From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 253 Invasion
The sea during the rainy season is unpredictable, and even after bribing Kilian's sailors who were familiar with the island's location, Monidez's three armed merchant ships still spent a lot of time on their voyage.

Despite the arduous process, the fleet, which was preparing to wipe out the "pirates," never imagined that the operation would fail.

They had ample manpower, strong ships and powerful cannons; they had a thousand reasons to win, and no possibility of defeat.

At least, that's what the captains of the three armed merchant ships thought.

So, besides determining the course and handling ship affairs, what they did most each day was drink.

In any case, the losses from this operation were entirely borne by Monidez, so they treated it as a sea vacation. For an old sailor, there is nothing more pleasant than a relaxing cruise on the sea.

When the weather is clear and the air is crisp, the three captains will stand on the edge of the ship's railing, raise their glasses to toast each other, and then burst into laughter.

The sailors on board, like the captain, were immersed in the pleasant atmosphere.

Except when the sky was gloomy and a torrential downpour began, everyone's face was always filled with smiles, as if the operation was already over, they had obtained the treasures looted by the pirates, and returned to the port to indulge in their lust...

……

Unlike the "Monidez Anti-Bandit Fleet", the scene on the Steelbone and Ironheart ships in the coastal waters of the islands is quite different.

The veteran sailors on the Steelbone were all trained by Sunday. Although the captain had changed, he was still a familiar partner to them.

Moreover, the new captain is calm, meticulous, and sincere, and is well-liked by the seamen.

During routine training, they all followed the new captain's orders—

The basic training had been conducted hundreds of times. They were all veterans who had served for nearly a year. Even without supervision from their superiors, they would habitually complete the training and maintain the ship.

Although the Iron Heart had a few veteran sailors, most of the crew were newcomers. Despite receiving nearly two months of training before boarding, they made mistakes due to nervousness or fear when actually operating the ship.

As the captain of the Iron Heart, Sunday's task was to address the issue of the new crew members' operational proficiency.

He rigorously demanded high standards from the new sailors on board through methods such as mentoring, extra training sessions, note-taking, and memorizing regulations.

These greenhorns were already nervous about going out to sea, and facing the stern-faced Sunday, they were even more intimidated and dared not even breathe.

Because of Sundays, the atmosphere on the Ironheart was serious every day, and even the crew of the Steelbone, who trained with the Ironheart, dared not laugh or joke.

Only when they returned to their dormitories to rest after work could they tease their "old boss" and the group of "little fools" on the Ironheart, completely forgetting that they were no different from those new sailors when they first boarded the ship.

……

At the end of 1666, near the end of December, the wind and rain at sea were unusually rare, less frequent than in previous years.

Taking advantage of the little rain, the Iron Heart and Steel Bone ships conducted several simulated military exercises in the near sea.

After months of training and adjustment, the crew of the Iron Heart was able to navigate the steel ship at sea with ease. Although the veterans of the Steel Bones were more experienced than the new sailors, the performance of the Iron Heart was always superior to that of the Steel Bones.

When the combat personnel are roughly equal in skill, the ship's performance becomes the deciding factor in which side the scales of victory tip in their favor.

After several encounters, Steelbone almost always ended in defeat.

Of course, the two ships had almost no difference in the power and range of their cannons, and even if the Ironheart won the exercise, its hull would be badly damaged.

All of these stains were caused by paintballs used in the exercise.

If the two ships were to engage in a live-fire contest, the outcome would likely be either mutual destruction or mutual destruction, as the thin steel plates covering the hulls would be insufficient to withstand a heavy bomb loaded with TNT.

If the core power room of the ship is damaged, both the Iron Heart and the Steel Bone will lose their maneuverability.

The mast and sails of the Steelbone were merely for show; it was impossible to rely on the sails to evade the Ironheart's fire at sea.

According to the simulation results, the long-barreled heavy guns equipped on the two ships are the most powerful and destructive weapons. Their 30-pound heavy shells can pierce a hole in the hull once they hit.

The mortar, which can fire incendiary shells, was not very effective in the exercise. Its maximum range was only 800m, and it was a sitting duck when facing long-barreled heavy artillery with a range of 1000m or more. It could not even reach the other side.

