Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 203 Take the initiative
On December 12, at Shixing Harbor, seven sailboats left the shore one after another and embarked on their new journey, with the farewell of hundreds of people at the dock.

Compared with previous years, the immigration fleet under Xinhua set sail half a month earlier.

It’s nothing, everything is for war preparation.

At the annual time travel conference held at the beginning of the month, in addition to reviewing the progress of work this year and setting development goals for various affairs in the coming year, the most important topic was how to deal with the Spanish military threat next.

Everyone originally thought that after the Spaniards learned of Xinhua's existence, they might mobilize their fleet and army to attack Qiming Island between September and October.

However, they did not expect that until November, they still had not seen any sign of the Spaniards, and they realized that the Spaniards' decision-making process and preparation time were even more protracted and delayed than the time travelers had expected.

Winter is coming, and the Spanish should not be so foolish as to choose to start a war at this time.

Otherwise, even without any action from the Chinese, the cold weather would be the biggest enemy they would face.

The fact that the Spaniards didn't come made the time travelers feel a little relieved.

This means that there are a few more months of preparation time, which is definitely great news for Xinhua.

The weapons workshop can produce more cannons and muskets, the newly built city walls can be made higher and thicker, the coastal defense batteries can deploy more cannons, the army's various training subjects can be further consolidated, and the militia training can be more systematic and complete.

Also, there is more time to organize and train new immigrants.

The longer it drags on, the better it will be for Xinhua!
It would be best if Spain could delay the attack for two or three years.

Of course, time travelers cannot place all their hopes on the laziness and stupidity of the Spaniards, expecting them to sit back and watch you continue to accumulate strength without doing anything.

As the world's first empire on which the sun never sets, Spain has its own powerful logic and core. Although it has been declining uncontrollably during this period, it is still one of the few powerful countries in the world today.

You can criticize the arrogance of the Kingdom of Spain, laugh at its corruption and rigidity, and even despise its "meddling", but you really can't take it for granted that they are stupid and lack the necessary decisiveness.

Therefore, the Spaniards may be slow in making decisions and may be slow in taking actions when it comes to attacking Xinhua, but they will definitely not give up.

Due to various reasons, the Spanish did not respond in a timely manner and send a fleet to attack Qiming Island.

Then by next year, no matter how many obstacles and difficulties they encounter, I believe they will take action.

Being prepared for battle at all times and passively facing the enemy is not the best strategy for time travelers.

We must be proactive and take the initiative to start the war in Spanish America first, so that the Spaniards will be distracted and have to cause them some trouble, create some obstacles, hold them back, and force the Spanish attack to be delayed as much as possible.

This is the consensus reached by the time travelers after a heated discussion.

To this end, Xinhua will send several armed ships carrying marines to the coast of America and wait for an opportunity to land. While plundering Spanish port towns, they will also "liberate" and arm the local Indians, allowing them to bravely stand up against Spanish colonial rule and regain their former freedom and glorious independence.

As for how much damage these Indians could cause to the Spaniards, the time travelers naturally did not have too much expectations. They just wanted to use them to distract the Spaniards a little and prevent them from preparing for war smoothly.

Previously, it was learned from the smuggler Pedro that the Yaqui people in the northwest of Mexico and the Tepehua people in the north had launched several armed uprisings, frequently killing Spanish missionaries and settled immigrants, and continued to attack those naturalized Indian tribes, causing headaches for the Mexican colonial authorities.

Although the Spanish temporarily pacified the situation in the northwest and north after several bloody and brutal suppressions, and with the help of many missionaries' preaching, some Indian tribes gradually transformed from their traditional semi-nomadic habits to a settled life, the local security situation was initially stabilized.

But if the time travelers can re-arm them and encourage and persuade them, I believe they will be able to think of resisting again.

The numerous atrocities committed by the Spanish and the deep hatred for the massacre of their people are not something that can be easily forgotten or abandoned. The oppressed and enslaved Indians all united to resist the Spanish colonial rule!
On December 12, after the fleet sailed out of the Qiming Strait, the accompanying ships "Shun Yun-16" and "Shun Yun-1" left the fleet and headed straight northwest.

The two transport ships were loaded with more than one hundred immigrants and a large amount of construction materials, heading to the former Port of Tofino and Port of Albany, northwest of Qiming Island, to establish secret immigration transit points.

When Spain launched a large-scale invasion, Shixing Port would inevitably be blockaded and besieged, which was a high-probability event.

To prepare for the future, we must find another hidden temporary base to temporarily accommodate the incoming immigrants when the immigrant ships return this year.

The port of Tofino is located on the leeward side of a broken coastline and islands. If the Spanish did not know its specific location, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to accurately find its location in this complex coastline.

Port Albany is located at the end of Barkley Sound, where the Pacific Ocean extends deep into Qiming Island, almost reaching the heart of the island, and is in a more secluded location.

In the 18th century, the Spanish built a colonial outpost, Santa Cruz de Nuca, in the area to declare their sovereignty over the territory.

However, they voluntarily gave it up a few years later, and the island was eventually controlled by the English.

If the Spaniards had not attacked by the time the immigrant ship returned to Qiming Island, everyone would be happy and the immigrants would be transported to Shixing Port smoothly and then distributed in a centralized manner.

But if the Spaniards blockaded Shixing Port, the immigrants would have to be temporarily placed in these two hidden strongholds and wait for the end of the war.

No one knows when the Spaniards will come, and the few ocean-going transport ships that are left cannot stay on Qiming Island and waste an immigration season.

You know, every additional immigrant means new strength for Xinhua.

Immigration cannot stop for a moment.

It should be noted that once the Portuguese learned that the Spanish were about to attack Qiming Island, they would definitely refuse to provide ships to help Xinhua transport immigrants.

There is no problem in secretly doing some small things to cause trouble for Spain, but the Portuguese still do not have the courage and boldness to have a direct conflict with Spain.

In other words, this year's immigration operation will be carried out by only five ocean-going transport ships under the jurisdiction of Xinhua, namely "Polang", "Kaituo (purchased from the Spanish smuggler Pedro)", "Kaiyuan (the Spanish ship Santo Domingo captured from Guam)", "Qishun (ordered by Guangzhou Shipyard)" and "Feijian-5 (built at the First Shipyard of Qiming Island)".

All these transport capacities combined can only bring back a maximum of 1,500 immigrants, completely thwarting the original plan to reach a total population of 20,000 (including new local population) within three years.

To this end, while stepping up preparations for war, the decision-making committee also took advantage of the winter idle season to send several armed exploration teams deep into the inland hinterland of Qiming Island, preparing to "search" out the Indian tribes hidden in the mountains and forests and recruit them for their own use to make up for the shortage of manpower.

After all, under the current "wartime mechanism", the construction of shipyards, mines, iron smelting, military industry, and defense facilities of several fortresses and castles all require a large amount of manpower.

But if too much labor is withdrawn from agriculture, it will affect agricultural production and endanger Xinhua's fragile food reserves.

Therefore, this shortage of manpower can only be made up by the Indians who are not good at farming.

The impending Spanish invasion has really disrupted the development pace of the time travelers, destroyed the rare peaceful environment of Qiming Island, and delayed the rapid expansion momentum of New Continent China, which is very annoying.

This time, the attack and raid on the Pacific coast of America was also to let Spain experience the pain and helplessness after the war.

After twenty days of sailing, on January 1632, 1, the fleet arrived at Black Shark Island (Guadalupe Island, Mexico) to make final preparations for the upcoming battle.

(End of this chapter)