Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1308 The Great Voyage Age

The drums sounded in the city, and the owners of several large companies by the pier were also invited into the city by the soldiers. It should be to discuss matters related to the war.

Gao Yihuan, a small business with a single boat, is not eligible to participate. He stayed on the boat and began to arrange for the newly recruited manpower.

Now his ship has 22 guns, one eighteen-pounder at the bow and one at the stern, four eighteen-pounders and six twelve-pounders on each side of the ship, the heavy guns are in the center, and the small guns are placed on both sides to keep the ship balance.

Such artillery is naturally inferior to those naval warships, but among merchant ships, it is considered a leader.

At this time, there were a total of 88 people on board. Usually, it is not necessary to use so many people when going to sea, but this time it is a war, so Gao Yihuan recruited [-] more guards to prepare for the fierce battle on board.

He made arrangements on the boat, and after about two hours, the major business owners who entered the city came out of the city.

Not long after, the Luzon government began to post announcements that the companies that came to help this time will have a [-]% reduction in business tax in the next three years, and there will be other rewards for those who have made great achievements.

The navy is a gold swallowing beast, and Zhu Yihai's small Luzon court couldn't afford it at all. This may also be a compromise between the Luzon small court and various companies to reduce taxes instead of military expenses.

Not long after, a small official came to the pier, boarded Gao Yihuan's boat, and gave him a blue flag, leaving a small flag officer on board, and said: "The Sanhe Company has been incorporated into the right wing, and the blue flag is on the flag. The Fuhai of the Quanzhang Society is the main ship of the right wing, and you should follow the command flag of the Fuhai."

Fujianese are the main force in Luzon, and they like to form groups. There are various fellowship associations, and the Quanzhang Association is one of the most powerful ones, with nearly a hundred merchant ships.

Gao Yihuan nodded in agreement, but then asked: "My lord, when are we going to set off? Is there a big chance of winning?"

The little official glanced at him, and then said: "Don't worry, not only our Luzon, but also the Daming Navy will come to fight, Zheng Guogong has already gone to Surabaya to contact, when the Duke returns, it is estimated that the war will start, you take advantage of this It will take some time to get ready."

After speaking, the little official turned around and disembarked, and went to the next boat to issue the flag.

At the beginning of October, Zheng Chenggong returned to Luzon from Surabaya. On the [-]th, the Luzon Navy finally lifted anchor from the harbor and headed for Sulu mightily.

This campaign can be said to be a national effort, dispatching more than 600 ships, but the real main force is actually only about [-] ships, and the rest are armed merchant ships of various companies.

Decades ago, the powerful Spanish Armada was defeated by the pirates recruited by the United Kingdom. That battle was a battle for the United Kingdom to block the country's fortunes.In this battle, the Luzon Kingdom recruited hundreds of armed merchant ships. It can be said that it was also a battle that blocked the country's fortunes. However, the huge Spanish Empire did not start. Only the Far East Fleet composed of [-] warships participated in this battle. war.

At this time, in the harbor, ships lifted anchor and raised their sails one after another. The sailors on the Sanhe maneuvered swiftly. Gao Yihuan and Gao Laosan stood on the ship tower and looked into the distance. A navy warship sailed out of the bay mightily, leaving trails of trails, facing the sun and heading south, it was extraordinarily dazzling and spectacular.

"Second Brother, the Fu Hai has issued the order!" The black donkey in the main-mast boom suddenly shouted down.

Gao Yihuan turned his head and saw that a large Chinese-Western ship on the left had raised its sails and sailed away from the pier, and the nearby ships with green flags had also left the pier one after another, so he turned his head and waved his hands loudly: "Height anchor, raise the sails!"

The sailors on the deck got up one after another and pulled the gangplank on the pier back to the ship, cutting off their connection with the land.

Chen Guigui, who was all muscular, stood up, turned the car-closing stick with several men, and slowly pulled up the large iron anchor that had sunk into the water. Zhao Si and other sailors pulled up the bamboo sail, and several guards hugged He picked up the bamboo pole and propped the boat away from the pier.

At this time, Zhao Si and the others raised the bamboo-ribbed hard sail, gusts of sea wind blew, the sail swelled, and immediately started to move. After the sails were adjusted, the speed of the sea boat quickly increased. Difficult to chase.

The sailors on the ship tied the sail ropes to the boat piles, straightened up, and saw hundreds of ships sailing at the same time in the entire harbor, with thousands of sails sailing out to sea.

Gao Yihuan stood on the ship tower, in front of him was the sea and the sky, the endless sea, and beside him were the ships that were going hand in hand with him. He was among hundreds of ships, and seeing thousands of sails covering the sea, he couldn't help feeling agitated.

