After Lin Hongzhong finished speaking, Domingo swallowed his saliva and said, "We spent so much money and made so many friends, is there no one who can protect us?"

"This is how vicious they are. They first disintegrated our backers from above, and then made small moves below." Lin Hongzhong sighed and said, "Anyway, forget it. Now the matter has become completely out of hand. Whoever speaks for us is a traitor, and the people will throw shit in his yard!"

"Oh God, we are innocent!" Domingo yelled angrily.

"God has no control over the Ming Dynasty. It's useless for you to shout at the top of your lungs!" Lin Hongzhong frowned and said, "In short, the Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions. Now not only will no one speak for us, but everyone is vying to add insult to injury. Our situation will only get worse!"

"Is there no way to remedy this?" Domingo said depressedly.

"Yes, I told you as soon as I came in." Lin Hongzhong poured him another glass of wine.

"You mean to start a war?" Domingo stared at the dazzling red wine in the candlelight and hissed, "With Jiangnan Group?"

"Of course. Do we have to fight the government?" Lin Hongzhong nodded, gently shaking the wine in the goblet and said, "I thought it through on the way back. Now the governor and the governor are standing opposite us. It will be difficult for us to achieve the desired effect by simply showing weakness and trying to bribe them. So the only thing we can do is to show our strength!"

"In fact, the key lies in the Governor-General. He is the most popular general in front of the Prime Minister. As long as he can change his mind, those fence-sitters in the officialdom will turn to us again!" He stood up and said through gritted teeth:

"I know clearly what the Governor wants. One is money, lots of money. The other is to be useful to him. So that old bastard must have bribed him with a large sum of money while boasting about how powerful his grandson's fleet is, and how it is not inferior to ours!"

"Impossible, they were only formed three years ago, and they started building galleons by imitating our ships." Domingo said contemptuously, "And they are three small galleons. In fact, what if they build a galleon that is twice as big? The navy is a branch of the military that relies heavily on accumulation. Our Portuguese Empire's invincible Royal Navy has been passed down for 150 years since its foundation by His Royal Highness Prince Henry. This is our greatest wealth. Even the arrogant Ottoman Empire was defeated by us several times. That 'Master Zhao' wants to catch up with us in 150 years in just three years? It's simply a fantasy!"

He added bitterly, "Even with the help of that traitor Pinto, they will never be able to compete with our great Royal Navy within a hundred years!"

"Well said, I think so too!" Lin Hongzhong said with some excitement, "But those Ming officials are arrogant by nature. They are unwilling to accept that their country lags behind foreign countries in any way. This is the deep reason why Governor Yin easily believed the Zhao family - they always think they are stronger!"

He raised his glass to Domingo and said, "So you have to prove to Governor Yin that he is wrong! No matter how big Mr. Zhao's fleet is, he is still a paper tiger that can't withstand a single blow! After this, Governor Yin will realize that there will be no Zheng He after Zheng He. The Ming Dynasty has completely become a weakling at sea. If you want to maintain peace along the Guangdong coast, you have no choice but to cooperate with us!"

"Well said!" Domingo was also aroused by him. He stood up and clinked glasses with him and said, "I was still hesitating whether to fight them now or wait until next year. Now I have decided not to wait any longer. I will use the power at hand to tear the Jiangnan Fleet to pieces!"

Major Alfonso, who had been silent nearby, looked slightly changed when he heard this.

Last fall, he was released and returned to Macau as part of an armistice agreement.

According to European tradition, captured noble officers can continue to lead troops after being released and will not be held accountable. But the situation of the Portuguese Navy is slightly different. First, they have a brilliant record and have won every battle. Second, their population is too small, and all warships and sailors are precious. So from the perspective of honor and reality, the Portuguese hate failure. They despise those who bring failure to the Royal Navy and even judge the officers who are mainly responsible.

That's why Colonel Pinto was so scared that he didn't dare to come back.

Although Major Alfonso was able to continue to serve as the captain of the Oriental Belle, he was very secretive about his experience of being captured. In his report to the commander, he only said that it was because of the weather and Colonel Pinto's carelessness that the fleet lost power and watched helplessly as the Ming people's fire attack ships surrounded the Duke of Goa and the Oriental Belle.

In order to prevent the two main forces of the Macau Fleet from being burned in such a confused manner, Colonel Pinto chose to surrender...

Since everything was accidental, he had to avoid the inevitable factors of failure. So he did not mention the fierce artillery fire of the Jiangnan Group Fleet, its well-trained army, and its terrifying production capacity.

He didn't even dare to mention that the Oriental Beauty had been disassembled and reassembled...

Now, hearing that the commander-in-chief wanted to start the war early, he would of course feel a sense of fear.

The Royal Navy was actually afraid of the other party just by thinking of it... It showed how much of a blow the Coast Guard fleet had brought to this young noble officer.

