Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 200: Occupation of Pacific Islands

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On the boundless surface of the western Pacific Ocean, a fleet of sailing ships is sailing by, and their white sails are particularly eye-catching against the blue sky and blue sea. This is the "Zhenhai" expeditionary task force from Manila.

After a long and difficult voyage, they finally arrived at the designated sea area.

The lookout on the ship was the first to discover the island in the distance. When the news came, the sailors and soldiers in the cabin rushed to the deck and saw a green coastline in the distance at the end of the horizon in full anticipation.

This discovery drew cheers from the sailors and soldiers. Many of them jumped and shouted with excitement. They had had enough of the boring days at sea.

Seeing the land is like seeing the longed-for destination.

There are few islands in the Pacific Ocean. Since sailing eastward from the Luzon Islands, we have been facing endless ocean for several days. The boring sea view makes people vomit.

Guam is 2400 kilometers away from the Hainan Islands (note: formerly the Luzon Islands) and is an important supply point on the circum-Pacific route, providing fresh vegetables, food and water to ships traveling across the Pacific.

Guam is located in the western Pacific Ocean, at the southernmost tip of the Mariana Islands. The island has a total area of ​​549 square kilometers, slightly larger than Zhoushan Island, the fourth largest island in China.

The indigenous people of the Pacific here are the Chamorro people. The main port is in Agana, which is 5850 kilometers east of Honolulu and 3010 kilometers northwest of China (mainland). It is an important node on the Pacific route.

In 1521, the Portuguese navigator Magellan arrived here with his circumnavigation fleet. After staying on the island for several months, the expedition team embarked on the return journey to Europe.
However, when passing through the Hainan Islands (note: formerly the Luzon Islands), the expedition team clashed with the indigenous people on the island, and Magellan was injured and died.

Guam was occupied by Spanish colonists in 1565, who established a trading post on Guam as a stopping point for galleons on their route from Acapulco, Mexico, to Manila.

To this day, it still plays an important role as an ocean-going station.

Originally, there were more than 30 Pacific Chamorro indigenous people on Guam. After 300 years of brutal rule by the Spanish, there are now less than 6 left.

Cheers resounded throughout the sky. Upon hearing the sound, Major General Pan Tianshou also walked out from the stern deck. Seeing the excited officers and soldiers on the ship cheering, a smile appeared on his face.

After this hopeless voyage, we finally saw our destination.

After going to Southeast Asia
After witnessing the vastness of the world time and time again, Major General Pan Tianshou felt that his horizons had been broadened and he had a clearer understanding of the strength of the European powers.

A small country like Spain has expanded vast colonies all over the world, which makes people feel a sense of urgency and pressure.

In comparison, the Eastern Continent is a sleeping dragon, deaf and blind, showing the end of an aging dynasty, seriously out of touch with the new trends of the steam age.

Amid the soldiers' enthusiastic cheers, Major General Pan Tianshou quickly woke up from his deep thoughts and gave an order: "Order all officers and soldiers to prepare for landing operations."

"As you command, sir."

After the order was given, the soldiers returned to the lower cabins, packed their belongings and tied them up. They put on their uniforms and caps, tied their leggings, and gathered on the deck with their weapons and swords.

The two thousand-ton sailing battleships, "Zhenhai" and "Zhenjiang", sailed straight to Agana, the main port of Guam, where there was a three-story Spanish-style building with a pointed roof. The Spanish flag on the flagpole on the roof fluttered in the wind.

The sudden arrival of this fleet of sailing ships also attracted the attention of the Spanish colonists in Guam, who quickly sounded the alarm and a team of about 270 to 280 people was quickly assembled.

Throughout Guam
The Spaniards had a company with a total strength of 78 people, equipped with two 12-pound bronze cannons and flintlock muskets. This was the entire military force of the white colonists on the island.

There is also an indigenous vassal army of more than 300 people, equipped with swords, guns, bows and arrows and cold weapons. They are used to suppress the residents on the island and maintain order in the port on weekdays.

The relevant and accurate military intelligence information had been conveyed to the officers of the task force long before the expedition, so there was nothing to hide.

Therefore, the "Zhenhai" task force did not take any combat action, and did not even open the side gun ports. It sailed directly to the dock and occupied the area with its absolute superior force.

