The drums sounded in the city, and the proprietors of several large merchants on the side of the dock were also invited into the city by the soldiers, presumably to discuss the matters of the war.

Gao Yihuan, a small business on a boat, was not qualified to participate, so he stayed on the ship and began to arrange for the newly recruited manpower.

Now his ship had twenty-two guns, one eighteen-pounder gun in the bow and stern, four eighteen-pounder guns and six twelve-pounder guns on each flank, of which the heavy guns were in the center and the small cannons were placed on both sides to keep the ship balanced.

Such artillery is naturally not comparable to those naval warships, but among the merchant ships, it is also considered to be the best.

At this time, there were a total of eighty-eight people on the ship, and it was natural that so many people would not be needed to go to sea in normal times, but this time it was a war, so Gao Yihuan recruited thirty more guards to prepare to deal with the vicious battle on the side.

He arranged on the ship, and in about two hours the lords of the merchants who had entered the city came out of the city.

Soon after, the Luzon government began to post an article that the firms that came to help the war this time would be exempted from commercial taxes by 30% in the next three years, and those who had major merits would also be rewarded.

The sailor is a gold-swallowing beast, and Zhu Yihai's small Luzon court can't afford to raise it at all, which may also be a compromise between the small Luzon court and various merchants, in order to reduce taxes and reduce taxes instead of military spending.

After a short time, a small official came to the dock, got on Gao Yihuan's boat, and then gave him a blue flag, leaving a small flag officer on the boat, and then said: "The Sanhe firm is incorporated into the right wing, and the green flag is hung, and the Fuhai of Quanzhanghui is the main ship of the right wing. ”

Fujianese people are the main force to Luzon, and they like to hold together, there are various hometown associations, and Quanzhang will be one of the larger ones, with nearly 100 merchant ships.

Gao Yihuan nodded yes, but then asked, "This lord, when will we leave, and what are the odds of winning?" ”

The junior officer glanced at him, and then said: "Don't worry, not only our Luzon, but also the Daming Water Division will also come to fight, Zheng Guogong has already gone to Surabaya to contact, and when Guogong comes back, it is estimated that there will be a war, you take advantage of this time, just prepare well." ”

After saying that, the petty officer turned around and got off the boat and went to the ship next to him to issue the flag.

At the beginning of October, Zheng Chenggong returned to Luzon from Surabaya, and on the 10th, the Luzon sailors finally lifted anchor from the harbor and headed for Sulu.

This campaign can be said to be the strength of the whole country, dispatching more than 600 ships, but the real main force is actually only about 50 ships, and the rest are armed merchant ships of various merchants.

Decades ago, the mighty Spanish Armada was defeated by the British pirates, and that battle was the first battle in which Britain blocked the fortunes of the country. In this battle, Luzon recruited hundreds of armed merchant ships, which can be said to be a battle that blocked the national fortunes, but the huge Spanish empire did not carry out, and only the Far Eastern Fleet composed of thirty warships participated in this battle.

At this time, in the harbor, the ships have lifted anchor and raised their sails, the sailors on the Sanhe are manipulating neatly, Gao Yihuan and Gao Laosan stand on the ship tower and overlook, Zheng Chenggong's ship Zhenhai has been full sail, fifty sailing warships, driving out of the bay in a mighty way, leaving a trail of wake, facing the sun to the south, particularly dazzling, very spectacular.

"Second brother, the Fuhai has given the order!" The black donkey in the mainmast suddenly shouted downward.

Gao Yihuan turned his head to see that a large ship combining Chinese and Western on the left had already raised its sails and sailed away from the dock, and the sea ships with green flags nearby also left the dock one after another, so he turned his head and waved his hand and said loudly: "Anchor, sail!" ”

The sailors on deck rose one after another and pulled the gangplanks on the dock back to the ship, cutting them off from the land.

Chen Guigui, who was covered in tendons, stood up, turned the car with a few men, and slowly pulled up the big iron anchor that sank into the water, Zhao Si and other sailors pulled up the bamboo sails, and several guards picked up the bamboo poles and vigorously pushed the boat away from the dock.

At this time, Zhao Si and the others raised the bamboo rib hard sail, the sea breeze blew, the sail swayed, and immediately moved, and when the sail surface was adjusted, the speed of the sea boat was quickly raised, and it was difficult to chase the fast horse.

The sailors on the ship tied the sail rope to the ship's pile, straightened up, and saw that in the entire harbor, hundreds of sea ships were marching at the same time, thousands of sails out to sea, which was spectacular, and people could not help but admire.

Gao Yihuan stood on the ship's floor, in front of him was the sea and the sky, the endless sea, and beside him were the sea ships that went hand in hand with him, he was in the midst of hundreds of sea ships, looking at the thousands of sails covering the sea, his heart couldn't help but stir.

