On October 1, 1651, the battleship "Rock of Cádiz" delicately made an arc on the surface of the sea and sailed out to sea.

Strongen (formerly John. Captain Ston had been the captain of the Spaniard-captured warship for more than four years, and he had been a drunken pirate captain many years ago, and after years in the East Coast Navy, he had no idea that he would have the opportunity to return to the captaincy - especially since this was a converted sail warship with 40 guns and guns.

The Rock of Cádiz was originally the flagship of the fleet in La Plata, but after being captured in the Second East-West War, the East Coasters modernized it with the addition of a "Popeye-2" steam propulsion system, which made the ship steam-powered. Since then, the "Cádiz Rock" no longer has to test the captain's skill and courage when turning, turning, entering and leaving the port in bad weather, and they can use steam power to adjust, which is more than a grade stronger than sail-powered boats.

At the end of last year, the ship arrived at Heishui Port with the new migrant ships from the mainland, and Wei Boqiu still took the same ship to Dinghai when he went south. With a displacement of more than 900 tons, the Cadiz Rock is also very new, completed in 1624 at the shipyard in Havana, and its hull is made entirely of Brazilian sumac wood (this wood is dense, corrosion-resistant, insect-resistant and resilient), and the interior is also made of high-quality walnut wood, which is extremely expensive.

The 258-man battleship is now officially part of the Blackwater Temporary Task Force. and to replace the frigate gunboat "Red Trout" (captured from the Peruvian fleet nearly twenty years ago) as the flagship of the fleet - this was a matter of course, because the ship was a first-class ship in the Far East at this time, and the Dutch East India Company was at least not more than 800 tons in the Far East at this time. The largest Manila galleons are just over 400 tons, and they are like children and adults compared to the 40-gun "Cadiz Rocks".

Today, the waters of the Liaohai Sea are calm, and this powerful warship, which can change the outcome of a small and medium-sized naval battle, has just returned from the Jinzhou area and has now traveled to the waters east of Chrysanthemum Island. Captain Stern has ordered the end of this routine patrol and is ready to sail back to Yantai Port to do a maintenance before the migrant ship departing in late October.

And at this very time. The lookout on the top mast immediately issued an early warning: "There are ships ahead, and the number is one." Galen type, with weapons! Repeated, there were ships in front of them, and the number was one. Galen type, with weapons! With that, he rang the bell in his hand again.

A group of officers, including Captain Stanton, immediately rushed to the railing of the three-story bridge, and raised their binoculars in unison to look ahead. The appearance of a Galen ship equipped with cannons on the surface of the Liaohai Sea is in itself a very strange thing, and Captain Strongon and others can determine that the warships on the east coast of the northern ocean have recently been concentrated on the coast of Korea for armed deterrence, and the remaining warships are also stationed in the area of Hangzhou Bay. On the ocean near Jinzhou, a sail Galen ship actually appeared. That's interesting, is it the Dutch?

Two years earlier, the East Coasters had captured the Dutch East India Company's ship Castellik near the Changshan Islands. The ship's full load of weapons and dozens of Western mercenary officers were detained by Yantai. After interrogation, it was learned that this was a ship that went to Jinzhou to trade with the Qing State, and there were not only instructors on board who helped the Qing State carry out military modernization and reform (whether the Qing court accepted it or not was another matter), but also a large number of artillery, arquebuses, flintlock pistols and other weapons.

After learning the news, Shao Shude was furious and immediately sent people to Taiwan to negotiate with the Dutch, who apologized at that time. And repeatedly stated that it was the personal act of Captain Fries, and had nothing to do with the company itself. That's it. Of course, Shao Shude knew that the Dutch were talking nonsense with their eyes open, but considering that they had to import rice from the Dutch to maintain the food balance in the Heishui area at that time, and the route of the migrant ships also passed through the waters near Taiwan, it was unwise to have a bad relationship with the Dutch, so he temporarily endured this breath.

Unexpectedly, just about a year after the end of the negotiations, the Dutch regained their old ways and sent a ship to Jinzhou to trade with the Qing State, how could this be endured - although Captain Stern had not intercepted the ship, he had already decided in his heart that this was a trade ship sent by the Dutch, because there was no second Western power nearby except the Dutch.

"Pull in, wave the flag, and ask them to stop the ship for inspection!" Captain Strongen lowered the binoculars on his chest, drew the command knife at his waist, and shouted, "If they refuse, fire!" ”

The gunners answered the order, hurried to the deck, and directed the sailors to begin intense pre-battle preparations.

The "enemy ships" got closer and closer, but they did not have the slightest intention of slowing down, but instead adjusted their booms and accelerated towards the north with the strong southeast wind. This act immediately angered the sailors on the east coast of the "Cadiz Rock", who saw the boatswain running around and loudly instructing the sailors to adjust the sail boom and move towards the enemy ship. The chief engineer also went down to the engine room, ordered to increase the boiler pressure, and went at full speed!

