Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 162 Wolves (Part [-])

After the rain, the Second Escort Squadron of the First Fleet sailed on the calm sea.

Today is December 12th, and 25 days have passed since the last naval battle in the rainy night.That night, the battleship "Common Market" was like a fierce general galloping on the battlefield. Not only did it cut off its locked opponent, but it also drove back a group of enemies.

After the hasty naval battle and the first record of sinking the "Common Market" battleship, the entire fleet first sailed northward for three days, then turned eastward, and finally got rid of the gang who had been tired since leaving Brazil. The British pirate ship that has been lingering in the port of Cife.

Wang Tiechui's tension, anxiety and uneasiness along the way were all thrown into the Atlantic Ocean along with the naval battle.At this moment, he is in a very comfortable mood. In the past 20 days, the entire fleet has been safe and sound. Occasionally, a few suspected pirate ships encountered such a strong lineup immediately turned and ran as far as possible. .

The front is not far from Cape Verde, where the fleet will replenish and rest for a day, and then head north along the coast of Africa, heading towards the Bay of Biscay.If there are no accidents, the entire escort squadron will arrive in Bordeaux at the end of January 1637.

On December 12, the entire fleet sailed into the port of Praia in the Cape Verde Islands in a low-key manner.Praia, which means beach, was the center of Portuguese rule in the Cape Verde Islands.The relationship between the East Coast Republic and the Portuguese is relatively good at this stage, and the ships of both sides can basically berth and replenish freely in the other's commercial port.

Wang Tiechui did not allow the sailors to enter the city for entertainment.Now is an extraordinary period, and the task of escorting is heavy, and there is no room for sloppy.Therefore, he just sent two officers and a small number of sailors to the pier to negotiate with the Portuguese, so as to replenish fresh water, vegetables, fruits, spirits and other necessary supplies for navigation as soon as possible.If possible, he still wanted to leave the port today and head for Bordeaux.

After all, this place is too close to the stronghold of the British New Africa Company near the Gambia River, so maybe something will happen to you at any time.

The Portuguese brought supplies in small boats.The sailors cheered and poured out the meat that had grown a layer of white maggots and the rotten fresh water in the wooden barrel, and replaced it with fresh mutton, vegetables, and poultry eggs.

Some casks filled with brandy were also hoisted up by pulley booms, and the sailors, with the officer's smiling acquiescence, picked up the military jugs, and everyone poured a little to drink first.

"Sir, don't you want some?" Johnson, the 33rd trainee sergeant of the Nautical School, wiped the wine stains from the corners of his mouth with his greasy sleeves, and grinned at the first officer, Anchu.

"No, I'm on duty right now, thank you for your kindness, Johnson." An Chu shook his head with a smile, and turned his eyes to the sea in the distance.

"That's a pity." Johnson took another sip, and then said: "After sailing for more than 20 days, I'm fed up with those meatloaf with maggots and the smelly fresh water. I am a god, although those on board The stock sailors (ex-pirates) from the Caribbean enjoyed it, but I still find it torture, miss the good old days in sailing school."

"Johnson, don't discriminate against those sailors. Don't forget, these silent sailors fought with us that night." An Chu corrected Johnson's statement, and then said: "They are not logs, they have Your own feelings and emotions. As a sailing sergeant, you should try to understand them, try to get along with them, it will be good for you. As for your complaints about food and drinking water, I also feel the same. But The good news is that the commander-in-chief of the squadron Wang has decided that we can fill half of the water tank with beer as our drinking water on the return journey."

"Aha..." Johnson slapped his thigh happily, and said excitedly, "What a wonderful idea! I finally don't have to drink the so-called 'fresh water' that makes me want to vomit. Hey, what is that, St. George's flag !"

"The Englishman!" An Chu was also surprised, and looked towards the place Johnson was pointing at.I saw three battleships equipped with a large number of artillery slowly raised a St. George's flag by the trestle bridge on the east side of the port, and then began to raise their sails and turn, as if preparing to leave the port.

"It's strange, the British have a trading station at the mouth of the Gambia River nearby, so why did they come to the Portuguese? Could it be that they are here to repair ships?" An Chu said to himself with some puzzlement.There may be only such an explanation, because the British trading station at the mouth of the Gambia River did not have the facilities and materials to repair ships.

"Let me ask." Johnson put down the military kettle, then climbed the rope ladder next to the deck and descended to the Portuguese supply ship below.

