Chapter 1575 Half Sea Water, Half Flame
On August 9, the fourth year of the Wanli reign (July 15, 1576 AD), after half a month of sailing, Lin Feng led the fleet to anchor 80 kilometers off the coast of Acapulco.
As soon as the ship stopped, the hot air balloon took off immediately. The Beidou team quickly completed the mapping of the bay terrain and clearly marked the location of the artillery guarding the harbor, the coverage of the artillery fire, the docking location of the galley fleet, the docking location of the cargo ship, and the precise location of the shipyard, warehouse, and barracks...
In the evening, Lin Feng summoned his main subordinates and arranged combat tasks based on the reconnaissance results.
At the same time, all crew members consciously completed their pre-war preparations, taking the time to recuperate and wait for nighttime action.
Their skills are so proficient that one has to wonder, is this a fleet sailing around the world or professional pirates?
Well, it seems to be the same thing these days.
At three o'clock in the morning, six Ming warships with black sails, taking advantage of the prevailing southeast wind on the west coast of Central America, rushed into the port of Acapulco with the help of compasses and freshly-made nautical charts.
It was dark, windy and rough, and the Spaniards in the harbor had never expected that anyone would dare to launch a sneak attack at this time and in such sea conditions.
But for the Ming sailors who had experienced the strong winds and waves around the Cape of Good Hope and the Linfeng Strait, these waves were nothing. They drove their warships without being affected at all and rushed straight to the dock where the galleys were docked, throwing out one burning whale oil spear after another.
Oda City's rockets were exhausted in Lima, and these spears were prepared by the crew on Devil's Island. They simply sharpened branches, then wrapped a thick layer of whale oil on the back of the spear tip and covered it with rags to prevent the oil from being thrown away when thrown. A simple whale oil spear was made.
Even though it was crudely made and couldn't be thrown more than a few dozen meters away, it used the best fuel of the era, whale oil! In terms of combustion effect, it was incomparable to the rockets in Oda City.
The spears pierced the sails and immediately set the sail ropes on fire, which could not be extinguished even by pouring water. Soon, the masts of the galleys became torches, leaving the Spanish soldiers and slave rowers who heard the alarm helpless.
The Spanish had been hunting whales in South America for more than half a year and finally managed to collect a shipload of whales to ship back to Europe to illuminate palaces, churches and castles of nobles, but Lin Feng robbed them and made them into torches to throw at their warships. In a sense, it was also revenge for the whales.
After dealing with the only threatening warship at sea, they fired at the shore, slaughtering Spanish sailors and mariners who wanted to board the ship. After the fleet was replenished in Brazil, it did not fight a serious battle again, so it still had plenty of ammunition.
Unfortunately, some unique weapons, such as the Oda City Rocket, are gone after they are used up, and there is no place to buy new ones.
~~
Everything was already familiar, and soon the situation at the port was under control, just like the last time in Lima.
Then the crew began to set fire to more than 200 sailboats of various sizes anchored at the dock.
Soon, the raging fire engulfed the entire pier. The dark sea water was illuminated by the fire, shining like a sunset glow, and also like a richly colored impressionist oil painting, so beautiful!
Lin Feng personally led the Marines to land and set fire to the Spanish dry dock, turning all the large sailing ships under construction inside into burning firewood racks.
There were also timber yards, warehouses, and various workshops at the docks. All that could be set on fire were set on fire...
The fire now burned even more fiercely, and the entire dock turned into a blazing fire, which frightened the Spanish troops sent by His Royal Highness the Viceroy to reinforce and they dared not approach.
At the same time, many craftsmen living on the docks could not escape. They were first forced to retreat by the fire, and then chased to the pier by the marines with bayonets...
The flames shooting up into the sky reflected the fear on their faces, so real.
Afterwards, many locals said that they saw the female pirate moving freely in the fire that night. The flames illuminated her beautiful face, making her look particularly charming, and also turned her braids red.
As a result, rumors spread, and in the legends of the American people, Lin Feng became a red-haired female pirate who specialized in attacking Spanish sailing ships and bases. She also became a spiritual idol who encouraged the Indians to resist the Spanish tyranny...
~~
In the official residence halfway up the mountain, Vice King Velasquez looked at the scene in front of him in dismay, which was half sea water and half fire.
"It's over, it's all over..." He did not get as furious as Vice King Jose, because he was so heartbroken that he didn't even have the strength to lash out.
I spent a year and a half traveling all over North and South America to accumulate my wealth, but it was burned to ashes. If I want to accumulate more, I don't know when it will be.
What worried him most were the giant trees, which had almost emptied the stocks of the logging camps in Central America. Although there were still many giant trees in the original forest, it would take two or three years to dry the wood in the shade for use!
Then it would take another two or three years to build more ships.
Thinking of this, Velasquez spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out.
~~
Meanwhile, after setting the fire, Lin Feng's fleet withdrew from Acapulco Bay before dawn.
As the saying goes, some are happy while others are sad. The more sad Vice King Velasquez is, the happier they are.
