1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3602

Although the conditions of the two east-west routes are slightly different, for Li Zhencheng, they are actually completely unfamiliar waters. Whether they are safe or not is just the opinion of the Luzon Combat Command and is only of reference value.

Li Zhencheng's idea was simple. He would just choose the one with the shorter voyage. This way, he could return home sooner and have a chance to enter the war zone to pick up some small fish and shrimp that had slipped through the net. If he was delayed on the road for too long, the Fujian Fleet might have picked up all of them.

Although there are still many areas on the eastern front that have not been completely cleared, the advantage is that the voyage is short. Li Zhencheng is confident that the Taiwan fleet is also quite strong. If he encounters the Spaniards on the way, he can just take advantage of the situation and it shouldn't delay the main business.

Of course, one can despise the opponent strategically, but one cannot underestimate the opponent tactically. After deciding to take the eastern route, Li Zhencheng summoned several combat staff officers under his command, and sat in front of the nautical chart with several officers sent by the Luzon Combat Command to develop specific navigation plans and emergency deployments.

Li Zhencheng was so busy, let alone Xu Kaiyuan who was going directly into the war zone. Just listening to the current battle report and combat plan arrangements took a full half day of the Fujian officers.

Fortunately, this was not Xu Kaiyuan's first visit to Luzon, so he had a slight advantage in being familiar with the environment here. The process of formulating the navigation plan was much smoother than that of Li Zhencheng.

The two supply fleets escorted by the Fujian and Taiwan fleets carried different cargoes, with a total of 17 ships carrying mainly ammunition, rations, medicines and other supplies to the war zone.

The fleet bound for the North Gate Port of the New World consisted of twenty-four ships. In addition to food, cooking utensils, tents, tools and farm implements, seedlings of various crops, poultry and livestock, there were also nearly a thousand immigrants who were going to settle there.

When this supply fleet returns, it may bring back specimens of various animals, plants and minerals collected by technicians in Beimen Port, as well as some Spanish prisoners of intelligence value who have been screened out through identity identification in the local area.

At that time, the Taiwan fleet only needs to escort it to the Luzon area north of the Celebes Sea, and complete the handover with the Luzon fleet that will take over the second half of the escort mission to get away. If he can get permission from the combat headquarters, Li Zhencheng can lead the fleet back to the war zone.

Of course, if the war with the Spaniards is still in a stalemate by then, the Fujian and Taiwan fleets might need to perform one more escort mission.

Two days later, the Taiwanese fleet, which had completed its rest and replenishment, set out from Cavite Port and headed south to Beimen Port, thousands of miles away.

However, the Fujian Fleet led by Xu Kaiyuan showed no signs of departure at this time. As the Manila authorities temporarily decided to transport 20 more field guns to the front line, Xu Kaiyuan had to stay in Cavite Port for two more days, waiting for the artillery and ammunition to arrive and be loaded onto the ship.

Li Zhencheng naturally regarded this as good news. He was worried that because his destination was too far away, the time gap with the Fujian Fleet would be too large, and he might lose the opportunity to gain military merit in this expedition.

Now that the opponent's departure time is delayed by two days, it is equivalent to narrowing the gap between the two by two days, which is particularly valuable for a mission that lasts for more than half a month.

The number of ships in the Taiwan fleet and the supply fleet is almost one to one, which is probably a rare scale since the war began. It is said that the supply fleet that was attacked in the war zone before had only four exploration-class warships as escort. This is not because Luzon does not attach importance to logistical security, but it is really unable to spare more warships to perform escort missions. As a result, it was unlucky to run into the main force of the Spanish. This time, two bodyguards were specially hired from other places at a high price to ensure that the supply fleet will not encounter similar security problems again.

Relying on accurate nautical charts, Li Zhencheng completed the voyage from Manila Bay to the southern tip of Mindanao Island, which was located in a safe zone, using almost the shortest route, but it still took a full five days.

So far, one third of the entire voyage has been completed, but for the next two thirds of the journey, all safety guarantees can only come from the escort fleet itself.

Two days later, the lookout spotted Morotai Island on the mast. The island is located at the northern end of the Maluku Islands. Seeing the island appear in sight meant that they had entered the marginal waters of the war zone.

Li Zhencheng did not dare to be careless and ordered the fleet to deploy into two groups, the left and right, sandwiching the supply fleet in the middle, and reported his position to the combat headquarters by telegram. He also ordered two swordfish-class reconnaissance ships to advance 20 miles to explore the situation on the route ahead.

According to the reply from the combat command, no trace of the Spanish fleet has been found near the location of the Taiwan fleet, but the command still requires them to avoid entering the danger zone marked on the nautical chart as much as possible and to pass through this sea area quickly along the established route.

Li Zhencheng also carried out the order honestly and arrived near the west coast of Papua Island two days later, which meant that nearly two-thirds of the voyage had been completed.

Papua Island is huge, spanning nearly 5,000 miles from east to west. It is the largest island in the Pacific Ocean and is slightly larger than Borneo to the west of the war zone.

Hai Han designated Papua Island outside the war zone, not because it confirmed that the island was a safe zone, but because it simply did not have the spare energy to clear the coast of this large island.

However, Spain may not have such a tacit understanding and regard this area as a safe zone. Just as the escort fleet passed near Cape Dadi at the western end of the island, a bright red firework suddenly rose from the sea in the distance and then exploded in the air. That was the warning signal from the reconnaissance ship.

  Before Li Zhencheng could give the order, the reconnaissance ship in the distance once again set off a fireworks signal. This meant that the reconnaissance ship not only confirmed the enemy situation, but also that the enemy was attacking at high speed!

Immediately, the flagship where Li Zhencheng was located sounded the whistle, using alternating long and short whistles as a signal, ordering all ships to enter combat status.

The supply fleet, under the cover of several warships, broke away from the team and sailed in another direction to avoid being dragged into the battlefield.

Soon Li Zhencheng saw the opponent through the telescope, which was an armed fleet consisting of twelve large sailing ships.

Li Zhencheng didn't care whether the other party suddenly appeared in this sea area in an ambush or a pure chance encounter. Since the other party showed up on his own initiative and had the intention of fighting, the best way to deal with it at the moment was to fight head-on.

When the distance between the two sides was less than twenty miles, the enemy probably saw the lineup here clearly. Perhaps it was because the Majestic-class flagship where Li Zhencheng was located was too intimidating, or perhaps it was because the number of warships of the Taiwan fleet was obviously superior. The enemy judged that they would definitely not gain any advantage in this battle, and actually began to turn northeast to leave the battlefield.