Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 628 Dilemma

Pisco Harbor only resisted for half a day before falling.

In fact, this small port, which was only established in 1640 and mainly focused on agriculture, was stationed by only seventy or eighty soldiers. collapsed.The amount of gold and silver found in the city was extremely limited—in fact, the commanders on the east coast didn't care much about it. What they cared more about was how much food was found in this small port.

In fact, this Peruvian town with only a few hundred residents has a lot of food stored in it. More than 50 tons of wheat, 100 tons of corn, and a small amount of cassava and other miscellaneous grains were collected into the cabin.This food, together with the food robbed in Chiloe Island, Corral and Valdivia a while ago, is almost enough for all the officers and soldiers of the Pacific Task Force to eat for three or four months.

The food problem has been temporarily resolved, so the people on the east coast will have plenty of time to spend time with the Spaniards in Callao. Lieutenant Colonel Lu Ming, who leads the team, does not believe that the Spaniards can spend a few months with him until 1648. Whether it is Flota or the Gaia Anes fleet will return to Spain.The returning Spanish treasure fleet failed to transport the silver bars back to Potosi. Can it still be called a treasure ship?

After beating Cusco, the two or three thousand east coast troops who landed didn't even bother to stay here. After collecting supplies, they simply abandoned this Peruvian town, and then took a boat to the coast of Callao to meet the main force. Battleship formations converge.The "Grocery Store No. 2" water supply ship did not keep up with the main force. She carried the materials seized a while ago (gold and silver, leather, ship materials, artwork, and more than 700 freed Araucan slaves) Go to the city of Araucan in the south, and prepare to store these materials there first, and by the way, some military cans, wine and other supplies will be transported back to the coast of Peru (the people on the east coast have previously set up a temporary small supply here. stand).

On October 10th, after wandering off the coast of Callao for several days and sinking a Spanish fishing boat that was stupidly coming from the north, the number one target of the East Coast Pacific Task Force-Spain The Peruvian fleet was finally dispatched.Perhaps knowing that other ships without firepower have limited role in naval battles, the Peruvian fleet only dispatched five professional warships this time, and some other transport ships did not carry army soldiers as they usually do and also went to sea to help in the battle.

The Spaniards moved, and the East Coast Navy, which had been waiting for a long time, was naturally unambiguous.First, the five auxiliary ships (one headed to Araucan and has not yet returned) used their high maneuverability to dodge aside, and then the three main battleships adjusted their sails and increased the output power of their steam engines, and also moved towards them with unparalleled maneuverability. A warship on the outermost side of the Spanish Peruvian fleet rushed forward.

The three battleships of the East Coasters formed a long line of battleships. The flagship "August [-]th" took the lead, followed by the "Cadiz Rock" battleship, and the last one was the "East Coastist" battleship.These three warships seized the T prefix from the beginning, and after entering the range, they first conducted a calibration test.

The gunpowder smoke on the sea gradually increased, and soon the two sides entered within a range of 700 meters, but this range is almost the best range for ships on the east coast with larger artillery calibers and larger diameter ratios. , but it was not very good for the Spaniards, and some of their short-barreled guns could not even effectively hit the enemy.Therefore, they constantly adjusted their course, trying to get closer to the ships on the east coast.

It's just that how can the people on the east coast make them happy!Led by the flagship "August [-]th", the three powerful warships on the east coast constantly adjusted their course with the maneuverability that stunned the Spaniards, and then accurately captured the outermost one of the five Spanish warships. , When the remaining Spanish warships were helpless in a short period of time and turned around to support them, they concentrated their firepower and carried out a round of onslaught.

After going on like this for more than two hours, two ships of the Spanish-Peruan fleet were severely damaged and withdrew from the battle. They fled desperately back to the nearby Port of Callao, and then licked silently under the cover of a powerful coastal defense fort. with a wound.After the two warships withdrew from the battle, the remaining three Spanish warships finally recognized the situation, gave up the idea of ​​defeating the East Coast Fleet, and began to rush towards the port.

It's just that there is no such good thing in this world. It is easy for the Spaniards to come out, but now it is difficult to go back!It was originally to lure you to go to sea to fight, how could it be possible to let you go back so easily now!The two warships that were wounded and escaped just now are nothing more than that. The number of warships on both sides that are still fighting in the sea is 3v3. No matter what, you have to keep one or two warships.

At this moment, the three Spanish warships fled desperately in the shape of a character, among which the "San Lorenzo" rushed to the forefront, and the rest of the "Conqueror of Araucan" and the "Countesa Alfonso" followed closely behind.The three warships on the east bank tried their best to intercept them. At this time, they didn't care about the distance. They leaned forward one after another and smashed chain bombs and hot bombs at the three Spanish warships for free.

More than half an hour later, seeing that the "San Lorenzo" had withdrawn to the maximum range of the Spanish coastal defense fort, the three main warships of the East Coasters finally achieved major results: after continuous baptism of chain bombs, the original The "Conquistador of Araucan", which had already been interrupted by a mast, was hit hard again. After being hit many times, the foremast broke suddenly, and the canvas on both sides of the middle mast was also damaged in a large area, so its speed suddenly slowed down. .

