Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1264 The Striking Fleet: On the Way

On October 1660, 10, off the coast of South Africa, a ship composed of 1 ships cut through the waves and traveled through the storm.

I don't know if it is because of the confluence of cold and warm currents, the weather off the coast of South Africa has been very bad, especially after Cape Town to the east.Over the years, there are no more than ten ships on the east coast that have been wrecked in this sea area. Large clipper cargo ships, flute-shaped transport ships, motor sailboats and even a navy escort gunboat. Personnel caused considerable losses.

The sail escort gunship "Big Red Squid" transferred from the Third Fleet was sailing on the sea with difficulty at this time.The wind was blowing from the southwest today, and it was so strong that the "Big Red Squid" was forced to take up part of the top and foremast sails.It was almost evening, and due to the bad weather, it was already difficult to see the surroundings clearly on the sea. The captain, Lieutenant Cai Anguo, ordered to light up all the lights in order to keep echoes with other ships in the fleet.

After nightfall, the wind became stronger, and the sudden big waves hit the ship twice, half of the deck was flooded, and some newly recruited sailors shouted in panic: "The ship is going to sink! The ship is going to sink!"

Cai Anguo, who was holding a candle to check the chart, snorted coldly when he heard the news, and led several officers and non-commissioned officers down to the deck.After walking hard on the shaky deck for a while, Lieutenant Cai Anguo grabbed the panicked sailor, slapped him across the face, and said angrily, "The ship is fine! No more f****** Ji Wai Wai I threw you into the sea, now, go to the cabin to bail me out, immediately! Immediately!"

"Where's the damage control team? I want to see the water pump start working within 10 minutes, otherwise it will be done by military law!" After holding onto a railing and stabilizing his body, Cai Anguo calmly began to order: "You little bastards, I've seen bigger waves than this at Cape Horn. It's nothing at all. As long as we don't make mistakes, the 'Big Red Squid' can take us all the way to Xinhua Island."

The well-trained damage control team rushed to the scene quickly, but due to the increasing wind and waves on the sea, the pumps slid back and forth on the deck, and people were a little unable to stand, so they had to lie on the ground and crawl all the way to pump water .It began to rain outside, and the sea and the sky seemed to be one color, with thunder and lightning above and foam splashing below, like a pot of boiling water. However, fortunately, the 120 officers and men of the ship were united and worked hard, and finally the ship turned from danger to safety and passed the night of lightning and thunder safely.

After dawn, the "Big Red Squid" was pleasantly surprised to find that not far in front of her was the battleship "August [-]th" - which is also the flagship of the entire fleet, and Minister of the Navy Li Yi is on board - which means that they were on board yesterday. It was good luck that the night was not separated from the main fleet due to bad weather!

The sea conditions gradually calmed down during the day, as if the Dragon Lord had vented his anger last night, now the wind has decreased and the wave height has decreased, and in the afternoon, there is such a hint of calm. The weather on the sea is really strange !Li Yi ordered the entire fleet to stay nearby for two days to wait for the three ships lost in the storm last night-two battleships and a water supply ship.

On October 10, the lucky battleships "Great Wall of the Sea" and "National Will" finally appeared in everyone's eyes. They seemed to be lost in the storm, and it took a lot of effort to re-establish their course and catch up. The water supply ship "Grocery Merchant No. 3" was missing, maybe it was wrecked, maybe it lost its course, no one can figure it out.

On October 10th, Minister Li Yi, who had been waiting for two days, finally ran out of patience. He ordered the entire fleet to raise their sails and continue heading east. They had no time to wait here, because the combat mission was urgent. For every extra day wasted at sea, Xinhua would have to endure an extra day of suffering.

After the 5th, the weather gradually began to turn bad again, but it was still within everyone's tolerance. However, on October 10th, it may be because it was close to the east coast of South Africa-here the Agulhas warm current and the Benguela cold current Intense confluence, changeable weather—because of the reason, the weather became bad again.In the morning, everyone could still vaguely see the outline of the land. In the afternoon, the sky was shrouded in dark clouds, and then it rained heavily. Everyone's brows were wrinkled again. This weather is really tormenting!

