"Your Excellency the General is a bit alarmist." Nero smiled dryly, "As far as I know, a small fleet of your East India Company in the Far East has controlled the outer sea of the Ming Dynasty for forty or fifty years......"

Tromp shook his head slightly, "Things will always change. He pointed to two third-class battleships flying the flag of "axe-wielding seabirds" on the western side of the sea, "A few decades ago, the Spanish fleet was the dominant force in the Atlantic. You see, they don't even dare to use the banner of their own royal family to go to war now. By the way, what is the flag? ”

As a qualified French nobleman, Nero was familiar with the coats of arms of the major families, and immediately continued: "It's the family coat of arms of the Count of Favila of Córdoba." Philip IV feared that the Ming would gain the upper hand and retaliate against Spain, so he sent the Count of Favila to the war in his own capacity. ”

"Spaniards are cowards." Tromp snorted coldly. He was qualified to say that the Spanish fleet, which had more than seventy warships, was defeated by him with more than a dozen ships.

He sighed again, "Well, if Philip IV could send half of his fleet, nay, only a third, we would almost be able to celebrate the victory in advance by now." ”

Nero glanced and muttered, "The Portuguese are inferior to him, and they haven't even sent a single battleship." ”

Portugal was the first European country to be pressed to the ground by Zhu Linmiao, and had seen the majestic posture of the Ming Naval Division, although it was driven by huge commercial interests to support the war against the Ming Dynasty, France and other countries, but never dared to directly participate in the war, only provided some military spending and intelligence.

The captain of the Bradrode stepped forward, saluted Tronp, and spoke quickly and quickly.

Nero couldn't understand the Helan language, but he saw the clue from the serious expressions of the Helan people, and hurriedly asked the commander-in-chief of the fleet: "Did you find the fleet of the Orientals?" ”

"Yes." Trompu first instructed his deputy, looked at the sea in the distance and said, "The Spaniards have sent a message that nearly thirty nautical miles away from the south-west, the main force of the Ming country's fleet is there. ”

"So," said Nero, who was only a royal nobleman who had come to town on behalf of the King of France, and who was only rude to naval warfare, but pretended to be calm, "and we will go up to meet it?" ”

"No," Tromp said, turning back to the helm without looking back, "what is needed now is patience." The Oriental people came from thousands of miles away, and there was certainly not much provision on the ship, and it was they who were in a hurry. We must take advantage of this and choose the most favorable time to launch a general offensive. ”

"That's true." The French hurried to follow, impressed by the legendary commander of Helan.

This is the sea area of the Europeans, and all kinds of reconnaissance ships from Spain, Portugal, and France are everywhere, and the Ming people do not have the slightest ability to launch a surprise attack. As long as the combined fleet always occupies a superior position, the Ming fleet will not dare to fight a decisive battle, and it is likely to retreat in the end due to the exhaustion of fresh water.

At that point, the Combined Fleet will be able to keep up with them! When he thought of this, he felt more and more that defeating the Ming Kingdom was a sure thing, and with the victory of this naval battle, his reputation in the country would inevitably be prominent for a while, and Juana's little widow would probably be able to hook up......

In the days that followed, two large fleets circled around the Strait of Gibraltar.

The sea conditions in the Atlantic Ocean are far more complex than those in the Pacific Ocean, and it is necessary to compete not only for the wind outlets, but also for the currents. When the sea breeze is weak, the thrust of the ocean current is even greater than the wind.

At the same time, the weather in the Atlantic Ocean is unpredictable, and many times you are in a good position and are about to launch a general attack, when suddenly there is a thunderclap in the sky and a heavy downpour of rain, so you can only wait for the sky to clear.

Fortunately, the Daming ocean-going caravans have been traveling between Europe and Asia in recent years, accumulating a lot of hydrological information, and the Daming sailors can swim in these waters with ease.

Tromp was very patient, and on several occasions the combined fleet of peace and France had taken up good positions, but he was still not satisfied and did not attack.

He was convinced that the warships of the Ming Kingdom must have been in a hellish situation, and every day sailors who died of sepsis were thrown into the sea. There was also food that was hard to swallow, a very small quota of fresh water supply, and everyone from the officers to the crew had a look of love......

After six days of cat and mouse, a rainstorm struck without warning, the sky was dark, the waves were so huge that the smaller boats did not dare to go out to sea.

When the storm calmed down, information from all over the place was sent to the Bradrod, and Commander Holan was surprised to find that he had lost track of the Eastern Fleet.

After another two days, a Spanish patrol ship finally found the Ming fleet, but the position made Tromp frown - the enemy had already sailed past the west side of Lisbon yesterday evening, that is, more than two hundred nautical miles to the north of them.

"What do they want to do?"

Tromp and several officers were sitting around the charts, pondering, when someone pushed open the door of the conference room and rushed in, shouting: "I heard that the enemy is heading north?!" ”

"Yes." Tromp frowned and turned his head.

"Quick! Catch up! Nero glanced at and continued to shout.

"Calm down, you're going to have to tell me why?"

The Frenchman took a few pieces of paper from his pocket and spread them out, "This is information that has just been sent from Paris." The port of La Rochelle has caught several spies who are colluding with the Orientals, and they are placing lights in important locations such as port batteries and warehouses, and they have also built a floating lighthouse outside the port......"

Tromp and his men looked at each other and immediately understood, "Who are they going to mark!" ”

"That's right!" Nero glanced anxiously and said, "The intelligence officer thinks that the Orientals are coming to attack La Rochelle!" Quick, be sure to catch up and stop them! ”

The port of La Rochelle is the most important port in western France, just over 100 miles from the important city of Bordeaux, and is responsible for most of France's maritime trade with Britain, Northern Europe, and North and South America.

Not to mention the fact that an attack on this place would greatly hurt the French economy, but the thousands of merchant ships hiding in the harbor alone - because the Oriental fleet was circling in the Atlantic, the vast majority of merchants chose to temporarily suspend their business and wait for the war to end, and almost all of their ships were docked in the port of La Rochelle - if the Ming warships were destroyed, the French maritime trade would probably not be able to slow down for several years.

Cold sweat oozed from Tromp's forehead, these Orientals are too cunning!

Previously, the two fleets had been entangled, and even if they sailed to La Rochelle, they did not dare to attack at will, because they could attack from the rear at any time.

However, the previous storm gave the Easterners the opportunity, and they did not hesitate to go north, thus gaining time for a full two days to attack the port!