Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 142 Hunting (I)

On April 1630, 4, the "Santo Domingo" slowly sailed out of the port of San Fernando (now Guam) and headed straight for its destination, Manila.

"May God bless us!" Captain Dani Olmo Carvajal looked back at the crowd seeing him off at the dock and gently made a cross on his chest with his right hand.

Logically speaking, two "Chinese ships" crossed the Pacific Ocean last year and brought back a large amount of oriental goods from Manila, so no more ships should be sent to the Philippines this year.

However, the trade situation between the two places has been extremely abnormal in recent years. Too many unpleasant accidents have occurred, and many people have suffered unexpected disasters.

Five years ago, the "St. Louis" disappeared - this has been preliminarily confirmed to be the work of pirates, who intercepted the ship full of oriental goods - causing heavy losses to many investors and traders, and once raised the market price of oriental goods.

Then, three years ago, the Maria was hijacked by pirates, resulting in the deaths and injuries of more than 20 crew members, and all the gold and silver on board was looted.

This once again caused a large number of traders to go bankrupt or fall into huge debt burdens.

After more than a year of recovery, a new wave of investors pooled a large amount of money and finally sent two more "Chinese ships" to Manila in February last year.

Amidst everyone's anxiety, the two ships finally returned safely to the port of Acapulco, bringing back a large amount of oriental goods.

However, a strange phenomenon has emerged in the market. The entire Americas, including Mexico, seems no longer willing to pay the once high prices for these rare oriental goods, which has surprised many traders who are trying to make a fortune.

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't the shortage of supply of these oriental products for several consecutive years drive up prices to a level that would make people very "delighted"?
But the cruel reality shattered the traders' dream of making a fortune.

In the market, the prices of raw silk, silk fabrics, gauze, porcelain and other products from the East are even lower than five years ago, and the sales profits are far below expectations.

Even in Venezuela, Peru, Chile and other regions, sales are not ideal. Unless the prices of goods are significantly reduced, they cannot be sold at all.

It is obvious that a secret smuggling channel has seized the market, causing a certain degree of "flooding" of Oriental goods throughout the Americas.

This may be because some bold merchants organized ships to avoid Manila and secretly go to the Ming Dynasty, directly importing large quantities of Eastern goods into the Americas.

Perhaps it was the damn Portuguese who once again sneaked into the Americas from the trenches, brought a large number of oriental goods, and then colluded with local smugglers to shamefully steal the commercial interests that should have belonged to the Spanish Kingdom.

With reluctance, at the end of last year, many traders, after "persuading" the Mexican colonial authorities, decided to organize another "Chinese ship" to go to Manila the following year.

In addition to undertaking the task of trading goods from the East, the ship also accepted an extremely important political task, which was to investigate through the Manila colonial authorities whether there were other countries or merchant forces engaged in trans-Pacific smuggling trade, thereby infringing on the interests of the Kingdom of Spain.

The "Santo Domingo" departed from Acapulco Port on February 2 and arrived in San Fernando after two months.

After resting for a few days on the island, they will embark on the final leg of their journey, sailing directly to Manila.

This was not the first time that the "Santo Domingo", with a full load displacement of 450 tons, crossed the Pacific Ocean. In the past ten years, it had traveled back and forth between Acapulco Port and Manila three times, and was familiar with the entire route, ocean currents and wind direction.

According to the original schedule, they must arrive in the Philippines before May.

Because every May, a large number of typhoons will sweep into the Philippine Sea, and they will be more frequent in July and August.

If you are accidentally hit by a typhoon, there is a high probability that it will lead to a tragic end with both people and ships destroyed.

Fortunately, less than one-third of the journey is left, and if there are no unexpected circumstances, we should be able to reach Manila before May.

After looking around at the situation on the sea with the monocular again, Captain Carvajal prepared to take a nap in the cabin.

Last night, I had a few drinks with some colonial officials on the island. My head still hurts a little and I need to lie down and have a good rest.

At this time, the ship had just left San Fernando less than a few hours ago, so there wouldn't be any special situations that required him to deal with.

