Of course, a massive expedition takes time to prepare, especially for a small country like Portugal.

Fortunately, after hundreds of years of war in Europe, the military has become a developed business. As long as you can afford the money, there will be war merchants who will transport all the war supplies you need to your designated location at the time you specify.

The Portuguese were also mobilized. Except for the armed forces that stayed on the border to defend against the Spanish, all the nobles and troops in the country were mobilized. A large number of Portuguese civilians were also temporarily conscripted. But the number was still insufficient.

Sebastian opened the treasury again and asked German merchants to recruit 2,800 German mercenaries from Prussia and Wallonia, which were rich in mercenaries.

The Portuguese army was also joined by 1,000 volunteers from Andalusia, Spain.

Because Portugal was fighting under the banner of the Crusades, the Pope also provided some support in the form of troops and ships.

Add to that the Moroccans and Ming people who followed King Abu to Portugal, and there were about a thousand people...

On April 14, the sixth year of the Wanli reign (May 20, 1578), a Portuguese expeditionary force of 25,000 people finally assembled in Lisbon. On the same day, the king announced that he would personally lead an expedition to Monaco in five days!

~~

On May 25, the streets of Lisbon were deserted, and the people flocked to the Imperial Plaza to bid farewell to their beloved king, shedding tears and wishing him a safe return.

The 25-year-old Sebastian, however, was not at all aware of his people's concerns. Wearing his ancestral dark gold full body armor, a visored helmet with red feathers on his head, and holding the gorgeous king's scepter in his hand, he first came to the Jerónimos Monastery to pray.

Then, together with his great-uncle Henry, the Portuguese cardinal who had served as regent after his expedition, he returned to the platform of the Imperial Forum and delivered a passionate speech to his subjects.

The King's speech was written by a royal writer, so it was naturally very appealing. Although the childish, shrill voice had little to do with the heroic spirit he imagined, the people of Lisbon didn't care at all, because that was the little angel they had watched grow up...

“Here, Lisbon, is the center of the world!”

"In 1498, Vasco da Gama set out from here, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, discovered India, and opened up the sea route between Europe and Asia!"

“In 1519, Magellan also set out from here to circumnavigate the world, opening a new chapter in the Age of Exploration!”

"Now I will also start from here and lead Portugal into a new era!"

Every time the king paused, it was followed by enthusiastic cheers, and the people's emotions were also aroused by this exciting speech.

However, in the pause before Sebastian announced "going to war", a discordant voice suddenly sounded.

"Your Majesty, please think twice!" A one-eyed man in a robe stepped out from the crowd. The guards were about to take him down, but when they saw that he was the great poet Camoens who was deeply loved by the king, they stopped.

The poet came to the stage and said loudly to the king: "Your Majesty, as an ordinary soldier, I have fought in Africa and know what kind of purgatory there is. It was in Africa that I lost an eye! Your army is very complex and has no training for fighting in Africa. You have very few cavalry and carry so many heavy artillery. Facing the flexible and mobile light cavalry of the Berbers, you will be at the mercy of others..."

Seeing that his proud army was criticized by the poet, Sebastian couldn't hold back his face and shouted angrily: "What are you standing there for? Take him away!"

The guards rushed forward and carried the poet away from the king.

"Don't go and die! You don't have any children yet..." The poet continued to shout desperately until his mouth was covered by the guards.

But the worries that the people had just suppressed were aroused again by him. Yes, His Majesty the King is already 25 years old, but he has no interest in women. He is like being tortured when he gets along with those noble ladies. The only marriage proposal was to Queen Mary I of Scotland, but it was quickly rejected by the king. This made the whole country very worried, fearing that Portugal would fall into the situation of extinction again...

But no one could change the king's determination. He drew his sword, pointed it at the sky, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Go!"

Finally, the people of Lisbon bid farewell to their king in tears. They watched Sebastian board the magnificent flagship St. George and lead the huge fleet slowly out of the harbor and disappear on the sea level, but he was still reluctant to turn back. They were afraid that they would never see him again...

~~

Lisbon is only a thousand miles away from Morocco by sea, but the huge troop transport fleet has an extremely slow speed, traveling less than a hundred miles a day, and it takes almost ten days to arrive.

Three Ming warships, the Ningbo, Yixing and Dianshanhu, were also requisitioned to carry European mercenaries joining the army.

This was the first time that the three ships were loaded with so many smelly and unhygienic red-haired devils. The Ming crew members were furious seeing these Europeans urinating and defecating on the decks that they carefully wiped every day.

Helplessly, they were now acting as supporters of King Abu, leading the red-haired devils back to Morocco. What right did the guides have to be dissatisfied? The crew could only hold back their anger and let them destroy their ship.

