The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 50: The French Strategy of Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain

The Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony carefully questioned the soldier who delivered the letter to confirm the situation of the ships in the Ming fleet approaching Cape Town.

After knowing that the other side only brought more than 60 battleships and most of the rest were merchant ships, I felt that the Ming people might really be doing business.

Because the Dutch knew how many battleships the Ming Dynasty had, and this number was not even half of the total.

Although more than 60 battleships are an exaggeration for other countries, it is obviously not a majority of the Ming Dynasty's strength.

However, the governor was still very cautious and sent the envoy out to reply to the Ming military officers.

Claiming that Cape Town's port was not large enough to accommodate all Ming ships at once.

It is hoped that the Ming admiral will leave the large fleet in the open sea, and have them enter the dock in batches for repairs, while using small boats to transport them back and forth to the ship.

If the Ming Dynasty intended to attack, it would not accept such an arrangement, as that would be tantamount to sending the fleet entering the port in batches to its death.

If the Ming Dynasty had no intention of attacking, the Netherlands would not dare to attack the fleet entering the port alone because there would be more Ming warships threatening outside.

In addition, there had been no conflicts between the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands for decades, so a plan of this level was already very cautious.

Qin Nanxing, admiral of the Ming Dynasty's North American Fleet, accepted the Dutch Governor's plan.

Both the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch were very cautious and divided the Ming fleet into four batches, which gradually entered Cape Town for docking.

At the same time, small boats deliver supplies to large ships in the open sea.

In the end, everything went smoothly and the Ming fleet left normally after completing its replenishment.

The Dutch also received a batch of authentic Ming silk and high-end porcelain as compensation at a price slightly below the market price.

During the time that the Ming fleet was in Cape Town, the Dutch governor and officers were in a state of high tension.

Only after confirming that the Ming fleet had officially left did they finally breathe a sigh of relief and lie down to have a good sleep.

After the Ming fleet completed its supply and trading, it left Cape Town and sailed north.

It sails northward along the Benguela Current along the west coast of Africa, and when it approaches the Gulf of Guinea in the middle of western Africa, it turns northwest.

It follows the North Equatorial Current directly to the northeast coast of South America, near Paramaribo, the capital of the Dutch colony of Suriname.

Dutch Suriname is adjacent to French Guiana and both are important transit points for the triangular trade to the Americas.

Now this place has become the last supply point for the Ming fleet before joining the war.

The Dutch Governor of Suriname was prepared for the arrival of the Ming fleet.

Because the Ming fleet was in Cape Town for supplies, they were delivered by the faster-moving Dutch merchant ships.

Therefore, the Governor of Suriname was less vigilant against the Ming fleet.

Although France, Spain, and the United States had officially declared war on Britain at this time, the Netherlands viewed this as a good opportunity to make money.

Although it is easy to speculate that the Ming Dynasty is likely to participate in this war, this should not prevent the Netherlands from making money.

You should even observe the movements of the Ming Dynasty and decide which side to support in the war.

At this time, the British Navy was the strongest in Europe.

The combined tonnage of the battleships of France and Spain is barely equivalent to that of Britain.

Overall, the British even have a slight advantage, but there is no absolute advantage.

Now the power of both sides maintains a fragile balance.

Once the Ming fleet gets involved, this fragile balance will be broken and the balance of naval power in the entire North Atlantic will tilt.

Whichever side the Ming Dynasty supports, the winning rate of that side will rise sharply.

The Governor of Suriname actively provided supplies to the Ming Dynasty and allowed the entire Ming fleet to dock around the ports of Suriname.

Ming soldiers and sailors were allowed to go ashore to rest, but they were not allowed to carry weapons.

Qin Nanxing, admiral of the Ming Dynasty's North American fleet, and Li Anbang, governor-general of the North American expeditionary force, also issued orders at the same time, allowing the sailors and soldiers on the ship to take turns going ashore.

The large fleet replenished the consumption along the way, allowed the soldiers to rest and recover their spirits, and traded Ming Dynasty specialties with the Dutch.

At the same time, the envoys from France, the United States, and Spain who were waiting here immediately approached the officers of the Ming Dynasty.

Translators from the three countries explained the war situation in Europe and America at that time in turn.