"Hey, Senna, what are those Brits doing here?" Johnson said in half-baked Portuguese.

"They?" Senna, a Portuguese businessman, turned his head and said with a blank expression: "The ship of the Guyana Trade Merchant Company came here the day before yesterday. It is said that it is leaking and needs to be repaired. Now it seems that they have completed the repair and are ready to return. London."

"Guyana Trading Merchant Company..." Johnson said the name once in his mouth, and then said: "Thank you, Senna, if you pass here on the return journey, I will buy you a drink."

"For the sake of your glass of wine, which I don't know if it can be honored, I will send you a friendly message." Senna lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "The Guyana Trading Merchant Company was only established 6 years ago. She even has British The royal family's stake. This company has been awarded a 31-year trading license from Cape Blanco to the Cape of Good Hope, and of course, their business is currently limited to trading around the Gulf of Guinea and... gold mining. Yes , They established a stronghold in Gambia, exchanged cheap commodities and local stupid natives for gold, and mined and refined it by themselves. Just last year, they shipped gold worth tens of thousands of pounds back to the UK from here."

"It's really interesting news, I think it might be worth two bottles of Bordeaux red wine." Johnson smiled, "I'll bring it to you on the return trip, haha." After finishing speaking, Johnson climbed up " The deck of the "Common Market", and then told An Chu the news he inquired about.

"Gold?" When he heard the news from An Chu, Wang Tiechui, who was leisurely drinking green tea, hesitated for a while, then shook his head lightly, and said, "Forget it. You said it too, then They are three warships, not those thin-skinned pirate ships. The waterline deck several meters thick cannot be blasted away in a short while, and their fighting will is probably much stronger than those pirates. Forget it, our fleet is shipping [-] bolts of cotton cloth, [-] tons of potatoes, dozens of cannons, hundreds of sets of armor, and thousands of sabers. The total value is probably not much worse than the tens of thousands of pounds of gold on their ship. Although I like to gamble on luck, this The gamble is not worth it, forget it, give up."

"Understood." An Chu nodded, and said, "But I know that their gold mines in Gambia are so valuable, and I will tell the Ministry of the Navy when I go back, so that future privateer fleets can consider coming here."

While Wang Tiechui and An Chu were talking about the three ships of the British Guyana Trading Merchant Company, the British on the three ships were also watching them silently.

"People from the east coast!" On the three-masted sailing ship "Merchant of Banjul", a young English officer was slowly retracting his binoculars, and the flying flags on the top of the mast of the opposing ship clearly indicated their identities.

"Sir, their flagship has 66 cannons, God, how come there are so many!" Another young officer whispered in surprise: "Two frigates, one French armed merchant ship, two fruit merchant ships, It does not seem to be weaker than us. Sir, our ship is loaded with forty thousand pounds of gold, which is the property of the king and gentlemen, and I think we had better not take the risk."

"You're right, James." The young officer carefully put the binoculars into a wooden box, and then took a last look at the East Coast Fleet that was still anchored by the pier to supply food, and said with disinterest: "The people of the East Coast There are such powerful double-decker warships, but we don’t even have a ship over 800 tons, how can this protect our interests.”

"The gentlemen of the company council should face up to our situation." Another young officer also felt the same way: "The previous West African joint stock company almost went bankrupt under the competition and suppression of the despicable Dutch. Do we lack powerful warships? Mr. Chris, it's time to make a proposal to the council."

"I'll think about it." Chris nodded reservedly and said.

……

After the British warship left, the Second Escort Squadron of the East Coast Republic did not delay.After replenishing food and fresh water, the entire fleet left the port of Praia overnight, turned northeast and headed directly towards Bordeaux.

When they passed near the Canary Islands, they saw that there were so many pirates from various countries here.Fortunately, these pirates are quite interesting, they are only interested in eating the fat of merchant ships, and they have no interest in eating the tough bones of fleets escorted by warships.Moreover, after seeing the majestic and majestic hull of the "Common Market" battleship, there is no one who is not long-sighted enough to get close to it.

In late January, the fleet sailed smoothly to the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, only a few days away from the port of Bordeaux in the Bay of Biscay.At this time, the officers and sailors finally let go of their worries. This place is only a few tens of nautical miles away from the coastline of Portugal, and there are many ships coming and going along the way, which is extremely busy.No pirates would dare to come here to rob openly, that would be too appalling.

However, sometimes things are always so unexpected.

(End of this chapter)