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Chapter 700 Emergency from Monterey

Huang Zhongtong's guess is quite reasonable. Because the Spanish Viceroyalty of Luzon and the State of California are both under the Viceroyalty of New Spain, once Mexico City declares war on Beihai Town, Manila will inevitably be unable to escape. The plan for Luzon that has been brewing for many years can be implemented.

At noon on January 7, 1794, the lookout tower at Cape Bruja in Acapulco Bay sent a signal to the San Carlos Fortress, notifying the "San Juan Batista" sailing from Manila and the "San Juan Batista". The three large sailing ships "Kos" and "Our Lady of Guadalupe" are about to arrive in the port. They set off in June last year, passed through Hawaii, and made a short stop in Monterey, the capital of California, before heading south to their final destination. .

News of the arrival of the fleet spread quickly in the city, and thousands of people soon gathered at the "Marquis Pier". Soon, the local governor, government officials, members of the city council and even businessmen arrived one after another with their families in horse-drawn carriages.

The arrival of the Manila Galleon every year is a festival-like event for Acapulco and even Central and North America. This means that a large number of oriental exotic commodities will appear on the market, including tea, silk, etc. from China. Porcelain, lacquerware, fans, screens, beeswax and gunpowder; amber, ivory, cotton and carpets from India; and pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and other spices from the East Indies.

Just when the crowds on the pier became crowded, three large sailing ships with a carrying capacity of more than 1,000 tons, led by a pilot boat, passed through the waterway between Cape Bruha and Cape Diamond and appeared in everyone's sight. At this time, a salute was fired from the Fortress of San Carlos, and the crowd also cheered; hundreds of black porters on the dock were all gearing up to start transferring the goods ashore as soon as the large sailing ship entered the berth and stopped.

However, what surprised many people was that when the ship entered the berth to anchor and the gangplank was set up, the first person to disembark from the "San Juan Batista" was a colonial officer with an entourage.

This person is wearing a blue cloak with gold lace at the opening, a blue coat with red lapels and cuffs, and a yellow vest made of suede leather with narrow lace. He was wearing a black hat with a turned-up side and gold trim. Judging from the golden epaulettes on his shoulders, he should be a captain.

After the captain got off the ship, he turned a blind eye to the noisy scene around him. In full view of everyone, he walked straight to the Governor of Acapulco and took off his hat to salute. Then he stepped forward and whispered a few words, and presented a letter. The Governor opened the letter and saw After reading the above content, the original smile on his face gradually faded, and his expression became serious. He immediately called an officer under his command to say a few words, and then the captain and attendant hurriedly left with the officer.

Half an hour later, a carriage, escorted by twenty cavalrymen, drove out of the military camp in the city and flew away in a cloud of dust.

When the captain left, the speaker of the city council curiously asked the governor: "Sir, what happened?"

The Governor sighed and said: "Yes, something big happened. A group of bandits invaded California, and all our strongholds north of Monterey were lost! The captain is going to Mexico City to ask for help."

The Speaker was stunned for a moment and did not react. You should know that Northern California is more than 3,000 kilometers away from Acapulco. He looked surprised and continued to ask: "Oh God, are the Indians causing trouble?"

"No! It's a group of pirates from Asia."

"Pirates! Asia?"

The speaker's voice was a little loud, which immediately attracted the attention of the people around him. In fact, life in the colony was quite boring in these days. There were no newspapers. Any disturbance in the outside world would be talked about for a long time; especially the businessmen and women's families.

Hearing "pirates" made my curiosity even more intense.

So at the welcome banquet in the evening, news about pirates and the East became the focus of everyone's discussion. However, when these people learned the inside story from the senior crew members on the large sailing ship, they were all shocked.

According to a captain named Gonzalez, the "pirates" who occupied Northern California were actually a group of Asians who called themselves "North Sea Town". They first captured the San Francisco Fortress last year, and then successively

Three places were occupied: Santa Clara de Assis, San José de Guadalupe and Santa Cruz.

Since Santa Cruz and Monterey, the capital of California, are separated by the sea, and the sea route is only more than 20 nautical miles, Governor de Alila has ordered a general mobilization. All the men above the age of fifteen and below the age of fifty among the residents of the fortress are eligible.

Weapons were distributed and fortifications were built as quickly as possible.

Because the fleet of galleons was equipped with 300 soldiers and more than 200 artillery pieces, before leaving Monterey, they made a special trip to Santa Cruz and found that the monasteries and fortresses there had been burned to ashes.

After sending troops ashore for a search, they found dozens of survivors and took them back to Monterey.

"...We left two hundred soldiers with Governor de Arila and then left."

"Oh my God! What a bunch of barbarians. Why did they destroy the monastery?"

"These people should be hanged if caught!"

"The kingdom's army is invincible!"

"Captain Gonzalez, why don't you go to San Francisco? Your fleet has so many cannons and you can take back the fortress."

