Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 504 The Changing Situation

On January 1646, 1, sunny, Zhenhaigang.

In the old dock of Zhenhai Shipyard, the keels of two huge ships are being laid.From the appearance point of view, there is not much difference between the two ships. One of them is only slightly larger in size and shape than the other, but it can be seen that the two ships should undoubtedly belong to the same model.

Yes, these two ships are indeed of the same type - the "August 66th" class battleship, one is pure sail power, while the other is machine sail hybrid power.After lengthy negotiations and consultations between the Ottoman Empire’s special envoy to Dongfang Port and the people on the east bank, as well as changes in the international situation, the Executive Committee finally agreed in principle to sell a powerful battleship with [-] guns to the Ottoman Empire.

There is no doubt that this is a signal of strong dissatisfaction to the Spaniards, and it depends on how the Spaniards take the move.

The representative of the Ottoman Empire stationed in Dongfang Port was ecstatic after hearing the news, and immediately sent an urgent diplomatic letter to China via a cargo ship on the east coast to Smyrna, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the East Coast Republic also sent a letter to Istanbul at the same time , requiring Mo San to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire as soon as possible to implement a series of commercial agreements brought about by the sale of battleships.People on the east coast sold this powerful warship to the Ottoman Empire, but they took great political risks. If they couldn't make up for some commercial benefits, it would be a big loss.

If counting from the time when the Ottomans tentatively proposed to buy battleships, the negotiations and consultations between the two sides on this matter have been going on for more than two years.Moreover, the two sides sent plenipotentiary representatives to the other's capital to conduct negotiations separately in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible.After two years of arduous negotiations, with the changes in the security situation on the East Coast, the Third Executive Committee of the East Coast Republic finally agreed to sell this powerful warship, the Bayezid, to the Ottoman Empire. battleship.

The price of the "Bayezid" battleship is an astonishing 37 yuan. If spare artillery, ammunition, canvas, wooden barrels, ropes and other items are added, the full price is close to 40 yuan.This price is extremely deceitful, because the construction cost of Dong'an itself is less than 10 yuan even including the spare parts, and the profit in it has reached 300%.What is even more exaggerated is that the Ottomans nodded without hesitation in confirmation, and at the same time stated that they would pay the first payment as soon as possible, which made people have to sigh the magic of war.

In order to win the favor of the Ottomans, the Executive Committee and the Ministry of the Navy also expressed that they could start construction in advance without receiving a down payment, which made the Ottomans even more satisfied.

Since this business is so profitable, how could the Admiralty not keep an eye on this piece of fat.No, the Ministry of Trade imported a large amount of Brazilian sumac from Brazil and the New Granada area, and started construction of two battleships at the same time-the sail battleship "Bayezid" sold to the Ottoman Empire and the self-use hybrid sail. Battleship "Control Orient".

Not only does the "Bayezid" have no steam power, but even the artillery equipped on the ship cannot compare with the "Control East" in terms of ratio of diameter to diameter and lifespan. It is a simplified version of the battleship.Speaking of which, the "Control East" is already the fifth "August 330th" class battleship of the East Coast Navy.After this ship enters service, five hybrid battleships with motor sails ([-] large and small artillery pieces), coupled with some large supply ships with hybrid motor sails, repair ships, and medical ships, will form a task force to patrol the enemy's seas Or on important routes, it will definitely make the enemy sleepless.

It is conceivable that five fleets with a large number of large-caliber heavy artillery appeared on the route from Xinhua Island to Batavia, so do the Dutch trading ships still want to survive?The sea survivability and continuous combat capability of this task force are quite strong, and it is not comparable to the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company with several small cannons per ship.And even the speed is much faster, even partly ignoring the ocean current and wind direction, turning extremely fast, there is absolutely no reason for Dutch, Spanish merchant ships and even professional warships to survive encounters.

Since January, the small-scale battles in the hilly area west of the lake have become more and more frequent. New Königsberg, Grass Ridge Fort, and even Dafeng Fort, West Lake Fort, and Hekou Fort have all been harassed to a certain extent. Extremely limited, but the expansion to inland areas has been infinitely delayed.In order to counter such frequent harassing attacks, the Ministry of the Army has transferred the 1st company, the 1rd company and some cavalry to the northern Yazihu ​​Basin. The reservists have strengthened their training, which has greatly affected all aspects of domestic production and construction.

