"Her Royal Highness the Princess told me that it would be too troublesome to defeat them individually and consume more money and food. Therefore, the commander of the Ming Navy wanted to wait for the fleets from all European countries to be assembled and deliver them to the door together. It is easiest to serve them in one pot!"
Hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded, and the bar became quiet.
Did they never expect that the commander of the Ming Dynasty Fleet would not pay attention to the fleets of European countries? Or is it that the commander of the Ming Fleet underestimated the European countries and felt that they would not be able to gather so many warships?
After a while, Ludkin came back to his senses and asked a little worriedly: "At that time, was it estimated that they had more than a thousand battleships, while ours only had about three hundred battleships?"
After hearing this, Raf scratched his head and replied: "I have also asked. Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine said that the Ming fleet left on purpose to open up contact with the Ottoman Ming army. Only Lisbon left a smaller number of warships. The alliance of European countries The fleet will deliver it to your door by itself!”
"..." Everyone in the bar was speechless after hearing this. From these words, we can clearly feel that the Ming fleet is deeply confident. Could it be that three hundred warships could really defeat more than a thousand sail warships?
After a moment of silence, Ludkin asked Raff still a little doubtfully: "Do you think this is reliable?"
After hearing this, Raf thought for a moment and nodded: "I think...it's still reliable."
At this point, he paused and then added: "Don't look at the commander of the Ming Dynasty fleet, his beard and hair are all white, he is just an old man. Speaking of which, his name is also scary."
"Very powerful?" Ludkin was very cooperative and asked quickly.
Rafe nodded and said: "The commander of the Ming fleet was a pirate. He stood out among the many pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty and became the most powerful one. Later, he was recruited by the court and became an official army. He wiped out other pirates and brought the Netherlands, which had colonized in the past, I'm convinced. On the sea in the Far East, I am the only one who dominates..."
The Portuguese know this kind of thing very well. Because they were originally like other European countries, many of them were sent out to be pirates and colonize. Therefore, I immediately had an intuitive impression of the commander of the Ming Dynasty Fleet.
"...Then he was ordered to go north again to suppress the Liaodong rebellion and annihilate the opponent's fleet. He also attacked the Japanese army and completely annihilated the Japanese fleet." When Rafe himself introduced it, his face showed reverence. It means, "During the Ming Dynasty's expedition to America, he also defeated the Spanish fleet and scared away the pirates from various countries who gathered there."
After hearing this, everyone in the bar was shocked. They didn't expect that the old man who looked more like a businessman, a harmless person, would have such a majestic experience!
Since such a fleet commander says he can defeat the fleets of various European countries, he must have that strength!
In their hearts, they immediately had confidence in the Ming army. Unexpectedly, this was not over yet, when Rafe added another sentence: "The commander of the Ming Dynasty Fleet over the Persian Gulf is the son of this fleet commander."
"Hiss..." The people in the bar couldn't help but take a breath after hearing this. Because they know that the Ming Dynasty fleet on the Persian Gulf has as many as two to three thousand ships. That is enough to show that the fleet commander over there must be very powerful. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be the son of Lisbon, the commander of the Ming Dynasty Fleet!
Awesome, really awesome!
After listening to this, everyone has confidence in the Ming fleet. Before they had time to recover and discuss, they saw someone rush into the bar and shouted: "Some ships in the Ming Dynasty fleet are changing their appearance. Come and see!"
After saying that, the man hurried out again.
When Rafe heard this, he said excitedly: "It must be a steam armored battleship unloading its camouflage and getting ready for war. Come and see!"
After saying that, he didn't look like a fat man at all and ran out of the bar quickly.
Unlike other Europeans, at least people like Raff, they can accurately call Ming Dynasty's new warships steam iron-clad battleships, instead of iron-clad smoke battleships like other European countries.
People in Lisbon have been admiring this new type of warship for a long time, but they have never seen it. The port is also under martial law, so you can't observe it closely. Now that the war is about to take off, they are naturally curious about those warships taking off their camouflage, and want to take a look as soon as possible.
As a result, all the drinkers in the bar ran away once again. But unlike last time, no wine glass suffered this time.
At this time, there were already many people at the port outside the cordon. Ludkin easily caught up with Raff and stood on the cordon looking at the port.
I saw that at this time, many warships removed one of the masts and then installed a large chimney. Obviously, these battleships are the steam iron-clad battleships they really want to see. What left them speechless was that these armored warships were all painted. Looking from a distance, they couldn't find out that the hulls were actually armored.