This is a great era, it belongs to the era of great navigation, and he belongs to this era, one day, he will also master so many sea ships, sail to every corner of the sea, conquer the sea, and create his own career.

The entire fleet was divided into three parts, the main force was the Luzon naval division led by Zheng Chenggong himself, and the left and right flanks were more than 200 merchant ships of the firm.

Soon after going to sea, Zheng Chenggong's main warship sailed with the ships on both wings for a long time, and then sailed towards the Sulu Sea, leaving the left and right wings to sail behind.

After Gao Yihuan ran across the South Seas, he understood that although the Fu ship had many positions and a wide body that allowed him to carry more cargo and was relatively stable, it was not as fast as Xiyi's flute-shaped ship in terms of speed.

If you want to make a comparison, the Fuchuan is the infantry at sea, while the Western clipper is the ranger, the opponent's artillery is powerful, plus the speed of the voyage, there are many advantages like cavalry.

They can run if they can't win, and if they win, they can't run away, so in the naval battle, although the Luzon sailors have many ships, they don't have any obvious advantages.

Gao Yihuan estimated that Zheng Guogong wanted to lure the enemy, and the left and right wings may be responsible for setting up an ambush, so he invited Gao Laosan and others to discuss tactics.

The sailors on the ship removed their gun suits, and the black and shiny guns were displayed in front of everyone.

These are all sharp weapons, but Gao Yihuan estimates that in this battle, it should not be of much use, they should not have a chance to fight with the Spaniards on the side of the gun, they must be full sails, rush up, take advantage of the large number of boats, close to the battle.

There are not many qualified gunners on the Sanhe, and this time it can only be regarded as experiencing a big scene and cultivating talents for the future development of the company.

"All the squad leaders are here!" Gao Yihuan stood on the boat tower and shouted down.

After a while, eight men came over from the deck, and everyone gathered around Gao Yihuan.

The conditions on the ship were limited, Gao Yihuan gathered around the table with them, and asked, "How many big ships have seen Xiyi?" ”

Among the eight men, only four of them raised their hands, all of them were old brothers from the past, Gao Yihuan glanced at them, and took out a picture, which was drawn with a brush, which was very ugly, but the basic outline could be seen.

He unfolded it, showed it to the crowd, and then said, "This is what the big ship of Xiyi looks like, very thin, to a section of sugar cane, but he is bigger and faster than ours. ”

As he spoke, he saw a teapot on the wooden tray on the table, so he took it down, put it in the middle, and said, "It's not very similar, I'll just look at it." Then he took down an upside-down teacup and placed it next to the teapot, "In terms of size, you will think of this teapot as a Spanish warship, and the teacup as our ship." He looked up at the crowd and asked, "Do you understand?" ”

Several leaders nodded, and Gao Laosan frowned, "Second brother, the gap is a bit big!" If this is hit, it will definitely be knocked over, and he is so tall that even if we get close, we can't be on the side, like a siege! ”

The others looked at the teapot and the teacup, the gap was too big, and they all shook their heads.

Gao Yihuan approvingly glanced at Gao Laosan, this product still has some growth, he waved his hand to make everyone quiet, and then put the remaining three teacups on the side around the teapot, and said with a smile: "What about this?" What are you panicking about? The Spaniards have big ships, but we have many ships! ”

A few teacups were around, and several people became bold again, Gao Laosan scratched his head, and said anxiously: "Second brother, what do you want us to do, just say it directly!" ”

Gao Yihuan picked up the teapot, knocked the cup in front of him open, and explained: "When fighting, we must have the advantage of having more ships, and we will rush up, and the boat operator must be careful, we can't drive to the front of the Spanish warship, we can't hit them, but we can't follow behind, our ship is slow, they have heavy artillery in the stern, and they can only eat cannonballs!" ”

As he spoke, he picked up the cup next to the teapot and continued, "Our chance is on the side, and only by leaning up from here can we have a chance!" ”

After speaking, Gao Yihuan stood up, "Zhao Si, you can operate the boat well, the third child, Xiyi's boat is high, you have to climb to climb to get on it, you go and change those poles into short ladders, and they are mostly hooked." ”

Several people nodded, "Second brother, I know!" ”

Gao Yihuan bowed slightly, and looked at several newly recruited guards, "Do you dare to kill?" ”

Several people didn't expect the shipowner to suddenly ask like this, and they didn't reply for a while, but in the next second, a white light flashed, and the table in front of Gao Yihuan where the tea set was placed was instantly cut in half.

The second brother Gao shook his throat, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and looked at the Japanese who put the knife back into the sheath in a handsome posture, and he was also startled, gave a thumbs up, and stammered a little: "Watari ~ Watanabe-kun, well, it's good!" ”

(End of chapter)