Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1724 Hegemony of the Western Indian Ocean

"The life of the Second Fleet is getting more and more difficult now." In this season when the wind direction and ocean currents are unfavorable, the Morley Eel Navy arrived at Tiwa Island with the only battleship "Fubo Wanli" that can sail against the wind and against the current. The lieutenant colonel complained to his subordinates.

It is the end of April and the beginning of May, and the northerly wind still dominates the western Indian Ocean.This strong air current stirs up the sea water, forming a counterclockwise circulation, which is very unfriendly to any ship trying to sail from south to north, and people on the east coast are no exception.

No, because of the tense situation on Tiouba Island, the battleship "Fubo Wanli", which was originally in Xinhua Port for life extension in order to continue serving, had to leave the port urgently in late April and sail to the north of Tiouba Island. direction without any other ships accompanying her.

This is so, it can be said that there are two reasons.First of all, the Second Fleet has received very limited supplements over the years (it was briefly assigned to two "Star" class light cruisers, and was later claimed back by the First Fleet), and basically the First Fleet, which is the main force of the navy, was eliminated and used. The ships—such as three or four outdated "Madao"-class sail escort gunboats—replaced many decommissioned armed transport ships and escort gunboats. Basically, in terms of strength, there has been no growth, which makes the Second Fleet The top and bottom were very dissatisfied, and then jointly requested the Ministry of the Navy and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff to allocate more cutting-edge ships to join the battle order of the Second Fleet in order to strengthen the naval power of the people on the east coast in the Indian Ocean.

Naturally, their joint request was rejected by the higher-ups, and the "idle bureaucrats" of the Navy Department only allocated a sum of training expenses, and said in a lecturing tone: "When asking for newer warships, more Before the cannon, you still need to train and mature the various skills you need to master."

These remarks made the Second Fleet so popular that they all complained that they were the one that received the least funding among the three major fleets and that they were raised by stepmothers. The pace at which a "Yaksa"-class armed transport ship entered service in [-] was a heaven and a world compared to their Second Fleet.

However, their complaints were also not accepted by their superiors. In the end, Chief of Staff Guo of the Joint Staff Headquarters couldn't stand it anymore and instructed the Navy to properly strengthen the Second Fleet. Two battle-damaged "Madao" class escort gunboats were refurbished and handed over to the Second Fleet.Later, they finally had some conscience and sent an ammunition supply ship that was about to be decommissioned by the First Fleet to the Second Fleet.There is nothing wrong with the hull of this ship, but the steam engine needs to be overhauled, which is expensive. The First Fleet found it troublesome and ordered a new ship, so they dumped the old ship to the Second Fleet, which was regarded as blocking their way. Mouth.

Now this ammunition supply ship, which was despised by the First Fleet, has completed its overhaul and is quietly mooring in Xinhua Bay.Morie estimated that in a few days, the ship would be loaded with a batch of ammunition and soldiers (mainly from the New China Security Regiment) to join them on Tiuba Island—this kind of ghostly weather, just like this Some steam-powered ships can sail regardless of ocean currents and wind directions, although the speed is only a pitiful two knots.

"In this season of bad weather, we have only two ships that can sail against the wind and the current. It's really terrible." Molie eel watched the Somali cold current rolling southward over the ship's side-wait until the summer and autumn seasons, with the strong When the southwestern wind blows, the Somali current will turn around and turn northward, turning into a warm current. At this time, it is very convenient for the ships on the east coast to go northward——said in a slightly helpless tone: "Fortunately, our enemy does not have a fleet that is too large. Therefore, the two warships we left on the island can deter the enemies who are about to move. But if there are external enemies involved, this power may not be enough, although this possibility is not very great."

It is said that the entire possession of the Second Fleet is about one battleship (also the flagship), six "Madao" class sail escort gunships, one ammunition supply ship and one sail troop carrier converted from a merchant ship, a total of nine ships , the combined tonnage can exceed [-] tons.

