Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2493

The gunpowder smoke on the sea has not yet cleared, and the sound of guns is still ringing like muffled thunder in the sky. The ironclad warship "Damyo" turned on its horsepower and sailed forward at a speed of seven knots (downstream, needing to be consistent with the captive ship).By the time they sailed to their destination, it was past 09:30 in the evening.At this time, the eastern and western fleets that had been fighting for half a day had disengaged and the battle was over.

In this battle, twelve warships on the east coast faced six Spanish warships. The two sides fought fiercely on the sea for several hours. In the end, four Spanish warships were sunk, one was captured, and one escaped with injuries.

In fact, this is not a typical battle at sea. In fact, during the entire battle, because of their own transport ships and their own serious lack of strength, the Spanish escort warships did not fight recklessly with the people on the east coast, but just wandered blindly. , Fighting, mainly to delay time.The direct result is that the entire battle process is greatly lengthened. Although it is still impossible to prevent the fate of one's own escort warship in the end, it at least provides a chance for the transport ship to escape, isn't it?Although in the end, there were not a few of the dozen or so troop carriers and cargo ships that escaped.

"It's not worth the death of the Spanish escort warships. Not only were they sunk and captured one by one during the pursuit, but they didn't cause many casualties to our people. The most annoying thing is that most of their transport fleet was also destroyed. If I had known this before, I might as well just go up and confront our battle line, don't waste time, that might kill a lot of our personnel. As a result, hehe, death is aggrieved, not worth it!" After sending someone to understand the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Huang Jiandong immediately smiled, showing disdain for the Spanish Navy.That's it for the Windward Fleet, which lost almost half of its main force this time, and it no longer poses any threat.It’s okay if they hide at home honestly, but if they are driven out to seek death, then the people on the east coast don’t mind sending them all to the bottom of the sea, making the Spaniards completely toothless tigers in the Caribbean Sea.

"They were a little caught off guard. They didn't expect our determination to be so great. We found out in the battle that the soldiers were very brave, but the officers were confused. They had already fired their guns face to face, and they were still thinking and shy away. A military officer came up to make fun of him and said: "I think it's because I have been poor and weak for a long time, and I am used to the style of the superiors who are patient with our country every step of the way. Therefore, they have more ideas and morale is not good. It is not wrong to be beaten."

"Well, it's better for soldiers to be pure. A country's diplomacy is weak, but you are a soldier, and you can't be weak. You have lost your morale by avoiding and fearing war for a long time. Professional and brave officers are one of the most powerful naval forces. Soul, the sailors' bravery is useless! I would like to see if the remaining battleships of the Windward Fleet will continue to linger in the port of Havana, or stand up bravely and show their swords to us, probably the former will be the majority." Huang Jiandong commented.

The mid- and low-ranking officers around laughed, disdainful of their Spanish counterparts.

"Send two warships to search the east sea and retrieve the two Spanish transport ships that surrendered. Next, we will go to the Bahamas to resupply. The brothers have not been ashore for a long time and need to relax. By the way, keep two ships The ship will continue to be on duty here, Staff Officer He, you can make arrangements." Huang Jiandong ordered.

In this battle, five warships of the Spanish Windward Fleet were sunk, one was damaged, four transport ships were captured (a large amount of supplies and more than 600 Spanish soldiers), and many were sunk.Suffering such a huge loss at one time, even the Governor-General of New Spain, which is vast and rich in resources, felt a little heartbroken.In fact, it is okay to say that army soldiers and supplies can be raised again, but it is difficult to recover the lost naval warships in a short period of time, especially sailors and officers with professional qualities, which are especially rare.After all, the navy is not like the army. A farmer can go to the battlefield after a few months of training. The navy needs more professional knowledge, especially the officers of various positions who can be called souls. It is very difficult to train.According to the standards of people on the east coast, a naval officer needs to study courses such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, ballistics, management, foreign languages, etc. He needs to be proficient in climate knowledge, understand the information of ocean currents in various sea areas, and be familiar with the management of multiple ports. Information, will operate all the weapons on board, know how the equipment works, and also participate in various ideas exchange activities all year round (Navy Spirit Infusion Rod is watching you...).

Look at how difficult it is to train a naval officer, the cycle is long, the cost is high, and the success rate is low.There is no reason for the navy to look down on the army for a long time. We are indeed superior to you!Although the Spanish navy is not as good as the East Coast, its officers also need to master a lot of knowledge. They generally pass on knowledge by word of mouth or apprenticeship, and it will only be more difficult to train than the East Coast.Therefore, so many officers and veteran sailors were lost in the First World War, even if you conjure up a ship now, you will not be able to form an effective combat force.Therefore, the Windward Fleet is no longer a concern, and the Spaniards may not have the courage to organize another expeditionary escort operation. The East Coast Navy does have a time window to take a break.

