Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1310 Entering the Ambush Circle

Looking at the sea from the gap at the entrance of the bay, the lucky boat sank slowly into the sea. Some of the soldiers on board climbed into the spare boat, and most of them were floating on the sea with driftwood, struggling to survive, but soon A huge ship like a castle came through the waves.

The small boat was smashed into pieces by the huge ship before it could sail far. The Luzon officers and soldiers on board were swept into the bottom of the sea by the waves, and they were instantly submerged.

Dozens of soldiers were holding driftwood and paddling desperately towards the shore, but another huge ship was coming. Spanish sailors in white military uniforms and high hats rushed to the side of the ship with flintlock guns, shouting loudly. Smiling and cursing, they shot into the sea.

Blossoms of scarlet bloomed on the surface of the sea, and the waves from the giant ship hit, the scarlet sea water was diluted, and disappeared into the sea together with the struggling figures.

If it weren't for the bloody driftwood, there would be nothing to prove their existence and tell their story.

Gao Yihuan took a binoculars to watch, and saw that the Fuchuan was completely submerged in the water. Dozens of people's heads were pierced by needles, undulating in the waves, and there was not one left in a moment.

There were about twenty Spanish warships, the cannons on the bow kept shooting orange flames, the hull shook, and the sails swelled to chase the Luzon warships.

When Zheng Chenggong set off, there were fifty warships, but now there are only more than 40 ships fleeing eastward, which shows that nearly ten warships have been destroyed by the Dutch along the way.

There have been battles in history where small ships outperformed large ships, but this does not mean that small ships are better than large ships. The reason why the tonnage of ships is getting bigger and bigger is that in more cases, large ships are still better than small ships. This was especially true in the age of galleons.

Others were limited by their eyesight and only saw a lucky ship sunk by the Spaniards. Because of the distance, they couldn't see the size of the Spanish warship, but Gao Yihuan could see it clearly through the telescope. The warship was at least four times the size of his Sanhe, and even the smaller ones were twice the size.

When a short person looks up at the nostrils of a tall person, he will unconsciously feel fear in his heart, which is caused by the difference in size.

Seeing the Spanish warships, it must be a lie to say that you are not afraid of having fun.

Gao Yihuan knew that the fleet might attack at any time, so he put away the binoculars, stepped down from Wangdou with a serious expression, then found a Japanese sword in his waist, and walked back to the ship building.

Gao Laosan and the others were looking around from the boat building. He saw the lucky boat sinking, he couldn't help swallowing, and when he saw Gao Yihuan approaching, he couldn't help turning his head, "Second brother, are you going to start a war?"

Gao Yihuan pretended to be calm, patted him on the shoulder, and reassured him: "I guess it will be soon! There is no guilt, you count, the enemy is only twenty ships, and we are not counting the navy of Ming Dynasty, there are nearly six hundred ships , is thirty times their strength, can't you beat them?"

The Spaniards had 23 ships, leaving two thousand-ton gunboats and five ordinary warships to stay in Sulu. The remaining [-] warships, led by the [-]-ton flagship San Philip, pursued Zheng Chenggong's fleet.

During the naval battle and pursuit, three Spanish warships were severely damaged and returned to Sulu during the pursuit. At present, there are a total of twenty Spanish warships that have entered the ambush circle of the Luzon Navy, and Luzon has already laid two ambushes. The boat was [-] times larger than the opponent's, so Gao Yihuan could only embolden everyone and cheer himself up.

While he was talking, he suddenly heard the black donkey on the mainmast shout, "Second brother, the Fu Hai has issued an order, and the whole ship lifts anchor and raises sails!"

Twenty Spanish warships have sailed across the sea at the entrance of the bay, chasing Zheng Chenggong's warship eastward. Fall behind and eat shells.

"Raise the anchor!" Gao Yihuan waved his hand immediately.

Everyone on the deck yelled and clattered, everyone returned to their seats, and Gao Yihuan also walked to the cockpit in a few steps.

He saw that all the ships in the bay were moving, Fu Hai was the first to set sail, and Sanhe followed the current, raising anchor and raising sails, ready to go to war.

When the sail is raised, the sails are criss-crossed on the deck, and each rope has a different purpose, which is very complicated, so the wages of the sailors are high.

Gao Yihuan personally took the helm and adjusted the course of the ship to avoid collision with neighboring ships. The more than 200 lucky boats that had been hiding in the bay for several days began to move, and suddenly there was a lot of noise and bustle.

A moment later, the Fu Hai was the first to rush out of the bay, and the rest of the ships followed closely behind.

Most of these merchant ships have seen the world, and many of them have also engaged in sea robbery business, and they have some combat power, but after all, they are not regular sailors, so they don't have any rules.

