Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 22 The Million Franc War ([-])

January 1632, 1.Sean Raffarin was a little fidgety.

St. Christopher's business situation is getting worse day by day.The attack of the Spaniards, the harassment of the pirates and the secret tricks of the British all made this small island full of tobacco leaves unsustainable. There were not many immigrants left at the beginning, but there were more and more British people.

Maybe it won't be long before Lord Richelieu will replace a more powerful company to run St. Christopher Island and the French territory of St. Domingo.In that case, I would have no choice but to pack up my bedding and return to my old hometown in Montpellier in despair, and my future would be gloomy.

However, to save the company's precarious finances, without local support, it is too difficult to rely on the company itself. Perhaps only a robbery of the Spanish silver ship can bring the company back to life.But Sean can only fantasize about this kind of thing in his mind. The few broken ships left by the St. Christopher Company in the Caribbean are probably much more shabby than pirates.

Sean, who had been desperate to resign himself to his fate, accidentally heard an amazing news in Santo Domingo: a group of Tartans occupied a port on the east bank of the Uruguay River and began to sell a large number of exquisite Chinese porcelain.And this kind of porcelain is specially made religious style porcelain, which sold for sky-high prices in the Netherlands and Germany.The news spread among pirates and merchants at an astonishing speed, and some sailors who had been to the "Port of Tartan" even boasted that the Tartans had tens of thousands of sets of porcelain on hand, and each set was worth more than 1000 francs... …

1000 million francs?Sean smiled, of course this is impossible.But even if the Tatans have only 1000 sets of porcelain on hand, that is a huge wealth worth 100 million francs!

This is wealth enough to make even kings crazy about it!This is enough wealth to bring St. Christopher's company back to life and achieve great development!

Sean couldn't calm down immediately, and he immediately returned to St. Christopher Island, and spent a lot of effort to convince the company's senior management to believe his judgment, that is, there is a huge amount of wealth that fascinates people in Tatan Port, and this wealth is of great importance to them. Saving the company has unparalleled significance.

Sean, who received the support of the company's top management, took immediate action.The two galleons with sails parked in the port of Santo Domingo were refurbished in a very short period of time, and the sailors who had been unemployed for a long time were called up again; artillery, ammunition, and firearms were all added, and soldiers used for landing operations Nearly 200 people were also recruited.

After hearing that the Tartans might have "a dozen" cannons and "hundreds" of arquebus guns, in order to increase his chances of victory, Sean finally made up his mind to invite another English ship and a Dutch boats joined the action.

There were many people staring at Sean's movements.After the fleet went south from Tortuga Island after resupply, many pirates or smuggling ships also set sail and followed far behind.

Sean's irritability at this time came from the followers behind the fleet.However, Sean has no good way to deal with these shameless people, so he can only let them go.

Sean's fleet consists of 4 boats.Among them, the "Determination" and "St. Christopher" are the only two Galen ships in good condition of the company: "St. Christopher" has a displacement of 600 tons and has a good firepower of 38 artillery pieces. The flagship of Sean Raffarin's trip; in addition, the "Resolution" is also a cutting-edge warship that has not been in service for a long time, with more than 20 large and small artillery pieces.

The English ship "Good Man" has a displacement of 350 tons and has more than 20 cannons; the Dutch ship "Crow" is a flute-shaped ship and carries 150 soldiers.

The fleet set sail from Tortuga Island at the end of December, stopped at Recife in Pernambuco to replenish some supplies, and then sailed along the coast. Today, it has sailed to the vicinity of the "Port of Tartan".

The lookout on the mast suddenly signaled the sight of the target to the bosun.Sean Raffarin's irritability suddenly disappeared, replaced by a slightly excited mood.After receiving the report, he immediately walked onto the poop bridge, took out a monocular from his pocket, and carefully observed the coastline.

Nearby is a rocky coast, and there is no artificial trace on the coast, as if it is a desert.Sean slowly turned his field of view south, then stopped, and a wall of indistinct gray objects appeared in the telescope.The object is very long and flat, like a mountain or a city wall.

"Come closer, I want to observe the coastline over there." Sean ordered to the first officer behind him.

……

"Report! There are four formations of sailboats in the northeast waters."

Wang Qinian, who was inspecting Fort No. [-], suddenly became energetic when he heard it: "Which country's ship is it? Can you see it clearly?"

"No flags or markers were hoisted."

