Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 702 Emergency from Monterey

Huang Zhongtong's guess is quite reasonable.Because Luzon's Spanish Governor's Palace and California are both part of the New Spanish Governor's District, once Mexico City declares war on Beihai Town, Manila will inevitably be unable to avoid it. At that time, Zhao Xin's plan for Luzon that has been brewing for many years can be completed. put into action.

At noon on January 1794, 1, the watchtower at Cape Broja in Acapulco Bay sent a signal to the San Carlos Fort to inform the "San Juan Batista" and "San Marcos" coming from Manila. The three galleons "Sanctuary" and "Our Lady of Guadalupe" are about to arrive at the port.They set off in June last year, passed through Hawaii, and made a short stop in Monterey, the capital of California, before heading south to their final destination.

The news of the fleet's arrival spread quickly in the city, and thousands of people gathered on the "Marquis Wharf" soon.Not long after, the local governor, government officials, members of the city council, and even businessmen also arrived with their families in carriages.

The arrival of the Manila Galleon every year is a festive event for Acapulco and even the entire Central and North America, which means that there will be a large number of oriental rare commodities appearing on the market, including tea, silk, Porcelain, lacquer, fans, screens, beeswax, and gunpowder; amber, ivory, cotton, and rugs from India; and spices like pepper, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon from the East Indies.

Just when the crowd on the pier became crowded, three galleons with a load of more than a thousand tons, led by the pilot boat, passed through the waterway between Cape Bruja and Cape Diamond, and appeared in the sight of everyone.At this time, salutes were fired from the San Carlos Fortress, and the crowd also cheered; hundreds of black porters on the pier were all gearing up and getting ready to start transshipping goods ashore as soon as the galleon entered the berth and stopped.

However, to the surprise of many people, when the ship entered the berth to anchor and the gangplank was set up, the first person to disembark from the "San Juan Batista" was a colonial officer with his attendants.

This person wears a blue cloak with gold lace at the opening, a blue coat with red lapels and cuffs, a yellow waistcoat of suede deerskin with narrow lace, and a head. He wore a black hat with a gold trim that rolled up on one side.Judging from the golden epaulets on his shoulders, he should be a captain.

After disembarking, the captain turned a blind eye to the noisy scene around him. Under the eyes of everyone, he went straight to the governor of Acapulco and took off his hat to pay tribute. Then he went forward and whispered a few words, and showed a letter.When the governor opened the letter and saw the contents above, the original smile on his face gradually narrowed, and his expression became serious.He immediately called an officer under him to say a few words, and then the captain and his attendants followed the officer and left in a hurry.

Half an hour later, a carriage, escorted by [-] cavalrymen, drove out of the military camp in the city and drove away in dust.

Well, after staying in Kinmen for almost two months, Lu Qi realized that this place is completely flat and there is no danger to defend. There is only a hill (Mount Bruno) with an altitude of more than 11 meters 400 kilometers to the south.

The troops marched for more than [-] days, and then took down the two strongholds of Santa Clara de Assis and San Jose de Guadalupe in only one day.

"...We left two hundred soldiers for Governor De Alilaga, and then we said goodbye and left."

If Lu Qi knew that the Spaniards had launched such a big battle, he would definitely ask Zhao Xin for help.But, he is taking a platoon and a few Miwoks to look for the legendary gold rush
According to another time-space-related data record, gold in the California area was first discovered in a river in the Coloma area.It is located in the north of the Golden Gate Fortress, with a straight-line distance of about 180 kilometers, and only over 70 kilometers away from Sacramento.

The Governor sighed and said, "Yeah, something big happened. A group of bandits invaded California, and all our strongholds north of Monterey fell! That captain is going to Mexico City for help."

"Captain Gonzales, why don't you go to San Francisco? Your fleet has so many cannons that you can take the fort back."

In case the rumored big white ship is also there, with the strength and cannons on their ship, it is really not enough for others to clean up!
Before the galleon fleet left Manila at the beginning of June last year, the news that the Dutch East India Company would start a war with Beihai Town had spread all over the sky. The Manila side was extremely concerned about this war that would determine the entire East Indies, and even sent military observers.

