Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 254: Waves Rising (I)

Just as the people of Xinhua were cheering for the complete annihilation of the Spanish landing forces, the Spanish task force outside Shixing Port fell into an inexplicable panic.

At around 10 p.m. on October 15, the "Our Lady of the Rosary", which had just arrived from the landing point, brought back shocking news to everyone.

Their landing force suffered a terrible defeat in the interior!

More than 1,200 officers and soldiers were wiped out, and many officers including Colonel Matret were not spared and were killed by the pirates.

Yesterday afternoon, the "Our Lady of the Rosary", which was anchored in the waters near the landing point, suddenly saw many defeated Spanish soldiers rushing to the coast, waving frantically to the ship, hoping to find a way to take them away.

But soon after, countless pirates rushed out of the woods and attacked those poor people.

The fleeing Spanish soldiers seemed to have been frightened and did not dare to turn around to fight.

They either jumped into the icy sea in panic or tried to swim across the hundreds of meters of sea to escape to the boat.

But more soldiers simply knelt down and surrendered, begging the pirates to stop killing them.

Seeing this, the "Our Lady of the Rosary" immediately fired artillery at the coast in an attempt to stop them from slaughtering the Spanish soldiers, and lowered two small boats to prepare to bring back the soldiers who jumped into the sea.

Perhaps their artillery fire angered the pirates, and some brave pirates actually jumped onto the rocks on the shore during the intervals between artillery bombardments, and either drew their bows and arrows or directly threw their spears, mercilessly shooting the soldiers who jumped into the sea to escape.

In an instant, the coast was covered in blood and screams were heard one after another.

Soon, dozens of corpses floated on the sea. Some were washed back to the shore by the waves, while others gradually drifted away with the waves.

After some effort, the "Our Lady of the Rosary" finally rescued five soldiers. After staying on the coast for half a day, it came to meet up with the main fleet and informed the fleet commander General Gomez of the news.

"...How is this possible?" After asking several Spanish soldiers who had escaped, Gomez was stunned and did not say a word for a long time.

Several senior military officers present were also shocked and stood there in dismay.

The landing force consisted of more than 1,200 officers and soldiers. How could it be possible that they were defeated by a group of unorganized pirates in a head-on battle?
You know, since our Spanish army conquered America more than a hundred years ago, it has been invincible in this land.

However, Indian tribes in various places still frequently launched riots and tried to resist the rule of us Spaniards.

But these actions are tantamount to moths flying into a flame and seeking their own destruction, and cannot in any way shake the colonial order established by our Kingdom of Spain.

Faced with an Indian rebel army numbering tens of thousands, the local colonial government was able to easily defeat it with only a few hundred fully armed soldiers, and the casualties were extremely small.

Even if it is to wipe out the pirate forces entrenched in many islands in the Caribbean, it will only take a little effort. The fleet may need to provide escort and landing cover for the landing troops in order to drive them into the sea.

It can be said that during the more than 100 years of colonizing the Americas, although our Kingdom of Spain occasionally suffered minor setbacks, it had never suffered such a devastating defeat.

Oh, of course, the treasure ship robbery in Matanzas Bay a few years ago was an "accident."

However, in land battles, the Spanish American colonial forces were relatively trustworthy. Whether it was suppressing rebellious Indian tribes or expelling pirate forces entrenched in the Caribbean islands, they were able to achieve victory after victory.

This time, the task force was ordered by the Governor-General to expedition to the north to wipe out the pirate gangs occupying the area. When attacking the port was unfavorable, everyone placed their greatest hopes on the landing force.

As long as they successfully defeat the pirates on the shore and then disarm the port artillery, the next thing to do is to slowly besiege the fortress occupied by the pirates, and achieving final victory is only a matter of time.

However, no one expected that the landing army of more than a thousand people would be defeated by the pirates in less than two days.

Moreover, the ending was the annihilation of the entire army!

"What should we do next?" General Gomez raised his head, glanced at the officers present, and asked with difficulty.

"General, shall we retreat to Mexico?" Captain Calles of the San Jose immediately suggested: "Now, we have lost all our landing troops, and it is no longer possible to attack the pirate stronghold. In this case, we might as well return immediately, report the situation here to the Governor, and then request more troops to attack the pirates again next year." "...Recruit more troops?" Gomez felt a bitter taste in his mouth when he heard this.

Does our Viceroyalty of New Spain have the strength to organize a second expedition in the short term?

"Even if we lose all the landing forces, we still have seven warships that can blockade the pirates' ports and trap them to death!" Major General Mark Calderon Bernal, deputy commander of the expeditionary fleet, said unwillingly.

“…” Calles looked at him in astonishment.

Do you think we can trap the pirates to death with just these seven ships?

I'm afraid that in the end, we will end up putting ourselves in a desperate situation!

We have no supply port here, let alone a place to go ashore and rest.

Once our supplies are exhausted, we will probably be defeated without a fight, without the need for us to drive the pirates out of the port.

What’s even more fatal is that there are extremely cold winters here. Without the necessary cold-proof and warm supplies, how can we carry out this so-called blockade mission here for a long time?

In fact, we don't need to be too secretive about the fact that this expedition has actually failed.

Therefore, there is no need for us to persist in order to maintain someone's self-esteem.

Calles turned his attention to several other captains and officers, trying to gain more supporters.

"General, I think we need to guard against surprise attacks from the sea." Captain Elgar Victor Delgado of the Compenito hesitated and spoke.

"Huh?..." After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look at him strangely.

Our landing force was completely annihilated. Could it be that pirates can still pose a deadly threat to us at sea?
"That pirate ship!" Calles suddenly remembered.

Four years ago (1629), the slender pirate ship not only had a very fast speed, but also had an extremely strong hull. When it was besieged by several Spanish armed merchant ships, it rammed the "Ocotal" into two parts with the most ferocious attitude, causing more than crew members to die in the sea.

Since our task force arrived at the pirate port, we have not seen any sign of the pirate ship except for some small fishing boats.

Perhaps, it may have gone to the Ming Dynasty and is not here for the time being.

Perhaps, it may be hiding on some unknown coast, peeping at us coldly.

But no matter what, we cannot ignore the threat it poses to the entire fleet.

Suppose, pirates try to attack us by sea.

Just as the officers were arguing, a rapid alarm suddenly sounded from the lookout post.

"Enemy ship! ...Enemy ship approaching!"

General Gomez rushed out of the command room and raised his monocular to look in the direction pointed by the warning sailor.

A completely white warship appeared on the sea on the southwest side of the fleet. The entire ship had an incredible length-to-width ratio, making it appear extremely slender. The three sails were all horizontal, the bow was raised high, and there was a tilted mast with a triangular canvas hanging on it. The bulwarks on both sides were decorated with golden dragon patterns, and behind the dragon's tail was a strange blue-gray number "86".

"It's that pirate ship!" exclaimed Calles.

"Is it going to challenge our entire fleet?" General Gomez looked at the pirate ship with an inexplicable look on his face.

(End of this chapter)