Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 598 Winter ([-])

On July 1647, 7, at Baleen Whale Harbor on Falkland Island, heavy snow fell and huge waves surged. The navigator of the battleship "East Coastism" took a lot of effort to safely drive the ship into a relatively calm harbor. .

Even in the cold midwinter season, it is still a test of skill and courage to operate such a huge ship safely docked in a high-latitude harbor under such harsh sea conditions. Although the navigator of the "Easternism" has withstood the test, he is still drenched in sweat and terrified. He really can't imagine how superb technology and how good those ships that are purely powered by sails need to enter and exit the baleen whale port. luck.As for the Dutch whaling ships that sailed safely into the baleen harbor for shelter these days, he could only express his sincere admiration.

At this time, more than 20 ships were moored in the small baleen whale port, which is definitely an extremely rare thing in the uninhabited Mashima Island all year round.In this alpine port with less than [-] official residents, only a small amount of cold-resistant crops (potatoes, rye), and animal husbandry (llamas, sheep), it is absolutely surprising that there are so many ships at once. .You must know that a few years ago, Baleen Whale Port generally only had fixed ships from the east coast going to South Africa passing by here for resupply. By the way, it is difficult to see more than three ships at the same time in the port. In many cases, there is only one ship. Ships are moored alone in the harbor waiting for good weather to set sail.

不过在今天，刚刚入役的“东岸主义”战列舰带着南海渔业公司的4艘鱿钓船、2艘鳕鱼捕捞船、1艘捕鲸船，以及第一舰队的2艘弹药补给船、1艘运兵船（载了三百名瓜拉尼人、三百名克兰迪人及部分煤炭）、1艘食水补给船、1艘运煤船，运载了大量人员、弹药、燃煤、食品、医疗用品等物资来到了港口内。

Except for the fishing boats of the South China Sea Transportation Company, the rest of these ships are from the First Fleet. While familiarizing themselves with the route, they began to hoard personnel and supplies in Baleen Whale Harbor. Anyone with a little brains could guess what they wanted.Although the main force of the navy has not yet returned from Europe, the First Fleet of the Navy still has 1 battleship, 3 escort gunboats, and 6 inland river shallow-water gunboats staying in the country. Such strength cannot be underestimated by the Spanish and Peruvian fleet.

The Peruvian fleet of the Spanish Royal Navy stationed in Callao has only 5 main warships, but the tasks they undertake are quite heavy, and they dare not leave the coast from Chile to Panama lightly.The coastline here was often active in the second half of the 16th century with some pirate ships from England, France and the Netherlands, waiting to attack the Spanish ships transporting supplies or silver bars (from Valdivia to Callao).

Since the rapid rise of the people on the east coast, such attacks have become more frequent. They are obviously well supplied in the ports of the people on the east coast, so that they can stay in the Pacific coast of the Kingdom of Spain for a longer period of time.For example, the Dutch West India Company, which has been in poor financial condition, has insisted on sending pirate ships to the coasts of Chile and Peru to carry out plundering activities in the past ten years, which made the Spaniards very angry.

But they can only be angry. After all, the people on the east coast have never rolled up their sleeves and went to the Pacific Ocean to engage in piracy. At most, they have bought some stolen goods from the pirates. blame.Besides, the strength of the Peruvian fleet has been declining in recent years, and there have been no new ships for many years. The few warships still have to guard the safety of the vast coastline area, and it is really impossible to leave.Therefore, even after the formal war between the two countries, the Spanish and Peruvian fleet never considered leaving the Pacific Ocean and entering the Atlantic Ocean to attack the sea transportation lines of the people on the east coast.

But if the Spaniards can't come, it doesn't mean that the people from the east coast won't come!Although the civilian officials are already collectively seeking to end the war as soon as possible in order to digest the fruits of victory—newly occupied land, captured money and livestock, etc., the military forces still have no intention of ending the war, at least for now, and their appetite is obvious. Bigger than civil servants.They are like the greedy boa constrictors, trying to swallow the fertile La Plata in one fell swoop, even after looting a large amount of gold and silver livestock, they are still not satisfied. They also want to cross the Strait of Magellan and go to the rich coasts of Chile and Peru. , wantonly raided the towns of the Spaniards, looted their money, and struck down the enemy's will to war.

Although the civil servants really want to end the war as soon as possible, they must know that this matter cannot be done on their own, and they still need the Spaniards to nod and agree.And in order to convince the Spaniards, the necessary military action is indeed inevitable and at the same time the most effective.Therefore, they had to continue to grit their teeth to raise war supplies to continue to cooperate with the military's operations. For this reason, there was almost no mouse hair in the treasury of the Ministry of Finance.