Moreover, against steamships with a large amount of metal in their hulls, incendiary bombs pose little threat unless they hit the ammunition box; their power may only be revealed when engaging wooden sailing ships.

……

There is a difference between simulated military exercises and actual combat. Knowing that it is fake, sailors will be much more relaxed, no matter how seriously they take it.

But in the absence of enemies, Chen Zhou had no choice but to use this method to train his soldiers.

Sweating more during peacetime training means less blood loss during wartime.

Although the Spanish did not respond until the end of the year, based on the descriptions of Kylian's style of doing things provided by the Spanish prisoners, Chen Zhou believed that he would come to attack the island sooner or later.

Having hundreds of kilograms of gold stolen is something that even a captain, who is used to being arrogant, would find hard to swallow, let alone anyone else.

Moreover, another armed merchant ship belonging to Kylian has already learned of the treasure being stolen, and they have not yet made a move, which can only mean they are waiting for the rainy season to pass.

“When the next dry season arrives, Killian will definitely attack the island. To ensure that everything goes smoothly, he will even gather more ships and more people to directly land on the beach.”

This is a guess that Chen Zhou and all the high-ranking officials on the island reached after discussion.

This is why the Steelbone and Ironheart train so frequently, and have even conducted several live-fire exercises.

No one expected that their preparations to deal with Killian would lead to the encounter with another group of bandits.

No one could have imagined that an extremely arrogant and self-willed individual would dare to send three armed merchant ships to a completely unfamiliar place in search of treasure, especially during the rainy season, simply because of a legendary ruby ​​larger than a pigeon's egg.

……

In addition to training the sailors on the two steamships, other matters on the island have been progressing smoothly in recent months.

For example, currency.

Based on his understanding of modern currency, Chen Zhou minted a total of three denominations of currency.

The smallest coin features a simple wooden hut and is worth about 1 yuan. It represents Chen Zhou's first step on the island.

A slightly larger denomination would be the 10-yuan note printed with a cave dwelling, symbolizing Chen Zhou's stable life and the challenging second phase.

The highest denomination banknote features a factory, below which is the outline of a ship with typical steamship characteristics; its value is equivalent to 100 yuan.

The purchasing power of the currency is linked to several types of food on the island. However, since the currency was only recently issued on the island and food production is low, the actual purchasing power of the currency is much lower than that of China in the 21st century.

Chen Zhou anticipates that after bringing the other small islands under his control, subjugating all the natives within the archipelago, cultivating large areas of land, establishing trade relations with the outside world, and even building estates in North and South America, the purchasing power of the currency will steadily increase.

However, the new currency is still in its early stages. Lacking extensive knowledge of economics and currency, Chen Zhou has to work on it step by step, refining the monetary system based on feedback from the islanders, while also amending the laws to prevent unscrupulous merchants from exploiting loopholes for profit.

Fortunately, democracy, freedom, and equality are not yet discussed on the island.

As the supreme ruler of the entire island, holding both military and political power, his rule was unassailable, and no one dared to utter a single word of dissent even if he changed his orders frequently.

……

As the islanders adapted to the new concept of currency, the island's infrastructure development also kept pace.

As the saying goes, "If you want to get rich, build roads first."

Although the island is located in the ocean and building roads cannot transport products to the mainland, it is still very necessary to build a few stone roads for the convenience of the islanders, for the free movement of bicycles, and for the quarrying of stone to transport timber and other materials.

Coming from a country known for its infrastructure prowess and the world's most developed infrastructure, Chen Zhou has always had a strong passion for road construction.

Of the new islanders, half devoted themselves to reclaiming wasteland and planting crops, while the majority of the other half worked diligently to transport stones and build roads.

Others were responsible for building houses and expanding the “Ring Execution Plaza” complex.

As for the skilled old islanders, most of them were busy building the third steamship, while the rest led the new islanders, teaching them skills and overseeing the quality of roads and houses.

Everyone has things to do, and everyone has food to eat and a place to live.

This is something Chen Zhou is currently trying his best to achieve.

