Chapter 1537?(*?)? Target: Sofala!

The Madeira Islands (32N, 16W), located outside the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, have the reputation of "Pearl of the Atlantic". It is now part of Portugal and located on the west side of the west coast of Africa. The land area of ​​the archipelago is about 800 square kilometers. It has a subtropical marine climate and is an archipelago in the central and eastern North Atlantic Ocean, mainly composed of volcanic islands.

It has beautiful scenery, mild climate, and is rich in grapes and wine. It is currently an important trade and commodity export port in Europe.

For those ships who need to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to the New World, or go south to Africa, India or the far east, the Port of Madeira is a very important stop.

At the same time, the Port of Madeira is also one of the important transshipment points for the trade of slaves, gold, gemstones and Javanese spices from Africa to the Americas.

And the reason why it is only one of them is that Las Palmas, another archipelago port just south of it (28 north latitude, 16 west longitude), is also serving almost the same function as it and is still competing Relationship.

It's just that the Port of Madeira belongs to the Portuguese, while Las Palmas belongs to the Spaniards, and the relationship between the two has always been delicate.

Of course, the rights and wrongs between the Portuguese and the Kingdom of Spain cannot be clarified in a few words. That is not the point. The point now is: the Li Family Fleet and Li Huamei, the admiral of the Li Family Fleet, are currently supplying and operating in the port of Madeira. They have been waiting here for a week and are making final preparations for their trip to the New World when the tide is low today.

After all, to go to the New World has to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean. Starting from the Port of Madeira or Las Palmas on the west coast of Africa, follow the ocean current to the west. At a faster speed, it will take at least five weeks, that is, a little over a month, to reach the New World.

And if there is something wrong in the middle of the way or the weather suddenly becomes bad and the wind direction is not good, even with the great advantage of smooth ocean currents, it may take a long time of two to three months, and there may even be a There were other more terrifying situations, so Li Huamei and the others couldn't help but be cautious.

Sailing is not a game. Most of the ships and captains who do not fear the sea have been buried at the bottom of the sea or completely disappeared, and they don’t know which corner of the world they have gone to.

Therefore, for the Li Family Fleet, which has its own firm purpose and wants to continue to travel around the world, and is also preparing to return to Daming with a large fleet in order to expel or even destroy the Japanese pirates, no matter how careful, no matter how cautious Cannot be overstated.

At this time, the Li family's fleet moored in the berth of Madeira port has changed from the few ships that came out of Daming to a total of sixteen ships!

Especially when the Li family's fleet sold the silk, tea, ceramics and other exquisite embroidered cloths they brought from Daming in Europe,

Admiral Li Huamei, who made a small fortune, waved his hand and bought several seagoing ships in a row in the Mediterranean and North Sea areas where maritime trade and shipbuilding are extremely developed. The sailboat and an almost new military escort ship gave Li Huamei a lot of confidence to travel across the world.

Of course, like the frigate, the newly purchased ships are not new, because Li Huamei and her Li family fleet don't have much time to wait or order new ships from the shipyard.

"Admiral..."

"Are we really leaving Europe today?"

At this time, Li Huamei's die-hard follower, James Ludwig, who met Li Huamei after being exiled and was taken in, and who has been helping the Li family's fleet since then, walked to the bow of the ship and faced the people who were silently looking at the docks. Admiral Li Huamei, who was carrying buckets with coolies and sailors, asked.

He left a little bit unwillingly, just like when he was unwilling to be exiled and had to leave here.

"Yes."

"There is no place for an oriental like me here. Now we can carry out supplies and buy goods for the New World normally here, so we don't have to make an empty trip. It's pretty good."

"James..."

"You have to know that this is the backyard of your Europeans. Our Ming's influence here is almost zero, and we have no advantage. It's better not to do things that are too easy to cause disputes. .”

Li Huamei couldn't help sighing when she thought about the developed shipping, commerce, and intricate forces in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea, as well as the fleets and privateer fleets of various countries.

At the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar, it is mainly controlled by the Portuguese regular navy admiral Abercrouk and the Spanish Armada's Barudis. The dozen or so ships of the Li family fleet that came from afar are simply not enough !

As for the Mediterranean Sea, let alone, that sea area has long been monopolized by the Italian businessman Chen Trio, the pirate king Hayreddin who dominated North Africa, the commander-in-chief of the Ottoman Empire Bashar, and others. None of the shipowners has an intricate relationship with the above-mentioned forces. Even the small local Chamber of Commerce in Portugal, the Castro Chamber of Commerce, only has a small share. She, Li Huamei, came from afar. How dare the merchants of the Eastern Great Ming Empire act rashly here?

