"Attention all...... All the battleships are advancing in columns, the bearing remains the same, the speed is five knots, and the target is Matsu Island! ”

In the wheelhouse of the Ningyuan, Liu Xiang was giving orders in a clear and unambiguous tone, and next to him a helmsman was adjusting the course according to the orders she had given, and the herald was relaying her orders to the other warships. Although the waves kept hitting the Ningyuan, causing the hull to keep shaking slightly, her feet were firmly nailed to the deck as if they had taken root, and there was no half of shaking.

Liu Xiang, who is only twenty-seven years old this year, is at the best age of a woman, she has a pair of thick eyebrows that are rare for women, the high nose bridge, slightly dark skin and beautiful face because of the perennial sea sailing, coupled with a well-fitting light blue navy uniform and the straight and slender figure and the curly brim hat on her head, the whole person exudes a unique beauty and rare majesty of women.

This unique scenery made Captain Max who was standing in the back amazed, and from time to time he secretly cast his amazing gaze on the beautiful scenery standing in front, but it caused the eyes of many people around him.

The unfortunate captain's ship was damaged in many parts and was still in the port of Fuzhou for repairs, so he could only board the Ningyuan and follow Liu Xiang's fleet as a guide.

As the highest-ranking person among the more than 500 Dutch instructors, this time he was also ordered to follow the Ningyuan with a few companions, he watched the herald next to him use the walkie-talkie to give orders to the entire fleet, although he had seen it many times, he still whispered in Dutch and sighed: "Last time we lost unjustly, the Ming people have this epoch-making weapon, I am afraid it will not be long before the entire coastal area of the Ming Dynasty will change color." ”

Due to the sensitivity of soldiers to war, when Neham and his companions first saw the walkie-talkies equipped with the Ming warships, they immediately realized the importance of this kind of timely communication for the war.

In today's world, whether it is the navy or the army, it is the same for how to convey the commander's orders to the troops below as quickly as possible, nothing more than to convey orders through drums, flags and even heralds, but this way of transmitting orders has great limitations, such as the problem that the information is not conveyed in a timely manner or may be missed, but the emergence of walkie-talkies has completely broken this limitation, it ignores the interference and constraints of day and night or wind and rain and even distance, Directly issuing orders to the troops below at a speed of timely communication is a revolutionary change, which is why Neam is so emotional.

Hearing Neam's words, Tajik's face on the side changed, and he hurriedly reminded in a low voice: "Mr. Lieutenant, now we are mercenaries from the Ming Kingdom, if they hear this kind of words, I'm afraid we will be in trouble." ”

"Okay, I'll shut up." Lieutenant Neham shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking.

Liu Xiang led seven warships on the vast sea, at this time it can be said that the weather is sunny, and it is also a tailwind, so the speed of the fleet is also slowly increasing, the fastest time even reached eight knots, by noon the next day, the fleet has arrived less than fifty kilometers away from Matsu Island.

After arriving here, Liu Xiang ordered the fleet to slow down and detour around the vicinity of Matsu Island, but Captain Maiske had a strong opinion about this, and he protested directly to Liu Xiang.

"General Liu, it was in this area that I and the merchant ship were separated. Since two of the three merchant ships were damaged by shelling and could not go too far, I think they will definitely dock at Matsu Island after they are separated, and I think you should lead your fleet to find them directly on Matsu Island, rather than making aimless circles like this. ”

"What do you think?"

Liu Xiang, who was holding a telescope to carefully observe the sea, turned his head and looked at Neham with a sharp gaze, and a hint of sarcasm appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Captain Maiske, please pay attention to your identity and your words, you are just a guest who needs help." ”

After being reprimanded by Liu Xiang, Rao is Musk knew very well that he was only a guest now, but he also said with some annoyance: "But you have to understand, there are also envoys sent by our Governor General on those three lost merchant ships, isn't it your responsibility to protect the guests?" ”

Seeing that the Portuguese was actually playing tricks in public, Liu Xiang also refuted unceremoniously: "It is not clear whether you are our guest or not, it is up to our marquis to decide, the reason why I am willing to lead the fleet to support you is already for the sake of your governor's face, if you continue to be unreasonable, I can only order the guards to drive you out, and you can only stay in the cabin before returning to the port." ”

Maske's face turned red all of a sudden, and he couldn't help waving his arms and saying loudly, "You...... You can't do that, I'm a great Portuguese naval officer, how can you do this to me? ”

Seeing Maxke's appearance, the two sailors who were originally waiting at the door immediately strode over and stopped between him and Liu Xiang, drew the long knife at his waist and pointed it at him, looking at him with cold eyes, and one of the guards said a word loudly. Although Maiske could not understand Chinese, he knew that what the other party said would never be good.