This time the battleship "East Coast Doctrine" came with a boat to stand in front of the next action.Considering that these ships have not been in service for a long time, the ships need to be run-in and the crews are inexperienced, so this expedition was organized to let the sailors get familiar with this route, and at the same time store a certain amount of war materials in the Baleen Whale Harbor , so as to facilitate the next westward movement across the Strait of Magellan.

Of course, not all the ships that followed the First Fleet of the Navy were warships, and the seven fishing boats of the South China Sea Fisheries Company (with twice the manpower) also followed them.Among them, 7 squid fishing boats were still fishing for smooth squid in the waters around 4 degrees south latitude before, and now they followed the navy to the waters near the Falkland Islands-this is mainly because they heard the Dutch sailors who were whaling here say that the sea off the baleen whale port There is a fishing season for squid (calamari).

As for what you said here, the wind and waves are high, and the boat is not safe.Brother, please take a look at the whaling ships of the Dutch, but they are only 100 tons or 200 tons. The squid fishing boats of the people on the east coast must not be considered small. Don’t you see Magellan’s 100-ton boat passing through Magellan? Does the strait do round-the-world voyages?

With the exception of the squid fishing boat, the other two cod fishing boats were in a similar situation.They used to have a great time fishing hake in the waters near the Patagonian continental shelf. Each boat can catch more than 1 hake per month, but the catch will definitely decrease slightly over time. Therefore, this time, two boats were assigned to the waters near the Falkland Islands to catch African cod, which is rich in resources, while the other two cod fishing boats remained in the waters near Patagonia to patrol and fish for cod. By the way Train sailors.

Whether it is calamari, African cod, which is an extremely rich fish resource in the Falklands, or a small number of fish such as squid and blue cod, they are all good things that can greatly enrich the table of ordinary people on the east coast. Therefore, it is worthwhile for the South China Sea Fishery Company to send ships to fish here.

In addition to these 6 ships, a fully functional whaling ship-"Killer 7" also followed the fleet and sailed into the Baleen Whale Harbor in a low-key manner, which made the east coast of the island operating in the waters near the Falklands The number of whaling ships reached 8 (including a supply ship).

Now this season is a good season for whaling.Because the weather in the southern hemisphere is starting to turn cold at this time, a large number of whales that originally played and lived in the Zhangyun Sea (Weddell Sea) began to go northward due to the freezing of sea water, looking for relatively warm waters and rich food sources for the winter, and the waters near Mashima Island are An ideal habitat for these giants of the sea.

In the waters east of Baleen Whale Harbor, sailors of whaling ships all over the world often see whales floating slowly on the sea.And every time this time came, it was their chance to make a fortune.Those brave Dutch whaling sailors drove small boats weighing more than ten tons, approached the whales in the wind and waves, and then harvested their prey with extraordinary courage and wisdom.

In the past, when the Dutch hunted whales in Spitsbergen, they just harvested the blubber on the spot at sea and threw away the rest. revenue declines.And after hearing that the people on the east coast bought all the whale meat, whale skin, whale bones, whale internal organs, etc. that they had abandoned in the past, and the whale resources here are indeed very rich, so a large number of Dutch whaling ships flocked here. , began whaling for the East Coasters.

The hunted whales were sent to Baleen Whale Island for processing. There are currently 21 foreign whaling ships active in the nearby waters, including 16 from the Netherlands, 3 from England, 1 from Denmark, 1 from the Basque Country of Spain, and 15 ship from the Spanish Basque Country. Including the whaling ships of the people on the east coast, an average of 18-[-] whales can be hunted every month in a year.

All the whales are purchased by Baleen Whale Port. After processing, an average of about 170 tons of whale oil, 38 tons of whale skin (fresh skin, non-salted hide), and more than 410 tons of whale meat (or more than 130 tons of dried whale meat) are produced every month. , 50 tons of whale bone meal (high-quality nitrogen and phosphorus compound fertilizer), 2.75 tons of cod liver oil (rich in vitamins A and D, health care products for children), and a large number of fish fins (famous dishes), whalebone (clothing), fish intestines (raincoats, Cases) and other useful materials, the output value is huge, exceeding 12 yuan per month.These undoubtedly strongly supported the domestic industrial and agricultural construction and enriched the commodity market.

After unloading supplies, the ships of the First Fleet of the Navy headed by the battleship "East Shore Doctrine" stayed in the port for two days. By the way, they replenished the fleet with some fresh water, vegetables, pickled whale meat, flour and other fresh water. Then they drove out of the port one by one and embarked on the return journey.And the date of their next arrival, I believe it will not be too far away.Maybe in August, maybe in September, maybe with a large army, in short, it will be a nightmare for the Spaniards.

(End of this chapter)