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It was almost dawn, and when the Ming army was about to withdraw from the Strait of Lion Country, the war had lasted for more than sixteen hours. Logically speaking, no matter who it is, they should be mentally exhausted. However, this time, soldiers from all countries in the Allied Forces were very excited.

Because they know that when daylight comes, it is also the time to drive the Ming warships out of the strait. By then, the coalition forces on their side will be able to use their strength to fully make up for the shortcomings of artillery. At that time, the coalition fleet will swarm up, Let’s see how the Ming army responds!

However, it was at this time that something strange happened.

There were obviously artillery bombardments from Ming warships in the distance. Judging from the muzzle fire, there seemed to be as many as before, or in other words, there were even less bombardments. However, the warships pursued by the coalition forces at the front exploded continuously, and the explosions were all below the waterline. This kind of explosion can cause the ship to flood immediately. Not only will the warship be scrapped, but people will also have to be rescued. The pursuit can only continue after it sinks and clears the waterway.

The occurrence of this unexpected situation surprised everyone who arrived. They watched the Ming warships slowly move away, but the warships they wanted to pursue continued to explode. This made them understand that there was a ghost in the sea!

They were right. When the Ming army was about to exit the strait, they laid a large number of mines. Even in the original history, the existence of mines was already recorded in Song Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu". In this dimension, with the insight of Emperor Chongzhen and the encouragement of the reward mechanism, the Ming Dynasty's mines have already been improved a lot. Facing the Xiyi warships swarming across the strait, the mines that can explode are obviously very high.

The commander-in-chief of the United Fleet, Marton Tromp, was very surprised when he heard the news. He did not expect that the Ming army had such a skill. Seeing that the fleet was blocked by mines in the strait, and the Ming army was slowly moving away, he couldn't help but frown.

"No wonder the Ming army seems to be calm and unhurried against so many of our warships with more than a hundred warships. It turns out that they have this support." Major Wedel said bitterly, "Now that they are out of the battlefield, even if they are operating sailing warships, No matter how poor your skills are, you can still escape!”

After hearing this, Shivella, who also rushed to the flagship, also echoed: "The people of the Ming Dynasty have always been very cunning. I was a little surprised at first. Why did the Ming Dynasty dare to stay in Colombo when it only had about a hundred warships?" , I don’t believe it, they didn’t get the news, does our combined fleet have more than 600 warships? Now I finally understand!”

Commander-in-Chief Marton Tromp frowned, and after hearing what he said, he quickly asked: "What do you want to understand?"

"If the commanders of the Ming fleet ran away without fighting, they were afraid that they would be punished by their emperor when they returned." Shiweila acted as Ming Guotong at this time and explained to the people around him, "But now, they and We fought all night, and the gap is obvious. It's not that the Ming army's commander is incompetent, but that we are too strong. In this way, if the Ming army escapes again, the Ming emperor will not punish us."

After hearing his explanation, the generals of these combined fleets couldn't help but suddenly realized that this was the case. It seemed that it was not easy to lead the Ming army. If it weren't for this mine, they would not be able to distance themselves from the coalition forces. In the end, it is estimated that they would not be able to escape. !

Marton Tromp also felt a lot more relaxed when he heard it. If that's the case, that would be the best. However, when he saw the ships of the United Fleet slowly approaching the exit of the strait, more and more became crowded, and he vaguely felt a bit cold behind his back.

So, he immediately issued an order for the front battleship to immediately send people to the sea to clear the mines in the sea. The combined fleet must leave the strait as soon as possible and pursue the fleeing Ming army.

It was a great achievement to annihilate the Ming fleet. Others did not want to be escaped by the Ming fleet. Just after dawn, they sent sailors into the sea one after another to open up a safe way for the fleet to come out.

When it was almost noon, the mouth of the strait was finally dredged. The soldiers of the combined fleet couldn't help but cheer. After being stuck in this strait for so long, they were already impatient.

However, at this moment, the Ming fleet that they thought had escaped actually appeared in their sight again.

"No, the Ming fleet is here again, with about two hundred battleships!"

"Report, there are twenty or thirty ships at the front of the Ming Kingdom fleet, and they are all smoking. I don't know what's going on?"

"..."

The lookout posts loudly reported what they saw to the following, and the final information was summarized to Commander-in-Chief Marton Tromp. Suddenly, he was shocked.

There were about a hundred Ming fleets that escaped just now, but now two hundred ships have arrived. Does that mean that reinforcements from the Ming fleet have arrived?

