Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 12 Seized
"...In this battle, 29 Spanish sailors were killed, 18 were wounded, and 55 were captured."

At 5 p.m., after a simple cleanup of the battlefield, Lieutenant Colonel Li Xianqing, the political commissar of the Polang, gave a brief report on the battle results summarized by all parties.

"As for the spoils, there was quite a bit of usable scrap metal, fifty-six muskets, sixty-five swords, fifty-three axes, twenty-eight spears, twenty-five daggers, sixteen harpoons, and ten barrels of gunpowder..."

"...Oh, by the way, that Spanish galleon also had twelve cannons. ...All of them were traditional smoothbore cannons. By the standards of the period, there were two 8-pounders, two 12-pounders, four 18-pounders, two 24-pounders, and two 32-pounders."

"Guess where all these cannons are? Haha, they're not in their emplacements at all! In order to free up more space for cargo, the Spaniards stuffed all these cannons into the bottom of the hold as ballast."

"What about the cargo on the ship?...What interesting things are there?" Captain Lieutenant Colonel Luo Zhenhui's face was also filled with excitement.

In this battle, except for six people who were slightly injured, almost no time travelers were killed. They also wiped out the invading Spaniards and captured a large ship. This can be said to be the biggest "replenishment" they have obtained since they entered this world.

In particular, the oriental goods carried on the Spanish galleon will play a vital role in their foothold in this world.

"The cargo on board was quite plentiful, filling the entire hold. It really made us a fortune," Li Xianqing said with amusement. "Wei Yingbin hasn't calculated the exact quantity yet, but he gave a brief list of the cargo categories. It mainly included tea, silk, porcelain, lacquerware, cotton, ivory, carpets, and other goods from the Ming Dynasty, India, Persia, Japan, and other countries, as well as some local Philippine handicrafts like embroidery, pearls, and wood carvings. It's said that if these goods were shipped to Mexico, the trade profit could be nearly tenfold."

"Is there any food on board?"

Luo Zhenhui is not very interested in those valuable things. As of now, the primary goal of the entire team is just to make a living and survive. Money is really not important at all.

"We do have some food, but it's not much. It's mainly rice, sweet potatoes, corn, and the like from the Philippines. It's all infested with worms and mold, feeding the ship's livestock and poultry. It's definitely not fit for human consumption. After all, food supplies like rice and flour are difficult to store, and there's no way to make a fire and cook on board, so naturally, we don't have much. ... Speaking of livestock and poultry, there are three goats, two pigs, nine rabbits, and a dozen chickens and ducks in the hold. Oh, and two cats, three dogs, two parrots, and a monkey. These animals were probably brought aboard by the sailors to relieve the loneliness and boredom of the long voyage. ... As for the bacon, biscuits, and black bread in the hold, they're almost all infested with maggots and are probably inedible. ... As for alcohol, there are two barrels: one for beer and one for spirits, but each is only half full, and they smell strange. I'm not sure if they're still drinkable."

"In other words, there was almost no grain or other food captured?" Luo Zhenhui could not hide the disappointment on his face.

"Yes, there's almost no grain left." Li Xianqing smiled bitterly. "But that's normal. This Spanish galleon sailed from the Philippines and accidentally stumbled upon us, crossing the vast Pacific Ocean. It's almost halfway through its journey. How much edible food could it possibly have left for us? We're lucky to have some livestock and poultry left."

"That means that in the coming winter, we can only eat pickled meat and dried fish. Life will still be hard." Luo Zhenhui sighed.

"That's not the case," Li Xianqing said with a smile. "Because we have obtained a lot of matchlock guns and enough gunpowder to hunt red deer and pheasants in the forest. We can even kill a bear to taste the flavor, which will at least give us some fresh meat. In addition, there are several fishing nets on the Spanish galleon, which are much better than the ones we made up on the spur of the moment. If we do this, we can increase our daily intake of fish, meat and fish soup. Of course, eating too much meat will cause some indigestion. However, we have obtained a large amount of tea, which should be able to alleviate some of the discomfort."

"Well, we'll have to make do with this." Luo Zhenhui nodded and walked towards the group of Spanish prisoners. "Old Li, send some people to that big ship later. Otherwise, when it gets dark, I'm worried that Wei Yingbin's small group might not be able to handle it. ... I'll go see if Chen Rui can get any useful information."

"Yeah, okay, I'll arrange it later."
-
Harvey, the boatswain of the "St. Louis", looked at the tall "native" in front of him in surprise. He found that the other person had regular features, ruddy complexion, a pair of bright eyes, and was extremely neat and tidy. His whole demeanor showed strong self-confidence, and he did not look stupid and ignorant like the natives at all.

