It started to get dark.
There is still a layer of mist floating on the sea in the distance. This is because the water vapor after the sea water evaporates is liquefied and the small water droplets formed float on the sea with only a slight breeze. When the sun comes out, when the sea breeze starts Blow and they will disperse quickly.
And as the red light on the horizon becomes more and more visible, the city of Seville, which monopolizes overseas trade in Spain and even almost all of Europe, controls the Strait of Gibraltar, and has unique geographical and economic advantages, is welcoming again. It’s a brand new day.
As of today, the Armada has been setting off for five full days, and the port of Seville is still bustling without any impact.
Every day, there are at least dozens of large and small merchant ships coming from the Mediterranean Sea, the New World, or the North Sea of Africa, etc. or temporarily docking here.
In this era of great navigation, the Port of Seville was obviously the one that reaped the most dividends during the era, and the Spanish royal family also made so much money that they would have so much money to build a The invincible armada used it to sail across the Mediterranean and the New World.
In this era, Spain is undoubtedly the strongest maritime kingdom, which can be seen from the prosperity of Seville Port alone.
At this time, on the high fortress tower on the top of a hill next to the dock, two soldiers wearing armor and holding long-handled battle axes were standing guard.
Behind the two of them is a large bronze alarm bell, but it has not been rung for many years, so the two of them are just standing guard here for a show, and last night they were leaning directly against the wall. Even after sleeping all night, no one was discovered, and no one even came to check, because neither they nor their superiors believed what would happen.
"Oh~!"
"I'm so sleepy..."
"Hey!"
"Louis, how many ships have entered the harbor from last night to this morning?"
One of the soldiers stretched himself first, and then asked confusedly to his companion who was rubbing his neck.
Standing guard here is a nice job, it's relaxing and fun, and you can sleep. The only downside is that you can't fish for extra oil and water like those bastards who maintain order on the dock.
You know, the owners of slower ocean-going sailing ships are very fat. If you find any excuse to make things difficult, you can easily get a lot of benefits from those private ship owners who have no backing!
Whether you get a few silver coins by extortion or take away some scattered goods, it is a real benefit. If you add up a little, the final monthly goods received may be more than the two of them standing guard here in the tower. The soldiers must be at least many times better.
"Boat?"
"I don't know, maybe there are ten ships?"
The soldier rubbed his neck before putting on the heavy helmet again, and then continued to stand on guard crookedly holding his long-handled battle ax.
"Ten ships?"
"It's a little short."
"Um!"
"Isn't it because of the matter about the Li family fleet?"
"I heard that they occupied Madeira, and many merchant ships from Africa and the New World were forced to temporarily stop in Las Palmas, for fear that they would be robbed by those Easterners when passing by Madeira."
"yes!"
"However, this world is so big. Even the terrible female thieves from the far East have come to us in Europe."
"It's really not easy for those who are doing business on the sea. Those Ming people from the East make me feel terrible just thinking about it."
"Um!"
"That's beyond description as terrible..."
Hearing what his companion said, the Spanish soldier Louis, who was holding his weapon and looking at the sea in trance, nodded in agreement, and then added:
"I went to the pub yesterday and heard a lot of news."
"It is said that Li Huamei, the Oriental female thief who came to our Seville before, is a little better. She just likes to use strategy and diplomacy to paralyze her enemies, and then kill them by surprise. Although it is not It’s difficult to deal with, but the strength of her fleet is just that, and the few ships she brought are ordinary, nothing special.”
"But the devil's fleet led by the evil Admiral Hastur is different..."
Having said this, the soldier Louis couldn't help but pause.
"I heard that although the opponent only has five warships, they are very big and very fast. The range of the cannons is very far, even further than our shore guns. It is incredible!"
"No one is her opponent..."
"And, I heard that she also likes bombarding ports and robbing cities?"
As he talked, Soldier Louis became energetic. Then, seeing that his companions seemed to be very interested, he no longer cared about the empty sea in the distance, but began to speak emphatically:
"Think about it, generally speaking, the bigger the ship, the slower it is, right?"
