Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 105 St. Augustine ([-])

I wish you all a happy November holiday!

St. Augustine's block area is quite large. As the central city of the Florida area, she has a length and width of about one-tenth of a league.The blocks are scattered with large and small residential buildings, shops, warehouses, churches and Spanish colonial institutions.Of course, the most striking building here is the strong Governor's Fortress.

The cool sea breeze blowing from the Matanzas River dispersed the gunpowder smoke over the city. This small stone fortress with a circumference of only more than 300 meters revealed her honor that was riddled with holes at the moment.Lots of stones, sandbags, gunpowder barrels, earth bombs and muskets were piled up in disorder on the narrow city wall. Spanish colonial soldiers in messy clothes stuck their heads out in twos and threes and looked towards the river bank.Behind them, there are some city residents with gunpowder marks and blood stains on their faces. These residents range from eleven to twelve years old, up to five or sixty years old, and even women. They are scattered in every corner of the city, giving soldiers Loading guns, carrying powder kegs and bombs for them, and sometimes even taking part in the battles themselves.It was the tenacity of the Spanish defenders and the heroic behavior of these residents that kept this small castle from falling after being besieged by pirates for a day and a night.

And in the block not far below the city wall, their old rivals, the pirates, were hysterical and fearful like the end of the world. The escape of three ships including the "Lucky" and the sinking of two ships including the "Esmeranda" cut off all their supplies, ammunition, and retreat. They could only gather together in vain and wait for God's order. ruling.

A dozen fierce pirates dragged some four-pound and six-pound guns to the shore, and relied on the favorable terrain on the bank to fire toward the river.Their bombardment was not without results. A four-pound shell luckily hit the side deck of the "East Coast Eagle", killing a gunner.This serious incident brought them a tragic blow. After receiving the signal, the three warships of the privateer formation of the East Coast Republic fired several rounds of spectacular salvos, and more than a hundred shells killed the dozen or so pirates who took the initiative. And the artillery blasted directly into slag.

After the shelling stopped, the pirates who had gathered together suffered heavy casualties, and the rest scattered.Some clever guys raised the white flag on their own initiative, and those who were not clear-headed either hid in the houses on the street and left their fate to God, or fled into the wild jungle and swamp behind the city Among them, the fate is handed over to the crocodile and the poisonous snake.

Landing operations are always such a nuisance.Xie Hansan reluctantly put on the cowhide military boots that were full of river water, and began to order the soldiers to move forward as a whole.The drummer played the cheerful "Victory Belongs to the Army March". On the river bank, a post of the army and a company of the security army lined up on the river bank, with a total of more than 200 soldiers, wearing round-necked white shirts and blue bordered soldiers. Wearing trousers, stepping on water-logged cowhide military boots, with a saber on his waist and a rifle in his hand, he marched towards the St. Augustine block with a solemn face.

"Army gangsters." On the deck of "Eagle of the East Coast", Lu Ming, holding a binoculars in his hand, moaned weakly, "This formation is for fear that others will not know that we are from the East Coast. This formation , It’s a bit like a war of pirates swarming, let’s just raise the national flag and navy ensign.”

"Hehe. People in the army are not good at fighting. They have their own way of making battles and ostentation. You didn't see that Peng Zhicheng, who was wearing a general officer's uniform all day long, and he was wearing white Gloves, heh, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked, I think it's normal." Wang Tiehammer also laughed, complaining about the army is a common hobby of the navy.

The Spaniards on the city wall and the remaining pirates in the block also looked at this neatly lined and well-armed "white shirt" army stupidly until they entered the block.The resistance in the block can be said to be negligible. After all, there are only a few idiots who dare to carry out suicide attacks against dozens of cannons on the river and more than 200 rifles in front of them. Most people choose to surrender their weapons rationally.

Daoist Shou, who was temporarily acting as the acting company commander of the Security Force, and his deputy Anda Fifteen, led their new recruits and pulled all the surrendered pirates to the open land by the river bank to guard them, and then searched the pirates one by one. property.These guys captured most of St. Augustine's block before, and they got a lot of property, so they have to spit it out now.

The pirates were a little agitated, and some emotional pirates shouted loudly in languages ​​that the soldiers could not understand.

