Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1499 Waiting for the end of the war?

The war on the Isthmus of Panama has actually not been much interesting so far.

By the end of October 1667, the people on the east coast had conquered all of the French Santo Domingo, a part of Martinique, and a part of St. Lucia (Guadeloupe’s attack was frustrated, and they agreed to withdraw their troops with the French and collected A batch of supplies and money as compensation), St. Christopher Island also plundered, almost wiped out the French colonial power in the Caribbean for many years.If you want to restore it in the future, it will not work without spending many years and a lot of money. I just don't know if the Frenchman still has the time and energy.If not, then its colonies will be divided up by Britain, Holland, West, East and other countries in a blink of an eye, but this is all for later, let's not talk about it for the time being.

On November 1667, 11, in a small bay on the island of Martinique, Lieutenant Inigo carried a long gun on his shoulder, two long and short rapiers on his waist, and one on his knee and on the upper of his shoe. The dagger walked over unsteadily.

I saw him first use his feet to wake up a few officers and soldiers who were sleeping on the tree trunk to prevent them from becoming food for ants or other insects, then he walked to an iron pot and looked at a group of The guys are making the broth.The meat used in the broth was imported from New Spain, and the locals also gave away a Spanish broth called "Puspas", but unfortunately no one paid attention to it, only Ensign Inigo took it carefully and decided to try it .

To make this Spanish bouillabaisse must be fed acorns and the pig must be a type of black pig native to Spain.This kind of pig is very large in size, with thin hair and jet black.Because it is free-range, the pork is very firm and tastes very good. The people on the east coast have purchased many batches from Bello, Vera Cruz, Cartagena and other places in a row, and kill them every Thursday and Sunday. A batch, or used to make soup, or used to make meat jerky, to improve the morale of soldiers.

It wasn't just fresh meat that boosted soldiers' morale, but also wine.However, this drink is always in short supply, and the officers' share can guarantee the supply. Soldiers are lucky if they can taste it once in a while.However, the officers and soldiers stationed on the east coast of Martinique were luckier, because the Navy's "Southern Cross" light cruiser made an emergency landing on a French smuggling ship in the open sea, and then searched and seized a large amount of supplies in the cabin. There is a lot of alcohol—according to the confession of the smuggling captain (people on the east coast doubt that he is also a pirate captain), they set off from Bordeaux Port and stopped at Madeira Island in Portugal, which is a famous alcohol distribution center. For example, Canary white wine, Madeira liqueur, and Sherry wine are all sold and wholesaled there. Their ships transported a large number of staves for winemaking barrels, and then exchanged them for a considerable amount of wine, intending to smuggle them. I went to Peru to make a fortune, but was caught by a light cruiser of the East Coast Navy halfway, which was also bad luck.

In addition to handing over the seized alcohol as spoils of war, a small part was kept and distributed to officers and soldiers of various ministries to maintain morale.Fighting abroad—and it is still a tropical area with a high non-combat attrition factor—for such a long time, if the supply of tobacco, wine, tea, sugar and other supplies is not sufficient, this battle is indeed not easy to fight. They went to battle together, and this appetite was also cultivated a lot, which made the logistics staff very depressed.

Some sailors who had just disembarked also shyly came over to have some food and drink. They brought some sea turtles and fish, but no one took a second look, because in this place in Martinique, they were almost vomited from these things. .The officers in the sailors still maintained their majesty. They directed their subordinates to transport supplies from the island to the ship, including meat and fresh water. The weather has gradually become sweeter recently, but no one dares to drink it directly, because at this time, when you filter the water with a piece of fine gauze, you will find that the gauze will be full of mosquito eggs and marine millipedes.

"Will there be any more battles, sir?" Several soldiers with ragged clothes and scruffy beards asked.These people are the officers and soldiers of the Fengguo Army who have been fighting abroad for a long time. Because the service period has passed seven to eighty-eight (counted from the time of concentrated training in the local area), they are very concerned about their next move. That is when the fighting subsided, and they spent the last period of time smoothly, and then they were sent back to the country and automatically obtained the nationality of the East Coast Republic of China.

