Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2489 Interference

On September 1703, 9, almost a month had passed since Florida became independent, the situation suddenly became tense on the Caribbean route from Veracruz to Havana.

As cities such as Pensacola expelled local Spanish officials through peaceful means, these people passed the news back one after another after they returned to New Mexico.Governor Gonzalez was shocked and determined to suppress Florida, so he quickly ordered the trial court districts of Mexico City, Guadalajara, El Salvador, Panama City, Havana, and Texas, California, Colorado, etc. Wait for the general's area to organize the army to prepare for war, hoard supplies, and call up soldiers.In addition, the Windward Fleet has also received an order that all warships are not allowed to leave the home port of Havana, and are waiting for the governor's orders at any time.

For this reason, Governor Gonzalez distributed donations to wealthy households in the entire jurisdiction, and at the same time withheld a batch of taxes, raised a total of more than 400 million pesos as combat expenses, and wanted to retake Florida at all costs, and executed the locals rebels.

It is worth mentioning that His Excellency the Governor did not mention the execution of the local "foreign interference elements", perhaps a bit of a trick.People from the east coast are the most powerful in the Caribbean Sea, ranking first among all countries. Governor Gonzalez doesn't want to make things so big that they can't be handled.He has ordered his senior military officers that if any East Coast officials are captured in Florida in the future, they will all be sent out of the country.The east coast businessmen who live there also need to check one by one. Many of them must have inextricable connections with the government. If it is true, they will also be sent out of the country as gifts, and they may even be fined a sum of money.

Following the governor's order, although the war machines in the various regions under their jurisdiction were corroded, they started to slowly start.The soldiers received a sum of arrears and began to gather at the port, and various supplies were also being transported.The Windward Fleet even received a one-time allocation of 150 million pesos to repair the ship, purchase various supplies, and strive to maximize its effectiveness-Your Excellency the Governor is a naval officer, and he knows in his heart how ridiculous those bastards are during peacetime , It’s fine if you don’t sell the artillery on the ship. There are a lot of problems with the warships that lie down. The Havana Shipyard even refused to provide maintenance services for them because they owed too much money, so they will be solved together this time.

When the Spaniard made such a move, as old opponents who had been staring at them for many years—no way, they were greedy for their "body"—the all-pervasive spies on the east coast immediately got wind of it.Because the Spaniards strictly checked the ships leaving the port, they risked their lives to pass the news to Texas, and then the Great Soviet State sent a clipper to the naval base in the Bahamas, allowing the East Coast Navy to obtain incomparably precious information.

The Caribbean Sea Squadron of the First Fleet attached great importance to it. They immediately mobilized the forces of the Bahamas (two escort gunboats, four light cruisers, and one supply ship), and at the same time sent liaison ships to Huaiyuan Island, so that they would leave the port to go to The European ironclad warship "Damyo" stayed behind, and then recruited a few more warships to form a temporary formation with the seven ships that had already set off, and headed to Cuba Island to perform missions.

A while ago, the ministry had sent an official document, which stated clearly that the Caribbean sub-fleet was to escort the National Intelligence Agency's operation in Florida (it was not known that the operation had been successful when the official document was issued), and the fleet could be organized to block it in the name of an exercise if necessary. In the waters around the peninsula, any ships from any country (except domestic ships) are prohibited from going to Florida.

The navy has long wanted to do a big job, and after getting the news, one by one, they all called for a fight like chicken blood.The commander had a terrible headache, he couldn't send all of them out, so in the end, he could only decide the ships to go to battle based on the ranking of their training results on weekdays.This is extremely fair, and no one has anything to say. Who told you that your usual grades are not as good as others?What?You were unlucky during the exercise assessment. You encountered swells, the center of gravity of the ship was unstable, and no one beat you accurately?I don't care, I only look at the grades, and I can't blame others for my bad luck.

At present, warships from the Bahamas have arrived in the scheduled sea area, a total of six combat ships and one logistics support ship.The commander who led the team was extremely courageous. He ordered four sail-powered light cruisers to cruise off the coast of Cuba, watching the port of Havana, and waiting for the arrival of follow-up reinforcements.And he himself took three steam-powered ships to the port of Veracruz (the largest port in the Viceroyalty of New Spain) to monitor the enemy's movements.After all, warships cannot go ashore, and the crusade against Florida ultimately depends on the army, and the port of Veracruz is the most likely starting point for the army to be dispatched.After watching this, you can basically grasp the movement of the Spaniards, and you can get the news as quickly as possible no matter what decision you make in the future.