He dared not say that he could ensure every islander on the island lived a happy and prosperous life, nor could he guarantee that everyone's meals would be plentiful and nutritionally balanced.

Currently, all he can do is try his best to ensure that all the islanders have food and no longer go hungry.

For the new islanders who were not long ago natives, this was enough.

……

1666 12 Month 28 Day.

It was another rare sunny day during the rainy season. The Steelbone and Ironheart set sail early in the morning for their routine patrol of the archipelago, and to gather the latest intelligence on the island's natives from the sailors remaining there.

With two large ships frequently patrolling near the island and repeated capture operations, the island's natives had long been aware of the presence of these outsiders.

If the outsiders were Spanish, people who looked completely different from them and didn't understand their language, the natives might panic.

However, the crew members of both ships were all of indigenous origin, knew the indigenous language, and many of them knew the indigenous people on the island.

After a brief exchange and witnessing the divine power of the muskets, the natives were all subdued and submitted to the outsiders' rule.

They suspended the conflict, banned cannibalism, and even learned to weave simple clothes from leaves and vines.

In return, the crew began teaching the natives how to plant and fish, and also brought them some practical tools, such as fishing nets, pottery jars, shovels, and iron axes.

With these tools and knowledge of how to obtain food, the natives no longer resorted to cannibalism, but their quality of life actually improved, with each person able to get one or two fish to eat every day.

Even if they didn't catch any fish, they could still gather some shellfish or kelp to make a pot of soup, and with the coarse salt brought to them by the crew, they could manage to have a meal.

……

Even without wind or rain, the ocean surface appears much darker in the rainy season than in the dry season.

On Sunday, while discussing tactics with the first mate for the next exercise and how to defeat the Steelbone with minimal losses and achieve a complete victory, a sailor suddenly knocked urgently on the captain's cabin door.

"Come in, what's going on?"

Despite his serious demeanor on Sundays, he actually cherishes these young sailors very much.

On Sunday, Chen Zhou told me that in the "Kingdom of God," there are not only larger and faster steel behemoths, bigger than factories, but also "airplanes" that can soar in the sky. People who can skillfully pilot airplanes are worth more than airplanes themselves.

In his eyes, these young sailors were as precious as pilots.

Therefore, his strictness was only directed at the sailors' mistakes during training; he was always very tolerant of any problems the sailors had in their daily lives.

……

Once given permission, the sailor immediately pushed open the door and spoke rapidly.

"Captain, when I was looking out from the deck just now, I saw the silhouettes of several ships that looked like enemy ships in the distance, but they were too far away for me to see clearly."

Upon hearing this, Sunday immediately perked up, put away the tactical planning board on the table, took down the binoculars from the wall, and strode out of the captain's cabin, almost running.

In the latter half of 1666, a mysterious reward was sent, including a batch of modern binoculars. Chen Zhou kept one for himself and distributed the rest to the guards and two ships.

However, there were only 10 telescopes in total, and apart from a few high-ranking officers, most ordinary sailors used 17th-century monocular telescopes.

This crew member who was looking out for the sea was one of them.

……

Upon reaching the deck, as instructed by the sailors, Sunday raised his binoculars to look out at the distant sea.

There were some clouds in the sky, making visibility slightly dim.

On the deep blue sea, three large ships, not far apart, suddenly appeared.

These three ships are very similar in appearance to the large ships that the sailors who stayed on the island had seen before. They are like three crescent moons, with high bows and sterns and low centers. Three tall masts stand on the ships, and the wide sails are full of wind as they sail at full speed.

Is it Kylian?

After waiting so long, his fleet has finally arrived!

Once he confirmed that the three ships were heading towards the island, Sunday felt his heart begin to race.

"Notify Steelbone: The enemy is here! Prepare to defend!"

He hastily gave orders to the sailors around him, handed the binoculars to another sailor on Sunday, instructing him to keep a close eye on the movements of the three large ships, and then walked quickly back to the captain's cabin.

Although on paper the data it appears that the Ironheart alone could easily sink three wooden sailing ships, war is not child's play, especially naval warfare.

The situation is urgent, and a suitable plan must be devised as soon as possible on Sunday to achieve the most comprehensive victory with minimal losses.

(End of this chapter)