"Is that your answer, Mr. Collina?" Sir Diego lit the pipe in his hand, which had only begun to emerge in Europe for nearly twenty years, and exhaled a puff of smoke: "If my observation is correct, the expulsion formation you command is about 1.5 times the tonnage of the other side. As a result, you now tell me that you could not effectively expel them, but instead abandoned the mission and retreated for fear of more serious losses? With all due respect, Mr. Collina, such a statement should not have come from the mouth of a knight of the Kingdom of Castile. ”

Captain Corina's face was calm, not pleased or angry, but he said, "I have already said what I should have said, sir. If you remain suspicious of my command, you may temporarily remove me from my post, and it is your right. But I would also like to state that if I need to be tried when I return home, I will tell the truth about the whole incident. ”

Sir Diego's eyelids jumped slightly, and he grabbed his pipe and took a hard puff before he said: "Captain Collina, I am not questioning your command, as an excellent soldier who has served in the Kingdom Navy for more than thirty years, I believe that all your command actions can withstand scrutiny, and what I am questioning is the problem you mentioned about the performance of the Ming fleet or their ships." ”

Captain Corina's voice softened a little, "So, do you suspect that I misjudged their speed and firepower?" I cannot guarantee the accuracy of my judgment, but I think that the officers and sailors of our six ships should have made similar judgments. If you ask them out of a sense of responsibility, I won't be offended, but I will approve of your prudence. ”

"Good." Sir Diego nodded vigorously: "You are a true knight, I take back my presumptuous words. Now you can go and rest first, goodbye. ”

"Goodbye." Captain Corina finished speaking, and walked out as usual.

Sir Diego once again took a puff of tobacco from the Americas.

Alfaro, who had been sitting on the side and listening, sighed and said, "Although Corina is only a knight, his elder brother is the Count of Badajoz, and I believe you should know about this. ”

Sir Diego said angrily, "Of course I know, Your Excellency, the mead of the Count of Badajoz is known to everyone in Iberia. Of course, mead isn't the point, and I guess you're trying to remind me that His Excellency the Count himself is the current Doge of Milan – and I certainly do. ”

Alfaro raised his eyebrows slightly: "I want to say that His Excellency the Count is not only the Governor of Milan, he has a good personal relationship with many bankers in Genoa...... Sir you know, His Majesty, though he is wealthy, often needs the friendship of these bankers. ”

Sir Diego's face became more and more stinky, and he tapped his pipe on the table: "Your Excellency, you have reminded me enough, I am very grateful. But pardon me, can we now turn the conversation back to the problem we are facing? ”

"Absolutely." Alfaro smiled slightly: "But what do you think is the problem right now?"

"What's the problem? The first question is: the Spanish fleet cannot be beaten in vain! Sir Diego's face sank: "I know that you have high hopes for peaceful trade with the Ming Kingdom, and you are full of confidence in going to the Ming Kingdom to spread the gospel of the Lord, but I still have to say: the glory of the Spanish Navy cannot be desecrated!" ”

Unexpectedly, Alfaro did not refute, but tilted his head slightly and asked, "Then what do you want to do?" Mr. Corina has made it very clear that, at least in the waters north of the Spice Islands, our fleet is inferior to the Ming fleet in terms of speed. So, if you want to catch up with them and get revenge, I think it's going to be difficult. ”

Of course, this makes sense, but since Sir Diego was able to blend into Philip II's secretary team, it was obviously not a rice bucket, he raised his eyebrows slightly, and said: "Judging from the sea area where the opponent's fleet appeared, and the direction of escape, I think they originally planned to go to Malacca." ”

Alfaro frowned slightly, groaned slightly, and said, "You want to do something to them in Malacca?" ”

"I am His Majesty's envoy, and if I need it, the Portuguese Governor of Malacca will not dare to refuse my request." Speaking of "the King's Envoy", Sir Diego's face was suddenly full of confidence.

