Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 144 Hunting (Part )

The Spanish ship "Santo Domingo" changed direction in time at the last moment, and narrowly avoided the "Breaking Wave" by only ten meters.

They simply did not dare to collide with the pirate ship. Even if they used their hard bow to hit the other party's seemingly weak hull, it might cause serious damage to the other party, but they would also inevitably suffer serious injuries.

Moreover, the enemy has four ships, so after our side is damaged, we will inevitably lose the ability to continue fighting, and there is a high probability that we will become their food.

If the situation had been worse, and the two sides had collided with such passion, both ships might have been destroyed and everyone on board would have been buried at the bottom of the sea.

As a sailor, sailing on the sea is a life-threatening job, but no one wants to face death directly.

Besides, we are just "workers" who get a salary. Is it really necessary to fight with pirates?
However, as the Spanish ship "Santo Domingo" made a difficult turn, it avoided the terrible collision between the two ships, but its speed inevitably slowed down.

In the following period of time, the "Wavebreaker" relied on its superior speed and maneuverability to circle around the Spanish ship, preventing it from turning and escaping, and from time to time it would rush into the "T" position and fire at it.

Twenty minutes later, when the "Zhengtu" came from the southeast and outflanked the "Santo Domingo", its final outcome was already doomed.

Faced with the black muzzles of the two pirate ships, the Spaniards finally gave up resistance and raised a white flag.

A gust of sea breeze blew away the thick smoke, and the "Santo Domingo" lowered all the sails. The crew stood on the deck, waiting to be picked up by the pirate ship.

Amidst warm cheers, the pirate ship lowered two small boats one after another, and after loading dozens of fully armed sailors, they quickly rowed towards them.

Liu A Shui climbed up the rope swiftly and boarded the "Santo Domingo". As soon as he stood on the deck, he immediately took the flintlock rifle on his back in his hand and stared at the group of Spanish sailors waiting to surrender.

Each of them had an expression of fear and hesitation on their faces, as if they were extremely worried about their future fate.

"Gentlemen..." Captain Carvajal stepped forward, looking at the pirates climbing aboard one after another. He spoke in a heavy voice, "We now abandon all resistance and hand over this ship, along with all its gold, silver, and cargo, to you. However, we hope to receive more humane treatment. Any brutal acts such as killing, abuse, and humiliation are prohibited."

"Brother Liu, what are these barbarians talking about?" Cao Genming turned and looked at Liu Ashui, holding his rifle.

"Whatever he says!" Liu Ah Shui glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that more than twenty brothers had boarded the ship one after another. He couldn't help but feel relieved. "Take a few people and tie them all up to prevent the barbarians from making any more moves. Ergou, take two people to check the bottom cabin. ... Brothers, if anyone resists, just kill them! ... Damn it, it took him all this time to surrender!"

Upon hearing this, seven or eight sailors immediately ran over, first disarmed the Spaniards, then found the sail ropes, or simply untied the Spaniards' belts, and tied their hands tightly behind their backs.

During this period, the sailors searched the clothes and pockets of the Spaniards and transferred some valuable items to themselves.

Although gold and silver are not available on Qiming Island for the time being and salaries are all in the form of registered tickets, with the annual increase in population and the development of the overall social economy, everything will return to normal sooner or later. There is no harm in saving more money for yourself at this time.

"I'm rich! ... I'm rich!"

Soon, a sailor who had gone to search the hold came running up excitedly and shouted to everyone, "There are so many silver coins down there! ... Wow, sixteen huge chests, all filled to the brim with silver coins!"

"Look at you, you're so ignorant!" Liu Ashui glanced at him with disdain. "Three years ago, we intercepted that Spanish ship and seized more than 30 large boxes, as well as a lot of golden coins! ... I'm warning you, don't touch that money! Otherwise, you'll be prosecuted! After this is over, the superiors will definitely give us some of it."

"That's for granted!" The sailor replied, but one hand subconsciously reached into his bosom. So many silver coins, he probably didn't count them, right?
"Captain, we captured the Spanish treasure ship Santo Domingo and seized over 250,000 silver pesos and over a ton of copper," Chen Rui reported happily. "In addition, we also confiscated over 40 pieces of various jewelry and gold ornaments, as well as 25 gold coins from various European countries, from the captain's cabin."

"All told, it's worth nearly two hundred thousand taels of silver. Tsk, tsk, being a pirate really is a very promising career. With just this one ticket, we can hire the Portuguese to help us transport immigrants... over fifteen hundred people!"

"From now on, if we just guard the waters near Guam every year, we can seize hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Why would we bother engaging in the fur trade?"

"Is being a pirate a long-term endeavor?" Wei Yingbin said unhappily. "Do you think the Spanish will just consider themselves unlucky after suffering a loss and not seek revenge? Who knows, next year, or the year after, the treasure ships they send to Manila will also be equipped with armed escorts like the treasure fleets sailing across the Atlantic."

"Armed escort?" She Zhiliang beside him laughed. "Providing armed escort for one or two trans-Pacific merchant ships each year would be a huge expense for the Spanish! Perhaps the trade profits from a round trip wouldn't even cover the cost of the naval escort. I think that's unlikely."

"Instead of using armed escort, we might as well change our route. As long as we don't pass through Guam, we might not be able to stop them!"

"So, robbing Spanish treasure ships isn't a long-term business," Wei Yingbin said, shaking his head. "We've robbed the Spanish twice in three years, which is already a remarkable feat. If we want to hone our skills again, we can go to the coasts of Mexico or Peru and look for those Spanish armed merchant ships plying the country."

"Actually, we could also take a trip to the Philippines and perhaps find something there," Chen Rui continued. "I remember that around this time, the Spanish carried out the Manila Massacre, where tens of thousands of Chinese were brutally slaughtered. If we have the chance, we should lend a hand and prevent this tragedy from happening again."

"During this period, the massacre of Han people was more than just the Manila Massacre," She Zhiliang said quietly. "In a dozen years, when the Qing invaders entered the country, that would be the real disaster for the Han people."

When everyone heard this, they immediately fell silent.

With just over a decade left, are we capable of stopping the overwhelming historical trend?
"Captain, the Portuguese are coming!" A sailor hurried to the captain's room to report.

"Oh, the Portuguese are probably here to share the money."

"Giving them 30% is a bit too much, isn't it?" Chen Rui said with a pained look on his face. "The capture of this Spanish treasure ship was almost single-handedly accomplished by our 'Break the Waves'. They were just following behind, playing by the wayside and making a show of force!"

"Let's distribute the silver to the Portuguese according to the promised share." Wei Yingbin waved his hand and said, "After all, we will have to continue cooperating with them in the future. We hope that they will send more ships to help us transport immigrants."

"If a conflict breaks out between us and the Spanish someday, we'll have to use all of our existing ships to fight the Spanish navy. In this situation, to prevent the immigration process from stopping, we can only rely on the Portuguese."

"Oh, by the way, you can take a few shipwrights to that Spanish ship later and use the timber and canvas we have in stock to repair it. When we get to Guangzhou, we can recruit some sailors to replenish it and use this ship for our own purposes."

"What about those Spanish sailors?"

"First, disperse them and assign them to different ships to continue serving as sailors," Wei Yingbin ordered. "Tell them that as long as they obey, everyone will be spared. Moreover, after serving us for five years, they will be allowed to return home."

"Will we really let them go after five years?" Chen Rui asked subconsciously.

“…” Wei Yingbin glanced at him without responding.

(End of this chapter)