It had been two days since the fleet had left the Grand Guard, and Cesario looked back to see only the blue waters and the Partner, the defender of the fleet.

He suddenly muttered, "Maybe this raid isn't wise......

"Martin, what are you talking about?" The military representative of Batavia, Kaou, who was standing next to him, frowned and glanced at him, "The Spaniards are losing in the Netherlands, and now is a good opportunity to completely defeat them, and the decisive battle must not be affected by military spending!" ”

His deputy, Patrick, continued: "In less than three months since Mr. Ovat accepted the 'fair trade' agreement of the Ming Kingdom, our income in the Far East has plummeted by thirty percent!" And our earnings continue to decline. So the Governor of Masuik almost immediately agreed to send a fleet of reinforcements. ”

Thirty percent of the profits were obviously pocketed by the Daming ocean-going caravan. In the trade with Japan, whether it is the cost of the fleet voyage or the purchase price of goods, the Helan people are much higher than the Ming Dynasty, and they will inevitably be at a disadvantage if they compete fairly.

"Yes, I know that. It's just ......," Cesareo licked his dry lips, "I don't think we should go toe-to-toe with this vast Eastern Empire." I've seen it with my own eyes......"

Kaou interrupted him, "Do you mean those ships on their slipway?" ”

"That's really one of the reasons......"

"Then we must do it as soon as possible," said Kaau, "while those ships are still in the water, our fleet still has an advantage for the time being." ”

Patrick added in a whisper, "Within a year, Batavia will only have the right ships to allocate in front of you." ”

"Advantage?" These two words made Cesareo even more uneasy. According to intelligence, the Ming Kingdom now has 3 3 30-gun, 6 20-gun and 20 ten-gun warships.

After receiving reinforcements, the large fleet consisted of only 1 50-gun, 3 30-gun, 5 20-gun warships, and 10 medium-sized and large armed merchant ships.

Compared with the quantity, your own side is still at a disadvantage.

Seeing that the new captain of the Hector was in a low mood, Kawu patted him on the shoulder again and said, "Yes, absolute superiority. The fleet of the Easterners must have at least five times more warships in order to be able to fight with us.

"What's more, we still have the Dodrecht trump card. In the Far East, it is a completely invincible dragon. ”

He smiled, "Actually, what I care more about is the Manila fleet watching behind me." If the naval battle with the Ming Kingdom is not a big loss, I would even like to suggest that General Bess take the Spaniards by the way. ”

He has reason to be so confident. With his experience, the quality of Helan's warships, the quality of sailors, and the level of naval warfare tactics were far above those of the Ming Kingdom, and the Helan fleet often fought a record of dozens of zeros in the Far East.

What's more, this time, the Dayuan fleet took the absolute initiative, and after ambushing the Ming Kingdom on the trade route to Japan, and sinking several opponents' main warships, it would then seek a decisive battle.

Almost foolproof.

"But......" Cesario was about to say something more, when he suddenly heard a cannon from the direction of the flagship, and then the speed of the entire fleet suddenly slowed down.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the second mate of the Hector rushed into the bow tower quickly, and said with a hurried expression: "Captain, the flagship just sent a signal to order everyone to turn around and return to the captain!" ”

With nineteen large ships and twelve auxiliary junks, it is not easy for such a large fleet to complete a 180-degree turn.

When the whole fleet turned south and headed for Taiwan again, Cesario's second mate had been informed of the details and was reporting to him.

"We just left, and a huge fleet surrounded the Captain?" The captain was still bowing his head in contemplation, and Kaauu was already shocked, "Could it be the Spaniards from Manila?!" ”

"No, Captain," said the second officer, "according to the person who reported it, I'm afraid it's the fleet of the Ming Kingdom." ”

"It can't be!" Kaauu shouted, "How dare these Orientals take the initiative to attack us? They couldn't have had the guts......"

"The people of the Ming Kingdom are very smart." Cesareo suddenly exclaimed, "This is their territory, they have too many ports. Even if we burn down their Chongming base, it will be only a trivial loss for them. But if the port of Geranza is attacked, it will be a catastrophe for the generals. ”

The second mate nodded immediately, "Especially since our fleet is not there yet." ”

Cesario looked at him and said, "Do you know the size of the enemy's fleet?" ”

"The report was made by a patrol ship on the periphery of the officer, but for fear of delay, it did not investigate carefully. However, they said that they saw at least two large ships of thirty guns and seven or eight small gunboats. ”

Patrick only felt a chill down his spine, "Fortunately, the sea conditions were not good yesterday, and the fleet went slowly, otherwise when the ship that reported the news caught up, the captain didn't know what would have happened......"

"It is not a problem for the port of Geranza to rely on the fort for five or six days." Cesareo was one of Bass's men in the end, and after confirming that the fight was inevitable, he quickly calmed down.

He tapped his fingers on the railing of the bow tower, squinted his eyes, and said, "The Orientals have long been prepared and have been hiding along the coast of Fujian.

"Fortunately, they are too anxious, if we wait for us to go far and launch an attack, the port may really be destroyed."

Before dark, the fleet stopped sailing - the water in the Taiwan Strait was not deep enough, and it was not safe to travel at night, even if it was urgent. The captains of all the ships gathered on board the Dordrecht and discussed urgently for most of the night under the auspices of Bess a series of tactics for the unexpected situation.

"Obviously, Mingguo's ambitions are very big." Bess concluded, "They want to defeat us and monopolize trade with Japan and Korea." Even...... Snatch the big guys.

"The fate of Helan in the Far East depends on this battle."

……

Two days later.

More than forty nautical miles northwest of the Lord, the Dordrecht met the second messenger head-on.

As soon as the messenger boarded the ship, Bess anxiously asked, "How is the big man?" ”

"The Ming fleet blocked the harbor, and yesterday two more thirty-gun battleships tried to storm the harbor and were repulsed by the battery. However, several patrol ships and merchant ships on our periphery have been lost. ”

When Bess heard that the port was fine, he felt a little relieved and asked, "So where are they now?" ”

"This, their main force suddenly headed north this morning, and we have a ship to follow, but there is no news of the report for the time being."

"Damn, they must be nearby." Beth frowned and looked around, "I'm afraid their guard ship has spotted us." ”

He said to the herald: "The main fleet is on standby upwind. Disperse the junk ship and find the enemy as soon as possible! ”

"Yes!"