Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 581 New Guests from the Caribbean Sea ([-])

May 1647, 5, Santo Domingo, France, Port of Cape-de-France.

This port city in the Caribbean Sea was originally established in the second half of the 17th century, but in the 40s, it was just a small remote fishing village, and only two or three ships came from Bordeaux a year. The French ships were moored in the port, and it was very desolate.But in this time and space, due to the continuous large-scale cotton trade with people on the east coast, the port has developed rapidly, from a small fishing village to a—well, a big fishing village, but at least this "big fishing village" has a tavern in it , hotels, shops and some other commercial facilities.There are also a large number of natives selling agricultural products nearby, and there are also water merchants who specialize in providing high-quality spring water to passing ships. In short, it already has the embryonic form of a commercial town.

The east coast escort convoy departing from Tunisia entered the port one by one at this moment, and then anchored one by one.They experienced more than a month of sea voyage in the North Atlantic Ocean, and they were lucky not to encounter storms or huge waves.At this time, the size of the fleet has shrunk compared to before. There are 12 professional warships such as battleships and frigates; As a last resort, the people on the east coast could only hire three Dutch merchant ships at high prices in Amsterdam; one coal carrier, a total of 15 ships-still a rather large fleet.

The Port of Cape-France (Cap-Haitien) has never been in contact with such a large fleet, so the few French officials on the dock were taken aback.But it doesn't matter, because the moment they saw this fleet appear, they knew that this was not something their small port could resist. In any case, they hoped that it was not an enemy.

Of course it wasn't the enemy who came!When the naval officers and soldiers on the east coast rowed a small boat ashore to negotiate with the dock officials to purchase a large amount of supplies, these people immediately jumped up happily.And when they knew that these people from the east coast needed to prepare food (biscuits, cheese, bacon, salted fish) for up to 1 people for two weeks in Cape France, these French people were also drunk—how big is this? A deal. 1 people, God, the whole French Santo Domingo is less than [-] white people...

In addition to contacting the wharf officials, the emissaries of the people from the east bank went ashore in a horse-drawn carriage and went to the inland area. They were going to the Pasquale family's estate in the inland area.In addition to purchasing some cotton from them, I will also settle the payment for the previous year by the way-their family is a commodity agent for the people on the east coast in the local area and neighboring Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other places.

Regardless of the actions of the administrative and logistics personnel, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Ming, the commander of the escort fleet, first called his officers for a meeting.According to the plan, the entire fleet will take a short-term rest at Cape-France, and about 7000 immigrants (2000 Livonians, 2000 Cretan Greeks, and 3000 female slaves) on board will go ashore at Cape-France and eat some Fresh food, water and fruit to maintain strength.At the same time, the transport ships of the fleet also took the opportunity to do some simple maintenance in order to sail better in the future.

After the rest of the fleet, since the south of the Caribbean Sea is no longer the area where the Spanish Navy usually operates, 15 transport ships will be fully loaded with cargo and personnel, and will return to the native port of Orient via Recife under the escort of 8 warships.As for the remaining 4 battleships, they will return to their homeland later-come to the Caribbean Sea, how can they just leave so casually?Of course to impress the Spaniards!

The Caribbean Sea was the first stop for the Spaniards to colonize the Americas.As early as the end of the 15th century (1492), the Spaniards established the first European stronghold on the island of Haiti - Isabela; then in 1496, the second stronghold Santo Domingo was established; in 1508, San Juan Ann (Puerto Rico Island) was established; in 1514, Santiago was established (Cuba)...

The Spaniards' expansion in the Caribbean was very rapid, and their colonization of these islands was also resolute.Take the island of Haiti as an example. When Diego Columbus became governor in 1509, there were already [-] Spanish towns and as many as [-] Spaniards on the island. As for the Indians, there were even more .The island is extremely wealthy. At the beginning, the residents on the island used to grow tobacco, cotton, and raise livestock (pigs, cattle, and chickens brought from Spain) as their main source of income.Later, there were many more sugar cane plantations here. The Spaniards squeezed and refined sugar here, and then shipped it back to Europe for sale, making a lot of money.

By the 17s today, due to the shortage of labor caused by the mass death of Indians, the economy of the island was somewhat depressed, but it was still a place of prosperity.At present, the Spaniards have actually abandoned the west of the island (now Haiti) due to the lack of labor, but there are still a large number of Spanish plantations in the east of the island (now Dominica).Moreover, compared with important cities such as San Juan, Havana, and Santiago, the defense of Santo Domingo in Spain is somewhat weak, and it is an excellent target for robbery.

