After more than half a day, a Chinese clipper ship from Helan finally discovered the traces of the Ming fleet, and then quickly returned to convey the news.

In the narrow sea area between Tainan and Penghu, it is absolutely extremely difficult to completely hide the traces of a fleet of forty or fifty warships.

Bess took out the chart and glanced at it, and immediately his heart jumped, and he shouted loudly: "Raise the flag!" All warships remained on alert, west-north, moving with full sails. Quick, the enemy will go around to our upwind! ”

Although the suddenly approaching Daming Sailor startled him, the opponent finally appeared, but he was also "relieved", and the rest was to speak with the cannon.

The reaction of the Daming Navy Division was also very fast, and after the sudden attack was detected, they also immediately adjusted their direction, keeping a distance of seven or eight nautical miles from the Helan fleet and sailing northwest - at this time, the northeast wind was blowing in the Taiwan Strait, and the Daming Navy Division pressed on the east side of the opponent, making it easier to occupy the upper hand.

The Helan people needed to make a ninety-degree bend from the north side to block the upwind of the Ming army.

However, Bes, as a veteran of the Helan Navy, is also experienced in battle, and he is extremely patient at this time. Although the position of the Ming fleet was slightly better, as long as he kept moving north, the opponent would not be able to form a battle line to attack him.

So the two fleets sailed side by side towards the west-north, like two parallel lines.

This was the case in naval warfare in the era of sail warships, where commanders on both sides were experienced, and they would do everything they could to adjust their positions so that the wind was more favorable to them. Sometimes they can maneuver around the sea for more than half a month, and they are reluctant to enter a state of engagement.

Often, an unexpected sudden change in wind direction is the opportunity they are waiting for in the decisive battle.

But after only half a day, a smile appeared on Bes's face. Although it was not obvious, he could tell from his experience that his sailors were slightly more proficient in handling ships than the enemy.

As a result, with every slight change in wind direction, the large fleet can gain a slight advantage. If this advantage is accumulated, in three or four days at most, you will be able to reverse the opponent's positional advantage and even seize the upper hand.

It is no wonder that the Helan people, known as the coachmen of the sea, have been crisscrossing the world's oceans for nearly a hundred years, and they have been using Galen-style warships. The Daming Sailor has only been established for less than a year, and even though the Sailor Academy has a systematic training system, the sailors' sail handling and rudder control ability are still not as good as the old maritime powers.

At night, both sides slowed down, imposed light control, and sent small boats to monitor each other and wait quietly until dawn.

Just as Beth was about to continue playing the game of "Boat Control Race" with the Ming fleet, he saw a small boat coming at a fast speed. The man on board climbed aboard the Dodrechet and gasped to warn him, "General, Administrator Ovat has told you to return to the Captain immediately!" ”

Beth frowned and said, "The main force of the Ming fleet is just a few nautical miles away, what danger can there be on the side of the big man?" ”

After a day of testing, he had determined that the fleet not far away had 9 medium and large Galen ships, 20 small Galen ships, and more than a dozen Junk ships, which were definitely the main force of the Ming Kingdom.

The person who came to report the news said anxiously: "Early yesterday morning, more than a dozen small boats passed through Luermen and transported six or seven hundred Ming soldiers to Heliao Port. Now the road to the north of the Red Embedded City has been blocked! ”

Beth was surprised: "The Northern Passage has not been used for many years, how can the Ming Kingdom transport troops from there?" ”

The city of Geranza and the city of Chichiza are on the left and on the right, and each other is a horn arch guarding the bay of Geranza. If you want to land on the island of Taiwan through Geranza Bay, there are two shipping lanes to take.

The South Channel, also known as Dayuan Port, is deep and wide, and the Lan people have sent heavy troops to guard it, and a large number of forts have been built on both sides of the channel.

And at the northern end of the northern line tail island on the north side of Geranza, there is also a Luermen channel, also called the North Channel. However, this place is extremely narrow and sandy, and the big ships cannot pass through it at all, so the Helan people are extremely lax in their defense here.

Historically, Zheng Chenggong quietly landed from Luermen, cutting off the connection between Chichicheng and the north of Taiwan in one fell swoop, and laying the foundation for the initial victory.

Zhu Linmiao knew this very well, so she naturally concocted it in the same way.

However, he did not have the luck of Zheng Chenggong back then—when he encountered a high tide, he could transport thousands of troops to land. Therefore, he only sent more than a dozen small boats to transport 600 soldiers to Heliao Port.

The person who delivered the letter just said: "Probably smuggled in the night, and they were already ashore at dawn." ”

Beth said angrily: "Even if they land, it will only be six or seven hundred people, just send the soldiers in Chiji City to deal with it, and transfer my fleet back?" ”

"Captain Aldorp took five hundred soldiers to meet him, and more than ninety people died. At noon Geranza was reinforced by three hundred men, but they were still repulsed. Your Excellency had no choice but to send me to ask for help. ”

Beth was taken aback, he had seen the fighting power of the Orientals many times, and normally, three hundred Helan soldiers were enough to defeat these six or seven hundred enemies. But this time, Aldorp, who had more than 700 people in his hands, was still defeated!

And judging from Ovat's eagerness to summon the fleet back for reinforcements, I am afraid that the casualties are not light.

In fact, what he had seen before was the old army of the Ming Dynasty, but this time it was the 300 sailors of the Daming Navy Division, and he brought more than 300 cadets from the Navy Academy. The weapons they used were the latest rifled guns, and they also brought a few No. 1 Furlong cannons and a large number of earth-shattering thunders, and their combat command ability was even better than that of the Helans.

They fought back Aldorp without a fight, and then began their march towards the Red Castle. Although they can't do anything about the fortress of the Red Embedded City, the Red Embedded Towns around the fortress are at their mercy.

The Helan people wanted to fight with them in the streets, but they were accurately sniped by the rifled guns, so they had to retreat into the fortress in embarrassment.

Owat was worried that the Ming army would continue to land behind, so he sent people to recall the main fleet overnight to cut off the Ming army's sea transportation line.

When the messenger got off the ship, Bess's adjutant Brahm said urgently: "General, we can't just return to the ship, that will ......"

"I will hand over the upwind to the Ming fleet, I know." Beth closed his eyes and sighed, looking quite calm, "Give the order, quickly approach the enemy ship and seek a decisive battle." ”

He watched Brahm turn around and leave the captain's room, but his heart was turbulent, just a few days of fighting, why did he feel that he was always led by the nose by these Orientals...... It is not known how big the fleet losses will be in the case of a loss in the direction of the wind.

Surround the point to send reinforcements, it is still Zhu Linmiao's old formula, but it is still very effective.

Soon, the Dordrecht raised the command flag, and the entire Holan fleet immediately sailed, skillfully joined end to end, formed a standard battle line, and quickly turned due east.

Their goal was very clear, the head of the fleet was pointing south-east, the tail was facing north-west, and the wind was eaten on the side of the ship, pressing on the northeast side of the Ming fleet.