On the fifth day of the galleon's arrival in Acapulco, the Governor's Palace in Mexico City.

"My God! What a bunch of savages, why did they destroy the monastery?"

"The army of the kingdom is invincible!"

Although the current strength of the entire New Spain Governor's District is as high as 8000, the regular troops that can be deployed in California are only in the early 20s.Furthermore, their history of pioneering California has only been [-] years so far. There are not many strongholds and settlers, and there are few cannons.

In fact, Zhao Xin chose the right time to come to North America to grab territory. The Spaniards have been relying on the Franciscan missionaries to expand all the way to the north over the years, and their role in military power has been negligible.And because of the French Revolution, even if it was known that Beihai Town "invaded" North America, Spain itself would not be able to provide military support to the colonies.

After that, he asked Li Shi to lead a company, cross the small river called "Stevens Creek" in another time and space, and walk south along the traveler's trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains for seven or eight days. Beat Santa Cruz too.The handling of personnel in various strongholds was still the same as before. The deceived Indian slaves were liberated and went back to their respective homes, each looking for their own mothers; the defenders and missionaries were all driven away.

Lu Qi and his soldiers boarded the north bank of the river, found a large smooth rock, and then took out the white paint and brushes they carried, preparing to give the river a Chinese name.

"Pirates! Asia?"

On a sunny morning in early January 1794, Lu Qi and his party of more than 1 people set off from the Golden Gate Fortress in four rubber speedboats, followed the coastline along the strait all the way north and then east, and walked 30 miles in one day. After many kilometers, we finally came to the mouth of a big river.After repeatedly comparing the surrounding terrain with the data in hand with the drone, Lu Qi determined that this place should be the "Sacramento River".

Several Indian guides were also given a horse and a donkey each, in addition to hundreds of catties of grain and a few bolts of cloth, and the ironware and tools that the North Navy didn't like were also given to them, and they were all overjoyed.

When Governor De Alilaga wrote a letter of appeal for help, Captain Gonzalez specifically reminded him; he said that if you want to ask for reinforcements from Mexico City, your Excellency, you must have at least [-] troops, and the sea strength should not be less than Thirty armed merchant ships.At first, the governor was so surprised that he could stuff a duck egg into his mouth, but when he learned about Beihai Town's past record in the East, he took it seriously.

But it was precisely because of this that Lu Qi took a big advantage.

"Captain Gonzalez, according to what you said, since Beihai Town occupies such a large territory in Asia, why do they come to California?"

Afterwards, the crew members gave a general account of what they had heard about "Beihai Town". The governor and others seemed to have heard the Arabian Nights, and even forgot to eat the dishes carefully prepared by the chef.

So at the welcome banquet in the evening, news about pirates and the East became the focus of discussion.It's just that when these people learned the inside story from the senior crew members on the galleon, they were all shocked.

But it is a pity that Sacramento has not been discovered by the Spaniards this year, so the first thing Lu Qi and his party have to do is to explore. They have to find the Sacramento River and then go upstream, and finally arrive at what the Spaniards call "air image". Champagne's fertile valley.

What is it called?

Occupying the exit of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Lu Qi felt more at ease.He felt that as long as there were 500 people guarding here, even two or three thousand Spaniards would be useless.However, what he didn't expect was that with the reminder from Gonzalez and others, the Spaniards had realized the seriousness of the matter, and more than two or three thousand came.

Li Shi stayed in Santa Cruz for two days. After all the personnel in the stronghold were emptied, he only took away the livestock and some food, and set the rest on fire, and then withdrew to San Jose de Guadalupe.

Since Santa Cruz and Monterey, the capital of California, face each other across the sea, and the sea route is only more than 20 nautical miles, the governor of De Ali Laga has ordered a general mobilization, and all men over the age of 15 and under the age of 50 among the residents of the fortress have been issued with weapons. , Expedited construction work.

