In November of the second year of Taichang, the sea near Brunei. 【Reading.com】

With the arrival of the peak season of maritime trade, the entire South China Sea is full of large and small merchant ships. As one of the most important trade transit points in the South Seas, Brunei has never lacked merchant ships. At its peak, more than 100 merchant ships arrived at Brunei's port every day. A large number of merchant ships docked, which naturally brought a large amount of tax revenue. The Sultan of Brunei counted the golden coins and smiled so hard that he could barely see his teeth.

The trade season is also a feast for pirates. Under the arrangement of some bigwigs with ulterior motives, the pirates in the South Seas also began to plunder the merchant ships of their own hostile forces in a planned way. The pirates in the South Seas are completely different from other regions. Their killings and plundering are all targeted at the caste, and they are definitely not generalized.

This makes those merchant ship owners who are not strong enough in the military behind them have to be more vigilant. In case of encountering the pirate fleet of hostile forces, it will be a tragedy. After all, wealth and risk have always depended on each other. As for the merchant ships of the Dutch, that, of course, was the safest. Because, their military power at sea is the most powerful.

At dawn, the pirate Esko quietly roamed the waters near Brunei with his fleet of plunderers. Like ghosts, they lurk on the calm sea, quietly waiting for their prey to pass in front of them. Esco's ships are all black on the outside, and even the sails are black. This is the most obvious sign of piracy.

As for skulls and the like, it's the preserve of pirates in the Atlantic region. The pirates of the Atlantic region are the truly completely free pirates. They are free to decide their own goals and actions, and they are responsible for everything they do. They can treat anyone as an enemy if they want to. Of course, you can also consider anyone as a friend.

And the pirates in the South Seas, in terms of surname, cannot be regarded as real pirates at all. They are nothing more than puppets subordinate to the navies of various countries. Even, some of them are simply the detachment of a certain country's navy. Their actions are subject to the constraints of the navy of the country to which they belong. At the same time, they do things according to the orders of the navy of the country to which they belong. If it is overdone, it will be subject to sanctions.

The pirate fleet led by Esko is the pirate fleet subordinate to the Dutch Navy. There was only one target for their plunder, and that was the Spaniards. In the East, the only opponent of the Dutch was the Spaniards. As long as the Spanish power is completely eliminated, the strength of the Dutch will be even higher. Therefore, in Esco's eyes, only the existence of Spanish merchant ships existed. As long as he encountered a Spanish merchant ship, he would not hesitate to attack.

It's a pity that many days have passed, and there are no Spanish merchant ships on the sea near Brunei. It is estimated that the Spaniards got some rumors and deliberately avoided the port of Brunei and went to avoid the limelight for the time being. This made Esko a little depressed and a little bored. With too much energy, he couldn't hear the sound of cannons for a day, and he didn't feel well.

Esco, like Solum, was a rising star in the Dutch navy. They were about the same age, they had been in the military academy for about the same time, they had the same grades in the military academy, they had been serving in the East for about the same time, they had been promoted to the same position after their service, and they had been secretly transferred from the Dutch Navy to Dutch pirates for about the same time...... So much so that it's almost intertwined, it's impossible for the two to not be competitors.

In fact, it was the invention of the British to quietly turn the naval reserve into pirates, using the light side to control the dark side. I don't know which insidious British thought of such a method at the beginning, and as a result, it suddenly spread among the Western powers. Strictly speaking, this arrangement of the Dutch was also learned from the British.

In the Atlantic region, many rising stars of the Royal Naval College have quietly devoted themselves to the "promising" and "lucrative" profession of piracy, constantly honing themselves. They fought through pirates, gained a wealth of combat experience, made themselves stronger, and then transformed themselves into the main force of the British Royal Navy.

It must be admitted that turning the Navy into a pirate presence is a completely unconventional approach. The navy and pirates are natural rivals. The existence of the two is very contradictory. The risk of piracy is much greater than that of the navy. Don't look at the surface scenery of pirates, in fact, behind the scenes, they may give away their lives at any time.

However, turning the navy into a pirate, at the time, often had a very noticeable effect. You must know that the growth of any genius needs to go through wind, frost, rain and snow. And pirates happen to be the best choice to experience wind, frost, rain and snow. In a dangerous pirate life, everyone will be under unprecedented pressure. Those who can survive the pressure are naturally elites. On the contrary, if it is eliminated, it can only be said that it is bad luck.

