Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 553 The Hunt (Part 3)

"Do you think people on Qiming Island should be wearing cotton-padded coats by now?"

The cruiser "Haichang" was like a lurking sea beast, quietly anchored in the darkness outside Kayao Bay, blocking the northbound shipping lane from the port.

There was no moon in the night sky, only the cold light of the Southern Cross shining on the shimmering sea.

First Mate Lieutenant Bai Yongfeng leaned against the bulkhead, gazing absently at the dark sea: "But here, we still have to wear only a light shirt at night, and during the day it's probably twenty degrees Celsius under the sun, just like spring back home."

"Don't forget, we're in the Southern Hemisphere now." Lieutenant Pan Zhongwen, the navigation officer, didn't look up, but carefully studied the nautical chart spread out on the table by the light of a flickering whale oil lamp.

The charcoal pencil twirled nimbly between his fingers, occasionally making marks on the nautical chart. "According to the seasons, it's springtime here. We've been fighting from spring in the Northern Hemisphere to spring in the Southern Hemisphere, chasing the sun for a full six months."

“The climate and latitude and longitude of this godforsaken place can really confuse people.” Bai Yongfeng turned around and looked at Pan Zhongwen. “Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I have to be stunned for a while and think about where I am.”

Pan Zhongwen finally raised his head and rubbed his sore eyes: "Time flies, it's been more than half a year since the war started. It feels like just yesterday we were preparing for the transoceanic expedition, and today we're already blocking the Spanish doorstep."

“Yes, time really flies.” Bai Yongfeng looked up at the northern night sky, which seemed to pierce through thousands of nautical miles. “I wonder if the army brothers have captured the port of Acapulco yet? The Spanish suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Guadalajara, so they probably can’t spare many reinforcements.”

“Seven thousand troops besieging a small port, if we can’t even take it, the army will lose all face.” Pan Zhongwen put the charcoal pencil back into the ink bottle and carefully rolled up the nautical chart. “I reckon that by now our Red Lan Five-Starred Flag has already been planted in Acapulco. Maybe they’ve already started advancing inland, heading straight for the Taxco silver mine.”

"Tell me, if we could take down all those treasure ships in Callao Port, wouldn't the gold and silver we seize exceed what the army has?" Bai Yongfeng's eyes revealed a hint of longing. "Damn it, the army is really lucky. They only captured one city, Guadalajara, and they already seized more than a million silver dollars worth of valuables."

Pan Zhongwen laughed upon hearing this, and stood up to stretch his stiff shoulders: "You really underestimate the resources of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Before the war, I read the intelligence department's assessment report. The Potosí silver mine alone could produce silver worth 2.5 million pesos a year. If you include the small silver mines in Chalcas, Chile, and other parts of Peru, the entire Viceroyalty's annual silver production exceeds 4 million pesos."

He walked to the porthole and looked at the blurry outline of Callao Port in the distance: "This doesn't even include the associated gold mine output, alpaca wool, cocoa, copper ore, and other special products. All things considered, the total value of the goods loaded on those treasure ships in the port is at least between five and six million pesos."

"Good heavens!" Bai Yongfeng exclaimed, "Damn it, the Spanish are really rich! They probably plunder tens of millions of pesos every year from the two viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain!"

"Pretty much." Pan Zhongwen nodded, a meaningful smile on his lips. "If one day our Xinhua becomes even stronger, we can fill the national treasury with money just from robbing Spaniards every year."

"Haha..." Bai Yongfeng laughed loudly upon hearing this, which caused several sailors on duty to turn around and look in their direction.

"You, Pan Zhongwen, you've made our Xinhua Navy sound like pirates!"

“We’re blocking their doorway right now, eyeing those treasure ships laden with gold and silver with predatory intent. Our behavior is no different from that of pirates,” Pan Zhongwen shrugged, his tone tinged with self-deprecation.

"Shh!" Bai Yongfeng made a shushing gesture and lowered his voice, saying, "Don't let the fleet commander hear this. Although the commander is broad-minded, we can't be too presumptuous."

"Don't worry, the commander is most concerned about how to get this piece of meat into his mouth right now. He doesn't have time to pay attention to our gossip." Pan Zhongwen said, starting to tidy up the small bed in the cabin, preparing to take a short nap during the night shift. "As long as we do our job well and ensure that the fleet can be put into battle at any time, a few jokes won't hurt."

