Chapter 1672 Expedition

The Invincible Fleet rested in Guam for half a month.

Even if we can't replenish supplies, we can still cut down trees to repair the ship, replenish fresh water, and let the crew go ashore to relax.

During this period, the Spaniards wanted to go to Saipan to rob, but the natives there were scared away, and they only picked up a bunch of junk and didn't get any proper supplies.

On November 16, the fleet set sail again. Within a few days, the fish caught by Spain in Guam, the wild fruits and vegetables picked, and the pitiful food found in the homes of the natives were all eaten up, and they could only continue to eat the food that had rotted and deteriorated to the point where it was unrecognizable.

Even after boiling, the spoiled food still turned the Spanish officers and soldiers into jet fighters, and the ship, which had just been cleaned, became filthy again.

But the Spaniards were in a good mood because there was only a short section left in the journey. They could finally have a good rest in the Philippines, right? !

~~

On the same day, October 28, the seventh year of the Wanli reign, the intelligence agents who had gone to Guam to carry out the sabotage mission returned to the Dongmen Strait on a fast sailing ship, bringing back the news that the Spanish expeditionary fleet had arrived in Guam.

In fact, ten days before them, the second ship of the expedition team returned to the Dongmen Strait. Through Liu Yishou and others, the theater of operations had already learned the approximate time when the Spaniards arrived at Leyte Gulf.

Therefore, on the first day of the winter month, a grand departure ceremony was held in the Luzon war zone.

A platform covered with red carpet was erected on the pier. Behind the platform, there was a huge slogan: "Conquer Brunei and Recapture Borneo"!

Ten thousand neatly-dressed coast guard officers and soldiers lined up in strict formation in the open space in front of the stage. Nearly 100,000 people from Yongxia City came to see them off, and the atmosphere was extremely warm.

Rows of huge ships are anchored in Yongxia Bay. Their blue hulls blend in with the sparkling sea, looking very shocking.

"This is our own fleet!" The people cheered enthusiastically, their pride reaching its peak.

Amid the sound of stirring military music, Master Zhao appeared on the stage surrounded by a group of generals including Jin Ke, Wang Rulong, and Lin Feng.

Seeing Mr. Zhao, who saved the overseas Chinese from danger, the little elder, the patron saint of the overseas Han people, appeared, and the cheers reached a peak. If it weren't for the repeated orders from all units before coming, strictly prohibiting the use of taboo words, I'm afraid someone would have shouted long live...

When Jin Ke, who was hosting the ceremony, asked Mr. Zhao to speak, the whole audience suddenly fell silent. No one wanted to miss a word he said.

Zhao Hao lived up to everyone's expectations and delivered a stirring speech - "Fight for the people and drive out the invaders!"

The simple, easy-to-understand, and passionate parallelism made the listeners crazy, and they regarded Mr. Zhao's words as their own firm beliefs...

After the speech, Zhao Hao personally announced that Wang Rulong was appointed as the commander-in-chief of this battle, Ma Yinglong as the police commissioner, and Lin Feng as the deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff. He also awarded Wang Rulong the command flag of the joint fleet.

Then, Wang Rulong, holding the command flag, led the participating officers and soldiers to swear an oath to the Coast Guard flag, obey orders, follow commands, be brave and tenacious, and resolutely complete the mission!

After the departure ceremony, Zhao Hao personally escorted the soldiers on board the ship.

He and Wang Rulong walked side by side at the front. Looking at Brother Wang who was so thin that only a bag of bones was left, Zhao Hao felt very uncomfortable.

In the second year of the Wanli reign, Wang Rulong suffered from acute appendicitis in Taiwan. He stayed in the garrison hospital for only a few days and ran away before the stitches were removed. He led the task force to participate in the Battle of Luzon.

Due to the bumpy sea ride and hot weather, his wound became festered and infected. He managed to hold on until after the war but then fell ill again.

Although he was later injected with penicillin and saved his life, his body was broken. Once his immunity dropped, he was attacked by all kinds of diseases.

Soon after being discharged from the hospital, I contracted malaria again...

Zhao Hao had no choice but to forcibly send him back to Jiangnan Hospital for hospitalization and recuperation, but Lao Wang was afraid of missing the opportunity to have a decisive battle with the world's number one navy, so after he had almost recovered, he ran back to Luzon. However, the Spaniards were tricked by Lin Feng and had to postpone the expedition for several years.

Wang Rulong, however, refused to rest. Perhaps he felt that he did not have much time left. In recent years, he has seized every opportunity to train the strategic fleet and cultivate new captains. He has become thinner and older, and he would not listen to anyone who advised him to rest.

Zhao Hao had no choice but to ask Chen Shigong to take him to the hospital regularly. Although he would definitely escape, he could always rest for two days at least...

"Okay, stop looking at me like that." Wang Rulong finally couldn't help but said, "I have goose bumps."

"Alas. If it weren't for this decisive battle with the Spaniards, I would never agree to let you go to the battlefield again." Zhao Hao sighed.

"Hehe, if you don't let me fight this battle, I will die with regret." Wang Rulong laughed and coughed for a while, saying, "Sir, is our strategic deception okay?"

"Don't worry." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "The Military Intelligence Bureau has long confirmed that there are Spanish spies in Yongxia City."

In the past few years, Yongxia Port has become a major port in Southeast Asia, and Yongxia City has become increasingly prosperous, having long surpassed the former Manila.