After a few days, the stench became unbearable, and all the Ming crew members who were not on duty moved to the stern tower to avoid the stench in the upwind direction.

Even the guy with the strongest endurance and Marine Captain Macron are no exception.

Ma Kalong is the younger brother of Ma Yinglong and Ma Kelong. He joined the security brigade in the second year of Longqing. Later, he felt that there was no future in being a security guard, so he made a fuss and asked his brother to agree to send him to the Jeju Coast Guard School. He and Cai Yilin were classmates, both of whom were the first batch of police officers who graduated from professional schools, but they did not study ship command, but land battle command, just to get rid of their brother's control.

However, Ma Yinglong's influence was everywhere. The love from his brother always made him feel suffocated, so he took the initiative to sign up to join the long-distance fleet and finally got rid of his brother's shadow completely.

After all these years of refinement, macarons have changed from the tender white cream flavor to the mature brown coffee flavor.

He poured two cups of freshly brewed coffee, one for the man and the other for himself. In Africa over the years, they had learned to drink coffee from the Moroccan nobles and had developed a strong dependence on it.

The same went for the crew members. Without wine, coffee and cigarettes, they would have been driven crazy by severe homesickness.

The guy took the coffee cup flattered, took a sip and said with a smile: "Thank you for still thinking of me."

"It took me a while to remember this," Macaroon said with an embarrassed smile, "I just have a question in my mind and I have to ask you."

"Ask." The guy nodded. He didn't ask for much. No matter what the reason was, as long as he remembered me.

"What the hell are we doing?!" Macaron asked in a low voice. But under the emotional fluctuations, he couldn't help but raise his voice and said, "We left the Ming Dynasty in the first year of Wanli, and it's already the sixth year of Wanli! Three years after three years, what is the purpose of coming here?!"

"It's five years." The other person corrected him, "The first five-year plan ended the year we set out, and the second five-year plan ends this year."

Although his presence is not strong enough, his memory is much better than someone else's...

"I've been taking care of him for years! You must tell us the truth today!" Macron grabbed his boss by the collar, fearing that he would forget about his existence again.

"Yes, Boss, you should tell us!" The Marines and crew members gathered around and said in unison:

"The war is about to begin, who wants to work for the red-haired devil?!"

"That's right. If we die in battle, let us be the last ghost who knows!"

Upon seeing this, the special operations officer wanted to step forward and separate them from the section chief.

That person smiled and waved his hand, signaling the staff not to come forward.

Normally, being surrounded by people grabbing their collars would make most people feel uncomfortable. But that person was not an ordinary person. He really enjoyed being the center of attention. His sense of presence had never been so strong before.

Fang Wen smiled at everyone and said, "If you want to know, you should have asked me earlier. How can I know without asking me? Do you want to know?"

"We have to remember you!" Everyone said depressedly: "When the words come to my lips, I forget who to ask..."

"Well, I should have told you." Fang Wen glanced at the magnificent sailing ship in front of him and said, "The code name of our operation is 'Savior', and the specific mission is to rescue King Sebastian of Portugal and bring him back to Ming Dynasty!"

"What?!" The men's jaws dropped in shock.

It also attracted the German and Swiss mercenaries at the stern deck to come and go, but unfortunately they could not understand the Ming language and could only vaguely hear a word, which seemed to be the name of His Majesty the King.

"Sebastian's savior? Are you kidding me?" Macron said in disbelief: "When did the young master give you this mission?"

"Of course, before we set off." Fang Wen fished out a yellowed warrant from his bag, handed it to Macaron and said, "I'm afraid you don't believe it."

Macron let him go and took the warrant. It was indeed written by the young master, and the content was exactly as that person said. It was stamped with Zhao Hao's personal seal, as well as the seals of the group's board of directors and the Coast Guard Headquarters.

Look at the date of signature, September 8, the first year of Wanli!

The crew members also came over, and all the onlookers were stunned.

Although they didn't understand the reason, they were all deeply shocked.

After a long while, someone was deeply shocked and said, "You said that the young master is not a god, but he is a god who can tell fortunes!"

"Of course not. Otherwise, how could he have predicted that the little red-haired king would do such a thing five years ago?!" The crew was completely shocked. They were ten times more excited than before and said, "What's even more amazing is that he could predict that King Abu would surrender to him. Otherwise, why would he let us build a trading house in Morocco instead of Lisbon?"

"Captain Ma, you should have brought it out earlier!" Everyone complained to Macaron, "Bringing it out so late, we missed out on so much excitement!"

"Did I take it out?" Macaron scratched his head and said, "Even if it was..."

ps. Post first and modify later.