Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 247: Wind Movement (Part )

October 1633, 10, at 6: p.m., sunny, light breeze.

Just as the Spanish expeditionary fleet was strongly blocked by the coastal artillery at Shixing Port and was forced to retreat from the harbor in a panic, a small fleet visited the Mexican port of Acapulco.

The fleet consisted of two slender boats and a three-masted sailing ship, and moved swiftly and without warning.

They first approached the waters outside Acapulco Bay quietly, and then the two small boats rushed towards the two fishing boats that were fishing near the coast at an incredible speed.

The people on the fishing boat did not realize the danger at first. They were just surprised by the strange shape of the other party's boat. How could it have such an exaggerated length-to-width ratio, as if it were a black shark rushing in from the deep sea.

It was not until the two slender boats approached rapidly, revealing obvious ill intentions, that the people on the fishing boat panicked and tried to turn the boat around and escape.

However, it was too late.

After one of the slender boats approached the fishing boat, the sailors on it raised their muskets and fired a volley of shots at the fishermen on the boat.

The sound of gunfire echoed across the sea, breaking the afternoon tranquility.

A fisherman on the fishing boat was hit and fell into the sea screaming.

Another slender boat went around the side of the fishing boat, threw out a hook and firmly hooked the side of the fishing boat. Then several fully armed soldiers jumped onto the fishing boat and quickly took control of the situation.

The Spaniards on the fishing boat had no power to resist and could only watch their ship being hijacked.

Another fishing boat tried to take the opportunity to escape, but its speed was far slower than that of the two slender boats. The other boat followed the direction of its escape and broke into the harbor.

Less than a mile from the port of Acapulco, they were overtaken by one of the slender boats.

Without any warning, the cannon placed on the bow roared, and the shell accurately hit the fishing boat less than 20 meters ahead, smashing its stern to pieces. The flying wood chips pierced the fishermen rowing the boat, causing several shrill screams.

In Acapulco Bay, the guards at the port's artillery were immediately alarmed by the sound of gunfire in the distance.

They hurried up to the watchtower, trying to see what was happening at sea.

Then, they saw a scene that left them stunned.

Our Spanish fishing boats are being attacked by two unidentified pirate ships, and this heinous act is taking place in the harbor of Acapulco, in front of countless Spaniards on the shore.

How arrogant and unscrupulous this is!
This is simply trampling on the dignity of our Kingdom of Spain!
This is Chi Guoguo’s provocation!

The guards at the port sounded the alarm, and teams of soldiers continued to pour out of the barracks and quickly ran towards the position of the artillery.

A man on a fast horse galloped towards the city to report the major events that had taken place there to the city governor and the prosecutor.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

The port battery fired a salvo at the invading pirate ship, but the distance was too far and the shells fell into the sea, stirring up several huge water columns.

Just as the gunners were nervously loading shells and preparing for the next round of bombardment, another pirate ship broke into the harbor, and then slowly sailed towards the dock in a V-formation with the two slender boats.

Are they arrogant and ignorant?
Or just outrageous?

Just three pirate ships storming the Acapulco harbor?!
Could it be that they want to land and capture the port?
All the Spaniards watching on the shore looked at this in amazement and found it difficult to understand the pirates' behavior.

You should know that the Port of Acapulco is a famous port in Mexico and an important node for Pacific trade. It not only has several coastal defense artillery batteries built, but also has a garrison of more than 200 people.

Needless to say, there are more than 5,000 residents in the city, and after emergency mobilization, 600 to 800 armed militiamen can be recruited.

I'm afraid your three pirate ships don't have the strength to capture such a heavily defended port?

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

As if to prove the defensive strength of the port, the battery fired another salvo.

More than ten shells tore through the air and flew towards the pirate ship with a sharp whistling sound.

But disappointingly, these shells still did not hit any target, but crashed into the sea surface hundreds of meters away from the pirate ship, creating several huge water columns.

Well, the soldiers at the port artillery were obviously getting impatient. Before the pirate ship came into the artillery range, they couldn't wait to fire two consecutive salvos.

However, this cannot be blamed on them.

