Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 160 Wolves ([-])

On December 12, the port of Recife, Brazil.

After supplying fresh water, fresh vegetables and fruits, the escort squadron left the port under the rule of the Dutch, and then the whole fleet turned northwest, heading towards the Windy Islands.

After the Second Escort Squadron left, the two fast boats in the Recife Wharf left the port as soon as possible, and also sailed northwest.At the same time, a message in the port began to spread at a fast speed: that is, the fleet of the people on the east coast has all sailed towards the Caribbean Sea. At present, there are only a few fishing boats in their local ports. Maybe everyone has a chance Try your luck on the rich East Coast.

Although most of the captains are relatively stable and cautious, they have certain doubts about the authenticity of this news, but there are still some Dutch and British captains who are fascinated by money.That afternoon, several boats left the pier in Recife and headed south.

On the northern sea of ​​Recife, inside the bridge of the battleship "Common Market", Wang Tiehammer held up binoculars and carefully observed the two fast ships looming on the sea behind him.It was a three-masted sailing ship with an aspect ratio close to five to one, and its downwind speed reached about 10 knots, faster than any ship in the east coast escort fleet.

"It's really lingering!" Wang Tiehammer muttered, and then began to order: "Fly the green follow flag, and the whole fleet turns to the east by 20 degrees to the north. Pay attention to adjust the yards and sail with the crosswind."

Under Wang Tiechui's order, the escort squadron, which had long been prepared to be watched by the enemy, began to turn slowly on the sea surface.

Lieutenant Han Dezhi's battleship "Maritime Writer" went first, followed by two heavy transport ships "Penglai" and "Yingzhou" full of potatoes and munitions; the French armed merchant ship "Nightingale" followed closely Afterwards, the battleship "Red Trout" sailed hundreds of meters to the right rear of the "Nightingale" to protect; the battleship "Common Market" fell to the rear.

Considering the complicated and treacherous situation to be faced in this escort operation, the Admiralty decided to abandon the popular route along the Recife-Windward Islands-the east coast of North America to Bees after some serious discussions before sailing. The route of opening the bay, and then chose a relatively unpopular route of Recife-Gulf of Guinea-Canary Islands-Bay of Biscay.

The privateer fleet had only sailed this route once before. Since it sailed against the ocean current, the ships could only rely on the direction of the wind, so it was relatively difficult.But also because of this, there are fewer miscellaneous forces on this unpopular route, and the safety is much stronger than that of the chaotic Caribbean Sea.

The entire escort formation sailed eastward against the westward current, and the sailors ran around on the deck, constantly adjusting the yards so that the sails could take advantage of the force of the crosswind as much as possible. The six ships sailed at two knots. Slowly moving forward.There is only one of the two fast boats in the rear, and the other one has disappeared. Maybe it is to report to the fleet cruising on the nearby sea.

Wang Tiehammer put down the binoculars and sat back on the bridge.Before he set off, he had never expected that the voyage would be smooth, but this feeling as if he was being watched by a wolf still made him feel very uncomfortable.

Of course he was still a little nervous. It was the first time for him to command such a large sailing fleet, and he was also facing the difficult situation of the country and Britain at this time. The pressure can be imagined.The Navy has only such a small fortune at present, one person dies one less, and one ship sinks one less, but it can't stand too much trouble.

"I don't know who are the people who are stalking at sea. I guess they can only be the British. The Dutch don't have the time to play hide-and-seek with us at sea. I don't know where the British ships are hidden. , how far is it from here, their ships are empty, and the speed should not be slow, maybe they can catch up before they arrive at Fort Elmina in West Africa." Wang Tiehui was thinking wildly while drinking the green tea brewed by the orderlies. with.

On December 12, the Clippers that disappeared before reappeared on the sea behind.At the same time as she arrived, the clipper ship that had been following the escort squadron for the past few days finally disappeared, and it was unknown where it went.

Yesterday, Wang Tiechui ordered the "Red Trout" to turn around and try to attack the clipper that was following closely.But he regretted to find that the speed of the opponent's ship was indeed very fast, and the "Red Trout" was no match at all, so he had no choice but to give up and continue to endure the shameless stalking of the opponent.

Today, it is even more unscrupulous to come to "take over" another Clippers.She stuck close to the rear of the entire fleet almost all day long, performing close surveillance, which made all the officers and soldiers of the escort squadron very indignant.

"Our ship type still needs to be optimized." Wang Tiehammer said to his adjutant, Navy Ensign Anchu, depressedly.

