Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 255: Waves Rising (Part )

"Should we go up and fight them one-on-one?" Zhang Chunlei turned to look at Captain Wei Yingbin.

"Haha..." Wei Yingbin smiled, put down the telescope, shook his head and said, "Although our Wavebreaker is tough and can withstand at least a dozen rounds of artillery fire from the enemy, we can't afford to lose too many people."

"So, I plan to follow the plan I made in advance and take the Spaniards for a walk first, so that they won't focus on attacking Shixing Port!"

"They shouldn't be able to get in, right?" Zhang Chunlei said. "When we left in January this year, the fort had undergone a large-scale expansion, deploying over thirty artillery pieces of various calibers. This should be enough to keep the Spanish out."

"Even so, we can't let the Spanish block our doorstep like this, right?" Wei Yingbin's face was filled with worry. "I'm worried the Spanish have more than just a few warships. They might use some of their ships to besiege the harbor to draw our attention, then use others to find a weak point in the defenses and launch a landing operation, attacking Xinhua from both sides."

"Even if the Spanish land, we have enough troops to drive them back to the sea!" Zhang Chunlei was full of confidence. "Dongping County, with Shixing, Guangfeng, and Xinning as its core, has a population of nearly 10,000. Add to that thousands of Indians, and we can mobilize over 4,000 troops. We can definitely crush any Spanish landings!"

"Even if the worst happens and we lose to the Spanish in open battle, we can still fortify our defenses and retreat to the three main cities, where we can defend them and wear down the Spanish. Humph, I don't believe it. When winter comes, how can the Spanish still survive in the wild?"

"If that were to happen, the Spanish would wipe out all the fruits of Xinhua's years of development!" Wei Yingbin said with a wry smile. "Next year, there will undoubtedly be another famine. However, I believe that with the thorough preparations made by our Xinhua Army, it shouldn't be..."

"Captain, the Spanish fleet is moving!" As he was speaking, an observer loudly reported: "Seven enemy ships are heading towards us!"

"Artillery ready!"

"fire!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

When the "Break the Wave" was still six or seven hundred meters away from the Spanish warship, it fired a salvo at the enemy.

Of course, this does not mean that they have absolute confidence that they can hit the enemy at such a long distance and thus lift the blockade of Shixing Port in one fell swoop.

The purpose was not only to demonstrate to the Spaniards, but also to remind their companions on the shore that they were back.

"Hurry! ... Seven degrees south by west, hoist the mizzen sail."

"Turn, seven degrees south by west!"

"Raise the mizzen sail!"

As the Spanish fleet gradually approached, the "Break the Wave" quickly adjusted its course, drew a beautiful arc on the sea, and turned to the southwest.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the "Break the Wave" had left several pursuing Spanish warships far behind.

Six immigrant ships, including the "Breaking Waves", arrived at Changping Fort half a month ago, and immediately learned that the Spaniards had officially declared war on Xinhua several months ago.

To be cautious, the fleet did not sail directly back to Shixing Port, but temporarily stopped in Changping.

After resting for more than ten days, the "Polang" and two other clipper immigration ships transferred some immigrants to Yongjia Fort to alleviate the pressure on material supply in Changping Fort.

After settling the immigrants, their three ships sailed out of the narrow Yongjia Bay (also known as Albany Bay) and headed straight to the southeast.

When passing through Port Renfrew (now Port Renfrew, a small town in the southwest of Vancouver Island), the Wavebreaker left behind two unarmed clipper immigrant ships and chose to sail to Shixing Port alone.

When it carefully approached the waters near Shixing Port, it indeed discovered seven Spanish warships blocking its doorstep in a show of force.

However, these Spanish warships did not rush in, but instead all lowered their sails, dropped anchor, and stayed outside the harbor. It seems that they were driven out by the harbor artillery, so they were very unwilling to be blocked here.

After widening the distance between itself and the Spanish fleet, the "Breakaway" did not leave directly. Instead, it lowered half its sail, reduced its speed at the right time, and waited for them on the sea in a very "friendly" manner.

When the Spaniards saw this, they immediately became angry.

What do you mean?
What about bullfighting?
Then the Spaniards gave chase.

If you have the guts, don’t run!
-

More than 100 kilometers west of Shixing Port, there is a U-shaped bay that extends several kilometers inland. It is a natural shelter for the turbulent sea conditions caused by the influence of the North Pacific warm current.

This is the traditional territory of the Nuu-chanuar people and their hunting grounds for whale hunting.

Later, with the arrival of new Chinese, they had simple trade contacts with them and directly named this place Dayu Bay. The Nuchanuer tribal camp on the shore was Dayu Port.

Two years ago, two armed Spanish exploration ships attacked a Nuu-chanul whaling boat in the waters near Dayu Bay and captured several new Chinese who were learning and practicing whaling skills on the ship, thereby exposing the existence of Shixing Port to the east.

Dayu Port is located at the northern entrance of the Qiming Strait. Its geographical location is very important, so the Xinhua people set up an observation post here and stationed more than ten armed militiamen.

However, if such a small number of people encountered an attack by the Spanish, they would definitely not be able to resist them, and could only follow the local Nuu-chanul people to flee to a hunting camp deep in the jungle.

Their biggest role was to give warnings. After seeing the Spanish fleet, they would light the beacon towers high up, and then they would complete their mission.

In fact, on the other side of the strait, in the small town of Nieube, the westernmost tip of the former Olympic Peninsula, the new Chinese also set up a guard post to monitor possible invasions by the Spanish.

In addition, there will be a small clipper patrolling back and forth in the middle of the strait, which basically ensures that when the Spaniards just arrive at the Qiming Strait, they will be detected in advance by the Chinese, so that they can make corresponding defensive preparations.

At this time, two clipper immigration ships, "Jie Yun" and "Shun Yun", with a displacement of more than 700 tons, were quietly parked in Dayu Port, waiting for the message sent back by "Po Lang" for their next move.

After receiving the war warning from the new Chinese, the Nuchanuer people in the camp stayed on the shore very "obediently" and did not sail to the sea for routine fishing operations as usual.

In order to win them over, the Xinhua people also subsidized some food and supplies in a timely manner, and required them to stand firmly with the Xinhua people during the war.

If the Spaniards come, we will have to fight side by side and fight back against the invasion of colonial forces.

Although these Nuchanul people did not understand why those yellow-haired, green-eyed foreigners came to attack the New Chinese, they subconsciously inclined their stance towards the New Chinese.

Those foreign devils were extremely vicious. Two years ago, they broke into their fishing area without any warning, rammed their boats wantonly, and bombarded them with cannons, killing more than ten of their tribesmen, showing an extremely barbaric and brutal side.

In contrast, the new Chinese showed rare friendliness and generosity. They not only brought them many useful supplies, but also guided and helped them on how to build more solid and comfortable homes, which really improved their quality of life.

It goes without saying which is good and which is bad.

It is the responsibility of all members of our tribe to unite and face the outside world together to resist the invasion of the Spaniards.

At four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, bursts of rumbling cannon sounds were faintly heard from the sea. The Nuu-chanul people who were standing on the watchtower and closely observing the situation also saw several large ships chasing each other, and immediately reported the situation to the Xinhua people.

Not long after, the two clipper immigration speedboats stationed in the bay quickly sailed out of the bay and entered the strait. Then they split into two and sped away in the east and west directions.

(End of this chapter)