The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 545 The Angry Helan Man

Only half a day later, the Helan Provisional Fleet consisting of nine warships headed by the Graveland encountered the Warren, which was in charge of peripheral reconnaissance.

It's just that Neves, the captain of the Warren, had a bad face when he boarded the fleet flagship.He was still more than ten steps away from Beth, so he saluted hastily and said anxiously: "General, my ship has been attacked by the Spaniards!"

"What?" Bess frowned, "Tell me the details."

"Around nine o'clock in the morning, I found a Manila auxiliary warship in the waters on the south side, guessing that their main fleet might be nearby, so I followed it from afar.

"I didn't expect that guy to be very cunning. He first took me to the direction against the wind, and then took advantage of a reef blocking my sight, suddenly turned around and rushed towards the wind.

"At that time, my ship was still against the wind, and the maneuvering speed was too slow. The Spaniards rushed up quickly and approached from the starboard side to fire while I was turning north."

Bess's ship was always on the left side of the Warren, and he didn't see the situation on the starboard side, so he looked at Neves and asked, "How about the loss?"

"The Spaniards fired more than 30 shots, then gave up the attack and turned southeast.

"One of the shells penetrated the officer's conference room at the stern, but there was no one there at the time, and only a scribe was slightly injured. Two other shells hit near the starboard port. breakdown."

"Shot off the Warren's ribs? So at least a six-pounder?" Bess asked.Although the Warren was only a lightly armed merchant ship, its owner had a special hobby and made the hull planks close to the thickness of warships of the same level, making it difficult for small-caliber guns to damage it.

"Yes, General, it should be a six-and-a-half-pound gun." Neves said, "It's a twelve-gun brig."

Bess stroked the hilt of his sword, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then turned to the first mate and asked, "Cesareo, when will Mr. Maten's fleet return?"

"If the journey goes well, it should be in the next few days."

Bess grabbed the chart on the table, gestured a few times, and frowned deeper, "Neves, are you sure you're Spanish?"

"That's right, General. A common Manila auxiliary warship. I can clearly see the flag flying on it and the appearance and uniform of the Spanish sailors on deck."

"The Spaniards must have learned of Maten's itinerary from spies, and they probably targeted him. They drove the Warren away because they were afraid she would discover their intentions."

Cesareo was surprised: "Mr. Maten's fleet has just returned from Japan, and it must be full of silver for selling goods..."

"These Spaniards are crazy!" Bess immediately ordered loudly, "Raise the flag, all ships are fully sailed, and we must meet our merchant ships before the Spaniards!"

"Yes!"

In the early morning of the next day, not long after Beth's fleet set sail, he heard the watchman on the mast shouting down, and then Bertman hurried into the command room and said to the fleet commander: "General, the Spaniards have been found! "

"Where's our merchant ship?"

"It doesn't seem to be near here yet."

"Fortunately."

Bess boarded the bow deck, carefully observed the Spanish fleet in the distance with binoculars, and said coldly: "Raise the flag and beat the drums. Order to turn into a file and prepare for battle."

"Yes!"

Cesareo hesitated and said, "General, are we going to go to war with the Spaniards?"

"They must be driven away from Dongfan!" Bess said in an unquestionable tone, "Although I don't know what the Manila authorities want to do, it's clear that they have bared their fangs. I can't just sit back and watch your merchant ship be in danger!"

……

"Mr. Major, the Helan people are going to grab the limelight..."

"You don't need to remind me, I saw it." Alamo said with a sullen face, holding a telescope.

Since they accepted Daming's entrustment and "wandered" in the east and southwestern waters, they also encountered the Helan fleet several times, and both sides have always maintained restraint in a tacit understanding.But now Helan seems to be playing for real.

The opponent has nine warships. Although it seems that he also has seven ships in his hand, the Helan people not only have the Graveland, an absolute main force with 36 guns, but most of the other ships are 24 to [-] guns. Serious warships, unlike his side, there are five armed merchant ships that are used to make up the number.Besides, the order he received was that he must not conflict with the Helan people.

Seeing the other party rushing over aggressively, Alamo finally sighed, and ordered: "Send the order, all sails are full, and avoid due south."

"Yes!"

Soon, the Spanish fleet died down and fled quickly, followed by several Helan warships relentlessly chasing after them.

"Sir, if we leave like this, will the Ming Dynasty say we breached the contract?"

"No, they will be very grateful to us." Alamo shook his head and said, "The Counselor King originally wanted us to drag the warship of the chief..."

As he was speaking, there was a roar of cannons on the sea behind him. It was the Helan warship firing threateningly.Of course, the distance between the two sides is more than ten nautical miles, and it is impossible for the shells to threaten the Manila fleet.

"Look," he smiled wryly, "we've been dancing with the Helan people, and they're even hundreds of nautical miles away from Dongfan."

In the era of sailing warships, when the technology of the two ships was not much different, if one party was determined to escape, it would not be easy for the other party to catch up.

Just like the previous Warren, although it was only an armed merchant ship of less than 130 tons, Zhang Guoxuan commanded the [-]-ton "Zhang Qian" to fire side by side in the case of a sneak attack, and chased for a long way. In the end, it only resulted in minor injuries.

"General, we damaged the Hongyi warship earlier, and we have fulfilled His Royal Highness's orders," Zhang Guoxuan's adjutant, wearing a Spanish navy uniform, looked at him from the side and said, "Can we return here? "

Zhang Guoxuan put away the binoculars, shook his head and said, "It's just a scratch, who knows if Hongyi will endure it.

"Continue to look for their fleet, and it will be safe to look for an opportunity to 'tick' one more time."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the watchman shouting: "North and west, we found two boats, about fifteen nautical miles away!"

Zhang Guoxuan hurriedly looked through the binoculars, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but smile, "God help me, it's Hongyi's merchant ship!" He then turned around and ordered, "Put away the Ezebania flag first, and go up to it with full sail! Beat the drums and prepare for the battle!" !"

"Yes!"

Marten never thought that there would be a non-Dutch warship more than 100 nautical miles away from Da Yuan, so until Zhang Guoxuan raised the flag of the Spanish Navy, he always thought that Da Yuan sent a warship to meet him.

(End of this chapter)