Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 215 The African Route (Continued Part [-])

In the early morning of September 1638, 9, the East Coast Exploration Fleet, which had just been baptized by the storm, temporarily anchored in a calm bay.According to the map of later generations, it should be located near Port Elizabeth in South Africa.Of course, this place is still a barren land at this time.

Some sailors rowed their boats towards the coast, and on the wild grass by the coast, some Xhosa blacks watched in shock at these "huge monsters" floating from the sea.So the Xhosa even forgot to run while the east coast sailors waited to come ashore.

An east coast sailor brought out a sharp skinning knife and gave it to the nearest Xhosa.The man foolishly took the knife and swiped lightly on his hand, blood immediately gushed out.It's okay if it's not a stroke, but the person jumped up immediately, and he was also chattering in a language that the people on the east coast couldn't understand, and he seemed to be in a very unstable mood.

The man quickly turned around and ran back, and disappeared into the wild grass on the bank after a while, and several other Xhosa people also ran away with him.Several east coast sailors looked at each other, not knowing what happened.But they didn't bother to care so much, and a few people moved out a heavy stone from the small boat. Some words were engraved on the stone, to the effect that this was the land "discovered" by the exploration fleet of the Republic of China on the East Coast, but there was no declared territory. The meaning is simply to express that I have been here, which is a kind of commemoration.

The stone was not small, and the lower half was buried deep in the soil by the sailors, while the part with writing was exposed above the ground.The sailors quickly finished these tasks, and when they were about to return to the shore, a group of yelling blacks suddenly rushed out from the depths of the land.The leader was the one who just scratched his hand with a knife. At this moment, he drove a dozen sheep and came towards this side while waving his hands.And behind him, there are more black people, some of these people are driving cattle and sheep, some are carrying food, some are carrying fur, some are carrying ivory, and they rush towards the coast like a festival market.

Daringly, this is for trading!The sailors quickly reported the Xhosa's intentions to their superiors.Guo Zili is organizing manpower to repair the ship. After passing through the storm, the three ships on the east coast have suffered some damage to varying degrees, such as damage to some ship boards, such as some artillery or small boats falling into the sea, such as some pulley booms Damage and so on, taking advantage of this opportunity of rest, the shipwrights on board took out tools and spare parts and started intensive repairs.Hearing the rewards from the people below, Guo Zili had nothing to do, so he acquiesced in the deal with the Xhosa.

Thus, a transaction led by junior officers and ordinary sailors began on the beach.People on the east bank took out some worthless metal products, small pieces of glass, fire tools, spirits and even some daily necessities such as leather shoes and cane sugar, and traded a large amount of fur, ivory, gold and other items from the Xhosa people. Everyone made a fortune in one way or another.

Of course, the officers in charge of supplies on each ship also bought some live cattle and sheep, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a small amount of sorghum and peanuts from these Xhosa people, and what they paid was nothing more than some refined salt.During the storm a few days ago, the fleet lost some wooden barrels filled with food and fresh water. Now that the fleet is docking offshore, it is a good time to replenish.

Six or seven of the hundred-gallon water barrels on board were lost, most of them containing fresh water and a few of them containing beer.Coupled with the use of these days, there is not much fresh water on board.Just a few hundred meters away from the coast there is a big river running, and some sailors rowed there in small boats and brought spare empty wooden barrels to fill it with clear river water.

"Today's weather is really good. I really can't imagine that we were still struggling in the storm a day ago." Juan, the navigator of the battleship "Free Trade", leaned on the railing on the top deck of the stern building, looking at the clear blue sky. Sky, said with some emotion.

"Who says it's not?" Ji Wen chewed a pinch of shredded tobacco, half-closed his eyes and looked at a group of seagulls flying by not far away.The bright sunshine was a little dazzling, but he still enjoyed the rare warmth in winter.

"Where are we going next?" Ji Wen asked casually, "Is it still according to the original plan?"

"Of course." Second Lieutenant Juan nodded and said, "At least until now, I haven't received an order from the Commander-in-Chief to change the route. In other words, our course remains unchanged, and the next destination is still Mozambique island."

"The territory of the Portuguese." Ji Wen curled his lips, and then said, "I hope that the city will still be in their hands when we get there."

Ji Wen's words are not groundless. You must know that the Portuguese are still in a state of war with the Dutch, and their strength is really pitifully weak.Just at the end of last year, even though it was equipped with many cannons from the East Coast, the Portuguese colony of Fort Elmina in Ghana still inevitably fell into the hands of the Dutch.After capturing the castle, the Dutch made persistent efforts and successively pulled out many Portuguese trading posts and small fortresses in the Gulf of Guinea area; even the trading posts near the Congo were attacked by the Dutch.

