Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 321 The Sudden Deterioration of the Situation

February 1642, 2 may have been an unremarkable day in the long river of history, but now it has produced a different kind of waves in this time and space where the people are traveling.

To be honest, Shi Chinger had played out countless times in his mind the scene of the war between the East Coast Republic and the Dutch. Among them, the Dutch gathered a large fleet to steal Hong Kong in the middle of the night; After these strongholds, they began to besiege Xinhua Bay on a large scale; among them, the Portuguese and their old enemy, the Dutch, joined forces to carve up the Xinhua colony that Shi had exhausted his energy and painstaking efforts to establish.But he never imagined that the battle would start from an inconspicuous attack on a fishing boat, and it would come so suddenly...

Baishui was still instructing the recruits on the fort how to better bombard the enemy. These people's training was still insufficient, and the impact of the shells at this time was terrible.However, after experiencing the initial chaos, they were better than before at this moment. Dozens of shells went down, and some shells hit the enemy ships, causing some confusion to the Dutch.

Shi Qinjie looked at the sea where shells were flying, but his thoughts gradually drifted to other places.Why did the Dutch suddenly appear here, and why did they attack our fishing boats?They rarely appeared in this sea area before, because it was not on any route, so are they gradually turning their attention to the people on the east coast now?Could it be that the flourishing development of the East Coast people in New China has gradually made them intolerable?Or did they feel that the East Coaster stronghold in the sea had threatened the safety of their sea route from Cape Town to Batavia near the Sunda Strait?

What should I do about this Dutch attack on our fishing boat?Is this an isolated incident or the beginning of a series of frictions or conspiracies?Should I express my outcry to the Dutch, or just live with it as if it never happened?Just as Shi Qinjie was thinking about gains and losses, there was a burst of applause from around. It turned out that an 18-pound shell hit the captain's cabin in the poop of the Dutchman!However, this lucky shell obviously did not have much effect. The Dutch captain dressed as gorgeously as a rooster was still standing on the fence outside the bridge, yelling and commanding.

The three Dutch ships turned with difficulty at the mouth of the bay, but their luck was not very good, the current was against the current, and the wind direction was not very smooth, so the ships appeared so clumsy at the mouth of the bay.This kind of slow-moving target gave a group of unskilled rookie gunners on the forts on both sides an excellent target shooting opportunity. Under the command of the officers, they constantly adjusted the direction, angle and charge of the gun barrel, each Various shells such as explosive bombs, solid iron bombs, chain bombs, etc. took turns, and fell around several Dutch ships like rain.The sea was full of soaring water columns, and from time to time a few shells fell on the opponent's hull, causing the Dutch sailors on board to scream and panic.

"Old Bai, why don't you...do you want everyone to stop first? These Dutch ships came very strangely, and if they go down and sink, it will be difficult to deal with it. If it leads to an international incident, this..." Shi Qinjie looked at it for a long time, then found Baishui who was directing the shooting, and said hesitantly.

"What? Stop?" Bai Shui turned to look at Shi Qingjie behind him with a worried look in surprise, and then asked, "Why did you stop? These Dutchmen attacked our fishing boat. If we don't fight hard How can I stop after beating them up? Old Shi, even though you are my boss, I have to say that you can’t be kind to the enemy, and you can’t look forward and backward! Let’s finish the fight if there are any problems in today’s matter!”

After finishing speaking, Bai Shui inserted a red-hot iron braze into the gun door.Just hearing a "boom", a 24-pound solid iron ball flew over hundreds of meters of sea surface, and plunged into the side of the Dutch ship closest to Fort No. [-]. The splashed sawdust injured many people nearby A gunner manning a cannon.However, the bad luck of this Dutch ship is not over yet. A chain bomb flying from Fort No. [-] directly hit the largest piece of canvas on the topmast, tearing the already somewhat damaged canvas into pieces, and lost Mostly effective.

The Dutch ship was chasing the most fiercely at that time, and of course it was also the deepest into the bay at the moment. It was actually located about a hundred meters southwest of the island where the No. Fighting with the southeast wind, making a difficult U-turn.However, it seemed that it would be difficult for it to complete this action for a while, so the people from the east bank who saw that there was something to be taken advantage of immediately concentrated more than half of their firepower on it and greeted it with emphasis.The other two Dutch ships didn't want to cause trouble. After all, it would be too stupid to use their wooden hulls to confront the semi-enclosed forts built with cement on both sides. However, they were obviously hesitant at this time, wondering whether they should give up companions and escaped.

