A Coast Guard patrol unit with three frigates and 15 speedboats is stationed in the harbor near the Dongmen Lighthouse. In addition to guarding against the Spaniards, their daily mission is to fight smuggling and pirates, and to prevent any unauthorized ships from entering or leaving the Dongmen Strait.

Therefore, one-third of the warships were always on standby. After receiving the signal from the lighthouse, a frigate numbered 3625 set off with five rowing boats.

That British sailing ship was not big, estimated to be about 100-150 tons. In the sequence of coast guard warships, it was not even a frigate, but only a speedboat.

In theory, this amount of troops should be more than enough to stop the British sailing ship.

However, the other party was extremely alert and turned around and fled as soon as he found something wrong.

The squad leader on the 3625 ship ordered the frigate to speed up with full sails, while at the same time he ordered people to use flag signals to order the five speedboats to intercept at full speed.

These speedboats were developed by the Luzon Shipyard based on the Calais battleship. The style is roughly the same as the Calais battleship, but it is scaled down by one third.

The slender ship is only two meters wide and twenty meters long, with forty oarsmen and twenty combatants, but only one cannon is installed at the bow and stern. The bow is triangular, with a long ram with an inverted hook, which is used to ram the target ship.

Although this type of ship has a small hull space and many crew members, its endurance is poor. It has a flat bottom and low sides and a shallow draft, so it cannot withstand rough seas. Moreover, it cannot be equipped with side guns, which makes it very disadvantageous when facing sailing warships.

However, its flexible hull, excellent short-distance sprint speed, and power advantage of sailing against the wind still make it desirable in calm offshore operations. Especially when it comes to capturing the elusive South China Sea pirates, the galley has an incomparable advantage.

Therefore, the Luzon Theater and the Luzon Shipyard jointly launched this "Swordfish-type paddle-sail assault speedboat" and equipped it to each grassroots squadron for use with sailing warships.

Facts have proved that in the anti-smuggling operations of the past two years, the Swordfish has always been the leading role, while the frigates have become the supporting role.

This time was no exception. The rowers rowed together, and the five speedboats left long white wakes and rushed towards the British ship like swordfish.

The oarsmen on the Swordfish are neither slaves nor civilians, but real marine officers. They are well-trained, strong, and extremely persistent. No ship they target will be able to escape!

On the British sailing ship with a golden deer painted on its bow, the crew were busy adjusting the sails and preparing for battle.

But they were not panicked, because they had a great captain who led them to create countless miracles, and even the powerful Spanish navy was helpless against him, so they would definitely be able to pass this time without any danger.

At this time, their captain was leaning on the railing of the poop with both hands, letting the sea breeze blow his shaggy yellow beard. This was his unique way of determining the wind direction.

The crew members dared not say a word, for fear of affecting the captain's judgment.

The captain wore an apple green hood and a scarlet tight vest, revealing a white shirt covered with lace. He wore the European-style tights that showed off his testicles. He wore scarlet stockings on his legs and a pair of brown leather boots. He looked extremely sexy.

This was a popular way of dressing for British gentlemen of the era, as Queen Elizabeth's love of fine clothes and lace, as well as her love of contrasting bright colors, influenced the entire London upper class.

But his clothes were very old, badly discolored and full of holes. Looking at his crew members, they all looked like beggars. It was unknown how long they had been drifting on the sea.

After a while, the captain finally opened his eyes and said in a London accent with a South Coast accent: "Set the course to 10 degrees north by west. Raise the auxiliary sail and try to reduce the load!"

The crew immediately followed the captain's instructions, turning, hoisting the sails, and throwing heavy barrels into the sea. There was no shortage of gold and silver treasures they had looted. But the crew had already remembered an iron rule - survival and freedom were the most precious wealth, and everything else could be abandoned.

The escape speed was indeed getting faster and faster, but the five pursuing galleys were still getting closer.

"Captain, can we escape?" A man dressed in aristocratic clothes asked uneasily when he saw the situation.

"The wind is too weak, and there is no hope." The captain looked at the galleys and said, "I hope they will lose their strength soon."

"How about we fire a few artillery shells to scare them away?" suggested the subordinate.

"Can't you see? They are regular navy ships. Firing will only anger them." The captain looked past the galleys and landed on the frigates following behind. "If I'm not mistaken, they should be Ming warships. Are you ready to create another powerful enemy for Her Majesty the Queen?"

"Are we really in the Far East?" Although the situation was urgent, the crew members were still excited.

"What a fuss! The Spanish have long said that it takes only 20 days to reach Luzon from Guam." The captain sighed and said, "Fortunately, we didn't meet the Spanish."

"Will the Ming people let us go?" the subordinate asked in a low voice.

"Spain is the common enemy of our two countries. We should be able to have a good chat." The captain said, raising his voice: "But I am not used to being passive. Let's escape from their pursuit first, and then try to contact the Ming people!"

