Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 323 Combined Fleet

The battleship "Common Market" slowly docked at the Xinhuaburg pier.Wang Tiehui climbed down from the deck worriedly. He came back this time to load some construction materials. Unexpectedly, as soon as he docked in the port, he heard the incident of the Dutch attacking my fishing boat. There was also a hint of excitement rising.

He didn't delay much on the pier, but ran directly to the ship repair station to find Shi Qinjie who was inspecting.After more than half a year of operation and accumulation, the ship repair shop in Xinhua Castle has initially trained dozens of junior craftsmen and apprentice-level workers, plus more than ten professional shipbuilding technicians from the local area. At present, the shipyard can basically repair, maintain and maintain any kind of domestic ships.Of course, the colleagues in the ship repair shop are not satisfied with the current achievements, especially with Shi Qinjie's ardent hope and strong support, the ship repair shop has begun to recruit workers from all over the fort, and the salary is extremely favorable, so as to prepare for future expansion. The scale lays the groundwork.

As of last week, nearly a hundred young workers have been recruited, and most of them are immigrants from the Ming Dynasty who came this time.Shi Qinjie also gave a rare strength to this. He decided to put the household registration of these shipyard workers and the personnel of the newly formed Xinhua Port Coastal Defense Artillery, Fishing Team, Seafood Processing Factory, Standing Team and other institutions in the For this reason, even offending the colleagues in the local area who are desperate for population will not hesitate.Calculated in this way, he is afraid that he will intercept nearly 600 people this time, plus a few immigrants who are too weak to sail again and can only be resettled on the spot, the 800 new immigrants from the Ming Dynasty are estimated to be [-] people Stay in the New China region.

These 800 people plus the original 400 Irish, and more than [-] Tatans and Berbers bought from Turkey, the official population of the entire Xinhua Castle has exceeded [-].Shi Qinjie is already preparing to write a report after the local economy develops further, requesting the central government to withdraw the fort and set up a township in Xinhuabao, formally including this land in the national economic overall arrangement, so as to obtain greater investment.

The workers of the ship repair yard are conducting a thorough maintenance on the Dutch armed merchant ship "Traveler" seized a while ago.Whether it's damaged sails, masts, leaky decks, or the bottom of the boat full of plankton, it will be cleaned up thoroughly this time.Soon to form a joint patrol fleet with the Portuguese, Shi Qinjie preferred to send the "Common Market" together with the captured Dutch armed merchant ship in front of him.As for the remaining two ships of the Second Fleet, the cruiser "Super Brave" and the armed transport ship "Galicia Flying Fish", they can only be eliminated because they have to undertake the transportation and escort tasks between the South African River Port and Xinhua Port outer.Of course, there are now more short-sea transportation routes between Xinhua Port and Tacheng that need ships to run, and generally speaking, ships are still not enough.

Shi Qinjie sighed, the shortage of ships had to be solved locally, the local bureaucrats were unreliable.Dayuhu Naval Shipyard and Zhenhai Shipyard are currently building transport ships and warships at full capacity, and Hyundai Special Shipyard is estimated to be stepping up efforts to improve ocean-going steamships, and will not be able to spare time to build ships for overseas colonies.Then, you still have to rely on yourself!At present, the ship repair station in Xinhua Port is capable of building [-]-ton fishing boats. After the training of the new batch of workers is completed, we will ask local support for some engineers to come. I believe that building a transport ship of hundreds of tons in Xinhua Port will not be a problem. , so many troubles can be easily solved.

"Old Shi, what's the deal with the Portuguese joint fleet? How did it work?" Wang Tiehammer pulled Shi Qingjie to a place where no one was around, and asked softly.

"It wasn't forced out by the trouble caused by the three Dutch ships a while ago." Shi Qingjie said calmly, "You also know very well that our shipping security is actually very fragile now. Especially from Hezhong Port to Xinhua Port, and the two routes from Xinhua Port to Tacheng, if the Dutch or pirates want to play tricks, it is easy to find an opportunity to start. At present, the gang of pirates on St. Mary's Island in the east are safe with us for the time being. , But what about the Dutch? Will they attack our ships secretly? Don’t tell me that I don’t know about their pirate tradition. Therefore, after much deliberation, the Portuguese on the west side of the Union Channel are the only ones left. Their local naval strength is not very strong. There are only three or five large ships. Even the Arab pirates in Mogadishu and Mombasa cannot be wiped out, let alone let them deal with the Dutch. If the Dutch really come to find Their bad luck, I think they can only be cowardly. Similarly, besides your 'Common Market', which has no fixed missions, there is no sea power at present. If the Dutch come , we can only stay in Xinhua Bay as turtles. So, for us and the Portuguese to form a joint fleet is a good thing for both of us to keep warm and get what we need. The Portuguese on the opposite Mozambique island also agreed. United Once the fleet is formed, if the Dutch come to kill us, we will be able to fight with our strength together, do you think this is the reason?"

