November 1, 1579 AD, October 13, the seventh year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty.

A huge fleet of fifty miles long appeared on the ocean east of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The huge warships flying the cross flag of St. Andrew are symbols of the royal power and sea power of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain. They were so magnificent and stunning when they were anchored in the port.

However, in this endless Pacific Ocean, they are just a group of ants on the green grass, and they look so small.

After nearly three months of wandering on the ocean, these more than 130 huge sailboats of hundreds or thousands of tons are far less glamorous than before departure.

Because the whole journey was sailing in tropical waters, the narrow and closed cabin was as humid as a steamer. The asphalt filled in the decks melted under the scorching sun, and dripped on the sailor's head, body, hammock, and the cabin was filled with an unpleasant smell.

The melting of the filling causes the hull to seep, soaking the wood, food, supplies, garbage... at the bottom of the bilge to smell. The moisture, moldy smell, and the smell produced by hundreds of people squeezed into the small and poorly ventilated cabin for several months. In addition, the ubiquitous rats, lice, fleas, and bed bugs make expensive giant ships the most filthy place on earth.

What harms sailors' health more than dirty environments is their poor diet. Less than half a month after going to sea, their daily recipes turned into rotten and smelly cured meat, bread full of rubberworms and water with green moss.

It is said that 'black-headed maggots taste cool and not as bitter as elephant worms.'

In such a harsh environment, various sea diseases such as fever, dysentery, edema, typhoid fever, rash, plague, oral ulcers, scurvy and other maritime diseases are crazily harming the health of the crew. Almost every day, people die of illness on every ship. Some epidemics broke out on some ships, and almost all were affected, and one death was more than a dozen.

Only noble officers, captains and senior seafarers can have separate rooms without rotting and stinking in the treasury. They also have enough wine and well-preserved cured meat and flour to ensure a healthy diet.

But eating monotonous food every day also makes the nobles feel very painful, and they also hope to get to the dock quickly and enjoy a hearty meal made with fresh ingredients.

Therefore, when the lookout hand on the mainmast of the flagship Saint-Philippe found an island ahead, the sailors and soldiers all rushed to the deck and howled and cheered.

Even the nobles rushed to the stern, celebrating each other's great achievements across the ocean!

"Sir Captain, have we arrived in the Philippines?" The Earl of Provence looked excitedly at Colonel Cafo, the captain of the St. Philippe.

"His Count, we are about to arrive at a series of archipelagos on the ocean, which is 400 rigs away from the Philippines." Captain Kafu traveled between the Philippines and New Spain for many years, so naturally the old horse knew the way.

"Is it the island of thieves claimed by Magellan?" The nobles stretched their necks one by one, showing off their knowledge proudly.

The arrogant look of the nobles is not only true self-esteem, but also related to their wearing "Raf".

This white wavy collar is made of metal wire as a support ring, which is thick and hard. After surrounding it, the neck is like a white cream cake with a plastered cake, and the head cannot move freely. It forces people to stretch their necks, showing a proud, respectful, and arrogant attitude.

It is inconvenient to eat when wearing this thing, but the nobles don’t care, they want this style.

"It's so knowledgeable." The captain nodded and smiled, "In 1565, the great Legaspi occupied the place for His Majesty the King and established a stronghold on the island as a midway stop on the route from Acapulco to the Philippines."

"I have ordered His Excellency Francis, the Governor of the Philippines, to store enough supplies in the stronghold for the fleet to be used for rest and rest." A loud voice sounded at the stairs, and a little old man with his waist straight and his eyes were as sharp as a torch, walked onto the deck of the stern.

"I don't want the Expeditionary Fleet to appear in the Philippines in this bad state."

The Spanish nobles, who were surrounded by Raff, and covered in tight pants, were huddled in their crotch, bowed respectfully to the bald old man with a goatee and dressed in a simple dress.

He was the commander-in-chief of the Invincible Armada, the "father of soldiers" of the Spanish Empire, and the Marquis of Santa Cruz, Alvaro de Bazin.

This most outstanding general in Spain was born in a family of naval officers in Granada. He joined the navy when he was young and became famous in the war with France in 1544. For more than 30 years, he had been on the front line for the Spanish Empire. Because of his outstanding military achievements, he was named Marquis of Santa Cruz in 1569.

In the famous Battle of Lebanto in 1571, the nominal commander of the coalition was Don Juan, the brother of the Spanish king, but Don Juan was only 26 years old at that time, and Bazin was the man who actually commanded a huge fleet to defeat the Ottoman.

Moreover, Bazan loves soldiers like his sons and has a high prestige among soldiers. He is the undisputed first person in the Spanish Navy today.

