Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 165 Spanish Second Fleet

"What did you say? Another group of related people came to Keelung?" Lin Hai felt a little surprised after hearing the news from Viper.

In his impression, the Spaniards should have sent the second fleet to Keelung in the seventh year of the Apocalypse. He did not expect it to arrive at this time. He did not know whether he had remembered the time wrong or for some other reason.

"Yes, Mr. Chief." Viper replied respectfully from the side. Chief is the title given by Lin Hai to the person in charge of the company's board of directors. It is based on the VOC's name for the Governor of Batavia, but Viper is still used to it. Add the word "adult" at the end.

"Wu Lang is outside now?" Lin Hai then asked. He had told Wu Lang that if another relevant person came, he would ask him to come and see him in person. In addition, any disturbances in Keelung Port must also be reported to Guandu.

As early as three months ago, under his instruction, Wulang moved the Guirou Society, which was the first to surrender, to the upper reaches of the Keelung River, and asked the society to take the initiative to contact the Spanish and sell grain to the latter.

Nowadays, Guirou Society has gained the trust of the Spaniards. Several of their canoes are parked on the inside of Keelung Port near the main island. The natives row canoes to deliver food and vegetables to Sheliao Island every day, and sometimes also Sells cooked food and alcohol to boats moored in the harbor.

In the original Jinbaoli Society, there were still several people from Guirou Society working for the Spaniards. These people were all spies sent by Wulang. Now they can understand some Spanish. They would report the news on Sheliao Island every day. Everything you see and hear.

"Yes, sir, do you want to call him in?" Seeing Lin Hai nodding, Viper went out and called Wu Lang in. Also coming in with him was a native of Guirou who had seen the Spanish Second Fleet with his own eyes. , and his translator Ouwan.

This man was the first Basai person Lin Hai saw. He was originally in charge of overseas trade in Jinbaoli Society and could speak Hokkien, Cantonese and Japanese. After the Jinbaoli Society was driven out of Keelung Port by the Spaniards, he was considered unemployed, but it was a blessing in disguise that he became the King of Iron's official translator.

"Sit down." Lin Hai asked Wu Lang to sit down, then stood up and poured him a glass of water with his own hands. In front of the Iron King's subjects, he always gave Wu Lang enough face.

Wu Lang could now speak simple Chinese. Without waiting for Ou Wan to translate, he said, "Mr. Lin, you are right. The Lu people have sent someone here again."

Lin Hai sat back in his chair, thinking that it was a good thing that he didn't predict to Wu Lang when the second batch of Spaniards would arrive, otherwise he would have overturned. He then asked: "When did you arrive? How many people came? How many boats are there in total?"

"There were a total of eleven boats that arrived yesterday morning, with a total of 800 people." Wu Lang said, pointing to the locals from Guirou She next to him, "This is Gary, the person in charge of delivering food to Sheliao Island yesterday. .”

After hearing the number of people Wu Lang mentioned, Lin Hai knew that he had not remembered the time wrongly. In his impression, the Spanish fleet in the seventh year of the Apocalypse had at least more than 2000 people. He could not remember the number of ships, but he clearly remembered that there were three of them. Galen ships are all large ships of over one thousand tons.

"How many boats are over ten feet tall?" Lin Hai then asked.

Ou Wan translated his words to Gary, a native of Guizhou Province. The latter said to Ou Wan: "There are three boats that should exceed the length you mentioned. Among them, the largest one only has a sail without oars, and the other two have sails." There’s a paddle too.”

Ou Wan translated Gary's words again, and Lin Hai asked after listening: "Are there any other situations?"

Gary said: "I heard that this fleet encountered a storm when it came and lost half of the people and the boat on the way."

Lin Hai nodded when he heard this. Shi Bi and others also encountered a storm at sea not long ago. Fortunately, the fleet was anchored in Yuandang Port in Xiamen at that time, so no damage was caused. After sending Wu Lang and others away, Lin Hai called Shi Bi and Miguel over, briefly explained the situation at Keelung Port, and then continued: "You two, we can no longer ignore the existence of the related people. With the arrival of the Second Fleet, their activity capabilities will be greatly enhanced, and the presence of fresh water may be discovered at any time.”

Before the arrival of the Second Fleet, the Spaniards only had three small galleys in Keelung. They could only do early warning work outside Keelung Port. They were unlikely to come to Tamsui Port a hundred miles away. Even if they came, they would not go deep into the inland river. .

But now the situation is different. On the one hand, they have more ships and are more likely to discover the existence of fresh water from the sea. On the other hand, there are more people and they may try to establish some degree of rule over the native villages. .

This is indeed true in history. After the arrival of the Second Fleet, the Spaniards in Chicken Coop even sent a ship to Cambodia to purchase food half a year later, but ultimately returned without success.

After listening to Lin Hai's words, Shi Bi nodded and said: "Yes, there are also those ships that were blown away by the storm. I don't know where they were blown. Maybe they hit Tamsui by accident."

"It is indeed possible." Lin Hai felt a little headache. He knew nothing about the current Spanish fleet and had lost the advantage of being a time traveler.

"Half of the people were lost because of the storm, and 800 people finally arrived at the chicken coop, which means Manila sent at least 500 people." Miguel said in admiration, "This is really an ambitious operation. As far as I know, their total strength in Asia does not exceed 2000."

"The troops you mentioned do not include the Luzon natives. If the natives are included, their army may have about 5000 people. In addition, they sent many sailors to the chicken coop."

In the Spanish fleet of this era, the soldiers responsible for fighting and the sailors responsible for operating the ship were two distinct groups. The former had a higher status than the latter. The highest decision-maker on the ship was not the captain, but the army general who commanded the soldiers.

The order on VOC ships is exactly the opposite of that of the Spanish. Their sailors have a higher status than soldiers, but in fact the highest decision-maker is not the captain, but the businessmen on the ship.

Lin Hai then said to Miguel: "But you are right, this is indeed an ambitious operation by the Manila authorities. They sent so many people here, and it is obvious that they intend to take down the Dutch merchant store. "

"The officials have been robbing merchant ships heading to Manila. Batavia has also implemented a blockade of Manila Port nine times. Now it is the Spanish's turn to take action." Miguel added, "But it's a pity. , their fleet was blown away by the storm, it’s hard to say whether they can carry out their original plan.”

"Okay, without further ado, let's talk about how we should deal with it next." Lin Hai waved his hand and said, "Judging from what the natives said, it is very likely that the Greeks sent a Galen this time. Plan to snatch it away.”

　Regarding the Spanish Second Fleet, there is no record in Spanish documents, but the Dutch at the same time did record that there were originally three galenines plus 1700 other ships, with a total number of about 9 people. Due to the storm, 2 Two ships were missing or blown to Ryukyu and Luzon. Two of them, Galen, were missing, and about half of the people who arrived were there.

　　As for the fleet in August of the seventh year of Tianqi in Lin Hai's memory, it was even larger, with a total number of more than 2100 people. The tonnage of the three Galen ships were 1400 tons, 1100 tons, and 1000 tons respectively. However, this fleet actually did not send any troops. The ship was finally unable to sail due to bad weather, and soon the West African authorities gave up their plan to drive away the Dutch.

　　For details, see "The Spanish Experience in Taiwan".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)