"Maybe." Alfaro shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, "But what next?" What you just faced was only six armed merchant ships in Jinghua, which is already so difficult, and what is the strength of Jinghua, I have already told you before. How do you think Jinghua will react after their vessel is 'disposed of' by you in the port of Malacca? ”

Sir Diego's face suddenly became gloomy, and he said coldly: "No matter what kind of strength Jinghua Company has, I don't think it is enough to compete with Spain and Portugal at sea. ”

Alfaro was noncommittal, and instead asked, "Do you really intend for His Majesty to send the main force of the Armada to the Far East to fight the Ming people while he is worried about the situation in the Netherlands?" ”

At the sound of the Netherlands, Sir Diego's face suddenly became ten times more ugly, and he cursed, "These damned Protestant heretics, damned lowland beggars, and that damned William...... If it weren't for these traitors, the glory of Spain would have shone all over the world! ”

Alfaro said, "Sir, I appreciate your devotion to the Lord, but what we are talking about now is something else. ”

Sir Diego calmed down a moment, let out a long breath, and said, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency, but I can't control my anger at the thought of the terrible situation in the Netherlands. ”

This is true, because four years ago, the United Provincial Republic had been established, and the northern Netherlands had announced the deposition of Philip II, and now the Netherlands was in the midst of a north-south standoff.

At this time, Philip II or the Spanish Empire, its energy was greatly constrained in the Netherlands, and many things could not be sorted out, and when the Portuguese throne crisis occurred, if it were not for the close proximity to Spain, Philip II was afraid that he would not be able to free up his hands to clean up. Sir Diego, as a member of Philip II's secretarial team, hated the Dutch of course.

But as soon as Alfaro reminded him, Sir Diego finally couldn't get up, and sighed: "Damn, can't we find an effective means to warn the people of the Ming Kingdom?" ”

"Why warn them? Oh, I mean, what are we going to warn them about? Alfaro shrugged: "Warn them not to spy on our fleet?" With all due respect, the sea area we are currently in should theoretically be regarded as the territorial waters of the Ming people, because all the islands and reefs in the vicinity belong to them, and they will have the Guangdong local navy patrol every once in a while. ”

Sir Diego frowned: "I don't think the Spanish Navy has a sea area where it cannot be freely navigated. ”

"Really? Would the Spanish Navy sail into the Dardanelles to enjoy the beauty of Constantinople – yes, Istanbul – in mind? ”

"Uh, this ......," Sir Diego was speechless.

Although the Battle of Lepanto twelve years earlier was a victory over the Ottoman Empire by the Holy Alliance of Spain, Venice and the Papal States, the problem was that the Ottoman Empire was also at its peak at this time.

Not only did the Ottoman navy quickly regain its strength, but after only two years, Venice was forced to sign a humiliating alliance under the city, and the Holy Alliance collapsed. The Spaniards won the battle and lost the war.

The defeat at the Battle of Lepanto hardly caused any stir within the Ottoman Empire, because although the battle was lost, the island remained firmly in their hands. The Holy Alliance could not take Cyprus at all, so it had to withdraw after the victory was declared.

So as soon as Alfaro laid out the Ottomans, Sir Diego sat on wax.

A Cyprus island hanging in the sea can't even be taken, go to the Dardanelles to find death? Although the urban cannon of more than 100 years ago is a thing of the past, the development of the Ottoman artillery is no worse than that of Western Europe, and the Spanish fleet may not enter the Dardanelles Strait, and will be beaten by the coastal defense cannons at the mouth of the strait.

Since the territory of the Ottomans was a forbidden land for the Spanish navy, why couldn't the territory of the Ming people be the same forbidden land? The ancestors of the Ming people drove the ancestors of the Turks from the Far East all the way to Central Asia, and finally fled to Europe!

The Turks can, and of course the Han can.

Sir Diego was finally deflated, and was about to speak helplessly, when there was a knock at the door.

"Who?" Sir Diego asked in an unkind tone.

"It's me, Captain Rivera." The people outside seemed to be in a hurry, and without waiting for Sir Diego to further say "Please come in", he said directly: "Oh no, Sir, a very large Ming fleet is coming towards us!" According to preliminary visual inspections, there are at least hundreds of armed merchant ships that are the same as the six previous Ming ships! ”

"What!" It was Alfaro's surprised voice.

"It can't be!" It was Sir Diego's voice of disbelief and fear.