"Boom!" A column of water soared to the side of the enemy ship. It was a naval gunner's corrective test firing and a warning to the enemy ship to quickly drop sail and slow down. Unfortunately, the enemy ships paid no attention to this, and instead threw some bulky supplies into the sea, and their attempt to escape was clearly revealed.

"Boom! Rumble! "A few more test shots. The closer and closer the shells to the enemy ship showed that the gunners had found the feeling of shooting, and by this time the "Cadiz Rock" itself was getting closer and closer to the enemy ship. At this time, the people on the east coast had basically given up their efforts to peacefully intercept the enemy ships and planned to settle the matter by force.

There was a crisp sound, and a glass window outside the bridge of the "Cadiz Rock" was shattered by a cannonball fired from the enemy ship - the people on the east coast fired at least a dozen shells first, but they didn't expect the enemy to hit the first hit unexpectedly - but this did not make the officers and officers of the ship standing here afraid, men at sea, life and death are ordinary, and this little battle can't frighten a group of old fur seals on the "Cadiz Rock".

"Fire!" The gunners waved down the command knife in his hand vigorously, and immediately heard a loud rumbling sound, and more than 10 guns on the starboard side of the "Cadiz Rock," which had already been in place, opened fire one after another, and the sea was filled with gunsmoke for a while.

Due to the close proximity between the two sides, the hollow iron bullets fired had a high hit rate, and they were scattered all over the enemy ship: the bow, the side side, the mast, the canvas, the rudder cabin, and so on. There were only seven or eight guns on the enemy's ships, and all of them were small-calibre, so the counterattack was extremely weak and weak, and it hardly caused any substantial damage to the east coasters.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! Another round of bullets fell, and the sailors who came and went on the deck of the enemy ship suddenly exclaimed. Captain Stern had already seen very clearly at this time, the enemy was all European faces, and it could not be the Dutch! Then you can't let them run!

A powerful warship with 40 guns bullying a civilian ship that is at best an armed merchant ship is not like a joke. Thus, an hour later, the "Cadiz Rock" sank the unidentified enemy ship at a slight cost of 2 dead and 11 wounded - the enemy surrendered without a white flag from beginning to end. However, this was not a big problem, because the boat dropped on the "Cadiz Rock" quickly caught some sailors who had fallen overboard on enemy ships, and it was not difficult to find out the truth after the war with a little interrogation.

"After rescuing the people who fell into the water, the interrogation was carried out immediately. At the same time, the ship temporarily patrolled the vicinity for two days and returned to Yantai Port two days later. Captain Ston stepped off the bridge and stood on deck to give orders, and the first mate quickly conveyed his order.

On October 7, the "Cadiz Rocks", which had finished its cruise to sea (apparently they did not encounter any more Dutch ships), slowly sailed into the port of Yantai, and Shao Shude, who was working in the city, was immediately informed of the interrogation report submitted by Captain Stun, and the sailor prisoners were handed over to the gendarmerie on the docks.

"It's so arrogant!" Shao Shude stood up suddenly, slapped the desk made of fish scales and pines in Sakhalin Island, and said angrily: "Are you fooling us as three-year-olds? I promised to be good before, but I talked like a fart! If it weren't for the Zheng clan's siege of Fujian this time, and the ships were all over the southeast coast, this Dutch probably wouldn't have changed the place of trading with the Tartars to Jinzhou, let alone let us bump into it! ”

Peng Yuanzhi, Shao Shude's secretary and the son of former army boss Peng Zhicheng, picked up the interrogation report that was swept away by Shao Shude on the ground, glanced at it quickly, and then immediately put it on the table.

"This Dutchman is really not like talking, and he has been hooking up with the Manchus. But then again, the old man wouldn't really believe the promise made by the Dutch a year ago, would he? The Qing court promised to export raw silk, tea, and porcelain to them, and at the same time buy muskets and cannons from them. I think the old man has already figured out that he has only been buying food from the Dutch, and he is just pretending to be confused. What is the reason for taking the opportunity to attack again? Is it possible to go to war with the Dutch? Can't it, we don't have any extra troops to attack in this black water......" The young secretary peeked at Shao Shude and began a nervous analysis.

"The prohibition of trade with the Qing court is our bottom line, and no one will be allowed to disobey it! Xiao Peng, give me the order to record! Shao Shude waved his hand at his secretary, and then said: "Major Liu Haiyang of the Southern Theater Command, before the end of early November at the latest, will draw out a powerful ship and go to Fort Geranza to negotiate with the Dutch, and warn them for the last time to ban trade with the Manchus, if the Dutch do not agree, we reserve the right to freedom of action!" The Qing soldiers did not dare to march eastward in Qingzhou Mansion, and Dengzhou's harvest of grain in autumn this year is a foregone conclusion. The general meaning is like this, Xiao Peng, you will send it to Ningbo after you polish it. ”

Peng Yuanzhi replied softly, he privately felt that this time the Dutch might not agree lightly - maybe they didn't even bother to do the superficial work - then things would not be good, if they didn't say it well, they would slide into the abyss of war. (To be continued)