Facing the cold eyes and the cold blade, the blood that was originally surging up from Messke quickly fell, and he immediately realized that he was now standing on someone else's warship, and the woman in front of him was not the young lady he had seen in Lisbon who only knew how to cover her mouth and scream, she was the deputy admiral of the Ming Empire, and the commander (commander) of a fleet composed of thousands of people. To put it mildly, the life and death of his party are still in the hands of others, so what qualifications do you have to yell at others.

After thinking about this, Mesk's face turned pale for a while, and he hurriedly said in a trembling voice: "I'm really sorry, Your Excellency General, I was so rude just now, please forgive me for my recklessness for the sake of worrying too much about those poor compatriots." ”

Liu Xiang looked at him for a while, until a layer of cold sweat broke out on Maxke's forehead, and then he snorted lightly: "For your sake, it's an unintentional mistake, forget it this time, if there is a next time, you know what the consequences are." ”

"Yes, that's very magnanimous!" Liu Xiang's answer was no less than a natural sound for Maisk, and he quickly thanked him vigorously.

As a specially appointed instructor, the experienced Neham was also on standby in the cockpit during wartime, and now seeing Maske so condescending, a look of disdain appeared on their faces, but they didn't say it for reasons that didn't concern them.

However, Neham agrees with Liu Xiang's approach, as a commander, he is first responsible for the safety of the fleet and the lives of more than a thousand sailors, if in order to save the merchants of other countries, regardless of what they are doing, lead the fleet to fall into other people's traps, that is the most stupid behavior, in Neham's opinion, Liu Xiang's approach is the wisest.

The fleet continued to sail around the island for more than an hour, and finally came to the side of Matsu Island.

Matsu Island is not a single island, but an archipelago, and Matsu Island is one of the largest islands, this island is 3.7 kilometers wide from north to south, with an area of 10.4 square kilometers, the island is hilly and undulating, the middle is low, and it is saddle-shaped.

As the ship approached Mazuo, the lookout on the mast caught the first glimpse of the three merchant ships docked in the harbor and the crowd of people in the harbor.

"My lord, the lookout reports that the Portuguese ships and their men have been spotted, most of whom are now in the harbor and on the beach, and they are waving at us, as if to ask us to pass."

"Those Portuguese are in port?"

Liu Xiang was stunned for a while when he heard this, he walked out of the wheelhouse, came to the deck, raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of the port in the sea breeze.

The situation was indeed as the lookout had said, and most of the hundreds of white-looking people had gathered in the harbor and waved at them desperately, looking at them as if they were quite excited.

"Your Excellency, those people are my compatriots!" At this time, Mesk also shouted excitedly, pointed to the port and said excitedly: "Thank God, they are all alive, Your Excellency General, please quickly lead the fleet into the port to meet them!" ”

"My horse ......" Liu Xiang subconsciously wanted to agree, but after she pondered for a while, a sense of vigilance surged in her heart, she pondered for a while and then shook her head: "No, the situation is unknown now, the fleet can't rush over, I will first send a small boat and a few sailors over to inquire about the situation, and the fleet will continue to cruise nearby." ”

"Your Excellency General, how can you ...... like this" Musk became a little excited when he heard this, but as soon as he was halfway through his words, he immediately remembered what had just happened, and immediately swallowed back half of what he had said.

"I can't teach you how to behave." Liu Xiang didn't bother to bother with this guy, so he gave the order to send a small boat and more than a dozen sailors with walkie-talkies to row towards the port, and he continued to lead the fleet to swim on the sea one or two kilometers away from the port.

It proved that Liu Xiang's caution was very necessary, and just as the small boat that had been released was about to sail to the port, the Zhenning, who was in charge of the outermost guard, suddenly sent a warning that an unknown number of ships were speeding towards them more than ten nautical miles away.

As soon as he received the warning from the Zhenning, Liu Xiang immediately ordered all the battleships to form a battle formation and meet the unknown fleet that was sailing towards the approaching fleet.