Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1270 Escorting the Storm ([-])

The destination is the 10 transport ships in the United Provinces and the Baltic Sea. Because of the short distance, they are escorted by the two escort gunboats allocated; as for the remaining thirty transport ships, there are four battleships, eight escort gunboats and three Escorted by an auxiliary ship, he left the Brittany Peninsula, crossed the Bay of Biscay, and sailed south along the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Of course, in order to avoid unnecessary troubles during their voyage, they did not take the initiative to provoke the Portuguese. However, considering the particularity of this voyage, Major Ding Wei, who led the team, was on the morning of January 1661, 1. Order the entire fleet to prepare for battle in case of any eventuality.

At this time, on the "Executive Committee", Lieutenant Li, who was the second officer, was doing the roll call. Except for those on duty and those who were sick, all the more than 800 crew members had been counted, and no one was missing.After the roll call, Lieutenant Li waved his hand and asked all the sailors to practice around the mast, and the gunners also followed the instructions to do actual combat exercises to enhance everyone's professional proficiency.

In the afternoon, the entire fleet quietly arrived off the Minho River.At this time, the quiet Portuguese border town is still shrouded in tranquility—the fighting Portuguese army has surrounded and wiped out thousands of Spaniards, and then invaded the Galicia region—if you listen carefully, there is a On the farmland and the small pier, some poems can still be chanted vaguely——

"The great rivers and mountains of the lovely motherland,

Gradually disappear from our field of vision.

Tejo River and the clear water and green hills of Sintra,

Let us see through our eyes,

The heart stays in the lovely land,

My heart is full of sorrow,

When everything disappears from the horizon,

Only the sea and sky are left in front of my eyes. "

If you recite the passages in the "Song of the Lusitanians" in Portuguese, you will find that both the rhythm and the combination of proper nouns and rhymes are very effective.Camões is worthy of being an outstanding poet of the last century. He lived in the golden age of Portugal. Most of his poems eulogized navigation, conquest and adventure, just like the frontier poems of the later Tang Dynasty. He is very famous.

However, Portugal's decline was also sharp and fast, and now, just 100 years later, they seem to be at the mercy of others (except for the Spaniards, who have been defeated repeatedly and have lost large areas of their land to the Portuguese) The aura of the former navigating pioneers is also eclipsed by the comparison of the newcomers such as the United Provinces and England.

Today, January 1661, 1, the suffering of the Portuguese appears to have taken on yet another dimension: their land is once again overrun by infidels, after the expulsion of the Moors hundreds of years earlier.

"Boom! Boom!" The howling shells interrupted the beautiful poetry on the shore in an instant, and the three-deck battleship "Executive Committee" sailed near the mouth of the river, and then anchored on the sea surface above the soft seabed about six or seven meters deep. This place was within the range of a 12-pounder shot from the shore.

The terrifying 32-pound long-barreled heavy guns fired towards the shore non-stop. The shells it fired became more and more accurate, and many houses had been destroyed.Even a stone church that seemed to be very solid, became less dazzling under the bombardment of many shells. Not only were there holes on the wall, but even the bricks and stones were blown away a lot.

After battling with the current and wind for half a day, the four escort gunboats anchored on both sides of the "Executive Committee" and then opened the gun windows, firing many experimental projectiles at the Portuguese. town.Unlike the "Executive Committee" which focuses on large buildings - such as manors, churches, warehouses, barracks, etc. - the four escort gunboats mostly target living facilities such as shops, houses, markets, etc. Not bad results.Especially in the crowded market, the fishermen returning from the sea are selling their catches to others, and the merchants from afar are selling flour, cheese and some cheap bacon from the Spanish occupation area. The bombardment of the four escort gunboats on the east coast Great confusion was caused to them, many were killed and wounded by the bouncing projectiles, and of course many more were trampled to death by the chaotic and panicked crowd.

The bombardment lasted only 10 to [-] minutes, and the bustling market turned into a ghost: Dozens of dead people lay motionless on the ground, donating blood all over the place; fishy smelling salted fish, bright and pleasant fruits , Baked outside scorched on the inside tender bread, etc. scattered on the ground, no one cares; some wounded and children sat on the ground crying helplessly, looking at the giant sea monsters that were constantly spraying flames with despairing eyes.

