I Am Louis XIV

A week before Pentecost, a mixed fleet sailed from Hastings under the cover of night, crossed half of the English Channel (French: La Manche Channel), and lay in ambush on the Isle of Wight, preparing to ambush an army from Gibraltar. The merchant fleet is coming.

Gibraltar belongs to Spain, because the Spanish Minister of the Navy, Patinho, agrees that Charles, the second son of the Sun King Louis XIV, is King Carlos III of Spain, so this place under the control of his confidants cannot be regarded as a battlefield for the time being. Or in the enemy-occupied area, merchants still continue their business in this city that strangles the throat of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

This caravan once belonged to the Great Council of the Netherlands. According to the spies placed among them, this fleet of at least thirty-five Calais ships was loaded with gold, indigo and coffee beans, with a total value of more than ten thousand. Five thousand livres or even more, although one-third of the ships were armed, but although this number of armed merchant ships would make ordinary pirates afraid, it could not make hunters who called themselves troops but were actually thieves give up. This plump prey.

The reason why it is called a mixed fleet is because this fleet is not only clearly divided into three forces in terms of ship type, tonnage and crew, but even their owners are three completely different people-they are Yes, Pirate Gott, Captain Cunningham of the British Navy, Admiral Van Basten of the Dutch government-in-exile.

Although in this fleet, Captain Cunningham, as the British jazz and general, has naturally become the real leader, whether it is Van Basten or Gott, they can only be said to be his deputy, but when they are together Cunningham still couldn't help feeling headache and anxiety when he gathered for a meeting aboard his "King Charles I".

The three sat down at the table, the attendant served whiskey and rum, and turned the switch of the kerosene lamp to make the whole cabin bright as day—Van Basten subconsciously took out his pocket watch and checked, it was a quarter past three in the middle of the night , when it was pitch black outside, their discussion might not last for a long time, after all, they were planning to launch an attack at dawn when the sea was filled with mist, and Captain Cunningham summoned them here Come, probably because they don’t want the same thing to happen again—when they robbed a caravan before, they didn’t know whether it was accidental or intentional. Gott’s artillery hit the ship where Van Basten was on. mast.

They almost fought straight away, and almost let the merchant ship go. If Cunningham hadn't commanded the ship to pursue him to the end... The punishment for Cunningham—mainly in terms of spoils, the two of them would have nothing to do with it. Complaining, but one look at Cunningham and you know there's no end to it.

It is also speechless to say that during the time of Charles I, Dutch merchant ships were still British pirates, or they could be said to be the prey of officially licensed privateers. Their enmity has been intertwined for hundreds of years. Although they have a common enemy now, But it's impossible to expect them to fall in love immediately. "But think about it, two," said Cunningham. "It's gold and spice and indigo!" Five thousand livres, at least today, you should be a pair of good partners who can fight side by side without distractions... Think about it, think about it, this is a lot of money! It is enough for you to buy a big three-masted ship or Three sloops! Or ten little cannons, or whatever you want . . . as long as it's all right, gentlemen, as long as it's all right . . . "

He looked at the two of them as if waiting for their ecstatic response.

But the pirate Gott took a look at Cunningham when he heard this. Although his skin was dark, Cunningham knew that he was different from them at a glance—he was a naval officer and a lord, and there was always that in his manner. It's an indescribable pretentiousness, but if you listen carefully, you can hear a somewhat familiar feeling.

The pirates grinned, even though the British navy never let the docks and harbors hang empty, but who doesn't know, the British navy, since Henry VII was founded in 1500, was first recruited from pirates and sailors—even if With the abundant coal resources in China and the black iron from India, they now look like giants, but the nutrients absorbed by this forest tree are not clean, even the branches it protrudes are black. dripping blood.

You don't even need to go back too far. Francis Derek was a famous pirate during the time of Elizabeth I. At that time, in order to compete with Spain for the position of sea supremacy, Her Majesty the Queen not only did not punish such a criminal, but also awarded him a title and gave him the same Some colleagues issued so-called "permits", which are commonly known as privateer licenses. With this certificate, British pirates could plunder the ships of British enemies as much as they wanted under the protection and even calmness of the British navy. Feed the last of the Tudor kings and the Stuart kings with their flesh and blood.

This kind of buying and selling has continued to this day. According to the earliest contract, all pirates who have obtained a privateering license must not only hand over the spoils to the British government for disposal, but also serve in the British navy when Britain goes to war.

There are some wise men like Drake who can see the opportunity to climb up, and their descendants will change from pirates who should be hanged ten thousand times to honorable lords, this Mr. Cunningham I'm afraid it's also a family background. When he thinks of this, Gott can't help laughing, but unlike other pirates, he doesn't have any envy in his heart. Some people are willing to be a barking hound, and of course some are willing to be A beast running through the wind and rain.

Gott's smile made that Mr. Van Basten raise his head. His expression was as indifferent as ever. Speaking of his background, his identity may be more valuable than Cunningham, but he never mentioned it. Captain Cunningham When he mentioned it occasionally, he admitted frankly that when his homeland fell into the hands of the enemy, a prominent surname brought shame instead of glory, so he has abandoned his original surname and only let people call him name.

