San Jose.

"Officers, soldiers, behind us, the lowly infidel of the lowlands are chasing us with yellow-skinned monkeys. They had a lot of ships, but they were a bunch of inexperienced fools, and only the Frisland, commanded by the pagan of Cornelis, deserved to be taken seriously.

In the seas of the East, Spain has already made numerous wars against the infidels, and today we meet them again.

I, Sebastian, in the name of Philip, King of Earth, the greatest Catholic King, lead you, resilient and fearless soldiers, to wage war against the infidels! Standing on the stern, dressed in a splendid military uniform fluttering in the wind, Sebastian drew his sword and gave a speech to his soldiers.

The soldiers' chests rose and fell, and their weapons were raised.

Sebastian shouted, "Santiago! ”

"Santiago!" The Spaniards and their vassals shouted in unison, one after another shouting to vent their fighting spirit.

Immediately, the Spanish fleet was fully mobilized.

And on the Friesland, Vice Admiral Cornelis of the Netherlands also wore the most ornate military uniform, with a dazzling ribbon and medals on his chest, and inspected his soldiers.

"Filthy West Bank has finally left their lair, and above the open sea, no one is a match for the Netherlands. Let's believe in God and the artillery in our hands, God will punish West Bank. "Cornelius also knew how to agitate his own soldiers.

After his speech, the captain of the Friesland gave the order: "Enter the combat position!" ”

All the gun crews went into the gun position, and the fire control officer, carrying his sword, issued an order on the gun deck: "First shot, solid shells, load!" ”

Immediately, the Dutch carried out artillery loading, Friesland was the Dutch fighting force in the East, this battleship had a displacement of 750 tons, with 54 guns, but compared to their opponents, not all guns were useful, especially those four-pounder guns on the open deck, which could not penetrate the opponent's hull at all, so they would splash shotguns or destroy the sails.

The Dutch battleships have always had a slightly lower displacement, and the European warships, which also had fifty-four guns, must have a displacement of more than a thousand tons.

This is because the Netherlands is located at the mouth of a large river, and the coastline is full of sandbars and sand beams, and in general, the draft of Dutch warships should not exceed five meters, so the displacement must be limited. As a result, although the Friesland was in the style of a Galen-shaped capital ship, the firepower was also very strong, and the defense was not very strong, and the broadside of its gun deck was only about 45 centimeters thick.

The Taiwan Island has reached 70 centimeters, and the reconstructed Jeju Island has also reached 60 centimeters.

Cornelius observed the Spanish fleet and saw that the Spanish fleet was beginning to adjust, first taking the battle sails.

Today's wind is not small, galleons can reach seven knots at full speed, and the cruisers of the trading company navy can easily cross ten knots, but that is the full sail forward, the combat sail will reduce the use of sails, and generally retract most of the schooner, after all, it is really easy to be hit by enemy artillery, and will also put away the lower sails, retaining the middle and upper decks, in today's wind, the Spaniards only keep the middle sails, so that the speed is reduced to about two knots.

If the speed is slow, it is easy to form a dense array, which will not be broken through, and the artillery is easier to hit, and if the lower sail is retracted, it will cause a space to form between the sail and the hull, aiming at the hull, not hitting the sail, aiming at the sail, not hitting the hull.

The Spanish navy, which has always been known for its strict formation and courage to fight, is not afraid to initiate hand-to-hand combat, which can take advantage of the morale bonus brought by religion and the large number of soldiers on ships of the same tonnage.

The fleet adjusted its sails, the course did not change much, and there was not even an operation to catch the wind. This is understandable, after all, the galleon is an armed merchant ship, or a return galleon, full of all kinds of cargo, not fast, and not agile enough, with a capital ship and two cruisers cannot catch the wind.

After observing the changes in the Spanish fleet, Cornelius gave the order: "Order the Oriental Trading Company Navy to closely follow the flagship, using the flagship as a benchmark, to engage in an artillery battle with the enemy." ”

The signal soldier quickly conveyed the order, but on the Taiwan Island that followed behind, Guo Xu scoffed at this order.

"Repeat the order to the Jeju Island and maneuver with the ship." Guo Xu said with a smile, then pressed the captain's hand and said, "Cornelis's order not to be written in the logbook, we have not received his order." ”

"Of course." Facing the inquiring gaze cast by the captain, Captain Zhang Ping nodded slightly and said with a smile.