"The ship is bumping very badly, and the ropes on the mast are too tight. Bosun, send someone to relax immediately. I don't want to see any problems with the mast." Looking at the mast, he asked, "Is there any crack in the mainmast? Is the sail damaged?"

"No, sir, everything is fine." Second Lieutenant Zhang Zhijun, the first officer, walked over quickly. He had a childish face after graduating from Bingtuanbao, but he was very proficient in business skills, and he was also very proficient in all the knowledge necessary for sailing. He knows everything well, and it can be seen that he is very attentive in school, and he is deeply liked by Cai Anguo. He has said in public many times that he will have a bright future in the future.

"Pay attention. The wind is too strong now. If there is a crack in the mast, please notify me immediately, and then remove the top mast. We can't afford to lose the mast. We mainly rely on it during sailing. Once the top mast breaks and is blown to the ground At sea, we can only drive the ship to the shore and run aground, which is a great failure for us."

On October 10th, the 9 officers and men of the "Big Red Squid" passed under the full attention of vigilance. The sky cleared up the next morning, and the golden sun hung in the eastern sky, shining on everyone. Warm.Today the wind turned to the southeast, and Cai Anguo ordered to raise the topsail and topsail which were lowered yesterday, so as to increase the speed and bite the figure of the main fleet—most of the "grandchildren" have steam power assistance, and in bad weather The survival rate is higher than them, and the speed is the same, so most of the time, sail escort gunboats like the "Big Red Squid" are trying to catch up behind.

And as if they had run out of bad luck, the rest of the voyage was extremely easy for everyone—except for the bad weather when they approached Xinhuaxia Island, which forced them to sail eastward to stay away from the source of danger.

On October 10, under the blowing of the southeast wind, the entire fleet quietly stopped in the sea off Daze Township on the east coast of Xinhua Island.Minister Li Yi sent someone to inform that each ship should find anchor in still water by itself, and then send small boats ashore to rest or replenish.After drifting on the sea for so long, it is indeed time to take a good rest. This will also benefit the next sea battle with the Portuguese. It will be a battle to determine the dominance of the sea in the Western Indian Ocean, so it should not be ignored!

Daze Township has only been established for more than a year. At present, there are more than 1800 settlers who make a living by growing corn, taro, bananas and other crops.Of course, they also planted a lot of vegetables to sell to ships passing by. This is a common phenomenon in every coastal port. After all, for residents in some poor areas, vegetable gardens may be the only thing that can steadily obtain a large amount of cash.

The logistics procurement manager of the flagship "August [-]th" was ordered by Li Yi to purchase dozens of emaciated goats in Daze Township, and then distributed them to the ships for everyone to fight their teeth. This has boosted everyone's morale to a certain extent .

Cai Anguo also sent his loyal and capable lieutenant, Lieutenant Zhang Zhijun, ashore to purchase a lot of vegetables, onions, lettuce, peas, bananas, taro and other food, and then ordered the chef to kill the sheep that had been sent back. A glass of beer was distributed to each person-thankfully, the barrel was not lost in the two storms, which was a blessing in misfortune-the atmosphere of the whole ship suddenly became lively, as if this was not a march, but a battle. Feast at sea.

The steaming hot mutton soup was first served to more than [-] patients lying in hammocks. They all fell ill one after another during the voyage, but they all seemed to be fine, and they should all recover after recuperation.Some crew members hung fat on the top of the wooden sticks and hooked a few greedy black-spotted seagulls. Residents on the shore rowed their boats to sell wild pigeons, wild geese, parrots and sea turtles. Cai Anguo asked them to buy them all. Then mix it with seaweed and stew soup to eat, and improve everyone’s food—it’s good to have your own port nearby, otherwise the sailors will never get this kind of treatment, and their morale and health will not be much better.

