Obviously, this is a dilemma, when everyone was silent, Guo Xu asked: "Big shopkeeper, can we use the power of the Dutch." After all, declaring war on Spain, we have common interests with the Dutch. ”

"You've come up with a good idea." Li Zhaoji nodded slightly and looked at Tang Mu.

Tang Mu said: "The Dutch do have thoughts about this Spanish fleet, and sent the fleet north from the beginning, but we have not received accurate information about the specific strength, but the news from Penghu is that there is a Dutch Galen ship anchored there. ”

When Chen Liuzi heard this, his whole person became excited, and he immediately said: "If this is the case, then you must act immediately." The Dutch cruisers anchored in Penghu, indicating that they were waiting for the assembly of other ships.

The Spaniards may not know, or they may know. If they knew, they would definitely not stop at the chicken coop for too long, they would go north as soon as possible, send things and people to Japan, and then quickly break away. And if they don't know, the Dutch may succeed, and then we won't get anything.

After all, we can do it off the coast of Japan, but they can't, they may surprise the fleet. ”

"The two Manila galleons are a lot of money in their own right, and they are loaded with goods like raw silk and porcelain," Lee said. I estimate that the cargo on board is worth at least 700,000 taels, if not more. ”

When Li Zhaoji said this, his attitude was very clear, and he was determined to win this Manila galleon.

"Tang Mu, as my plenipotentiary, you will go south to talk to the Dutch about this matter." Li Zhaoji thought about it, and after weighing the pros and cons, he said to Tang Mu.

Tang Mu nodded: "What about your conditions?" ”

"First, we will launch a simultaneous attack on the Spaniards in the chicken coop, which will not require the intervention of the Dutch, and after success, the Dutch side will also recognize our domination of northern Taiwan.

Second, all the captures of this naval battle belong to us, and I will give the Dutch a maximum of 20,000 taels of silver as their hardship.

Third, tell the Dutch that in five days, whether they participate or not, our navy will attack the Spaniards. Li Zhaoji said after thinking about it.

Tang Mu said that there was no problem, but Guo Xu took the initiative to propose: "Big boss, they only have one Galen ship, and we have two cruisers, so we should fight for the command of the fleet." ”

Li Zhaoji nodded again and again, and said to Tang Mu: "Tang Mu, this can be used as a bargaining chip for you, as long as the Dutch insist, authorize their admiral to command the fleet." ”

Guo Xu was surprised, and was about to argue immediately, but was interrupted by Li Zhaoji: "Guo Xu, no matter what Tang Mu promised, don't pay attention to it, you are in charge of fleet command, except that you can't fire at the Dutch, you can do anything, even if you betray the Dutch." ”

Guo Xu listened: "If this is the case, then there will be no problem with the humble position." Even if the Dutch did not participate, they were confident that they would take out the Spanish fleet. ”

Tang Mu then went to the big man to negotiate, and the Dutch scoffed at the demands made by the Oriental Trading Company, they could accept the Oriental Trading Company's monopoly of the Spanish colony in Taiwan, but they could not accept its monopoly of the fleet and the goods on board.

You know, the Manila galleon trade had two ships between the Atlantic every year, and because a large amount of silver flowed into China instead of Spain, the Spanish king repeatedly banned the trade, but was repeatedly forced to open it.

Located in Seville, the colonial Indiac, always wanted to curb the galleon trade, and every nobleman who became the viceroy of New Spain would swear by it when he was in the Indyna, but as soon as he arrived in the Americas, his attitude would take a 180-degree turn, promoting the recovery and expansion of the galleon trade.

Seeing that the Viceroyalty of New Spain could not be governed, the Spanish king promoted the status of the Viceroyalty of the Philippines, making the court directly accountable to the king, and implementing a system of final review, that is, every governor who left the Philippines would be examined for his faults, resulting in many people being imprisoned as soon as they returned to Spain.

But the Manila galleon trade could not be banned, but the Spaniards limited themselves to two ships per year, and the trade goods could not exceed 300 tons, and the silver shipped from Spain to the East could not exceed 300,000 pesos, which was equivalent to about 220,000 taels of silver.

However, in practice, only the first item, which limits two ships per year, has been implemented, and neither of the latter has been implemented. In the seventeenth century, when the number of first-class battleships in Europe was just over 1,000 tons, and the trading ships traveling between East and West were still between 400 and 600 tons, the Manila galleons had already exceeded 1,000 tons, reaching 1,500 or even 2,000 tons.

And the silver that flows into the East every year from galleons is not 300,000 pesos, but 1 million or even 2 million.

It's just that since the end of last year, the Dutch have blockaded Manila Bay, so Li Zhaoji's estimate of the value of the cargo carried by the fleet has only reached 700,000 taels.