Everyone knows the consequences of the ship stalling during this desperate flight, but at this time the "San Lorenzo" and the "Countess Alfonso" had lost the courage to continue fighting. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the "Conqueror of Araucan" being intercepted by the people on the east coast, she fled into the port of Callao in a hurry and hid under the protection of the coastal defense fort.As for the poor companions, perhaps the only way to help them is to pray to God.

When the foremast was interrupted and the tomast canvas was damaged in a large area, the fate of the "Conqueror of Araucan" was actually doomed.At this moment, after several other Spanish warships fled back in embarrassment, the three main warships of the East Coast Navy, who had no worries, concentrated on dealing with this frigate with a displacement of only [-] tons.

The outcome of the battle was obvious, and the Spanish battleship was finally sunk after resisting for more than an hour - because they refused to surrender.After the battle, the East Coast Navy carried forward the humanitarian spirit, rescued the Spanish naval officers and soldiers who fell into the water and took them into custody.At this point, the breakout battle of the Spanish Navy's Peruvian fleet came to an end. Five Spanish warships sank and were seriously injured. The morale of the remaining two ships also plummeted. They lost the courage to continue fighting in a short time. under de facto siege.

After the breakout battle on the 27th, the Spaniard's Port of Callao fell into a lifeless state.Seeing that he didn't know how long he would spend with these Spanish turtles, on the third day (29th), Lu Ming ordered all five auxiliary ships to look for a place to stay in the north and stop at the port first. After all, these ships were loaded with For thousands of army soldiers, it is not good for their health to wander around outside all the time, so it is better to go ashore to recuperate first.Call them when you need to fight, and many land battles do not require everyone to go out together, and they can even take turns to save energy.

Before the outbreak of the war with the east coast, the Spanish Lima Colonial Army quickly recovered to more than 7000 troops. They went to Paraguay to support more than 2000 people. There are still [-] people under the city of Santa Fe, which has already removed nearly half of them. .If you count the soldiers stationed in various important colonial points, the Spaniards can't actually come up with any decent mobile forces to fight the East Coast Army at this time.The people on the east coast have the command of the sea, and there is a large army accompanying them in combat. Then they can easily select various towns along the coast of the Viceroyalty of Peru, and attack with superior forces and superior firepower. The scattered Spaniards have no way to resist.

Of course, this is only the judgment of the army staff on the east coast, and we must be cautious when we encounter it.Therefore, after thinking about it, Lu Ming simply ordered several auxiliary ships not to attack the towns on the mainland (for fear of being besieged by the Spanish army), but to occupy an outlying island as a temporary resting place.As for which outlying island it was, Lu Ming just searched on a highly classified map and determined that San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands was a temporary resting place for the army.

Bakeriso Harbor in the northwest corner of the island is an excellent sheltered bay for ships to anchor.Moreover, the entire archipelago was only visited by some Spanish explorers and missionaries in the early days. Since then, except for some pirates who occasionally visited, no Spanish colonists have ever set foot here. Ideal for East Coast Auxiliary and Army rest.

After the logistics auxiliary fleet went north to search for San Cristobal Island on the 29th, the three main warships on the east coast (carrying a small number of army soldiers) were still cruising off the coast of Callao Port, monitoring the movements of the Spaniards day and night.As long as the Spanish fleet tries to leave the port, they will pounce on it viciously and force the Spaniards back into the port.

Although he didn't know the situation inside Callao and Lima, Lu Ming knew with his toes that the Spanish governor of Peru was probably so worried that his hair turned gray.Why?There is no other reason, the local war is tight, and there is a shortage of money!The Potosí silver mine provides silver bars worth more than 300 million pesos to the mainland every year. If the other ten small silver mines scattered in Chalkas, Chile and Peru are added, the entire Viceroyalty of Peru provides silver bars worth more than 500 million pesos to the mainland of Spain every year. The silver bars offered will amount to close to 200 million pesos.If you count the gold associated with some silver mines, then this number will be more than [-] million pesos.

It is conceivable that if the gold and silver worth more than seven million pesos cannot be transported back to Spain in time, it will have a profound impact on the European continent.After all, the gold and silver produced in Mexico alone (probably less than 400 million pesos) is not enough to support such a broad front in Spain.Unless the King of Spain orders Mexico to stop trade with Manila, reduce the outflow of silver and tax heavily in Mexico, Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean Islands, and then transport these "excess" silver back to the country , then it is possible to prevent Spain's finances from collapsing immediately, but it is still unsustainable in the long run.

It's very simple, because the ban on the trade of Manila galleons and the increase of taxes in the American colonies will undoubtedly harm the interests of the local native white class and arouse their strong dissatisfaction.Also, even if you don't raise taxes and try to ship more goods back to sell from the American colonies - let's not mention how difficult it is to increase production capacity in Peru or New Spain - this is probably useless because of the pricing power of American goods In the hands of the Genoese, Portuguese Jews and Dutch.When there is more supply of commodities, the price will naturally fall. This is an undeniable truth through the ages!

"So, I want to see how calm you are in Spain! Callao port, I'm sure it's blocked!" Lu Ming snorted coldly, looking at the looming Lima city, and said in his heart.

(End of this chapter)