Not to mention the North Sea, which is the site of the British and the Hanseatic League Shupeia Chamber of Commerce in Northern Europe. If their Li Family Fleet dares to intervene there, the British Navy Admiral Clifford can transform at any time Pirates and attack their Li family fleet!

So, after their Li family fleet sold out their goods and supplies, what else could they do besides setting off quickly and preparing to head to the New World?

"But……"

"Admiral, didn't you say that no matter what, you want to get a battleship like the one in the North Sea for research?"

"If you give me some time, although the military ones may not be available, commercial ones will definitely be fine!"

"And let me tell you, the commercial and military hull structures are the same, at most it's just a small difference in the cannon and armor."

"How about it, Admiral, why don't we wait a little longer?"

James Ludwig continued to persuade Li Huamei eagerly, he had finally returned to Europe, and he had to leave in despair before he could stay for long, so he must be a little bit unwilling.

"..."

"James, with a fleet of our size, it's impossible to stay here for a year or half a year. Moreover, we can't do business here in the Mediterranean or in the North Sea."

"Could it be that we don't do anything, just find a port and wait?"

Shaking her head, Li Huamei looked at James with a half-smile. She vaguely knew that he wanted to stay longer in his hometown, but no, they were going to leave, and it was today, when the tide was low, and that would be a few days It is impossible to change things that have been discussed before.

"That……"

"How did you arrange the ship?"

James Ludway began to make the last resistance, and seemed to think that if Li Huamei, the admiral, was willing to keep him here?

"Do not worry!"

"Let's go to the New World first. When we come back, I think that the Lilu I entrusted, that is, the Agot Chamber of Commerce, has already obtained it for us."

In fact, this time, the goods that Li Huamei and her fleet brought from Daming and the goods to be taken to the New World were all helped by Lilu from Beihai.

Although, the other party also made a huge profit because of this, but Li Huamei didn't mind.

Because, only with a win-win situation can the friendly relationship between the two sides be long-lasting and sustainable, otherwise, the two of them might have to fight like they did in Nanyang!

That cunning Kuhn, Li Huamei felt, when she went back, her Li Family Fleet would definitely go to Jakarta again and give the opponent a blow.

"alright."

"James, don't bother the admiral, it's useless."

"In the current situation, we can only do this. Let's go to the New World to see if there is a chance."

"If it really doesn't work, we should return to Daming."

"After all, Dongfang and Nanyang are the focus of our business. It is still too far away from our base camp. We don't need to waste time here."

At this time, the Englishman Charlie De Huisen came over and patted James on the shoulder, signaling him not to mess around.

"All right……"

"Then go to the New World!"

Thinking about it carefully, I felt that here in the Mediterranean Sea, the Li Family Chamber of Commerce could not compete with those navies and private ship owners of various countries, as well as those big businessmen with national power backgrounds. James struggled for a while, and finally had no choice but to retreat. Not going to interfere with Li Huamei's admiral's decision.

"Get everyone ready!"

"The tide will be low soon, we have to set off on time, cheer up!"

"!!"

"yes!"

"Admiral!"

"Obey!"

"Patriarch, don't worry!"

"quick!"

"Be quick with your hands and feet, and put those water away!"

Under Li Huamei's order, Charlie, James, and the sailors and followers who were waiting or busy at the bow all rushed to get busy.

A few hours after the Li family fleet set off...

Here at the Port of Madeira, for some reason, a group of hundreds of Portuguese soldiers lined up neatly and carried muskets, rushed to the pier aggressively and surrounded the trestles and berths.

"explain!"

"Where are those Daming people from the east and their fleet?"

"That woman, Li Huamei!"

"Where is she and her fleet?"

After controlling the entire port, an officer questioned an officer in charge of tax collection and registration at the wharf angrily.

"Oriental?"

"ah!"

"She and her fleet set off when the tide was low, and it's been several hours."

"!!"

"Where did they go?"

"No, I don't know..."

"It may be going south to Africa, or it may be going north. Of course, depending on their supply, it is more likely to go to the New World, but who knows exactly where?"

"Damn it!"

"It's still slow, if only the messenger could come a little faster..."