"After the Spaniards gave up the western half of the island, French forces infiltrated here." Under the shade of a tree at the port pier, Lu Ming was leading four battleships with officers above second lieutenant and above in a meeting, when his adjutant Jiang Yaohui pointed to a hand-painted Caribbean Haitu said: "But the French's influence is also very limited. They only occupy a small number of areas, and most areas are still in a state of anarchy. Well, these areas are currently governed by pirates, and of course there are some immigrants from Europe. , they hunted (wild boar, bison) in the jungle or on the mountain, and planted agricultural products under the mountain to sell to the pirates. Oh, yes, a few years ago, the pirate island-Tortuga Island was occupied by the French, where it was at its peak all the year round There are at least 1 pirates, and now they are all scattered around. Some of them were recruited by us, and some were scattered to other islands. Currently, there are only more than [-] people staying near Haiti Island."

"Don't talk about those useless things, just talk about the main points." Lu Ming, who had been silent until now, suddenly interrupted Jiang Yaohui's chatter, and said, "Say something valuable!"

Jiang Yaohui blushed when he was reprimanded by the superior, then he cleared his throat and continued: "I suggest that this battleship squadron go to Santo Domingo in Spain and attack the Spanish towns there. Of course, the key targets are those with weak defenses. After all, we lack a large army. As for the big ports such as Santo Domingo and San Juan, it is better not to go, because even if we forcibly captured those ports under the fire of Spanish forts, they would There are still a large number of combatants, and it is very likely that we will not be able to capture those towns after paying heavy casualties. In addition, in addition to these small towns, we can also wait for an opportunity to attack the Spanish sea lines of communication and sink some Spanish merchant ships. It can greatly hit the Spanish will to fight."

After Jiang Yaohui finished speaking, it was time for everyone to discuss.Everyone discussed it very enthusiastically. Some suggested going deep into the coast of Mexico and Cuba to try their luck. Some suggested contacting some pirate ships to "make a fortune together." , in short, everyone put forward a lot of opinions.

Lu Ming sat quietly and listened to the discussion without interrupting.When everyone had nothing to say and turned to look at him, he said Shi Shiran: "It's all over? Well, let me say a few words. First of all, we don't have a lot of time. According to the current time, we It is very likely that we will not be able to return to the mainland until early and mid-July. There is not much time for us to harass the Spaniards. Secondly, we do not have an army, let alone Mexico and Cuba. The Spaniards there are stronger, and we cannot afford to lose any of them. Manpower. In this way, we can only attack Santo Domingo in Spain as close as possible."

Speaking of this, Lu Ming paused for a moment, looked at everyone's expressions, and then said: "Now I give an order that the battleship squadron will set sail in two days and head to the coast of Santo Domingo in Spain to clean up Spanish towns. Our goal It’s not about gnawing hard bones, but picking soft persimmons, so as not to cause us heavy casualties. Well, this is the final order, everyone, go down immediately and make preparations!”

After the final order was issued, everyone said nothing else, and then went to their respective ships to prepare for departure.They need to prepare a lot of fresh vegetables and meat for the boat. In addition, the drinking water must be replaced with fresh water. After all, the fresh water with a lot of suspicious green suspensions is really scary to drink.Also, it would be nice to be able to stock up on some alcohol - whether it's spirits or beer - although it's not always possible to find alcohol here.

In this way, all kinds of agricultural products on the market in Cape-France were sold out in just one day.People from the east bank brought boxes of coins and went around to buy various supplies.At the same time, [-] European immigrants disembarked in batches with curiosity, fear, and doubts, and went to the shore for a rest. Here they can step on solid land, breathe fresh air, eat delicious meals, and drink sweet wine. The spring water, which will obviously be of great benefit to them in the second half of the voyage.

The next day, a large number of natives living in the inland area drove mules, transported a large amount of supplies to the pier overnight, and then sold them to the people on the east coast; after hearing the news, the natives in other nearby areas even rowed Small boats came to Cape-France to sell their own agricultural products, and the entire port wharf area almost became a grand market.And in this festive fair-like atmosphere, the four battleships have quietly completed all preparations before sailing.

(End of this chapter)