The other people also followed suit. After Zhang Xuwen put down his telescope, he took several deep breaths to calm his nervousness... He had never been so nervous even when Tomsk was duel with the Russian Cossacks.

Zhang Han's painstaking layout, Chang Wei and others' hard work, all the hard work and millions of taels of silver are all in front of you.

It was these more than 20 ships, three thousand soldiers, including the officers, sailors, and the land fighters of the merchant army. All the past investment and expectations for the future were all on these three thousand people!

This is an absolute gamble. Once you win, the rise of Taiwan will no longer be hindered by any force. The Dutch cannot do it, and the Spanish cannot do it. The Portuguese are too far apart. Even the Fujian Navy of the Ming Dynasty who once defeated the Dutch will not do it. In the subsequent situation, Taiwan will be like a dragon coming out of the water and soaring into the sky!

If it is defeated, the investment in the previous years is equivalent to throwing silver into the water, and everything becomes a mirror. Although there is still a large area of ​​reclamation areas, although there is a preliminary military-industry system and a strong army, once the coast is blocked, Taiwan can only guard this family business with its current capabilities. Without the ocean, there will be no future. Of course, there will be no trade and all returns. It will only become weaker and weaker until it is not able to fight back, be eliminated by the enemy, or surrender, pluck the flag, destroy the village, and leave.

Only Li Pingzhi is still so strong, staring at the sea with his telescope, without blinking.

A large number of soldiers were gathered in the coastal defense area by the sea, and many officers also looked at the sea with telescopes, including the port area and storage area upstream of the trestle area. Many workers did not hide. They gathered together in groups of dozens of people to watch the situation on the sea.

This naval battle has touched the hearts of everyone in Taiwan. The huge difference between victory and defeat is too great. The soldiers are just standing and watching. The people don’t pay so much attention. Many people point at the Dutch ships and halberds and curse... Of course, they can’t hear it, but more people just fold their hands to pray, hoping that the illusory God can bless the navy to defeat the red barbarians. Many people are very pious. Many people in Taiwan believe in Mazu, and most of them pray to Mazu. The Liao people and the rest of the northerners also have their own beliefs. Some pray to the Three Qingshu or the Haotian God, and some are related to the Holy Emperor. Most of the Ming people believe in Guan Sheng, and some pray to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the sky. For a time, all kinds of accents were on the beach, and the prayers were endless...

No matter how much they pray or expect, the two fleets at sea still entered each other's range.

As agreed, the Dutch ship and the Hutchison Navy's ship began to slow down together, which also required a process to adjust the sailing gear and start the hull turning. At this time, there was no way to fire the gun, and both sides accelerated the process as much as possible.

At this time, we can see the sailors busy like ants, with all the masts leaping up and down everywhere, and the ship's side was prepared gunners and land warriors.

On the Dutch side, the boat opposite was gray and blue. The sailors looked good, and their hands were quite quick. When Song Ke put down his long telescope, his face was not very good-looking.

He is the governor, not the fleet commander. The fleet commander is Gao Wenlu. This former defeated general is actually a very experienced naval officer. He has a good qualification and good level, and the Dutch are not so particular, and the talent reserves of the East India Company cannot be compared with those in China, so the fleet commander still uses Gao Wenlu.

The commander of the Hutchison Navy on the opposite side used Jezhnev. Strictly speaking, this was a naval battle in which the Dutch commander confronted the Russian commander.

There is no way to do this. China's shipbuilding industry has lagged behind more than a hundred years, and it can't keep up with large-scale naval wars, especially new forms of naval wars dominated by naval guns. Of course, Mr. Yu is still very strong in fighting at sea all his life. Unfortunately, the veteran general of naval wars under the new form of naval wars is not yet successful.

The formation set up by Gao Wenlu was like a swarm of bees. The merchant ship was at the front of the arrow, surrounded by more than ten armed merchant ships of different sizes. After the arrow, eight warships were arranged, each of which was not far apart.

After a while, merchant ships and warships will adjust their sail cables, open the ship's side and anchor, and the fleet will have fronts and backs, and fire to the opposite side.

The Hutchison fleet on the opposite side was mixed with merchant ships and warships, with the same front and back, and only the four sail warships below were formed separately, which happened to be in a two-way formation.

Song Ke, the governor of Taiwan, could not have been on board, but compared to Hutchison's understanding of the importance of this naval battle, the Netherlands also attached great importance to this naval battle.

