In the strait, Zheng Chenggong's fleet had just turned northeast, and the Spanish Far East fleet had also begun to turn northeastward, intending to turn around the bay, avoid the right-wing formation from the southwest, and break out of the encirclement from the northwest corner of the strait.

Over the years, judging from the experience of the West and the Ming Dynasty, Duke Alva knew that even if he was strong and sharp, he would be invincible with two fists and four hands, not to mention that the other party did not only have four hands, but I am afraid that there were forty hands.

The Far Eastern Fleet must not fall into the encirclement of the Orientals, the Dutch were beaten and crippled by groups in Liuluo Bay and on the island of Taiwan, and he could not follow in the footsteps of the Dutch.

Duke Alva knew that he could not be encircled, so he immediately decided to break out, and it has to be said that his decision was very correct.

Twenty Spanish warships, turning half a bay on the surface of the sea, followed in a semicircle, turned eastward to northeast, then to north, and finally to northwest, and rushed diagonally out of the strait.

The formation of the ships also changed from a formation of geese, with the bows of the ships marching in unison, chasing the Luzon sailors, into a diagonal line, like a sharp arrow to shoot out.

Just as the Spaniards had completed their turn, Zheng Chenggong's forty warships also turned around and began to chase the Spaniards in turn.

The cannons in front of the forty warships fired in unison, the hull of the ship vibrated and spewed flames, the projectiles roared out from the rising gunsmoke, and the iron bullets weighing more than ten pounds flew close to the sea, quickly closing the distance between them and the Spanish warships.

The tail of the flute-shaped warship quickly enlarged, becoming more and more clear, and even the cannon sticking out of the gun window at the stern could be seen, and at this moment, the whistling cannonballs flew lower and lower, and at a distance of more than 100 meters from the stern, they successively drilled into the water, splashing a column of water several feet high.

Of course, there were also shells that hit the stern of the Spaniards, which broke through the deck and burrowed into the cabin and swept everything.

"Boom, boom!" Zheng Chenggong finished firing a round of cannons, and the tail of the flute-shaped boat began to fire violently.

Forty ships braved the fire and sails in pursuit, but the Spaniards were fast, Zheng Chenggong's ships were slow, and after a few rounds of shelling, the Spanish warships were out of the range of the eighteen-pounder redcoat guns, leaving Zheng Chenggong behind.

On the southern shore of the strait, the right-wing formation, which had rushed out of an unknown bay on Mindanao, had just gone to sea and was riding the wind and waves, when the situation in the east began to change, and the Spaniards and Zheng Guogong turned to the northwest at the same time.

On the Fuhai, Wang Yi, the general in charge of the Luzon command, immediately understood that the Spaniards were going to flee along the north shore of the strait.

He immediately sneered and gave the order, "The fleet will turn north and intercept the Spaniards fleeing to the northwest." ”

On the Sanhe, the black donkey standing on the mainmast overlooking the bucket had bright eyes, the scorching sun tanned him, and the sweat glistened in the sun, he noticed the situation at sea, and hurriedly shouted to the deck: "Second brother, the Spaniards are going to run!" ”

Immediately afterwards, he shouted again: "Second brother, Fuhai gives the order, turn north!" ”

Of the more than 250 sea-going ships on the right flank, the Sanhe did not rush to the front, but was sandwiched between the ships, and the sails and sea-boats in front of him obscured his vision, and the surrounding situation was conveyed by the black donkeys on the lookout.

Gao Yihuan immediately shouted: "Turn the rudder left!" ”

The Triad quickly began to turn the rudder as well, the sailors unfastened the halyards and turned the sails, and the whole fleet pointed its bow diagonally forward to the Spanish fleet, intercepting them before the Spanish fleet could break through.

The whole right flank was in an uproar, the sailors untied the sail ropes to change the direction of the sails, the rudder board at the stern of the ship swayed, and the ship took advantage of the wind and the drag caused by the rudder board, quickly turned, and the sails rushed north, and the right flank fleet and the Spanish fleet quickly approached.

On board the St. Philip, Duke Alva shifted his attention from the Luzon sailors behind the tail to the right-wing fleet that wanted to intercept him.

He was holding his glasses to observe, and on the table next to him, a nautical chart was spread, and several officers were busy surveying and calculating.

In a matter of moments, several straight lines had appeared on the chart, as well as angles, which were combined into a triangle, on which an officer calculated directly with a formula.

It can be seen that the short line is the route of the right flank flotilla, and the hypotenuse is the route of the Spaniards, and the meeting point of the two lines is the point where the right flank flotilla intercepts the Spaniards, but the route of the right flank flotilla is short, but their speed is slow, while the route of the Spaniards is long, but fast.