A group of pirates came in so brazenly and chased our fishing boats, fighting and killing them. Anyone who saw this would find it unbearable.

We must fire our weapons and give the pirates a stern warning!

The three ships responded immediately after receiving the warning shots from the battery.

They distanced themselves further from each other in an attempt to avoid the concentrated fire from the artillery, but still headed towards the port with determination.

"Sink them!" Eric Garcia Lopez, the Acapulco city official who came in a hurry, stood on the balcony of a two-story building on the dock, his face ashen, pointed his finger at the sea, and shouted loudly: "Driving all these damn pirates into the sea, let their souls sink to the bottom of the ocean forever!" Although these pirate ships did not raise flags to identify their identities, he didn't need to think about it, these pirates must be the pirate group from the north.

Not only had they attacked Banderas Valley a few months prior, but they had also completely destroyed the town in a ruthless manner.

And now, they have brazenly entered the port of Acapulco, launching a blatant provocation against our Kingdom of Spain.

This is tantamount to a demonstration against us, and even more so, it is a humiliation of us and a mockery of our incompetence.

"Boom! Boom!"

The sound of cannons rang out again, stirring everyone's heartstrings once again.

"what!……"

The crowd on the shore exclaimed in unison and looked at the sea in disbelief.

This bombardment was launched by a pirate ship.

The slightly larger three-masted sailing ship fired two shells directly towards the port while moving.

Although the enemy's artillery fire was not accurate at all and was a little far away, it did not hit the shore at all, and fell onto the sea after the potential energy was exhausted.

However, this was the first time that the port of Acapulco had been bombarded by enemy fire since its founding in 1550.

The other party's purpose is very clear, which is to demonstrate to us.

While the Viceroyalty of New Spain was mobilizing a large number of ships and land forces to form an expeditionary task force, heading north to attack pirate lairs, they sent out such a small fleet to wantonly plunder the coastal towns of Mexico, which showed their attitude.

We can also pose a serious military threat to you!

Before this, they attacked coastal towns covertly, and it could be said that they were still afraid of the power of our Kingdom of Spain and did not dare to launch a head-on challenge.

So, today they stormed into Acapulco Bay and bombarded the port in such a high-profile manner, which was a blatant slap in the face.

We can come to your Spanish territory whenever we want and fight whenever we want!

What are you doing to me?

At this time, apart from a few small fishing boats, there was not even a decent armed merchant ship in the port of Acapulco, and it was impossible to take the initiative to drive the enemy forward.

After firing two shots, the other party seemed to be unsatisfied and continued to move forward, slowly approaching the dock.

Do they have to fire the shells onto the shore?
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

The port artillery once again made a huge roar, and this time almost all the artillery fired. More than twenty large and small projectiles streaked through the sky and flew towards the three pirate ships.

However, unfortunately, this shelling still did not produce any results.

Countless water columns shot up into the sky around the pirate ship, but did not cause any harm to them.

But all this caused the people on the shore to burst into warm cheers.

It was just a little bit more, and the next round of bombardment might hit them, and then they would see the pirate ship blown to pieces and sinking tragically to the bottom of the sea.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The pirate ship fought back, and three shells flew towards the shore with a whistling sound.

The other side obviously didn't care much about hitting any important targets. After crossing the sea, the shells went straight towards an open area at the dock.

One shell fell into the sea, and two shells hit the soft sand, bounced twice, and then penetrated deep into the mud.

Although the pirates' counterattack was not threatening at all, it gave rise to a different kind of emotion in the hearts of the people watching on the shore.

This group of pirates doesn’t seem to be simple!

"Let's go, let's go!" Han Jian, commander of the Xinhua Raid Fleet, shouted loudly: "Send a signal to Swordfish-1 and Swordfish-2, and retreat immediately!"

"It's enough to scare the Spanish. There's no need to take any more risks. ... If we get hit by a cannon here by accident, it will be more trouble than it's worth!"

After a moment, the three ships changed direction, adjusted their sails, and headed out of the harbor under the gaze of countless Spaniards on the shore.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

The port battery fired another round of salvos, stirring up columns of water on the sea, as if saluting the enemy's departure.

(End of this chapter)