The "Zhenhai" arrived at the dock pier first. A whole battalion of soldiers boarded this large sailing ship and poured down from the ship one after another and began to form a line.

The "Zhenjiang" followed closely behind. The two large sailing ships filled the small dock, unloaded a large number of combat personnel, and pressed forward towards the neatly lined-up Spaniards.

The head of the Spanish colonists stationed there was a captain who stood at the front of the queue with two second lieutenants, looking arrogant.

The captain was ready to declare his sovereignty to this sudden Eastern army;
"This is the powerful Spanish royal territory, sacred and inviolable."

"No matter where you come from, you must leave immediately. You are not welcome here."

Who knew that these Eastern troops had no intention of negotiating at all. After the neatly lined-up musketeers approached, they actually started loading ammunition in front of them.

This hostile behavior startled the Spanish captain. His expression suddenly changed and he hurriedly shouted to his soldiers to reload.

But they were a beat too late. After the Eastern Army musketeers finished loading the bullets, they followed the commander's order: "Raise your guns, aim, and fire!"

After a series of skillful and coherent movements, the Spanish captain showed a look of despair on his face and shouted something loudly.
But no one listened to him, and everything was irreversible.

"Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa……"

The two sides were fifty or sixty yards apart. Amid the sound of dense volleys of gunfire, the white Spanish soldiers and indigenous vassal troops on the opposite side fell down like wheat being harvested.

The first round of musket fire caused as many as forty or fifty casualties.

Amidst the splattering blood, screams immediately rang out and the situation suddenly became chaotic.

This is not over yet
A battalion of 400 musketeers who landed formed a horizontal line infantry formation with three rows of infantry in front and back. The first round of musket fire fired more than 130 bullets, knocking down forty or fifty people head-on.

Then came the second and third musket volleys, with dense volleys of gunfire coming one after another.

A huge cloud of gray-black smoke rose up, and the small dock was littered with dead and wounded. The arrogant white captain was beaten with bloody holes all over his body and died to meet God.

Three rounds of volleys of close-range gunfire almost killed all seventy or eighty white soldiers on the opposite side, and the same number of indigenous servants were also killed.

The rest fled in all directions, crying for their parents. They were chased by the soldiers from the two landing battalions and fired several volleys of gunfire. Most of them were killed, and only a few of twenty or thirty people were left who were lucky enough to escape into the jungle.

At this point, the battle to occupy Guam was over, and all that remained was a careful cleanup.

Before dusk falls

All battles on Guam ended, and thanks to the vigorous exploitation of the Spanish colonists, the native Pacific indigenous population on Guam was reduced to only a few thousand people.

Most of them live in a dozen villages around the port of Agana. One village is a fishing village, and the others are cultivated land, growing wheat, rice, some vegetables and fruits, as well as large coconut groves as a specialty.

The coconut milk in coconut jelly is a very good drink. The coconut meat can be eaten after being mashed, or it can be made into coconut sugar. There is so much dried coconut shreds that you can’t finish eating them.

After landing, the expeditionary task force quickly seized the Spanish camp, the best-equipped structure on the island, capable of housing one to two thousand men. In the warehouse, they seized over 6500 dan of grain, hundreds of barrels of oil, a large amount of other supplies, and dozens of barrels of black powder—a small haul.

When the local Chamorro indigenous people saw the Spanish whites being wiped out, the tribal chief organized many people to sing and dance to welcome them, thinking that they had welcomed freedom and liberation.

Unexpectedly, these Orientals were even more brutal. They directly separated the indigenous population in the village by gender. Many soldiers were so suffocated on the boat that they dragged the indigenous women into the houses and committed violence against them.

The indigenous warriors in the village were ruthlessly wiped out if they showed any resistance.

Such brutal actions continued from the afternoon until nightfall, when they only subsided slightly.

This three-story Spanish-style building in Port Agana is the only building on Guam and a symbol of the dignity of the Spanish colonists.

Major General Pan Tianshou occupied this building without hesitation and turned it into the military command center. Some relevant colonial personnel also moved in and started working immediately.

Fleet Commander Major General Robert also arrived with several naval officers. Major General Pan Tianshou pointed to the other half of the building and said with a smile;

"General, I have left half the house for your task force, as well as some wine and native girls. You can enjoy them to your heart's content."