"Huh!" Another 18-pound hollow iron bullet hit the house, and the wooden beam broke with a crash, just hitting a crying child, and then the crying stopped abruptly.The old sailor with a broken leg was lying on the ground crying, remembering that he set sail with the old captain here, went to Brazil, Mozambique, and fought for the king on the island of Ceylon for five years. Wherever the heretics went, they all ended up lying on the ground and begging for their forgiveness. When did this kind of heretics bring such a powerful warship to the mainland of Portugal to carry out unscrupulous killings?

The shelling by the people on the east bank continued until the evening sun set, and then several warships pulled anchor and left one after another.And just when the Portuguese on the shore rejoiced that the nightmare was finally over, as the tide rose rapidly, the people on the east coast sent a number of warships to approach them, this time they got closer (because the water depth was higher than during the day) many), within a rifle round of the Portuguese town.

The bombardment, which was more intense than in the afternoon, began at nightfall. A total of seven warships on the east coast bombarded heavily with broadside artillery, and the Portuguese town was suddenly in a mess.Before departure, the captains of the warships received orders from Major Ding Wei—and this was an order from Mo Ming, the chief of staff of the national armed forces—to keep firing as long as the guns were affordable.So now you can see that the hulls of warships lined up on the sea outside the Minho River are constantly stirring, but they are still sending shells to the Portuguese towns and ports on the shore. After the iron bomb was finished, it was replaced with an explosive bomb, and it took several hours to stop.

In the middle of the night, Major Ding Wei mobilized people from various ships to form a team of about 200 people. These people rowed boats, armed with rifles, and landed on the shore under the cover of artillery fire.After the landing, the navy temporarily stopped shelling, and the landing officers and soldiers, led by a naval lieutenant, searched for the Portuguese town.But they soon encountered obstacles. The Portuguese built a parapet outside the strongest church in the town. The people on the east bank tried to attack, but the Portuguese suppressed it with a violent volley of guns.After six or seven people were killed or injured, the officers and men who landed on the east bank had to retreat. They felt that the Portuguese in the town were determined to resist, so there was no need to fight with them here. It would be better to plow them with artillery fire. , no matter how many people can be killed, let's destroy their town first.

The shelling didn't end until the next morning. Major Ding Wei looked through the binoculars on the deck of the "East Shore Doctrine", and saw that the urban area of ​​this once prosperous fishing port had been greatly damaged, and a large number of houses had collapsed. ——Even if it didn’t collapse, the damage was serious—the number of dead and injured residents was no less than [-], which is already a terrible casualty for the Kingdom of Portugal.Fortunately, they heroically organized the landing test of naval officers and soldiers on the east coast. Otherwise, perhaps this town would fall into an even more tragic abyss. It is not impossible for all residents to go bankrupt or be taken into slavery.

After the bombardment, the people on the east coast finished their breakfast at sea. They had bought a lot of fresh food in the Brittany Peninsula before, so the breakfast was relatively rich.After eating, Major Ding Wei ordered the whole fleet to pull anchor and set sail. After finishing formation at sea, they swaggered south along the coast of Portugal and headed for the Strait of Gibraltar.They will cross the strait there and enter the Mediterranean Sea. When they arrive at that place, it may be difficult for the Portuguese to chase them in.After all, it is more of the back garden of the Spaniards. Although their Mediterranean fleet is extremely shabby, it is more or less a deterrent to the Portuguese.

On the night of January 1, the East Coaster's fleet sailed safely off the coast of Lisbon.Perhaps because of the tight time, the Portuguese fleet has not had time to move (the fleet is not a matter of a day or two); of course, it may also be that many of their ships have gone out for transportation. Many of the ships are armed merchant ships recruited temporarily. It is impossible for them to fight for the country without restriction; Well, Major Ding Wei once speculated maliciously that the Portuguese fleet that was said to have sailed northward from the sea off Angola was wrecked at sea. ?Of course, this possibility is not very high, and the people on the east coast are just making random guesses.