This scale, in terms of tonnage alone, may have declined compared to before, because a large number of miscellaneous fast cruisers, armed transport ships, and escort gunboats in the establishment were basically retired one after another. A lot, but the tonnage is not as good.Therefore, this has often become the object of complaints by the officers and soldiers of the Second Fleet, and it is "important evidence" that they are not welcome among the three major fleets.

As the hoist on the ship sent the heavy anchor into the sand on the seabed, Lieutenant Colonel Morley adjusted his clothes and hat, then boarded a small boat with seven or eight entourages, and rowed towards the shore , The garrison commander of Tiuba Island and the captain of the navy, Aixito, had been waiting there respectfully for a long time.

"What did you do this time? It's nothing more than beating the merchant ships of the Omanis. Why did you even hack the merchant ships of the Indians? Don't tell me that I didn't warn you. The positioning of the island is originally a commodity distribution center and a trade center." , You should have taken measures to win over businessmen from all over the world, but what are you doing? Kill people and get more goods! Is this plausible? Are you crazy about money?" As soon as he landed, Lieutenant Colonel Morie Eel scolded Yi Xi A group of garrison officials headed by Captain Tuo (basically all from the Navy, and the island is also under the jurisdiction of the Second Fleet of the Navy).

"That ship was loaded with some Omani soldiers, and we just intercepted it at sea, so we took it together." Captain Ehito was the officer in charge of the land and sea defense of the island, so he stepped forward and explained to Morley Eel.

"Pretending to be Omani soldiers? Are they targeting us?" Mo Lieel frowned and asked.

"That's not true. They seem to be going to the coast of Swahili. Maybe they are conquering some princes who are disobedient and have fallen to the Portuguese. There are three ships in total, two from the Muscat Sultanate and one Indian merchant ship. There were a total of three to four hundred soldiers, and more than half of them had muskets. The destination was indeed not our island, but the mainland, but the three ships got too close to us, so they were caught by two patrol ships and directly Sink it." Captain Echito replied cautiously.This time they seem to have gotten into some trouble, because those Omani merchant ships were not here to deal with them at all (although the relationship between the two countries is already extremely tense), but they were caught and beaten by them in the end. If the news got out, the Omanis might find ways to retaliate, which would be more or less a threat to the island.

"You guys, you can really cause trouble." Mo Lieel shook his head helplessly, and said: "The positioning of the island is a trade center. The nearby Swahili coast produces a lot of gold, ivory, fur, herbs, rhino horns and other commodities , The annual trade volume is huge. Last year, the tax revenue of the Hong Kong Customs has exceeded 10 yuan, and it is still increasing year after year. It is too late for such a large gold mine to operate well. Okay? Is it worth it to snatch those tens of thousands of dollars? Okay, okay, there is nothing to say, this time, we will do it, and we can’t change anything, but we must pay attention to it in the future Now, the acts of plundering at sea must be strictly prohibited, and those who violate it will be severely punished!"

"In addition, the defense system of the island must be established as soon as possible. Now there are only a few thousand immigrants here, and the black slaves are almost transported. It is too late to work, and there is really not much room for military training. Therefore, this The next time I asked Captain Huang Yihuang for instructions, and the three counties of Xinhua, Tacheng, and Mianhe sent militias to guard in turn until a stable military system was established here. We have offended so many people on the Swahili coast these years. There are so many people, there are some things that must be guarded against!" After thinking for a while, Mo Lieel exhorted: "Remember, you only have three years! I don't care what method you use. After three years, the garrison from Xinhua Island The pawns will be withdrawn, and everything will depend on you in the future. At least 300 professional soldiers in the garrison, this is the minimum requirement, whether you organize training or recruit outside, whatever you want, I just want to see the results. "

It is said that the people on the east coast have risen strongly on the Swahili coast in recent years, breaking the original pattern of sharing interests between the Muscat Sultanate and the Kingdom of Portugal, and taking a lot of benefits into their arms. This naturally aroused the Portuguese and Omani People on the east coast were very dissatisfied, but the people on the east coast were indifferent to this and still went their own way, which eventually caused the breakdown of the tripartite relationship.