"But that Devil Admiral's ship is different!"
"It is said that they are the largest ships in the world, and they are also the fastest!"
"So fast that even the medium-sized three-masted fast armed sailing ships we see here can't compare with them. I'm afraid only the devil can build such a ship that goes against common sense!"
This low-level soldier named Louis couldn't understand this.
In fact, he also heard that even the best shipbuilding engineers in Seville's largest shipyard couldn't figure out why, so Admiral Baroudis led the Armada to attack. While preparing to attack the arrogance of those Easterners, they also have the purpose of trying to get the ships or cannons of those Easterners?
Of course, those things are just rumors, and soldiers like them just listen to them. It's not their turn to worry about them.
"yes……"
"I've heard about this too."
"At the beginning, the devil admiral set out from the far east, but as soon as she arrived at the Spicy Islands, she defeated the Portuguese Malay Governor-General Doalate Lopez de Preila, and then forced her to He surrendered the Dutch governor of Guava, Antonio van Kuhn, and even robbed the entire Far Eastern fleet of Hedram Joachim Bergstrom of the Swedish Navy!”
"That Bergstrom is unlucky. I heard he was dismissed from his post as soon as he returned to Sweden. It's a pity that he was not sent to prison."
As he spoke, the soldier who was gloating about his misfortune smacked his mouth with some regret, as if he was regretful for not seeing the Swedish legendary admiral unlucky or being sent to the guillotine?
After all, although Sweden's navy is not very strong, it is still one of the competitors of the Kingdom of Spain. Seeing other countries' navies being unlucky, there is nothing wrong with them being happy or gloating about their misfortune.
"It's so scary to think about!"
"The Dutch and Portuguese are very powerful on the Spicy Islands. Even the British, French and us Spaniards can't get involved in the spicy trade, right?"
"But the result..."
"That terrible devil admiral of the East, they just conquered the entire Spicy Islands with five ships and took over most of the spicy food market there, causing the price of spicy food here in Spain to rise. Almost two or three times.”
Having said this, the soldier couldn't stop laughing, because he discovered that it was not just the Portuguese, Dutch and Swedes who seemed to be unlucky, their Spanish market was obviously also affected.
If this continues, I'm afraid the goods shipped back from the East and Africa will become less and less, or they will simply be monopolized by those Easterners. I don't know what will happen in the future!
"Isn't it?"
"And it's more than two or three times. It's expected to rise again in a while!"
"It's almost more expensive than gold."
Speaking of the price of those spicy condiments, another soldier, Louis, also smacked his tongue.
"Are you afraid you don't know yet?"
"??"
"what do you know?"
"I heard……"
"East India, which also produces spicy condiments, has also been conquered by that devil admiral!"
"A prince and a big businessman from India became the minion of that devil admiral. It is said that not long ago, many ships and tens of thousands of people were sent to take over the interests of the east coast of Africa. Our big businessman from Spain, James All Lonimo de Espinoza’s territory was robbed, and now they are all beaten by her and have fled to the New World to seek refuge.”
"Tsk tsk!"
"It's really pitiful. That guy was originally a big businessman and aristocrat with great reputation. Even the king invited him to have dinner. He didn't know how much he earned from trading gold, gems, ivory, leather and black slaves in Africa. But now, the original dozens of large-scale ships have been beaten down to a pitiful dozen or so, and they almost went bankrupt!"
The more he talked about the soldier, the more excited he became. At this time, he no longer cared about the fact that the unlucky big businessman was actually Spanish. He only knew that he would be happy when he saw those rich and big businessmen being unlucky, and if the other party was If it sinks into the sea, it will be even more perfect.
"I know that too!"
"but……"
"So, the Spicy Islands, the Indian Ocean and Africa have now become the sphere of influence of the Li Family Chamber of Commerce from the East?"
"That's right!"
"you do not say!"
"You don't know yet, do you?"
