Gonna win! Really going to win!
The Armada is finally winning...thank you Heavenly Father! Amen! Amen!
When the Pacific Star armed merchant ship passed through the waterway between the Big Mo Mountain and entered the Dinghai anchorage, De Velasco shed tears of excitement and kept crossing himself on his chest.
Because the twelve galenic sailing ships of the Ming Dynasty's East China Sea Fleet were loosely arranged on the pier under the Shenjiamen Fort, they seemed unprepared. Although all the big bird ships of the Ming Dynasty's Eastern Fleet are not there, and the most threatening Flying Ship is not there either. However, the loss of twelve Galenic sailing ships at one time would still seriously weaken the Western-style fleet of the Ming Dynasty Navy, which was already small.
In addition, near the Shenjiamen Fort berth is the Shenjiamen Commercial Port. The entire commercial port is very busy at the moment. Chinese-style sailing ships and Western-style sailing ships are crowded together, which makes people jealous... Among them, several galenic ships belonging to the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company cannot be touched. Yes, the other ships will be the spoils of the Spanish Empire in a short time!
After suppressing his excitement, De Velasco raised the telescope again and observed carefully.
First, observe the twelve Ming army warships moored under the Shenjiamen Fort. Four of them are 600-ton class, four are 400-ton class, and four are 200-ton class. Although they are all Dutch-style Galenic ships, if you look closely, you can still find many Chinese-style decorations - these twelve Galenic warships are all products of the Ming Dynasty shipyard!
It seems that the Chinese have completely mastered the construction technology of Galenic warships of six hundred tons and below! De Velasco thought: Although a 600-ton warship is nothing in Europe, as long as the Chinese go one step further and master the construction technology of an 800-ton European-style warship, it will not be easy to deal with them in the future.
Because in Europe, large ships of more than one thousand tons are a national treasure, and naval powers like England, the Netherlands, and Spain cannot afford to build a few... Since they cannot afford to build a few, everyone is building thousands of them. We don’t have much experience in building large ships above 1,000 tons, so everyone is still trying to figure out how to build ships above 1,000 tons.
Then De Velasco began to observe the Shenjiamen Fort.
Shenjiamen Fort is located on a hilltop in the southeast corner of Zhoushan Island. The base of the fort was built with huge rocks. Many sandbags were piled on the base to form artillery bunkers. The cannons were invisible, only the bunkers were visible. De Belasco counted twenty-four that could be seen, and he didn't know how many were not seen?
According to the information obtained by De Velasco, the Shenjiamen Fort is a battalion-level fort, which means that the garrison can be up to one battalion, and the actual artillery can be up to one company. Because the fortress artillery does not need to be mobile, there are many gunners in the organization. One company of gunners can control approximately 12 artillery pieces.
In other words, of the twenty-four artillery fortifications that can be seen, at least half are empty...
De Velasco then found a sandbag wall near Shenjiamen Port. Behind the wall should be the Shenjiamen Barracks. This barracks is not small in size and is heavily guarded all year round. Even the spies hired by De Velasco cannot penetrate it.
But one thing is for sure, there are soldiers in the barracks, and there are quite a few of them!
Because of the existence of this barracks, De Velasco did not dare to think about occupying Zhoushan Island... Although the Spanish Army is very powerful, it does not mean that the Spanish Navy can be used as an army after getting off the ship. .
After completing the observation, De Velasco breathed out, put away the telescope, then turned to the captain of the Pacific Star following him and said: "Let's go out from the west of Dinghai anchorage, then make a circle and turn due south. Go to Yonaguni Island and wait.”
Yonaguni Island is now under the jurisdiction of the Ryukyu Kingdom. There are not many residents on the island, but some paddy fields have been reclaimed and there are some fishing boats. It is relatively prosperous. From time to time, some merchant ships will pass nearby, but no one will stay there. .