"Nothing is impossible, sir, the other party has appeared!" Captain Rivera's voice was not terrified, but urgent.

Sir Diego and President Alfaro looked at each other, and suddenly ran in the direction of the door, unable to care about any gentlemanly demeanor.

When they ran from the rest room at the stern of the ship to the bridge, both of them were stunned by what they saw.

The size of the other party's fleet is really larger than their treasure fleet that almost spans the earth, and Captain Rivera's math is not in vain, the size of this fleet must be more than a hundred.

Takagi-san's earlier record helped Huang Zhiting and Gao Jing a big favor this time - Sir Diego's mathematics was not in vain: before six against six, his own side was actually at a disadvantage of being passively beaten when the total tonnage exceeded the opponent's, and now the situation is reversed, and the size of the opponent's fleet crushes his own side, so do you need to estimate the outcome of the battle?

Although the tonnage of the opponent's single ship should be smaller than that of their own, if their armament situation is basically unified, then they must have a clear advantage in terms of long and heavy artillery, as long as they continue to fight according to the previous tactics, the Spanish fleet has no chance of winning!

But Sir Diego still hasn't figured out a key question: why did such a large fleet of the Ming people appear here?

Alfaro couldn't help but say with a gloomy face at this time: "Sir, it seems that you have indeed provoked an enemy that you should not provoke - more importantly, the other party was originally our partner, not an enemy. ”

Sir Diego's face was a little uglier than Alfaro's, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Excellency, don't you doubt why the other party's fleet of this size is here?" ”

"Why do you think they're here?" Alfaro asked rhetorically.

"There are only two possibilities." Sir Diego said categorically: "Or, they have long set their sights on us, just like the English pirates, who want to rob our treasure fleet; Or, they just want to sneak up on Malacca and choke this seaway! ”

After he finished speaking, he stared at Alfaro tightly and said, "Do you think they fell from the sky?" How long has it been since the naval battle just now? Even if the Ming people arrived from their nearest harbor, they couldn't have reached this position so quickly! ”

Alfaro frowned, he also had to admit that Sir Diego's analysis was reasonable, the nearest Ming seaport to the current location should be the emerging seaport of Annan, Golden Port, but from Golden Port to here, even if the wind direction is suitable and strong, it will take at least two or three days to travel. What's more, if the results of the first battle just now are to be reported to Jingang, it will have to be added for three more days.

Therefore, the other party's fleet must have been nearby, and it was impossible for it to depart from Golden Harbor, even if it was counted from the time when this fleet found the ship of the Ming people, the time would not be right.

The two of them were still wondering why the Jinghua fleet appeared in the here and now, and the captain of the fleet's flagship "Galicia", Rivera, couldn't help but remind: "Sir, priest, now is not the time to think about these issues!" Sir Diego, if we are going to fight, we must order it now. Look around us, all the ships are waving flags and asking us what to do! ”

"Fight! For the glory of Castile! Sir Diego roared.

Captain Rivera didn't ask why, just nodded, and was about to give the order when Alfaro's voice remembered.

"Please wait a minute......" Alfaro said suddenly.

Sir Diego suddenly looked at him, his eyes narrowed slightly: "Your Excellency, in this situation, do you still think that the appearance of the other party in this place is just a coincidence?" ”

"Of course not, and I have serious doubts about it as well." Alfaro didn't speak slowly this time, but said quickly: "But if this battle breaks out, our situation may be very bad, and I think it is necessary to find a way to save it now." ”

Sir Diego said coldly, "I hope you don't mean surrender when you say salvation. ”

"Of course not. Rest assured, I just want you to prepare a small boat for me, and I would like to go and negotiate with the Ming people first—I know quite a few senior managers of the Jinghua Company serving in the southern region of the Ming Empire, and I think there is a final effort to make peace in my opinion. ”

Sir Diego immediately replied, "If you think this is necessary, then I agree to your request - Captain Rivera, please lower the escape boat at once and prepare a few oarsmen and a white flag for Your Excellency the President." ”

He turned to Alfaro and said, "Your Excellency, I wish you a smooth meeting, but please know that our preparations will not stop until you reach an agreement with the other party, and we will never accept surrender. ”

"I understand." Alfaro replied with a solemn face.

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