Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 987 Deterrence ([-])

In Luocha Port, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and it is peaceful.

A group of porpoises came out of nowhere and rushed into the harbor, playing and playing on the bow of the largest 1200-ton clipper cargo ship.The sailors on this ship loaded with silk, calico, dyed cloth, high-end leather goods, tea, and a large number of weapons and ammunition excitedly told each other that it was obvious that the arrival of the porpoise would bring good luck to everyone, and this also It means the safety of their journey to the United Provinces.

To be honest, on the basis of the originally planned two fleets (1.1 tons of transport tonnage), the people on the east coast once again gritted their teeth and squeezed out three flute-shaped transport ships, a large clipper cargo ship, and a refrigerated ship With a total capacity of about 3450 tons, it has shipped a large amount of materials urgently needed by the Inter-Provincial Republic, which is currently under blockade, and it is really hard work to form a team to Amsterdam.They even asked the navy to reduce unnecessary supplies to make room for as many machine parts, high-quality seal oil and steel rods as possible-these are all indispensable key supplies for the operation of Dutch industry.

After adding part of the Navy’s cargo hold, the ships heading to Europe will deliver about 3700 tons of supplies to the Netherlands again. In addition to the previous two times, people on the east coast have transfused almost 1.47 tons of various supplies to the Netherlands this year, almost equivalent to It can be said that the seven provinces of the Netherlands import 3%-5% of the total amount of materials imported from the non-Baltic Sea and the North Sea (these areas do not need to pass through the Dover Strait blocked by the British Navy) in a year. There is absolutely nothing to say about this level of support. .

How should the Dutch repay such a full "basic love"?Shouldn't it be giving the Brit a good beating?Of course, the above is just a beautiful fantasy of the people on the east coast. Although the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Communications have worked together and spared no effort to organize a large number of ships to deliver a large amount of supplies to the Netherlands, which has slightly eased their difficulties, but you have to count on those gangs who stare at them all day long. Merchants who depend on profit and business for their livelihood have the courage to fight the British pirates to the end, so you might as well expect a sow to climb a tree, it is simply impossible!

Peace talks between the UK and the Netherlands are inevitable, and people on the east coast should not expect the Netherlands to resist the pressure and fight the UK forever. It is true to seize the opportunity to deepen ties with the Netherlands and gain more economic and political benefits!As for other things, I'm sorry, Dong'an is still too small and not strong enough to play a big role.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the sailors who had lunch bid farewell to their families, and under the escort of three escort gunboats of the Navy's First Fleet, they sailed out of the port of Rocha one by one, and then followed the sudden southeast wind to complete the formation at sea , slowly headed north.They were driving close to the coast at this time, and the first destination was the Port of Recife, which is still in the hands of the Dutch West India Company.They will stop there for a while, and then look for an opportunity to cross the Atlantic Ocean and arrive at the Gulf of Guinea near West Africa, and then follow the near-southwesterly wind all the way northward, entering North Africa and the sea off the Iberian Peninsula. Amsterdam is not far away.

On August 1653, 8, this fleet of eight ships slowly sailed into the solemn port of Recife, and then anchored to rest.At this time, there are still many east coast ships moored in the harbor, including a coal carrier, two escort gunboats, and eight inland river shallow water gunboats. It can be seen that the Portuguese are still not giving up. It has not stopped for several months, on the contrary, it may be intensified.

Seeing such a situation, anyone with a little brains probably understands the determination of the Portuguese, and at the same time, they understand how difficult the life of the Dutch West India Company will be without the help of the people on the east coast-there is no way Well, they are about to consider surrendering. After all, everyone is here to make a fortune. Facing the crazy Portuguese who are desperate for their lives, there is really no need to risk their own lives.

Cornelis Bickel, director of the West India Company who is still staying in the Pernambuco area, is worried about the current situation. Although the Dutch West India Company has recently stabilized the land front with the intervention of the people on the east coast, but The Portuguese on the opposite side did not have the slightest intention of retreating. They hired many Swiss soldiers from the Old World, and then ordered a large number of muskets and cannons from Birmingham, making up their minds to fight the Dutch.

The management of the Dutch West India Company headed by Cornelis was not worried about whether they could hold on to the company's last piece of land in Brazil—it was also the most elite piece of land, because it was rich in sugar—in fact, in the After the East Coast Republic strongly intervened in this matter, the Dutch have definitely been able to stabilize the front line.What they worry about now is nothing more than whether it is worthwhile for the company to fall into a protracted war with the Portuguese. The West India Company has suffered a lot in this regard in recent years, and the years of war have swallowed up a lot of money. , so that the financial situation of the West India Company has not been improved, and finally had to accept capital injection from the East India Company to temporarily get rid of difficulties.