Moreover, the face of the native in front of him was very similar to those Ming people he had seen in Manila, one could even say that they were exactly the same.

Could it be that they are a group of colonists from the Ming Dynasty?
What surprised him even more was that this "native" was speaking Spanish.

Although, his speech was very strange, his pronunciation was not very clear, his words were intermittent, not very coherent, and even some of his words did not express his meaning clearly.

But the words that came out of his mouth were indeed Spanish.

"I... ask you... again, what's your... name?" After stammering in Spanish twice, cadet soldier Chen Rui found that the bearded, dejected-looking Spaniard in front of him just stared at him stupidly and didn't answer his questions at all. He couldn't help but get angry and embarrassed.

Damn it, why don’t you say something!

Several instructors and cadets who came to watch cast suspicious glances at him, as if they thought he must have "made up" his Spanish or simply didn't know it, so much so that the Spanish sailor in front of them had almost no reaction when being interrogated.

"Xavi..., my name is Xavi Angel Carmona..." Xavi was startled when he saw the other party's tone becoming harsh and his face showing a fierce look, and he quickly responded.

"Look, this guy understood me!" Chen Rui immediately turned to look at the instructors and cadets around him and said excitedly, "Did you hear him answer my question? This guy's name is Javi Ángel Carmona. I wasn't exaggerating when I said I knew a little Spanish!"

"Ask him where in Spain he's from." Someone was still skeptical. "Your hometown... is in Spain... where?" Chen Rui turned around and asked.

"Oh, sir, my hometown is Oviedo," Xavi answered honestly.

"Did you hear that?" Chen Rui looked back at everyone proudly, "This guy's hometown is Oviedo."

"Where is Oviedo? . . . It's not a place you made up, is it?"

"Okay, okay, don't worry about these little things." An instructor looked at Chen Rui expectantly, "Ask him what era it is now. Oh, in other words, what year is it now?"

Hearing this question, everyone looked at Chen Rui, their faces also full of anticipation.

Yes, it has been more than three months since I came to this time and space, but until now, I still don’t know what year or era it is.

Although they defeated the Spanish after a long day of fighting, their weapons and the Spanish galleon gave them a vague idea that this period was probably the Age of Exploration, but they still couldn't figure out the exact year.

So, what year is it tonight?

"What year?" Harvey was stunned by the question, then said, "It is now the Year of the Lord, 1625 (when Pope Gregory XIII promulgated the calendar, he stipulated that the date after the birth of Jesus was called the 'Year of the Lord,' AD, and the date before the birth of Jesus was called BC)."

"What does 'the year of the Lord, one thousand six hundred and twenty-five' mean?" A cadet soldier was confused after hearing this.

"I guess he means that it is now 1625 AD," said Chen Rui.

"1625? That means this period should be the end of the Ming Dynasty. ...Hey, who is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty now?"

"Chongzhen?"

"It's not Chongzhen. It's Chongzhen's brother, the carpenter emperor Tianqi, whose name is Zhu Youxiao."

"Oh, then the Ming Dynasty can still last for another twenty years."

"That's tough! At this time, Nurhaci seems to have rebelled in Liaodong and even gained power. The Ming Dynasty has not won any more battles, and instead, Nurhaci has become stronger and stronger."

"Then at this time, Li Zicheng had not yet started a rebellion?"

"Li Zicheng's rebellion lasted until the Chongzhen period. ... Well, it seems the postal system was abolished, which accidentally made him unemployed, and he started the rebellion."

"..."

"Okay, let's stop talking about other things." An instructor waved his hand, stopping everyone's meaningless discussion, and then said to Chen Rui: "Ask him again, what is the exact time now? What month and day is it?"

"...What month and date?" Harvey thought for a long time when asked this question, and said with an embarrassed look, "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what day it is today. I only know it's October. If you want to get a specific date, you can only... send someone to the sea to negotiate and inquire with our captain and other senior staff. They should have detailed navigation records. Yes, gentlemen, you can also ask our captain for a ransom, and they will definitely pay it in exchange for our... release."

"Huh?" Chen Rui was stunned for a moment after hearing the other party's words, and then laughed out loud. "We don't need to negotiate with your captain. He can't possibly pay us... a ransom in exchange for... your release. Because, your captain seems to have been shot dead by our people. Your large sailing ship, and all the sailors... like you, have become... our prisoners!"

"..." Harvey was stunned when he heard this.

What, everyone was captured by them?
Oh, God, these natives are so terrible!

(End of this chapter)