It was precisely because the sailors who frequently sailed the Ryukyu route knew this place that de Velasco suggested that Admiral Garcia designate Yonaguni Island as the meeting point of the campaign.
The Pacific Star led by De Velasco will rendezvous with Admiral Garcia's main force there. After the sneak attack on Dinghai is over, if the fleet cannot form a team to evacuate, the scattered warships will also rendezvous at Yonaguni Island. .
...
When the Pacific Star quietly arrived at the Yonaguni Highway, twenty-eight galenic sailing ships flying the white iris flag of the Bourbon Dynasty were lowering their sails and quietly lurking on the sea south of the island.
Needless to say, these twenty-eight Galenic ships are the Spanish Oriental Armada led by Admiral Garcia!
The reason why the French flag needs to be flown is because recently there is news among the Western circles in the East that the French royal fleet is coming to China.
In recent years, the situation in the Kingdom of France has also begun to improve, and it has gradually emerged from the malaise caused by a series of wars such as the Thirty Years' War, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Fronde. The ruling Cardinal Mazarin (formerly known as Mazarin) also has spare time to focus on developing overseas markets.
And the trade between Ming Dynasty and France seems to be promising.
Therefore, Mazarin is building a large royal fleet, preparing to invest in the Mingfa maritime trade that can bring huge income to the Bourbon dynasty.
After the news reached Manila, Admiral Garcia immediately had people prepare iris flags in order to disguise his fleet as a French fleet visiting China...
"How is it? Colonel, how is the situation at Dinghai anchorage?"
Seeing De Velasco coming excitedly, General Garcia knew that something was going to happen, so he became excited.
"There is no defense!" De Velasco said, "Let's set off immediately. It's a headwind now and the speed is relatively slow... We can't rush into the Dinghai anchorage until the night after tomorrow!"
"Can it be done at night?" Admiral Garcia asked.
"No problem...the channel between the large and small Grindstone Islands is very wide. I have walked through it many times. When the time comes, I will pilot the Pacific Star." De Velasco paused and then said, "Shenjiamen Commercial Port is very lively at night. As long as we move in the direction of the lights, we can find the anchorage of the Chinese fleet! There are 12 Galen ships there. Let's set fire to the fire ships first, and then get closer and bombard them!"
"Where are the Chinese forts?" Garcia asked again.
"It's just a fort with about ten or twenty cannons," De Velasco replied. "As long as you rush in at night, there's nothing to be afraid of. You won't be able to fire a few cannons."
"Then we'll definitely win!" Garcia took a breath, feeling so excited that the Spanish Armada also sometimes won!
...
At the same time, Zheng Jiangong had already inspected the 22 Big Bird ships provided by the Nanyang Fleet, and also conducted artillery test firings - all artillery and gun crews performed excellently!
Oh, there are only 88 24-pound naval type Hongxing Type 6 in total. They are all well maintained and the gunners are all good. Although most of the officers and soldiers of the Nanyang Fleet are not from professional backgrounds, they have all been at sea for many years and have good skills and experience. The gunners among them all went to the Naval Academy to take artillery classes, and of course their skills were excellent.
After the inspection was completed, eight large bird ships of the Oriental Fleet, led by the two Galen ships Jiangnan and Fujian, also arrived in Xiamen, plus three 800-ton ships including the Feixiang, Jiangnan, and Fujian. The Lun Ship, a Ming Dynasty expedition fleet composed of a total of 33 warships, sailed out of the Xiamen anchorage on the afternoon of the second day of August in the ninth year of Hongxing, and disappeared into the vast Taiwan Strait with the help of the northeasterly wind.
On the evening of this day, the Spanish Oriental Armada, composed of 29 Galenic ships, also braved the roaring northeast wind and sailed to the surface of the East China Sea beyond the Dinghai anchorage!
The white iris flag slowly lowered, and the Spanish Sant'Andre flag, symbolizing the Spanish Empire, slowly rose...
