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Chapter 1334 Silver Fleet
As the saying goes, there is no coincidence in the world. Just when Wu Bing ordered the fleet to turn off all the lights and follow the navigation lights in front quietly, three sailboats were sailing in the opposite direction on the sea more than 200 kilometers ahead of him.

Compared with the Qin-class warships of the Ming Navy, the tonnage of these three sailing ships is much larger. Even the Han-class warships are children in front of them. Their bloated ship shape, towering poop, gorgeous ram, straight stern, and longitudinal sails on the rear mast are very obvious features. They are Spanish galleons!

Such ships are rarely seen in Asian waters, and they disappeared after Luzon fell into the hands of the Ming Empire. They are only suitable for fixed routes following the monsoon, and they have to carry a lot of cargo at a time, otherwise they can't even make back their costs.

The Dutch, Portuguese, British and Danes who conducted maritime trade in Asian waters never used this bulky ship type, and were more interested in light and flexible two-masted cargo ships.

Or simply buy a new cargo ship from the shipyard in the overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty at a high price, equipped with a new sailing gear, which not only has a higher speed and a longer range, but also requires fewer people. In terms of seaworthiness, it is no worse than any European ship type and is most suitable for transporting small and medium-sized goods.

But every tool has its advantages and disadvantages. The Spanish galleons are expensive and difficult to operate for free trade at sea, but they are more economical and safer than small boats for transporting large quantities of goods regularly between Europe and the New World.

Its mixed sail system of foremast, mainmast square sail and mizzen mast fore-and-aft sail is unmatched by any other ship in monsoon. Its huge loading capacity can not only meet the exchange of goods between the two continents, but also bring enough armed forces to make most pirates and privateers retreat.

This is what the Spanish government did. From March to June every year, large sailing ships would set out from Seville or Cadiz ports, loaded with weapons, ironware, textiles, wine, daily necessities, books, livestock and immigrants.

The fleet would first sail south to the Canary Islands for some supplies, then use the northeast trade winds to cross the Atlantic Ocean to reach the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, and then disperse to various colonies from there.

Before August of the following year, the large sailing ships gathered at the port of Havana, Cuba, carrying silver, gold, gems, cochineal, cocoa, tobacco, spices and timber collected from various colonies, and returned to Europe again with the help of the northeast monsoon belt.

Since the fleet carried a large amount of silver produced in Peru and Mexico, Europeans called this fleet the Silver Fleet. During the one or two centuries when Spain dominated the ocean, countless countries and individuals had tried to seize this fleet, but the probability of success was not high.

There is only one reason. When the Spanish galleons are sailing with the wind, it is difficult to catch up, and even if you catch up, you cannot intercept them. The best time to take action is in the two seas of departure and arrival. At this time, the galleons will lose the blessing of the monsoon and become slow and cumbersome, which gives us an opportunity to take advantage.

However, with the destruction of the colonial fleet of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the output of the Potosi silver mine could no longer be safely transported to Panama City by sea. The Spanish royal family urgently needed this silver to pay loan interest and maintain a luxurious lifestyle, so the fixed schedule of the silver fleet had to change accordingly.

The new route still departs from mainland Spain every spring, and the destination is still the port of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean Sea, but the number of ships has been reduced by 3.

These three large sailing ships will set out from Lisbon in a separate fleet, first heading south to Cape Verde to replenish fresh water and food, then using the northeast trade winds and the North Equatorial Current to cross the equatorial doldrums to reach the northeastern waters of Brazil, and then heading south along the coastline to the port of Salvador.

This is the capital of the Viceroyalty of Brazil, a Portuguese colony, and this route was originally the only way for Portuguese ships to travel to and from Brazil.

According to the agreement, Spanish ships should not invade Brazilian waters, but in order to obtain silver, the King of Spain had to compromise and offer to deliver goods to the Viceroyalty of Brazil for free in exchange for permission for the silver fleet to dock.

After arriving at the port of Salvador, the silver fleet stopped for a short while to replenish supplies before setting sail, following the coastline all the way south, crossing the Strait of Magellan and reaching the South Pacific. From here, they turned north and finally docked at Iquique, a newly built port in the Viceroyalty of Peru, where they loaded silver and quickly returned to the port of Salvador along the original route, waiting to form a fleet with a large number of Portuguese merchant ships returning to Europe.

When the Governor of Peru was unable to ensure that the silver would arrive in Panama by sea, the Spanish government began to prepare to change the silver transportation route and sent ships to cross the Strait of Magellan twice to explore the route in advance and determine its feasibility.

However, this was the first time that the real Silver Fleet took this route. Ever since leaving the port of Salvador, everyone in the fleet had been nervous, and everyone looked like a robbery ship to them.

Fortunately, there were basically no shipping routes in the southern waters of South America at that time, and even fewer ships. After the fleet entered the Pacific Ocean without any danger, the journey northward was smooth and easy. Seeing that the destination was about to be reached, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Domingos, Domingos... How many times have I told you, please knock, knock!"

At dinner, to celebrate the smooth voyage, the officers of the flagship had wine and meat on the table. Captain Rossi drank a few more glasses amid the praises of the officers, and was woken up not long after he fell asleep, which made him a little annoyed.

If the other person is not the boatswain and you are from Venice, Italy, it would not just be a complaint, but you would drag him out, tie him to the mast and whip him!

"I'm sorry, Commander, I have discovered something that you need to see for yourself... It's a navigation light. A clear navigation light was found directly ahead."

Domingos apologized verbally, but he did not hesitate at all. He took the clothes thrown on the table one by one. Seeing that Rossi had no intention of getting up immediately, he came up with a particularly good excuse.

"...Damn it! Boots, these damn boots!"

Rossi, who was originally lazy, was immediately startled when he heard the navigation light. He put on his clothes in no time, but one of his boots was missing. He jumped up on one foot and looked around for it in a hurry.

"Are you sure?"

Before he had even put on his boots, he had already rushed up to the stern deck, his eyes bloodshot and he looked like a madman. After listening to the first mate's introduction of the lookout's findings, Rossi's mood eased somewhat, but he still hadn't fully recovered.

“Judging from the shape of the sails, this is definitely not a Ming Navy ship…” The first mate was actually very nervous. It was already unlucky for him to be chosen to carry out this journey. If he encountered a Ming Navy warship again, he would basically be doomed.

Although the colonial governor and the Spanish authorities deliberately concealed the process of the naval battle, such matters could not be hidden from those who made a living at sea. As long as there were sailors who escaped alive at the time, the news would soon spread to all ships.

(End of this chapter)