"Sir, wouldn't you prefer to wait until the Mediterranean battle is over?" Alfonso couldn't help but ask. This was actually what he strongly advocated, which made Domingo hold back the urge to take revenge on the Jiangnan Group.

"That is based on the premise that Macau is safe." Major General Domingo said coldly, "But now, our enemies want to take back our Pearl of the Orient. If we lose Macau, our efforts in the Far East for more than half a century will come to naught. This is something that even the Viceroy of India cannot explain to His Majesty the King! So we must fight back immediately to defend it. This is not a choice between two, but a one-and-done battle. Do you understand, Major?"

"But we are still in the armistice period..." Alfonso said stubbornly, "Tearing up the agreement rashly is a violation of the spirit of the contract!"

"Oh, my little Alfonso. The spirit of the contract is that Catholics sign a contract under the witness of the Lord, so it cannot be violated." Domingo said indifferently: "Jeffrey just said that the Far East is not God's territory, so naturally there is no witness of the Lord. We lie, we cheat, we steal, all of which are to spread the glory of the Lord! So the Lord doesn't care what kind of agreement we have with the pagans, everything is determined by our needs."

Alfonso was a little bit reluctant to agree. Just as he was about to say something, Domingo stared at him and said sternly: "Major, I have seen that your courage is no longer there. If you don't want to continue to serve as the captain of the Oriental Beauty, I can send you back home!"

"No, General, I have already sworn in the name of my family to fight for Your Majesty until the last moment. Please don't doubt my courage." Alfonso quickly changed his words. If he was sent back before the battle, his family would be disgraced and he would never be able to hold his head up in Lisbon.

"Hahaha, I knew it. How could the DeMelo family, which has a long history, produce a coward?" Domingo smiled and patted Alfonso on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, little Alfonso. I swore to your beautiful aunt that I would take you back safely."

"I would rather the general take back courage and honor." Alfonso said these clichés, but he was in a terrible mood.

"Okay, go back and have a good sleep tonight, and start preparing for the expedition tomorrow!" Domingo said in a deep voice: "We will weigh anchor in three days and set out for Nan'ao Island!"

"Yes, General!" Alfonso responded loudly.

~~

Although he had not decided when to start the war, Domingo had never stopped preparing for it.

At the heavily guarded dock, four large sailing ships, eight Calvera sailing ships, and twenty gunboats converted from Chinese sailing ships, including ten old lock ships, had all completed their preparations for departure, completed supplies within three days, and the sailors were in their positions.

At the critical moment of life and death, Domingo no longer spared his own wealth and opened the arsenal of the Bugalao Gun Foundry, and ordered the selected pirate fleet with strong combat effectiveness and close relationships to come to Macau to receive armament.

Among them, the armed fleet of Wuyang Tongguan was naturally armed with more than half of the guns and ammunition. In Domingo's view, at least they often accepted the escort of the Portuguese fleet, cooperated well, and the sailors were well-trained, so they were trustworthy friendly forces.

As for the other armed sea lords, they are used as supporting roles to hold back the enemy.

And those sea lord fleets that couldn't even get a gun or a cannon were purely cannon fodder used in the early stage.

In the city of Macau, except for the Ming people, almost all the men were armed, not only the Portuguese, but also the Spaniards, British and Dutch who came to Macau to make a living. They were all given muskets and ordered to board the ships to fight.

The natives of Southeast Asia and African slaves were all conscripted on board to do manual labor such as rowing and porting. The original sailors and rowers were freed up and allowed to stand on the deck as combat forces.

Under his extreme operation, three days later, the strength of the Macau fleet reached nearly 10,000 people - consisting of 1,300 Portuguese, 800 European volunteers, 3,000 Annan mercenaries, 2,000 native sailors, and 2,500 African slaves!

This is the benefit of naval warfare. Everyone is on the same boat, and only by winning can they survive. That is why the Portuguese were able to lead several times more miscellaneous vassal troops with very few of their own soldiers and still maintain considerable combat effectiveness, making the Ottomans suffer.

On the day the fleet set out, all the people in the city came to the Red-haired girl, the Little Red-haired girl and the Old Red-haired girl to see off the brave warriors who were defending their 'homeland'.

The day before their departure, they received an official letter from the Deputy Envoy of Guangdong Sea Route, which, accusing them of ignoring the law, harboring criminals, and shooting innocent civilians, cancelled all previous agreements concluded between the two parties, and ordered them to leave Macau before the end of the year and not to set foot on the territory again!

In fact, this letter was forged by Lin Hongzhong. How could such a major matter be decided so quickly? Is that still the government of the Ming Dynasty?

But there is no doubt that this letter aroused the common hatred of all Portuguese and even Europeans. They vowed to crush the Jiangnan fleet and make the damn Ming officials take back their words!

"Let's go, for survival!" With the commander's order, the huge fleet slowly left Macau with the blessings of their families and the glory of the Lord.

Target, Nan'ao Island!

ps. Here is the third update, please give me your monthly vote!