However, there are also some people who hope that the next battle will last longer. These people are basically new recruits who have been transferred to replace some of the soldiers who have returned to the country, so as to maintain the military strength of the people on the east coast in the Caribbean Sea. Surrender, all belong to the newly formed Zhongguo Army battle order.For these newcomers who have not joined the army for a long time, if the war ends now, it will be like the sky is falling.

Yes, joining the army may lead to injury and death, but do you think logging in the tropical primeval forests around Hue and Jiaohe will prevent you from getting sick or dying?Let me tell you, it is a place where the death rate is not lower than that of war, especially the officers of the East Coast Army relatively cherish the lives of soldiers, and they all fight the "big health care tactics" that focus on stability. The loss rate of soldiers is really unimaginable middle so high.Therefore, it is the best choice for non-national laborers like them from Russia, Italy, and Ireland to join the Allied National Army and go to the Caribbean Sea.After all, after the expiration of the service period, you can become a national of the East Coast. Is there anything cheaper than this in the world?

Based on such a consideration, what the officers and soldiers of the loyal national army later desired most was undoubtedly to maintain a low-intensity war as it is now, but it did not end.In that case, most of their life is training and training, and occasionally they may be forced to participate in local construction. The action of seizing the island should be unlikely to happen, so there is such a good thing that you can easily dawdle and get a nationality, why should it end?

Inigo has East Coast citizenship and is therefore eligible for full East Coast military membership.Before the war, he was temporarily awarded the rank of Second Lieutenant of the Army. He is currently serving in the headquarters of Captain Lan Fei and is one of the digital training staff.However, serving as "Second Lieutenant Gao Shen" does not mean that Inigo does not have to go to the front to fight. In fact, he has participated in one or two battles before, and in a hand-to-hand assault, he stabbed each of them to death and wounded two with a rapier. He was an enemy, and immediately established a lot of prestige among the soldiers, so someone would speak up and ask him questions.

"There won't be any fights, of course, this is my personal opinion." Inigo threw the two rapiers on the ground with a bang, drew a bench over, and took out a bag of shredded tobacco from his pocket. Slowly stuffed the pipe, took a good puff, looked around, and said: "Guadeloupe and St. Christopher Island will not fight again, after all, the money has been collected. We can't blatantly break the promise. The French Santo Domingo has been taken by us, and there is only the finishing work left, which needless to say. The city of Saint-Pierre in Martinique has been taken by us. In the past few months Due to material and transport capacity reasons, we only tentatively attacked the remaining French strongholds on the island twice, but they all failed. I think—only on behalf of me—the top should not continue to attack , it’s not worth it, and it’s not necessary.”

In fact, in the recent period, people on the east coast have not been so triumphant on the battlefield in the Caribbean Sea as they were at the beginning, because the soft persimmons that can be pinched have been squeezed, and the rest are hard bones that are not so easy to handle, such as standing in the A French fort on the island of St. Christopher, such as a French stronghold in the south of Martinique-for this stronghold, the East Coasters organized two tentative attacks. The troops were not withdrawn, so as not to cause unnecessary attrition due to illness; the second time also encountered a major epidemic during the siege, and three to 400 soldiers died of illness one after another, and many more survived but lost combat effectiveness, so they had to retreat again.

The same is true for the attack on Guadeloupe Island. Bad weather not only prevented the landing operations of the people on the east coast, but even overturned a 1200-ton sail transport ship.In the end, Captain Cai Anguo, who was afraid of causing greater losses, had no choice but to announce his retreat and return to Martinique.As for when the next attack will take place, only God knows, because not only must supplies and personnel be available, but the wind direction must also be smooth.

After these failed offensive operations, the morale of the navy and army on the east coast was also setback to a certain extent. Some soldiers even began to suspect that this was a disaster imposed on them by Tianzun/God to warn them not to Continue to attack, otherwise there may be more unpredictable consequences.