"I heard that these wild geese and pigeons are plentiful on Xinhua Island, and they are very stupid and not afraid of people at all. When you get close to them, they often don't realize the danger and have no intention of taking off at all, so you can Take it easy and beat them to death with a wooden stick, otherwise, why do you think the residents of Daze Township would sell you so much wild game?" Said the sailor with a pockmarked face after taking a big gulp of beer, showing his yellow teeth, and spitting : "I heard that there is another kind of parrot. When you catch it and squeeze it hard, it will make a loud whining sound. At this time, for some reason, the nearby parrots will definitely fly over when they hear it, as if they want to solve the problem. It is average, willing to catch them together rather than fly away. At this time, your chance comes again. You can catch them all in one go, take them all back to barbecue and eat them, and the feathers can be sold for extra money. Oh , This is really a wonderful place, if it weren’t for my hometown in Luocha County, my beloved wife and five lovely children, I would have settled down here, because life here is not difficult at all.”

Second Lieutenant Zhang Zhijun listened quietly from the side. He is an officer, and the navy is notoriously hierarchical. As a self-respecting man, he naturally would not participate in the bragging of his subordinates, but this did not prevent him. Listening to "Big Yellow Tooth" telling anecdotes from various places - he is an old seaman, and he is not too young. He is from Italy and has no hope of promotion because of his extremely low education level. He will probably retire after this battle and return to his hometown. Since then, I have lived a peaceful pastoral life.

Yes, after this battle, the Portuguese will probably be able to wake up.At that time, everyone will become heroes and receive the cheers of the people at the local pier. Cai Anguo, Zhang Zhijun and other military officers who have made great achievements seem to have seen the beautiful scene of themselves waving to the welcoming people on the deck .

On October 10, the whole fleet set sail again, following the steady southeast wind and against the warm current of Mozambique, heading for Xinhua Port at the northern tip of Xinhuaxia Island.Along the way, they passed Tacheng Port, saw the famous Guihua Island (St. Mary Island), crossed Antongjier Bay, which is said to be full of pirates, and finally entered Xinhua Bay at noon on October 21, and then separated The batch was moored at the pier, and the voyage, which lasted nearly two months, has finally come to an end.

On October 10, when our ships entered the dock in batches for maintenance, the "Fubo Wanli", which has been fighting the enemy in the Mozambique Strait for the past two months, entered the port for maintenance. Know the situation outside.

It turned out that ever since Captain Moreel led two battleships to join the Second Fleet's battle order, the people on the east coast fought more vigorously on the coast of East Africa.During the two months, they successively sank seven or eight Portuguese transport ships (mostly offshore Junk ships), and at the same time played a landing at the mouth of the Zambezi River. But there is no way.In addition, in the process of actively mobilizing the enemy, they seized the opportunity and successively sank an armed merchant ship and a professional warship of the enemy. The blockade of various ports on Xinhua Island has reduced a lot of trade losses.

Of course, in the past two months, it is impossible for the people on the east coast to take advantage of the Portuguese. In fact, at the beginning of this month, an armed merchant ship of the Second Fleet, which was transporting supplies to Mianhe Port, was killed by an unexpected Portuguese warship. Block it, and sink it.In addition, a 1200-ton large clipper cargo ship traveling between the mainland and Xinhua Port was sunk by the Portuguese, and a flute-shaped transport ship returned from Persia by the East African Transportation Company was captured outside Xinhua Port. Persian raw silk, ceramic tiles, blankets, dried fruit and livestock fell into the pockets of the Portuguese, and the losses were enormous.

It can be seen that this kind of bloodletting war of attrition is very uncomfortable for either side. Therefore, after the fleet of the people from the east coast arrived, it is believed that if they gather to seek a decisive battle off the coast of Mozambique, the Portuguese They should not refuse, they should be very impatient.

On November 1660, 11, the battleships "Control the East" and "National Will" also entered the port for maintenance.At this time, the warships on the east coast gathered here included 5 battleships, 7 escort gunboats, 6 fast cruiser, and 1 auxiliary ships with no combat effectiveness. The combat effectiveness was already quite impressive.

(End of this chapter)