Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 209 Loyalty and Betrayal

March 1632, 3, White Sand Island (now Wake Island).

The stars and the moon are dim, the night is as dark as ink, and the waves in the distance are constantly rising and falling, wave after wave hitting the beach on the shore, making a splashing sound.

Dani Olmo Carvajal, the captain of the Kaiyuan, glanced at the dark island, suppressed his inner panic, and nodded to his former first mate Igor Odri Ossola.

After receiving a signal from Captain Carvajal, Orsola waved his hand and whispered, "Weigh the anchor, hoist the sails! ... Get ready to sail!"

After hearing the order, several Spanish sailors immediately pulled the anchor chain, tugged the sail rope, and began to make intensive preparations for launching the ship.

"Captain..." Herrera climbed up the gangway from the lower hold, a solemn expression on his face. "Less than half of the Xinhua sailors are willing to obey our orders. The rest are refusing to obey. Especially those midshipmen, who are willing to defend their dignity and honor with their own lives."

"Aren't they afraid of death?" Captain Carvajal felt a little flustered when he heard this.

If there were not enough sailors, even if they secretly sailed the ship away from the island, the twenty-odd people would not be able to operate the entire ship normally during the subsequent voyage, and they might be caught up by others halfway.

"Captain, we've already killed three people," Herrera said in panic. "But some sailors are still worried about Xinhua's family and are unwilling to obey our orders. ... Captain, I'm afraid we can't sail this ship!"

"...No, this can't happen!" Captain Carvajal roared in a low voice. "I don't care what method you use, after the ship leaves the island, you must subdue all those sailors and midshipmen and have them return to their respective posts immediately. Otherwise, none of us will be able to escape. If we are caught by the Xinhua people, we will definitely be executed!"

"Mr. Captain..."

"Go!" Captain Carvajal glared at him fiercely. "You won't be able to find such a good opportunity like tonight again!"

Herrera opened his mouth, but didn't dare to say anything more.

He gritted his teeth, tightened the short blade in his hand, and immediately turned around and headed towards the bottom cabin.

Since returning to Xinhua with immigrants and supplies last October, the former crew of the "Santo Domingo" had become suspicious when they heard that a Spanish exploration fleet had found the location of Qiming Island in May and a small-scale conflict had broken out.

They were previously captured by Xinhua in the waters near Guam. When their lives were threatened, they had to choose to temporarily submit to Xinhua, operating ships for them and transporting Ming immigrants across the Pacific.

At first, these sailors were dispersed and assigned to various transport ships. They were closely monitored and subject to many restrictions by the Xinhua sailors. Many dirty and tiring jobs were assigned to them, and they were treated like slave sailors.

Later, after more than a year of getting along and adjusting to each other, these captured Spanish sailors behaved extremely obediently and did things according to the instructions of the new Chinese. They gradually won a bit of their trust, and various restrictions and constraints gradually decreased.

In fact, the Xinhua people treated these Spanish sailors quite well, and their salaries were even higher than those offered by their previous Spanish employers.

Moreover, Xinhua people had made a promise to them that if they did not want to stay in Xinhua after serving Xinhua for five years, they would be allowed to leave.

Well, regardless of whether the authenticity of this promise remains to be guaranteed, it at least shows that the Chinese in New China still rely heavily on these Spanish sailors and do not regard them as indentured slaves with no status.

If everything continued like this, these Spanish sailors would not have too many thoughts. Following their Spanish employers meant risking their lives on the sea, and following the new Chinese meant they also had to sail and steer the boats. They would both receive the corresponding compensation, so they would just accept their fate.

If the New Chinese could let them leave after the agreed service period, everyone would be happy.

Even if they were forced to stay in Xinhua and continue to drive ships for them through various means, there was nothing they could do and they could only endure the hardship.

As for talking about loyalty, that's pure nonsense.

However, no one expected that the Mexican colonial authorities' exploration fleet would actually find Xinhua's location.

Therefore, it can be predicted that once the exploration fleet returns to Mexico and reports everything here to the colonial authorities, it will attract the encirclement and suppression of the Spanish army.

The senior officials in charge of Xinhua clearly had no intention of giving up the island and were prepared to confront the Spaniards head-on in a defensive battle with a huge disparity in strength.

Well, the Xinhua people seemed full of confidence in defeating the army sent by the Mexican authorities. They frequently encouraged the residents and sailors under their jurisdiction, repeatedly emphasizing the various advantages they had and the many difficulties faced by the Spaniards.

But these Spanish sailors were not optimistic about this, but instead felt a little worried.

