On the dark blue sea, the British fleet is advancing rapidly.

This is a huge fleet composed of 60 standard galenic ships and 30 large troop carriers, with a total of 1,200 artillery pieces, 25,000 crew members, and an army of 20,000 people.

After receiving repeated emergency letters from Henry IV, the British were really anxious this time, and immediately confiscated all their belongings.

"Your Excellency, our fleet has arrived at 43°12' north latitude and 3°04' west longitude. It is less than ten nautical miles away from Bilbao, the Spanish iron smelting center."

"Hmm~~" The commander of this army, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, now changed from the dress of a ladies' man in the palace in the past. He was neatly dressed and looked very serious: "Does our reconnaissance ship have any

Found anything unusual?"

"Not yet. According to French intelligence, the Spanish Atlantic Fleet is still guarding the English Channel in the Netherlands at this time."

"Giggle..." Clapping his hands happily, Duke George couldn't help but kiss the expensive velvet collar around his neck: "It seems that the sons of God are not omnipotent. They thought that our navy was gathered in Portsmouth.

Si, once we set out, we will definitely be discovered? Giggly, this time we set out from Port Elport. Those in Portsmouth are just decorated merchant ships... Hahaha, the Son of God was also deceived by us.

Already."

"Your Excellency, please issue an order. The land of Bilbao will appear in front of us soon."

"Oh, okay, Commander Johnson, I order the entire army to adjust their speed. The troop carriers are in front, and the warships are behind. Later, the warships will launch suppressive fire on the coast of Bilbao, and all our troop carriers will rush to the beach with all their strength.

Log in!"

"Uh... Sir, don't we conduct close inspection in advance?"

"My commander, what do you know?! The Spanish fleet is far away in the Netherlands and the army is stuck in France. There is not much strength in the country. We must seize the time and attack quickly without giving the other side any time to react.

.In this way, we can grab various craftsmen, factory equipment and various inventories in the city of Bilbao. England does not want to fight Spain for a long time in this war, it just wants to grab what we need."

"Well, as you wish, Your Excellency."

The time at this time is January 2, 1614.

In the French-Netherlands battlefield, the Spanish had dug trenches close to the foundation of the Sedan Fortress, and it was only a matter of time before the fortress fell.

The Dutch and Danes suffered heavy losses. After gritting their teeth and paying a huge ransom, they are trying hard to lick their wounds. They are temporarily unable to launch an offensive against the Spanish army in the Netherlands.

In France, as Rudolf gradually moved the troops in the Sedan Fortress to the southern Netherlands, Henry IV's guerrilla war fell into trouble. Without the pressure of the king, the devout Catholics in France would

His son was also ready to take action. Henry IV had already begun to shrink and concentrate his forces, preparing to return to Paris to put out the domestic situation.

Of course, after more than a month of guerrilla warfare, there are still results: at least the supply of ammunition and medicine to the Western Army in the Netherlands has been interrupted. The continuous bombardment of the Sedan Fortress has also been forced to stop. Otherwise, Sedan may have been

Fell.

After Spain's Son of God came to power, his performance was so strong, which greatly shocked many princes in Europe: On the one hand, they were amazed at Spain's great national power, which could actually support such an elite army of 100,000 for long-term expeditions abroad. On the other hand, it was

Fearing the strength of the opponent's firearms, even the famous Morris was defeated...

No one is stupid. Everyone knows that if France and Spain had not caused trouble in recent years, the strength of the Habsburg family would not be what it is today. Once France fell...

As a result, the German Protestant princes have already begun to join forces. Not only them, but also Sweden in Northern Europe are quietly mobilizing now.

As for the Catholic princes in southern Germany and even the Austrian Habsburg family, their moods are actually very complicated at the moment - once Spain wins a complete victory in the war with France, what will they do to Spain?

?

Therefore, despite Spain's extremely strong performance on the battlefield right now, the international situation is really not good.

It was under such a general trend that the British entered the game, and they were almost a stud once they entered the game, investing more than 90% of the domestic navy and more than 50% of the army.

"Ding dong~~Ding dong~~Ding dong~~"

Not long after the British fleet appeared on the sea level, the clock towers throughout Bilbao quickly began to warn: This was one of the core cities in the fiefdom of the current Spanish King Philip when he was the prince. Thanks to Philip's vigorous efforts

The development of the metallurgical industry has made the residents here extremely wealthy in recent years, so the residents in the city have long been die-hard loyalists to His Majesty the King. They know very well what the appearance of British warships here means.

"Damn it! How come these Basque bastards react so quickly? Your Excellency, Commander, please quickly form your formation and bombard those bastards!"

"As you command, Your Excellency."

After a slight nod in greeting, Fleet Commander Johnson turned around and asked: "How long will it take for our battleships to be fully deployed?"

"It will take about half an hour, Your Excellency."

"Can't wait any longer, order, take the lead with the flagship, turn the hull and fire as soon as one ship is completed!"

"aa,sr."

"getread~~,fre~!"

Following the order of the British commander, the turn was partially completed, and the British ships facing the city began to fire one after another. At this time, the thirty large troop carriers stretched out from the gaps in the cabins below the deck.

Using countless oars and sails, they rushed towards the coastal beaches of Bilbao.

At this time, on the tallest church tower in Bilbao.

"Your Majesty, the British are coming."

"Well~~My Prime Minister, I have seen it all."

"Your Majesty, I still stick to my original idea. I can take charge of the defense of this place. It is really too dangerous for you to be here."

"Hahaha, my Lord Prime Minister, I have been listening to the British naval guns for a while. The largest one is the twenty-four-pounder, right? Such artillery has a range of 2,000 meters into the sky. The place where we stand is also very far away from the coastline.

Is it 2,000 meters away? Does the British navy still dare to drive a warship to the shore to shoot?"

"Your Majesty, I am not worried about the British naval guns. What I am worried about is that after their army lands, what if..."

"Hahaha~~ My Prime Minister, the British, that is, the navy, are quite promising. Army? One division of my new army can defeat them all!"

Philip who said this was actually full of helplessness: There are too many countries in Europe, and the ethnic composition is too complicated. The Spanish-French War has only been started for more than four months, and the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have already participated in the war, and there are more countries.

Prepare to join the war... Although there are still five divisions of new troops in Spain, even if it is discovered that the British have poured out all their money, he can only lead one division of the new troops to sit here - the other four divisions still need to

Deal with enemies from other directions.

While the two were talking, the fortress guns in the city of Bilbao also began to shell the British on the sea.

The size of the fortress guns does not take too many factors into consideration like the naval guns, so the fortress guns that Philip gave here are all equipped with 32-pound, 25-fold caliber giant cannons.
Chapter completed!