"Your Majesty, the fishing boats we sent out reported that nearly a hundred Western warships were found within fifty nautical miles of Luzon."

"Combined Spanish and Dutch fleets?"

This was Zhu Cihong's first reaction. Not long ago, Gan Hui and others sank three Dutch warships posing as pirate ships in Anbo Mansion. They learned from the prisoners that several small Western countries were preparing to form a joint fleet.

Calculating the time, it has been more than twenty days, and they should have reached an agreement.

Spain and the Netherlands were once one country.

Later, the Netherlands became independent. For this reason, they fought several naval battles. In the end, the Dutch who emerged later won.

After that, the Spanish Armada began to decline, while the Netherlands quickly became stronger and became sea coachmen traveling across the ocean.

Of course, their strength is more reflected in their wanton killing and plundering of colonies.

In the fifteenth century, the Portuguese were nothing in Europe, but after they started their great voyages, their national power increased rapidly and they once became a powerful country in Europe.

After the great voyage began, the Ming Dynasty should have enjoyed the biggest piece of cake of the great voyage.

But after Zheng He's voyages to the West, the imperial court actually stopped this great feat. It's a pity to think about it today.

The Ming Dynasty took away the colonies of the Netherlands and Spain. Zhu Cixiang knew that they would not be able to swallow their anger and would definitely retaliate against the Ming Dynasty.

This is also the main reason why he ordered to step up the construction of fortifications.

What Zhu Cixi didn't expect was that several small countries, which had often been at each other's throats, suddenly joined forces to deal with the Ming Dynasty.

This may be the consistent style of Europeans, where interests come first.

Don't think they have any integrity at all, they are all scammers.

They are very thick-skinned and will unite to deal with their enemies when necessary. Once they defeat their opponents, they will rob them.

Just like the original Portuguese people, after their rise, they plundered all over the world.

After Spain became powerful, it began to seize Portuguese colonies.

After the rise of the Dutch, they once again began to snatch Spanish colonies.

Later, when the English rose to power after the Industrial Revolution, they also suppressed and robbed the Dutch of their territory.

This triggered the Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch were ultimately defeated, and the English became an empire on which the sun never sets.

From then on, they began to harm China. Starting from the Opium War, China entered a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

Then there were the Burma issue and the Southern Tibet issue, which were all caused by the English.

After World War II, with the rise of the United States, the English colonies were basically taken away. Instead, the father became a son, and he was very filial, which fully demonstrated that the big fist is the last word...

At this time, Huang Fei had led more than a dozen warships to escort the grain transport fleet back to the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to other base warships, there are now more than 70 warships in Luzon.

Zhu Cixiang had never commanded a naval battle, so he did not know whether seventy warships could cope with the hundred warships of the combined fleet.

When he heard the arrival of the joint company, the Ocean-going Navy Commander Shi Lang was not afraid, but took the lead in calling for battle. He stood up and saluted:

"Your Majesty, let me lead the fleet to test the power of the combined fleet. I am confident that I can defeat this rabble."

Hearing this, Zhu Cihong smiled and nodded. He did not agree immediately. Instead, he looked at Zhu Chenggong and said:

"As the Commander-in-Chief of the Ming Dynasty Navy, how does Ai Qing view the combat power of the Dutch and Spanish combined fleets? Is the Ming Navy sure of victory?"

Upon hearing the emperor's question, Zhu Chenggong hurriedly stood up and saluted:

"Your Majesty, if the intelligence is accurate, Spain should transfer all their main warships to fight the Ming Dynasty. If this is true, they are taking a big gamble. If they fail, they will no longer have a navy to compete with the Ming Dynasty.

The Netherlands is different. They may have thousands of ships, but they also have a serious problem. They have too many colonies and their military power is too scattered. Once they are concentrated, other colonies may not be able to keep it.

This time the Ming Navy must teach them a profound lesson so that they will not dare to compete with the Ming Dynasty again. Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty's overseas territories be free from harassment by the colonists.

The minister suggested that the war should be held in the open sea, and that they should not let their naval guns bombard the newly built city defenses to avoid unnecessary losses.

Your Majesty, you can rest assured that although their warships are twice as many as those of the Ming Dynasty, after all, the warships are not armored yet, and the Ming Dynasty's explosive shells can cause a fatal blow to them."

After Zhu Chenggong finished speaking, Shi Lang said again:

"Your Majesty, I believe that what the Governor said is absolutely true. The Ming Dynasty can armor their ships and run rampant with their battleships, directly entering their fleet and firing cannons.

They will definitely have scruples. Once they fire intensively, they will definitely damage their own warships. If they don't fire, the Ming warships will definitely severely damage the combined fleet."

Zhu Chenggong and Shi Lang were worthy of being the mighty generals of the Ming Dynasty. When they heard that the other party had built a fleet of hundreds of ships, they were not afraid at all. Instead, they were full of fighting spirit and their tactics were extremely novel and adventurous.

