Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1625, English Naval Battle
In the English Channel of Western Europe, the morning smog covers the entire sea, making people feel like they are in a fairyland. However, the sea is rough and rough, and a thick gunpowder smoke is secretly hidden on the sea.

The battleship 'Yongle Great Emperor' is the main battleship belonging to the Hong Kong Fleet. It is a large warship that recently came to serve in Hong Kong in Western Europe from the mainland of Ming Dynasty.

Now Europe and the Middle East are raging with war, and the major powers are constantly fighting, in order to fully protect the interests of the Ming Empire in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and West Africa.

The Ming Empire also continued to strengthen the strength of the Mediterranean Fleet, West African Fleet, Hong Kong Fleet, and Red Sea Fleet, not only adding more personnel to station, but also increasing the number of warships of various types.

As Ming's only colony in Western Europe, Hong Kong also shoulders the important task of protecting Ming's interests in Western Europe, so it is highly valued.

The newly commissioned 'Yongle Great Emperor' warship is not an ordinary warship. Unlike traditional warships, the newly designed and built 'Great Emperor' warships of Tianjin Shipyard are all steam-powered warships.

Relying on steam and turbines as the main power, and equipped with traditional sails, it has strong mobility. At the same time, the emperor-class warship built with the latest shipbuilding technology is huge in size, and the main part or even all of it is reinforced with steel. .

This is a semi-steel warship, and it is definitely an epoch-making warship for this era!

The huge battleship 'Yongle Great Emperor' cut through the waves and moved forward on the sea. The commander of the battleship, Xiong Han, was wearing a straight white navy uniform, with a telescope hanging around his neck, and he looked ahead with firm eyes.

Xiong Han, who graduated from the Imperial Military Academy, has been serving in Hong Kong since graduation, and now he has become the captain of the "Yongle Emperor", commanding the entire Hong Kong fleet with the "Yongle Emperor" as the core.

"Xiong Han, who will win this naval battle?"

Beside Xiong Han, Deng Yong, who was dressed in a straight army uniform, also had binoculars hanging around his neck, looking forward, as if he wanted to see two huge fleets from the thick sea fog.

"I don't know, war is always full of uncertainty, everything is possible!"

"On the bright side, the joint fleet of Spain and Japan is more powerful. There are more than 76 main warships, all of which are basically built by our Daming Shipyard. The quality is excellent, and the artillery fire equipped is all from our Daming Miyun. Bought from the arsenal, very fine."

"Coupled with nearly 200 large and small ships and warships as auxiliary, the strength is beyond doubt."

"However, the strength of the combined fleet of England, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries should not be underestimated. It has more than [-] warships, and it definitely gathers all the sea power."

"In terms of artillery, we also purchased a large number of artillery from our Ming Dynasty. Coupled with the advantage in numbers, this battle is really hard to say."

After a simple analysis, Xiong Han came to a conclusion.

The conflict between Spain, Japan and the Pirate Alliance became more and more acute. From the beginning, the two sides pretended to be pirates and plundered each other, and then gradually declared war on each other and attacked each other. Finally, it has developed to the present, and the two sides have concentrated all their forces Come to the battle at sea.

The long-term mutual raids and plunders have made both sides extremely tired and suffered great damage. Many coastal ports and cities in Portugal, France, and England have been looted, not only the loss of a lot of wealth, but more importantly, a large number of people. the passage of time.

Because the price of white slaves is high, it is more cost-effective to plunder people than to plunder property. This has also led to the pretending pirates on both sides wantonly plundered people in the coastal areas and sold them to the Ming people, making huge profits from it. down.

A large number of private ships and gangs joined them. These weak gangs could not plunder large towns, but they dealt a huge and devastating blow to small villages in the coastal area.

This is also the reason why the two sides choose to fight quickly, because neither side can afford it.

The 'Yongle Emperor' continued to move forward on the sea. As time went by, the sun gradually began to shine brightly, and the heavy fog on the sea gradually dissipated.

Through the binoculars, Xiong Han could vaguely see a huge fleet heading north. This fleet was divided into two parts, one part was flying the Spanish flag, the other part was flying the Japanese flag and the Japanese flag. Wang Qi.

There is no doubt that this is the combined fleet of Spain and Japan.

"Ming people?"

