December 1, Port of Recife, Brazil.

The convoy, replenished with fresh water and fresh vegetables and fruits, left the Dutch-ruled port, and then the whole fleet turned northwest and headed for the Windy Islands.

After the departure of the 2nd Escort Squadron, the two clippers in the Recife pier left the port at the first time and also sailed in a northwesterly direction. At the same time, news began to spread at a rapid pace in the harbor: that the fleet of the East Coasters had all sailed for the Caribbean, and that there were only a few fishing boats in their home port, and that perhaps everyone would have the opportunity to try their luck in the rich East Coast region.

Although the vast majority of the captains were more stable and cautious, and they had some doubts about the authenticity of this news, there were still some Dutch and British captains who were fascinated by money. In the afternoon, several boats left the Recife docks and headed south.

In the northern sea of Recife, in the bridge of the battleship "Common Market", Wang Tiehammer held binoculars and carefully observed the two clippers looming in the sea behind him. It was a schooner with a length-to-width ratio of nearly five to one and three masts, and a downwind speed of about 10 knots, faster than any ship in the convoy on the east coast.

"It's ghostly!" Wang Tiehammer muttered, and then began to order: "Hang the green following flag, turn the whole fleet 20 degrees north-east, pay attention to adjusting the sail boom, and use the crosswind to sail." ”

The convoy that had long been prepared to be watched by the enemy began to turn slowly on the surface of the sea under the orders of Wang Tiehammer.

Lieutenant Han Dezhi's battleship "Sea Writer" went first, followed by two bulky transport ships "Penglai" and "Yingzhou" loaded with potatoes and munitions; The French armed merchant ship "Nightingale" followed closely behind, and the battleship "Red Trout" sailed a few hundred meters behind the right side of the "Nightingale" to protect it; The battleship "Common Market" fell behind the most rear.

Considering the complex and dangerous situation that this escort operation will face. After some serious discussion in the Admiralty before setting sail. It was decided to abandon the popular route along the east coast of Recife – the Windward Islands – North America to the Bay of Biscay. Then chose a relatively unpopular route from Recife - Gulf of Guinea - Canary Islands - Bay of Biscay.

This route had only been sailed once by privateer fleets before, and it was difficult because it was a full voyage against the currents, and the ships had to rely on the direction of the wind to move forward. But because of this, there are also a lot less miscellaneous forces on this unpopular route, and the safety aspect is much stronger than that of the chaotic Caribbean Sea.

The entire escort formation headed east against the westerly current, and the sailors ran up and down the deck, constantly adjusting the booms. In order to make the most of the crosswind force on the sails, the six boats moved slowly at a low speed of two knots. There was only one of the two clippers left in the rear, and one was gone, perhaps to report to the fleet cruising on the surface of the sea somewhere.

Wang Tiehammer lowered his binoculars and sat back on the bridge. He hadn't expected the voyage to be smooth sailing since he set off, but the feeling of being caught by a wolf still made him feel very uncomfortable.

Of course, he was still a little nervous, and it was the first time for him to command such a large sail fleet, and he was also facing the difficult situation of the country and Britain at this time, and the pressure could be imagined. At present, the navy has such a small family background, and one less person has died. The ship sinks one less one, but it can't withstand too much tossing.

"I don't know who are the people who are watching on the sea. It is estimated that it can only be the British, and the Dutch do not have the leisure time to play hide and seek with us at sea. I don't know where the British ships are hiding, how far they are from here, and their ships are empty, and they should not be slow, and they may be able to catch up before they reach Fort Elmina in West Africa. Wang Tiehammer was bored drinking the green tea brewed by the orderlies, while thinking nonsense.

On December 5, the same clipper ship that had disappeared before reappeared in the sea behind. And at the same time as she arrived, the clipper that had been following the escort detachment for the past few days finally disappeared, and I don't know where Lu Dao went.

Yesterday, Hammer Wang ordered the Red Trout to turn around and try to attack the clipper that was following closely. However, he regretted to find that the speed of the other party's ship was really fast, and the "Red Trout" was no match at all, so he had no choice but to give up and continue to endure the shameless tracking of the other party.

Today, it is even more brazen to come and "take over" another clipper. She was close to the rear of the entire fleet almost all the day, keeping a close surveillance, much to the indignation of all the officers and men of the escort detachment.

"Our ship type still needs to be optimized." Wang Tiezhu said depressedly to his adjutant, the second lieutenant of the navy.