If all naval talents are cultivated in the naval fleet, firstly, there will not be so many resources and positions, and secondly, it will not be possible to design so many risks. No matter which country's navy, it is estimated that it is impossible to fight as frequently as pirates, withstand tremendous pressure like pirates, and show their surnames completely freely like pirates.

The strength of the British Navy was due precisely to the presence of a large number of British pirates. When the British Navy needed the help of pirates, the pirates could become regular British Navy. I have to admit that the pirates have too much combat experience. No matter what the situation comes its to, they can handle it with ease.

In the archives of the Royal Naval College, almost all the battles, large and small, are recorded. Examples of almost all types of battles can be found here. Even students who don't have the opportunity to go to sea can learn a lot by learning from the examples left by their predecessors. After the accumulation from generation to generation, the relevant knowledge is very impressive.

Of course, when they secretly switched from the navy to pirates, they would definitely use fake names. The name Esco, for example, is fake. As for what exactly his original name was, only the top brass of the Dutch Navy knew it. Even the Dutch governor in Batavia, Afelai, didn't know, and he thought that Esko was indeed called Esko.

In fact, a considerable part of the sailors of the entire Esco pirate fleet, the names are fake. When they turn from navy to pirates, they will have a complete program to hide their real names and appear as a different person. Only some of the natives recruited from the South Seas, or wanderers from afar, are the names real.

It is precisely because of this strange phenomenon that from time to time, the navies of various countries will have a new face and suddenly assume a very important position. Some people obviously didn't have any military rank before, and it seems that their military history is not long, and they don't have qualifications at all, but they are suddenly awarded the rank of major general and the like, commanding a detachment of fleets.

If you are an outsider, you will definitely find it very strange and feel that the promotion of ranks within the army is simply too hasty. However, if you are an insider, you will smile indifferently and understand it. There is no doubt that this is a certain outstanding guy who has finally successfully fulfilled his role as a pirate, and finally achieved the right result, and transferred from pirate to navy again.

Esco is one such guy. In his five-year career as a pirate, he has accumulated enough feats to show excellent command and combat ability. The identity of the pirate can no longer hide his existence. All the forces in Nanyang know his true identity. Therefore, the top brass of the Dutch Navy already had the interest of transferring him from a pirate to a navy, pulling him out of the dark side and existing as a genius of the Dutch Navy.

"Somro is a fool, he only deserves to be a pirate, not a navy."

This is the phrase that Esco says the most. Every time he said this, the corners of Esco's mouth would turn up slightly, giving people an unfathomable feeling.

"If I were Sorum, I would have beaten them. Somro, simply disgraced the face of our Dutch Navy. "Esco has a lot of confidence in himself.

He has only two words for his understanding of the white-clothed army and navy, and that is contempt.

The strength of the navy is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight. The strength of any country's navy requires a lot of time to precipitate. The Dutch Navy has been working hard for at least fifty years to get to where it is today. Esco, who was born in a professional class, understands this truth very well. Therefore, the white-coat navy, which was previously unknown, suddenly sent a large number of warships in a high-profile manner to intervene in the South Seas region, and Esco didn't care at all.

In Esco's eyes, the white-coated navy can only be regarded as an upstart at best, not a truly powerful navy. The number of warships is not the ultimate criterion for whether they are strong or not. Only Sorum, a fool, would be defeated in front of the white-clad navy. If the white-coated navy meets him Esco, he will definitely not be able to eat and walk around. Anyone who dared to challenge the dignity of the Dutch Navy would suffer the most severe blow.

"Doot toot!"

Just as Esko was in his thrust, a hurried whistle sounded.

The lookout post at the top of the mast is not only blowing the whistle in a hurry, but also constantly waving the dazzling red pennant. Obviously, this is a very dangerous situation.

The observation post's actions made all the pirates immediately nervous. The combat effectiveness of the Esko pirate fleet is quite not weak, and even if the naval detachment of an ordinary country encounters them, there is no way to take them. What can make the observation post feel the danger can be counted with the palm of one hand.

"Is it the Spaniard?"

Esco's first instinct was to meet an old enemy.

(To be continued)