Of course, the adventure is mainly related to the armor of the Ming warships. If it were a wooden warship, the Ming Dynasty would never attack it like this, and it would be used as a target by the combined fleet.

…

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly:

"Well, what you two dear sirs said makes sense. I have decided to fight according to your tactics. The battlefield is changing rapidly. You must cooperate with each other and command the battle flexibly."

"Follow the decree"

Zhu Chenggong and Shi Lang received the order and went to prepare immediately.

Zhu Zhu Cihong also issued an edict:

"Huang Degong, immediately send people to Malacca, Ceylon and Huangming Mansion to inform them to prepare to defend against the enemy and prevent the Dutch from sending warships to attack."

"According to the order!"

"Yan Yingyuan, you all are ready to fight and deal a fatal blow to the warships coming to attack Luzon at any time."

"Follow the decree"

…

Zhu Cixiang did not return to the capital because he was waiting for revenge from the Netherlands and Spain.

These bandits never came, which made Zhu Cixiang feel uneasy. Now that his boots have finally landed, this battle is over, and he no longer has to worry about the safety of Luzon and other places.

If this naval battle severely damages the United Fleet, Asia will become a forbidden land for Western colonists, and their warships will no longer dare to enter East Asian waters.

Zhu Cihong entered the system store with his mind. Now the system store has many more functions than before.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhu Youjian's mind went directly to the system artillery page. He read it carefully and found that the effectiveness of artillery was limited to the 19th century.

In other words, the most advanced artillery, that is, artillery from the 19th century, has not been unlocked in subsequent pages. This is a limitation of the system.

Under normal circumstances, system weapons will not be a century more advanced than the real world, and basically maintain a lead of about fifty years.

Of course, the lottery is a different matter. Even modern things can be drawn in the lottery, but there are restrictions and you cannot draw them at will...

Zhu Cihong decided to exchange for a batch of coastal defense guns first, and then a batch of naval guns.

But the quantity cannot be too large. The system has a limited purchase function. Five hundred guns is the limit for redemption, and the price is also scary. One gun requires 10,000 points.

The exchange price for advanced artillery is indeed very expensive, so expensive that it makes Zhu Cixiang want to scold his mother. He currently only has more than 4 million war points.

However, in exchange for 100 cannons, 5,000 free shells were given, which was a great temptation for Zhu Cixiang.

This type of explosive bomb was not the early type of explosive bomb, but the kind that could easily penetrate into the hull and explode. The sailing battleship was hit, and a few shells sentenced it to death.

After browsing several times, Zhu Cihong made up his mind to exchange for a 160mm cannon. This cannon weighs 10 tons and has a range of five kilometers.

"System, exchange for four hundred 160 mm caliber cannons."

"Ding, host, wait a moment, the system is starting..."

"Ding, congratulations to the host, the exchange for 400 cannons was successful, 4 million war points were consumed, and 5,000 shells were given free of charge."

The cannon exchange was successful, and Zhu Cixiang went straight to the seaside fort.

When he started to build the bunker, Zhu Cixiang originally planned to abandon the city wall and fort. He thought that the bunker was enough. Later, he gave up that idea and continued to build the fort at the original location.

There is no need to pay attention to the cliffs along the coast. The forts are mainly built on high places on the coast, with a total of ten forts built.

Transporting such a heavy cannon to the fort would be a difficult task, but it was not a problem for Zhu Cihong.

When I came to the fort, with a thought, five cannons appeared on the fort. Each fort was equipped with five cannons and fifty dedicated shells.

Zhu Cixi then rushed to the naval base, where Zhu Chenggong was giving lectures to the soldiers to boost their morale.

Suddenly he saw the emperor coming on Pegasus. He thought that the emperor was going to board the ship again to command the battle, so he hurriedly stepped forward to salute:

"Your Majesty, you don't need to personally fight in this battle. You just need to sit in the Protector's Mansion and wait for good news."

When Zhu Cihong first crossed over, he personally took up the sword to kill corrupt officials and rebellious officials, and even hammered the generals who established slaves.

At that time, the number of men under his command was limited, and he could only mount his horse to kill the enemy when necessary. It is completely different now. He has many powerful generals under his command, and his firearms are more advanced than those in the West. He will no longer personally participate in battles.

Turning over and dismounting, Zhu Cixi stepped forward to the formation of Ming Navy soldiers. When the soldiers saw the emperor arriving, they immediately saluted in unison:

"See Your Majesty."

Zhu Cixiang smiled and nodded at the soldiers:

"The ceremony is over!"

"Sirs, Luzon was originally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. It is only natural and right for the Ming Dynasty to take back Luzon from the hands of Western bandits.

Now the Western colonists are determined to seize Luzon and other places from the Ming Dynasty again. Do you agree?"

The naval officers raised their rifles high and shouted in unison:
To be continued...