On October 1703, 10, as the naval fleet headed by the "Daimyo" returned to the supply base on Grand Bahama Island, news also spread to St. Augustine.On the bustling Dengzhou Street, Gao Yi's residence is really full of people.Florida has been liberated, and Gao Yi officially got rid of his identity as an underground intelligence agent, and became the deputy head of the advisory group in St. Augustine. Because the head of the group has not yet taken up his post, he is currently in charge of the work.

Gao Yi has resigned as the principal of Palm Tree Primary School and devoted himself to his new job.After all, the nascent Florida Republic also pays him a salary, and one person receives two salaries. He must make some suggestions for the development of the country.By the way, the original east coast intelligence station has also become an embassy (well, it seems that there is no difference between the two?), just waiting for the new ambassador to come and preside over the intelligence—ah no, a slip of the tongue, it’s diplomacy—work.Gao Yi is currently also working as an intelligence officer, and all kinds of information will be sent to his desk as soon as possible, so he soon learned of the battle that took place in the Caribbean Sea.

"World War I broke the backbone of the Windward Fleet, so many ships were sunk, the fish and shrimps in the Caribbean Sea should like their new home very much." Gao Yi finished signing a document and handed it over. Give it to Secretary Zhang, and said: "Please tell the people in the self-government committee about this news. They need good news to stabilize people's hearts. Also, hurry up and talk about cooperation. I don't want any changes. Make it clear to Nunes If you don’t change your mind, you can change people. Whoever is against him, just report the list to me, and I will find a way to deal with it.”

The secretary nodded and immediately went out to deal with it.He participated in the whole process of the so-called cooperation agreement, so he naturally knew the contents.In short, it covers a wide range, from agriculture to commerce, a package deal.Of course, there is also an agreement that Gao Yi values ​​​​to receive the Indians and Mestizos of the South American continent for 20 years. For this reason, the families need to give up some land to settle down for these new immigrants, whether they want to or not. , all this has to be done.

These native white nobles in Florida are so exaggerated that they almost divided the entire land of Florida.Even though most of them are virgin forests or swamps that are inaccessible, at least they are all owned on the map, which is simply nonsense.In the future, tens of thousands of people from the east coast are expected to flood into Florida. It is impossible for all of these people to be engaged in industry and commerce. Therefore, the nobles urgently need to give up some land to provide the new immigrants with means of production.This is a condition offered by the people on the east coast, and the nobles have to accept it if they don't accept it.

In fact, Xiao Zhang, the secretary, didn't know that most countries in South America in later generations shared this virtue.Taking Brazil as an example, most of the land is in the hands of descendants of nobles who account for 0.1% of the population.As a result, the poor have nothing to do and no land to grow. When they are in a hurry, they have to go to the Amazon rainforest to burn wasteland to obtain land—of course they can only burn public houses. In fact, a considerable part of the Amazon rainforest belongs to private individuals. It can't be burnt-it's actually very beneficial to the long-term development of the Republic of Florida if the people on the east coast do this.At least, if the infrastructure is built in the future, land acquisition will be easier. Small farmers and small households are easier to deal with than big landlords, aren't they?

After the secretary left, Gao Yi put down his pen and thought about possible changes in the situation in the future.Now the east bank and Spain must be torn apart. If the Spanish court in Madrid still has a sense of honor and shame, it will definitely declare war on the east bank.Intercepting other people's official fleet at sea and brazenly annihilating it has broken through the boundary of small armed conflicts and is a naked act of war.If the Spaniards dare not even face this fact and still try to bury their heads in the sand, then this government is ridiculous.

Once the Spaniards officially declare war, Gao Yi thinks from his own point of view that what he should do is to let Florida prepare all kinds of materials, as much as he can, so as to minimize the cost of the army's expedition on the east coast.If possible, they can also send a team to the Caribbean islands to persuade Spanish military and political officials to surrender, soften their will to resist, and reduce the casualties of the troops on the east coast.

This is what he should do as the deputy head of the East Coast Advisory Group of the Republic of Florida.As for the farther, he is not high enough, so he doesn't have to worry about that much, he just needs to do the things within his purview.But then again, if you have the opportunity to participate in higher-level decision-making and overlook a wider panorama, it is definitely a wonderful thing.The war between the East Coast and Spain will not be limited to the Caribbean Sea or even the American continent. It is a global war, and the interests of the Kingdom of Spain will be hit globally.To be able to participate in such a decision-making, even if it reduces life by three years, it is worth it!

(End of this chapter)