Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1960 tit for tat

On September 1686, 9, there was a violent storm over the South Pacific.

The two "Star" class light cruisers, one behind the other, were struggling to move forward in bad weather.Lu Xiaozhong, who had been promoted to major, put down his binoculars, wrapped his raincoat tightly, and returned to the captain's cabin with difficulty.

"Commander, it is difficult for us to grasp the direction now. The wind is too strong, the sky is too dark, the needle on the compass is spinning like a top, and we can't even grasp the direction of some of them." The navigator wiped With the rain on his face, he said with a bitter face: "Perhaps you should order to light up the 'Gao Tian Yi Lie' now and let them follow closely, otherwise when the storm passes, maybe we have already arrived at Timor Island, but they Floating to Batavia."

"I'll do it." Lu Xiaozhong gestured for an orderly to deliver the order, and then tried to find a dry seat to sit down, but he failed, so he could only continue to stand unsteadily on the captain's seat In the room, holding the handle on one side, while resisting the mighty force of the waves, he complained: "Look at this cabin, there isn't even a dry place, it's full of water."

"Commander, one of the four water pumps is out of order, and two of them were blown into the sea during work, and now only one is working. The weather is too bad.” The navigator went to a corner and squatted down, carefully took out a chart, and used a raincoat to block the rain or sea water that might pour in (the windows had been smashed by a big wave), and began to study The "mysterious" question of where they are now.

Another gust of wind blows, accompanied by soybean-sized raindrops.This gust of wind was blowing straight down from above, and it was so powerful that it directly pushed the whole boat down. Lu Xiaozhong staggered and grabbed the handrail next to him with all his strength, cursing even more, not caring about it at all. As well as his identity as the commander—a man at sea, it is not surprising that he is so rough.

The busy sailors on the deck let out an exclamation.The ship was already loaded with a lot of cargo, and the draft was not shallow. This would be slammed by the straight up and down wind. The waterline was very close to the deck, and the iron anchor hanging on the bow had already dipped into the water. , People looked at it and thought the ship was going to sink.

"The mainmast is blown off—" someone shouted loudly.

Hearing this, Lu Xiaozhong didn't care about the collision, stood up all of a sudden and rushed to the damaged glass window, watching the broken mast being directly pulled down on the deck by the strong wind, he was stunned.The mast rolled several times on the deck, knocking a sailor straight into the sea before falling into the hold, where it was half afloat (due to the large amount of water in the hold).Seeing this, several sailors immediately stepped forward and used all their strength to fix the mast to the bilge with ropes.

"Attention, the boat is about to float, everyone hold fast to all fixed objects." An officer blew the copper whistle hanging around his neck to remind him.In fact, when the wind is strong, the waves will not be too big, because they will also be suppressed by the wind, and the sea surface is relatively flat; but when the wind weakens, the sea will rise sharply, and the waves will also become larger.At this time, the hull will violently rotate and sway until it enters the next cycle of pressing down, floating, and swaying.

"Wow--" A large piece of wood on the side that seemed to have been repaired was blown by the wind and fell into the sea. A large wave of waves hit the deck directly from this gap, and then flowed into the hold and gathered inside.The mast that had just been tied was half floating on the surface of the stagnant water, and had already broken free from the shackles of one or two ropes, and then frequently hit the wall of the bilge with the movement of the waves, making a "dong dong" sound.

"Try to throw this damned mast out. If this continues, my ship will be damaged sooner or later. The cannons in the bilge are fixed by me, so they won't cause problems." Lu Xiaozhong poked his head out and looked at He ordered loudly on the deck.

The boatswain responded with difficulty, then put down the water pump in his hand, and ordered his men to start pulling the mast.The wind was so strong that the sailors standing on the deck were still pulling hard one moment, but the next moment they were blown upside down by the strong wind, and they were really in a panic.

Lu Xiaozhong then ran to the other side, and carefully observed his own boat with a telescope, that is, the "Gao Tian Yi Lie", which was looming in the wind and waves.He hoped that the wing boat would not be severely damaged, otherwise it would be a problem whether they could sail to Timor Island on time. You must know that they came with an important mission this time.

The task was proposed by Liu Houfei, the captain of the Southern Pioneering Team, and approved by Liao Degong, the captain of the Denglai Pioneering Team. It was specified that Major Lu Xiaozhong of the Third Fleet of the Navy would lead the team to the port of Dili. While transporting a large amount of weapons and equipment to the Portuguese, they also discussed Some affairs of the United Fleet.

