?

After two days of drifting on the sea, our mixed fleet was repaired and maintained at Luanda Harbor. My only remaining flagship was overhauled, and the four ships brought by Huamei, one of which was damaged in the previous pursuit, were incorporated into my fleet. So the First Fleet of Blade Sea restored the organization of five ships.

Her four boats are all three-masted sailboats in Beihai, which are very comprehensive in performance. Compared to my only surviving Venetian sailboat and warship, although they are not as good as their combat strength, they are much stronger in terms of endurance, acceleration and deceleration performance and business functions.

The night rain in Sao Tome and Principe took away 80% of the sailors in my previous fleet, as well as four trainee navigators who acted as ship commanders. This was a major loss for me. But objectively speaking, under the circumstances at that time, it was already a very valuable victory to be able to retain most of the backbone strength and basically complete the core team!

In order to restore combat effectiveness as soon as possible, we, as usual, paid severance fees to some sailors who were injured in battle, were unwilling to go to sea for a short period of time, or were physically disabled and unable to go to sea again, according to the convention, which caused a considerable sensation in Luanda's sailing circle.

After all, in the navigation world, they are all soldiers who are fighting in the camp. The sailors are like duckweed in the water. They can get relatively abundant financial compensation after a journey. It is the highest ideal in life. It is even more reliable to have a thrilling experience to brag about - especially those who are seriously injured and not dead in battle will be worshipped as heroes, and the ladies in the bar will also look up to them, and the "service" is more enthusiastic and thoughtful...

The sailors who left the Blade Sea comprehensively occupied all the above characteristics and became a widely spread topic in the Luanda sailor world.

At the same time, in the sailor bar in Luanda, I took advantage of the momentum to throw a few gold coins again and asked the sailors present to have a good drink. After asking for an invitation to join, a large number of sailors stranded at the port terminal actively signed up. The scene at that time was unprecedented! We recruited 100 sailors, and more than 700 registered within two days! So after we screened, we left the most powerful one, which was surprisingly good.

On the fifth day, we obtained information from the news of the navigation circle. In the previous stage, "the fleet that lined up near Sao Tome and Principe" had already moved south. He did not stop on the road, but bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and headed towards East Africa.

It seems that these Spaniards are preparing to tear off their disguises and take back their territory! Yesterday afternoon, the messenger sent by Woodin brought the latest news from East Africa - in port business districts such as Sofara, Mogadishu, Mozambique, Mombasa, etc., the hidden forces left by the Spaniards have recently launched frequent attacks, which has made Woodin and Old Tucker very passive!

This is not difficult to understand. No one will be willing to accept failure, especially when long-term exclusive benefits become a habit and have enough strength to regain the lost things, counterattack almost becomes an inevitable option. Obviously, that's what the Spaniards planned.

This situation is exactly what I don’t want to see the least. It is very unwise to delay my main goal for the benefit I don’t value. And now I have indeed fallen into this misunderstanding. It seems that I cannot choose, right?

I have always followed the principle of not looking for trouble without any trouble and not being afraid of trouble if there is anything. Now that the Spanish have come up with it on their own initiative, I have no possibility of avoiding it!

But I am thinking about a question - the Spaniards still maintain considerable hegemony at sea and for some time to come, and they are hegemony compared to other countries. For such a behemoth, can we rely solely on ourselves - or with the strength of half the Woodin Chamber of Commerce, compete with it?

"It's very difficult, Qi Lan!" After hearing my concerns, Huamei took the lead in speaking: "Sun Tzu said: Those who know their enemies will never be defeated in a hundred battles; those who don't know their enemies will win and lose, if they don't know their enemies, they will never be defeated in every battle. We don't know their enemies much. However, it's not difficult for the enemy to grasp the fundamentals of our swords. So this is unequal, and I don't recommend head-on."

After hearing this, I nodded slightly in my heart. But instead of expressing my opinion, I continued to ask: "What should we do if you see?"

Hua Mei smiled and said, "Those who are invincible are defending; those who are able to win are attacking. Therefore, when people are invisible, I will be dedicated to the enemy. I will be dedicated to one, and the enemy is divided into ten. Therefore, if ten attack one, we will be numerous and few enemies."

Seeing that others were not talking, Hua Mei continued to smile and said, "In other words, the Spanish's current path has been exposed, and we are moving from the front to the backstage. In this case, we can appropriately give up the interests of one or two cities and tie the other to these two cities. And we gradually withdraw and harass the Spanish can greatly reduce the defensive pressure in other cities! This is also about retreating to advance. What do you think? Qi Lan."

Many people have a strange face when it comes to Huamei's statement. "Old people" such as Jiugui Zhengxiao naturally know the grudges and entanglements between me and Huamei, and also know the origin of her family background. It is naturally not surprising that she makes such professional remarks. However, many people are not very familiar with Huamei, and only know that she is my "divorced" fiancée, which is one of my main purposes for this advance westward.

In the minds of this group of people, Huamei is just a "willful lady", a "miss woman who goes away whenever she disagrees", or a "ren Xia person with indifferent traditional concepts". However, she never thought that when she spoke, everyone agreed with her, and after careful consideration, it was the best way at present. Only then did everyone know that the reason why I rushed to her thousands of miles to help her many times is not without reason.