Soon, the Spanish fleet also spotted the battleship 'Yongle Great Emperor' following behind. The Duke of Colster immediately came to the deck and looked behind with a telescope.

"The latest warship of the Ming Empire!"

He immediately recognized the battleship 'Yongle Great Emperor', a new type of warship unique to the Ming Empire. Spain asked for it countless times, but the people of Ming Dynasty refused it as it was not for sale.

Looking at the huge battleship behind, with the huge gun barrel and steel armor shining in the sun, Duke Colster couldn't help swallowing slightly.

This is the most ideal warship at sea in my mind. Look at the large smoke pipes on the battleship, and the black smoke emitted from them. In the case of headwinds, it does not need to go roundabout at all, but can go directly against the wind ,high speed.

"Steam Battleship!"

Duke Colster's eyes were slightly red. If he had several such warships in his hands, there would be no suspense in this naval battle.

"The Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire stationed in Hong Kong!"

On the other side, Dongfang Yue, the commander of the Japanese fleet, also quickly noticed the Ming warship following behind.

"Such warships are real sea castles!"

Looking at the huge body of the Yongle Emperor, Dongfang Yue couldn't help but sigh.

Wa is a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, but warships like the Great Emperor class cannot be bought. The Ming Empire bluntly stated that these are not for sale, prohibited items, let alone a vassal state, even the vassal states and colonies would not sell them. Can be used by the Ming Empire Navy.

"What are the Daming people doing here?"

Next to Dongfang Yue, Kojiro frowned and thought.

Seeing that the decisive battle with the pirate alliance's fleet is about to begin, who knows what purpose the Ming warships appear here at this time.

"It must be to watch the naval battle and collect relevant data and experience."

"Hum~"

"In this war, the Ming people made a lot of money, selling arms and weapons everywhere, completely disregarding that our Wa country is a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, and even sold weapons and warships to the Pirate Alliance."

Dongfangyue snorted coldly and said: "The so-called neutrality is just an excuse, the real purpose is not to make money for both parties."

"What's the use of saying this? The Ming Empire is powerful. Once it joins either side, it is enough to instantly reverse the balance of power between the two sides."

"Besides, the interests of the Ming people have not been harmed all this time, so naturally they will not join the war. It is the most sensible move for both sides to sell arms and weapons to make money."

Gao Jirou said lightly.

The relationship between the Wa Kingdom and the Ming Empire is very delicate. On the one hand, it is a vassal state of the Ming Empire, paying tribute every year, worshiping every year, and learning everything about the Ming Dynasty. If he is so close to North Korea, North Korea is Daming's real son.

As for the Wa Kingdom, Daming is on guard all the time. On the one hand, the garrison in the Wa Kingdom has never been withdrawn; Even internal friction with each other, full of contradictions.

This made the Wa King very dissatisfied, and repeatedly clarified to the Ming Empire that the Wa King is the orthodox rule of the Wa Kingdom, and that the Ming Dynasty should fully support the Wa King in attacking the shogunate and implement the unification of the Wa Kingdom.

But Daming has always ignored it, thinking that this is the internal affairs of the Wa Kingdom, and Daming cannot interfere, but it always supports the shogunate, and even allows the shogunate to own a vast colony in the Indus River Basin of Tianzhu. Married the younger sister of the shogun as a noble concubine.

Dissatisfaction belongs to dissatisfaction, but Wa country has never dared to express it.

The Daming Empire was too powerful, and it angered the Daming Empire. Once Daming turned around and fully supported the shogunate, the life of the Japanese King would be even more difficult, so he was angry and couldn't do anything about it.

"That's true, it's more in line with the interests of the Ming people."

Dongfang Yue thought for a while and nodded slightly.

"Clang~"

At this time, a burst of alarm sounded.

"Enemy~Enemy~"

Accompanied by the shouts of the watchmen, Dongfang Yue and Gao Jirou immediately forgot about these things, and hurriedly looked straight ahead.

On the vast sea area, a huge fleet was heading south mightily, with flags fluttering on the warships, and cannons showing hideous faces.

"Prepare for battle!"

Dongfang Yue roared angrily.

At the same time, the Spanish fleet discovered the enemy directly ahead. With the semaphore soldiers on the ships constantly waving flags, the entire huge fleet began to unfold in a crescent shape, and cannons were pushed out. Instantly.

(End of this chapter)