub!

Cha Xuanqi turned his back on this, and scolded angrily: "Holy shit, are you entertaining me? ”

"Alright, check the bolt!"

Zhu Jie shouted: "Isn't it just a route? Xiongwu Hou lost it, it doesn't mean that no one knows about this route, well, Magellan, I know him, that's the Portuguese, come here, immediately issued an order, to all the Portuguese and even Western merchants in the Ming Dynasty, ask for Magellan's navigation charts around the world, especially the navigation charts in the South Seas, no matter who it is, whoever gives the navigation charts, I will be rewarded with 100,000 taels of silver! ”

(End of chapter)