Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1410 Bergen Naval Battle and Reconstruction

April 1665, 7, sunny.

This year, the Cape Verde Islands also ushered in the worst famine in decades. The few rivers on the island completely dried up, the pastures withered, and the food harvests failed. People and animals once had difficulty drinking water.For this reason, the people on the east coast who occupied some of the northern islands had to slaughter livestock on a large scale to reduce losses. In addition, they also stepped up fishing and urgently sent boats to the old continent to purchase grain, hoping to survive this famine safely. Otherwise, the life of less than [-] residents in the entire Eastern Cape Verde Islands will be very problematic, and it will also indirectly affect the supply of merchant ships and warships on the east coast.

Of course, if the people on the east coast are in such distress, the situation of the group of people in the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands is similar. The banana, wheat, and corn fields in Playa Port have been severely ravaged by the drought. It is very limited. If you don't rely on food input from the outside world, you probably won't be able to survive.And if you want others to transport food from the outside world, you have to afford the cost, and what does the Cape Verde Islands have?

Probably sea salt!It is said that this business has been developed by the Renjun Trading Company. The guys who are used to the Atlantic Triangle trade import wheat and sorghum from South Africa, and sell a batch in Jakobshaven in New Courland on the way. Go to the Eastern Cape Verde Islands for sale (purchased by the local national reserve grain warehouse), and by the way, return to Brazil with white sea salt-people on the east coast have been importing a lot of Cape Verde salt from Portugal back then, because fishermen and Herdsmen generally report that fish cured with Cape Verdean salt can be preserved for a longer period of time than salt produced in Yancheng Port. Therefore, after the influence of the people on the east coast also penetrated into the Cape Verde Islands, it is sold to the local fish. The amount of salt is naturally much more than before.

In addition to sea salt, Cape Verde probably collects port entry fees, anchorage fees, and water diversion fees for ships. In addition, water supply and coal burning are also income, but it has dropped sharply with the advent of drought.All in all, this is a very difficult archipelago. The life of the immigrants living here on the east coast is neither bad nor good.

At present, a small-scale east coast fleet is stationed in the Eastern Cape Verde Islands, namely the Cape Verde Squadron of the First Fleet. The ship is managed by Lieutenant Zhou Yu, and it can be regarded as the armed force of the people on the east coast guarding this key node-of course, the navy alone is not enough. Small islands, namely Henghai Island (San Vicente Island), Jianchang Island (San Antang Island, the main agricultural production area), and Nankang Island (San Nicola Island, mainly animal husbandry and fishery) are also built. Some small turrets and land defense facilities were installed for protection. Although they may not be able to withstand the enemy army, it should not be a big problem to deal with pirates, so this is enough.

In order to revitalize the economy of the Eastern Cape Verde, it is reported that some domestic businessmen plan to come here for trade, that is, they will bring various commodities produced on the east coast to the Cape Verde Islands, and set up shops and warehouses here to attract European merchants came to trade.They generally sell medicines, weapons, soda ash, steel bars, mechanical parts, textiles, high-quality leather, etc., and then import livestock and ores from the Old World from European merchants (most of them should be merchants of the Dutch West India Company) , black slaves, ivory, placer gold, food and even daily necessities.

Some of these products from the Old Continent are sold domestically, while others are sold to Trinidad, the Free State, and even Caribbean shipping companies nearby. This is indeed a good way to maximize profits. It seems that relevant businessmen are already making preparations. This matter, there should be substantial progress within a year, but before that, they still seem to be struggling.