The people on the east coast quickly made a decision for them with artillery fire. A few rounds of 18-pound and 24-pound iron balls, which looked very scary, fell around the two hesitant and wandering Dutch ships, scaring them from going back and forth. Stop here and start heading out to sea.And the Dutch ship was thrown into confusion at the sight of his two companions deserting him, and the sailors on deck cursed in the most vicious language, so loud that they could be heard even over the rumble of the guns.

Without the "little partner" who shared the firepower, this unlucky Dutch ship rapidly increased its scars under the repeated ravages of more than 20 long-barreled heavy artillery.Although the east bank artillery on the forts on both sides are basically rookies, the artillery is also new, and the accuracy is not very high, but they can't stand the intensive firepower bombardment.In particular, the artillery barrels of the people on the east coast are longer, and the cannonballs are ejected quickly. Occasionally, a shell that falls on the ship can kill them.Not to mention those nasty chain bombs, the canvas on the ship is now torn apart, the hull is also damaged in several places, and the whole ship is beginning to be a little ineffective, and the Dutch gradually feel bad. It feels like this is the rhythm to be sunk.

Finally, after another chain bomb broke the foremast mast, the Dutch armed merchant ship finally couldn't hold back under the continuous attack of the east coast coastal defense heavy artillery with higher and higher aim.Their sailors hoisted a white banner on the topmast, declaring humiliating surrender.The rookie east bank artillerymen on the forts on both sides cheered. They quickly sent people to board the Dutch ship in a small boat, and then took control of the entire ship in the first place.More than 50 Dutch sailors on board were dejectedly taken down, and the staff officers sent by the army were ready to interrogate them.

Shi Qingjie sighed, ignored the cheering voices of the soldiers around him, took his entourage on board, and returned to Fort Xinhua worriedly.Not long after he went back, the army staff officer in charge of the interrogation copied a copy of the interrogation record and handed it to him.

"The Dutch really planned it beforehand!" Shi Qingjie sighed inwardly after reading it, it really wasn't that simple.How can there be so many isolated incidents in this world? This is clearly a signal that the attitude of the Dutch towards the East Coast has gradually changed.According to the information obtained from the interrogation, the three Dutch armed merchant ships traveled from Amsterdam to the Moluccas, passed through Cape Town to wait for the monsoon, and accepted the request of the local Governor De Young to attack enemy ships or strongholds along the way.In fact, it was not the first time they had done this, whether it was a ship from Europe to the East Indies, or a ship from the East Indies to Europe, these Dutchmen would attack the enemy's overseas forts, merchant houses or ships at every opportunity.In the past, the main targets of their attacks were the Portuguese and the British, and now the people on the east coast are also fortunate to be added to this list.

"This route will not be smooth in the future." Shi Qinjie lamented again, and said to himself: "I have long said that those lunatics who spend all day teasing the Dutch in Brazil will cause trouble, but they still remain indifferent and continue to do their own way. Fuck, now the retribution is coming to me, it's really fucked up! Why should I bear the bitter fruit of what these **** lunatics have caused!"

"No, I have to think of a way!" Shi Qinjie pondered again, then stood up suddenly, walked around the room twice, and then continued to mutter in a low voice: "New China is weak here, only the second The two ships that the fleet is stationed at are not enough. Moreover, the home port of the Second Fleet is at Fort in the River, and it is impossible for them to be stationed here for a long time. They have to go to South Africa on a regular basis. So in the future, will this place always rely on forts? Do you want to defend passively? This won’t work, you have to think of another way. The Dutch’s route is either from Cape Town to the Sunda Strait through the waters south of Madagascar, following the southwest monsoon, or sailing close to the coastline of Africa. , and finally enter the Spice Islands via the Strait of Malacca via Ceylon Island. Well, no matter which route can’t bypass Madagascar Island, in other words, they can drop by and harass me when they sail. Moreover, they came from South Africa Ships may often encounter these Dutchmen on the way. After all, everyone is taking the same route, so in the future, do we need to increase the naval escort every time? If the transport ship coming from South Africa is hijacked by the Dutch on the way , isn't Xinhua going to be stuck in the neck?"

"Damn it, we must be careful about this matter." Schinger thought irritably, "It seems that I have to go to Mozambique Island in the west. Our Portuguese neighbors must also be deeply loved by these Dutch merchants (pirates) Troubled, I heard that even the island of Mozambique has been besieged several times. We should have a common language in dealing with the Dutch pirates, so let's go and see if we can talk to the people here. Portuguese unite."

(End of this chapter)