After saying that, he didn't wait for an answer, so he continued to mutter: "The length-to-width ratio should be enlarged to at least five to one, the center of gravity should be lowered, and the sails and spinnakers should be placed more, otherwise the speed will never be able to rise." Especially when the wind direction or ocean current is not right, you look at our speed now, it is not much different from a turtle crawling. Otherwise, let's let the two henchmen in the back despise it so much. ”

Yasushi smiled awkwardly.

He could see that Wang Tiehammer was a little nervous, he had not slept well almost every day for the past few days, and often got up from his bed in the middle of the night to go to the deck to check on the sailors on duty. During the day, he tirelessly walked around every nook and cranny of the ship, and ordered the sailors to rectify any things he deemed inappropriate, as if to release the pressure in this way.

That's the gap. An Shu sighed secretly, compared to Lieutenant Commander Lu Ming's weightlifting, Wang Tiehammer was still a little worse after all, and he couldn't do Lu Ming's calm and calm demeanor.

Wang Tiehammer chatted with Anji for a while, and then went to inspect the gun emplacements.

The next day, the escort detachment continued to sail over the Atlantic Ocean. This is already the North Atlantic Ocean north of the equator, and strong southwesterly winds have been prevailing over the sea due to the strong pressure in the South Atlantic. And it is this southwesterly wind that has provided ample power for the entire fleet so far.

Of course, southwesterly winds are not always good.

At noon on 6 December, two three-masted galleons appeared in the south-western sea, sailing at a speed of about 2.5 to 3 knots. They did not hoist any flags to identify themselves and followed unhurriedly. For this kind of ship, veteran sailors who have been running on the sea for a long time know that more than 80 percent of it is likely to be a pirate ship, and the remaining 20 percent may be a pirate ship of a certain country's warship or an armed merchant ship making a temporary cameo. In either case, you may soon be out of luck.

The appearance of these two ships made the nerves of the escort detachment tighten all at once. The gunners, on the orders of the officers, removed the gunners from the guns, and the ammunition bearers also placed the shells and cartridges in place, and the commander of each gun stared at the new "enemy" in the rear with a grim expression.

The gunner, on the other hand, stood on the gun deck in the stern, stretched out his right hand and kept gesturing, visually estimating the distance between the two sides. After that, he carefully observed the ups and downs of the sea surface and the direction and strength of the wind, so that he could be aware of the situation when shooting and strive to hit the enemy ship as soon as possible.

In the evening, due west, a three-masted galleon appeared again, and through the telescopes it was clearly visible that about 20 cast-iron cannons were placed on the deck of the galleon, and that the sailors in tattered clothes were still pointing at the ships of the escort detachment.

This situation made Wang Tiehammer very worried. There are now more and more ill-intentioned ships in sight, and in addition to the two clippers who have been keeping an eye on the back, there are also three three-masted Galen ships. These three ships are conservatively estimated to carry more than 50 guns, and although their guns are far inferior to their own in caliber, range, rate of fire, and accuracy, they will not be able to keep a few more enemy ships popping up in the next few days, which will not be good.

Wang felt that his convoy was like a herd of bison migrating across the African savannah, with fierce predators always on the back, waiting for the right moment to strike a fatal blow to him, or at least to bite a large piece of meat.

"You go at once to the boats to make contact, and when night turns northeast, all the boats turn out their lights and make no movement. The weather is not very good today, the visibility will be poor at night, we can't hesitate any longer and turn around at night to get rid of them. Otherwise, God knows how many followers will increase tomorrow. Wang Tiehammer gritted his teeth and said, the enemy behind him had given him too much pressure in the past two days, and he was almost a little unbearable.

"We're not going to Fort Elmina?" An Ju somewhat understood Wang Tiehammer's feelings, but still reminded: "We have limited fresh water and fresh fruits and vegetables on our ship, so if we don't go to Ghana, we will have to go to Cape Verde to replenish supplies." The nearby Gambia was the power of the British Guiana Trading Merchant Company (also known as the New Africa Company), where they built cities, dug for gold, and heard that there were still quite a few ships. Isn't it inappropriate for us to pass through that neighborhood......"

"Go for it, second lieutenant! I know it myself. Wang Tiehammer commanded categorically.

An Shu saluted helplessly, and then selected sailors to put down a traffic boat and rowed towards the two merchant ships of the South China Sea Transportation Company behind him. The next coordination operation will be complicated, requiring constant shuttle back and forth between each ship, and it is already more than three o'clock in the afternoon, and if you do not hurry up, it is likely that the entire coordination and liaison work will not be completed before nightfall. (To be continued......)