……

"Mr. Zhou, this is a recent letter about the Anglo-Dutch War (with the latest orders from the three-level council of the United Provinces), this is a letter about the political situation of the Ottoman Empire, and this is a letter from the Great Khan of Crimea to the Qiang Quan This is a letter from Chairman Sheng—well, it should be delivered to Chairman Qi Wangping—this is a report from the Arkhangelsk Trading Station, this is a diplomatic letter from the Republic of Venice, this is a report from the Riga Trading Station, and this is a Landenburg-Diplomatic letter from the Kingdom of Prussia..." On the pier of Jianchang Island, a fast liaison ship from Amsterdam handed over a stack of confidential documents to the acting commander of the Cape Verde Squadron of the First Fleet, "Golden River Tiger "In the hands of Captain Zhou Yu, captain of the escort gunship, these are letters of relatively high importance. Next, the fast liaison ship of the Cape Verde Squadron will be dispatched to return to the mainland, and these documents will be handed over to the Executive Committee immediately. In the hands of the princes, of course, they will not forget to bring some goods back by the way.

"Is there any new news? You know what I'm talking about. On this dry and dry island, it's too difficult for me to get some news." Captain Zhou Yu said to his old acquaintance, the captain of the fast contact ship .

"Oh, I knew you wanted to ask." The young captain took a mug of beer from Zhou Yu and said while drinking, "The fleets between England and the United Provinces finally went to war. This happened in late May. I also just got the news. Well, the scale of the war is very large. The English dispatched 5 ships. King Charles’ younger brother, the Duke of York, commanded the entire army, with Prince Rupert and the Earl of Sandwich as assistants. The total force probably exceeded 114 2.3 people, with more than 4400 guns, of which 6 or 8 - well, I'm not sure - are three-decked battleships, and there are quite a few battleships with 80-100 guns; the Dutch probably dispatched 103 warships, which is almost all of their strength, with a total of 4869 guns and 21631 people—well, the news about these fleets is that we bought them from the waste paper contractors of the third-level council in The Hague."

"I'm listening, keep talking." Captain Zhou Yu said with great interest.

"The cause of the war was actually the Danes. They didn't know how they did it. They even invited the returning treasure fleet of the Dutch East India Company to take refuge in their port. At the same time, they let the British know the news. It is really puzzling. It seems that the Dutch People are still questioning who leaked the news that the Treasure Fleet was invited to enter the Port of Bergen to hide.” The captain of the liaison ship said: “Then everything will be logical. And other Dutch merchant ships were naturally coveted, so their main fleet went north, and at the same time, the Dutch who got the news were forced to send a fleet north to escort the merchant ships of the East India Company back to the mainland. avoided."

In fact, the role played by Denmark in this Anglo-Dutch war can really be described as sloppy.At the beginning, the King of Denmark was awed by the strength of the British fleet, and at the same time coveted the goods carried by the Dutch East India Company fleet, so he invited the Dutch to stop at the port of Bergen to avoid the search and interception of the British fleet. agreed.And then, this guy signed a secret agreement with King Charles, intending to seize all Dutch ships in the Danish port, and if the British send a fleet to assist in the search, then the spoils of war will be shared equally by both parties. This is the last time the British main fleet went north. direct cause.

And when the main British fleet arrived off the coast of Bergen, I don’t know whether the Dutch’s wooing played a role or what. It is said that the three-level council of the United Provinces promised an annual subsidy of 150 million guilders (of which 30 were paid by the French). ——In short, when the British fleet arrived off the coast of Bergen, the Danes did not search the Dutch merchant ships together as promised. Instead, their forts bombarded the British, and the Dutch merchant ships in the port also defended themselves. Therefore, the British fleet did not achieve its goal. Annoyed, they then encountered the Dutch main fleet that rushed to the rescue, so four months after the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the first main fleet battle between the two sides unexpectedly started off the coast of Bergen.

In this large-scale maritime war, the English resolutely implemented the battle line bombardment tactics, relying on their sturdy ships and generally larger caliber artillery, of course their biggest advantage is professional naval officers and overall superiority The quality of the sailors, and the fighting will is generally more tenacious than the Dutch, so the Dutch navy with escort missions was defeated: After a whole day of fierce fighting, the Dutch lost as many as 24 warships, three admirals and more than 2 soldiers. Sailors, the English only lost [-] ships and hundreds of officers and soldiers. It can be said that they returned with a big victory.

The Dutch fleet finally got rid of the enemy's pursuit by relying on the night, and finally returned to Amsterdam safely. However, they lost 26 merchant ships during the retreat, 5 of which were full of spices, copper and Indian goods. Greatly boosted the morale of the British.