Since France declared war on Britain last year, the French navy has had several small-scale battles with the British navy around the British mainland. The Spanish have also begun to blockade Gibraltar, trying to cut off Gibraltar's supplies and force the defenders to surrender.

Of course, the British will not give up, so they are repeatedly entangled with the Spanish navy on the periphery.

At the same time, the Spanish Governor of Louisiana led colonial troops to attack eastward from New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River in an attempt to retake Florida.

After France declared war on Britain, Britain was worried that the French fleet would blockade the Delaware River. In order to prevent the occupying forces in Philadelphia from being besieged, Britain voluntarily gave up Philadelphia and retreated to New York. The United States "took back" Philadelphia.

American militia crossed the Appalachian Mountains, swept through the area south of Lake Erie to support the British natives, and gained control of large areas of the plains.

However, Savannah, an important port in the southern United States, was occupied by Britain, and the British army prepared to continue its attack northward and try to capture Johnston, another important port in the south.

Finally, the translator and the officer stated the most important purpose of this trip, hoping that the Ming Dynasty could cooperate with the French combat plan.

France hoped that the Ming fleet would switch to the French and Spanish flags and focus its efforts on attacking British colonies and the British naval fleet around the Caribbean.

To entice Britain to send more naval fleets to Central America.

The main fleets of France and Spain will lurk in Europe, waiting for the main fleet of Britain to leave Europe, and then concentrate their forces to launch a surprise attack on the British mainland.

The French believed that the British Army was no match for the French and that once the French army successfully landed in Britain, it would quickly achieve victory.

The British who lose their homeland will be forced to surrender, and the war will end as quickly as possible.

In Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, the French attempted to land on the British mainland.

However, bad weather frequently occurred in British waters at the time, and the Spanish encountered many problems when organizing their manpower. They suffered large-scale non-combat casualties before they even reached the battlefield.

France was eventually forced to abandon the operation.

The French then turned to attack several islands off the Normandy Peninsula.

The islands are adjacent to France, but ownership belongs to Britain.

The senior generals led by Qin Nanxing, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty's North American fleet, did not feel particularly surprised after listening to the explanations translated by the French, American and Spanish translators.

The French plan was a simple tactic to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

By having the Ming's main fleet change its flag to France and wreak havoc in the poorly defended colonies of Central America, it should be possible to mobilize enough British fleets to leave the mainland.

If the French could really take the opportunity to land on the British mainland, they would indeed have a chance to quickly defeat the British Army and force the British court to surrender.

However, it is not entirely in the interests of the Ming Dynasty to let the Ming fleet compete for these small islands in Central America.

The Ming Emperor was not very interested in the small islands in Central America.

Europeans liked those tiny islands in Central America so much that they even fought several wars for them.

At the end of the Seven Years' War, the French even gave up most of Canada for a few small islands.

This is because there are large sugar cane plantations on these islands, and sugar cane can be used to make sugar.

Sugar was also a luxury item in this era. It was one of the very few globally available luxury items controlled by Europeans. These sugar islands were an important source of economic income for the colonial powers.

At the same time, the sweet taste of sugar itself can inspire the soldiers' fighting will and quickly replenish their physical strength when needed.

However, there are many places in Daming where sugarcane can be grown, and there are also quite a few factories in Daming that can produce sugar.

The Ming Dynasty had no intention of fighting for these small islands.

The Ming Dynasty verbally said that it wanted to fight for these islands, but in fact what it cared about was the North American continent.

It is the "Jiangnan" and "Central Plains" of North America.

The primary goal of the Ming Dynasty's North American fleet and expeditionary force was to help Americans gain independence.

Then station and control the major cities in the independent United States, waiting for His Royal Highness the King of Wu to take over with his own guard corps.

To prevent these Americans from turning against us after they achieve independence.

According to the Emperor's specific orders, the process was to directly control as many North American ports as possible and seize as much land on the continent as possible.

The ultimate goal was to control all land south of the St. Lawrence River and the entire Great Lakes region, and to eliminate all surrounding British strongholds.

The Governor's Office rushed to raise 10,000 bicycles for this purpose, with the aim of moving quickly across the vast plains.

(End of this chapter)