open sea

Chapter 1163
On the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet that blots out the sun is sailing eastward.

The leading battleship is a standard Ming-made Liujia-class thousand-five-hundred-dollar warship, with three huge masts soaring into the sky, and the huge red crane wing sails on it are unfurled, and the flag officer at the top is holding a small flag. semaphore.

On the relatively low poop on the deck, Chief Officer Fu Yuan glanced at the Banner Army on the upper artillery deck who were cleaning the cannons. He picked up his binoculars and looked into the distance. In the sky, white seabirds could already be seen flying by. They were not far from the island. Far.

This Liujia ship as the flagship has three artillery decks loaded with 42 light and heavy General Zhenshuo, eight short-mouth rapid-fire Qianjin Francophones, and carries soldiers from three hundred households, not counting the upper bow and stern and the second-floor main cabin. The upper two floors are divided into [-] sailor cabins, each equipped with double-layered square wooden box beds and small windows for ventilation, providing enough rest cabins for the banner troops while saving unprecedented space in the ship.

The wooden boxes that make up their beds are filled with neatly arranged square pottery pots, which contain meat and a small amount of pickles for the sailors' expedition, and rice noodles for dinner, which are separately placed on the accompanying fleet's supply ship.

It is the ship of Fu Yuan, the commander-in-chief of the Dongyang Army, and also the flagship of the Zhengdong Fleet. The ship's name is Zitantian, which is the name of Die Niang's jewelry box.

Fu Yuan didn't forget that Die Niang's jewelry box rescued him from Gao Gong's prison, and he didn't forget that Die Niang's jewelry box made him pack up and go north to Beiyang, becoming the famous commander-in-chief of Dongyang Beiya.

Now he will take the jewelry box across the ocean to fight the barbarians on the other side of the world.

The Eastern Zheng Army commanded a huge fleet consisting of six Chihai-class thousand ships, thirty five-hundred-year-old shark ships, and thirty grain-horse ships, with a total of more than [-] soldiers and more than [-] artillery pieces. Go to France.

But before going to France, he had to stop in Lisbon to frighten Philip.

Accompanying him is Yang Ce, who is driving a parachutist. He is also the direct successor of the Daming ship's strong guns. The pirate coalition forces of Junfu Fanqi have a large Spanish Galen ship parachutist, 26 thousand material Phoenix ships armed with phoenix cannons, 34 armed merchant ships from various European countries, and [-] blue flying shark ships from the headquarters of the Han Dynasty.

Their establishment is not as organized as that of Fu Yuanzheng's Eastern Army. Some of Yang Ce's generals lead more ships, some lead fewer ships, some like artillery battles, some like fire attacks, and some are keen to jump. Helping to fight on board...Although Yang Ce attaches great importance to artillery, without a stable logistics base, he managed to equip the fleet with the captured Fran cannons. There are only sixteen Phoenix ships that imitate General Zhenshuo, so Combat tactics are more flexible.

Yang Ce didn't have so many artillery pieces, and his tactics were inflexible and he followed the teaching of the lecture hall to bombard the line of battle. He had already died countless times.

The two fleets are not far apart on the sea, facing each other and sailing eastward at nearly the same speed. Their short-term goal is Spain, but Yang Ce may stop at the Azores in the middle of the road to wait for Li Dan to return to Spain Further information later.

No one wants to fight a war on rough seas.

The party that seizes the offshore defense first will obviously gain a more favorable position in the war.

What's more...Yang Ce and Shi He have other ideas.

A group of Ming pirates from the Han Dynasty have always been obsessed with Europa. In the past, they watched the Portuguese and Spaniards enter the Nanyang region, and even once slaughtered the city and destroyed the country. Yes, but the expansion of power does not conflict with the expulsion of the Europeans, but they do not have that opportunity.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, looking east to the Indian Ocean and west to Africa, the reputation of making waves on the sea was unmatched for a while, and it reminded them of the crazy idea in their early years-invading Europa.

In their view, this battle is an opportunity.

When the fleet was not far from the Azores, Shi He's flagship suddenly approached the parachutist, and the vigorous pirate king even swung aboard the ship with the sail ropes, and joined Yang Ce in a small voice. He said: "I thought about it for several days on the way. The islands are only a few days' flight away from Gibraltar. Since we are going to land on the islands, why not occupy two islands for now?"

Yang Ce narrowed his eyes and looked at Shi He, not knowing what kind of medicine he was selling in the gourd, and asked, "What are you doing to occupy those two islands? It will also attract the Spanish fleet. Once Fu Zongbing leads the army northward to Francie, the We can't beat the Spanish fleet, it's too close to Spain."

"What are you afraid of? They don't know that we are pirates."

Shi He said, his black face, which had been honed by the sea wind for a long time, showed a smile, raised his finger and pointed to the flag hanging on the mast, and said: "We are the Great Heavenly Army. For Spain, the Heavenly Army under Marshal Chen's command occupies two of his own. What's wrong with the island?"

Yang Ce lowered his head and thought for a while, then turned his head to glance at the Fuyuan Fleet in the distance, which was hard to distinguish with the naked eye, and nodded involuntarily.

Then he shook his head and said: "Occupying the island is not a problem, there is no need to use force, as long as we go up, the islanders will not dare to say anything, if they want to say something, let them shut up forever."

As he spoke, Yang Ce clapped his palms on the back of his hands: "But why are you occupying these two islands? I haven't heard that there are any good things on the islands."

Shi He shook his head pretending to be mysterious, and then whispered: "You also know that I have been in the east before. The year before last, King Dan Li Mao got a Mediterranean chart from an Ottoman merchant. I heard that many towns along the coast are prosperous and prosperous. Not many people."

"In recent years, Theo has negotiated a peace, the sea is calm, and all the sailors are merchants, and there are not many defenders in each city. With more than [-] warships and tens of thousands of soldiers, as long as you enter Gibraltar..."

Shi He grabbed Yang Ce's hand and said, "If you can grab a pass from east to west, Rome, Florence, Genoa, Marseille, if Spain's coastal defense is insufficient, there are Barcelona and Valencia, and then leave from Gibraltar. "

As Yang Ce said, he felt the force being exerted on his clenched arm, and even his tone became a bit more serious: "Replenish water and food in the Azores, sail all the way west to Qilinwei, and sell the goods at Chen Shuai. .”

Yang Ce's thoughts collided with Shi He's words and fantasized in his mind, but he immediately shook his head and said, "It's easy to rob, but how will the aftermath be dealt with? Would Chen Shuai be willing to bear the burden for you and me?" This black pot?"

"Chen Shuai is not afraid of the Xiyi, and [-]% to [-]% of the war profit is dedicated to Chen Shuai. Could he still blame you and me? It's just that you and I will fight the Xiyi for Chen Shuai in the future, let alone enter Gibraltar. You can hang Spanish sails, how easy their big red forks are to paint, and you can even snatch Ottoman with Spanish sails."

"Returning to Gibraltar, the news should not come back, even if it comes back, as long as Li Xiaoye nods, no one can stop us, hang back the Chinese flag and leave all the way, at worst let Spain find us later, at least four big cities, grandpas can Live a lifetime in Changsheng Happy!"

"Don't think about it for now, it's justified to win the next battle first." Yang Ce slowly pulled out Shi He's clenched arm, pressed it down, and said, "The matter of entering Gibraltar can be discussed later."

Shi He hurriedly said: "Don't, then tell me if you want to occupy these two islands, my own people can't occupy them!"

"Take up!"

Yang Ce gritted his teeth and said, "Occupy first."

(End of this chapter)