And since the morale of the army is not as high as it was at the beginning, and he has indeed fulfilled his obligation to send troops to fight as an ally, it is only natural for the people on the east coast to reduce their fighting intensity and work abroad.After all, no matter how much or how well they fight, the Spaniards will not pay a penny more. On the contrary, the people on the east coast have to pay more casualties, more expenses, and have a deeper hatred with the French. Why bother!

As for taking the opportunity to seize more Caribbean islands, I'm sorry, this is too tasteless for people on the east coast, and it doesn't have much value.After all, they already had the big island of Trinidad, and a commercial station and plantations had been established at the mouth of the Mobile River. There was really no need to fight for a few wild islands.On the contrary, once these islands are occupied, the limited naval power will be greatly dispersed in the future, and the people on the east coast will become a joke just like the Kingdom of Portugal.Don't you see that the naval fleet of the Eastern Cape Verde Islands has not yet been fully deployed?Not to mention, the Ministry of the Navy originally planned to deploy another small fleet in Trinidad, but due to insufficient naval power, it has not yet been achieved, so it is really inappropriate to continue to disperse forces.

The new officers and soldiers of the Zhong Guo * Army were a little disappointed after hearing the news, but Inigo's next sentence gave them hope again: "But I guess the army will not be disbanded in a while, and the superiors have asked me to make a plan for next year. The training plan for the whole year, this is not a call-up that will be disbanded in the short term. Therefore, there should be a long period of leisure time, everyone enjoy it, the only possible battle is to attack the pirate island (Thor Tujia Island), of course, this is just my personal guess, it’s not accurate, it’s not accurate.”

Now the officers and soldiers of the Zhongguo*Army and Fengguo*Army are all satisfied. If the troops are not disbanded, it means that they are still in service, and if there are too many battles, it is undoubtedly the most enjoyable thing for them, because this It means that everyone has a greater chance of surviving.As for the attack on Tortuga Island mentioned by Second Lieutenant Inigo just now, hehe, they are just pirates, and they are the worst!Maybe they are very brave in sea battles, but land battles and sea battles are completely different things. Everyone optimistically predicts that only a hand-to-hand charge can solve the battle, right?

The only trouble is probably how the navy can reach an agreement with Air Canada to dispatch warships to Cape-France as soon as possible, break the pirates' blockade of French Santo Domingo, and then send our loyal and brave army on the East Coast The soldiers were sent to the island, and those pirates who were rumored to be famous were captured together, and the "black history" of Tortuga Island ended!

While the officers and soldiers were discussing the next phase of operations outside, in the city of Saint-Pierre, Captain Lan Fei, who was the commander-in-chief of the army, was also communicating with Captain Cai Anguo, the commander of the Caribbean Provisional Task Force who had just arrived. .

Captain Cai took the only two light cruisers a while ago, escorted a group of auxiliary ships, transport ships full of supplies and supplementary troops, and went to the Cape of France once after replenishment was completed, to replenish Lieutenant Zheng Dalin who stayed there. A lot of supplies.They originally planned to hit Tortuga Island by the way, but they were forced to return because the Air Canada warship failed to arrive on schedule.When returning to the voyage, the fleet picked up a considerable part of the wounded and sick by the way, which had just arrived in St. Pierre Port, Martinique.

"There's nothing wrong with it! The Air Canada gang is looking for money, and they know how to do business all day long, saying that suppressing pirates is not good for the country now. Mahler Gobi, what are we doing here? Head? Could it be possible for me to take two warships and directly attack the pirate island, and then let those vicious guys be dismantled!" Captain Cai Anguo said angrily.

Captain Lan Fei said helplessly while peeling and eating fried peanuts: "Then we can wait for the end of the war with peace of mind now? Can't we go anywhere?"

"The end of the war?" Captain Cai Anguo pulled a chair and sat down, sneered a few times before saying, "How can this be decided by our country? It depends on the situation in Europe!"

(End of this chapter)