It's getting dark.
There is still a layer of hazy clouds floating on the sea surface in the distance. This is because small water droplets formed by the evaporation of the water vapor after the sea water is liquefied on the sea surface where there is only a breeze. When the sun comes out and the sea breeze begins to blow, they will soon dissipate.
As the red light on the horizon becomes more and more, the city of Seville, which monopolizes the overseas trade of Spain and even almost the entire Europe, controls the Strait of Gibraltar, has ushered in a new day.
So far, the Invincible Armada has been set off for five days, and the Port of Seville is still prosperous and has not been affected at all.
Every day, there are at least dozens of merchant ships from the Mediterranean Sea, the New World, the North Sea, etc., or temporarily docked.
In this era of great voyage, this Port of Seville is obviously the one who eats the most and most fatty in the era, and the Spanish royal family has made a lot of money, so much money will be used to form an invincible fleet and roam the Mediterranean and the New World.
In this era, Spain is undoubtedly the strongest maritime kingdom, which can be seen from the prosperity of the Port of Seville.
At this time, on the fortress tower at the top of a hill next to the pier, two soldiers wearing armor and holding long-handled battle axes were standing guard.
Behind them was a big bronze bell for alarm, but it had not been ringed for many years, so they were just standing guard here, and last night they leaned against the wall and slept for a night without anyone being discovered. No one even came to check the post, because neither they nor their superiors believed that what would happen.
"Ah~!"
"It's really sleepy..."
"Hey!"
"Louis, how many boats have entered the port from last night to this morning?"
One of the soldiers stretched his waist first, and then asked in a daze to the companion who was rubbing his neck.
Standing here is a bad guy, relaxed and enjoyable, and you can sleep. The only bad thing is that you can't get extra oil and water like those who maintain order on the dock.
You should know that the owners of the ocean sailing slower are very fat. If you find a reason to make things difficult, you can easily get a lot of benefits from those private owners who don’t have a backstage!
Whether it is to get a few silver coins or to take away some scattered goods, it is a real benefit. With a small amount of money, the monthly receipt may be many times better than the two of them standing guard at the tower.
"Boat?"
"I don't know, maybe there are ten ships?"
The soldier rubbed his neck before putting on the heavy helmet again, and then held his long-handled battle axe and continued to stand guard crookedly.
"Ten ships?"
“It’s a little less.”
"Um!"
"Isn't it because of the Li family fleet?"
"I heard that they occupied Madeira, and many merchant ships from Africa and the New World were forced to temporarily stop in Raspalmas, for fear that they would be snatched by those Easterners when passing by Madeira."
"yes!"
"But, this world is so big. Even the terrifying female thieves from the far east have come to our Europe."
"It's really not easy for those who run business at sea. Those Ming people from the East, I think it's scary."
"Um!"
"That's no longer something terrible..."
When he heard his companion say that, the Spanish soldier Louis, who was ecstatic at the sea with his own weapon, nodded in agreement, and then added:
"I went to the tavern yesterday and heard a lot of news."
"It is said that Li Huamei, the female thief who had come to our Seville before, is a little better. She just likes to use strategies and diplomacy to paralyze her enemies, and then catch her off guard while the enemy is unprepared. Although it is difficult to deal with, her fleet is so powerful, and the ships she brought are also very ordinary and there is nothing special."
"But the devil fleet led by that evil Admiral Hasta is different..."
Speaking of this, the soldier Louis couldn't help but pause.
"I heard that although the other side only has five warships, they are very large and very fast. The range of cannons is even farther, even further than our shore cannons, which is very incredible!"
"No one is her opponent..."
"And, I heard that she also likes bombarding ports and robbing cities?"
As he spoke, the soldier Louis became energetic. Then, when he saw his companion who seemed to be very interested, he no longer cared about the empty sea in the distance, but began to speak confidently:
"Think about it, generally speaking, the bigger the ship, the slower it is, right?"
"But the devil admiral's ship is different!"
