When he saw the coastline of Luzon from a distance, Cruise felt as happy as the clear sky. If the Lord is right, they will rest here for three to five months, and then he and his
The companions will embark on a journey to conquer that huge empire of ignorance.
Cruz is a Portuguese, but at this moment, he is not in the Portuguese fleet. He appears on this huge fleet as an advisor. This is proud of his last experience of returning safely from the East to Lisbon.
For an advisory officer like him, there are at least hundreds of people in this fleet. No one feels out of place when he is here. Well, he even feels like he belongs.
The Spanish Far East Fleet, no, it should be called the Spanish Expeditionary Fleet now, is composed of thirty-four large and small ships. Cruz has reason to be proud. Since mankind entered the history of civilization, this is probably the greatest
A fleet. In this great fleet, the smallest sailing ship has a displacement of more than 200 tons, while the largest flagship "Queen of Glory" has a huge displacement of 1,500 tons. The first ship that day
He still remembers the thrilling feeling he felt when he first saw such a fleet forming a formation and sailing on the vast ocean.
The companions around him cheered loudly and gestured towards the increasingly clear coastline in the distance. Cruise smiled slightly and kicked aside a cable under his feet. These companions who had never been to the East
He could understand his feelings. His lordship had conquered the outrageously wealthy India with just a few ships and less than a thousand men. But this time, the expedition fleet had more than four thousand men. In this wealthy and ignorant country,
In the East, what else can stop them from dreaming of glory and wealth!
"Be careful, the Governor may not see the flag of the fleet clearly and hit it with a cannon!" He made a joke, and everyone laughed.
Yes, this is no longer the desolate and inhabited islands during the journey, nor is it full of dark-skinned natives who don’t know what civilization is. This is a Spanish colony, and the most trusted deputy of the Fleet Commander, His Excellency Lord St. Anzi
Sir Antonio is now the governor of this colony, and this will be where they will be stationed in the next few months. They all feel like they are at home. Who would go to their own door and worry about their family facing them?
Launched an attack.
Good things don't work, bad things work. Before everyone's laughter stopped completely, they heard a muffled sound on the shore in the distance, and then, in Cruise's eyes, a few small black spots rose up on the shore.
In the smoke, it came towards the fleet.
The shell did not hit any ship. It fell into the water dozens of feet in front of Cruise's warship, stirring up high water columns. However, although this shelling did not achieve any results, it caused the entire fleet to
Everyone became nervous.
The battleship Cruise was on was the vanguard fleet. The main force of the fleet was still far behind. While retreating hurriedly, the battleship also sent a message to the main fleet behind it. Although it was attacked, the captain of the battleship
But they didn't know whether they should fight back. In their opinion, the artillery fire from the shore was more of a warning than an attack. Perhaps, the colonial soldiers made a wrong judgment!
"It's not a mistake in judgment!"
On the castle-like flagship, Lord St. Anzi, standing on the high bridge, put down the telescope in his hand, "I didn't see our soldiers, nor did I see the flag of our kingdom flying. No matter how bad Antonio is, he will
It is impossible to regard our fleet as an enemy!"
With an expressionless face, he expressed his judgment to a group of subordinates around him: "Something happened in the colony!"
Something happened, what happened, the resistance of the indigenous people, the rebellion of the soldiers, or the invasion of pirates? No one asked these questions, the subordinates just looked at their commander with solemn faces and listened quietly to the running orders.
Soldier, sent over the inquiry from the vanguard fleet.
"Black Tulip asked the flagship if it could fight back!"
"Mars sent a signal. It was attacked by unknown armed forces in front. Please ask the flagship and follow-up fleet to stop operations and request orders from the flagship!"
"Free attack!" Saint Anqi said calmly. For an attack of this scale, it would be a shame for him to issue specific orders to direct the battle. Just a few warships would be enough to wipe out all the attackers.
.
The fleet's artillery fired, and hearing the rumble of the cannons, Saint Anzi's expressionless, thin face couldn't help but smile.
The Far East Fleet returned to Lisbon, and the staggering wealth it brought back was an important reason for this expedition. Of course, a very small part of this wealth was fed back to the fleet he led. The original fleet equipment
A large number of Pirill cannons and breech-loading cannons were eliminated in large numbers, and what replaced them were more advanced, faster-firing, and more powerful muzzle-loading cannons - cannons. In addition to maintaining the fleet's personnel killing capabilities
A portion of the Peril guns were retained, and basically the entire fleet was replaced with cannons.
