My British Empire

  Chapter 576 The Wind Rises (Part 1)

  On this day, a southwesterly wind blew up on the sea, and the Spanish navy, whose morale was on the verge of collapse, could only pray with the help of a priest and huddled in the port of Calais.

  Although only a dozen Spanish ships were sunk, the morale of the Anglo-Portuguese coalition forces was high and positive.

  They were not afraid of the huge Spanish warships, swaggering past the port of Calais, and beating drums provocatively.

  The Spanish navy, whose morale had dropped to freezing point, looked at the English navy in shame, and shouted angrily, but did not have the courage to go out to fight.

   On land, although Spain occupies the Port of Calais, Calais is England's only stronghold in mainland France. It has been operating for hundreds of years, and it can be said to be solid.

   It was accidentally occupied for a while, but the resistance in the city intensified. The powerful Spanish army did not dare to carry out brutal suppression easily, and could barely control the situation.

After the governor of Alexander learned that Calais was occupied, he immediately abandoned the trembling Spanish servants in the southern Netherlands, as well as the cautious and cautious Hungarian cavalry, withdrew all the troops from the southern Netherlands, and went all out to the port of Calais. .

  The governor understands that this huge Spanish fleet is the only force that can cause harm to the mainland, and they cannot be allowed to succeed.

   Therefore, abandoning the Netherlands and destroying the Armada became the main aspects.

  At this time, Commander Sidoni was no longer the confident Spanish naval commander before. Although there were no complaints or troubles written on his face, the overall face was stern, like a piece of iron.

   "Everyone, everyone is seeing the current situation. This battle is not because the British army is too strong, nor is it that we are too weak, but because of the **** weather and the harsh environment!"

  Sitting on the main seat in the bright and beautiful conference room, Sidoni showed a confident expression on his face, and resolutely and decisively blamed the weather.

   "So, this time, let's continue to discuss the battle plan!" At the end, his voice dragged a long tail, and there was a slight tremor.

   Sitting on the chair, Sidoni felt that he had no desire to speak anymore. What he said was so clear that he wanted to hand over the choice to his subordinates.

   None of the subordinates are fools. At this moment when the hearts of the people are distracted, retreat has become the only choice, and they absolutely do not want to be loyal to the country and His Majesty the King.

   "Commander, although the strength of our army has not been damaged, the morale of tens of thousands of sailors has plummeted. If it continues, the consequences will be unpredictable. It is really not suitable for combat!"

  Hugo, the commander of the medium-sized sailing team, stood up, persuaded softly, and then faced many commanders.

   "For the current plan, retreat has become the only option, everyone carefully consider it!"

   "Most of the soldiers have no desire to fight, because we have been struggling for three months since we left our hometown—"

  Three months of sea voyage, sister E's weather, long-term hard work and fighting, leaving home to fight in different places, this made the Spanish soldiers no longer have a battle plan!

   After Hugo's voice fell, other commanders also spoke one after another. There was no choice but to retreat or fight.

  The people sitting here are all nobles, and there are necessary etiquettes, and everyone is unwilling to turn their faces, so this discussion is not intense.

   Half an hour later, all the people reached a consensus—retreat.

   Commander Sidoni, who was watching coldly, naturally knew clearly that everyone in front of him wanted to retreat from the beginning, and the so-called argument was nothing more than acting.

   "I heard that dramas in England are very popular. These people should really become actors!"

   Contemptuously in his heart, Sidoni put on a helpless expression on his face and sighed:

   "In this case, retreat!"

  Subsequently, the ships in the entire port began to prepare for the evacuation.

  Of course, Sidoni finally announced to all sailors that if the wind direction changes, they will continue to fight the British army; if it does not change, they can only evacuate.

  Why do you say that? Because most of the Armada are wooden paddle boats, thousands of slaves are driving them, and there are very few sailboats.

  The change of the wind direction is beneficial to combat, and it is even more beneficial to retreat.

   If you return along the original road, drive against the wind and wait to die!

  The evacuation route was due to the wind direction. The fleet could only go deep into the North Sea, detour the northern tip of the British Isle, pass through the Shetland Islands into the Atlantic Ocean, and then return to La Coruna, Spain along the coast of Ireland.

   Throughout the day, the convoy was preparing to evacuate for the long return journey, and the ships' bread, fresh water and other supplies were redistributed.

  Everyone has this idea in their hearts: there is a mare, so why not have a foal?

  The commanders of the nine major fleets are optimistic that they will reach Spain smoothly after circumnavigating the British Isles, preserving their complete strength.

   James, who learned of this, was mixed for a while.

  Spain's retreat instantly loosened England, which was in danger of destroying the country, and the next time I'm afraid it will be a few years later.

  But there are still thousands of soldiers on the Spanish ships. If they land, they will do serious damage to the stable environment of the United Kingdom.

  As for Spain, which took the opportunity to wipe out the Spaniards in one fell swoop and returned home with high morale, the Anglo-Portuguese coalition forces could not afford to provoke them.

  Go home, this word, gave the Spanish Navy infinite combat power.

  So, James took the fleet, replenished water and food, and began to follow the Armada silently, guarding against the Spanish landing in Scotland.

  Sidoni looked at the big tail silently following behind, dismissive.

  If it weren't for the eagerness to go home, these Englishmen would have been fed to the fish long ago.

   In this way, maintaining a tight formation, moving forward at a uniform speed with the wind, accompanied by the English fleet, the Spaniards have been walking through the Fosgo Bay in Scotland, and the huge English fleet chose to evacuate.

   "Your Excellency, why did the English just chase here?"

  Seeing the long tail stagnating behind, the first mate, who had never traveled this route, felt panicked. He asked the commander, His Excellency Hugo, uneasily.

   "Hmph—" Hugo glanced at the English fleet behind which the shadow of the ship was gradually thinning, and said angrily and helplessly:

   "This Bend of the Forth River is the densely populated place in the north of the Scots. Beyond that, there are some desolate highlands and unworthy desert islands."

  "If we land there, it will be no less than death. The desolate plateau will be swallowed up with us. In this way, it is better to fight against England!"

   "So, the English are relieved to let us move on—"

  The mighty Spanish Navy, because of the temptation to go home, rides the wind and waves, and advances at an accelerated speed. It doesn't care about the life and death of the oar slaves.

  (end of this chapter)