Among them, the breakup with the Portuguese broke up. After the last war, the two sides have long lost mutual trust. No matter how bad the relationship is, how bad can it be?And the Portuguese have one good thing, that is, even if they don't like you no matter how cold their relationship is, they will still do business when it's time to do business. As the so-called true nature of a businessman, this is naturally what people on the east coast want to see, so these years The two sides have been passable, and no obvious armed conflict has broken out.

But with the Omanis it's totally different!This group of people are completely "pig brains" and "one muscle" (Huang Yi's comment), because of the Qingniu Palace (that is, the Taoist temple in Ningguo County, the big name is Qingniu Palace, which was rebuilt from the original Marenjia Mosque) The relationship with the people on the east coast completely broke down and fell to a freezing point. Not only did the bilateral trade completely stagnate, but even when they met at sea, they became tense.Even, the people on the east bank got a tip from some familiar Swahili maharajas. Many of the east bank businessmen or explorers who died or disappeared all over the Swahili coast in recent years were bewitched by the Omanis*** The prince was secretly killed, which made Huang Yi, the captain of the New China Exploration Team, very angry for a time, and then adjusted his policy towards the Omanis, which further deteriorated the relationship between the two sides, and small actions became frequent.

I believe that if the people on the east coast are not focused on the Xinhua Island itself, and they don’t have much territorial ambitions for the Swahili coast full of blacks and harsh environments, the east coast may have already started a full-scale war with the Muscat Sultanate .Sometimes Mo Lieel feels incredible when he thinks about it. Could the Omani Sultan Saif really not see the situation clearly?Isn't it too greedy for a small desert country with a population of several 10 to try to hold on to such a long Swahili coast?If you are sensible, let go of part of the coast to the people on the east coast to monopolize business, which may also help them share some pressure from the Portuguese. The remaining Portuguese forces in Mombasa and Mogadishu have probably been united by the two sides long ago. It has been conquered, so how can it be so tense as it is now, it is simply sick!

Thinking of the end, Mo Lieel can only conclude that these extremely greedy Omanis with a strong desire to preach are "sick in their brains"!The people on the east coast are too lazy to talk to you now. They will not find a way to solve the threat of the Omanis and Portuguese until the expansion on New China Island is over in the future. At present, they only want to intervene in the business of the Swahili coast. want to make money.Of course, if the Omanis had their minds twitching and wanted to challenge the maritime hegemony of the East Coast in the West Indian Ocean before that, then even if the strength of the Second Fleet has weakened over the years, it would be easy to take down those broken ships of yours!

Mo Lieel stayed on Mauba Island for a month, until the ammunition supply ship of the Second Fleet arrived at the pier carrying [-] dejected New China militiamen.During this period, the wind direction on the Indian Ocean also changed somewhat. The southwest wind gradually overwhelmed the northeast wind, and the direction of the Somali ocean current also slowly began to change. All astronomical phenomena indicate that sailing north and east has now become sea trade. The prevailing direction of travel of the vessel.Naturally, the small broken boats of the Omanis could no longer come to the Swahili coast, and the threat of the people on the east coast was temporarily resolved, unless the princes on the shore couldn't think of a big attack, of course, that was basically impossible.

At this time, Morley Eel thought about whether he should simply take the "Fubo Wanli" and the ammunition supply ship to the Persian Gulf for a visit. Anyway, regular cruises to the Persian Gulf are also one of their tasks.At that time, if necessary, the "Fubo Wanli", a sea war behemoth, can be allowed to take a turn around the periphery of Muscat to demonstrate in a disguised form, so that the heads of the Omanis can be more sober.

In addition, the Dutch East India Company refused to allow immigration ships from the East Coast to stop at the port of Malacca and Galle Fort because of the capture of the Cape Town colony.Although there were very few immigrant ships taking the Indian Ocean route, the nature of the matter was very serious. The mainland did not intend to turn a blind eye to this, so they forwarded a diplomatic email, authorizing the New China Pioneering Team to start negotiations with the Dutch East India Company on this matter.However, Huang Yi was also lazy, and directly put this task on herself. It was inconvenient for Mo Lie to refuse, so he could only agree.

Now that I think about it, there is really no way to delay it any longer, and it is inevitable to lead the ship to the east!

(End of this chapter)