"It is said that they are the largest ships in the world and the fastest!"
"It's so fast that even the medium-sized three-masted fast-armed sailboats that we commonly use here are not as good as them. I'm afraid that only the devil can make them!"
This is a low-level soldier named Louis who can't understand it.
In fact, he also heard that even the best shipbuilding engineers in Seville's largest shipyard could not understand why, so the naval admiral Barudis led the invincible fleet to attack. While preparing to attack the arrogance of the Orientals, he also had the purpose of trying to get the ships or cannons of the Orientals?
Of course, those things are just rumors, so they just listen to them. It’s not their turn to worry about them.
"yes……"
"I've heard of this, too."
"At the beginning, the devil admiral set out from the far east, but as soon as she arrived at the Spicy Islands, she defeated the Malay Governor Doyle Ropez Di Preira of Portugal, and then forced Antonio van Kuhn of the Netherlands, and even robbed the entire Far East fleet of Hedram Yoachim Bergstone of the Swedish Navy!"
"That Bergstone is so unlucky. I heard that he was dismissed as soon as he returned to Swedenland, but unfortunately he was not taken to prison."
As he spoke, the gloating soldier smashed his mouth with some regret, as if he was regretful because he didn't see the legendary Swedish admiral being unlucky or being sent to the guillotine?
After all, although Sweden is not very strong, it is one of the competitors of the Kingdom of Spain. When they see the navies of other countries are unlucky, they will definitely not be wrong if they are happy or gloating.
"It's so scary to think about it!"
"The Dutch and Portuguese are not low on the spicy food archipelago. Even the British, French and our Spanish cannot interfere in the spicy food deal, right?"
“It can be fruitful…”
"That terrible Eastern Devil Admiral, they managed to build the entire spicy food archipelago with five ships, occupying the market share of most of the spicy food there, causing the spicy food in Spain to rise by almost two or three times."
Speaking of this, the soldier couldn't laugh because he found that it seemed that it was not just the Portuguese, but the Dutch and Swedes, and their Spanish market was obviously also affected.
If this continues, I am afraid that the goods shipped back from the East and Africa will become less and less, or simply monopolized by those Easterners. I don’t know what will happen in the future!
"Not?"
"And it's more than two or three times, and it's probably going to rise again in a while!"
"It's almost more expensive than gold."
Speaking of the prices of those spicy ingredients, another soldier, Louis was also shocked.
"You're afraid you don't know yet?"
“??”
"What do you know?"
"I heard..."
"There are also East India, which produces spicy ingredients, is now being defeated by that devil admiral!"
"A native prince and great merchant in India became the minion of the devil admiral. It is said that a while ago, many ships and tens of thousands of people were sent to receive the interests of the eastern coast of Africa. The territory of our Spanish merchant, Gianlonime de Espinosha, was robbed, and now she has been beaten to the New World to take refuge."
"Tsk tsk!"
"It's so pitiful. That guy was originally a well-known merchant and nobleman. Even the king invited him to have dinner. He made gold, gems, ivory, leather and black slave trade in Africa. But now, dozens of sea ships were beaten to the point where there were only a pitiful dozen ships left, and he almost went bankrupt!"
The more he talked about the soldier, the more excited he became. At this time, he no longer cared about the fact that the unlucky big businessman was actually a Spanish. He only knew that he would be happy to see those rich big businessmen who were unlucky, and if the other party was sunk into the sea, it would be even more perfect.
"I know that thing too!"
"but……"
"So, the spicy food archipelago, the Indian Ocean and Africa have now become the sphere of influence of the Li Family Chamber of Commerce from the East?"
"That's right!"
"you do not say!"
"Don't you don't know yet, right?"
"Portuguese explorer, the ivory businessman who dominates West Africa, also took the initiative to open the market to the Li family not long ago. He was forced to do so. If he dared not to open up, the fate of Preyra and Espinosa would be his role model!"
"That cunning old Portuguese guy..."
"ah!"