Although this trip was mainly for murder and arson, as the saying goes, "a thief never leaves empty-handed", the crew members, who had been accustomed to doing business without any capital recently, also stole eight cargo ships at the dock.
And a thousand craftsmen...
"Why did you capture so many people?" Zhang Xiaojing covered her forehead and looked at the decks of the three cargo ships towed behind Liu Daxia. The decks were densely packed with prisoners that Lin Feng had captured from the dock.
"Hehe, I'm used to it." Lin Feng fiddled with her pigtails shyly, pointing at her fingers like a child who had made a mistake, "I've developed this habit over the years, and I can't change it in a short time."
"What kind of habit is this?" Zhang Xiaojing was confused.
"Madam, you don't know that there are many schools of pirates. Our commander and his sister were originally farmers." Ma Yishan explained: "At that time, General Lin was in Xiawei and our commander was in Jilong. What we lacked most were skilled craftsmen. So whenever we saw one, we would capture it and raise it. We were never willing to kill it."
"Yeah." Lin Feng nodded quickly, smiling and saying, "Xiao Jing, don't look at me like this. I'm actually very kind-hearted and I don't want to kill innocent people. But if we leave these craftsmen to the Spaniards, they will soon start over and start all over again. So I had no choice but to take them on the road with me..."
"You are so kind..." Zhang Xiaojing rolled her eyes secretly, thinking that she had given noodles to others countless times on the way. The fire last night killed countless sailors and craftsmen. From head to toe, there was no kindness in him.
"That's right. You see, you said capybaras are cute, but I haven't eaten them before." Lin Feng said with a smile, "Besides, if I bring these people back, my master will definitely like them."
"The question is how are you going to take care of them?" Zhang Xiaojing said with a wry smile, "We'll be on the sea for several months, how can we have extra supplies to feed them?"
Ocean voyages consume huge amounts of food and drinking water. It was only after robbing Lima that they were able to barely gather enough supplies for a thousand people to return.
"That's easy!" Lin Feng snapped his fingers and said with a carefree look on his face, "Let's just grab a few more places!"
~~
After destroying Acapulco's galley fleet, there was no longer any threat to Lin Feng's fleet on the west coast of Central America.
How could Lin Feng let go of the fat meat in her mouth? She led her fleet south along the coast and robbed Tehuantepec in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama.
The harvest was the most abundant in Veracruz, Panama, because the harvests from the colonies on the west coast of South America had to be shipped from the Isthmus of Panama here to the Caribbean Sea. Twenty cargo ships were captured at once.
There were four slave ships, filled with black slaves, numbering nearly a thousand in total.
After interrogating the ship owner, it was learned that the slave owners had transported them from Africa to the Caribbean, and then they were transferred to Veracruz by colonial middlemen to be loaded onto ships for resale to Mexico City, Bogota or Lima.
How to deal with these 1,000 black slaves? Even Lin Feng was stumped. She wanted craftsmen, not ordinary laborers. The Ming Dynasty itself was overcrowded!
But if they let them go, they would be caught by the Spaniards again, have one hand cut off as fugitive slaves, and then be thrown into the plantation to cut sugarcane until they died.
Lin Feng really had no good idea, so she passed the ball to Zhang Xiaojing. In her opinion, there was no problem in the world that Xiao Zhuzi's smart head could not solve.
Zhang Xiaojing had no choice but to show off her skills "reluctantly".
She first had the chains of the black slaves unlocked, and then asked her men to cook meat porridge for them to eat.
In order to let the other party know her good intentions, Zhang Xiaojing talked to them in various languages she knew, and found that they basically all spoke Spanish.
According to them, the slave hunters forced them to learn Spanish when they were captured, and they were not allowed to eat if they couldn't learn it.
Obviously, even if it is used as a tool, it will be sold at a better price if it can understand what its owner says.
These one thousand black slaves have been studying for half a year and can speak Spanish fluently.
Zhang Xiaojing told them that she was their master now, and asked them to pair up with the 1,000 Spanish craftsmen she had captured before, forming 1,000 black and white pairs.
Then she announced to the black slaves that from now on, their roles would be swapped with those of the white people. They were guards and the white people were prisoners. Their task was to keep an eye on their other half, eat, sleep and work with him, and even pee and poop with him.
The purpose was to prevent them from rebelling, escaping, or doing bad things secretly. Yes, those are the things that the white guards were on guard against them!
As long as his other half can reach the destination safely, he will set them free!
If his other half commits suicide, rebels, runs away, or does something bad, and they fail to discover or stop it in time, they will also be executed together!
The black slaves were naturally overjoyed. If for no other reason than to be able to bully the white devils, they would also shout "Long live the new master!"
Those Spanish craftsmen who had been unruly after being captured and had wanted to find an opportunity to escape were now all dumbfounded.
What kind of treatment is this? They even offer one-on-one personal service. Where can I go? I don’t even dare to complain!
Who taught the niggers to speak Spanish? Damn it!
ps. The next chapter is back. No more tonight, good night.
(End of this chapter)