If you win, not only do you have no opponents in the Taiwan Strait, you can monopolize trade with Japan. Fujian's raw silk can all fall into the hands of the East India Company. A large number of items sold to Japan are also exclusively operated by the East India Company. Fujian's maritime merchants and Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants need to pay taxes to them. Sooner or later, Taiwan's entire island will become a colony of the Netherlands. The large amount of wealth contained in its land will of course belong to the Dutch.

After several years of rest, it may not be impossible to take advantage of the opportunity of the Ming Dynasty's special barbarians to start a new war and bring Penghu laughter into his arms.

In this way, all the trade profits, massive wealth, and unimaginable wealth in the South China Sea are owned by the East India Company. To this extent, the thirteen shareholders at the upper level of the company should be able to gain greater say in China, fight for more interests and autonomy for the company, expand the scale of the company's fleet, and move a large number of people from Europe to Asia. The elderly of these companies can choose a beautiful place to build a large manor in these colonies and be a manor owner with the company's shares...

Not only Song Ke thought so, Gao Wenlu, and even Cohen, the governor of the East India Company, had roughly the same idea.

This is the case in this era, pioneering and enterprising, and people in Europe are proud to leave their hometowns to open up new lands and manors.

Just as Mayflower brought North American colonies, a large number of British Puritans embarked on the journey of North American colonization and development, and the Han people in the south continued to leave their hometowns and went to various countries in the South China to make a living. After that, they left their families in various countries in the South China, and eventually they grew up and became a huge force that even the South China countries could not underestimate.

Even with the condolences and massacres of the Spanish and Dutch several times, the Chinese established several Chinese-dominated countries within the next hundred years, but unfortunately they were all suppressed by the colonists. But even so, until hundreds of years later, the Chinese still mastered the economic lifelines of the countries in the South China Sea. In this regard, the indigenous people had no choice, and the colonists were helpless.

Song Ke hopes to defeat Hutchison Navy and dominate the huge chain of interests in Taiwan and the South China Sea. The same is true for Governor Cohen, and the senior executives of the Dutch East India Company, both up and down, also had the same idea.

Cohen did not board the ship, his status was too high, which was related to the stability of the entire Dutch East India Company. Song Ke could not agree to board the ship.

Gao Wenlu was on the flagship Batavia, and Song Ke was on the Hector. This was also a large Garen ship with two decks, the top layer with protective plates, and there were also eight gun positions. The members of the gun crew were on standby on the deck.

Song Ke is not a professional naval officer, but he has seen many naval battles at sea all year round. Although in East Asia it is mostly a small-scale war between warships and pirate ships, the biggest war is the battle between the Dutch and the Ming Navy in Penghu. However, it is also the Ming Navy's method of killing the elephant by ants. The two sides did not officially start a war at sea, but a one-sided siege battle.

There were also small-scale wars against the Spaniards, Portuguese and Dutch, and the scale was far less than that of the current naval battles.

Even in Europe, such naval battles between dozens of warships and armed merchant ships were quite rare. The scale of naval battles between Britain and the Spanish Invincible Fleet was of course very large, but there were still remaining cold weapons fighting for the rushing warships. Unlike now, they were completely between sailing artillery battleships.

Yes, this is the sail battleship. From the early sail battleships at this time to the serious giant cannon ships with 100 artillery pieces on the three-layer deck, to ironclad ships, dreadnoughts, and battleships, this naval battle is definitely unprecedented and enough to be recorded in history.

Of course, Song Ke did not have the awareness of historical figures at this time. Even if someone told him the significance of this naval battle, the middle-aged Dutch would not care. At this moment, his gray-blue eyes were full of coldness. No matter what, the feeling of insecurity given to him by the opposite fleet was too strong.

The formation on his side began to stagger, in order to prevent all the warships from being killed by the enemy in one round. This is the experience gained from previous naval battles and is quite useful.

Hutchison's naval warships came neatly in a column, but were divided into three rows. When the ship was stopped, they were also in groups, like open mouths, wrapping the entire Dutch fleet in their pockets.

The column was in cooperation with two ships and one team. The two ships were quite close, and when crossing the ship, they were almost connected.

This is the double-ship tactic of the Yizi Column. It can also be divided into two columns, divided into two upper and lower parts. This tactic can divide the Yizi Column into two horizontal teams, and use the side cannons on both sides to conduct horizontal strikes, expanding the strike surface at the maximum range, which is suitable for fighting with more and less.
Chapter completed!