"Well, I'm not opposed to forming a joint fleet. But I want to know how this fleet operates. I don't want my ship to be tied up in this fleet all day long." Wang Tiehammer said.The main task of the Second Fleet is to open up a route heading east to Daming. Although the last operation was blocked by the Dutch and failed, this does not mean that they will stop this year.Moreover, he also got news from the correspondence with the mainland that one of the two battleships that are almost completed will be equipped with the Second Fleet to supplement the strength of the Second Fleet.Moreover, it is estimated that the assignment of the steamship "Breaking Waves" to the command of the Second Fleet is likely to be inseparable. In this way, the lineup of the Second Fleet can be seen a little bit, so let's bring up the old matter again. Therefore, the task of reaching the east must not be delayed any longer.

"I have already discussed this matter with the Portuguese General Fernando." Shi Qingjie cleared his throat and said, "The joint fleet consists of five large ships, of which the Portuguese sent three armed merchant ships, and we sent yours. The ship and the newly captured Dutch armed merchant ship "Traveler" joined it. There are two home ports of the combined fleet, namely Xinhua Port and Mozambique Island; the patrol range is as far north as Mogadishu, Mombasa, Zanzibar, It reaches the vast sea area of ​​Quelimane, Sofala, Beira, and the Marquis of Lorenzo in the south, and reaches the Tacheng line in the east. Of course, Mogadishu, Mombasa and other places in the north are too far away, and they have to cross the equator. Patrols in this area are not the focus. The focus is still on the waters between Mozambique Island and Xinhua Port, as well as the area southward to the Marquis of Lorenzo, which is the key patrol object. The combined fleet is stationed in Xinhua Port in winter and in the summer On Mozambique Island, patrols are carried out every ten days to maintain the safety of this sea area."

"Let's do this first. After the 'Chaoyong' and the local support ships enter service for a while, I will adjust the sequence of ships joining the combined fleet." Wang Tiehammer agreed after thinking about it, and then suddenly asked: "Why did the Dutch suddenly attack our fishing boats? Is it a ship of the East India Company or the West India Company? It stands to reason that it is the West India Company that has formed a bridge with us. The ships here are all from the East India Company. Why? Show such strong hostility towards us?"

"Have you forgotten that the Dutch East India Company is the major shareholder of the West India Company?" Shi Qingjie glanced at Wang Tiehammer amusedly, and continued: "Besides, I guess your Second Fleet forced its way into the Strait of Malacca, which caused a stir in the Netherlands. They probably recognized that it was our ship through analysis. They probably judged that we had an attempt to enter the East Indies and get involved in the spice trade. You must know that this is what they have been fighting for decades. The Chinese and the British won the bloody battle, and they will never allow our ships to cross the Strait of Malacca. This attack probably shows that they have listed us as a dangerous potential opponent. If we If we insist on moving eastward, it is difficult to guarantee that even greater conflicts will break out."

"Then this conflict will definitely break out." Wang Tiehammer said resolutely, "We want to go east, break through the Strait of Malacca, and reach the coast of Daming, so this battle is inevitable. Hurry up and write a report to the local people, so that the local people can speed up the battle." The preparation of war supplies, although we are not afraid of war, we have to take precautions."

"Of course, I will write a detailed report to the mainland." Shi Qingjie nodded and confirmed, "Actually, the deterioration of the relationship between the Dutch and us is not just a matter of your Second Fleet. The Indian company must have hated us a long time ago, but the local gang of lunatics sold a large number of weapons to the Portuguese, and they did a lot of evil."

"Hehe, that's natural." Wang Tiehammer also laughed, "The conflict between us and the Dutch is all-round. They are simply a mountain on top of our heads. Only by removing this mountain, our East China Republic Only then will it be possible to break the bottleneck of survival and achieve further development."

On February 1642, 2, three Portuguese ships came to berth at Fort Xinhua Wharf, and the combined fleet was formally announced.The next day, the five ships of the United Fleet led by the "Common Market" left Xinhua Bay, headed south towards Tacheng, and began their first patrol since its formation.

(End of this chapter)