Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 138 Spanish Search Operation

On December 1629, 12, the birthday of Jesus according to European Catholic tradition, sailors on three Spanish armed ships anchored at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Willamette River held a simple celebration ceremony.

The fleet commander, Captain Plutarco Elias Calles of the San Jose, made an exception and allowed all the sailors to enjoy drinks to their heart's content after leaving the necessary guard duty personnel behind to vent their frustration and frustration over the past few months of sailing.

This exploratory fleet, consisting of three armed merchant ships, set out from the port of Acapulco three months ago and headed north along the Pacific coast of North America, carefully searching and exploring the coastal areas in the hope of finding the hiding place of the damn pirates.

Even in some very suspicious places that are extremely suitable for establishing strongholds, they need to send a large number of armed sailors ashore to conduct a detailed search.

Then, the fleet spent three months and traveled more than hundreds of leagues north, but still found nothing and did not find any trace of pirates hiding.

Although the fleet discovered three or five Indian tribes on the shore during the search and slaughtered and looted them, it did not gain much.

Not only were precious gold and gems not confiscated, but even the amount of furs was extremely small.

With reluctance, the sailors abducted more than one hundred young Indian men and women onto the ship, intending to sell them all to greedy plantation owners or mine owners after returning to Mexico.

These Indians can be exchanged for some money, which can be used to provide some benefits and subsidies to the sailors.

Yes, almost all the sailors carried out this search mission with great resentment.

Because there is no profit in this kind of task.

The area north of Mexico is a barren continent. Apart from endless forests, empty beaches, and various wandering animals, there are not many human populations.

Even if we were lucky enough to discover a few Indian tribes, they were extremely poor and we couldn't find anything valuable.

There was no gold and silver as imagined, nor were there gems as dazzling as stars. There were only animal skins wrapped around the Indians and a few pieces of bacon hanging on tree trunks.

These things can't be exchanged for much money.

The search operation has been going on for two years. Trying to find the pirates' hidden strongholds on the long and rugged coastline is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

This made the sailors who participated in the operation very negative, and they thought that this action was completely useless.

Perhaps, this group of pirates never established a base on the North American coast at all. After robbing everything, they simply went to another place.

Could it be that they are also preparing to colonize the wild areas in the north with a lot of gold, silver and supplies?
What a stupid behavior!
Aren't pirates supposed to return to the civilized world with the looted property and enjoy a good life?
However, in February of this year, in the waters of Nicaragua, five Spanish merchant ships unexpectedly encountered the pirates who were wreaking havoc on the Pacific coast.

At that time, two pirate ships were sailing from north to south. After discovering the Spanish armed merchant ship, they tried to turn around and escape to the deep ocean.

A difficult chase ensued. Just as the five Spanish armed ships were about to approach the pirates, the other side used one of the large three-masted sailing ships as a cover, allowing another smaller pirate ship to escape first.

Originally, we thought that in this situation, with five against one, we had an absolute advantage. As long as we spent some time, we would be able to capture the pirate ship that was left behind, and thus obtain their hiding place, and eventually wipe them out in one fell swoop.

However, unexpectedly, when the slender and huge pirate ship was about to be surrounded, it rammed the "Ocotal" with a decisive attitude, and then quickly got rid of the siege of the Spanish ship with its rapid speed, sailed into the vast ocean, and disappeared.

Although several Spanish armed ships carried out emergency rescue after the "Ocotal" sank into the sea, only five people were rescued in the end, and the remaining more than 40 sailors died on the seabed.

Such a result greatly shocked all Spaniards.

After sinking the "Ocotal", the pirate ship did not seem to have suffered much damage. It even sailed away from the sea area where the incident occurred in a swagger while being surrounded by four Spanish armed ships.

Afterwards, the Governor of New Spain, Marquis Pedro de Rivera, was extremely angry and ordered the newly formed Pacific Squadron to find the rampant pirates as soon as possible and send all of them to the gallows.

These pirates are openly trampling on the dignity of our Kingdom of Spain and ruthlessly trampling on it.

In their first year, they raided the Banderas Valley, nearly plundering the coastal town.

The following year, they attacked the small town of Manta again, looting and extorting tens of thousands of pesos in gold and silver.