Not to mention, the number of artillery pieces has also been greatly increased. The number of artillery pieces in the entire fleet has exceeded one thousand. Compared with the current expedition fleet, the previous Far East Fleet is like a beggar meeting the emperor.
There is just such a big difference.
Of course, the most important thing is not artillery. In today's ocean, the most effective tactic to defeat the enemy is not artillery tactics. Artillery is just an important suppression tool. The standard tactics of the Spanish Navy are of course the invincible boarding battle and surprise attack.
, charging, using the sharp collision angle of the ship's bow and the strong hull to smash and sink the enemy ship, or directly send the brave Spanish soldiers to the enemy's deck, that was his favorite tactic.
And the formidable collision angle on every battleship of the expedition fleet has not been put to use yet!
I don’t know if there is any enemy in the far east who can be called a rival, who can fight against my invincible fleet!
Looking at the coast submerged in artillery fire in the distance, Saint Anqi smacked his lips slightly, feeling a little regretful. Thinking about it, there should be no such thing. Even if his main opponent this time, the ignorant and decadent huge empire, the battle with the kingdom would only end.
I'm afraid it's mainly on land, and their navy has long ceased to exist in name only.
…
"General Jinu'er, what's going on with Manlajia? Our next stop is to go there and have a look. I seem to have heard that something unpleasant happened somewhere?"
Qian Wubing picked up the wine glass with a smile and asked Jinu'er, whose face was flushed after several glasses of Ming Dynasty wine. In the past few days, because he brought soldiers here every day to receive training from Qian Wubing's subordinates, Jinu'er
The slaves and Qian Wubing were becoming more and more familiar with each other. After a few glasses of wine, Qian Wubing asked the question in such an undisguised manner, not worrying at all that the man was overthinking.
"Master Qian, you really asked the right person about this. By the way, this wine of yours is very good. We also have the wine given by His Majesty that can compare with this wine. Others can't compare!"
Said with tongue in cheek.
"Okay, drink more!" Qian Wubing smiled and filled a glass for Ji Nuer: "Are there any Spaniards over there in Manlajia?"
"Of course there are, there are quite a few, and they were beaten to a pulp. I heard that their king fled to the mountains, and many people died!" Jinu'er laughed and drank the wine: "However, Spain
The people didn’t get much benefit, and they were also on tenterhooks there. The problem is, this is a trivial matter. Manlajia can’t compare with our Boni. My uncle is wise and powerful, and I don’t know how he is better than their king..."
"This, you can see it, you can see it!" Qian Wubing said with a smile.
"Isn't that right? Instead of driving away the foreign enemy, they started fighting among themselves. Several princes and Uncle Wang each gathered a group of people and beat them to a mess. The king was all framed. The Spaniards didn't know this at first.
Among them, whoever is caught will be beaten. Later, they also understand, just like what you Daming said, well, it is just sitting on the mountain and watching tigers fight! Do you think there can be no chaos there? "
Ji Nuer smiled: "Of course, Master Qian's fleet is not afraid of these things. However, there are wars there, and it is a little inconvenient to do business. I saw that Master Qian might as well just be there."
Let’s Boni be our guests for a few more months. It doesn’t matter if we go to Manlajia or not!”
"However, I heard from my people that the number of transactions recently has been much less!"
Qian Wubing looked worried, "We still have a lot of goods, why can't we take them back like this!"
"What are you afraid of? Just leave it to us and trade slowly!" Ji Nuer patted his chest and said loudly: "In a few months, the pepper will be ripe. By then, won't we no longer have to worry about this?
"
"Not bad!" Qian Wubing nodded: "However, this chaos will not last forever, right? I haven't been there yet, so it's good to know the way first, and then do this.
Who are these Spaniards? After all, Manglajia also paid tribute to our Ming Dynasty. If we let them cause harm, it’s fine if we don’t know. Now that we know it, it’s unjustifiable not to take a look!”
"By the way, Mr. Qian is the commander of the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty!" Ji Nuer seemed to have just remembered such a thing: "I seem to have heard that the person stationed by Mr. Qian at this trading post is the Overseas Thousand Household Office of the Jinyiwei.
Soldiers, that’s what they are like!”
"Of course, our overseas Qianhu Office of Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei is in charge of these things, isn't it? If we go to Manlajia to have a look, even if we can't help, it's okay to say a few words!"
"Then if the Spaniards invade our country in the future, thousands of overseas households will not sit idly by and watch!" Ji Nuer raised his head. Although his face was red, his eyes were clear and he did not look like he was drunk at all.
"Of course!" Qian Wubing nodded without hesitation: "Da Ming and Boni are brothers, how can we tolerate the invasion of these little foreigners!"