"...It is said that after the Battle of Bergen, the Dutch came to the conclusion that they should not go to war with the British in the deep sea. Because the quality of their sailors is worrying. After all, they are all recruited by other countries, and the ships are small, shallow and stable. Low performance, backward tactics (equipped with a large number of melee and gang jumping equipment), which is conducive to melee in shallow waters, not conducive to line-up battles and bombardments. Therefore, in the future, try to escort in shallow waters near the sea, and do not fight with them unless it is absolutely necessary. The British are fighting in deep waters, and at the same time, they should try their best to use their advantages in melee combat, so as to wait for changes and drag down the British finances. After all, compared with the amount of money, the English are still far inferior." The young captain of the liaison ship Continued, "This naval battle actually reminded us that our ships are generally large in tonnage and not shallow in draft, which is conducive to the battle line confrontation on the sea. If we encounter a naval fleet like the United Provinces in the future If it is the case, then we must avoid being dragged into shallow water by them, and at the same time resolutely avoid being entangled in melee by them. As long as we insist on the above two points, we will have a great advantage. The British have proved this very well. .”

"The Dutch are really unfortunate..." Zhou Yu silently mourned for the Dutch Navy, which suffered a huge loss. After such a tragic defeat, they must have become more sober.Whether it is organizational strength, equipment, tactics or fighting will, the British navy has completely surpassed the Dutch. It is really difficult for the Dutch to win this war, unless drastic reforms are made immediately to reshape the navy Otherwise, what awaits them must be the same ending as the first Anglo-Dutch war.

"By the way, you just said that the Dutch have added new orders?" Zhou Yu asked with great interest.

"Yes, that's right, they added an order. After this tragic defeat at sea." The captain of the liaison ship replied: "As far as I know, they strongly demanded an additional purchase of cannons, because in the Battle of Bergen they I found that the caliber of my artillery is generally smaller than that of the English, and the loss of the number after the defeat is also very large. It is urgent to replenish. According to the news circulating in the market, they want to purchase 2000 in one go. Tianzun, I heard at that time When I saw this figure, I almost fainted from shock, you know, this is a super large order worth more than 10 yuan, it is really crazy!"

"Moreover, they are dissatisfied with many of the existing warships and want to rebuild and purchase them. I heard from the newly appointed Special Envoy Li Qing that the Dutch even wanted to buy some of our not-so-old sail escort gunboats. Haha, this is really—it’s impossible to say. In addition, they also strongly demanded that the Danes and the French join the war immediately. Among them, Denmark’s strength is particularly impressive. They can dispatch more than [-] professional warships at any time. The number is even greater. Compared with them, the French are much inferior. They only have a dozen professional warships. Even if they add the armed merchant ships they have recruited for a while, the total number is only forty. It is difficult for the British to look down on them, they only need to send a small squadron to deal with it easily." The captain of the liaison ship added.

In fact, what the captain said is correct, that is, the Dutch have indeed reflected on their own naval development ideas now, that is, their ships are generally not large enough in size and their draft is not designed to adapt to the shallow water tidal flats off the coast of the United Provinces. It is relatively shallow, although the maneuverability is a little more flexible, but if you really want to fight someone seriously on the ocean, you probably won't get any benefits. The Bergen naval battle has clearly proved this point.

Therefore, the Dutch have already started two-handed preparations. It is said that Speaker De Witt, on behalf of the five naval ministries, has formally submitted a naval reconstruction plan with a total amount of 1200 million guilders (approximately 400 million East Coast silver dollars) to the three-level parliament. , including the demobilization of armed merchant ships that are not suitable for sea warfare, ordering and recruiting new warships or merchant ships; professional training for naval officers and soldiers, and large-scale replacement of existing artillery and other equipment; ships and more.

Obviously, a considerable part of this large-scale naval reconstruction plan must fall on the people on the east coast. This is of great significance to the development of industries on the east coast and the renewal of the navy.

(End of this chapter)