"Yes, sir!" The crew responded loudly, skillfully steered the sailboat through the waves and fled towards the Dongmen Strait.

The five Exocet galleys had already approached within 200 meters. The coast guard soldiers held copper microphones and loudly ordered them in Spanish to reef the sails, drop anchors, and lay down their weapons. Everyone had to gather on the bow deck and kneel with their heads in their hands, otherwise they would use force against them!

Most of the British people on the sailboat could understand Spanish. There was no other way. Britain at that time was completely shrouded in the shadow of the Spanish Empire. Even the queen relied on Philip II to ascend to the throne.

"Ignore them!" The captain's not-so-authentic London accent sounded at the right time: "They only have one cannon on each ship, so they can't hit us even if they fire! And their ships are much shorter than ours, so we have the advantage in boarding!"

After a pause, he raised his voice and said, "Focus and do your job. They can't stop us!"

Seeing that they had no intention of stopping, the Coast Guard speedboat began to fire. As the captain said, the sparse shells could not hit the sailboat moving at full speed.

"Hallelujah!" The British crew members shouted in surprise and their morale soared.

However, they were too happy too early. The coast guard speedboat fired only to measure the distance.

Soon, a hair-raising whistling sound was heard, and one after another, Oda City rockets whizzed up from the five ships and shot towards the British sailing ships.

This is the real weapon of the Exocet speedboat - the third-generation Oda City rocket that can be launched from a shoulder-fired launcher!

The rotating nozzle of this generation of rockets has been moved from the tail to under the warhead, making the flight trajectory more stable. At such a close distance, it can almost hit whatever it points to. It is most suitable for launching firepower critical strikes and psychological attacks on the enemy when the distance between the two sides is close enough.

In previous battles, after a few rounds of rockets were fired, the pirates would be so scared that they would piss their pants and lie on the boat crying for their parents.

Now it's the British' turn to get a taste of its power.

The British captain and his crew were all stunned. They had seen a lot during their travels, but they had never seen a huge iron stick spitting fire and flying towards them.

One crew member was unable to dodge and was directly hit by the big iron rod and flew more than ten meters away, with half of his body broken into pieces...

"Get down, everyone get down!" Seeing that more than a dozen crew members were knocked down by his own sudden movement, the captain shouted to lie down.

As soon as he lay on the deck, a rocket flew past his head. The captain couldn't help but secretly thank God, if he had lay down a little later, he would have died.

But before he could rejoice for long, he heard his men shout, "Captain, look at our sails!"

The captain quickly turned around and lay on his back on the deck, then he saw iron rods spewing fire and rotating, whistling through the three masts and the dozen or so open sails.

With a crackling sound, the rotating rockets easily tore the sails of the ship into large holes. Some sails even caught fire.

The speed of the sailboat dropped significantly...

"Hurry up and put out the fire!" The first mate jumped up and quickly led the crew to put out the fire, risking being shot by rockets, to prevent the fire from spreading.

"Fire, Captain!" The nobles under him shouted at him loudly from their safe place.

"That's really a dead end." The captain's eyes passed over the five speedboats and fell on the frigate that was getting closer and closer. The gun ports were all open, and the black muzzles could spew out flames at any time.

"No wonder the Spanish have suffered losses at their hands." He smiled bitterly and said, "Raise the white flag! Have a good talk with them."

"Captain, can they guarantee our safety?"

"Don't worry, I have a magic weapon that can save my life. I guarantee that they will let us go. Maybe I can even find a powerful ally for Her Majesty the Queen." Even in adversity, the captain's smile was full of confidence, as if nothing could defeat him.

After the white flag was raised, the rocket stopped.

Following the instructions of the coast guard, the British lowered the sails, laid down their weapons, gathered on the bow deck, and knelt on the ground with their heads in their hands.

The two Exocet boats approached quickly and slammed heavily into the sides of the British sailing ship. The two metal rams penetrated deeply into the British hull.

The two muffled sounds accompanied by huge shocks made the captain, who was holding his head, feel his heart bleed. His beloved ship could not escape at all.

In a moment, two boarding steps with hooks firmly grasped the deck, and fully armed coast guard officers and soldiers filed up and quickly took control of the situation.

A police officer with a silver star on his helmet came up to the prisoners and loudly asked in Spanish about their origins.

The captain stood up, took off his hat and bowed in an elegant manner, and answered in stiff Spanish:

"We are the British ship 'Golden Deer', which is paying a friendly visit to the Ming Dynasty under the order of Her Majesty the Queen of England. I am Captain Francis Drake, and I pay my highest respects to the Ming Empire!"

P.S. I didn't look at the computer all day today, and my eyes are much better. Alas, I still have to take care of my eyes recently and do what I can. I will only update once.