Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2259 Another battle between land and sea?

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The clock in the living room struck three times, and Paul Doria put down the pen in his hand, and rang the rope bell above the desk. Five minutes later, the secretary came in with a steaming cup of coffee.

"I've finished reading the pension application for the battle in July. There's nothing wrong with it. You can take it to Carlo in a while and let him arrange for it to be distributed." Paul Doria picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and said.

The "July battle" he mentioned refers to the battle against the Algiers pirates that the Allied Northern Italian fleet participated in a few months ago.In that battle at sea, they blocked the four pirate warships leaving the port at sea based on the accurate information provided by the people on the east coast, and launched an attack together with their allies.The outcome of the battle was excellent, with all four pirate warships sunk without the Allies losing a single ship, except for one which was badly damaged—unfortunately, that ship was from the Allied Forces of Northern Italy.

The Portuguese and Spanish navies that took part in the battle have returned one after another. The Italian fleet did not leave immediately, but went around Tunisia and fired two demonstration shots before returning to Geno, one of its home ports. *ya.

In fact, in the past, neither the fleets of Genoa nor Venice would be so "arrogant" in front of the North African pirates.This is not only because they have some business there, but the bigger reason is that their maritime strength is not that strong, and they are worried that they will completely annoy the Green Christians, causing them to attack their own merchant ships and affect foreign trade.

Of course, there is another reason for keeping a low profile before, that is, the pirate problem in North Africa is not that serious.The Ottoman Empire worked hard to rectify that area, and the governor who was stationed there also severely caught a group of pirates who made a lot of noise. The normal trade order was maintained for a full 20 years.But things changed after the Battle of Vienna. Faced with enormous military pressure, Istanbul had to shrink its military and financial resources and strive to maintain the defense line along the Danube River. Naturally, its control over North Africa was not as good as before.

The local soldiers who have not been paid for a long time have gradually become impatient with the rule from Istanbul.They decided to control their own destiny, and ever since, the once-famous pirates on the south coast of the Mediterranean appeared again!At the beginning, the Ottoman Empire navy came to encircle and suppress several times, because these pirates even robbed their own country's merchant ships, is this okay?Fortunately, the pirates were also more interested. Later, they decisively changed their robbing targets and stopped attacking the merchant ships of the Turks. In addition, the navy of the Ottoman Empire was suppressed by the Christians, so the problem of piracy became serious and gradually disrupted normal business. order.

People on the east coast, who have important commercial interests in the Mediterranean, naturally cannot bear this situation.For this reason, when the navy was stationed in Europe, they sent squadrons to the North African coast several times to encircle and suppress pirates, and achieved certain results.However, after the pirates saw how powerful they were, they began to break up into pieces, so that the East Coast Navy could not catch their tails.And the squadron of the East Coast Navy cannot stay here for a long time, and will leave sooner or later, so in the end, the pirates won the victory and continued to dominate this sea area.

However, the fact that the East Coast Navy can't stay here doesn't mean they can't deal with these pirates.They quickly came up with a solution, which was to arm the newly formed North Italian Allied Fleet and let them carry out regular patrols off the coast of North Africa to crack down on any behaviors that disrupt maritime trade. It doesn't matter if they kill three thousand by mistake.It just so happens that Genoa, Venice and other countries attach great importance to this trade route—as long as these two major countries agree, it basically means that the Northern Italian coalition forces agree—they will be on the east coast. With the support of human weapons and ships, a fixed patrol route was established, and a long-term battle was launched with the pirates.

Just a few months ago, the fleet commanded by the Genoese admiral Pastor successfully seized an opportunity and successfully sent four pirate ships to the bottom of the sea after a artillery battle, which greatly Shocked this group of lawless guys.As the Naval Logistics Minister of the Northern Italian Allied Forces, Paul Doria is also very familiar with this battle, and when the damaged warship returned to the port, he also allocated funds to repair it as soon as possible, so that it can be restored to combat power as soon as possible.

What he is reviewing today are the rewards for those who have made meritorious service in this battle and the pensions for the dead and wounded.He has already read it, the problem is not big, Curry also has money, so let's send it quickly.It's been a few months, and it's too much not to post.

However, this battle also exposed some problems, that is, the boys of the coalition army are not very familiar with how to fight, and their combat experience and morale are not as good as their opponents.The reason why they were able to win was that they had a large number of people, and the second was that they were overwhelmed by equipment.Of course, this is understandable. The coalition fleet has not been established for a long time, and it is full of new recruits. It is already quite good to be able to fight like this.

