Also in the winter of the sixth year of Wanli, in the Caribbean, thousands of miles away, the Ming Dynasty people had close contact with the Dutch for the first time.

Of course, at this time they were not called Dutch, but Dutch, and because of the repeated defeats in the war against Spanish rule, the slightly thin Dutch merchant ship that Li Dan saw while sailing in the waters near Puerto Rico flew the Spanish flag.

Behind him, the three French ships flying the white cross lily flags looked menacing at this time.

When Li Dan accepted the patrol of the Caribbean, how did Deng Zilong relay the invitation from Spain? Except for the Spanish-flagged sailing ships in the Caribbean, the other ships in the Caribbean are all pirates!

There is no doubt that to the Spaniards they were pirates, pirates from France, the most neglected maritime power in the whole world in the sixteenth century.

Li Dan held the binoculars, looked at the ships chasing on the sea from a distance, and said to Yuan Zizhang, the general of the army division beside him: "A Xiyi merchant ship, there are no guns on board, and the speed of the ship is extremely fast towards me, and it will enter the firing range in a moment at most." ”

"There are three pirate ships behind him, and the latter two are Carrick galleons that were common in the early years of Spain and Portugal, and Li estimated that there were not many cannons on board; It was a strange thing up there, a bit like a centipede boat, but it was big, with a lot of oars and a ring of barrels sticking out of the bow...... Forget it, see for yourself. ”

Li Dan pouted and handed the binoculars to the martial arts man, shook his head, and said, "This thing is really ugly. ”

Yuan Zizhang took the binoculars, and what he saw was a single-deck galleys warship that the Ming Dynasty had never touched, in fact, it was the same ship shape as the centipede ship that Chen Mu had obtained, and they both belonged to the Calais battleship in the Mediterranean, the only difference was that this ship was larger and had more firepower.

In the eyes of the Wuju people, who were born in the martial arts class, the various parameters of this ship have specifications as soon as they are seen, and he said in a slow voice during his observation: "The captain is fourteen to sixteen zhang, a single-layer artillery deck, and a wooden roof above the deck, with three masts and sails, and four cannons on the left and right sides of the deck...... There is another ring of artillery in the round bow, about eight guns, in the tail. ”

As he spoke, Yuan Zizhang handed the telescope back to Li Dan and said, "There may be a gun shed at the tail with another artillery, and the whole ship of artillery should be between sixteen and twenty-four, if you want to intercept them, you should be ready to seize the upper hand now." ”

Although Yuan Zizhang did not know the characteristics of this kind of galais warship that rampaged the Mediterranean, he knew very well that it was a similar brother centipede ship, which was an inshore warship, and it was not difficult to predict that there were probably more than 200 sailors in board according to its countless oars.

Such a ship should not be here, and he could even guess that the cabin of the two fat-bellied Carricks behind the big centipede was more than half filled with fresh water, and it was likely that the fresh water they had prepared on the ship was almost drunk now.

"This ship runs faster than us when fighting, we can't catch it, if we want it not to run, we have to catch the two pot-bellied boats behind first, that one can't run fast."

Li Dan looked at the four ships that were getting closer and closer, frowned and thought about whether to intercept them, and finally he had no idea, and asked Yuan Zizhang: "A Jiazi ship, can you fight with him three warships?" ”

"If you don't take the broadside, you may suffer some damage, but it's not a big problem, their guns are mostly Franc machines, not as powerful as General Zhenshuo, and it is not a problem to drag the two fat ships."

The fat ship mentioned by Yuan Zizhang is the mighty Carrick sailboat, and in the Guangzhou Lecture Hall, Carrick and the Spanish-style Galen ship are nicknamed 'Europa two fat' by the students because of their huge size.

"That big centipede, find a way to burn its sails first, it can't go far without sails on the sea, and the three lucky ships under Kangguru's command should be able to take the ship away!"