This is the case in West Africa, and East Africa is not peaceful either.The Dutch have always coveted the coastal areas of Mozambique, which is rich in gold. Several rich cities such as Senna, Sofala, Mozambique Island, Lorenzo Marques, and Kelimane have attracted frequent visits by Dutch pirate ships. The weak Portuguese People often can only stay on land, struggling to resist the barbaric invasions of the Dutch again and again.

"I hope so." Juan is not very optimistic about the Portuguese.As a Hispanic East Coaster, perhaps out of some kind of prejudice, he has always looked down upon this neighboring country on the Iberian Peninsula.

But at this moment, from the standpoint of the East Coast Republic, he hopes that the Portuguese can be more confident, so that the East Coast people can have a safe supply point there.Due to the "Gentlemen's Agreement" reached with the Portuguese (the Portuguese were responsible for transporting Ming people to the east bank, and the people on the east bank sold weapons to the Brazilian authorities to support their war), the relationship between the East Coast Republic of China and the Netherlands has always been very tense. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were vaguely hostile.Therefore, if the Dutch occupied these Portuguese strongholds in East Africa, it is difficult to say whether they would open their ports to the East Coast for supplies.

Of course, the possibility of this happening is not great.Although the strength of the Dutch fleet in the Far East is not weak, there are not too many who can be assigned to East Africa.Moreover, the Portuguese Governor of Goa (the Portuguese East African region is administratively managed by the Indian Governor of Goa) was also very vigilant against the Dutch, so he arranged hundreds to thousands of them in important areas such as Mozambique Island and Senna. European white troops, and indigenous black soldiers several times the number of white soldiers.It is really difficult for the Dutch to capture these places. All they can do is to go ashore and plunder those remote ports where the Portuguese are weak.

Except for these important areas, the Portuguese's control over the rest of the vast areas can only be said to be powerless.For example, in the Mombasa Uprising that broke out in 1631, Mombasa Sultan Yusuf Ben Hassan killed Portuguese military officers and some businessmen in the area, and then declared independence.Then in the next few years, a shocking scene appeared. The king attacked the Portuguese everywhere, and even captured the Portuguese military town of Fort Jesus in 1632.In addition, Yusuf also drove a backward Arabian sailing ship and repeatedly attacked Portuguese ships at sea, but the Portuguese had nothing to do about it.Even when the king died in 1637, the Portuguese still failed to catch him, which shows the weakness of the Portuguese in the area.

The two chatted for a while about some personnel matters on the ship, and then went to work separately.

In the early morning of September 9, after a two-day rest, the exploration fleet of the East Coast Republic set sail under the command of Lieutenant Guo Zili, left the waters of Port Elizabeth, turned northeast, and followed the African continent. coastline sailing forward.

The bitter southeast wind bulged the sails to full, and the fleet moved forward at an average speed of 4 knots.This journey seemed quite easy. In just ten days, the fleet left the east coast of South Africa and entered the famous Mozambique Channel.In this "world's longest strait" with a width of several hundred kilometers, the climate seems so warm and the wind and waves seem so calm.

The whole fleet went upstream and crossed the mouth of the Zambezi River on September 9th.Here they encountered a convoy of the same three Portuguese merchant ships.The three Portuguese merchant ships loaded with slaves, gold and ivory couldn't help but salute after seeing the majestic and majestic figure of the battleship "Free Trade" and the double-sword goshawk flag fluttering in the wind on its topmast. , This is respect for strength!

After crossing the estuary of the Zambezi River, the East Coast Republic Exploration Fleet sailed northward for another three days, and finally arrived at the sea off Mozambique Island on the morning of September 9.This is the core area of ​​the Portuguese ruled area in East Africa. There are well-equipped forts in the port, which are enough to deter pirate ships who usually don't open their eyes.

However, what they were facing at the moment was the "August [-]th" class battleship with heavy naval guns. In Guo Zili's eyes, the outdated bronze cannons on the fort really lacked much deterrent power.Of course, he never thought of attacking the Portuguese forts, so that even if his fleet won, he would have to pay considerable losses.What's more, the Portuguese and the people on the east coast are still in the honeymoon period, and the relationship between the two sides is still quite good.

Sure enough, after figuring out the purpose of the people from the east coast, the Portuguese quickly allowed the fleet of the people from the east coast to enter the port.

(End of this chapter)