Philip II took him from the in full swing of the Netherlands to serve as the commander of the Invincible Armada, which shows how much His Majesty the King attaches importance to this expedition.

Bazin remembers that when His Majesty the King called him back to Madrid, he gave him face-to-face advice, he said:

‘This battle to recover the Philippines and conquer the Ming Kingdom is related to the destiny of the Habsburg dynasty. If you win, the Netherlands, France, England... will all surrender to Spain, and I will be the king of the world! If you fail, all countries will be enemies of us, and I will be the enemy of the world!’

At this time, a small boat with the Spanish flag was coming from the island, obviously coming to greet them.

Bazan ordered future people to bring them to him.

Half an hour later, a peninsula man in his forties was taken to the stern of the St. Philippe.

After bowing respectfully, the other party introduced himself that Julio, the governor of the Philippines' Governor's Office, was ordered by the governor to come to Guam for the Invincible Armada.

"Thanks to Governor Francis for his kindness, his father gave birth to a good son." Bazin nodded slightly and said straightforwardly: "I wonder how much food, wood and grease he stored in Guam?"

"This..." Julio's expression darkened and his waist became lower. "Sorry, Lord Marquis, because there had just been a riot against us on the island, all the supplies that the Governor had worked so hard to store were burned!"

"What, burned?!" Bazan almost pulled off the goatee's beard, and the nobles behind him became even more noisy.

These nobles who followed the Invincible Armada to gain experience were of some use when they helped the Marquis curse.

"What the hell is going on?" Bazan raised his hand, and all the nobles shut up obediently.

Julio then covered up what happened not long ago and told the Marquis to know.

But the most important task of the new governor Francis sent to the Philippines by the king is to fight the front station for the Invincible Fleet. It includes expeditions to Borneo and occupying the Brunei Bay, which is also to give the Invincible Fleet an alternative harbor. Otherwise, if something goes wrong with Cebu, the Invincible Fleet that comes from afar will face the dangerous situation of not having a home port.

So after receiving the order from the Marquis of Santa Cruz last year, Francis did not dare to slacken off and began to transport supplies to Guam in batches. However, the distance was too far and the transportation capacity was limited, so it was difficult to transport supplies from Cebu to meet the needs of the huge fleet.

So Francis had the idea of ​​100,000 Chamorro people in Guam. He sent an army company to station on the island, forcing them to build barracks, warehouses, and expand the docks with force. He also purchased various materials such as grain, wood and other materials from the Chamorro people at an extremely low price. If the Chamorro people did not agree, they would rob them.

The Chamorro people made trouble several times, but were suppressed by the powerful army company. This was a routine that the Spanish had tried and tested in the colonies, but they did not expect that they would make trouble in Guam.

One night not long ago, several Chamorros secretly hid in the warehouse after forced labor, sprinkled a large amount of tung oil prepared for the fleet into the warehouse supplies, and then lit a fire to escape...

The warehouse is full of food, wood, gunpowder, and grease... either flammable or explosive. When the raging fire started, it could not be extinguished. The violent explosion killed more than a dozen Spanish people who came to put out the fire...

The rest of the people were completely afraid to get close, and watched the fire burn all the supplies that the Governor had been trying hard to hoard for more than a year.

After listening to Julio's story, the nobles were stunned.

Bazan asked with a sinister face: "Have you caught someone? Could it be that the spy from Ming Dynasty did it?"

"It shouldn't be true. There are no Ming people on Guam." Julio shook his head.

"What remedies do you have?" Bazan spit out the turbid air.

"Yes, we carried out a sweep. But the Chamorros were poor and worried about our revenge. They either hid in the forest or fled to another island." Julio said timidly: "So they only found some supplies..."

"Oh." Bazin sighed depressedly. It seemed that the idea of ​​letting the fleet capture bloodi before arriving in the Philippines must have been ruined.

"But please rest assured that our Governor has made sufficient preparations in Cebu and Brunei. No matter where the fleet chooses to dock there, they will receive sufficient supplies." Julio quickly remedy.

"But the premise is that you have to arrive safely." Bazan snorted coldly and couldn't help but say: "If my children lose their supplies, they still cannot recover during the next voyage. What if they fight the Ming fleet as soon as they arrive in the Philippines?"

"It shouldn't be." Julio hurriedly smiled and said: "The Ming people did not know the arrival of our invincible fleet. The latest news from the Governor said that they had accepted the surrender of Boni and the fleet was preparing to attack Brunei. When we arrived in the Philippines, their fleet was 80% in Brunei Bay."

"Oh?" Bazan said with a look of expression: "Is the information accurate?"
Chapter completed!