After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for An Chu to answer, and continued to mutter to himself: "The aspect ratio must be enlarged to at least five to one, the center of gravity must be lowered, and more rigging and jib sails must be installed, otherwise the speed will never be able to keep up. Come on. Especially when the wind direction or ocean current is not right, look at our speed now, it is not much different from a turtle crawling. Otherwise, why should we let the two followers behind us be so contemptuous?"

An Chu smiled awkwardly.

He could see that Wang Tiehui was a little nervous. In the past few days, he hadn't slept well almost every day. He often got up from bed in the middle of the night and went to the deck to check on the sailors on duty.During the day, he took the trouble to go around every corner of the ship several times, and ordered the sailors to make corrections to any places he thought were inappropriate, as if to relieve pressure in this way.

This is the gap.An Chu secretly sighed. Compared with the lightness of Lieutenant Commander Lu Ming's lifting, Wang Tiechui was still a little bit worse after all, and he couldn't achieve Lu Ming's calm demeanor.

Wang Tiechui chatted with An Chu for a while, and then went to check the artillery positions.

The next day, the escort squadron continued to sail on the Atlantic Ocean.This is already the North Atlantic Ocean north of the equator. Due to the relatively strong air pressure in the South Atlantic Ocean, a strong southwest wind has always prevailed on the sea.And it is this southwest wind that has provided sufficient power for the entire fleet so far.

Of course, the southwest wind is not always good.

At noon on December 12, two three-masted sailboats appeared on the southwest sea, with a speed of about 6 knots to 2.5 knots.They did not fly any flags to identify themselves, and followed at a leisurely pace.For this kind of ship, old sailors who have been on the sea for a long time know that more than 3% of them may be pirate ships, and the remaining 80.00% ​​may be pirate ships that are temporarily guested by warships or armed merchant ships of a certain country.In either case, you may soon be out of luck.

The appearance of these two ships made the escort squadron's nerves tense up.Under the orders of the officers, the gunner took off the gun cover on the artillery, and the ammunition man also placed the shells and propellant packs in place one by one. The gunner of each gun stared grimly at the new "enemy" that appeared behind.

The gunner stood on the gun deck of the stern tower, stretched out his right hand and kept making gestures, estimating the distance between the two sides by visual method.Then he carefully observed the undulations of the waves on the sea, the direction of the wind, and the strength of the wind, in order to know what to expect when shooting, and strive to hit the enemy ship as soon as possible.

In the evening, a three-masted galleon reappeared on the west sea. It can be clearly seen through the telescope. There are about 20 cast iron cannons on the deck of the sailing ship, and the sailors in tatters are still Pointing to the ships of the escort squadron.

This situation made Wang Tiehammer very worried.There are more and more hostile ships in the field of vision. In addition to the two fast ships that have been monitoring behind, there are also three three-masted Galen ships.These three ships are conservatively estimated to carry more than fifty artillery pieces. Although their artillery caliber, range, rate of fire, and accuracy are far inferior to our own, there is no guarantee that a few more enemy ships will appear in the next few days. If it is not good.

Wang Tiehammer felt that his escort squadron was like a herd of buffaloes migrating on the African grasslands. Ferocious predators were always behind them, waiting for the right time to deal him a fatal blow, or at least to tear off a large piece of meat. .

"Immediately take the traffic boat to communicate with the ships. After nightfall, turn to the northeast. All the lights of the ships are turned off, and no movement is allowed. The weather is not very good today, and the visibility at night will be very poor. We can no longer hesitate, and turn at night. Get rid of them. Otherwise, God knows how many followers will increase tomorrow." Wang Tiehammer gritted his teeth and said, the enemies behind him have put too much pressure on him these two days, and he can hardly bear it.

"Are we not going to Fort Elmina?" An Chu somewhat understood Wang Tiehammer's mood, but he still reminded: "The fresh water and fresh fruits and vegetables on our ship are limited. If we don't go to Ghana, we can only go to Cape Verde to resupply Yes. It is very dangerous there. The nearby Gambia is the sphere of influence of the British Guyana Traders Company (also known as the New Africa Company). They build cities and dig gold mines there. I heard that there are still many ships. We passed by there Is it inappropriate..."

"Go and execute it, Second Lieutenant! I know what I know." Wang Tiehammer ordered firmly.

An Chu saluted helplessly, then selected sailors to put down a transportation boat, and rowed towards the two merchant ships of the South China Sea Transportation Company behind.The next coordination operation will be very complicated. It is necessary to shuttle back and forth between each ship. It is already more than three o'clock in the afternoon. If you don't hurry up, it is very likely that the entire coordination and liaison work will not be completed before nightfall. .

(End of this chapter)