Hearing what the officer said, and seeing that there were indeed no ships they were looking for in the berths at the pier, the officer sighed and looked towards the sea outside the pier.

A few hours have passed, and the sea is vast now, where should he go to arrest people?

Besides, the tide has started to rise, and it is not easy to leave the port. In addition, the Li family fleet has more than a dozen armed merchant ships. Even if they know the exact purpose and route of the other party, what is the use?

You must know that the warships here in Madeira are not battleships. They are not sure to take them and take down those said to be very powerful Ming people and the fleet of the Ming people. Time is their best chance to make a move.

But unfortunately, by the time the governor of Madeira received the letter and hurriedly sent them out to arrest people, those Easterners didn't know if they had received the news in advance and ran away early?

"Close the team!"

"Let's go back and report to the governor!"

Since those Daming people from the east had already gone out to sea and they definitely couldn’t catch up, they didn’t dare to chase them lightly. There was no other way. Then they went back to the city.

...

While Li Huamei was leading the fleet to the New World, a certain wicked little girl, the Admiral, was heading towards Sofala along the east coast of Africa.

As for the port in Mozambique, it had already surrendered after being bombarded by the Li family's fleet.

However, under Anna's instruction, the Li family's fleet temporarily had no time to send people to garrison, but went directly south to continue chasing the ship of the Espinosa Chamber of Commerce.

At this moment, on the deck of the flagship "Xiangfeihu", the one-eyed pirate Azhisha, whose butt injury has just recovered a little, is being punished to clean the deck.

"..."

Azhisha didn't resist, and worked without saying a word, because she knew she couldn't resist.

So, it took about an hour before she finally cleaned up the deck.

However, when she was about to change into the mop, she turned around and saw a certain nasty little girl, the admiral, sitting on the railing of the podium, eating sunflower seeds, and even vomited the shells of the sunflower seeds to the deck below. Everywhere?

"..."

Seeing this, Azhisha couldn't help but glared at the admiral, the little girl who could vomit into the sea but insisted on vomiting on the deck.

"what?"

く(＾_)ゝ

"What are you looking at!"

("ヘ)"

"He's the great admiral, his job is to eat, drink and have fun, but your current status is a coolie, your job is to clean the deck, so what if he spits out some melon seeds?"

(.)

"And it's for your own good. If the first officer thinks that you are no longer needed to clean the deck, he will secretly stuff you into a wooden barrel and throw you into the sea to feed the crabs!"

(^▽^)

Yes, although Anne doesn't think the other party is a threat, but the first mate and others don't think so, but if Anne doesn't think female pirates are fun, and fighting wits with each other can kill the boring sea voyage time, the other party It was thrown into the sea long ago.

"Come here and scan!"

(ψ`▽′)o

"That's it, when people are eating, you can clean it up at the same time!"

(-)

After saying that, Annie continued to sit on the railing and started nibbling, happily dangling her little feet, and at the same time vomited all over the deck below the podium.

"..."

Azhisha didn't move or speak, she just stood there with a broom and stared fiercely at Annie.

"..."

"..."

At this time, none of the sailors around felt sorry for Azhisha. On the contrary, there were four fully armed sailors staring at her from different directions with vigilant and hostile eyes to prevent her from violently resisting at any time. Or run away.

In the eyes of the sailors, compared to hanging on the mast to expose to the sun or throwing it into the sea to feed fish, the current treatment of the female pirate Azhisha is already very good, and there is nothing to be pitiful about.

"Swipe!"

()

"You keep an eye on her. If you still see melon seed shells after sweeping later, if you find one, hit her ten times with the board!!"

o(^｀)o

After teasing the other party for a while, Annie suddenly felt a little bored. After threatening and explaining, she turned around and jumped off the guardrail.

The female pirate is tired of playing, so now she plans to go back to the captain's room to play with Song Yifeng who must be naked again to escape the heat, for example: while the other party is sleeping, draw turtles on the other party's back and buttocks or something?

(…)

(Tibbers said that drawing a turtle is no fun, it would be more interesting to let it eat that stupid female human Song Yifeng, and then eat that female pirate Azhisha in one bite! Of course, there is also that Li Huamei , Uncle Xiong has been thinking about her body for a long time, and I don't know if the other party has grown fatter and tastes better after so long.

After all, the other party is not too young. If you don’t eat it quickly before giving birth, the meat will not be juicy and tender when you get old. It will not only make you panic, but also easy to clog your teeth! )

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