This is a great era, which belongs to the era of great voyages, and he belongs to this era. One day, he will also master so many sea ships, sail to every corner of the sea, conquer the sea, and start his own career.

The entire fleet is divided into three parts, the main force is the Luzon Navy led by Zheng Chenggong, and the left and right wings have more than 200 merchant ships of each company.

Not long after setting out to sea, Zheng Chenggong's main battleship and the ships on the two wings sailed for half a day, then headed for the Sulu Sea with full sail, leaving the left and right wings behind.

After Gao Yihuan traveled across Nanyang, he realized that although the Fuchuan had a lot of space, its wide body allowed him to carry a lot of cargo, and it was relatively stable, but in terms of speed, it was not as fast as the flute-shaped boats of Xiyi.

If we want to make a comparison, the Fuchuan is the infantry at sea, while the Western fast boats are the rangers. The opponent's artillery is powerful, and with the fast speed, they have many advantages like the cavalry.

They can run away if they can't win, but they can't run away if they win the battle. Therefore, in naval battles, although the Luzon navy has many ships, it has no obvious advantage.

Gao Yihuan estimated that Zheng Guogong wanted to lure the enemy, and the left and right wings might be responsible for setting up an ambush, so he invited Gao Laosan and others to discuss the tactics.

The sailors on the ship removed the cannon covering, and the shiny black cannon was displayed in front of everyone.

These are sharp weapons, but Gao Yihuan reckons that they will not be of much use in this battle. They should have no chance to fight broadside with the Spaniards.

There are not many qualified gunners on the Sanhe, this time it can only be regarded as experiencing a big scene and cultivating talents for the future development of the company.

"All the captains come here!" Gao Yihuan stood on the ship tower and shouted down.

Not long after, eight men came from the deck, and everyone gathered around Gao Yihuan.

The conditions on the boat were limited, so Gao Yihuan sat around the table with them and asked, "How many of you have seen the big boat in Xiyi?"

Among the eight men, only four raised their hands. They were all old brothers from the past. Gao Yihuan glanced at them and took out a picture. It was drawn with a brush. It was very ugly, but the basic outline could be seen.

After he unfolded it, he gave everyone a look, and then said: "This is what the big Xiyi boat looks like. It's very thin, like a section of sugar cane, but it's bigger than our boat, and it's much faster."

As he spoke, he saw a teapot on the wooden tray on the table, so he took it down, put it in the middle, and said, "It's not very similar, let's see." Then he took down an upside-down teacup and placed it on the teapot Beside, "In terms of size, you take this teapot as a Spanish warship, and the teacup as our ship." He raised his head to look at everyone, and asked, "Do you understand?"

Several bosses nodded, and Gao Laosan frowned, "Second brother, the gap is a bit big! If this is hit, he will definitely be knocked over, and he is so tall, even if we get close, we can't catch him." It's like attacking a city!"

Several other people looked at the teapot and teacup, and they also shook their heads.

Gao Yihuan gave Gao Laosan a glance of approval. This guy is still a bit progressive. He waved his hand to make everyone quiet, then put the remaining three teacups around the teapot, and said with a smile: "How about this? Are you panicking?" What? The Spaniards have big ships, but we have many!"

Surrounded by a few teacups, the courage of the group became stronger again. Gao Laosan scratched his head and said anxiously: "Second brother, what do you want us to do, just say it!"

Gao Yihuan picked up the teapot, smashed the cup in front of it, and explained: "During the battle, we must have the advantage of having more ships, and we must be careful not to drive to the front of the Spanish warship. We can't hit it." They, but they can't follow behind, our ship is slow, they have heavy guns at the stern, and they can only eat shells!"

As he spoke, he picked up the cup next to the teapot, and continued: "Our chance is on the side, and we can only have a chance if we lean up from here!"

After finishing speaking, Gao Yihuan stood up, "Zhao Si, you guys should steer the boat well. Third, Xiyi's boat is tall and you have to climb up to get on it. Go and change those poles into short ladders, and many of you will be locked up." hook."

Several people nodded, "Second brother, I got it!"

Gao Yihuan nodded slightly, then looked at the newly recruited guards, "Do you dare to kill people?"

They didn't expect the captain to ask such a question suddenly, and they didn't reply for a while, but in the next second, a white light flashed, and the tea table in front of Gao Yihuan was cut in half.

Brother Gao's Adam's apple moved, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and was startled when he saw the Japanese man retracting the knife into the sheath in a handsome posture. good!"

(End of this chapter)