"The Portuguese explorer and the ivory merchant who dominated West Africa, Finan Siruvela, also took the initiative to open the market to the Li family not long ago. He was not forced to do so. If he dared not to open it, Preila and What happened to Espinoza is his example!”
"That cunning old Portuguese thing..."
"ah!"
"It's no wonder..."
"No wonder the Commander-in-Chief of Spain's Armada and Admiral of the Kingdom's Navy, His Excellency Pietro de Barrudis, suddenly declared war on the Li Family Chamber of Commerce. No wonder he led the Armada southward towards Madeira."
"That Li Family Chamber of Commerce has threatened our Spanish position of dominating the world!"
"yes."
"Always teach them a profound lesson, or drive them away directly!"
"Otherwise, if she goes to the Mediterranean Sea and makes trouble in the Strait of Gibraltar, how can we Europeans survive?"
Just five ships can turn several oceans upside down. This made the soldier feel that the devil admiral of the Li Family Chamber of Commerce was indeed well-deserved and definitely more terrifying than any ghost ship or legendary sea monster!
"well……"
"Yes, we really should teach them a lesson."
"And, you know what?"
"This reminds me of the Mongols hundreds of years ago. At that time, I heard that our ancestors were beaten so miserably. Fortunately, their emperor died at that time, so all those terrible devils ran back. Let’s fight for power, otherwise, we may not have this powerful Spanish Kingdom today.”
"you're right……"
"However, hundreds of years have passed, and now they are here again, and this time, their Easterners came by sea. I don't know what will become of them in the end?"
"..."
"..."
Having said this, the two soldiers involuntarily became quiet, not daring to imagine such terrible things.
"Okay, okay, that kind of thing is not what we people should care about, so don't worry about it!"
"If we want to fight, it's up to the navy to fight. We're not sailors, so we don't care about that!"
"ah!"
"makes sense!"
"Oh~!"
"It's still early and the sun hasn't risen yet. I'm really sleepy. How about we take a nap for a while?"
"Don't!"
"It's almost dawn. If you sleep now, you will be seen by others, and you will be whipped!"
"..."
"Too……"
"Well?"
"It seems like another ship is coming..."
Suddenly, the soldier Louis seemed to have discovered something and began to crane his neck to look at the misty sea level on the horizon.
"Let me see……"
Seeing this, another soldier on the side reached out and picked up a pair of simple, non-retractable monocular binoculars next to him and began to observe.
"Yes, it's a boat!"
"I seem to see their masts..."
"Tsk!"
"The unknown flag is too far away to see clearly, but those bastards down there must be getting something out of it!"
Putting down his telescope, the soldier said enviously to the soldiers and tax collectors who had just taken up duty at the port.
Because they don’t recognize the flag, it proves that they must not come to the port of Seville often, otherwise they would have recognized it from so far away! If you don't come to the Port of Seville often, you are definitely not a big businessman with a backing. Then here, you will inevitably be made things difficult and ask for property by their Spanish officials.
"Hey!"
"How about we guess where those ships came from?"
"I'll bet one reale!"
"That's from the New World. Do you dare?"
As he spoke, soldier Louis suddenly took out an irregular silver coin and placed it on the window sill of the tower.
"Just bet!"
"I bet they're from Africa!"
Seeing this, another soldier not to be outdone took out an equally irregular silver coin and slapped it viciously on the window sill.
"Look!"
"Which chamber of commerce does it belong to..."
As long as they clearly see the flag hanging on the ship and recognize the nationality of the ship or the flag style of the chamber of commerce, soldiers like them who stand guard at the high tower at the dock every day can roughly determine where the other party comes from!
Because the ships of each chamber of commerce and each country usually take a fixed route, and the goods they transport are also fixed types, they can guess the same without even asking at the dock below. ten.
At this time, in the distance, the sun gradually rose, and the ships that appeared on the horizon became larger and larger.
"I still can't see clearly..."
"Damn it, the sun is rising behind them. I can see that it's all blood red and I can't even see the color of their flags!"
"Bring it here, let me take a look!"
"ah……"
"It's true that I can't see clearly, but don't worry. I'll wait and see. I think I will definitely win in the end!"