"No wonder..."
"No wonder His Excellency Piedro de Barudis, the commander-in-chief of our Spanish Invincible Fleet and the Admiral of the Kingdom Navy, will suddenly announce the war against their Li Family Chamber of Commerce. No wonder he will lead the Invincible Fleet south and head towards Madeira."
"That Li Family Chamber of Commerce has threatened our Spanish dominance in the world!"
"yes."
"Always give them a profound lesson, or just drive them away!"
"Otherwise, if she runs to the Mediterranean and runs to the Strait of Gibraltar, how can we Europeans live?"
A mere five ships can turn a few oceans upside down, which made the soldier feel that the devil admiral of the Li Family Chamber of Commerce is indeed well-known, and it is definitely more scary than a ghost ship or a legendary sea monster!
"well……"
“没错,确实该教训一下她们.”
“而且,你知道吗?”
"This reminds me of the Mongols hundreds of years ago. At that time, I heard that our ancestors were beaten so miserably. Fortunately, their emperor died at that time, so all the terrible devils ran back to fight for power and profit. Otherwise, today I would not have our powerful Spanish kingdom."
“你说的对……”
"However, hundreds of years have passed, and now they are here again. This time, their orientals come by the sea, and I don't know what they will become in the end?"
“…”
“…”
Speaking of this, the two soldiers couldn't help but calm down together, not daring to imagine that terrible thing.
"Okay, that kind of thing is not something that people like us should care about, so there are so many of them!"
"If you want to fight, it's the navy to fight. We are not sailors, so we don't care about those!"
"ah!"
"That's right!"
"Ah~!"
"It's still early now, the sun hasn't risen yet. It's so sleepy. Why don't we take a look?"
"Don't!"
"It's almost dawn. If you sleep again, you will be seen. Then there will be a whip!"
“…”
"Too……"
“Hmm?”
“好像又有船来了……”
Suddenly, the soldier Louis seemed to have discovered something and began to stretch his neck to look at the hazy sea level beside the sky.
"I'll take a look..."
Seeing this, another soldier on the side reached out and picked up a simple pair of monocular telescopes next to him that could not be stretched and started to observe.
“没错,是船!”
“我好像看到了它们的桅杆……”
"Tsk!"
"The flag I don't recognize is too far and I can't see it clearly, but the bastards below must have benefited again!"
Putting down the telescope, the soldier said to the soldiers and tax officials who had just been on duty at the port with some envy.
Because they don’t recognize the flag, it proves that they definitely don’t come to the Port of Seville often, otherwise they can recognize it from afar! Instead of those who come to the Port of Seville often, they are definitely not big businessmen with backstage. Then, here, they will inevitably be troubled by their Spanish officials and demand property.
"Hey!"
"Or let's guess where did those ships come from?"
"I'll bet on Riyal!"
“那是从新大陆来的,你敢不敢?”
As he said that, the soldier Louis suddenly took out an irregular silver coin and placed it on the windowsill of the tower.
"Go ahead!"
“我赌它们是从非洲来的!”
Seeing this, another soldier took out an equally irregular silver coin and slapped it on the windowsill without being outdone.
"Look at it!"
"Which chamber of commerce is it from..."
As long as you see the flags hanging on the ship, recognize the nationality of the ship or the style of the chamber of commerce, soldiers like them who stand guard at the towers of the dock every day can roughly determine where the other party came from!
Because every chamber of commerce and every country usually takes a fixed route, and the cargo transported is also fixed. They don’t even need to go to the dock below to ask and guess it is almost impossible to tell.
At this time, in the distance, the sun gradually rose, and the ships that appeared on the horizon became larger and larger.
"I still can't see clearly..."
"Damn, the sun is rising from behind them, and I see blood red, and I can't see the color of their flags at all!"
"Take it, I'll take a look!"
"ah……"
"I really can't see clearly, but don't worry, wait and see again. I think I will definitely win in the end!"
"Pooh!"
"Dream! I must be the one who wins!!"