After temporarily handing over the command of the ship to the first mate, Captain Carvajal returned to his cabin with great peace of mind. He lay on the soft little bed and soon fell asleep as the ship rocked gently.

However, after less than three hours of sleep, he was awakened from his deep sleep by a violent shaking.

He opened his eyes and stared at the sailor who was shaking his arm with a bit of anger.

"I'm sorry to wake you, Captain! ... First Mate, please come to the slipway immediately!" The sailor's face showed a panic. "We may be in trouble. ... A big trouble!"

Captain Carvajal woke up instantly upon hearing this, leaped from his cot, put on his boots, and hurried out of the cabin. "What's going on, Igor?" Captain Carvajal quickly came to the bow console and asked in a deep voice.

"Captain, look..." First Mate Igor Odry Ossola handed him the telescope, pointed northwest, and said solemnly, "Two unidentified ships appeared in front of us on the left. I suspect they might be pirates."

Captain Carvajal's expression changed. He grabbed the monocular and looked in the direction Orsola pointed.

From the northwest, they saw two sailboats approaching them slowly, going against the wind and side current, like demons from hell choosing their prey.

"Have you informed the gunners on the gun deck to prepare for battle?"

"All sailors have been ordered to enter emergency combat mode!"

Since ships trading across the Pacific were attacked by pirates three years ago, these "Chinese ships" heading to Manila have rearranged the guns that served as ballast on the gun decks to prevent encountering pirates again.

Although this approach sacrifices some space and may result in less cargo being carried, it at least gives the crew a sense of security.

When facing pirate attacks, we will not be helpless in fighting back.

Even if we really can't defeat the enemy, firing a few shells at them will make the pirates a little more cautious. Maybe we can delay until nightfall and take the opportunity to escape under the cover of darkness.

"Adjust course, west by south!"

"Get the sailors moving, quickly change the sails to increase the windward surface."

"..."

"Change course again, south by east!"

"Captain, are we returning to San Fernando?" First mate Osola's expression froze, and he looked at the captain in surprise.

"No need to ask any more questions, just follow the order!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The "Santo Domingo" drew a large arc on the vast sea, adjusted its bow position in a very short time, and then sailed towards the east with difficulty.

At this time, it was less than half a day since they left San Fernando, and they had only sailed seven or eight leagues. Even if they sailed against the current and wind direction, they would reach San Fernando again before dark at the latest, and then sail into the port to obtain protection on the shore.

Although there were no coastal artillery batteries and no regular Spanish troops stationed in the port of San Fernando, there were still dozens of Spaniards in the port, plus hundreds of affiliated Chamorros, which were enough to resist the invasion of pirates.

"Captain, a pirate ship has been spotted in the southeast!"

As the two sides, one fleeing and the other chasing, continued to advance eastward with difficulty, the lookout on the mast of the "Santo Domingo" suddenly shouted: "The pirate ship is about... a league and a half away!"

Captain Carvajal immediately raised his monocular telescope and looked southwest, and saw a three-masted sailing ship appear in his sight.

"Damn it! This group of pirates ambushed three ships in this sea area!"

"Captain, those two ships behind us are constantly firing in our direction, but they might not be trying to intimidate us," said First Mate Orsola, who suddenly realized something. "They're trying to notify the other pirate ships to intercept us from behind!"

Captain Carvajal glanced at him indifferently, gripped the telescope tightly in his right hand, took a deep breath, and tried his best to remain calm.

This ship has more than 250,000 silver pesos and more than 70 sailors, whose life and death depend on his decision.

If they handle the situation improperly and allow pirates to hijack their ship, it is hard to imagine what will happen.

Not every pirate hijacking incident is like the one on the Maria three years ago, where the pirates only chose to rob the gold and silver on the ship and spared all the people on board.

"Captain, another pirate ship has been spotted in the northwest!" The lookout on the mast let out a shrill cry, revealing a hint of despair and fear.

These pirates actually had as many as four ships, and they were waiting in the waters around San Fernando specifically to hunt down their "treasure ship"!
(End of this chapter)