In the third year, they ambushed a small detachment of Indian tribes in San Diego Bay and captured two transport ships. In the fourth year, they were besieged by several armed ships and sank one, killing more than 40 sailors, and then escaped with all their remains intact.

So, what kind of outrageous things will they do next?

Must find them!

They must be eliminated!

The dignity and honor of the Kingdom of Spain cannot be humiliated and defiled in this way!
"Mr. Calles, after we have searched the two sides of this river, should we continue north or return home?" Captain Alvaro Biancasantis of the St. Vincent asked gloomily after drinking the wine in his glass.

"What do you mean?" Calles glanced at the captains and first mates present.

"The further north we go, the colder it gets," said José Andrés Guardado, the captain of the Massapier, shaking his head. "In this weather, the crew will get frostbitten. So far, sixteen of our crew members on the Massapier have fallen ill, and five are in serious condition."

"If we continue searching north, I'm worried that more crew members will end up lying down in the cabin. After all, we've been out for over three months, and everyone needs the necessary rest. This exploration has taken far longer than last year, and while we've still found nothing, the Governor and General Gomez can't accuse us of not giving our all."

"Yes, yes, this exploration mission should end here," echoed Juan Rodriguez, the captain of the Dona de Charcas. "Searching for possible pirate hideouts along a desolate coastline is not something that can be accomplished overnight."

"If this exploration yields no results, we'll continue searching next year, bit by bit, heading north. One day, we'll find them. Honestly, this kind of thing requires a bit of luck and a bit of patience. It's not something that can be achieved overnight."

"Colonel Alvarez, what do you think?" Calles did not comment on the suggestions of several captains, but turned to look at Colonel Silva de Alvarez, senator of the Military Committee of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

"If I insist on continuing north, I'll undoubtedly be met with unanimous hostility from everyone present here," Colonel Alvarez smiled faintly and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "As you've all said, searching for the pirates' lair will be a long and tedious process."

"In this process, we do need a bit of luck and patience. This time, we returned empty-handed, and next year we may still find nothing. We may not even find the pirate base in the next few years."

"Yes, this is a difficult task for us. To put it another way, if I were a pirate, after raiding American territories for several consecutive years, I would definitely hide my lair in an extremely difficult-to-find location."

"Of course, there's also the possibility that, as some sailors have suggested, the pirates aren't hiding on this vast continent at all, but rather on some unknown island. Our aimless search, to a certain extent, won't yield any good results, but will instead leave us feeling endlessly exhausted and frustrated."

"However, the dignity of the Kingdom of Spain must be maintained, pirate plundering must be stopped, and the security of the American colonial territories must be protected. There are some things that we know are hopeless, but we still need to work hard to do them."

"Colonel Alvarez, you mean..."

Many people's faces have become very ugly.

Damn it, this Colonel seems to be unwilling to give up!

"I don't know if you've analyzed the behavior of this group of pirates." Colonel Alvarez pressed down his hands, silencing several people who tried to object to his remarks. He continued, "Since four years ago, this group of pirates has attacked ports and towns along our American coast, and encountered several of our armed ships earlier this year. Each attack seems to occur at a fixed time."

"This period is between January and February every year. If it happened once or twice, it would most likely be a coincidence. However, if the incidents occurred for four consecutive years, all within this period, then it is worth our deep consideration."

"Colonel Alvarez, do you mean that this group of pirates is likely to appear again in the west coast of America in January or February next year?" Captain Jose Andres Guardado of the Masapir asked in surprise.

"I can't guarantee that." Colonel Alvarez shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Because all of this needs further verification."

"If Colonel Alvarez's deduction is correct, then we shouldn't continue searching north now. Instead, we should immediately head south and return to Mexico. Then, we can conduct a large-scale patrol of the nearby waters. Perhaps we'll encounter them again."

"Yes, Colonel Alvarez's inference is extremely reasonable. I agree with it very much!"

"I can't believe so many of us were so preoccupied with searching, rather than seriously pondering the pirates' patterns of activity, that we've wasted so much time. ... Colonel Alvarez, please accept my most sincere respects!"

"..."

"Gentlemen, this is just my personal opinion, and the outcome may not be as I predict." Colonel Alvarez was extremely proud, but he remained reserved and said, "But we might as well return to Mexico and verify it on the spot."

"Okay, we'll go back to Mexico tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)