Although the Ming fleet had doubled, it was still not enough for the combined fleet, but Marton Tromp was very worried. The number of fleets on both sides is clearly visible. But in this case, why did the Ming fleet still come to meet it? Are they sure of winning? It can't be a suicidal battle!

Also, there are battleships smoking in the Ming fleet. What's going on?

There were so many things he couldn't understand, which made him nervous. Because he understands that the more unclear a place is, the more likely it is that there is a fatal danger hidden. So, he quickly took out his binoculars and started looking.

At this moment, the lookout post suddenly shouted in surprise: "Oh my God, those smoking warships of the Ming Army seem to be all made of iron! And they don't have sails, and they actually drive faster than those sailing warships. How can this be?"

"God, what's going on with these armored battleships of the Ming Dynasty?"

"..."

Marton Tromp had already seen clearly what the lookout sentry was shouting through his telescope. The shock in his heart, regardless of his identity, was the same as that of the lookout sentry. He was shocked beyond measure. His instinct was that he was in trouble. The Ming army dared to take the initiative to attack, which shows that these armored battleships are probably the trump card of the Ming fleet!

Through the telescope, he even saw that the Ming Dynasty's armored battleships were twice as big as ordinary sail battleships, and the cannons on the ships seemed to have larger calibers. Although I could see this clearly with the help of a telescope, it also showed that the distance was close enough.

At this moment, he saw gunpowder smoke flashing from the muzzles of the huge cannons on the bows of the iron-clad ships of the Ming Dynasty. Then, he heard the deafening sound of shelling.

"Boom boom boom..."

Amidst the sound of artillery, twenty or thirty chain bombs flew towards the European Combined Fleet. And here happened to be a crowd of ships, all crowded together, these twenty or thirty chain bullets flew over, and almost missed. Suddenly, either a big hole was broken in the hull, or the mast on the ship was broken, and another Or, some unlucky soldiers had no time to dodge, and their flesh and blood flew everywhere, and their limbs were separated.

Anyway, just one sentence, after the Ming Dynasty's armored warships opened fire from a long distance, the combined fleet was in a mess, and there was a lot of crying for fathers and mothers.

Originally, they were shocked when they saw the smoking iron-clad warships like the Ming Dynasty, but when they saw the shooting effect, they immediately panicked.

The warships were squeezing each other and were unable to fight. Marton Tromp hurriedly sent an order for the fleet to retreat to free up combat space and distance itself. At the same time, he was also thinking about how to deal with the Ming Dynasty's armored battleships.

However, the way to deal with it is easy to think of, but it is not so easy to complete this order. In particular, the Ming army would not allow them to retreat calmly, as the entire army was already pressing over them.

At first, there was some discipline, but when the Ming fleet approached, everything fell into chaos. No one paid attention to the flag on the flagship and fled back. At most, they only wanted to see what signal was on their own country's flagship.

Yesterday, when the combined fleet pursued the Ming fleet, they followed and pursued slowly like gentlemen (of course, it was not that they wanted to do this, but that the Ming army's artillery firing range was farther than them, and they wanted to chase the Ming army into confusion. Will not work);

At this time, when the Ming fleet pursued the combined fleet, everything was in chaos. Just like a pack of wolves chasing sheep. The wolves pounced ferociously, while the sheep were frightened and fled in all directions. Many warships of the combined fleet collided with each other in panic, blocking the waterway instead.

The Ming Dynasty's steam-armored warships were like heavy armored cavalry on land, clearing the way in front, and the sail warships behind them followed closely, chasing the combined fleet away like cattle and sheep.

Shivera is indeed an expert at escaping. Unexpectedly, this time, he ran at the front. Seeing that he was about to run out of the strait, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As long as we leave the strait, the sea is so vast. If we still can't stop the Ming warships, if we run into the depths of the sea, will the Ming warships be able to catch up again?

But at this moment, he noticed that there seemed to be some smoke floating in the sky in front of him. If it had been before, he probably wouldn't have cared. But this time, he had already seen the iron-clad battleships of the Ming Dynasty, which were smoking. If the sea breeze is not strong, it will leave some traces in the sky.

Upon seeing this, he immediately became nervous. The people of the Ming Dynasty have always been cunning and like to set up ambushes. He still remembers that when he united with the Ming Dynasty pirates to attack Taiping Port, they encountered an ambush and were almost blocked in Taiping Port and their entire army was annihilated.