On the Spanish flagship San Philip, the commander of the Far East Fleet, Duke Alva, dressed in white, was watching the Luzon Navy who was being chased and beaten by him through a telescope.

After the middle of the seventeenth century, the military uniforms of Western countries began to be standardized, and the military uniforms of European countries gradually formed their own styles in terms of style and color. For example, the uniforms of Britain are always red, France is blue, and Brandenburg The vassals and the Principality of Prussia are gray, while Spain, which belongs to the Habsburg dynasty with Austria, has white military uniforms.

Sulu is an island country in the southwestern part of Luzon, with Mindanao in the east and Borneo in the west. The Sulu Kingdom controls several islands near the Sulu Sea, the west coast of Mindanao and the east coast of Borneo.

The Spanish fleet stopped directly at Sulu Island on the grounds of berthing ships. Naturally, the Sultan of Sulu did not allow it, and the two sides exchanged fire. However, the Sulu people on the island were naturally not the opponents of more than 5000 regular Spanish troops, and they were defeated. , the capital was controlled by the Spaniards.

Strictly speaking, the Spaniards did not control the entire Sulu Kingdom, they only controlled Sulu Island and the royal family of Sulu, and used them to give orders, to search for food and other materials, to complete the supplies of the Far East Fleet, and to continue to attack Lu Song's merchant ships plundered supplies and attempted to retake Luzon.

This situation lasted for a long time, but as the Ming Dynasty solved the Dutch in Southeast Asia and joined the war against the Spaniards on the grounds of protecting the dependent country, the situation began to reverse.

Due to the blockade and harassment of the ships of the Ming Dynasty and Luzon, the vast area originally controlled by the Sulu Kingdom no longer obeyed the orders of the Sulu King controlled by the Spaniards, which reduced the supplies that Spain could obtain.

The entire Sulu Kingdom didn't have much taxation. After raising [-] Spaniards for nearly two years, the treasury was basically exhausted, and the people were miserable.

At this time, anti-Spanish forces appeared on Sulu Island, and many tribes resisted the rule of the Spaniards in the mountains and forests, which made the situation of the Spaniards in Sulu deteriorate sharply.

When the Luzon Kingdom was about to fail, the same was true for the Spaniards. They had only two choices, either defeating the Luzon Navy and retaking Luzon, breaking the predicament, or evacuating Sulu and returning to America.

After many Spaniards discussed, they originally decided to withdraw to the Americas, but a sudden naval battle changed their plans.

Zheng Chenggong led the navy to storm the harbor where the Spanish Far East Fleet was mooring, but was defeated by the fort and fleet and fled in a panic.

This gave the Spaniards an opportunity, and they decided to defeat Luzon's navy in one fell swoop, and then take Manila back.

Seeing the Luzon fleet fleeing in embarrassment, Duke Alva was very proud. As long as he wiped out the fleet, there would be nothing blocking the Spanish way to the Philippines.

"Your Excellency, there are a large number of enemy ships behind the fleet!"

Just as Duke Alva put down his binoculars, the Spanish soldiers on the binoculars suddenly shouted in panic.

The Spanish officers on board were startled, there was a clatter on the deck, and many people rushed to the stern.Duke Alva's complexion changed, and he walked quickly to the poop, pushed an officer away, covered the sun with his hand and looked back, and saw a black spot on the sea in the distance, but he couldn't see it clearly.

He hurriedly picked up the binoculars to look at it, and in the circular field of vision, thousands of sails came covering the sea.He took a quick scan and found that there were more than 200 lucky boats from the East, which made his face change drastically.

The general next to him glanced at it with the binoculars, put it down immediately, and exclaimed, "Your Excellency, it's Luzon's ship, and we're in ambush!"

Duke Alva's expression was ugly, knowing that he had fallen for the trick of the Easterners, but he still said calmly: "Don't worry, they are all small boats, and their speed is slow, so they can't threaten the fleet!"

"Your Excellency, the Luzon fleet is turning around!"

As soon as Duke Alva finished speaking, the soldiers on the mast roared loudly again.

At this time, the Luzon navy, which had been being chased, suddenly adjusted its sailing, turned from east to northeast, drew an arc on the sea surface, and was slowly turning around, about to turn back to fight.

If Zheng Chenggong's forty warships turn around successfully, the Spanish fleet will be flanked. Duke Alva hurriedly walked to the front again, took a binoculars to glance at the Luzon warships that were turning, he could not calm down, and immediately He waved his hand and said, "Hurry up, turn around before they do, and get out of the encirclement before the enemy intercepts us!"

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(End of this chapter)