"General Pan, thank you very much." Major General Robert expressed his gratitude with a smile and continued;

"The boys in the task force really need to vent. If you're not in a hurry, I'll arrange for the officers and soldiers of the task force to take turns resting."

Major General Pan Tianshou said, "There's no rush for now. Stabilizing the situation on the island and measuring the land will probably take about a week."

"That's no problem. We will rest for a week." Major General Robert replied.

The task force's targets included Guam, Saipan, Wake Island, and Midway Island.

Occupying Guam is the first step. The next step is to send a detachment to occupy Saipan, 190 kilometers away, which is also an easy task.

Saipan has an area of ​​only 185 square kilometers and a local population of more than 2000. There are only a dozen Spanish white colonists and they are unarmed.

The biggest challenge for an expeditionary task force is the long voyage.

Continuing to sail eastward from Guam for about 2,000 kilometers, you can reach Wake Island, an island in the central Pacific Ocean that has been untouched so far.

Wake Island is an island consisting of three small coral islands. It has a low terrain, a total area of ​​about 6.5 square kilometers, and valuable fresh water resources.

This small island is uninhabited and has no food production. It is completely desolate and primitive and has never been developed in an organized manner.

Sailing ships traveling to and from this island on the Pacific Ocean must stop here to replenish fresh water.

In 1841, a fleet of the US Navy passed through here, but nothing was heard of it afterwards.

The expeditionary task force's mission was to occupy the island, erect a sovereignty monument, and retain no fewer than 180 people, mainly Chinese militia.

They will build houses on the island, cultivate farmland, and bring more than 300 indigenous women with them to settle down and reproduce on this small island in the central Pacific.

Wake Island has an excellent geographical location and is an important node on the Pacific route that absolutely cannot be abandoned.

It is about 3700 kilometers away from Guam in the west, about 1900 kilometers away from the Hawaiian Islands in the east, and about kilometers away from Midway Island in the northeast. It is one of the few islands in the central Pacific.

In terms of importance, no other island can compare with it.

As long as the expeditionary task force arrives safely and transports personnel and supplies to shore, it will be considered to have successfully completed its mission.

The same is true of the more distant Midway Island, an island in the heart of the Pacific Ocean that is now home to hundreds of thousands of albatrosses and is still uninhabited.

The expeditionary task force needed to transport 200 militiamen and 300 indigenous women to the island, build houses on Midway Island, cultivate fields, and use the seeds, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs and other poultry transported by the fleet to develop production and expand the population.

Midway Island will also become the easternmost island of the Great Chu Empire. Occupying this island means taking half of the Pacific Ocean into one's arms, which is not a matter of just one island.

The reason why the expedition was dispatched in a hurry was to capture these Pacific islands.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu suddenly thought that it was around this time that the Americans occupied Midway Island and brought the island under the American flag.

If my memory serves me correctly, it should have been 1867, but I forgot the exact time.

He must take the lead, set up bases on the Pacific islands, occupy these important islands first, and create a fait accompli.

The quicker you act, the more chances you get. The slower you act, the less chances you get.

By the time the Americans arrived, the flag of the Great Chu was already flying on the island.

If we occupy it by force, it would be tantamount to declaring war. I believe any commander would think twice before doing so.

Zheng Guohui certainly also coveted Hawaii, where there was an indigenous kingdom, but it was not yet firmly established, and the power of the Chu State could not be projected that far.

The occupation of Hawaii will inevitably arouse the vigilance of the United States, which will trigger the subsequent butterfly effect and become a variable in the current world situation.

This variable that could explode has made Zheng Guohui extremely cautious in dealing with the Hawaii issue.

You must carefully weigh the pros and cons before making a final decision.

The American Civil War had just ended and the country was licking its wounds. It was in a brief period with no time for expansion and was concentrating on domestic affairs.

At least in the next one or two years, it will be impossible to be distracted.

When America recovers from this, Cuba and Puerto Rico in Central America will be his favorites. He has been eyeing them for a long time and will not allow anyone else to get involved.

As for Hawaii, it is far from being on the agenda.

For the Great Chu Kingdom, there is still a chance to take over the Kingdom of Hawaii in advance, but considering the strong reaction of the United States, there is a high probability that public opinion hostile to the Great Chu Kingdom will emerge.

After all, America is the descendant of robbers, and its desire for greed and possession is very strong in its bones.

I don't want to miss any of the good things around me.

(End of this chapter)