"Bah! The Fanmao pirates don't know how to live or die. They are still so arrogant after they have become prisoners. Thank you for your order, but if any captives disobey orders, make loud noises, or flee with weapons, they will all be killed." Security The Taoist Priest Changshou of the Army Company snorted coldly, and said, "Anda, you take two platoons to go, and if you find anyone who fits these three conditions, shoot them all."

"Hay!" Anda Shiwu stood at attention and responded, and then led two platoons of security forces soldiers to rush towards him viciously.A platoon of soldiers stopped 60 meters away, lined up in two rows after loading their guns with ammunition, and 50 muskets were aimed at this side.

Anda Fifteen led another fifty soldiers with sharp sabers, charged into the group of pirates, and kicked the noisy pirates standing there to the ground one by one.Those who resisted a little were stabbed head-on, and after some cleaning up, with the help of the dozen or so headless corpses on the ground, Anda Fifteen managed to silence all the fierce pirates, and honestly squatted on the ground with their hands behind their heads .

Once the pirates were subdued, the rest was easy.The soldiers searched one by one, and collected all kinds of coins, jewelry and some valuable property from them and their packages, and piled them on the bank of the river.At the same time, the work of clearing up the property scattered in the block is also proceeding in an orderly manner.A sentry army regular army blocked all the shops, warehouses, churches and other buildings in the block, and then sent personnel to check the property inside; while the remaining 50 security forces soldiers entered the various residential buildings in groups of twos and threes , Pick up belongings and money left in the house.

Three hours later, this group of locust-like soldiers finally cleaned up the entire block.Thousands of furs, tons of cotton, brightly colored textiles, rare dyes and spices, precious Brazilian mahogany, cured meat and tallow, and a lot of gold and silver piled up on the banks of the river, and the hard-working Charuya sailors took boats These materials were sorted and packaged one by one, and then transported to the three warships moored in the heart of the Matanzas River.

The army soldiers who cleared the block did not delay. They destroyed several cannons left by the pirates, and then filed back to the river bank.At this time, the Spaniards who had been watching on the city wall for a long time finally sent an officer to negotiate.

"Gentlemen, I am Alessis, Second Lieutenant of the Royal Spanish Army. Please identify yourself." The Spanish officer whose clothes and body smelled of gunpowder asked vigilantly.

Xie Hansan's Spanish wasn't very good, but he still roughly understood the meaning of the Spanish envoy's words. "You don't need to know our identities, you just need to know that we saved you—poor Spaniards, and these supplies will be the reward we ask for. Of course, we will rest here for a few days, and we may Use the facilities at your shipyard by the river."

"But these goods are the common property of the gentlemen and citizens of St. Augustine, and you have no right to dispose of them." The Spanish envoy was still arguing, "This is the jurisdiction of the Governor of New Spain in the Kingdom of Spain. You can only use any of our facilities after permission, provided that you accept our supervision."

"Mr. Second Lieutenant!" Xie Hansan raised his voice impatiently: "I think clarifying some things may help you to recognize the facts. Are you a local?"

"No, I am from Almeria."

"Then, I think it is necessary for me to explain to you the history of St. Augustine and the Matanzas River." Xie Hansan said.

"Please... please tell me."

"In 1565, Menendez led a fleet to attack Fort Carolina, a stronghold of a group of French Protestants near St. Augustine. After he defeated the French, he not only demolished the French castle, but also carried out inhumane crimes here. The massacre, almost all French residents and their Indian allies were massacred. And this is where the Matanzas River comes from. Lieutenant, you should know what Matanzas means in Spanish, Yes, it means 'massacre'." Xie Hansan looked at the warships moored in the river and the Spanish fortress on the river bank, and said with a frosty face: "I believe that neither you nor I want to see what happened here in 69 years. There is a second massacre. Go back, lieutenant, and report my words to your commander, who will forgive you."

The pale-faced Spanish officer went back to the castle to report his orders. Xie Hansan didn't bother to pay attention to him, and continued to organize people to carry supplies.At this time, the "Red Trout" gunboat carried a sentry army soldier, and under the order of Lu Ming, it began to sail to the mouth of the Matanzas River.There is also a pirate ship that is being repaired because it hit a rock and ran aground. There is no reason for the privateer formation to let it go. Under the current situation, if the pirate ship does not surrender wisely, they will be too stupid, because the firepower It would be no trouble for the mighty gunboat Red Trout to plank them up.

(End of this chapter)