It is obvious that the gap in strength between the two sides is too big!
The entire Xinhua has a total population of no more than 10,000 people, while the New Spain territory in the south has hundreds of thousands of people. If the Indians under its control are included, the number will be as many as one million.

What is even more despairing is that Xinhua has only five ships available for combat, while the Kingdom of Spain has hundreds of warships!
Even if only the Mexican region was considered, the colonial authorities could easily mobilize at least ten armed ships. Faced with such an overwhelming force, Xinhua seemed to have no chance of victory.

By then, the Spanish fleet will rush in, and Xinhua’s pitiful strength will surely be crushed to pieces.

And these Spanish sailors will be buried with the bravery and persistence of the new Chinese in this war.

However, sailing at sea is an extremely dangerous profession and one may face death at any time.

But this is a question of probability after all. There are many sailors who are still alive and well after spending more than ten or twenty years at sea, and death may not follow them unexpectedly.

But if they ignored the gap in strength and confronted the Spaniards head-on like this, they would definitely die, with no chance of survival.

Because the Spanish dealt with pirates extremely harshly. Once captured, they would be hanged in the port to warn all groups and individuals who dared to infringe on the interests of the Kingdom of Spain.

After much deliberation, the former captain of the "Santo Domingo" first discussed the feasibility of escaping from Xinhua with several reliable Spanish senior crew members.

Later, some Spanish sailors with wavering attitudes were also pulled over, planning to find opportunities to sail their ships away from the control of the New Chinese and return to the Spanish side while sailing at sea.

They believed that as long as they could control all the new Chinese on the ship and bring them back to Mexico, they would definitely be pardoned by the colonial authorities.

Moreover, they also possessed a lot of important information about the new Chinese, which they could provide to the colonial authorities as one of the conditions for obtaining forgiveness.

Last December, after leaving Xingang and embarking on the journey to Ming once again, they began to plan and wait for an opportunity to take control of the ship they were driving and escape from the control of the new Chinese.

Because Carvajal was officially appointed as the captain of the "Kaiyuan" and had greater autonomy.

However, the ships were traveling together along the way, and because they were worried about encountering cruising Spanish armed ships, the entire fleet remained on high alert, leaving them no chance at all.

After the fleet arrived at Black Shark Island for a short rest, it split into two. The "Breaking Waves" took the other two imitation clipper ships to the coastal areas of Mexico to plunder Spanish port towns, while the "Kaiyuan" they were in and the "Kaituo" rushed to Guangzhou, Ming Dynasty first.

After more than a month of sailing, the two ships arrived safely at Baisha Island. After unloading a large amount of construction materials and supplies, they took a short rest here.

During these ten days, they helped the more than 60 armed guards guarding the island to build some warehouses and houses, reinforce some defensive fortresses, and carry out corresponding modifications to the berths, making the many facilities of this "stepping stone" to the Pacific more complete.

After getting enough rest, the fleet's temporary commander Harvey decided to set sail two days later.

To this end, the crew members and island guards held a lively farewell party last night. Harvey also had people bring a lot of drinks, and he drank and interacted with everyone to mobilize and encourage them for the next difficult journey.

Captain Carvajal immediately realized that their chance seemed to have come.

So, at the farewell party last night, he hinted and reminded the Spanish sailors who wanted to escape one by one to stay awake as much as possible, and then agreed to secretly leave the island by boat at three o'clock in the morning and sail to San Fernando Island (now Guam) in the west to temporarily obtain the asylum of the Spaniards on the island, and then return to Mexico.

They thought that as long as they could quietly take control of the Kaiyuan, they could then use force and coercion to force the Xinhua sailors on board to drive the ship away quickly. Then, even if the sailors on the Kaituo discovered their departure after dawn the next day, they would certainly not be able to catch up with them.

However, they never expected that most of the subdued Xinhua sailors would refuse to cooperate under the threat of death, especially the trainee naval officers who had learned a lot of navigation knowledge, each of whom would rather die than obey.

How can we sail this ship without enough sailors?
"Captain, I'll go help Herrera," Redondo said softly beside Captain Carvajal. "I know a little Xinhua. I can try to persuade those Xinhua sailors who are unwilling to cooperate."

Captain Carvajal glanced at him, looking a little hesitant.

He only chose to join after being threatened. Is he reliable?

"Then hurry up!" Carvajal made a quick decision. "When necessary, we can take decisive action!"

Lei Dongduo nodded, took a deep breath, and then ran quickly towards the hatch.

He quietly reached into his arms with his right hand, took out a dagger, held it tightly in his hand, stepped on the gangway, and went down to the bottom cabin step by step.

(End of this chapter)