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Chapter 1683 The Fall of the Armada

"The fleet of the Holy Alliance surrounded Dunkirk. Although Spain was our enemy, Spain has recognized the independence of the Netherlands. For the sake of common interests, we must unite against the new enemy that has emerged." The Netherlands is in power In the presence of Admiral Tropp and many captains, William II conveyed the parliamentary decision to them.

Under the powerful threat of the Holy Alliance fleet, they can only put aside their previous grievances with Spain and fight against the enemy together.

"I once met their fleet in Downs. The English navy at that time was not worth worrying about. Could it be that their navy has been strengthened so much during Queen Sophia's reign?" Sir Pennington and others met, and under the mediation of China and England, he was forced to let go of the besieged Spanish Armada.

"Our ambassador said that Sophia used a credit bond called national debt to raise funds for the navy. The royal family and the parliament were responsible for repaying the interest and principal. They have launched many warships in recent years. In comparison, our Ni The number of ships launched in Deland is much smaller. But don't worry, they only caught up with us a little at best. I am more worried about the Chinese ships." William II said.

"Hopefully this is the last naval battle. We've been fighting it for many years. It's probably not in anyone's interest to continue to wear it down."

"We are the last country to go to war if possible," said William II.

The Netherlands is a country based on commerce. Most of the merchant ships transporting goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea to the Mediterranean Sea are the merchant ships of the Netherlands. The war forced them to support a powerful fleet and protect the safety of merchant ships at all times.

Every time a war breaks out, it is the merchant ships of the Netherlands who suffer the most losses.

Tropp boarded the ship with the captains of the Netherlands. There were 107 warships and armed merchant ships in Amsterdam, the large ones were less than 1000 tons, and the small ones might only be more than 100 tons.This is also a characteristic of the Netherlands fleet. Their current ships are mainly relatively cheap and affordable small and medium-sized warships, and they do not have large sailing battleships like the King of the Seas.

On the other hand, the nephew of the former French Cardinal Richelieu, Mai Le Blazer, led the French fleet to Dunkirk, and he also sent someone to notify the Spanish Armada.

However, the Spanish fleet fell into a major crisis at this time.

In the waters near the port of Cadiz, the Spanish Armada and the Anglo-Portuguese United Fleet encountered each other here. Thousands of artillery pieces roared, and white smoke filled the air, as if the sea was shaking because of the earth-shattering artillery sound.

At this time, the battle line tactics were not yet perfect, and the fleets tended to melee after mid-range and long-range fire, destroying the opponent's ships through closer bombardment.

The English Navy Admiral George Monk led the 1600-ton King of the Seas, known as the "Golden Devil". He set his sights on the 1200-ton San Diego commanded by Admiral Oquendo of Spain, and pursued it.

The Spaniards, who have always liked to build big ships, experienced the horror of the King of the Seas, which is bigger than their two-deck galleons and has three decks. The King of the Seas suffered a great loss from the mutual bombardment.

The Portuguese's pride, the 1100-ton Santa Teresa, leaned over to join the melee, helping the Monarch of the Seas attack the Santiago with 68 guns.

Solid bullets, grape shells, chain bombs and other sea battle shells hit the opponent's ship, causing huge casualties to the hull and the sailors inside the ship.

Facing the brave attack of the Royal Fleet and the Portuguese Fleet, the Armada led by Oquendo was defeated again, just as they had been defeated by the Netherlands.Oquendo gave up fighting the Royal Fleet and tried to escape into the port of Cadiz.

The Royal Fleet and the Portuguese Fleet did not miss the opportunity to pursue the Armada. They clung to the Armada, destroying or capturing its single ships.

In the sea area where the battle was fought just now, several sunk ships sank to the bottom of the sea, and there were broken planks, barrels, and flags floating on the sea surface, and sailors survived by virtue of these floating objects.

George Monk only left two or three ships responsible for rescuing these drowning sailors.

The Invincible Fleet was not seriously injured in the first confrontation, but only lost a few ships, and the remaining ships hid in the port of Cadiz smoothly.

"When did the English have such a powerful fleet...Damn it, those big Portuguese ships were originally part of our Armada, but now they are betrayed and attacked by them. It's really uncomfortable." The joint attack of the fleet and the Portuguese fleet, he realized that the Armada in his hands is not enough, unless the Portuguese fleet and the Spanish fleet are united, it is the real Armada.

"We are hiding here for the time being. They may not dare to brave the artillery of the fort to break into the port." Oquindo gave up the idea of ​​fighting the enemy ships outside, and planned to be a turtle, holding back the superior force on the opposite side. Contributed against the Holy Alliance.

While George Monk led the Royal Fleet and the Portuguese Fleet to blockade the port of Cadiz, a Spanish treasure fleet returned from the West Indies.

The Jumbo Fleet is far away in the West Indies, completely unaware that the port of Cadiz has been blocked. When the captain and sailors on the Jumbo Ship saw the fleet cruising outside the port, they knew something was wrong and had to risk being robbed Forcibly broke through the blockade of the port and entered the port of Cadiz.

However, two treasure ships worth 20 pounds were wounded in the battle and became prisoners of the Royal Fleet and the Portuguese Fleet.

"The treasure ship that came back from America! It's a fortune this time!"

"All the trophies will be kept for the time being, and we will divide them between our two families after the war is over."

The Holy Alliance Fleet was overjoyed to acquire two Spanish treasure ships transporting gold, silver and goods by accident.

On the contrary, the Spanish generals including Oquendo were a little frustrated. They were helpless in the face of the Royal Fleet and the Portuguese fleet attacking the treasure ship on the periphery. They could only watch the English sailors and Portuguese sailors board the treasure ship. The sailors all became trophies of the enemy.

"Our Invincible Fleet seems to be replaced by these rising stars..." Oquendo sighed somewhat when he saw the King of the Seas.

The fleets of France, the Netherlands, and England have successively defeated the Armada in large or small battles. The title of the Armada decades ago seems outdated.God has abandoned Spain.

(End of this chapter)