After the king's speech, the Portuguese in Malacca began to pack their luggage and prepare to go home to fight.

In fact, there are many people who are unwilling to do so.

Since the great conqueror Albuquerque conquered this throat city where two oceans meet seventy years ago, countless Portuguese have come to Malacca to settle down with different purposes.

Among them were public servants such as officials, priests, soldiers, and sailors serving the king and the church, as well as merchants, adventurers, mercenaries, and craftsmen who came to the Far East to make a living.

There were also many civil servants who, after completing their service, chose to stay in Malacca rather than return to Portugal, engaging in collusion between officials and businessmen and openly engaging in smuggling.

And there are a large number of Portuguese descendants born locally... Because it is said that it is unlucky for women to board ships, few Portuguese women came to Asia, so these people are all mixed-race children born to Portuguese fathers and local Nanyang women.

Although the population-hungry Kingdom of Portugal recognized their nationality and they were educated in Portuguese, they had never been to Europe and had no concept of the royal family. Now, because of the words of this king who suddenly appeared, they had to leave their homes and go to Portugal, thousands of miles away, to fight a war. How could they be willing to do so?

Many people wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape secretly, but they soon discovered to their horror that Malacca had been quietly taken over by the Ming people...

All the roads out of town were fenced with barbed wire. Damn it, it was a luxury to use precious drawn wire for such a thing.

The Ming army soldiers, armed with live ammunition, lined up in strict formation behind the barbed wire. They had been authorized by the King of Portugal to shoot on the spot any would-be deserters.

"We have to leave now..." On the castle's watchtower, several Malacca high-ranking officials watched the Ming soldiers shoot and kill the Portuguese who tried to cross the blockade, and they all felt sympathetic. Governor Bernardo dejectedly took off his black felt hexagonal hat with a gold rim, revealing his bald head.

He originally wanted to persuade His Majesty not to give up Malacca, which was the result of the efforts of several generations, and let him stay. But seeing the attitude of the Ming people, it was obvious that they were determined to take Malacca. I was afraid that those who refused to leave would not be able to escape their clutches.

"Anyone who dares to say that they will stay is a Portuguese traitor, a traitor, and a spineless person." The royal property manager stationed in Malacca sighed, "In fact, His Majesty must have used Malacca as a bargaining chip to exchange with the Ming people. Let's not seek our own death."

For him, as long as His Majesty does not check the accounts, everything can be discussed.

The Bishop of Malacca was also depressed and said, "Yes, even our clergy have to evacuate. Because His Majesty said that he can't do without us to boost morale during the voyage."

They were the ones who were most reluctant to leave Malacca. There were huge benefits here. Not only did all ships entering the port have to pay taxes, but merchant ships had to have a license issued by the governor to sail in the waters controlled by the Portuguese.

The Governor of Malacca had the power to issue 17 shipping licenses, and the income from this alone was more than 3 million cruzados per year. Cruzado was a Portuguese gold coin, one coin was equivalent to 0.6 taels of silver, or 1.8 million taels.

They also smuggled spices and pepper and embezzled the income from the Perak tin mine... The royal property managers would not record these gray incomes, so naturally the king would not get a share. They only needed to pay 30% to the vice king, and the people below them would share 20%, and the remaining half would be divided among them.

Where can I get so much money when I return home? I won't even exchange it for an earl.

If it weren't for the 300 Ming warships approaching the city, they would definitely find an excuse to stay...

But at this point, it was useless to say anything. The Portuguese had no choice but to leave without a single one left.

The most unfortunate are those who were expelled from Macau ten years ago. They just settled down in Malacca, bought houses and started a new life. Well, it happens again...

~~

Only after the Marines took control of the fortress and bridge on the Malacca River did they allow the Portuguese fleet to enter the inner harbor and take the time to load supplies.

The huge coast guard fleet was anchored in the calm strait, monitoring Portugal's movements closely.

Although the sea was filled with their own warships, a frigate squadron still cruised vigilantly around the Sea Power to prevent any uninvited guests from approaching.

In the spacious and solemn conference room on the stern deck of the Haiquan, Zhao Hao was convening a joint meeting of high-level military and political officials.

The Coast Guard was especially well-represented, including Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Commander of the Luzon Theater Jin Ke, Chief of General Staff and Luzon Theater Police Commissioner Ma Yinglong, Acting Commander of the Strategic Fleet Xiang Xuehai, Deputy Commander of the Luzon Theater and Commander of the Standing Fleet Lin Feng, Commander of the Marine Corps Wu Da, Police Commissioner Pan Jinlian, and Luzon Governor-General's Office People's Armed Forces Minister Ximen Qing.

Even the commander of the Tamro Garrison and police commissioner Zhu Jue, the commander of the Taiwan Garrison Haierdi, the police commissioner Rong Sheng and other generals outside the war zone appeared in the conference room.

Pinto was also ordered to attend the meeting, and he sat in a corner feeling uneasy because he was the only red-haired person in the meeting room, and everyone else had gold stars on their chests, while he had only three silver stars.

