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Chapter 1237 The meat on your lips is about to run away
That night, the boatswains of each ship roughly calculated that if the food supply continued like this, it would be exhausted in ten days. Even if only half of the food supply was provided every day from now on, it would still not last more than a month.

"Nicholas, the fleets will split up and break out tomorrow morning. You will lead the New Spain fleet to lead the charge and hold off the enemy for at least half a day to cover the main force's evacuation. However, the New Spain must follow the main force. It is the flagship of the Viceroyalty and must be preserved to deal with future difficulties."

Two hours after listening to the reports from various ships, Colonel Mendoza called the New Spain's operating captain to the stern cabin and gave the order to retreat in a frank manner, while assigning a very dangerous and difficult task.

“May God be with you!”

Nicholas did not ask why he was the one chosen. Military orders were as firm as a mountain. Everyone was aware of the current situation. If they did not abandon some ships, the entire fleet might not be able to be saved. As for who would take on the task of covering the rear, it would be up to whoever took the lead. There was no point in complaining, and complaining would not have any effect.

In the early morning of the third day, Nicholas led most of the fleet of the Governorate of New Spain and set sail for the waterway on the north side of the archipelago. Everyone on the ship knew what they were about to face, and their faces were heavy, but not desperate. They just checked their weapons over and over again, preparing for a brutal battle.

This is how the navy works. Apart from combat, every time you encounter a storm, the probability of survival is not very high, but you still have to fight against it, and the final result is often not that bad.

An hour later, Colonel Mendoza led the remaining twenty or so warships and set sail, also heading north. Taking advantage of the opportunity that Nicholas' fleet was entangled with the Ming Navy on the north side, they rushed out of the islands, shook off the pursuers and returned to the west coast.

The plan was carried out smoothly. When the Mendoza fleet arrived at the exit of the waterway, the Ming Navy that had been hovering on the sea for the past few days had disappeared, leaving only a small schooner cruising alone.

Nicholas's fleet also disappeared, but some traces were left on the sea. It looked like a modified two-masted sailing ship, the main body of which had sunk into the sea, leaving only the tops of the two masts and some debris floating.

Colonel Mendoza did not look for the surviving Spanish sailors on the sea, but ordered the fleet to immediately change course to the east and sail at full speed.

It's not that he is cruel. If he continues to be indecisive at this moment, he might save dozens of lives on the brig, but put thousands of people in the entire fleet into trouble. He must leave this damn sea area as soon as possible while the Ming Navy has not yet fully reacted.

"Colonel, it's coming very fast!" But things were not that simple. The Ming Navy that was taken away by Nicholas's fleet also left behind a small sailboat, which now had its sails fully hoisted and was coming diagonally from the north at high speed.

This action made the boatswain on the Governor of Peru exclaim in surprise. In the battles of the previous few days, the warships of the Ming Navy had already demonstrated their speed, but compared to now, it seemed that they were not using their full strength.

"Never mind it, keep it tight!"

Colonel Mendoza was also secretly surprised in his heart, but he had to remain calm on the surface. The solution was simple, that is, there was no way, just let it go. After all, there was only one ship, and it couldn't cause much damage. As long as they could hold on until dark, they would be basically safe.

The Spanish fleet used such a simple method to break through the encirclement. Didn't the battle plan formulated by the Navy Staff take this into account? Of course it was considered, and there were corresponding measures. But then again, in the era when communication was basically based on the naked eye, the two fleets were dozens of kilometers apart, and it was impossible to communicate instantly. A few hours was considered fast.

那么在大海上几个小时能差多远呢？以西班牙战舰平均航速5海里算，5个小时会跑出去50公里左右。以大明海军平均航速9海里算，得差不多4个小时才能追上。

Four hours is not a long time. If you count from the early morning, it is just noon. There is enough time to deal a fatal blow to the Spanish fleet before dark.

However, this is all talk on paper. There are no road restrictions and no directional constraints on the sea. The Spanish fleet has 360 degrees of options and can go wherever it wants, making it very difficult to track.

Many movies and TV shows in later times also have warship chase scenes, with the commander of one side lying on the sea chart, calculating, throwing down his pen, showing a resolute and confident expression. As a result, the enemy really obeyed and ran over there honestly, and was naturally caught up.

But in reality, this situation is as difficult as winning the lottery, and it may happen once in a hundred times. You are trying to figure out the other side's psychological activities on the nautical chart, and the other side's commander is not a fool, and he is also trying to figure out your psychological activities on the nautical chart.

The two sides are fighting a battle of wits and courage, but it is not fair. The one who runs first has the advantage of choice, with countless possibilities. The chasing party has to guess one and only one of the countless possibilities, and has only one chance.

Hong Tao asked himself that he didn't have such good luck, nor did he have such strong calculation ability to completely guess the psychological activities of the other commander. So what should he do? As the ancients said, diligence can make up for clumsiness. Since there is no trick to use, then use the stupid way.

The communication ship was Hong Tao's stupid method. This small two-masted sailboat was only more than 20 meters long, with a displacement of about 100 tons. Its weapons and equipment were mainly small-caliber deck swivel guns and muskets, which could basically be ignored in naval battles.

But its mast and sails were surprisingly tall, only one-third smaller than those of the Qin-class warships, which were several times larger. The keel, ribs, and planks were also thickened, taking up all the cabin space, and the carrying capacity was more than half less than that of ships of the same size and displacement.

Such an extreme design is only for the sake of speed! The communication ship can run at a speed of 14 knots in normal sea conditions, and can continue to sail at half sail even in high sea conditions.

Their purpose is to deliver messages more quickly between overseas territories, naval bases and the mainland, and sometimes they also carry a small number of personnel and special cargo.

In order to ensure the normal operation of the communication ship, there is an unwritten rule in the navy: any officer above the rank of centurion must serve on a communication ship for at least three months when promoted to ensure the best staffing on the ship.

Every time the navy has a large-scale operation, the busiest ones are not the warships, but these small sailboats. Their tasks are numerous, complicated and dangerous, such as transporting intelligence personnel to the enemy-occupied areas to inquire, approaching the enemy's seaports and warship anchorages to monitor movements, and exploring the hydrological data of the expected combat area.

(End of this chapter)