I know what she said makes sense and is a good idea, but I still have my own concerns. The reason is very simple - I must find a way to cure her first! So I have to move forward, arrive at St. George first, and look for the miracle doctor.

If it doesn't work, then I will continue to go north and go to the West to find a doctor! If it doesn't work, I will take her back to the Ming Dynasty! If it doesn't work, I will not be able to travel around the world and I can't find someone who can cure the kite!

But Huamei is right, what is now? What should I do now? The current situation is clear and we need to divide the troops again, and it is impossible to delay whether it is to save people or rescue the market! It seems that we must think of a solution that has the best of both worlds!

I glanced for a week and was suitable for the commander-in-chief of the fleet... Strictly speaking, there was only Hua Mei! As for the others, the wise ones - such as Jiugui Masayoshi - were not very good at naval forces. The wise ones - such as Lan - were unable to walk away because they were attached to Yuan. They understood the wise ones - and were also wise ones - such as Mavi - but did I trust him so much that I could hand him over a whole naval force!

For a moment, I was in a dilemma. It seemed that there was only one way! I was about to speak, but Hua Mei smiled and said, "Qi Lan, do you want me to take Yuan to St. George to find a miracle doctor, and you will take the team back to East Africa by yourself?" As she said that, she looked at me with a cunning look.

I nodded helplessly and said, "Yes, do you have any better solutions?"

My tone was full of helplessness, which was also the actual situation at the moment. People in the cabin looked at each other and no one said anything.

Huamei suddenly laughed like a little fox: "Oh, don't you feel at ease with me, aren't you afraid that I will not be able to find the miracle doctor on purpose?"

I was stunned and couldn't help but frown. Many people next to me, especially Lan and Jiugui Zhengxiao, were a little angry. If it weren't for Huamei, how could Yuan be injured? He was still saying such things now?

I also think this way, but it is difficult to speak, because it is bound to be a quarrel and will not help.

Unexpectedly, Huamei smiled slightly, sighed and continued to speak: "If you can trust me with your beloved, how can I not be careful? Besides, on the isolated island, Sister Yuan took great care of me, how could I harm her? What's more..."

She glanced at me deeply and said firmly: "You have paid so much for me. If I do such a sad thing that makes you sad, I am afraid you will never forgive me! I want to thank you for your trust in me as always, but I still want to say, Qi Lan, I don't agree with your plan!"

I said oh, looked at her and asked, "Why?"

Huamei stretched out three fingers and said: "First, the Spanish have learned about you in detail and set up many traps based on your characteristics. If you go to fight the enemy, you are afraid that you will fall into the trap and you will not know it."

I was silent for a while before nodding. What Huamei said makes sense. My great defeat this time was because the enemy knew that I was eager to save people and set up a trap. So I nodded slightly and signaled her to continue speaking.

Huamei's voice came again: "Second, Qi Lan, you have been fighting in the Ming Dynasty and surrounding areas and do not know much about Western tactics. And my friends, well, the sailors who went out to sea with me are all from the West, or are proficient in Western tactics. Relying on them to fight should be more realistic."

As soon as I said this, I was speechless.

Huamei looked at me and said the third point: "And, you gave Yuan to me but went to war by yourself. You must be uneasy! Why don't you accompany Yuan to find a miracle doctor, and I will solve the troubles in East Africa on your behalf. How about you?"

It turns out... It turns out that Huamei is planning to fight for me? This! This seems to be inconsistent with my usual style! For me, women should stand behind me and accept my protection. Letting women go to the front line for me is not my style!

After hearing Hua Mei's words, everyone around them gave a thumbs up in their hearts. But I still shook my head and laughed: "Although what you said makes sense, I can't accept that women go to the front line to fight, but I stay in the back. I'd better go! You are more familiar with St. George, so I'll ask you!"

After hearing my words, Hua Mei smiled slightly, but did not speak, but looked at Yang Xien next to her. The loyal supporter of the Li family understood what the lady meant, and immediately looked at me and smiled: "Son-in-law!"

I frowned slightly. To be honest, under the current circumstances, I don't like this title.

Yang Xien ignored this and continued: "Son-in-law, what the lady said is the truth, and she is not a person who is powerless. Being able to share the pressure for her son-in-law is also the duty of the lady as an insider. If the young master refuses, it will seem apart. In my opinion, the lady's advice is very appropriate, and I hope the son-in-law thinks twice."

Is it appropriate to divide the troops like this? But... because of the many unpleasant things that were before, it may not be erased overnight. In short...

There seems to be no better way!

After thinking about it, I said, "Let's do this. In East Africa, I have to work hard to watch Huamei for a while. I will take people to the west as soon as possible, so that Chen Kui can quickly form a fleet to go south, and lead me to support me!"

No one raised objections, so they each decided not to mention it.

Lan listened on the side and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. I understand her mood, but who understands my mood?

But whether you understand or not, you still have to walk the road, live your life, revenge, and things have to be done.
Chapter completed!