Although the Dutch did not agree, they were forced to compromise in the face of the plan of the Oriental Trading Company's navy to attack at any time and scare the snakes. The commander of the Dutch fleet, Cornelis, promised the cooperation of the two navies to intercept it, and at the same time asked that a communication ship be sent to Batavia, and suggested that after the war, Governor Matsolko and the chief treasurer of the Oriental Trading Company, Li Zhaoji, send special personnel to count and distribute the spoils.

Tang Mu agreed, and finally facilitated this cooperation.

On April 14 of the second year of Hiromitsu, the Dutch Cornelis fleet and the First Fleet of the Trading Company Navy converged.

Because the sortie was too hasty, neither side could achieve the best of the best, and the First Fleet formed a convoy of two cruisers, the Taiwan Island and the Jeju Island, and four brigs. And the Cornelis fleet consisted of the Galen ship Friesland, a small Yahat ship and a schooner.

The Friesland was the most powerful warship in the fleet, with a displacement of around 750 tons, but it had two gun decks, plus the guns on the open deck, for a total of 54 guns.

However, while the fleet was marshalling in the waters of the Tamsui estuary, it received unexpected news that the Spanish fleet anchored in the chicken coop had left the port of the chicken coop in the early morning and headed north.

This was beyond everyone's expectations, and after the victory, the commander of the garrison who had captured the Spaniards in the chicken coop learned that it was a freshwater farm steward who had told him.

The farm steward managed a 4,700-acre farm in the east of Tamsui City, owned by a gentry from Guangdong. Due to the lack of labor, the farm repeatedly cooperated with the Spaniards in the chicken coop. The Spaniards captured slaves on a large scale in the Yilan area northeast of Taipei, and then incorporated these slaves into the chicken coop area, and rented them to freshwater farms during the sugarcane harvest or mulberry leaf harvest season.

Therefore, the steward got in touch with the Spaniards to monitor the movements of the trading company in Tamsui.

As soon as the fleet departed, Lee Siu-gi dispatched all the ships of Tamsui, both military and civilian, and ordered them to go north to find the Spanish fleet, and to send letters to Shuri and Jeju of the Ryukyu Kingdom to ask them to assist, but that's it.

Of course, it was all worth it, and in the end it was a privately owned sloop that discovered the Spanish fleet north of the chicken coop, fishing, the waters of the island, and made smooth contact with the avant-garde fleet of the Sino-Dutch Combined Fleet, which at nine o'clock in the morning of the sixteenth established visual contact with the Spanish fleet.

The white sails depicted the bright red Grand Cross of Burgundy clearly declare their identity, the Habsburg double-headed eagle flag and the Spanish flag waving in the wind at the top of the mast, and a long flag on the top of the foremast of a galleon, and the staff officers of the First Fleet immediately found each other's identities in the comparison catalogue.

"This is the commander of the Manila fleet, the flag of Sebastian." The staff officer said to Guo Xu.

Guo Xu nodded, came to the aft deck, and observed the enemy ships in the distance, the naval battle in the era of sail warships was like a woman's footcloth, smelly and long, and it was not uncommon to fight for half a month, so every general must have enough patience, and impatient officers can only go to the army.

"Look, sir, the enemy's leading ship is turning." Zhang Ping, the captain of the Taiwan, said in a loud voice that because of the lack of experienced officers, the captain of the flagship should assume the responsibility of chief of staff.

"I finally saw you." Guo Xu said excitedly, because of the southeast side of the Spanish fleet of the United Fleet, and the Taiwan Island is behind the flagship of the fleet, the Friesland, which obscures part of the line of sight, and the first two ships of the Spanish fleet cannot be seen.

After the change of formation, the four ships of the Spanish fleet, from front to back, were the galleon Santa Maria, the galleon, the schooner, and the fleet flagship of the San José, the cruiser Manila and the cruiser Cebu.

The first two were identified on the basis of information held by trading companies, while the latter two were from the Dutch atlas, as the two ships had arrived from the Americas only last year.

"Sir, Cornelis orders us to follow the flagship maneuver and engage the enemy in a decisive battle!" The communications staff officer brought the flag message.

Guo Xu rubbed his hands and said: "Then let him fulfill his wish, order the Jeju Island to follow the Taiwan Island Maneuver." ”

"The logbook records that on April 16, the second year of Hongguang, at 9:10 a.m., latitude 25 degrees 44 minutes north, longitude 123 degrees 28 minutes east, fishing, north of the island, clear wind, heading to a compass point north-northeast, wind direction, south-southeast.

Seven nautical miles to the northwest, visual contact with the enemy fleet. Signal Flag Thirteen, the fleet is ready for battle! Zhang Ping gave an order to the officers of the Taiwan Island.

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