Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 103 St. Augustine (V)

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The Beagle's mast refit was finally complete before sunset.Lu Ming did not break his promise, and generously paid the shipbuilders a large sum of repair costs. Then, after replenishing some ammunition and artillery, the three-masted sailing ship "Beagle" with a new look left Tortuga Island and sailed overnight. To the Cape de France.

On March 3, Lu Ming appointed his old partner at the fort, Chen Tumu, the gunner commander of the "Eagle of the East Coast", as the captain of the "Beagle", and added some trainee sailors and alternates to him. officers to steer ships.At the same time, more than 29 British pirates who were originally locked in the bilge of the "Beagle" were also transferred to several houses in the corner of France. Lu Ming left ten soldiers from the security team to guard them here.

After everything was settled, the three warships left Cape France one by one, turned northwest, and headed for the coast of Florida.

Established in 1565, St. Augustine was the first colony established by the Spaniards on the North American continent, and it was also the ruling center and capital of the Spaniards in East Florida. In 1586, St. Augustine was attacked and burned by the famous pirate Drake. Later, the Spaniards built a strong coastal defense castle near the original site and installed many cannons to guard against threats at sea.

To this day, this is still a restricted city, except for transactions with San Marcos in the Appalachian Bay and Pensacola in West Florida, the city only allows trade from Havana and Veracruz. The ships coming from Sri Lanka docked at the port.

St. Augustine and Pensacola are the ruling centers of many Spanish colonies in Florida, among which St. Augustine is the capital of Florida.These two cities are one on the left and one on the right, and the middle is all connected by sea. There are several ships going back and forth between the two places every week, which can be regarded as a relatively busy route in this sea area.And such a busy route, there is no reason not to be targeted.

"Spotted a Spanish sloop in the southwest, speed 3 knots. Repeat..." The lookout of the "Eagle of the East Coast" reported loudly.After hearing his shout, the lazy sailors on the deck just now jumped up as if they had been wound up. Quick, not only the "Eagle of the East Coast", but all three warships in the entire formation are ready for battle.

The Spanish sloop also found something wrong, but the heavy cargo capacity obviously limited their escape speed, and the three warships easily chased up and surrounded the Spanish small ship.There was no resistance and no bloodshed. The Spaniards only had 4 light cannons and 12 sailors. Therefore, they calmly raised the white flag as soon as they recognized the situation. The army of the Eastern Republic immediately took over the small Spanish single-masted transport Boat.

A large amount of cotton was loaded in the cabin, and it seemed that it was going to be shipped to St. Augustine for preliminary processing and then shipped back to Spain for sale. The Spaniards have always had this habit.The cotton was quickly transferred to the cabin of the "Beagle" for storage, while the Spanish sloop, which was not resistant to wind and waves and could not sail far, was scuttled by Lu Ming regretfully.

The Spanish sailors on board were released to a small boat with a certain amount of food and drinking water, and left to fend for themselves.Originally, Wang Tiechui suggested that all the captive Spanish sailors be executed, and his proposal was also agreed by those European and indigenous sailors, but years of education made Lu Ming unable to issue such a cold order, and finally he decided to release the Spanish sailors. captive.Before letting them go, the Spanish sailors were told that "the merciful Captain Coster spared their lives".This is the plan agreed upon by Lu Ming and others. I will earn the money, and let the famous Captain Coster take the blame.

Beginning on April 4, the privateer formations of the East Coast Republic successively intercepted several Spanish transport ships in the Gulf of Mexico between Pensacola and St. Augustine.These dozens of tons of small Spanish coastal transport ships were loaded with fur and cotton, and transported them from Pensacola to St. Augustine.

On April 4, after successively intercepting six Spanish transport ships and obtaining thousands of furs and dozens of tons of cotton, the privateer fleet quietly left this increasingly dangerous sea area, turned southeast, and prepared to circumvent the southern tip of the Florida peninsula Florida Bay and then turned north to the ocean near St. Augustine.If Captain Coster hadn't lied at the time, his pirate fleet should have arrived off the coast of St. Augustine by now.

On April 4, the privateer formation arrived outside Matanzas Bay, about a few kilometers east of St. Augustine.Lu Ming stood on the gun deck of the poop of the "Eagle of the East Coast" and raised his binoculars to look forward. At this time, there was a mess near the mouth of the Matanzas River: a large sailing ship sank in the channel facing the bay. At this time, there is only one mast still exposed on the sea, and a three-masted ship outside the estuary seems to have run aground on the beach of Anastasia Island because it hit a rock.A group of people on the beach are busy, apparently trying to repair the damaged hull.