"Pooh!"
"Dream! I will definitely win!!"
After staring for more than ten minutes, the sun rose higher and became more dazzling, and at the same time, the outlines of the ships in the distance became clearer.
"..."
"!!"
"No! That ship..."
At this time, the soldier Louis, who was holding a telescope for inspection, finally realized something and began to exclaim.
"What's wrong?"
And his reaction naturally attracted the attention of his companions.
"wrong!"
"That boat feels so big, come and see if it is!"
"Under normal circumstances, when we look at it from such a distance, have we ever seen such a big ship?"
"Moreover, it seems that there are exactly five ships..."
He handed the binoculars to his companion. When the other party started to look out, Soldier Louis did not forget to explain doubtfully.
"oops!"
"It's really big..."
"etc!!"
"Five ships? That's right, five big ships?!"
"That flag..."
Finally, the soldier holding the telescope seemed to realize something. He opened his mouth, widened his eyes, slowly put down the telescope in his hand and looked at his companions beside him.
"Orientals!!"
"Devil Admiral!!"
Almost in unison, the two of them exclaimed the terrible name they least wanted to hear.
In their opinion, Admiral Baroudis, who should be waiting for them in Madeira, led the Armada to annihilate him, but now, he actually appeared outside the port of Seville?
"quick!"
"Sound the alarm!!!"
"Together!"
"Harder!!"
Bang~! Bang~!
Bang~! Bang~! Bang~!
Soon, in the orange light of the morning light, the copper bells, which had not sounded for at least several years, began to ring rapidly from the high tower above the port of Seville.
…
"ha!"
|?˙?˙)?
"So, that city in the distance is Seville, the base of the enemy fleet?"
?(ψ｀▽′)o
It was already daybreak. Standing on the bow of the flagship "Xiang Feihu", Annie, who was moving at full speed with the sun and sea breeze on her back, could clearly see the big city in the distance by the mouth of a large river without a telescope. contour.
"Yes!"
"Report to the Grand Admiral, that is the Spanish city of Seville!"
"At least……"
"That's what the two Portuguese guides on our boat said!"
At this time, upon hearing the Admiral's inquiry, the First Mate who was standing at the bow of the ship and standing by the side quickly reported the truth truthfully.
According to the Portuguese guides, the main force of the Spanish Armada was stationed there before. However, most of them have now gone south to Madeira, which was abandoned by the Li Family Chamber of Commerce. The current defense of Seville is empty. It's a good time to hit the opponent.
"Well!"
|
"Let the artillerymen prepare for battle!!"
?(ψ｀▽′)o
Admiral Anne said that she has seen it now, she is here, and she is ready to conquer this place.
Of course, it is just a conquest. She does not intend to occupy it, and she does not have the ability to occupy it for the time being! Moreover, she is ready to play a big game and make fun of those guys who dare to declare war on her.
"yes!"
"Send the order!"
"Everyone, get ready for battle!"
"Load the guns and prepare to turn. Let them follow the flagship!"
Ding~! Ding~! Ding~!
Soon, as the chief officer's order was issued, the small bronze bells on the five ships of the Ming Dynasty's Li family fleet were also rung.
Immediately afterwards, the sailor artillerymen who had already eaten and drank before dawn and had been on standby for a long time began to run busy on the deck, and moved those dark and smooth boats, which were still covered by the early morning sea. The fog above caused the gun barrels with dewdrops to slowly push out the gun doors one by one, revealing their ferocious muzzles.
"quick!"
ψ(*｀ー′)o
"Everyone, get moving. Anyone who dares to be lazy will be spanked!"
?(?`^′?)?
"Azhisha, what do you want to do?"
?(ψ｀╭╮′)o
"If you dare to run away again, I'll spank you again, and you'll be spanked with your pants off!"
(╬)
Seeing that a certain pirate maid didn't learn her lesson and wanted to touch the edge while leaning against the edge of the ship, she didn't know what she was thinking. Anne glared at her and threatened her.
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