At this time, Doria actually felt a little emotional.Thinking back then, how majestic the Genoese fleet was across the Mediterranean Sea.But after more than a hundred years of peace, the navy has declined to the point of almost non-existence (otherwise it would not have been blocked and bombarded by the French Eastern Fleet), which is really pitiful.

The situation of the Venetians is not much better than them. The 20-year Crete War with the Ottoman Empire drained their blood. As a result, after the war, the navy was abolished due to financial problems, and only a few remained. part.I believe that if it is not for the formation of a coalition fleet this time, the fleet of this country whose main pressure is on land will slowly disappear into nothingness.

At present, the Northern Italian coalition fleet has a total of sixteen warships, half of which are "Star" class light cruisers purchased from the east coast, and the other half are old galley warships. In front of the human Eastern Fleet, it is no longer powerless to fight back.You know, in order to deal with the Anglo-Dutch coalition forces, they have already transferred the most elite warships to the Atlantic Ocean.

"The navy is really a gold-swallowing behemoth. There are only sixteen warships, and many people have complained about maintaining them. Think about waiting for the return of the four 'Jiqi'-class gunboats ordered from the east coast, and some oars with lower maintenance costs. If the sailing warship is replaced again, the maintenance cost will be even more astonishing." Paul Doria suddenly sighed for no reason, which made the secretary somewhat at a loss as to how to respond.

"But these are all necessary expenses." Paul Doria suddenly emphasized his tone, and said: "Compared with the humiliation and economic losses suffered by the French bombarding the port, maintaining a combat-capable navy seems to be more cost-effective A few. We must take our destiny into our own hands, and let all those who try to play our tricks stay away."

When Paul Doria said this, he was actually a little guilty.Their family has a large-scale maritime business, and the dominance of the coalition fleet is also in the hands of the Republic of Genoa. No matter from which point of view, it is necessary to increase investment in the navy.But the problem is that the Venetians, who have dominated the construction of the coalition army, certainly don't think so.They insisted that the greatest threat to northern Italy came from land, and one was the Ottoman Turks from the direction of the Dalmatian coast (ie, southeast), which was the greatest threat to Christendom.The second is the threat from the Austrians in the northeast. This country has always been very coveted by the rich northern Italy. At present, because of the financial difficulties caused by the two-front war, it is urgent to win Italy to supplement.The third threat comes from the Kingdom of France in the northwest. The reason is similar to that of Austria. They all want to obtain financial resources by conquering Italy. In particular, they have just used force twice against the Principality of Savoy. The cruel methods have made the Italians very worried.

Paul Doria is actually a bit unimpressed by this.He feels that the future of Italy is trade, more trade!Trade can bring money, can bring strength, can make Italy's position more stable, and this undoubtedly first requires increasing investment in the navy.It's a pity that even in the Republic of Genoa, some people have different opinions on this. Most of them were frightened by the French defeat of the Savoy army, and they suffered from paranoia and phobia, wanting to devote more energy to the land .

In fact, neither of these two ideas is wrong. Both sides have their own reasons, and they are just ordinary line disputes.It’s just that judging from the current situation, it seems that the army faction has more of the upper hand. They seem to have forgotten the humiliation of being blocked and bombarded by the French at the Toulon naval port, and they are focused on strengthening the army, resulting in a serious shortage of funds for the navy. Paul Doria was very unhappy.

He even heard a while ago that the Venetians in the army were planning to annex the other Italian states on the peninsula, which frightened him.Because once this "conspiracy" of the Venetians is allowed to succeed, then in the foreseeable future, the Northern Italian Allied Fleet will not have a bright future!The war on land is protracted and consumes a lot. If it lasts for ten or twenty years, will the navy survive?

What is even more worrying is that it seems that people on the east coast are also very interested in the army's plan.Paul Doria even suspected that the relationship between the people on the east coast and the Spaniards had broken down, and they would start war against this Iberian country at any time.And once the war starts, are they going to encourage the Northern Italian coalition forces to capture Naples and Sicily?It's chilling to think about.

Paul Doria could even imagine that once the army successfully occupied Naples and Sicily—considering the physical condition of King Carlos II today, this possibility is not very low—then their prestige and influence would expand to to what extent?At that time, the navy dominated by the Genoese will have to bow to them, completely becoming a vassal of the army, and becoming their transport fleet, right?

How can this be!Paul Doria firmly rejects such a thing from happening.Helplessly, he has no right to make decisions, and even the matter itself is not under their control. Everything depends on what the East Coast League (dad) friend (dad) wants, which is the most depressing.

I hope that the people on the east coast who built their country by sailing can pay more attention to the navy. Paul Doria can only comfort himself in this way.

(End of this chapter)