Zheng Chenggong chuckled a few times. He had thought it was a tough bone to chew, but now it turned out to be an attractive piece of fat meat. This made Zheng Chenggong very happy. Although the Western coalition forces were temporarily cooperating for the sake of interests this time, there were already many contradictions among them. Not to mention the deep contradictions between Spain and the Netherlands, Britain and Portugal, Britain and France also had many contradictions with each other in order to compete for the dominant position in Europe, and were wary of each other.

Therefore, the fleets of various countries anchored on the sea were not anchored together, but each was separated. If these Western fleets were combined, it would be very difficult for the fleet led by Zheng Chenggong to deal with these Western fleets. But now they were separated, giving Zheng Chenggong the opportunity to defeat them one by one. It must be said that this was Zheng Chenggong's good luck.

After Zheng Chenggong arrived in the Indian Ocean from the Strait of Malacca with his fleet, the first one he encountered was the French fleet. The French had been frightened by Tang Yu's men in recent days. Whether on land or at sea, the French were defeated repeatedly. They went from a colonial army of thousands of people to a team of only a thousand people. All their colonies in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean were lost. This time, they wanted to follow the coalition forces of various countries to pick up some benefits, but they found that the subordinates of Prince Tang were too powerful, so the French chose to escape as soon as possible.

However, the French were unlucky. In the vast Indian Ocean, they were the first to be discovered by Zheng Chenggong and his men. Unfortunately, the French had not yet realized that the enemy warships had approached. Mendelssohn, the acting French governor in Southeast Asia, was in his command cabin, congratulating himself on his quickness in escaping the pursuit of those terrifying Orientals. A soldier hurried in and shouted to Mendelssohn with a pale face, "Report, sir, a large number of warships have been spotted on the sea."

"What! Can you see our flag clearly?" Mendelssohn, who was lying comfortably on a bench, jumped up, with a bad premonition in his heart, as if the time of his great disaster had come.

"Report to the commander, there are ninety-seven Oriental warships coming from the northeast." The soldier told the situation he knew. The French now only have seven warships, while the other side has ninety-seven warships, and their weapons and equipment and performance are better than theirs. Anyone in this situation would know that they are doomed.

"Ninety-seven." Mendelssohn took a breath. Not to mention that the enemy had ten times more warships than their own, even with a comparable number, the French were no match for the enemy. In this regard, the French had learned many bloody lessons. Whether on land or in the sea, it was always the French who failed under the inferior force. Therefore, when Mendelssohn heard that the enemy had ninety-seven warships, his face lost all color.

"Hurry up and make them change course. We are going to Europe. This is not a place for us to stay. These hateful Orientals are too powerful and too terrible. God, please forgive my mistake. I hope it is not too late." Mendelssohn suddenly roared, and he could no longer maintain his elegant habits in his daily life.

The soldier quickly ran out to convey Mendelssohn's order. The seven French warships frantically turned in another direction and began to flee in panic. Chenggong saw the enemy trying to escape through the telescope and frowned slightly. He said to his men, "These damn Western devils, why are they running so fast? Aren't they making me spend more time and effort?"

"Commander, there is nothing we can do about this. Those Westerners don't know that you are a kind person. Their God hasn't told them that they can't escape with those few broken ships of theirs. So, commander, you'd better send a few warships to chase them." A staff officer under Zheng Chenggong said to Zheng Chenggong with a smile.

The others laughed along. Zheng Chenggong nodded and passed orders to ten of his ships. They were to pursue the French. Quickly, the ten ships separated from the fleet and pursued the French. The rest of Zheng Chenggong's ships turned around and searched for other Western fleets.

Mendelssohn watched the ten warships closing in on him. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Those ten warships were larger in tonnage and slightly faster than the French. Even more terrifying, Mendelssohn knew clearly that their ship-borne artillery was far more powerful than theirs. Fighting at sea would simply mean taking a beating.

"Sir, the enemy has sent a flag signal demanding our surrender," a soldier ran up to Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn had actually seen the signal signal through his telescope. However, the policy towards prisoners of war in this era was not as favorable as in later generations. Mendelssohn was not willing to surrender easily. He prayed to God in his heart, hoping for a miracle.

But it was obvious that their French God seemed asleep. He hadn't heard Mendelssohn's prayers, nor had he performed any miracles for the French. The ten warships gradually approached within range of their shipboard guns. Several warning shells landed beside the French fleet, sending up high columns of water and causing a stir among the French soldiers. Soldiers on one of the French warships fired back a few shells. However, the French artillery was clearly far inferior to the shipboard guns under Tang Li's command in terms of range. Those few shells landed on the sea far away from the enemy.

Mendelssohn was wrestling with a fierce internal struggle. He wondered if he should fight to the death. If he did, he could still inflict some damage. But then, those seven French warships would likely be lost. The French were a nation fond of romance, but war was clearly not romantic. Between life and death, Mendelssohn preferred life. Otherwise, he wouldn't have fled with his men earlier.

The few shells the French fired back seemed to have angered the enemy. More shells then flew towards the French fleet. Although most of the shells landed in the sea, some still struck the French decks. Deck decks in this era couldn't withstand the bombardment of shells. Every shell that landed on the deck would blow a large hole.

The shells hit the French ship's hull, and the huge holes created allowed sea water to flow in. With just this round of shells, a warship in the French fleet was in danger of sinking. In this situation, Mendelssohn found that even if he struggled desperately, he could not cause any serious damage to the other side. After sighing, Mendelssohn asked his men to raise the flag of surrender.

Although the French raised the red flag, the ten warships did not relax their vigilance. The ten warships moved closer to the French fleet. When they boarded the French warships, they also covered each other and climbed onto the French warships layer by layer. Seeing how well-trained these people were, Mendelssohn sighed in his heart again. It was obvious that the other side was not only stronger than them, the French, in warships and weapons, but also in the training of soldiers. There was really nothing to say about his defeat. This mysterious oriental country, a place like the Celestial Empire, made Mendelssohn's heart full of emotion when he was depressed. He raised his hands and followed the enemy soldiers onto the enemy's warships.

More than a thousand French soldiers were taken prisoner and imprisoned in the hold. Seven French warships also became spoils of war. The damaged French warship was temporarily repaired and then returned with the other warships. In another direction, Zheng Chenggong finally found the second Western fleet. This fleet was British. They were originally returning to their colony in India, but Zheng Chenggong and his men, who had been searching for them along the way, encountered them red-handed.

The British had over thirty warships and were the largest Western power. However, due to the tobacco business, their relationship with the Tang Dynasty eventually became hostile. The British were originally the largest tobacco supplier in India, and their tobacco and opium plantations almost monopolized the entire Asian market.

Tang Qi initially cooperated with the British in the tobacco business, but as Tang Qi's subordinates grew in power, they began to colonize tobacco in India, and quickly surpassed the British in terms of planting output. Not only did they occupy most of the Asian market, but they also occupied almost one-third of Europe's tobacco business. If it were not for the high transportation costs caused by the distance from Europe, Tang Qi and his subordinates would probably have occupied the remaining one-third of Europe's market. This seriously affected the interests of the British and almost squeezed out the British tobacco business.

For the sake of interests, Tang Li has become a thorn in the eyes of the British. It is only because Tang Li has taken root in Southeast Asia and his power has grown rapidly. However, the British colonial army is too far away from the mainland and lacks support from the rear. Facing the powerful Tang Li forces, the British Indian colonial governor Thomas did not dare to act rashly and was always waiting for an opportunity.