"Hey, there is a problem." Wang Qinian smacked his lips, "Report the news to the Army and the Executive Committee. In addition, closely monitor the fleet. If the other party tries to forcibly dock at the port, fire the warning first."

……

"It's really amazing!" The first mate of the "St. Christopher" sighed while observing, "So those 'mountains' we thought were actually walls built by the Tatans. They are really majestic walls that engulf the entire harbor. They're all surrounded."

Sean Raffarin was also observing with a binoculars: "There are several ships moored on the pier. God, what kind of ship is that?! The hull is so huge, but there are unreasonable high-rise buildings built on the midship of the deck. What is that vertical cylindrical pipe? Could it be a chimney? I didn’t see where the artillery was installed.”

"Yes, there is no artillery equipped in the midship. I guess this ship can't sail, and it seems that it has been parked here for a long time." The first officer expressed his opinion, "Also, I seem to have found their fort .”

As if to confirm what he said, the camouflage was removed from the fort built on the alluvial island at the mouth of the Big Fish River, and the black muzzle was aimed at the direction of the offshore fleet.

"Captain, if we continue to move forward, they may be about to fire." The first mate reminded the gang.

Sean didn't speak, but observed carefully for a while, and asked, "Julian, do you see that they have other forts?"

The first mate Julien began to observe again after hearing the words, and said after a long time: "There is another fort, in front of us on the right, across the sea from the fort on the small island in front. The semi-enclosed fort, the front and the lower protective zone It seems to be made of stones, and it is well concealed. But I guess the Tatans must have built a fort on the high ground in the bay, and that fort is likely to be the main fort."

"How many cannons does the Tartans have?" Sean Raffarin chuckled, then turned around and patted the first mate on the shoulder: "Let the 'Resolution' fire at the fort on the island on the left, and try their guns." Firepower."

"Captain..." the first officer hesitated, "Why should we confront their forts here? It's not wise. In fact, we can land near the port and use our army to defeat the Tatans' will to resist."

"Their city walls are very strong, and it may be difficult for the army alone to successfully conquer them." Sean was silent, and then explained, "In fact, we may have underestimated the strength of the Tatans. They have strong walls and built forts. .In short, this time things may be more difficult than imagined...execute the order."

The first officer saluted and walked out of the bridge quickly.Soon, a traffic boat was lowered from the "St. Christopher", and first officer Julien boarded the traffic boat to the Galen ship "Resolution" that followed closely behind.

……

"What are they doing?" Lu Ming asked while holding up the binoculars.

"Who knows. Anyway, the superiors have already given the exact instructions. If they don't follow the rules and let the boat come ashore first to make contact, they will shoot when they get in range." Chen Tumu also watched with a telescope.

These two are the principal and deputy persons in charge of the No. 8 Fort.Fort No. 4 has currently built 12 gun positions, installed 2 18-pound iron cannons, 2 18-pound copper cannons and 60 [-]-pound steel cannons, with a total of more than [-] gunners.Each emplacement is a semi-enclosed structure. The front of the cannon is protected by thick brick walls and sandbags. A wooden ceiling is built on the top of the emplacement, and there is also a semi-enclosed ammunition depot under the emplacement.In addition, there is a stockpile that stores a small amount of fresh water and food on the island.

"They're moving!" Chen Tumu's voice suddenly raised a level, "There's a ship approaching us."

"Have you entered the range?" Lu Ming, who had already taken off his binoculars, began to observe again.

"It's coming soon." Chen Tumu looked at the buoy marking the distance in the sea, and said, "They have no intention of stopping. Why don't they... fire a warning?"

"Fire!" Lu Ming hesitated for a moment, then ordered.

They are now at Battery No. 1, where an 18-pound steel gun is installed.After the gun crew members heard the order, the gunner immediately began to measure the distance, estimate the opponent's speed, and then check the radiation meter.

"5 lbs of charges, 18 lbs of projectiles, ready to be loaded."

"Understood! The 5-pound medicine bag and the 18-pound projectile are loaded!"

"The elevation angle of the barrel decreases by 1 degree."

"Understood! The elevation angle of the gun barrel has been lowered by 1 degree, and the completion is complete."

"Get ready—let it go!"

"Boom!" There was a loud noise, and the 1-pound long-barreled cannon in the No. 18 gun position roared and fired the first shot of the day.

(End of this chapter)