On the night of the 13th, the convoy entered the port of Cadiz.The Spaniards were not very willing to let the east coast fleet enter the port at one time, but after many negotiations, these guys finally recognized the situation and reluctantly let the east coast people in.However, perhaps because of discrimination against heretics or jealousy, they tried their best to shirk the request of the East Coast people to replenish ammunition, and finally only sold a small part, which made the East Coast managers who purchased them extremely annoyed.And not only that, the supply of cattle and sheep, fresh water, vegetables and fruits is two or three times the market price, which makes people think that Spain is really a wonderful country-it's hard to beat these guys who don't know the current situation of their country and who they are relying on what?

It is said that the wedding between Princess Teresa of Spain and King Louis XIV of France has been held on the border of West France. Spain not only ceded many lands in the Southern Netherland, the Pyrenees and the territory of Shenluo, but was also forced to agree To pay the French a dowry of up to 50 gold crowns—something like war reparations, but paid in a respectable way—the whole country is disgraced and disgraced, the Habsburgs The prestige of the dynasty plummeted, the dissatisfaction of the nobles in the country intensified, the land wars with Portugal suffered a series of disastrous defeats, and the places where separatists such as Catalonia, Aragon, and Basques gathered together resurged for independence. The situation was simply a mess, but it was still It is incomprehensible not to be able to break the inexplicable sense of superiority of these Spanish officials on the docks in the port of Cadiz.

Perhaps only long-term failure, poverty, turmoil, and the despise of foreigners, consciously or unintentionally, can make these Spaniards, who are still immersed in the glory of decades ago, sober.A doomed, hopeless country!

In the early morning of January 1, just as the fleet on the east coast was about to depart for the Mediterranean Sea, a Dutch merchant ship sailing in from the open sea brought everyone the latest news: at least twenty Portuguese ships were gathered in the open sea. looking for trouble.

After hearing the news, Major Ding Wei, who took his seat immediately, called the captains of the ships for a meeting. The meeting was very simple and the time was short.Major Ding Wei believes that the Portuguese fleet risked a naval battle with the Spaniards and entered the waters off the Gulf of Cadiz with the intention of seeking revenge on the people on the east coast.Maybe they were unwilling to do this before, but after the convoy bombarded the mouth of the Minho River and caused a lot of Portuguese casualties, if they didn't take any action, they would be no different from dead people!

But that's good too, at least the escorting ships on the east coast don't have to worry about the safety of the transport fleet anymore, don't they?Ever since, Major Ding Wei gave an order, and a total of twelve warships on the east coast began to leave the port slowly. After gathering in the open sea, they immediately rushed towards the direction indicated by the Dutch.The enemy is only more than 20 ships (among which there must be many armed merchant ships temporarily recruited), and I have 12 professional warships that have been trained all the year round, and there are shocking three-deck war machines. Afraid of these Portuguese guys?

At noon that day, there was no cloud in the Bay of Cadiz, and the southwest wind was force five.This kind of weather caused certain difficulties for people on the east coast to leave the port, so that all 8 sail escort gunboats had to turn hard under the wind of the Portuguese fleet. Although the 4 battleships were assisted by steam power, in order to maintain the formation At this time, they were also in the leeward direction of the Portuguese, which made the Portuguese see a glimmer of hope. They immediately adjusted the yards, followed the ocean current and the southwest wind, and rushed straight to the formation of the people on the east coast at the speed of an arrow. He planned to copy to the rear and launch a fierce bombardment.

At 10:30 in the morning, the two professional warships of the Portuguese approached first. In order to prevent the entire fleet from being seized by them at the end of T, the battleship "Executive Committee" with a displacement of 1730 tons and a full 108 guns burned its boilers to The most prosperous, adjusted its course and bravely greeted it; at the same time, another battleship "Indomitable" also slammed the steering wheel to the right, intending to interfere with the obliquely approaching Portuguese fleet, and to cover the smooth steering of the frigate formation behind. .

"Boom!" At eleven o'clock in the morning, as the bow gun of the Portuguese "Pereira" three-masted battleship fired the first shell of the day, it meant that this naval battle, which was watched by many people, officially kicked off.

(End of this chapter)