Guo Xucai will not be angry for the Dutch, the current situation is that the Spanish fleet has one more capital ship than the United Fleet, if according to the order of Conelis, then the Friesland and the Taiwan Island will be against the galleon, and the Jeju Island will be against the two Spanish cruisers, the Manila and Cebu.

These were two cruisers with a displacement of 400 to 500 tons, with more than 32 guns, and like the Shosha cruisers, they had only one gun deck and used Spanish 16-pounder guns, which was a major threat to the Jeju Island, and the same was true for the eight-pounder guns used on the open deck.

Once a lengthy artillery battle is ensued, the Cebu may turn to a cross-cut course and then flank the Jeju Island with the Manila.

At that time, the weakest ship of the Combined Fleet will be used against an enemy twice its size, and although it is appropriate according to the theory of Tian Ji Horse Racing, the Jeju Island will definitely suffer heavy losses.

Guo Xuyi did not receive an order, controlled the navigation of the Taiwan Island and Jeju Island, and still maintained the course with the Friesland, but reduced the speed and distanced, he cautiously observed the relative position of the Jeju Island and the Cebu, and assured that the Jeju Island would not overtake the Cebu, and the Taiwan Island would be level with the Manila.

In this way, the heavy firepower cruisers of the trading company navy were used to deal with the two weakest warships of the Spanish navy, and they were faced with a one-on-one confrontation. Of course, the downside is that the Friesland, the flagship of the Combined Fleet, will face the attack of the Spaniards' two galleons, which both have more than fifty heavy guns.

The Taiwan Island entered a state of intense readiness, the sailsailers boarded the mast, the Marine shooters appeared on the mast, and all unnecessary people on the open deck were not allowed to exist, and between the masts, a huge net was drawn to prevent falling objects from high altitudes from smashing and injuring the fighters on the open deck.

The officers' canteen was cleaned up as a shelter for the wounded, the powder magazines were hung with wet and tattered canvas, the partitions on the gun decks had long since been removed, and the hammocks for all were packed up and stuffed into the iron shelves on the inboard side of the ship to strengthen the defense. All decks were covered with wet sand brought in from the bilge, which prevented the fighters from slipping and soaking up blood during the battle.

Cornelis was a gifted admiral, and he carefully controlled the speed and the relative distance between the two sides, and as the two sides gradually formed parallels, the fleet was also getting closer, so the speed of the combined fleet was not fast.

Guo Xu found that with Cornelis's caution, the battle should have started at noon, so he immediately ordered the whole fleet to have a meal, and asked the sailors and soldiers of the whole ship to change into new clothes, which helped to reduce the chance of infection after being injured.

On the artillery deck, the fire controller of the Taiwan Island also gave an order to load solid shells, because the Hongguang 2-year-old 90-pounder gun was too heavy, and the shells needed two people to load, so the crew was more than ordinary naval guns, reaching 13 people.

The gunners packed the silk medicine into the bore, the fifth gunner and his assistants carried the solid shells into them, and the third gunner was responsible for pounding the ammunition with a long rod.

When everything was ready, the fourth gunner used a lever to pry the tail of the gun, and the rest of the crew pulled the rope and pushed the thick barrel out of the gun through the pulley fixed to the side of the ship.

The gunners held a firing rod with a lit arquebus on the top, and kept the arquebus burning, all waiting for the captain's orders.

It was all practiced countless times, the soldiers were very familiar with all the processes, and the tension was on the gun deck.

The fleet expanded too quickly, the decks were full of recruits, and the navy had never experienced a real naval battle since it was established, all of which gave the soldiers a lack of confidence.

The deck was very quiet, this was the calm before the storm, a brass pipe that came down from the aft deck faintly sounded the voice of the fleet commander Guo Xu, when preparing for the battle, everyone saw that their commander was dressed gorgeously, like a peacock standing at the top of the deck, at this time he was still telling some half-vegetarian jokes.

The jokes and the position he was in were reassuring.

"Do you know what makes the Spaniards so special as to the rest of the Europa?" Guo Xu asked the people around him.

"I've heard they're all crazy."

"Catholics are all crazy, and Spaniards are no different in this regard," Guo said. While I was in Sado, I met a Genoese in the English fleet, and he told me that in Europa, urine was collected.

Some are used to wash clothes, others are used to make fur, but others are used to brush their teeth and face, and it is said that the best ........ is the urine used by Spaniards to wash their faces and brush their teeth.

I thought that today I could tell the truth of this legend, but now it seems unlikely.

We have the best warships, the sharpest cannons, and I'm worried about beating those guys ......... ”

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