The executive committee once questioned the Baron Bravo, who has returned to La Plata, and the newly appointed supervisor (general) Garcia of La Plata on this matter, asking them about the frequent armed forces under the control of missionary groups such as the Jesuits. He explained the incident of crossing the border and attacking the villages and towns of the people on the east coast, but the other party arrogantly stated that he had no comment.As for the proposal of the people from the east coast to strictly restrict the Christians of La Plata from entering the territory of the east coast, the other party naturally rejected it without hesitation, and claimed that what the people of the east coast were doing was illegally crossing the border for reclamation, and hoped that the people of the east coast would demolish it immediately. Illegal settlements are withdrawn to the east of the hilly area to avoid any unpleasant incidents that affect bilateral relations.

The members of the executive committee and the government affairs council have never been able to figure out why the attitude of the Spaniards towards the east coast is so indifferent.Because the relationship between the two parties had warmed up a few years ago, the people on the east coast also built some escort gunboats and fast cruisers for anti-smuggling for the Spanish Navy, which was almost destroyed, so that their ports would not be empty.

However, in the past two years, the relationship between the two sides has been declining step by step. The Spaniards have continued to cross the border for reclamation and religious issues to accuse the East Bank government, and their words have become more and more severe.Although the Spanish colonial officials in La Plata and even Lima are not very willing to fight against the East Coast people, because they are well aware of the strength and influence of the East Coast Republic in the New World.But maybe it is the increasing pressure from the local people, which has made them unable to let some behaviors of the people on the east coast go unchecked, which has caused the delicate and tense relationship between the two parties today.

After careful study, this is actually a long-term process of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.First of all, the people on the east bank unscrupulously carried out reclamation beyond the borders agreed by the two parties or the vague boundaries stipulated in the agreement, and there is a tendency to continue to deepen. This made the Spaniards feel the crisis and began to immigrate to the western half of the east coast prairie , to enrich these desolate areas so that they cannot be easily encroached upon by the East Coasters.

The second is the extermination policy implemented by the people on the east coast against the aborigines during their pioneering operations.Their vigilance and hatred of the aborigines even surprised the Spaniards, leaving no armor anywhere, and even the aboriginal tribes who belonged to them were exiled to a place called "Australia" , can be described as extremely brutal.

What's more troublesome is that these aborigines have generally joined the Catholic Church collectively. Missionary groups such as the Society of Jesus and the Franciscans who worked hard to preach in the Paraná River and the Uruguay River Basin treated these naturalized barbarians Be more careful, not only grant them agricultural tools, seeds, and livestock, but also teach them some systems and rules from the civilized world.Therefore, in the eyes of the missionaries, the massacre and exile of these aborigines by the people on the east coast was tantamount to declaring war on the Holy See.

It’s nothing to declare war on the Holy See openly. Don’t you see that the Portuguese have been capturing the Guarani people as slaves, and everywhere they go is bloody. Isn’t this slapping the Holy See in the face?But there are some things that the Portuguese can do, but the people on the east coast can't!After all, who made you all hateful, doomed heathens?Heretics have no human rights!

People on the east coast have clearly felt the change in attitude of the Spaniards.When the first Baron Bravo came to question the teacher, the members of the Executive Committee could still treat him as a clown after communicating with the Lima authorities.But things have developed to this day, when the former Governor of La Plata, who had an ambiguous relationship with the people on the east bank, was transferred away, and Guarani believers from the Parana River Basin entered the hilly area west of the lake in large numbers. They all looked so pale.It is already clear that the Spaniards have shown malice towards the East Coasters for various reasons.

The Kingdom of Spain is still engaged in a seemingly endless war with France in the Old Continent. It seems that it is not something a wise ruler would do to attack the people on the east coast at this time.But the question is, who told you that His Majesty Philip IV, the supreme ruler of Spain, was a wise king?Who told you that this pompous guy wouldn't do something necessary to East Coasters over religious issues?In this world, many times what happens is so unreasonable.

In all fairness, the people on the east bank have been devoting themselves to development and scrambling to transport the population over the years, and they are basically doing things with their tails between their legs.Not only made good friends with the Portuguese, but also partially eased the relationship with the Dutch.Among the big countries in the Christian world, except for the civil war in Britain, they also had a bad relationship with the French in business. It is unbearable to be so low-key that people are still thinking about it!

Is it really because you are too low-key?So it caused the French to impose high tariffs on East Coast textiles at will?So the Spaniards blamed the East Coasters for their religious policies and cross-border settlements?So the Dutch always refused to allow ships from the east coast to pass through the Strait of Malacca?So, shouldn't it be time to brighten up the muscles, so that some people will not be able to recognize the situation and feel that the people on the east coast are weak and bullying!

On January 1646, 1, the main force of the First Fleet of the Republic of the East Coast left the Naval Base of Zhenhai Port, and then drove south directly into the La Plata River, which shocked Buenos Aires immediately.

(End of this chapter)