Wild North America 1846

Chapter 648 The Cunning of Veteran Colonists
The Royal Spanish Navy deserves to be a veteran maritime powerhouse. Although it has long lost its former glory, the foundation of hundreds of years of crossing the world's oceans is still there.

It can be seen from the itinerary of its Royal Fleet supporting the Cuban Task Force Fleet that its morality is very profound.

The Spanish task force fleet did not take the traditional route from New York to Europe, because it would pass through the Royal Naval Base in Long Island, New York, and the Royal Naval Base in Templeton, which belonged to the Datang Empire.
This large-scale task force has been heading south since Spain, along the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean, passing through Morocco in West Africa, Western Sahara, and Mauritania all the way south.

After resupply in Senegal, the long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean began. The other end of this route is the northern part of Brazil in South America. It is also a traditional slave trade route, the infamous "Triangle Trade" old route. .

This route does have a detour, but it is better to be safe.

Relying on rich sailing experience, the task force arrived at the northern coast of Brazil without any risk, followed the South American continent to the north, bypassed Suriname, French Guiana, British Guiana, Dutch Suriname, and Belgian Guiana. Enter the Spanish colony of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Crenidad and Tobago Islands are located on the northeast coast of Venezuela, which already belongs to the Caribbean Sea coast. The Spaniards have colonized and operated here for more than 300 years and have relatively complete port facilities.

From here, continue to the northwest for about [-] kilometers, which is the destination of this trip, Cuba.

From the choice of this long route, we can see how thieves the Spaniards are.

Northeast of Brazil in South America, Suriname and Venezuela are the places where the influence of the Datang Empire is the weakest, and the task force formation is most likely to escape the opponent's interception.

As it turned out, the Spaniard was right.

With the current strength of the Atlantic Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire, it is impossible to control the long sea area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean from north to south, so it can only focus on preventing it.

General Juan Espartero, commander of the task force and commander of the Royal Navy, was a close friend and political ally of Prime Minister Serrano, a staunch royalist who supported Isabella II's son Alfonso XII Restoration as one of the real power figures of the King of Spain.

As early as 1874, the Spanish Republican faction split into the Federalist faction and the Autonomist faction. The Autonomist faction encouraged local independence to fight against the Federalist government, and the Spanish Civil War broke out.

Royalist officers, eager to restore the monarchy, took advantage of the civil turmoil to destroy the Republic and install Alfonso XII as king.

Before the task force arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, the colony was under strict military control to prevent any leaks that would jeopardize this crucial expedition.

in this regard
The Spaniards showed the sophistication of the veteran colonists, which is indeed remarkable, and basically did not expose any weaknesses.

On April 1878, 4, after the taskforce successfully arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, it finally breathed a sigh of relief.

General Juan Espartero arranged for the task force to seize the time to replenish clean drinking water, vegetables, dried meat, grain and fruits.On the one hand, the soldiers of the Spanish Expeditionary Force were arranged to go ashore to rest, and on the other hand, they were investigating the news of the enemy's Royal Atlantic Fleet.

Soon he got the latest news;
Stationed at the Royal Navy bases on Long Island and Campton, New York, the main force of the Atlantic Fleet is still in Hong Kong, but there is an ironclad ship "Duke of Hawaii" leading two gale cruisers out of port to perform missions, and most of the others remain unchanged.

"Almighty God, your brilliance is everywhere!" General Juan Espartero drew a "ten" on his chest with a happy face, and finally let go of his hanging heart.

The family knows their own affairs.

Don't look at the more than 170 ships of the Spanish Royal Navy's task force, including sail cruisers, sail battleships, and sail frigates. There are a total of 26 ships, with thousands of artillery pieces, and they look quite powerful.

In fact, these sailing warships are more than 100 years old, and the youngest ship is five or sixty years old. They are all sea warships of the generation of grandpa and grandpa, and they are the property accumulated by the Spanish Royal Navy.

In the port of Madrid, there is also a sail training ship with a longer service life, the oldest dating back to 200 years ago, which can be sunk by a storm when it goes out to sea.

After the long voyage, about half of the sailing warships leaked. Fortunately, the Spanish Royal Navy soldiers responded well, so they did not capsize in the Atlantic Ocean.

How much combat power is left, do you not know in your mind?
Spain has been highly corrupt politically in recent decades and has been detrimental to all beings. During the reign of Isabella II, it was famous for its licentiousness. It was finally overthrown by the angry Spanish people and forced to go into exile in France.

Then there was a period of more than 10 years of no owner, turmoil and civil war, which continued until the restoration of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty.

It has not been a year since they were stable, but another vicious incident of killing Chinese businessmen broke out in Havana, which in turn led to hostilities with the Tang Empire, and this war broke out...

The Spanish Royal Navy has not purchased new ships for decades. The two new sail frigates have been in the shipyard for more than 10 years, and the construction was stopped halfway through.