Speaking of Nala Kangguru, the general Yuan Zizhang unconsciously had a smile in his eyes, the Japanese soldiers who had fought in the troubled times were extremely brave in local battles, and the Jurchen soldiers were undoubtedly more courageous than them.

In great contrast with the bravery on the battlefield, it was the crying brought by the warriors of the Kanggulu Department who went to sea by boat, and the Baishan Battalion really boarded the ship in Tianjin and left the port, and the warship sailed out of the Bohai Sea and cried all the way to Majiagang with the mast.

The boundless sea was terrifying, and although the migrants with them cried even stronger, compared to the Beiyang Flag Army, which had undergone four to six months of sea training, showed a very high level of calmness, which still made Nala Kanguru, one of the four generals of the second battalion of the Daming Caribbean Combined Fleet, unable to raise his head.

But now it's much better, at least the Baishan battalion has been able to jump ship skillfully at sea, in fact, if the Fusang battalion is there, the effect of jumping the gang will be better, but unfortunately at this time the Fusang battalion is resting in the Spanish castle in Puerto Rico, and only the two 400 shark ships and six lucky boats of the Baishan battalion are followed by the Jiazi ship.

Just as the two of them ordered the fleet to take up the upper hand and prepare to engage in battle, the four ships were getting closer and closer, and it seemed that the French pirates had discovered the Ming fleet in the distance, and they slowly retracted their sails and slowed down the sails, as if they wanted to let go of their prey.

Li Dan, who was leaning on the side of the ship, was the first to notice this kind of behavior of the pirates, which made him happily raise his hand and point to the distance and turn his head to Yuan Zizhang and smiled: "Sensible! Or spare their lives. ”

Yuan Zizhang held the binoculars and watched the Carrick sailboat put down the dinghy, and the small boat holding the white cross lily flag slowly drove towards this side, and the three big ships put on an assault formation centered on the big centipede ship behind him, he turned his head to Li Dan and said, "I'm afraid the chief is going to be disappointed, they don't seem to be planning to run." ”

Sure enough, the Dutch merchant ships flying the Spanish flag slowly lowered their sails through the Ming fleet, and the French dinghy also got closer and closer to the Jiazi ship, and finally stopped not far away, and the sailors wearing cuirasses on the ship shouted in surprise in different words: "You are the fleet of the Great Khan of China?" That's great! ”

"Where did you come from, with cities in the New World?"

As soon as Li Dan heard this, he didn't know why the French pirate under the ship was so happy.

It's embarrassing to say, in the Age of Discovery, all countries started the Great Voyage with the same intention - to find China and find a way to China.

Only China doesn't think so.

The soldier in the dinghy laughed and looked up and shouted, "If you take me to your city, we will spare you, but your silk clothes must be kept, and all silk clothes must be kept." ”

Li Dan rubbed his face and took a deep breath, turned to Yuan Zizhang and said, "It seems that our porthole is not open, and this beggar still dares to ask for my clothes." ”

He sneered, leaned on the side of the ship and asked the French sailors below, "Do you want my clothes?" No problem, what do you want to do in our city? ”

"You are to send me to your Great Khan, and to sign a pact of free trade, that our ships may dock in your ports, that France may establish a trading post there, and that you will go to your cities to buy goods, and that your ships will not be allowed to go to France."

The Beiyang Flag Army on the ship looked at him like a fool.

Yuan Zizhang laughed angrily, and he asked Li Dan, "General, what are you going to do?" ”

Li Dan really took off his silk robe, threw it under his feet, and said to Yuan Zizhang: "I might as well not interfere with the war, I can only boost my morale, and I will rely on you later." Remember this man, I'll burn the robe to him later. ”

"Tell the fleet, tell the Baishan battalion that the first to board the centipede ship will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver, a first-class reward of ten taels of silver, and one collar of armor, whoever takes the ship from me, will be rewarded with two hundred taels of silver!"