Chapter 571 Navy
The victory of the English Army seemed to be a big slap in the face, slapped on Philip II. The physical pain was still secondary, but the inner humiliation was painful.
"Lei Kuisheng, I want to kill you!" Philip II was extremely annoyed, he lost his former aristocratic demeanor, and vomited obscenities in front of many of his ministers.
His eyes were wide open, as if his eye sockets were about to be cracked, and the ministers below became worried.
The Netherlands is the most important property left to him by his father, second only to the crown of the Kingdom of Spain.
The population of Spain contributed a huge army to him, and the Netherlands contributed the main financial resources to him.
In this way, he can unscrupulously fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Sea, and at the same time, support tens of thousands of troops, thus controlling the status of European hegemony.
Although he has always been annoyed by the Netherlanders' rejection of Catholicism and their promotion of Protestantism, it is difficult to fool its importance.
Once lost, it caused a great blow to his hegemony.
"Where's the navy? What are you still preparing for? Hurry up to the Netherlands and drive the English away!"
After Philip II finished venting, he said in a deep voice, the eagerness on his face and heart was obvious.
Although it sounds weird, the ministers can still understand it.
The original combat goal was to transport the army to the Netherlands. At the same time that the army eliminated the Netherlands uprising, the navy defeated the English navy at the same time, thus winning on both sides.
After that, the army will be transported to Scotland to land, thus liberating the Kingdom of Scotland, and then you can choose to attack London or capture Ireland, which depends entirely on Philip II's intention.
And all this was destroyed in the Netherlands.
The Spanish army, which has been invincible and has won many battles, was defeated by England, which has always been crowned as a barbaric country, and it was still in the situation of equal forces and a phalanx battle, which greatly damaged Spain's face.
Philip II thought it was a joke when he heard the news, but when he finally confirmed it was true, he was stunned. There were buzzing tinnitus in his ears, and he couldn't hear a word from the minister.
There is only one voice in his heart: his hegemony is over.
No, absolutely impossible, I still have a navy, and the Spanish navy is still the number one in the world, and it will never fail.
"Yes, Your Majesty, the Royal Navy is ready and ready to go!"
The aged palace minister took a light step forward, then touched the arm of the Secretary of the Navy as if inadvertently, and said loudly.
The Minister of the Navy put away his unprepared words at that moment. He understood that if he told the truth at this time, he would not only offend the king, but even the prime minister would hold resentment against him.
So, he could only take a step forward and said loudly:
"My lord is right, Your Majesty!"
"The lost ships are just the fur of a huge navy. They have already been prepared in less than a month. The only thing that is lacking now is money!"
Speaking of this, the Secretary of the Navy stammered a little, and his voice also lowered.
"The salary of the navy has been delayed for half a month!"
"The navy has 150 warships and 13,000 sailors. The preparations are complete. The only thing missing is gold coins!"
As soon as the money was mentioned, Philip II felt a headache. The anger just now disappeared in an instant. He stroked his forehead and asked helplessly, "My lord minister, how long will it take for the navy's military expenses to arrive!"
The salaries of those naval gentlemen are paid weekly. Without money, their emotions are extremely unstable. God knows if they will surrender to the English just for their salary.
After all, sailors only care about money.
The Minister of Finance had no choice but to stand out, and said helplessly, "After half a month at the earliest, the kingdom's finances are really tight! If nothing unexpected, the treasure ship from America will arrive in half a month!"
"Okay, half a month is half a month!" Philip II said loudly, staring at the Secretary of the Navy. His eyes were piercing, as if he was about to eat people, which made the old man in the officialdom bow his head in fear, which was extremely attractive.
"I hope that after half a month, the kingdom's navy will no longer be like the army, and something unexpected will happen!"
"Follow your orders, Your Majesty!" The Secretary of the Navy immediately saluted and agreed.
"Half a month, enough time!" The Secretary of the Navy felt relieved.
At this time, the navy of the United Kingdom was conducting joint exercises with the navy of Portugal and the navy of the Netherlands in order to deal with the huge Spanish navy.
Looking at the fleet in poor condition, Secretary of the Navy James felt extra irritable.
The exercise has been going on for a week, but the problem of coordination still baffles everyone. The unfamiliar tactics baffle the English sailors who are unfamiliar with control skills.
Compared with Portugal, a veteran naval power, although the ships are better, the technology is too different. The exercises in the past few days are like the Portuguese instructing the English on how to fight at sea.
The Dutch can only fight alone, they have never fought a big battle, and their level is worse than that of England. After all, they are a group of businessmen.
This feeling of becoming a pig teammate, James is very depressed.
What's even more worrisome is that Spain recovered less than half of its losses from the sneak attack last time in a week, and its strength seems to be even stronger.
The Anglo-Portuguese-Ninian coalition forces seem to have little hope of victory.
He still remembered that His Majesty the King said kindly in his ear: James, if this battle is won, the earl's title will be at hand.
He still heard clearly that his heart was beating so loudly that it was about to pop out of his chest.
The hereditary title of Earl is more attractive than the Minister of the Navy and the Prime Minister.
Victory pays off so much, but what if you lose? Official titles and titles are the most basic, and you may even have to take your own life.
After all, what he has in his hands is all the savings and all the naval talents of the Royal Navy of England over the past few decades.
The tremendous pressure caused his gray hair to increase a lot in a few days, although he looked energetic.
"Hey, James, what's the matter, are you scared, or else, give me the position of minister!"
While he was meditating, a joking word suddenly sounded in his ear, and when he looked up, it turned out to be Charles, the captain of the English fleet, his old opponent, and the second person in the navy.
Looking at Charles, who was tanned and full of beards, James immediately retorted: "My Lord Charles, you should command your fleet well! Don't be scared to pee in the next battle!"
"As for the post of Secretary of the Navy, with me here, you will never be able to do so! Hahahaha!"
With Charles' annoyed expression on his face, James walked away with a relaxed pace.
ps: Chapter 2, the debts are paid off, please stay calm and stay calm
(end of this chapter)