"The Spaniard's fort has fallen." Wang Tiehammer also held up the binoculars and said, "Well, I counted, and there are about 12 artillery positions. Twelve coastal defense heavy artillery, although this density is not as high as that of Dongfang Port, but In Florida and even the neighboring 'Gualai' ① area, that is the second-to-none defense. No wonder the pirates lost two ships here. Hey, there is no one on the fort. What is going on with these pirates? Why are they out of control? Fort? Doesn’t anyone want to stay and guard the door, and all rush inside to have fun? It shouldn’t be, the sound of cannons can be heard faintly inside, and it should still be in the middle of the battle.”

"I think it's mostly because the Spaniards destroyed the artillery before the fall of the fort, making them no longer usable by pirates. Moreover, St. Augustine has suffered a loss once, and her defense facilities must be more than that. There should be some Castles and forts, these pirates want to take down so easily, I don't see reality." Lu Ming said, "Now, the key question is, what attitude should we take to face the two sides at war. In other words, our What's the position?"

"Stand? Isn't our position just to rob the Spaniards..." Wang Tiehammer chewed on Lu Ming's words, and after a while he said in surprise: "Don't tell me you want to rob these pirates? If pirates want to grab their heads, they are considered unjust." Cai, that amount is far worse than the city that the Spaniards have run for decades. As long as St. Augustine is broken, I don’t think the income will be less than 50 pesos, which is the real big head.”

"Then the money is also the money of the pirates. What does it have to do with us? Do you think the pirates will allow us to make a fortune with them after breaking St. Augustine?" Eliminate us, and then they will sit down and share the spoils with peace of mind. They will not really trust guys of unknown origin like us. Well, let's see the situation first, and see if Captain Coster is strong or General Florida of Spain is strong .”

The three warships of the privateer formation cautiously bypassed the sunken ship on the north side of the channel and sailed into the wide Matanzas River.The sparkling river was filled with large swathes of gunpowder smoke at this time, and the five three-masted sailing ships lined up facing the Spanish castle, and all dropped their tail anchors.Thirty or forty large and small bronze cannons, brass cannons, and iron cannons continuously ejected hot shells and hit the walls of the Spanish fortress.

More than half of the entire St. Augustine block has been occupied by pirates, and all the Spanish residents in the block have retreated into the castle and stood firm.These pirates who washed ashore in small boats took advantage of the cover of the houses in the block, braved the Spanish artillery fire and bullets, pulled the artillery closer, and stubbornly fired at the Spaniards.The two sides came and went, and the scene was extremely intense for a while.

Covered by the dense gunpowder smoke that filled the river, the three warships of the privateer formation of the East Bank Republic that quietly entered the river could no longer hide their figures.Both the Spaniards and the pirates discovered them almost at the same time, but because the fierce battle was in full swing, both sides couldn't get away, so they could only let it go.

Of course, Captain Coster did not relax his vigilance. His ship "Lucky" and another nearby pirate ship "Black Bread" pulled up the tail anchor at the same time, and the artillery on the port side also started charging.While doing this, he first sent his deputy to drive over in a traffic boat with a white flag, intending to negotiate something.

At this time, Lu Ming took a closer look at the battlefield in front of him. The Spaniards gave up the entire outer block and retreated into the strong castle, relying on the thick city wall and seven or eight artillery pieces to resist tenaciously.After the pirates successfully plundered two-thirds of St. Augustine's block, they were still not satisfied and tried to take down the strong Spanish castle.

On the streets of St. Augustine, more than 600 pirates organized several attacks, but they were all repelled.The Spaniards in the castle resisted tenaciously. They knew exactly what fate awaited them after the city was broken. The corpses of their compatriots lying all over the street reminded them all the time.

"The pirates are useless, and this castle cannot be taken down." Lu Ming made a judgment immediately.

Wang Tiehammer nodded. "Even the old and children are in battle in the castle, plus some of the original defenders, the pirates want to use these hundreds of people to capture the castle, it is a bit whimsical. It is better to accept it as soon as it is good, and take the already robbed It is the right way to get the money that has arrived and leave as soon as possible. So, our choice is already obvious?"

"Raise the signal flag and fire at the pirate ship closest to us!" Lu Ming gave the order decisively.

① Gualai area: The name given by the Spaniards to today's Georgia, North and South Carolina areas in the United States, and is named after the missionary area of ​​the San Franciscans.

(End of this chapter)