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Chapter 1335 Silver Fleet 2
However, the ships found ahead do not look like the Ming Navy. The sails they use are exactly the same as those of European countries. As long as they are not the kind of fast warships, there is no need to be too scared even if they are the Ming Navy. The strength of the Silver Fleet is enough to fight. Even if they can't win, can they still run away?

"Notify all ships to prepare for battle! Add a mainmast lookout and keep them informed!"

Hearing that it was not a Ming Navy warship, Rossi finally gained some confidence and began to make the right decision. All ships approaching the Silver Fleet must be regarded as enemies and must not be relaxed.

"Governor, it's our ship, a Spanish galleon!"

Almost at the same time, the lookout on Governor de Cabrera's ship also spotted the faint navigation lights on the southern sea. After a period of chaos, the outline of the large sailing ship was clearly cut out against the bluish-white skyline in the east, and then the deck fell into a carnival again.

"It's a silver transport fleet, but they seem to have arrived a little early this year!" Governor de Cabrera did not join the revelry crowd. He stayed quietly on the stern deck, explaining the origin of the other ship to the captain standing next to the helmsman.

The Silver Fleet's change in silver transportation route was a secret, at least no one in the colony knew about it except themselves. Even the officers who went to Iquique to build a new dock were kept in the dark.

Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. If I encounter the Ming Empire Navy warships here, there is no other choice but to surrender. And if I lose my own protection, my family may not even be able to return to their homeland, let alone raise a ransom.

With these three large sailing ships, the journey back home will be safer and more comfortable. It also means that there will be no Ming Empire Navy on the way back south to the Strait of Magellan. As long as we can hold on for a few more days, we will be completely safe.

In less than an hour, the two fleets heading towards each other all hung out colorful flags of greeting, then lifted their alerts, happily gathered together to re-form, and then, led by the Silver Fleet, sailed towards the port of Iquique.

"355m ahead, 3 new three-masted sailing ships spotted, distance 28m, heading 190m... From the shape of the ship, it looks like a large galleon, and from the shape of the sail, it looks more like a Spanish galleon."

However, their every move was being closely monitored by another fleet 28 kilometers away. The flagship lookout held up a telescope and, with the help of the rising sun, found a similar ship type in the Navy identification manual after careful comparison.

"Keep observing...Colonel Gao, it seems that we have made the right decision this time! Not only can we capture the Spanish governor, but we can also capture the Spanish silver ship. It is said that one of these ships can carry silver, gold, and gems worth millions of pesos. If we can get all three, hehehe..."

The galleon-shaped ship and the sail shape similar to that of the Spanish galleon, these two distinctive features of the Spanish silver ships made Wu Bing very happy. If he added the previous inferences, the answer would be even more reliable.

The Spanish built a simple wharf on the coast closest to the Potosí mining area, which was probably used to transport the silver mined in the mining area. The three newly discovered large sailing ships that looked like silver transport ships were probably used to load silver.

The Spanish government was also quite cunning. Knowing that it would be difficult to continue transporting silver to Panama City, it simply changed the silver's loading location without making any noise.

Once the silver was on board, it would be difficult to track and intercept. The Ming navy had not yet extended its reach to the southernmost tip of the American continent, and had no idea of ​​the sea conditions, climate, and routes there. Even though they had learned the approximate location of the Strait of Magellan at the Royal Academy, they only knew that it was still a long way from safe passage. At least they had to wait for the naval staff's exploration ship to pass through the strait several times and understand the climate, tides, ocean currents, wind speed, water depth, and reefs in the strait before the warships dared to pass through.

In this regard, we have to sigh for the Portuguese and Spanish maritime pioneers a hundred years ago. It was they who, without accurate nautical charts and navigation equipment, drove ships with poor seaworthiness to travel around the world and used their lives to point the way for future generations.

In the newly built Naval Academy, you can see a five or six meter high tower building as soon as you enter the gate. But it is not an ordinary tower. The base is carved with figures and their life stories, and there is a gas lamp on the top of the tower. It is basically a miniature lighthouse.

The Naval Academy uses small lighthouses as street lamps throughout the academy. It is said that this was designed by the emperor to commemorate people who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of navigation, most of whom are Europeans, including Spaniards.

In the words of the emperor, these people are like everlasting lighthouses, guiding mankind to conquer the sea step by step. I hope that after the completion of the Royal Naval College, more lighthouses can be cultivated and one day stand on the campus.

Wu Bing felt that he would not have the opportunity to study at the Naval Academy in his lifetime, and it would be unlikely for him to be engraved on a lighthouse standing on the campus, but he still wanted to make great contributions.

When he thought of the value of the Spanish silver ship recorded in the information issued by the Navy General Staff, his eyes lit up. He didn't need three ships, just one would be enough to get promoted directly.

The emperor was a money-grubber, and he was always thinking about making money, including fighting wars. It was undeniable that bringing back a shipload of gold, silver, and jewelry would be more valuable to the emperor than capturing the Governor of Peru.

"How much silver is a few million pesos worth?" Looking at Wu Bing's expression, Gao Budong also felt that the opportunity to make a great contribution had come. However, the army's understanding of the world was indeed not as extensive as the navy's, at least it was not clear about the ratio between Spanish currency and Ming currency.

"In Manila Port, 1 Spanish peso can be exchanged for 1 tael of silver. But there are many types of this kind of money, and the quality is also different. The best one is the 1 peso silver coin with a double-headed eagle pattern and M font, which seems to be minted in Mexico and is more used by the Dutch.

The worst is also a double-headed eagle pattern, but the font is changed to L. It was cast in Lima and is more commonly used by the Portuguese. If you take it to the Sun and Moon Bank for exchange, you will get at least 20% off. In many ports in the north, no one is willing to accept it. "

But there is no need to ask Wu Bing about this knowledge in the navy, any sailor can tell it clearly. Especially for the navy stationed in overseas territories for a long time, the silver is issued in Ming silver coins, but when buying and selling things locally, gold and silver coins from Europe are often encountered, and the exchange rate must be memorized.

"... So there are millions of taels of silver on a single ship! I never thought the silver mines here are so productive. They have to dig out chunks of silver like digging coal!" After hearing the value, Gao Budong's eyes began to glow white. It's not that he has never seen the world, it's that he has too much money.

(End of this chapter)