Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1259 After the voyage to the West ([-])

From the very beginning, Dashun Navy's military reform thinking did not follow the path of relying on its own battleships to defeat the British Navy in a decisive battle and land in England.

Although Liu Yu thought so, he hoped that after the war, the old emperor would die, and the new emperor would foolishly dismantle and dismantle the severely overnumbered battleship fleet—if you build battleships with this goal in mind, they will definitely exceed the standard after the war, and it is Extremely excessive—and then sailors, navies, artisans, shipyard workers, loggers, wood processing plants, navy food factories, etc., will make some huge noises.

However, the old emperor was not fooled, and did not go all out to build battleships as soon as his brain became hot. Even after being awakened by George Anson's battleships sailing around the world, he still maintained calm and long-term considerations, maintaining a stable production speed and the number of battleships.

Therefore, there were quite a few battleships that Dashun came to Europe, but not many enough to wipe out the entire British navy.

Of course, Dashun's real strategy has not yet had the opportunity to show itself, it will take time after all.

The change of hands in Bangladesh takes time; the robbery in the Caribbean takes time; the smuggling of the North American colonies still takes time.

Time is on Dashun's side, and the reality has not yet shown the terrible future, which leaves the British with no more choices.

Besides, this is not a conspiracy, but an upright strategy that can even be written directly.

Now that I know, what can I do?

Abandon the English Channel, disperse the navy to the colony to protect the route, and then do more dispersion, bathe and burn incense, and pray for another kamikaze to blow out the French landing fleet?
Moreover, in the previous colonial strategy of France, it has always firmly controlled West Africa, and even tried to implement the black French reform plan in West Africa.

In fact, Senegal is much closer to the Caribbean and the Americas than traveling from Europe, and the routes are much more familiar.

Once Spain joins the war, the standard triangular route of Senegal, Suriname, and Havana can directly strangle the trade between Britain and its colonies.

You know, India is not bullshit now. The pearl on the crown of the United Kingdom is a Caribbean island. India, let alone the jewel of the crown, is at most a scrap of the crown at this time.

Then, if there is no skin, there will be no hair. From this simple truth, we can draw the conclusion that if there is a crown, there will be the shining pearls on the crown; if there is no crown, there will be no shining pearls on the crown.

So, before William Pitt came to power, the debate in British politics was to keep Hanover or Britain?

With Dashun's participation in the war, the debate in the British political circle has become whether to protect the crown or the pearl?
This is something a fool can judge.

Therefore, in fact, at this time, the route from the Cape of Good Hope to Gibraltar, and even the triangular route area between Suriname, Senegal and Port-au-Prince, can be said to be unimpeded.

There may be a few cruisers of lonely ghosts, but the battleships escorting the transport ships are also enough.

The good news sent by the Clippers also told the commander of the support fleet to decide the time to go north, as long as the monsoon season is not missed.

Chen Qinghai, the commander of the support fleet, did not immediately go north after receiving the news.

Instead, let the ministries repair at the Cape of Good Hope, eat more oranges and lemons, eat fresh vegetables, eat fresh meat, and enjoy the autumn of the Cape of Good Hope.

The combat engineers came at a very good time. During the five-day vacation, they got a full rest at the Cape of Good Hope, and also got enough vitamin supplements that were urgently needed for long-term voyages.Although there was no word for vitamins at this time, Dashun still knew the truth that eating lemons and fruits could prevent scurvy.

April and autumn are the season when grapes are ripening in the Cape of Good Hope. The continuous vineyards here make the engineers and soldiers who are repairing here almost spend their time soaked in wine.

The price is very cheap, and the reason is still the same old, which is the habitual economic putschism of the Dutch.

Such as the sugar crisis in Nanyang.

Also like the wine crisis in South Africa.

The Dutch are easy to engage in this kind of economic blindness. They have suffered from losses since the 17th century and have suffered losses until the 19th century. They do not have a long memory.

The reason why grapes are planted on a large scale here is because of the tariff war in France, which caused the Netherlands to impose heavy taxes on French wines as a countermeasure.

However, in that part of the Netherlands, it is definitely not possible to produce wine by itself.

Therefore, the Dutch East India Company at that time chose South Africa with a Mediterranean climate to promote the cultivation of grapes.

With the promulgation of the "Edict of Fontainebleau" in France, a large number of French Protestants who had nothing but technology came here, and the grape industry experienced great development.

But... Historically, Spain's reason for going to war against Portugal in the Seven Years' War was that Portugal became a British colony. This involved a simple economic issue.

That is, Portugal liberalized textile tariffs on Britain.

In return, it is also a confrontation against France. After all, France is a big wine country, and Britain has released wine tariffs on Portugal.

As a result, the reckless Dutch once again came up with a reckless economic route similar to the Batavia sugar crisis.

The past few years have been even more difficult, because Dashun was smuggled with the Netherlands, the merchants became rich, the plantation owners and the farmers in Cape cried, and the UK no longer wanted Dutch wine.

