Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 204 Black Shark Island

"Ah, are we going to fight the Spanish now?"

Lin Quanwu, the person in charge of Black Shark Island, watched as several small boats on the sea transferred various supplies to the island one after another, including four 95mm (8-pound) cast iron cannons, and his eyelids twitched involuntarily.

Wow, look at this, they are planning to build this Black Shark Island into a solid sea fortress!

In addition to bringing a large amount of supplies to the island, the fleet also transported more than 70 new immigrants to strengthen their defense capabilities. Among these new immigrants were Han soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Jiannu Army who were captured by the Ming army on Pi Island.

Last year, the immigration fleet brought these people back to the New World from afar, intending to make them perform hard labor (in mines, guarding forests and conquering inland Indian tribes) to atone for their sins.

Now, as war with the Spanish was about to break out, considering that these people had certain combat experience, they were all pulled out and used as "suicide squads" to raid Spanish coastal towns.

As a result, these landlubbers unexpectedly became seasick at sea. After only more than 20 days of sailing, more than ten surrendered Jiannu soldiers were completely turned into weaklings, and each of them collapsed in the cabin, unable to move.

Fleet commander Wei Yingbin, upon seeing this, had no choice but to abandon all these people on Black Shark Island and temporarily serve as guards on the island.

Black Shark Island received a replenishment of personnel and supplies in June last year, bringing the number of garrison personnel on the island to 86.

Under the leadership of Lin Quanwu, these people used a large amount of building materials transported from the local area to not only build necessary residential houses, warehouses, public canteens, bathhouses, water tanks and other infrastructure, but also roughly built a simple wooden wall and defensive facilities such as watchtowers by cutting down surrounding trees.

What is even more gratifying is that they have reclaimed forty or fifty acres of arable land outside the wooden village and planted many vegetables as well as some coarse grains such as corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Although the output is not very high for the time being, it is enough for the daily consumption of the personnel stationed on the island, and can also provide a small amount of supplies for the immigration fleet.

"Yes, the war between us and the Spanish has already broken out." Wei Yingbin turned his gaze away from the distant vegetable patch and looked at Lin Quanwu with satisfaction. "Your construction here is quite good, much better than I expected. However, just in case, we're sending you more personnel and supplies from mainland China. If the Spanish discover you, at least you'll be able to fight."

"General Wei, how many people will the Spanish send to fight us?" Lin Quanwu's face was filled with worry. "As for fighting, I'm not very good at it!"

"It doesn't matter if you can't fight. When the Spanish come, all you have to do is hold the city." Wei Yingbin consoled him. "You have a built fortress here, and you have muskets. If you deploy those four cannons on the city walls, the Spanish will be powerless against you."

"This time, we've brought you sixty to seventy tons of food and many other supplies. Even if you're besieged by the Spanish for a year or two, you'll be able to hold out."

"What if the Western Barbarians surround us for three or four years?" Lin Quanwu murmured.

"Or, why don't you just surrender the city?" Wei Yingbin's tone turned cold.

"..." Lin Quanwu saw the change in the other party's expression and was immediately panicked. "General Wei, my life was given by Xinhua, and I will never kneel down and surrender. There is no doubt about it. We will fight the Western Barbarians to the end on this island. Even if our food is gone and our people are dead, we will never surrender to the Western Barbarians!"

"We're very pleased with your determination and resolve." Wei Yingbin's expression relaxed. He patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Actually, you don't have to harbor any pessimism or fear in the face of the Spanish attack."

"This island has a dry climate, barren soil, and extremely scarce water. If the Spanish gather a large force to attack, not only will they have difficulty shoring up supplies, but they won't be able to obtain the necessary fresh water, making their attack unsustainable. However, if they send only a small force, they will surely suffer heavy casualties against your fortress."

"So, as long as you are determined to hold on and don't underestimate the enemy or rush into any proactive attacks, the Spanish won't be able to breach your fort anytime soon and will ultimately be forced to retreat to the sea." "You have ample food and supplies here, several reservoirs, and even your own vegetables, enough to hold out for two years. In a few days, our raiding fleet will head to the Spanish coastal port towns, awaiting an opportunity to land. We will temporarily store the large amount of looted supplies and personnel on the island, which will also increase your supply reserves to a certain extent."

"If you still lack the confidence to defend this island, then I will consider replacing you with someone more courageous and resolute!"

"General Wei, rest assured. I will defend this island and will not let the Western barbarians succeed." Upon hearing this, Lin Quanwu immediately expressed his determination. "I swear before you, General, that as long as we are here, the island will survive. If we die, the island will perish!"

"Haha..." Wei Yingbin smiled and said, "There's no need to make it so tragic. The Western Barbarians might not even discover the existence of this island during the entire war. Furthermore, according to our assessment of this war, it will be over in two years at most. By then, all of you island defenders will be considered heroes of Xinhua and will be generously rewarded by the government."

"Hehe..." Lin Quanwu grinned after hearing this. "We receive Xinhua's rations and wages, so we must serve them till death. We dare not call ourselves heroes. There's no doubt that these hundred or so of us will do our utmost to defend this island, even if it means risking our lives, and we will live up to the trust placed in us by you gentlemen."

"Very good!" Wei Yingbin nodded and said, "However, the defense of your fortress needs to be strengthened. Before the Spaniards discover you, try to raise and reinforce the weak points as much as possible. Also, build a few more bastions to form a crossfire and avoid any blind spots in the defense."

"Yes, General Wei."

"The trench outside the wall should be widened and deepened, ideally three or four meters deep and ten to twenty meters wide. Some of the excavated soil can be piled behind the wall and some on the other side of the trench, creating a slope two or three meters high. This will not only greatly restrict the Spanish attack route but also enhance the defensive strength of the entire wall."

"Yes, General Wei. We will definitely follow your instructions and improve and upgrade the fort's defenses."

"Oh, by the way, the vegetables you're planting aren't growing well. You might want to try adding some seal poop from the coast. Don't underestimate this filthy stuff; it's excellent phosphorus fertilizer, improving soil fertility and having a positive effect."

"Yes, I've made note of it!"

"Phosphate fertilizer?..."

When Lin Quanwu heard this new word, he didn't understand it at all, but he vaguely understood what the other party meant.

It is probably said that the feces excreted by this fat seal is similar to the compost of humans and animals, which can make crops such as vegetables grow better.

But the problem is that no matter how well the crops outside the fort are taken care of, they will definitely be destroyed by the Spaniards once they attack the island.

After all, the village wall can't enclose this piece of land as well.

Now this is a problem. This small island was originally intended to be used as a transit point for trade and smuggling, but unexpectedly, along with the war with the Western barbarians, it immediately became a later supply point for raiding the American coast.

We can only hope that God will protect us and that the Western barbarians will not wander around this island for no reason and discover their existence.

On January 1, the "Kaituo" and "Kaiyuan" left Black Shark Island and headed south, preparing to enter the North Equatorial Current Belt, cross the Pacific Ocean, and rush to Daming first.

The "Polang" will carry two imitation clipper ships, the "Qishun" and the "Feijian-2", and head towards the coast of Mexico, where it will launch attacks on Spanish coastal port towns and ships.

(End of this chapter)