There is no doubt that this operation is really on the back of the Dutch. If it is really done, the Dutch East India Company will be very uncomfortable.There is no other reason. If you look at the map, you will know that Timor Island is less than [-] nautical miles away from Batavia, the ruling center of the Dutch East India Company in Asia. It's really not too far a voyage.

When the Portuguese are usually low-key and cowardly, the Dutch East India Company is too lazy to take care of them in the eastern half of Timor Island, because the Dutch have too many things to deal with. It seems that only the Portuguese However, it seems that they can live in peace forever.

But now things have changed!The people on the east coast not only sent two cutting-edge warships to Timor Island, but also planned to help the Portuguese reorganize several towns on the island, repair forts, dredge ports, train soldiers, and develop commerce. , also has considerable self-protection ability.

In addition, the people on the east coast also hope to develop Dili Port into one of the cruising and calling ports of the United Fleet.In this way, the deterrent effect on the Dutch East India Company will be even greater. After all, when the people on the east coast are shouting unhappily in Macau, the governor of Batavia will only worry about whether there will be any problems on Taiwan Island.But if it is very close to its core East Indies, then the Dutch have to worry about whether their roots in Asia will be dug out.Therefore, once the east coast troops stationed in Timor Island, they would probably encounter the fleet and army organized by the Dutch to attack the island the next day. Therefore, they first needed to strengthen the strength of the Portuguese on the island.

In the bilges of the two light cruisers Fomalhaut and Gao Tianyi Lie, more than 30 cannons were placed in the bilges of the two light cruisers, which were sold on temporary loans to increase the strength of the Portuguese defenders. Interest loans), in addition to many mechanical equipment produced by Sakhalin Island, to ensure that the island can repair damaged guns in time, and has a certain degree of self-sustainability.Of course, the people on the east coast also transferred some civilian machinery and equipment, intending to set up several small military supplies production lines on the island, as if they were doing a big job.

There is no doubt that the Portuguese is a pie in the sky, and they are lucky!Under normal circumstances, they want to obtain this special loan to purchase the above-mentioned machinery and equipment, but they don't know how much they will have to pay until the Year of the Monkey.But now the Dutch have directly sent an assist. The trade war they launched against the East Coast caused the people on the East Coast to respond quickly, spending money and technology directly, and intending to turn Timor Island, which is close at hand, into a country against the Dutch East Coast. Indian company base.

Of course, from another perspective, the Portuguese may also be quite wronged.Because they were sitting at home peacefully and had nothing to do, suddenly the "Brother Society" Dong An ran over and asked them to provide a house near the old nest of the "rich and handsome" Dutch East India Company and hide weapons in it. How can this not make them feel panic?

This is really a fight between gods, and mortals suffer!Although the people on the east coast provided some money (to be repaid, it was tantamount to forcibly lending them) to help them reorganize and build Timor Island, so what?How much is the profit in this compared to the loss they may suffer in business?The Dutch were really in a hurry. They dared to send troops to take over several Portuguese strongholds on the Indian coast, and even a few commercial stations (belonging to the Pinto family) in the Bay of Bengal may not be able to protect them. Even if people from the east coast introduce a little more business to them in Macau, it won't make up for it.

But now the Kingdom of Portugal has no choice, or they have already made a choice!When Albuquerque led a large-scale mission to the east bank, it meant that Lisbon had surrendered to the east bank and completely joined the colonial-trading system dominated by the people of the east bank. Like countries such as Bonbon, Genoa, and Tuscany, they have become members of this system.Therefore, they already have labels on them, and they are already in the team, so they are doomed to be unable to walk away on such a big issue of right and wrong, and they can only follow the people on the east coast.

Therefore, when the people on the east coast proposed to deploy a fleet on Timor Island (equivalent to the deployment of missiles by the Soviet Union in Cuba...), the Portuguese could only agree with tears, otherwise life would be even more difficult.The people on the east coast don’t need to do anything else, as long as they don’t let the Portuguese merchants in Macau continue to get tea, raw silk, silk, porcelain and other commodities, don’t help them stabilize their rule in India, and run on the Portuguese-owned Brazil’s economy, then the Portuguese I can't stand it, so I can only submit obediently.

On September 9, after a night of fighting against the wind and waves, the "Star" class light cruisers "Fomahaut" and "Gao Tian Yi Lie" converged in the waters north of Timor Island.The two ships exchanged traffic boats to board their respective ships, checked the extent of the damage in the wind and waves, and then repaired the ships a little, then raised the damaged sails again, without using steam power, and sailed all the way to the southwest Two days later, we arrived at Dili Port, the capital of Portuguese Timor Island, a port city mainly engaged in agriculture and trade.