One is because there is no financial allocation, and the other is that even if it is built, it will fall behind, and the Royal Spanish Navy has no interest in persevering.

The development direction of the navy in the world today is ironclad warships, and all the European powers are building new ironclad warships one after another, and a large number of old sailing warships are eliminated.

Today's Spanish Royal Navy is in such a situation, and it is still living on the foundation of more than 100 years ago.

In this regard, General Juan Espartero also felt helpless, and he inevitably felt infinite regret for the loss of the glory of the empire.

The question goes back to the task force. Except for the 26 sailing warships that brought together the Spanish Royal Navy’s family, in the task force with a total of more than 170 ships, the others are iron-hulled cargo ships and troop carriers, some of which are leased. Portuguese and French merchant ships.

These iron-hulled ships are the main force of transportation, responsible for transporting a total of 3.6 Spanish expeditionary forces and a large amount of military supplies to support the Cuban Governor's Palace.

The purpose of the task force was not to fight against the Tang Empire Navy, but to transport the 3.6 Spanish expeditionary forces and a large amount of military supplies ashore.

Cooperate with the existing troops of the Spanish Governor's Mansion to defend the city and fortress, and contend with the invading army of the Tang Empire, dragging the war into a protracted period, and gritting their teeth to fight the war.

The remaining 2000-kilometer voyage is the most dangerous voyage, which always makes General Juan Espartero terrified and can't sleep at night.

After learning that the main force of the Atlantic Fleet was still docked in New York Harbor and Campton Harbor, General Juan Espartero couldn't hide his excitement and immediately issued an order;
"The Spanish sailing fleet is divided into two, and the general will personally lead the main force to form an assault fleet and be responsible for combat missions.

The remaining sail frigates and light brigantines formed a warning fleet, forming a tight cordon 15-30 kilometers in front of the assault fleet to guard against enemy ships.

The troop carriers and material cargo ships in the task force were organized into three waves in total. The first wave followed the sailing fleet and moved at the same time, striving to be the first to land on the ports along the Cuban coast.

The second wave and the third wave fleet set off one after another at two-day intervals and landed in Cuba according to the established route.

The first wave of Spanish sailing fleet protection will set off early tomorrow morning. It is necessary to transport the officers, soldiers and supplies of the expeditionary force ashore before the enemy reacts to complete this important task. "

"Of order, Your Excellency the Commander." The Spanish officers in their hands replied in unison.

The way the Spaniards dealt with the Tang Empire's ironclad ships was very simple, that is, once they found the enemy's main fleet, they immediately disbanded the formation and fled in all directions.

A ship that can escape is a ship, and if it cannot escape, it will fight to the end, entangle the main force of the enemy ship for a longer time as much as possible, and win a chance for the friendly ship until the sea is finally stained with blood.

This is a tragic and helpless choice, but this is the cruel reality.

There are more than 7.2 colonial troops under the Spanish Governor's Palace. If they can join the 3.6 expeditionary army, their strength will undoubtedly increase.

It is still unknown who will win the deer?
And this was the last stubbornness of the Kingdom of Spain. As for the distant Luzon Islands, the Spaniards didn't even bother to send reinforcements, because they couldn't send them there at all.

The Suez Canal controlled by Britain, France and Tang Dynasty guards the passage of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the Spaniards can't get through anyway.

Even if it passes, it will be intercepted in the Red Sea area, which is tantamount to sending meat to your door.

Going south along the west coast of Africa, this round-the-world route that bypasses South Africa is out of the question.

The Spaniards now have neither strength nor enough ships to perform this task. Their ocean-going transportation capacity is at best 500-800 people, and it will take more than a year.

After such a long time, the day lily is completely cool.

It is impossible to pass from the Atlantic side, and the entire America from north to south is under the control of the Tang Empire.

Without its consent, the British dare not boast that during the period of free travel, at least the problem of ship supply cannot be solved.

When you really face such a behemoth, will you know how terrifying it is?
Undeniable
The Spaniard from the Pyrenees has never lost his tradition of bravery. He has a strong and straightforward personality. He will never submit to the blackmail of the Tang Empire. Like a bull, he will not hit the south wall and never look back.

This task force cross-ocean expedition can be said to be a desperate effort, just to maintain the glory of the Spanish Empire in the past, and not to be trampled into the mud by world powers.

The next day, early in the morning.

The mighty Spanish sailing fleet escorted a wave of landing ships and set off. The destination is the Cuban port more than 2000 kilometers away. Any one is fine, and it doesn't have to be the port of Havana.

This is the cunning of the veteran colonists. General Juan Espartero subconsciously felt that it was too dangerous to send troops and supplies to Havana Port, which might lead to unnecessary losses.

In that case
Then other Cuban ports are also available. As long as the expeditionary force can be transported ashore smoothly, they can reach Havana and other important provinces on foot, but it will take more time.

It's totally worth the risk.

(End of this chapter)