After glaring for more than ten minutes, the sun rose higher and more dazzling, and at the same time, the outlines of the ships in the distance became clearer.
“…”
“!!”
"Not good! That ship..."
At this time, Louis, the soldier who was holding a telescope in his hand, finally realized something and began to exclaim.
"What's wrong?"
And his reaction naturally attracted the attention of his companions.
"wrong!"
"The ship feels so big, please see if it's right!"
"Usually, when we look at it from such a distance, how can we see such a big ship?"
"And, it seems there are exactly five ships..."
He handed the telescope to his companion. When the other party started looking, soldier Louis did not forget to explain in confusion.
"oops!"
“It’s really big…”
"etc!!"
"Five ships? That's right, they're five big ships?"
"That flag..."
Finally, the soldier holding the telescope seemed to have realized something, and opened his mouth and widened his eyes, slowly lowered the telescope in his hand and looked at his companion beside him.
"Oriental!!"
"Admiral of the Devil!!"
Almost in unison, the two of them exclaimed the terrible name they least wanted to hear.
In their opinion, the admiral Barudis, who should be waiting for them in Madeira, led the Invincible Armada to annihilate, but now it actually appeared outside the port of Seville City?
"quick!"
"Roll the alarm!!!"
"Together!"
"Tight!!"
Dang~! Dang~!
Ding~! Ding~! Ding~! Ding~!
Soon, in the orange light of the morning light, the bronze bell that had not ringed for at least several years began to resound rapidly on the tower above the port of Seville.
...
"ha!"
|?˙?˙)?
"So, the city in the distance is Seville, the old nest of the enemy fleet?"
?(ψ｀▽′)o
It was already dawn. Anne, standing on the bow of the flagship "Xiang Feihu" and moving forward at full speed with the sunshine and sea breeze on her back, could see clearly the outline of the big city located at the mouth of a large river in the distance without using a telescope.
"Yes!"
"Report to the Admiral, that is the city of Seville in Spain!"
"At least……"
"That's what the two Portuguese guides on our ship said!"
At this time, when he heard the Grand Admiral's inquiry, the first lieutenant who was standing on the bow of the boat and standing beside him quickly reported the truth.
According to the Portuguese guides, the main force of the Spanish Invincible Fleet was stationed there before, but now most of them have gone south to Madeira, which was abandoned by the Li Family Chamber of Commerce. The current defense of Sevilla is empty, which is a good time to attack the opponent.
"That's good!"
|???ω??)??
"Let the artillery prepare for combat!!"
?(ψ｀▽′)o
Admiral Anne said that she has seen it now, she has come, and she is ready to conquer the place.
Of course, she was just conquering, she didn't intend to occupy it, and she had no ability to occupy it for the time being! Moreover, she was going to play with the big guys and play with the guys who dared to declare war on her.
"yes!"
"Send the order!"
"Everyone, get into battle ready!"
"The guns are loaded, ready to turn, let them follow the flagship!"
Ding~! Ding~! Ding~! Ding~!
Soon, with the order from the first lieutenant, the small bronze bells on the five ships of the Li family fleet of the Ming Dynasty were also ringed.
Immediately afterwards, the sailors and artillerymen had already eaten and drank before dawn, and had been on standby for a long time, and began to run and get busy on the deck, and slowly pushed out the gun doors one by one, revealing their hideous gun mouths because of the mist on the sea in the morning.
"quick!"
ψ(*'　〼')o
"Everyone moves, whoever dares to be lazy will hit someone's ass!"
?(?`^'?)?
"Azhisha, what do you want to do?"
?(ψ｀╭╮′)o
"If you dare to run away, you will be hit by your butt again, and you will take off your pants and hit it!"
(??へ??╬)
Seeing that a certain pirate maid had not learned her lesson, she wanted to touch the edge while the chaos was in trouble, and leaned against the edge of the boat for some reason, Annie directly stared at the other party and threatened.
——————————
Chapter completed!