Because there was no notification, the Portuguese were very surprised by the visit of the warships on the east coast.Fortunately, there are some Portuguese businessmen on the island who have been on the route between Macau and Timor Island for a long time. They know that the person who came is Major Lu Xiaozhong of the Third Fleet on the East Coast, a rising star in the naval system.Therefore, the Portuguese in Dili Port are generally quite enthusiastic. Even if a few people feel a little dissatisfied with the armed ships on the east coast, they dare not show it openly.

As soon as Major Lu Xiaozhong came ashore, he ordered all the Portuguese shipwrights on the island to come together and try their best to repair the two severely damaged warships on the east coast. Of course, they would pay the appropriate fee.In addition, the materials and equipment on board were also required to be sorted out as soon as possible, and then stored in a Portuguese-run warehouse near the pier, and guarded by sailors on the east coast.

After finishing these, Major Lu Xiaozhong, accompanied by his subordinate officers, went to the city to meet the supreme commander of the Portuguese garrison here, Commander Santos from Porto.The head of the regiment is now over 50 years old. Under his command is an infantry regiment composed of gentlemen (whites), Malays and Portuguese (descendents of mixed Malays and Portuguese) and Malays. The total strength is about a thousand people. It looks like the last Portuguese military force on Timor Island. It is also a large collection of remnants and defeated generals after their failure in the Banda Islands and other islands. To be honest, it is not very powerful.

Commander Santos is a sensible man who hates the Dutch very much.Their family has also worked hard in the Far East for decades. His grandfather died in 1614 in the land battle of the Dutch East India Company attacking Tidoli Island, and his father died in 1640 with the "Saint Christopher The armed merchant ship "Burgos" was sunk by a Dutch warship and died in the sea. His uncle was captured and killed by the Dutch when he went to Wey Island to buy cloves.Therefore, their family's hatred for the Dutch is as deep as the sea, and the hatred is surging. Captain Santos himself is very enthusiastic about anything that can add trouble to the Dutch, so he welcomes the arrival of the East Coasters. attitude, especially when Major Lu Xiaozhong clearly told him that the diplomatic representatives on the east bank had gone to Goa by fast boat to communicate-of course, Captain Santos understood what kind of state the Governor of Goa is in today, then They are almost the echoes of the people on the east coast. The people on the east coast want to use Timor Island as a weapon against the Dutch, so the Goa side is determined not to say anything to refuse, because the consequences will be very serious.

Major Lu Xiaozhong talked with Captain Santos for an afternoon, and then made three suggestions to them: [-]. Immediately inspect the artillery of the Dili Port Fort, dismantle and scrap the unsuitable ones immediately, and replace them with the people from the east coast. Second, dredging the port, expanding the berths of the wharf, and adding two trestles to facilitate the docking and replenishment of the ships of the East, Portugal, and West combined fleets that will be formed in the future; If you are willing to stay, strengthen the training frequency, pay the military salary and various items in full, enhance the status of the soldiers, and stop recruiting in the dry season and disbanding in the rainy season. That is too unprofessional, and it will also lead to extremely poor combat effectiveness of the troops.

The head of Santos agreed in principle to Major Lu Xiaozhong's three proposals, but asked the East Bank to bear the additional large expenses that would be incurred. Lu did not agree to this point, and only said that he would pay the Portuguese 1 yuan in cash in advance for free assistance , As for the source of follow-up funds, it will be discussed again, but he also proposed an idea, that is, to develop the tropical planting industry in Timor Island, and export rice, coconuts, spices, fruits, seafood and other specialty commodities to Timor Island. In order to support more professional soldiers, Timor Island can export its specialty products to the Far East, as well as New China, Australia, and Tahiti due to its special geographical location. And other places, the prospect is quite good, the premise is really good management, such as the introduction of a large number of people from the east coast and so on.

It can be seen from this that the people on the east coast actually treat Timor Island as another Diu Island.These two islands have one thing in common, that is, the geographical location is excellent, they can be used for trade, and at the same time they can be used as a base to attack the Dutch East India Company.Especially the former, which is not far from Batavia. Once armed, would the Dutch East India Company dare to be "willful" like this time, arbitrarily raising the tariff rates on various commodities exported to the east coast?

(End of this chapter)