The officers of the Spaniards only had to calculate at what angle the fleet would sail at the speed of the two fleets in front of them, and they would be able to pass the meeting point first, and they would be able to get rid of the obstruction of the right flank flotilla.

It has to be said that in this regard, the Spaniards were much more professional and precise than the Ming army and the Luzon sailors.

The Chinese do things, almost fine. In this kind of naval warfare, a rough estimate is made, but the West is making precise calculations.

In this way, they can indeed reduce many errors, avoid many mistakes, and expand the chances of victory in the war.

At this time, the officer in charge of the calculation suddenly stopped his pen and straightened up with a smile, "Your Excellency Commander, sailing at the current angle, their speed can't stop the fleet at all!" ”

Duke Alva smiled with satisfaction, and disdainfully the Oriental in his heart, "Haha, order the fleet to sail at full speed and break out of the encirclement first!" Speaking of this, a fierce color flashed on his face, and he said in a deep voice: "Then use the advantage of range and speed to teach them a lesson." ”

Hearing that they could break out of the encirclement, the Spanish officers on the command platform were relieved and a little angry at the same time.

Seeing the ambush, the officers were all startled, and they all complained in their hearts, the damned Orientals want to fight more and less, play some conspiracy, and when they rush out, they must make them look good.

"Not good, Your Excellency Commander, there is also an enemy fleet in the northwest direction!"

Just when the Duke of Alva and the Spaniards on the ship breathed a sigh of relief, the soldiers on the lookout shouted again, which instantly made the entire Spanish fleet happy and sad.

With a stiff smile on his face, Duke Alva hurried to the side of the ship, looked in the direction of the fleet, and saw that a dark shadow also appeared in the northwest direction.

Needless to say, this is the left flank flotilla hiding on the north shore, and they and the right flank flotilla are like a gate to the strait, and the left and right flanks will be closed, and the Spanish fleet will be locked in it.

Duke Alva's face was distorted, "Damn, how can this be!" ”

The officers on the side quickly gathered around the table without his orders, and the rangefinder picked up the telescope and other tools to measure the distance, used a ruler for the drawing, and then drew a few more lines on the chart, and then began to calculate, but this time it was not solved.

The speed of the Spanish fleet was not enough to break out of their encirclement before the two enemy fleets locked the strait.

"Your Excellency, Commander!" The calculating officer sweated on his forehead and said in a trembling voice: "The fleet is surrounded!" ”

When the Spaniards on board heard this, their faces were flustered, and some of them did not believe it, so they crowded to the table and calculated it themselves, but after a while, they were depressed.

The Spanish fleet was powerful, but it was not strong enough to fight more than 600 enemy ships with twenty ships, and they immediately thought of the picture of themselves being beaten by a group.

Duke Alva saw that his subordinates were panicked, and his originally gloomy face was put away, and he suddenly said: "Don't panic, the enemies are all small boats, we can crash them away." Ordered the fleet to turn to the west and directly ram and break through! ”

There was an interception in front and a pursuer in the back, and the Spaniards had no choice. From the moment they entered the strait, their fate was already sealed, they may have been very delicate and excellent in tactical details, but they were wrong in the overall situation of the whole campaign, and that exquisite detail could not save them from defeat.

The Spanish fleet had already lost the battle from the moment they entered the encirclement, and now the difference was how far they would be defeated and how many ships would break out of the encirclement.

It was discovered that the Ming fleet appeared in the northwest, and the route for the Spanish fleet to break through from the northwest corner was blocked, and the Spaniards decisively rushed directly to the west.

This change made him get closer to the flotilla on the right flank, and the closer and closer distance gave the personnel on the flotilla on the right flank a sense of tension.

"Copy guy, get ready for war! The king has an order, a head of fifty taels, all for Lao Tzu to fight! "Next to the Sanhe, on a lucky ship, a short, stout and dark-skinned man, wielding a broken axe, shouted loudly, even Gao Yihuan could hear it.

On the Sanhe number, Gao Laosan also began to order, "Prepare more fire bottles and prepare short ladders!" ”

On the decks of the ships, the sailors and guards were howling, waving their weapons to give themselves courage, and at this moment, the Spanish fleet in the distance, the lowest row of guns, but there was a loud "boom".

Those were the 24-pounder guns of the Spaniards, and when I saw their cannons retreat suddenly, the hull of the ship trembled, and the smoke in the gun window was filled, and more than 20 pounds of iron bullets roared in, splashing columns of water in the middle of the fleet.

Gao Yihuan only heard a loud noise, and the mast of the lucky ship next to him was broken, and the sailors on the bucket screamed in surprise that the sailors on the deck scattered in a hurry as the mast fell into the sea······

(Ask for a monthly pass, recommend, subscribe, thank you for your support, ask for a genuine subscription.) ）

(End of chapter)