The Navy ships have been off the coast of Vera Cruz for several days.According to the information they have, there is no sign of a large-scale departure of the Veracruz fleet, but the sporadic number of ships going to Cuba has increased a lot more than before, and it seems that the full load is very deep, and it is estimated that they are all supplies.They didn't have authorization, and they didn't know whether they should intercept these merchant ships. There seemed to be no reason, so they finally let them go.

In addition, there are not many small offshore sailing boats entering Veracruz from other places.Because of the long distance, I can't see clearly what is on the ship, but based on the limited observations, there is everything!There are obviously goods, there are shipping personnel (the upper deck was found sunbathing...), and even a lot of timber and masts were transported, which is enough for people to analyze a lot of things: this is from other Regionally transfer materials and personnel to Veracruz for concentration!The personnel must be soldiers, the supplies are also prepared for war, the wood and masts can be used to repair the ship, and that's all, the Spaniards are preparing for war!

To be honest, after seeing this situation, the people on the east coast are still a little amazed at their courage.What kind of stimulation did these guys get?So that you have to take the insurgents in Florida?Are you mad?

Of course, people from the east coast don’t feel pain in their backs when they stand and talk.If you think about it in your own shoes, the situation in the Kingdom of Spain is not very good. The Italian territories have fallen one after another, and the southern Netherland has also been occupied by the anti-French coalition forces. Not to mention that the people on the east coast are blatantly slapping them in the face and staying in Gibraltar. , to hunt down unwarranted pirates.Now those bastards in Florida actually want to rebel and stand on their own, how can this be tolerated?Besides, the governor of New Spain bears direct responsibility. He has only been in office for two years, and he doesn't want to lose his position because of this matter. The new king Philip V has always wanted to arrange positions for the people around him.

So, the rebels in Florida must die!Can't set a bad example for people who are ready to move elsewhere!If they cannot be pressed down, what should Cuba do if it wants to become independent?What if New Granada wants to become independent?More seriously, what should Catalonia do if it wants to become independent?Therefore, this matter has never been a simple military issue, but a political issue, and a response must be made to deal with these guys strictly, severely, and quickly, so as to serve as an example to others!

The gang of militants in the East Coast Navy didn't think about the problem from this perspective, and of course they couldn't understand the mood of the Spaniards.However, this does not prevent them from watching the situation escalate step by step with a happy mood. Peaceful time will only greatly reduce the value of their soldiers. Only war can bring them wealth, honor and status.So, just prepare for the Spaniards, and we are also preparing to see where the situation will eventually go!

On September 9, another seven warships arrived off the coast of Havana Harbor.They got in touch with the light cruiser that was cruising nearby, and after learning the specific situation, they decided to head to the waters west of Cuba Island collectively, meet up with the two escort gunboats, and then make plans.

It is worth mentioning that the ironclad battleship "Damyo" did not come with it, because the commander of the ship believed that the last order he received was to go to the Cape Verde Islands instead of staying in the Caribbean Sea.At present, the Huaiyuan Island base is persuading them, and is preparing to use wartime enlistment and command authority to suppress them and make them obey orders.I believe that in a few days, this formidable and powerful warship will sail to this sea area.

In addition, the Caribbean Squadron has made up its mind this time. If the Spaniards insist on going their own way and really decide to send troops to Florida to suppress them, then they have no choice but to stop them by force.As for the series of follow-up problems that may be caused by this, the government (reader) government (persons) are not afraid, and they have a complete plan.

The superior has made it clear that he does not intend to escalate the situation for the time being, but only to deter the Spaniards by force.But if the Spaniards are not sensible and insist on going to Florida to suppress, then the navy must intervene decisively, and resorting to force is one of the options.The meaning is actually very straightforward, just hit it!

On September 9, after several days of delay, the ironclad battleship "Damyo" arrived as scheduled and arrived at the scheduled sea area.So far, the number of warships assembled by the people on the east coast has reached as high as fifteen, including one ironclad ship, four escort gunboats, seven light cruisers, one water supply ship, one ammunition supply ship, and one coal carrier. The ship is already very powerful.Even without the iron-clad warships that obviously violated the rules of the game, as far as the remaining dozen ships are concerned, they have already surpassed the Spaniards' Windward Fleet. The time for a decisive battle is ripe, and now it depends on the Spaniards' next move.

On October 10, a light cruiser patrolling the periphery reported that it had spotted a medium-sized Spanish convoy sailing at sea, including several troop carriers.The people on the east coast who got the news immediately acted, and the whole fleet assembled. After estimating the opponent's speed and course, they all rushed on it.

(End of this chapter)