According to age, Van Basten is the oldest of the three, but both Cunningham and Gott look much older than him. Gott has been thinking in his heart, maybe this Van Basten Mr. Sten has not experienced much trouble at sea, but van Basten quickly proved to him that sometimes talent trumps experience. The problem is, in addition to his unhappiness in tactics and prejudices, Gort’s atrocities against the crew and the captives are also strongly opposed by Van Basten. Compared with Cunningham’s indifference, Gort’s frequent use of "" Nine-tailed cat" (whipping with a cowhide whip whose end spreads out into nine strands) or "hanging keel" (hanging the victim under the keel, allowing parasitic shells such as oysters attached to the keel to cut him) dripping with blood), and let the captives "walk the gangplank" and "duel" on the mast and other unreasonable brutal behaviors, which made Van Basten intolerable-he could accept killing the enemy during the battle, or It is to let the captives or the drowning people to fend for themselves, but he feels that this kind of gratuitous abuse will only make people look down on them.

Of course Gort couldn't see a hypocrite like Van Basten, let alone when they acted together, Van Basten also put his thoughts and words into action. The incident on the ship made the pirate captain furious, because this behavior undoubtedly shook his authority on the ship.

Anyone who has read novels and movies related to pirates should know what kind of fate a pirate captain will face if he loses the awe of the crew.

So, in a subsequent operation, Gott personally interrupted the mast of Van Baster's ship.

When he found that Van Basten was looking at him, Gott's smile deepened, with a slightly provocative taste, and Van Basten turned his head, "Is there any update?"

Cunningham frowned, and then sighed, "Pour wine for the two gentlemen!" he shouted, and waited until Gott's rum and Van Basten's wine were in place before he nodded: " Yes, gentlemen, they are rounding Cape Finisterre and coming to us."

"Where's the navy at Dunkirk?"

"They're still facing off with the navy at Dover."

"There are still two fleets stranded in Sicily and Barcelona." Cunningham said, "We don't need to worry about the French navy for the time being."

"And we also have ironclad ships." Gott cast a wink at Cunningham: "To our captain!"

"To all of you, fifteen thousand livres!" said Cunningham, raising his glass, touching them both, and downing it. They spread a thin sheepskin chart on the table, and then used magnet boats to roughly distinguish their respective responsibilities. As I said before, not only does this fleet have three heads, but their bodies are also very different.

The British naval fleet has always used firepower as the criterion. This kind of thinking cannot be said to be wrong, because it has been carried on for hundreds of years, causing Charles I to lose his crown and head. The "Sea King" has 102 cannons , was the highest in the world at that time. Later, when Charles II saw the ironclad fleet built by Louis XIV, he did not hesitate to follow the example of his father, almost militaristically wanting to build such a fleet that seemed to be covered in armor. .

Fortunately, Charles II has made many dangerous changes in order to eliminate the power of the former Lord Protector Cromwell and weaken the parliament's constraints on the king. This change has certainly made him an undoubted The tyrant also allowed him to reform the navy and ships without too much hindrance—especially in the naval battle at Dunkirk, the British navy was obviously lagging behind on the ships, and he also gained a lot of attention. less supporters.

Opponents of change may also be worried that the power of Charles II will be further increased, to the point that it is like King Louis XIV of France-now France is a country of one person, and the parliament is equivalent to the high court. False, but when the British "private ship" fleet continued to bring back rich spoils, they also had to keep silent amidst the cheers of the civilians.

Anyway, this era is like this, no matter how cruel and harsh a king is, as long as he can bring victory, he is a good king.

The iron-clad ships that Gott mentioned are the four iron-clad ships brought by Cunningham. Although they cannot be compared with the "King of the Seas" or the spectacle ships such as the French "King Power", they are all called It can be called a giant, that is to say, a first-class battleship with a length of more than 60 meters, loaded with more artillery than the original "Sea King".

These ironclad ships are undoubtedly the capital ships of this mixed fleet. In comparison, the pirate Gort's fleet will pale in comparison. Although Gort's flagship "Lucky" is already a beautiful big three-masted ship, it It was still a wooden galley instead of an ironclad ship, and it carried only forty cannons. However, Gott and his crew also had four armed two-masted clippers, three schooners and three galleys each, and seven or eight A light sloop and flute boat—these ships are usually used to carry the spoils of raids.

And all the ships of the Dutchman Van Basten are located between the two. Although they failed to build an ironclad ship, they were once known as the sea coachmen, took away the crown of Spain's maritime supremacy, and overwhelmed the British Navy. Even though the Dutch fleet was almost completely lost in the final battle, they still managed to rebuild a fleet. Almost all of this fleet was based on the "Seven Provinces", with a length of 40 meters to 50 meters. They are all sail warships, but they are lighter and more flexible than the British ironclad ships, and each ship has about 70 to 80 artillery pieces.

There are seven such ships in total.

The total number of ships in this mixed fleet has exceeded 30. This number, even an ordinary sailing warship, is enough to destroy a merchant fleet that is only escorted by armed merchant ships. Te has seen how invincible it is and how difficult it is to fight against-sometimes it just appears on the sea level, and the lookouts of the caravan will show despair-because the artillery of this armed merchant ship It cannot penetrate iron armor.

After they roughly determined the formation, attack order, and agreed signals, Cunningham toasted again, and sincerely asked the two companions to temporarily put aside their grudges and fight their enemies together, or hunt their targets. He even He made a private promise to Gott and Van Basten that if the operation went well, he might be able to appeal to the Secretary of the Navy and allow them to order an ironclad ship as well.

Because ironclad ships need a lot of black iron, without the power of the whole country, it is completely impossible for ordinary people to build such a ship. Van Basten calculated that even if the Netherlands still exists, it is necessary to persuade the supporters of the Ministry of the Navy to build such a ship. A fleet will be very difficult...it is too expensive, and I don't know how Louis XIV was able to make this determination.