On this day, 437 years ago, May 28, 1588 (May 4, 1588, the Spanish Armada and the British Royal Navy fought. In the middle of the century, Spain was at its peak. By the time Philip II succeeded to the Spanish throne in 1556, its territory not only spread throughout Western Europe, but also included many islands in the Caribbean Sea. The Spanish flag is also flying in Mexico, Peru and the vast land of Chile. The Pacific Ocean has become the interior sea of the Spaniards, and their treasure carriers can sail safely in the waters between Valparaiso and Panama. When the Portugal royal family died in 1580, Philip II was crowned King of Portugal as the theoretical sole legal heir. The Iberian Peninsula became a country, and a series of Portugal colonial trading stations in the mid-Atlantic, the African coast, the Persian Gulf, India and Southeast Asia also became Spain's pockets. Spain at that time could almost be regarded as an "empire that never sets the sun" in the 16th century. However, other European countries are also eyeing the huge benefits the Spaniards have gained from the "new world". Since the French Huguenots looted Havana, Cuba in 1555 and once established a colonial base on the coast of Florida, more and more European adventurers appeared within Spain's original sphere of influence. As a rising nation-state, England's attention is also beginning to turn increasingly overseas. Starting with the discovery of Newfoundland by the Cabot brothers in 1497, British maritime exploration also began. When John Hawkins and Francis Drake penetrated Spanish America through the triangular trade, the Spanish colonial government began to view the British as an intolerable threat to its monopoly in the Americas. In 1568, in San Juan de Ulua, the Hawkins fleet was suddenly attacked by the Spanish fleet, and only a few escaped by boat. At this point, the conflict between Britain and Spain officially began to become public, and they tested each other's bottom line. In 1585, when the Dutch army was losing ground under the attack of the Spanish Flanders Corps, Elizabeth I signed the Treaty of Nonsac with the Dutch and promised to provide military and financial support to the latter. This marked an "official" state of hostility between Britain and Spain. Due to the "conclusive evidence" of Mary, the former Queen of Scots's plot against Elizabeth, Elizabeth issued an edict to behead her in February 1587. This incident gave Philip II an excellent excuse. While the Spanish diplomatic mission was blowing up the smoke of peace in London, preparations for the Armada commanded by the Spanish veteran Marquis of Santa Cruz were also under intense progress in Lisbon, and a major battle was inevitable. On the morning of May 9, 1588, all the ships of the Armada anchored in the Port of Lisbon pulled their anchors and set sail, passing through the Tower of Belen and descending the Tejo River. But an increasingly strong west wind was blowing from the sea towards the estuary, and the fleet had to anchor in front of the castle near the estuary again. The strong west wind blew non-stop, and the Invincible Fleet remained anchored at the mouth of the Teju River for more than 20 days without moving an inch. The weather finally returned to normal on May 28, 1588. Sidonia immediately issued the order to set sail, and the Invincible Fleet began to quietly descend along the Tejo River. The invincible ship sailed northward from the sea along the coast of Portugal through hardships. The wind direction is changeable, from one moment to another, turning to the west, teasing the fleet back and forth, and sometimes the wind is gone, and the fleet is bumpy and drifting in the rough waves of the Atlantic. Sometimes fierce headwinds hit, blowing the fleet south. Due to such severe weather and the shortcomings of the mixed fleet itself, it took only 156 nautical miles to sail from the Lisbon Sea to Cape Finistere at the northwest end of the Iberian Peninsula, and it took a full 13 days. People soon realized that the future of the expedition was difficult and difficult. Late at night on June 19, a strong southwest wind suddenly blew. A sailboat sheltered from the wind in the Gulf of La Coruna was blown away from its anchorage, and another towing anchor collided with a Gallion vessel, causing serious damage. Other ships left on the ocean surface drifted far away from the downwind and land to avoid the danger of being scraped away and tentacles. To be on the safe side, the ships fought each other and drifted with the wind, scattered in pieces and out of formation. As of the 24th, the whereabouts of 30 ships were still unknown. The ships carried about 6000 sailors and soldiers. On many ships that can withstand storms, some crew members suffer from diarrhea and typhoid fever due to eating rotten food. Moreover, most ships have suffered varying degrees of damage. The masts and sails have been blown off, and it is common for them to lose anchors, leak water, etc. On the evening of August 7, the wind direction in the sea near Calais turned from southwest to west, which was also consistent with the direction of the coastal tide. Since it was a full moon that night, it caught up with the astronomical spring tide. The right time and place are on the British side. At night, arson boats converted from armed sailboats began to rush to the Spanish ship gathering area a few kilometers away to the east. Just after early morning, the Spanish lookout post reported that "two burning boats were coming from a thousand meters away." Although the two fireboats were hooked by Spain and towed away from their scheduled route. However, six other British ships were on fire, causing panic in the Spanish fleet. The captains of each ship ordered the cut of anchor cables and chaos broke out. Two ships collided in the dark, causing damage to the tail rudder of the galley warship San Lorenzo. Starting from dawn on August 8, the two sides launched a fierce hand-to-hand battle around the Hugo ship "San Lorenzo" stranded on the coast of Calais. During the scuffle, Hugo himself was killed by bullets. The rest of the British fleet, led by Drake, began to besiege the San Martin and four other galleys (San Juan of Portugal, San Marco, San Juan Batista and San Mateo) returning to Calais Anchorage. After 10 days of thrilling sea battles, the morale of the Invincible Fleet began to collapse, and some ships began to have the intention of breaking out of the ranks and surrendering to the British or fleeing without authorization. In the end, only 65 ships of the Armada returned to Spain. Most of the survivors suffered from severe scurvy and malnutrition, and many fell ill shortly after setting foot on Spanish land.