But the problem is that the East India Company is not a philanthropist. In fact, they are all shrewd businessmen. Of course, they will not watch the West India Company fall into the quagmire of war and cause the company's funds to be tight.If the scale of the war at this stage can still be tolerated by them, then once the scale of the war continues to escalate in the future, then the group of businessmen from the Dutch province will probably talk nonsense, and this is obviously the West that is dominated by businessmen from the Zeeland province. Indian company management worries.

However, after accepting two in-kind loans totaling 8.5 yuan from people on the east coast, the Dutch West India Company can only bite the bullet and fight on.They can only believe in the strength of the people on the east coast, and believe that they can effectively deter the sea attack from Portugal and maintain the smooth sea transportation of Dutch Brazil, otherwise they will not be able to defend here for a long time under the attack of sea and land.

This is what happened when the fleet to Amsterdam sailed into the port. The port is now short of supplies and people are in panic. They can't even provide the people on the east coast with the necessary supplies of fresh vegetables and meat. In addition to fresh water, They don't have anything—well, maybe a little tropical fruit.

In desperation, the naval officer leading the team asked the Dutch technicians to carry out simple maintenance on all 8 fleets, but they also encountered some difficulties. They lacked wood tar (for brushing the hull) and enough They didn't even have enough iron nails for repairing the boards, which made the people on the east bank feel helpless.The Dutch shipbuilder explained to them embarrassingly that because the order here is currently in chaos, everything else has been messed up except that sugar production can maintain normal.At present, the company is negotiating the third loan with the East Coast government—this time it is an interest-bearing loan with an annual interest rate of 4%—and it has basically reached an agreement that the New World Friendly Mutual Bank on the East Coast will send a batch of machines to Recife Parts (to restore the damaged hydraulic and wind machinery in Recife), as well as ropes, paraffin, anchor chains, nails, tar, skins, canvas and other boats, to restore the ship repair yard here. The total amount of this loan is about 2.5 Yuan, making the East Coast people's aid to the Dutch West India Company reach a huge amount of 11 yuan within a year, and this will obviously make the Portuguese even more uneasy and angry.

A new barracks was built near the pier, and there were a few soldiers with European faces standing at the gate. People on the east coast only made some inquiries and realized that they were Latvian musketeers sent to Brazil by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a half-deceived and half-forced manner. A total of about 400 people.The New Courland colony of the Latvians has increasingly relied on the support of the people on the east coast over the years. From medicines, food to ordinary daily consumer goods, from production materials and living utensils, almost everything has to be imported from the east coast. They also exported a large amount of east coast tobacco, tropical giant trees, and Congolese slaves, so this time they were named by the east coast people (of course they also spent money) to fight in Recife, and they could only hold their noses and agreed no matter how reluctant they were.

After the 400 of them came to Recife, they fought a few battles with the Portuguese on the opposite side, and they performed well.Currently stationed in the city of Recife, the two staff officers sent by the East Coast Army Department act as the de facto commanders. They also have a relatively high degree of freedom. If the Dutch force them to go forward and serve as cannon fodder, they can refuse. Therefore, these people have basically become the defenders of the fortress, relying on cannons and city walls to engage in light battles with the Portuguese army.

In addition to the musketeers from New Courland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the East Bank also announced in a high profile a while ago that [-] Black Eight Banners new troops from Hezhong County, South Africa will soon arrive in Recife, Fota On the front line of Lesa, join the Dutch side as a volunteer to help them stabilize the front line.In addition, it is said that there will be hundreds of volunteers from the Xinhua Island side "actively signing up", looking forward to joining the Dutch side of Brazil.

Naturally, the above news was quickly detected by the Brazilian colonial authorities, and the Portuguese knew very well that this was the east coast government trying to deter them.A while ago, after the people on the east coast dispatched warships to force the Brazilian colonial authorities to reopen trade and make them give up their attempt to block the Dutch-Brazil sea line of communication, the land warfare has never stopped under the insistence of the Portuguese.Regarding this matter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the East Coast could not force these Portuguese to make further concessions, so they used various means to help the Dutch recruit a group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals, hoping that the Portuguese would retreat in spite of difficulties.

The result of the deterrence is still unclear, but it is true that the Portuguese offensive was frustrated, and this is enough!Don't you want money when the Portuguese gather tens of thousands of people (most of them are Indians and black soldiers) to besiege Dutch Brazil?The sea is gone!It’s just that Vieira and other sugar tycoons are helping to cover the bottom line. If the war drags on for a long time, let alone the Dutch West India Company, the Portuguese, whose costs are lower than theirs, will also be very uncomfortable. In the end, the war will probably end It's over.

And it's pretty much the same.When the fleet of the East Coasters left Recife on August 8, the Portuguese land offensive had weakened significantly, and it seemed that it would stop completely within a few days. little effect.

(End of this chapter)