The other side of prosperity is that there is a mix of people coming in and out on a daily basis. The Security Department and the Military Intelligence Bureau cannot check each one of them, so it is already a great achievement to ensure the purity of key departments and key personnel.

In the past three months, the Security Department and the Military Intelligence Bureau have conducted several investigations on the residents of Yongxia City, and indeed dug out a lot of problematic people. Those people also revealed a lot of rats hiding in the dark.

Of course, there were Spanish spies among them.

After formulating the "Operation Neptune" plan, Zhao Hao specifically ordered people to keep them so that he could stage a "Jiang Gan stealing the book" to achieve better results with the strategic deception.

"Then I have nothing to worry about." Wang Rulong laughed, glanced at Lin Feng who was following behind him, and said, "According to Commander Lin's battle plan, we will definitely win a great victory!"

"Ah Feng is still too young, you have to steer her well." Zhao Hao said with a smile.

As they were talking, they came to the flagship of the Combined Fleet. This armored battleship with the hull number 01 already had a resounding name, 'Kaiyuan'.

"Congratulations on your victory!" Zhao Hao saluted the generals solemnly.

Wang Rulong hurriedly led his generals to return the salute, then turned around and boarded the Kaiyuan.

Lin Feng was reluctant to board the ship, so Zhao Hao had to call her aside. Jin Ke and others also consciously stayed away from her.

Zhao Hao then asked in a low voice: "Do you have anything to say?"

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Lin Fengfeng glanced at her. A golden star shone on her helmet, and a golden dagger representing her status as a police inspector was hung on a white belt with a gold buckle around her waist. With her unique long leather boots and black ponytail, she looked so heroic and domineering.

But the glance she gave at this moment, with her head lowered, had a different kind of charm and moving demeanor.

Zhao Hao was stunned, coughed and said, "Fight well."

"Tsk..." Lin Feng curled her bright red lips and said, "Perfunctory."

"You can't randomly plant flags at a time like this." Zhao Hao said with a wry smile, "I'll say something nice when you come back... Uh, bah, this is also planting a flag."

After being with Zhao Hao for a long time, Lin Feng probably understood what Liflaeger meant.

She suddenly glanced at him quickly and said, "If I wipe out the red-haired ghost fleet for you, how will you reward me?"

Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Then why don't you want the moon in the sky? I'll pick it down for you, right?"

"I don't want the moon in the sky either." Lin Feng snorted crisply, and suddenly said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "I want a child..."

"Uh..." Zhao Hao almost fell into the sea.

"Do you want me to go to the battlefield full of disappointment?" Lin Feng was about to cry, and the demeanor of a female general was completely gone.

"Of course I have to let you go to the battlefield with hope." Zhao Hao smiled bitterly.

"Okay! So you agree?!" Lin Feng was immediately overjoyed, and her tears were all fake.

Zhao Hao took two steps back to prevent her from hanging on him in public and said, "We must annihilate them all!"

"Don't worry, I've already thought of a name for my son. It's Lin Dengwan!" Lin Feng laughed and said, "And if he's born next year, he'll be born in the Year of the Dragon like me! We can't delay!"

"What the hell is this..." Zhao Hao was stunned. Lindenwan, and Lindentu...

Besides, shouldn’t the surname be Zhao?

He was just confused when Lin Feng hugged him and gave him a big kiss. Linden Wan's mother turned around happily and boarded the warship.

Zhao Hao touched his face and watched her board the ship with a wry smile. He then walked up to the port lighthouse as if nothing had happened and watched the fleet set off.

Ship 01 Kaiyuan, ship 02 Chixiao, ship 03 Juque, ship 04 Jueshi, ship 05 Wanren... one warship after another sailed past the lighthouse, and the soldiers standing on the slope saluted the commander-in-chief in unison.

After 128 warships and 40 auxiliary Swordfish galleys left the port one after another, it was already sunset and the Golden Bay was in eternal summer.

Only then did Mr. Zhao put down his aching arm and smiled at Sebastian who was invited to watch the ceremony:

"Your Majesty, do you think my Coast Guard fleet is worthy of your attention?"

Also present was Pinto, a former Portuguese Royal Navy captain and current professor at the Luzon Coast Guard School, who served as interpreter for his former king.

"Very strong..." Sebastian pulled the corners of his mouth hard and forced a smile. He was once the king of Portugal, so he was naturally an expert in the navy. Of course, he could see that this huge fleet was not only very strong, but also too strong.

He didn't need to look at the majestic and neat warships, just the officers and soldiers standing on the slope, who were motionless from beginning to end, and everyone seemed to be copied. He knew that the organization, discipline, and training intensity of this army... were far better than any other army in the world. Not to mention the navy, which was known as the scum concentration camp...

Sebastian couldn't imagine how the Ming people could train a bunch of scumbags to have the same discipline as the palace guards? This is harder than making a donkey fly!

"But the navy is a branch of the military that needs accumulation, and naval warfare requires experience and tactics even more." Sebastian consoled himself: "I heard that your army has been established for less than ten years. In this aspect, you are definitely not as good as Spain, let alone us Portugal."

His straightforward statement made Professor Ping unable to translate. After a long pause, Ping said to Zhao Hao: "Your Majesty still believes that Spain will win."

"Haha, then let's wait and see who will have the last laugh." Zhao Hao laughed.

(End of this chapter)