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Chapter 1017: Holding On
"Your Excellency, mast and sail spotted on the starboard side!"

After a night of sailing against the wind, three consecutive large-angle turns, and even risking not even turning on the navigation lights, four ships were lost, and they finally managed to avoid the lingering enemy ships. As soon as daybreak came, the executive captain brought bad news.

"How many?"

"We have only spotted one ship so far, about 3 nautical miles away. It should be a three-masted sailing ship, very similar to the enemy we saw yesterday."

The captain was not young, and judging from his skin color, he had spent most of his life sailing on the sea. However, he was somewhat helpless in the face of this situation, and there was an uneasy look in his eyes.

After yesterday's battle, he had a deeper understanding of the enemy's ship performance. If he hadn't used the night to get rid of them, today would have been a worse outcome. He could only pray to God to see how many of the remaining 20 sailing ships in the fleet could hold out until dark.

"…Send two fast ships to entangle it, and the rest of the ships will disperse to the west in groups of three. The flagship will head to 320. My old friend, Crado, we have known each other for almost 12 years. Don't blame me, this is a soldier's duty!"

Count Supero thought for more than a minute but still couldn't think of any effective way to get rid of the enemy. He could only use the dumbest and cruelest method, which was to send ships to delay the enemy's warships, preventing them from having time to notify other enemies and creating opportunities for most of the ships in the fleet.

But the two fast cruisers alone could not hold out for too long, so the second order was issued. Change the flagship's course to the northwest, attract as many enemy ships as possible to chase and cover the other ships in the fleet. However, in this way, it would be difficult for the more than 400 sailors and officers on the flagship to escape safely.

"For Spain!"

The captain twitched his lips, clenched his fists and saluted the earl, then turned and left the poop. Since the earl was willing to defend his honor with his own body, the officers and sailors had nothing to say, except to fight to the death, this was fate.

"Launch the fireworks!" Three nautical miles away, Yan Bushi stared with bloodshot eyes, looking at the sea in the southwest and gave the order.

A moment later, two columns of smoke leaped up from the sea accompanied by a shrill whistle, slowly rising higher and higher, and finally exploded high in the sky, turning into a small white umbrella with a small ball of black smoke hanging on it, drifting to the east with the wind.

After chasing for a whole night, in order to expand the search range, the only five warships in hand were arranged in a line, 5 miles apart, and pulled eastward like a net. Finally, after daybreak, the enemy's main force was discovered.

Now we just need to wait for our companions who have observed the fireworks signal to come over, and then we can continue the whole day's siege. We have no idea if we can keep all the 20 large sailing ships in the distance, but we must take every opportunity we have.

"Commander, fireworks signals have been observed on the starboard side. We will be able to rendezvous in about two hours!" Within five minutes, the navigator conveyed the lookout's report, and a response came from nearby friendly forces.

"Why didn't Ship No. 114 respond? Launch another firework." Normally, he should be happy about contacting friendly forces, but Yan Bushi didn't even turn his head and kept looking at the sea to the south.

There should be another ship there, a Guangzhou-class armed cargo ship with hull number 114. It was located at the southernmost position when it dispersed last night. In order to take care of its speed, the other four Qin-class warships also maintained a speed of 4 knots and should not fall behind. "Still no response. The lookout reported that two enemy ships broke away from the formation and are heading towards us, 5 kilometers away. In addition, the enemy fleet seems to be changing its formation, and the result is still unknown."

A few minutes later, the navigator walked behind Yan Bushi again with a tired and helpless look on his face and reported the latest observation results.

"Sea chart..." Upon hearing that the enemy fleet had undergone major changes, Yan Bushi finally withdrew his gaze, turned around and walked behind the helm, waved to the first mate, and soon the sea chart was spread out on the compass cabinet. Several officers on duty on the deck automatically gathered around for a meeting.

"We are here, and we have traveled about 8 kilometers from 90 o'clock last night to now, basically sailing due west along 32 degrees south latitude.

According to the nautical chart provided by the Navy General Staff, there are no islands or ports ahead, and the enemy has only two choices. Either turn north after dark and return to Europe, or continue westward, and they will reach the New World in more than 20 days.

The first to speak is the navigator, who knows many parameters of the ship, such as its course, speed, and position, and can provide corresponding assistance when the commander needs to make a decision.

"I think it's the first possibility. The Spanish fleet will definitely return to the Spanish port!" After the general situation was introduced, it was time for the participants to express their opinions. The first to speak was the fleet staff officer, who supported the first possibility speculated by the navigator.

"Not necessarily. Spain has the most colonies in the New World, so there should be no shortage of ports. Portugal also has many colonies in the New World. If I were the commander of the Spanish fleet, I might choose to return to the New World, which would make it easier to shake off the pursuers by surprise."

The first mate was the second to express his opinion, and he supported the second option. This was the current command system in the Ming Empire Navy under Hong Tao's influence. Any decision would be made by officers who were qualified to express their opinions and fully explain their reasons, and the final decision would be made by the actual commander.

Of course, the commander can also go against the majority and act arbitrarily, but he must not make any mistakes, otherwise he will bear all the responsibility for the command errors.

"The other captains are not here now, and there is no time to gather together for a meeting. I order... after dark, the fleet will split into two again, one heading north and the other heading west. Whichever side finds the enemy must fight to the end and inflict as much damage as possible.

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"Captain, find a chance to pass the order to the other warships. Now let's deal with these two guys first. Left rudder 30, heading 240, close to 1 kilometer!"

Yan Bushi's behavior was consistent with his character. He neither bet on one side nor was indecisive. He chose the most mediocre and stable method, which was to have both sides. He did not seek to annihilate the enemy completely, but only to do his best.

As for the two enemy ships that were coming at him diagonally, he still did not take any risks and followed the training outline. He first closed the distance, then turned, and moved in a zigzag pattern to fight against the headwind while using broadside firepower to carry out medium and long-range attacks.

Taking full advantage of the Qin-class battleship's fast speed, flexible turning, and long shooting distance, he was invincible first, and whether he could hit the enemy ship was the second priority. Anyway, he was not in a hurry. As long as he waited for more than an hour, at least one of his companions would come over, and it would not be too late to figure out how to kill the enemy at that time.

(End of this chapter)