He raised his head and was about to ask about the situation of the lookout post when he heard the lookout post shouting in horror: "Oh no, there is a Ming fleet ahead, a Ming fleet is coming..."

Soon, more and more lookout posts started shouting, and panic suddenly enveloped the fleet that was the first to flee.

Shivera was a little desperate. The Ming army definitely had a premeditated plan to introduce the combined fleet into the strait, and then intercepted it one after another. This was to completely annihilate the combined fleet!

At this time, he didn't even have time to think about why he hadn't discovered so many warships of the Ming Dynasty before. When I saw him, he kept shouting: "Quick, speed up and rush out, quick, speed up..."

However, the speed of the sail warship still depends on the sea wind. God is not doing his best, he is against the wind. I could only watch helplessly as the mouth of the strait in the distance was blocked by Ming warships. Still about thirty armored warships were the vanguard, approaching the strait.

At this moment, Shivera was desperate. Not only him, but also his men were desperate. Many warships rushed forward regardless, trying to open a gap and escape.

However, the chain bombs from the Ming Dynasty fleet roared in. Over the strait, almost all the chain bombs were flying in circles. As long as they were hit by the chain bombs, the wooden ship would be like paper, and it would be broken immediately. Closer, chain bombs and iron eggs from the United Fleet occasionally hit the Ming army's armored warship at the front, but at most they only made a dent.

It is obvious that in this naval battle, the combined fleet not only fell into a trap in the strait and was unable to deploy its superior forces, but the iron-clad warships participating in the war for the first time in history also severely damaged the opponent's confidence, resulting in this war being basically a war. A one-sided naval battle where numbers cannot make up for technology.

The soldiers of various European countries did not have the spirit to fight to the end. Seeing that they were about to be massacred one-sidedly, one warship finally raised the white flag first, and this also led other warships to raise the white flag and surrender.

As a result, the largest naval battle in the history of the earth took about a whole day to end. Among them, the Ming fleet lost fifteen sail warships and killed more than one hundred soldiers, resulting in the destruction of five hundred combined fleets. The naval soldiers of various European countries suffered countless casualties, and more than three hundred battleships were sunk. All battleships were captured.

As soon as the battle ended, the Ming Navy Commander Zheng Zhilong immediately sent 250 sail warships to the west, preparing to go to the Persian Gulf and land at the Allied supply transfer station in the Persian Empire. In addition to guarding the surrendered soldiers, the remaining warships also have a hundred ships that have slipped through the net and need to continue to be hunted down.

Looking at the imperial prisoner in front of him, Zheng Zhilong smiled and said: "Shi Weila, aren't you very good at escaping? Let me tell you, the world today is the world of the Ming Dynasty. You can escape wherever you want, as long as I, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, want to If we arrest you, you will definitely not be able to hide!"

Shiweila was so lost that he did not reply to Zheng Zhilong's words, but murmured to himself: "Damn it, I'm so damned, I know the Ming people are very cunning, why are you still being fooled, why are you chasing them into the strait! Otherwise, if the two sides fight on the vast sea, with two hundred more warships than the Ming army, they may not lose! Damn it, damn it..."

Other captured generals nearby, such as Marton Tromp, felt very regretful when they heard this. This time, the warships assembled by various European countries were an unprecedented 600 warships. There are so many troops but they are not used properly. It is really incompetent command!

Zheng Zhilong heard their reluctance, but he sneered and said: "Don't think it's a pity that our Ming warships don't have as many warships as you. Haha, you are wrong. The only one who can deal with your fleet is our Ming Southeast Navy. The number of fleets only accounts for half of my Ming Dynasty’s navy. In terms of the number of naval battleships, you in all of Europe combined do not have as many as my Ming Dynasty!”

If it were before, that would have been impossible. But now, Emperor Chongzhen attaches great importance to sea power and has occupied so many places. As long as he wants, he has enough resources to build enough warships.

Hearing Zheng Zhilong's words, Marton Tromp was dissatisfied and said: "If we lose, we lose. If you want to say that the fleet is larger than us, don't lie to us. Otherwise, you don't have to worry. If I don't fall for it, What should we do if we don’t go through the strait? You only have a few warships, so you just rely on the geographical advantage of this strait! If you really have more warships, why don’t you transfer them over for a decisive battle? "

"Haha, frog in the well!" Zheng Zhilong smiled after hearing this and commented, "I have already said that it is enough to deal with you. As for the other fleet of my Ming Dynasty, I estimate that it will soon give your monarch a surprise!"

Thanks for the 1,000 starting point coin reward from Pianqing!