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Chapter 1240: Psychological Warfare

"Then Your Majesty will not go ashore, right?" Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind and he was alone and powerless to change it, Bai Fan rolled his eyes and began to think about how to reduce the risk.

"No going ashore!" In fact, Hong Tao did not plan to land even if Bai Fan asked.

On the sea, they could move freely, and if they couldn't win, they could just run away, and no one could do anything about it. But on land, it wasn't so glorious. This expedition basically didn't bring a land warfare commander, and they couldn't just rely on a hundred warriors and sailors to attack cities and plunder strongholds.

The reason why they had to visit several major Spanish ports on the west coast of America was not only to show off their power, but also to cause trouble and engage in psychological warfare.

If it is true as Mather said, that this surrendered fleet is all the naval force that the two governorates can muster on the west coast, then the port cities on the west coast at this time are like weak women lying on the ground, who can be touched at will, and no one can stop them.

However, this situation cannot be understood by oneself alone. The Spanish governor and local people must also be informed, and the scope of communication should be expanded as much as possible so that everyone knows about it.

As a result, those local people who were not doing well in the past should start to think carefully, and the original vested interests should also prepare for the future and think of a way out.

The scattered and chaotic people's hearts are a big trouble for the administrators. The enemy's trouble is your own luck. Before the Ming Navy is ready to officially land on the west coast of America, you can't let them have too much free time.

To achieve this, no matter how many lobbyists you send back to tell stories, it is not as intuitive and credible as driving a warship rampaging outside the port. If necessary, you can also fire a few shots at the iconic buildings in the port to maximize the shocking effect.

Maybe when he leads his troops here next time, some cities will have already left the jurisdiction of the Spanish viceroyalty. Of course, Hong Tao did not expect to ignite a prairie fire and overthrow the Spanish rule in the New World.

If the local natives had this kind of blood, they would have done it long ago without fanning themselves. They are all sheep, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of them gathered together are still sheep, driven by hundreds or thousands of hunting dogs for hundreds of years, and they are obedient.

But this is also a good thing, as it is more conducive to the Ming Empire's layout in the American continent. It is always much easier to rule a group of sheep than a group of dogs or a group of wolves.

So, if you don't live up to your expectations, don't expect the savior to come down to earth to change your fate. If another group of people comes, they will still not respect sheep, but will only eat them, and they may even eat more.

The thirty-fourth year of Emperor Jing's reign (1638) was a turbulent year, and almost the entire world was affected by the war.

The religious wars in Europe were getting more and more intense. The Nordic countries and the German princes hadn't even finished their battles yet, but France and Spain, who had been standing in the stands beating drums to cheer and handing out weapons, also rolled up their sleeves and joined the battle themselves, fighting each other for the future right to speak and division of power.

At this time, the situation in Asia changed suddenly. The Ottoman Empire, which had just shifted its attention to Asia Minor, the Caucasus Mountains and the Mesopotamian Basin and was preparing to consolidate its rear areas, unexpectedly made enemies with the Ming Empire far in the east because of a rebellion in a small city.

As a result, the Ming Empire did not say a word and sent a fleet to the Persian Gulf. The emperor personally led the expedition and landed at the port of Fao, defeating the main force of the Ottoman Empire in one fell swoop. Then they marched all the way along the Tigris River to Damascus. Seeing that the war was not going well, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV and the Holy Roman Empire Ferdinand III reached a secret agreement, and the Republic of Venice organized mercenaries to land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, trying to stop the offensive of the Ming army under the city of Damascus and defeat the overly arrogant Eastern emperor.

Unexpectedly, the army, which was several times larger than the Ming army, not only failed to stop it, but was also severely defeated, with thousands of European elite soldiers killed in one battle.

Fortunately, the Ming emperor was gentle by nature and did not kill them all, but agreed to the request for peace talks. Otherwise, the city of Damascus would have been drowned in blood, and tens of thousands of European elites would have died.

After this battle, the Ottoman Empire completely lost its rule over the area south of the Mesopotamian River. The European mercenaries who escaped the disaster also turned their spearheads against the weak Turks and turned to the holy city of Jerusalem, and the movement to rebuild the Crusader States began again with great fanfare.

As a result, various parts of the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt declared independence one after another, abandoned their old masters cleanly, began to sit on the fence and wait for the right price, and were ready to negotiate the conditions of dependence with the new rulers.

Seeing that West Asia and North Africa were in chaos, the emperor of the Ming Empire suddenly appeared on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles away, and brought his navy to almost wipe out the main fleets that New Spain and the Viceroyalty of Peru had finally assembled.

Of the 48 warships, only nine managed to escape back to Acapulco, all of them wounded. Most of the others were captured, a few were sunk, and even Colonel Mendoza, the naval governor of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was taken prisoner.

Even though the Governor of New Spain, de Almanza, tried his best to block the news and locked up all the escaped sailors in the barracks, not allowing anyone to go out, the news of the fleet's defeat still spread everywhere like wildfire.

Because half a month later, the Emperor of the Ming Empire came to visit with his fleet. Without even saying hello, they rushed into Acapulco Bay, sank more than 30 ships anchored there one by one, and bombarded the barracks near the dock until they could no longer see any valuable targets.

But Acapulco was not the worst hit, as the Ming emperor's fleet had already visited Lima, Guarquilla and Panama City, turning the three largest ports on the west coast into ruins. Guarquilla was the worst hit, as the shipyard was ignited by artillery fire and the fire burned for a day and a night without being extinguished.

Interestingly, as the victor, the Ming Emperor did not ask the Spanish authorities to pay a ransom. Instead, he released more than 70 captured senior naval officers and nobles free of charge in the port of Acapulco.

But Governor de Almanza was very distressed. As a result, the news could no longer be completely blocked. Not only would it spread in the New World with these captives, but it would also quickly reach the mainland.

Anyway, from now on, if anyone says that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is merciful, he will fight to the death. This is not mercy at all, it is extremely evil, even worse than killing someone without a knife.

The released captives were like a plague, spreading failure to everyone they came into contact with. In order to prove that they were not incompetent, they would also make the Ming navy sound even more invincible and unbeatable.

But he could not impose too many restrictions on them. They were all nobles and they had to show some mercy. If he offended so many big families at once, not only would he not be able to continue his post as governor, but he would also suffer a hard time after returning home.

(End of this chapter)