In addition to the coast guard, there are Jiang Xueying, president of Jiangnan Group; Hua Bozhen, vice chairman of Jiangnan Group; Wang Mengxiang, director of Jiangnan Group and chairman of Nanhai Group; Tang Youde, director of Jiangnan Group and chairman of Taiwan Management Committee; Chen Huaixiu, director of Jiangnan Group and chairman of Royal Shipping; Lin Zhennan, vice chairman of Nanhai Group; Tang Baolu, director of Nanhai Group and director of Luzon Management Committee; Liang Qin, the group's plenipotentiary representative in Goa, etc.

Even Liu Zhengqi came all the way back from Cairo just to attend this crucial meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Zhao Hao himself, who first announced the members of the Volunteer Fleet Front Committee.

"Fleet Commander Xiang Xuehai, Fleet Police Commissioner Xin Fei, Marine Corps Commander Wu Da, Marine Corps Police Commissioner Pan Jinlian, Chief Liaison Officer Pinto. Xin Fei is the secretary!"

The senior police officer whose name was called immediately stood up and responded loudly.

President Jiang, who had never asked about the affairs of the Coast Guard, glanced at Lin Feng with some surprise, wondering why this person was not on the front committee.

"Please sit down." Zhao Hao waved his hand, and the five people sat down immediately.

"I have already talked to you separately before, and I have given you all the instructions I can think of." Young Master Zhao looked at the five people with concern, and said slowly: "But on this journey of 50,000 miles, you will definitely encounter many unexpected difficulties and dangers. You can only rely on your discretion."

"Yes!" the five people responded in a deep voice.

"In short, the first priority is to protect yourself. If you see the situation is not good, escape quickly and don't fight hard. The most important thing is to maintain a military presence in Europe. Winning or losing is not important. Anyway, we have nowhere to inquire..." Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"Hehe..." Everyone laughed.

"You don't have to laugh. I know that many people are still wondering, isn't it enough to just take over Malacca? At most, we can take over Ceylon as well. The current territory is enough for us to digest for ten or twenty years." Zhao Hao said again:

"Why are you so greedy that you have to eat India, Africa and Brazil? Can you digest it? Aren't you afraid of dying of bloating? What's the point of tens of thousands of brothers fighting for their lives thousands of miles away?"

Everyone hurriedly shook their heads, and Tang Youde said with a smile: "How could that be? No one is wiser than you, young master. We trust your judgment."

"Look, it's because you believe in my judgment, not the thing itself." Zhao Hao said with a half-smile: "Okay, I admit that this step is a bit big. But historical opportunities are fleeting. If you don't take what God gives you, you will be blamed!"

"I can tell you responsibly that there will never be another opportunity like this to completely take over a maritime empire. At present, the Portuguese are inevitably shrinking and retreating. The ports, fortresses, cities, and shipping routes they have vacated are all of great strategic value, and many eyes are watching them!" He emphasized his tone and said to the senior executives in a deep voice:

"If we don't accept it, it means someone else will take advantage of it. If we want to take it back in the future, we will have to pay ten times the price, and we will also make enemies with the local snakes, which will greatly increase our future maintenance costs. So even if we can't digest it for the time being, we have to occupy it first, hold on to it, and digest it slowly in the future!"

"Understood!" The senior executives responded loudly.

"In fact, we originally wanted to settle accounts with the Spanish. They have come to our door twice. We can't just passively take the beating all the time." Zhao Hao laughed again and said, "It's rude not to reciprocate. We can't be rude to them."

Due to the presence of the two ladies, no one dared to talk nonsense and could only giggle and hold back their laughter.

"Since we have to fight Portugal to their doorstep whether we help them or not, we should of course form an alliance with Portugal. This is the only way to offset the disadvantages of fighting away from home." Zhao Hao's expression gradually became serious, and everyone quickly buried their heads in their notebooks to take notes.

"When we fight in the Iberian Peninsula, which is 50,000 miles away, the most important thing is to ensure that the Asia-Africa route is in our own hands. We must not let anyone cut off our retreat." Zhao Hao continued, "So we originally needed to occupy some key nodes along the way to ensure that the route is unobstructed. This way, we can ensure that supplies can be delivered and the volunteer fleet can retreat."

"The Portuguese have been operating along the coasts of Africa, West Asia, and India for hundreds of years. Their ports are located at the best nodes on this Asia-Europe route. Their fortresses can also provide sufficient protection for our garrison troops, so that we don't need too many people to defend these port fortresses."

"How many troops are needed specifically?" Hua Bozhen asked.

"Just compare it with Portugal's military strength. They have set up more than 30 important port fortresses on this route, and countless colonial outposts, but there are only 12,000 Portuguese soldiers in total." Zhao Hao said lightly:

"It doesn't make sense that the Portuguese can handle this with such a small number of people, but we can't. If we really don't have enough manpower, we can pay for mercenaries. We should also try our best to establish good relations with the local kings and defend the places we have taken over. There is no need to be aggressive. We should be able to do it, right?"