The sea breeze blew on my face, carrying its usual salty smell; the sails were fully inflated, urging the warship to cut through the waves and rush forward.
Gan Hui stood steadily on the deck, letting the ship pitch up and down, his feet as if they had nails, not moving at all, holding up a telescope and gazing into the distance.
As the commander of the First Squadron of the South China Sea, Gan Hui is only in his twenties and can be considered young and promising, but this is in the eyes of outsiders.
The officers of the Ming Dynasty Navy are generally young, and there are quite a few who are about the same age as Gan Hui.
The reason was simple: it had only been established a short time ago, only five or six years at most. Furthermore, not many were promoted from the original navy; most were chosen and trained by Shen Yourong through observation and testing.
Young, energetic, courageous, and quick to learn, even if they don't have much knowledge.
The emperor believed that in order to build the Ming navy into what he wanted, correcting the old ways might not be effective.
Historically, although the Zheng family was able to dominate the East China Sea, there was still a considerable gap between them and the Western barbarians in terms of ships, artillery, and tactics.
It was only by relying on the large number of ships and the geographical advantages that they forced the Western barbarians, including the Dutch, to bow their heads.
To put it bluntly, it was just a navy that was imitated from the Western barbarians in a weird way.
What the emperor needs is not only form, but also spirit, and even a ship size and tactical style that exceeds those of the Western Barbarians.
Therefore, his advice to Shen Yourong was to recruit and train more young people, hire Portuguese as coaches, build Western-style sailing warships, and use new naval warfare methods for exercises.
Flag signals, deploy broadside firepower, equip Garand guns, close-in bombardment, rocket salvos...
The Ming navy is now quite proficient and has an advantage over the Western barbarians in terms of weapons and equipment. The only thing it lacks is practical combat experience.
Gan Hui slowly lowered the telescope, glanced at the staff officer beside him, smiled, and said, "The Red Haired Barbarians only have six galleons, but Lord Shen has dispatched ten times as many ships as the enemy. Doesn't that feel like overkill?"
Before the staff officer could reply, Gan Hui added, "Each squadron is not allowed to launch an attack without authorization. All fleets must assemble."
The staff officer thought for a moment and replied, "It's understandable that Lord Shen is cautious. After all, this is the first large-scale actual combat since the formation of the navy. We must strive for a complete victory so that we can report to the court."
Gan Hui nodded and said, "The navy has indeed spent a huge amount of money over the past few years. If we don't fight a good battle, it will be difficult to explain. But there are too many wolves and too little meat. With hundreds of warships, you can't just fight a few times and then let others fight a few more times, right?"
"I think that even watching the battle is a form of actual combat training." The staff officer answered truthfully.
"Watching the game—" Gan Hui showed an unwilling expression and shook his head slightly.
The staff officer shrugged his shoulders with a hint of helplessness and said, "Surrounding us on three sides, Lord Shen wants to completely annihilate the enemy, not letting a single ship escape. Most likely, our First Squadron will be able to engage the enemy. But if the enemy escapes first, we'll have to see which direction they take."
Surround them on three sides and annihilate them in one fell swoop—this was the battle plan Shen Yourong and his officers had discussed and decided upon. Although there was no main fleet to intercept the Dutch as they attempted to penetrate the Pearl River estuary, they did prepare fireships to engage them.
In narrow waterways, fire attacks were the most effective means of attack. The Dutch galleons had difficulty maneuvering in the waterways and would be burned to a crisp by the fire ships.
Moreover, since they were under siege on three sides, it was difficult to judge which squadron would be the first to come into contact with the enemy.
According to the staff officer's assessment, the Dutch, realizing they were under siege, would likely flee back to their base, and this direction would have coincided with the encounter with the First Squadron.
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