"Haha, the Ming army is really cunning!" Seeing this, Ludkin couldn't help but smile and said, "But I like it!"
Disguise is to deceive the enemy, and the enemies of the Ming Dynasty fleet are their enemies. Being able to deceive the enemy, the Portuguese are of course the happiest.
They watched for a while, and when the Ming army finally completed the modification of the steam armored warships, they counted and found that there were twenty-three ships, and they couldn't help but be very excited.
Rafe, who knew more, couldn't help but praise: "Don't you know, when the Ming fleet defeated the Spanish fleet in America and scared away the pirate coalition, there were only three steam-armored battleships! Three! Now! There are actually twenty-three ships, haha, it’s a good show.”
"Should this kind of steam iron-armored battleship be more difficult to build than a sail battleship? Only a few years have passed, and our fleet has come to Lisbon with twenty-three ships." When Luther King said this, he couldn't help but sigh, "Tsk tsk. , Ming’s strength is too powerful!”
One thing they didn't know was that the Daming Shipyard had optimized it based on the actual combat of the first steam ironclad battleship. Not only were the battleships heavier, but the cannons on the battleships were also larger in caliber and increased in number. After experiments, it was found that if the hull of the sailing battleship was concentrated by the cannonballs of the armored battleship, it would seriously weaken the sailing battleship's ability to fight again.
In addition, all sailors on the Ming Dynasty fleet were equipped with flint-haired three-eyed muskets, or even four-eyed or five-eyed guns, although they could not fire continuously like later machine guns. But at least it can be launched several times in a row without any problem. If a gang-hopping war breaks out, then the Ming army's advantage is absolutely undeniable.
At this time, the Ming army took off the camouflage of the steam armored battleship, which meant that the war would begin soon. The Portuguese in Lisbon have also begun to prepare. They all want to play their part in the battle to defend Lisbon. After all, no one wants Lisbon to fall again and be ruled by others.
……………………
Three days later, the combined fleets of European countries finally appeared in the sea outside the Lisbon port. When they saw that the Ming Dynasty fleet had been parked at the port, and there were no obstacles as far as the eye could see, there were only about 300 ships, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are these Ming people deaf or are the Portuguese blind? They didn't even inquire about the size of the fleet we assembled? Are they stupid and bold if we don't call their fleet back quickly and don't run away?"
"Whether they are stupid or bold, this time we will wipe out the Ming fleet in Lisbon port, reoccupy Lisbon, and let the Portuguese girls taste our power again!"
"..."
The relaxed atmosphere immediately spread among the combined fleets of European countries. However, as Robert and others who had personally participated in the American naval battle, they became a little worried.
They did not believe that the Ming army commander was a fool. The one who could lead the fleet to Europe was definitely a trustworthy general of the Ming emperor.
Thinking like this, they came to two conclusions: first, the three hundred or so Ming fleets they saw so far were sure to win the war; second, it was possible that this was a trick to lure the enemy, and the Ming fleet's huge fleet He is probably hiding somewhere, and when the war breaks out here, reinforcements will come quickly!
With this in mind, they met with the fleet commanders from various countries to explain their speculations.
In this regard, fleet commanders from various countries unanimously believe that it is basically impossible for the 300 or so warships in front of them to defeat the combined fleet of more than 1,000 ships. The most likely thing is that the main fleet of the Ming Dynasty is hiding somewhere, and reinforcements will come when the war breaks out here.
For this reason, after they discussed it, they felt that the best strategy for this battle was to win it quickly. Even if it is the enemy's trick to lure the enemy, the bait must be eaten first.
Therefore, based on this idea, the fleets of various countries quickly adjusted their offensive formations, blocked the sea outside the Lisbon port, and launched an attack on the Ming fleet and a small number of Portuguese warships in the port.
The Portuguese on the shore were powerless to do anything about the naval battle. They could only hold their weapons and stare nervously at the naval battle that was about to begin.
Even Catherine was no exception. From the window of her father's palace that could see the harbor, she nervously watched the war at sea. Although she knew the strength of the Ming fleet, it was her first time to witness such a large-scale naval battle.
Zheng Zhilong was not beside her, but on the flagship. When he saw the dense enemy warships rushing towards them, he couldn't help but sneer, and then issued a military order to fight.
Following his order, the Ming fleet, which had already set up a battle formation, changed again and showed its fangs.