But the places where grapes are grown are all mountainous areas, and other crops cannot be grown.It can only make do with it, making the price of wine extremely low.

The current Cape Town is a city jointly managed by Dashun and the Netherlands.The Protestant and Dashun immigration areas are separate.

Dashun did not snatch the plantations of the Dutch colonists, but divided up the land elsewhere.

Dashun grows vegetables, raises cattle, sheep, and grows food.

The Dutch mainly grow grapes.

Therefore, the engineers and soldiers who came here to repair and prepare for the last voyage this time had a pretty good life.

Local vegetables, tofu, steamed buns, steamed buns, and flower rolls are all available.

The cheap wine from the Netherlands that cannot be exported to Europe on a large scale and can only be sold in Africa can be drunk as water or stepped on a barrel.

Buffalo meat, ostrich eggs, oranges, lemons, these strange things can also be eaten vigorously.

And basically there is no need to pay silver. In Africa, the "sorrow cloth" dyed with indigo in Dashun is the hard currency, and it is an important trade item in the slave trade in West Africa at this time.

After a few days of repairing, the engineers have the body for another long-distance voyage, and it is basically guaranteed that there will be no large-scale scurvy before arriving in the Mediterranean.

The cool autumn at the Cape of Good Hope also prevented enemies such as the plague from appearing.

When they finished their rest and officially boarded the ship to set off, the senior officers of the supporting fleet looked at the vast ocean and sighed involuntarily.

"Today, it is truly surpassing the previous dynasty and stepping into the Western Ocean of this dynasty. I vaguely remember that when Duke Xingguo came to my house to find me and asked me to go to the Jinghai Palace, how could he think of me as a landlubber, but today I can Stepping on these thousands of miles of waves, looking for a chance to become a marquis from the waves?"

Facing the high-ranking officers standing with him, Chen Qinghai was filled with emotion, as if he had been a lifetime away.

These more than twenty years really gave him the feeling that five years have passed by an era, and this feeling is especially true among naval officers.

In the beginning, they learned Latin, learned French, learned to sail, control sails, and sail.

Then they learn star charts, positioning, surveying, and artillery.

Then they learn voyages, supplies, surveying and mapping, economic principles.

Then, they have to learn the lunar distance angle method, star charts, and advanced surveying and mapping of sea navigation.

This group of them, from the hard sailing boats they saw with the naked eye, has witnessed the drastic changes in Dashun over the past twenty years.

It is almost a five-year cycle, and what they want to learn must be supplemented.

Everyone feels that they are like sawdust floating on the sea, moving with the waves and being pushed forward by the tide of the times.

Some of my classmates in the same class gradually couldn't keep up, and were left behind by the times. They retired in Busan, Vladivostok, Ezo and other places where a decisive battle at sea might not be possible in this life. They got the rank of lieutenant colonel, and those old Slowly decaying like a warship.

Juniors, new faces are constantly emerging.The immature trainees who were once their first batch of captains, or the trainee captains after they became the chief officers of the squadron, batch after batch of people washed away by the times, keenly grasped this outlet and climbed up .

Chen Qinghai knew that after the voyage this time, the hype period would be over.The combat effectiveness of the Dashun Navy will still be maintained, relying on tradition and airs, it is enough.

But like the past 20 years, the era of turbulent wind and clouds, everything bursting out, vitality, and new faces constantly emerging, will never come back.

The captain's son is still the captain, and the sailor's son is still the sailor's naval era, which has begun at the moment when Dashun's navy officially sailed to the West.

Although Chen Qinghai had already boarded the car, he still had some nostalgia for the past era of vitality. He knew that all this would pass, because he was sure that Dashun would definitely win.

The smallest glimpse that gives him confidence is the lemons that are loaded onto the boat.Before this, no one knew why they would spend money foolishly buying oranges and lemons at the Cape of Good Hope to ship back. Even if there is nothing to ship, even an empty ship is better than spending money to buy lemons and lose money.

Sun Ziyun:
If the husband has not fought and the temple is considered victorious, it must be counted as more;More calculations win less calculations, let alone no calculations!From this point of view, I can see who wins or loses.

The general staff has been established for many years, and the naval department, what have they been doing all these years?Before, not all officers were clear.

Looking at it now, I am afraid that the General Staff Headquarters, which was originally prepared, has been doing one thing for more than ten years: preparing for today's voyage to the West.

As big as artillery, shipbuilding, fighter planes, and diplomacy.

After the mid-to-lunar distance angle method, in the name of Venus transiting the sun for the common knowledge of all mankind, we madly surveyed and mapped, drew pictures, and compiled standard latitude and longitude maps all over the world.

As small as soldiers' boots, woolen military uniforms, lemons and oranges, cabbage tofu, piled up like a mountain for more than ten years, they have been sent here for reclamation, probably for this dumpling at the last stop before sailing to the West today.

The baskets of lemons that are now being loaded onto the ship are the source of confidence for Chen Qinghai and the other officer corps.

Counting more wins and counting less, the outcome will be seen.

(End of this chapter)