"Hey, we should still be careful. Throughout history, how many people have been punished for their words?" Bai Yongfeng warned.

"Pshaw, our Xinhua is not like the Ming Dynasty, where there are incompetent officials everywhere, nor does it have a system where someone's life or death can be decided with a single word."

Upon hearing this, Bai Yongfeng smiled and shook his head.

He turned his head and glanced again in the direction of the port of Callao, but it was still pitch black.

To avoid a surprise attack by Xinhua ships, the Spanish extinguished all their lights at night, plunging the entire port into a deep, inky darkness, with only a few scattered lights flickering, perhaps the lanterns of patrol teams.

"Hey, do you think the Spanish might abandon sea transport and instead ship their goods to Panama by land?" Bai Yongfeng suddenly thought of something and turned to ask, "The Spanish know we're guarding the outside and don't dare to come out at all. Could they simply ship their goods to Panama by land?"

Pan Zhongwen, who was about to lie down, gave him a look that asked, "Are you alright?" He continued, "Do you know how much cargo those treasure ships in the harbor are carrying? If each ship is 400 tons, ten ships would be 4,000 tons. Do you know how many packhorses it would take to transport that much cargo?" He sat up and continued his analysis, "Okay, even if the Spanish have been operating here for over a hundred years and may have enough packhorses, the journey from Lima to Panama involves crossing the Andes Mountains, traversing rainforests, and crossing dozens of rivers. This route is thousands of kilometers long, and most of it can hardly be called a road. To transport 4,000 tons of cargo by packhorses, unless those horses all had wings."

Bai Yongfeng nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, that makes sense. Back in Guadalajara, the army used over a thousand packhorses and took more than a month just to transport a few hundred tons of spoils back to the coast, and that was only a distance of two hundred kilometers."

“So, we just need to block the port of Callao as Commander Mo ordered.” Pan Zhongwen was already lying on the small bed, his voice already tinged with sleepiness. “Anyway, the Spanish have no other choice but to use sea transport; they can only watch us anxiously!”

"What if the Spanish abandon their departure and temporarily store the gold, silver and other supplies that need to be transported back to Spain in the port?" Bai Yongfeng asked with a smile, reaching out to put on his military cap hanging on the bulkhead, preparing to go out and check the guard duty situation at each post again.

“If the Viceroyalty of Peru abandons the treasure ship transport and doesn’t bring back the gold, silver, and supplies collected this year to their homeland, the King of Spain will be furious and will surely dismiss all the officials here!” Pan Zhongwen, already lying on the small bed, said leisurely, “Because without the millions of pesos from Peru, Spain will have nothing to eat!”

Upon hearing this, Bai Yongfeng smiled and then walked out of the cabin.

A sea breeze blew by, carrying a slightly salty and damp scent, which made one's heart skip a beat.

"Dudu..."

Suddenly, several sharp whistles pierced the night sky, like blades striking everyone's eardrums.

"Alert! There's movement in the harbor!" the sailor on the lookout shouted, his voice echoing across the sea.

"Toot toot..." Then, another whistle sounded.

In an instant, the "Haichang" awoke from its slumber.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed on the deck, waking the sailors from their sleep as they rushed out of their cabins.

Bai Yongfeng grabbed the binoculars and rushed to the side of the ship. Pan Zhongwen also jumped up from the bed and rushed out without even putting on his coat.

In the darkness, a moving swarm of lights suddenly appeared in the direction of Callao Port, like a group of fireflies floating on the water, rapidly approaching the bay's exit.

“…They’re fire ships!” Pan Zhongwen gasped. “There are at least a dozen of them!”

The small boats had a shallow draft and were piled high with grease-soaked wood and flammable materials. Flames crackled in the night wind, casting long shadows that were faintly visible behind them.

Those are Spanish warships that are quietly following behind!

Bai Yongfeng turned around abruptly and roared at the helmsman, "Raise the sails!...Raise the sails! Hard to starboard!"

"Artillery, prepare to fire!"

"Turn the rudder!...Avoid the fire ship!"

"Prepare the water pump!"

"..."

The hull of the "Haichang" began to turn slowly, and the sails and cables creaked in the pulley system.

But the fire ships, taking advantage of the favorable wind, were rushing towards them at an astonishing speed.

Even more alarming, illuminated by the blazing fire, several Spanish warships were quietly flanking from the other side, their gun ports already open…
-
(End of this chapter)