The speaker's voice was a little loud, which immediately attracted the attention of the people around him.Life in the colonies these days is actually quite boring, there are not even newspapers, and any trouble in the outside world can be talked about for a long time; especially those businessmen and women's families, their curiosity is greatly increased when they hear "pirates".

According to inquiries from the Miwok villagers who came to do business before, Lu Qi finally found out that the Sacramento River in this year was called "Bohema Mem" by the Miwok people.He quickly figured out that "Mem" meant water, and had no idea what "Bohema" meant.

Such a large-scale military operation requires at least two or three months to complete the preparations. The key is to mobilize a large number of horses, vehicles, military followers and military supplies.Of course, the navy can act in advance and transport an infantry regiment there first to ensure that Monterey is not lost.

"Your Excellency, this is what confuses me. Maybe they, like the British, want a piece of the fur trade?"

New Spain Governor Juan Vicente de Gemes Pacheco quickly summoned his important generals for a meeting after seeing the rescue messenger from California and learning about the emergency there.It was agreed that the kingdom's territory in Alta California could not be lost, and that several strongholds that had been captured must be retaken.

The accompanying Miwoks yelled excitedly along the way. If the soldiers on the same boat were not watching, they almost fell into the water several times.They have never been on such a fast boat. It used to take at least three days of boating to get here.

When the captain left, the chairman of the city council asked the governor curiously, "Your Excellency, what happened?"

Gonzalez and other crew members all showed a wry smile when they heard this.How can this be explained?These people in front of them don't know anything about Beihai Town, but they who have been living in Manila know it very well.That was a terrifying "monster" that defeated the Tsarist Russian Empire, took Batavia from the Dutch East India Company, and fought against the Qing Empire at the same time.

When the "Jaguar" arrived at the Golden Gate Fortress in early December last year, in addition to bringing a platoon of interns from the military academy, it also sent several "heavy weapons", including three 12mm mortars and 82 rounds. shells.With this thing, Lu Qi became more courageous, so with Zhao Xin's consent, he took two companies of troops, led by Katata's father Baibai and a dozen other Miwok Indian guides, Started his "Southern Expedition Journey".

Because the fleet of the galleon was equipped with 200 soldiers and more than [-] artillery pieces, it made a special trip to Santa Cruz before leaving Monterey, and found that the monastery and fortress there had been burned to a white ground.After sending troops ashore to search, they found dozens of survivors and brought them back to Monterey.

"Then they should go north to grab territory, why should they attack Monterey?"

"These people should all be hanged after being caught!"

After careful consideration, Governor Pacheco, as commander-in-chief of the province, decided to lead a fleet consisting of three infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, one artillery company, and thirty ships to support Monterrey and retake the occupied territories.

According to a captain named Gonzalez, the "pirates" who occupied Northern California were actually a group of Asian forces who called themselves "North Sea Town". They first captured the San Francisco Fortress last year, and then successively Occupied Santa Clara de Assis, San Jose de Guadalupe and Santa Cruz.

The speaker was stunned for a moment before he could react. You must know that Northern California is more than 3000 kilometers away from Acapulco.He made a look of surprise and continued to ask: "God, could it be that the Indians made the rebellion?"

"No! It's a group of pirates from Asia."

That is to say, the Indians on the west coast of North America are very peaceful, and the Franciscan monks are extremely skilled in deception, so so far, Spain has hardly been threatened in North America.Had it been the warlike Sioux or the Iroquois, those small strongholds would have been destroyed to nothing.

Rucci River?Not good, not good!He had checked in advance that "Luchi" in English means noodle bread, and what the hell is it specifically referring to the fried green juice that Indians eat.

Jinguang River?This is too vulgar!

After thinking for a while, Lu Qi wrote the words "Lu Shui" on the rock wall, and then wrote a big arrow underneath.

　Let's add it tomorrow.I have been too busy with work these past few days. The meeting lasted until eleven o'clock in the evening yesterday, so I couldn't finish writing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)