Gonzalez and other crew members all showed a wry smile when they heard this. How to explain this? These people in front of them knew nothing about Beihai Town, but they who had been living in Manila knew it very well. That was a city that defeated the Tsarist Empire and

The terrifying "monster" who took Batavia from the Dutch East India Company and also fought against the Qing Empire.

If the rumored big white ship is there, the few troops and cannons they have on board are really not enough for them to take care of!

Before the galleon fleet left Manila in early June last year, news that the Dutch East India Company would go to war with Beihai Town had spread all over the world. Manila was extremely concerned about this war that would determine the entire East Indies, and even sent military observers.

When Governor de Arrela wrote a letter asking for reinforcements, Captain Gonzalez specifically reminded him that if you want to request reinforcements from Mexico City, you must have at least 5,000 troops, and the sea power must not be less than

Thirty armed merchant ships. At first, the governor was surprised that he could fit a duck egg into his mouth, but when he learned about Beihai Town's past achievements in the East, he became convinced.

Afterwards, the crew members roughly recounted the deeds they had heard about "Beihai Town". The governor and others seemed to have heard a fantasy, and even forgot to eat the dishes carefully prepared by the chef.

"Captain Gonzalez, according to what you said, since Beihai Town occupies such a large area in Asia, why do they want to come to California?"

"Your Majesty the Governor, this is what confuses me. Maybe they want a share of the fur trade just like the British?"

"Then they should be grabbing territory north, so why attack Monterey?"

Well, after Lu Qi stayed in Kinmen for almost two months, he realized that this place was all flat land and there was no danger to defend. There was only a small mountain (Bruno Mountain) with an altitude of more than 400 meters 11 kilometers to the south.

When the "Jaguar" arrived at the Kinmen Fortress in early December last year, in addition to bringing a platoon of military interns, it also sent several "heavy weapons", including three 82mm mortars and 500 rounds.

Cannonballs. With this thing, Lu Qi became more courageous, so with Zhao Xin's consent, he took two companies of troops, led by Katata's father Bai Bai and a dozen other Miwok Indian guides.

Next, he began his "Southern Expedition".

In fact, Zhao Xin chose the right time to come to North America to seize territory. The Spaniards have been relying on the Franciscan missionaries to expand northward in recent years, and their role in military strength is negligible.

And because of the French Revolution, even if Beihai Town knew about its "invasion" of North America, Spain would not be able to provide military support to the colonies.

Although the current strength of the entire Viceroyalty of New Spain is as high as 28,000, the regular troops deployed in California are only a little over 200. Furthermore, they have only been exploring California for twenty years, and there are not many strongholds and settlers, and there are not many cannons.

rare.

That is to say, the Indians on the west coast of North America are very peaceful, and the Franciscan monks are extremely skilled in deception, so so far, Spain has faced almost no threat in North America. If it were the warlike Sioux or the

The Iroquois, those small strongholds had long been destroyed to the point where nothing was left.

But it was precisely because of this that Lucci got a big advantage.

The troops marched for more than twenty days, and then it took only one day to defeat the two strongholds of Santa Clara de Assis and San Jose de Guadalupe.

After that, he asked Li Shi to lead a company, cross the small river called "Stevens Creek" in another time and space, and walk southward for seven or eight days along the traveler's trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Santa Cruz was also captured. The personnel in various strongholds were treated as before. The Indian slaves who were deceived were liberated and returned to their homes to find their mothers. The defenders and missionaries were all driven away and loved to death.

Each of the several Indian guides was given a horse and a donkey, as well as hundreds of kilograms of grain and several bolts of cloth. The iron tools and tools that the Northern Navy did not like were also given to them, and they were all very happy.

Li Shi stayed in Santa Cruz for two days. After all the people in the stronghold were cleared, he only took away the livestock and some food, and set the rest on fire, and then withdrew to San Jose de Guadalupe.

Occupying the exit of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Lucci felt a little more at ease. He felt that as long as there were five hundred people guarding here, there would be no chance even if the Spaniards came with two or three thousand. However, what he didn't expect was that,

With the reminder from Gonzalez and others, the Spaniards have realized the seriousness of the matter, and more than two or three thousand people came.

On the fifth day when the galleon arrived in Acapulco, the Governor's Palace in Mexico City.

After the governor of New Spain, Juan Vicente de Guemes Pacheco, met the messenger from California and learned about the emergency there, he quickly convened a meeting with his important generals. The participants unanimously agreed

It was believed that the kingdom's territory in Alta California could not be lost, and the several occupied strongholds must be recaptured.

After careful consideration, Governor Pacheco, as the commander-in-chief of the province, decided to lead a fleet consisting of three infantry regiments, a cavalry regiment, an artillery company and thirty ships to support Monterey and retake the occupied territory.

Preparations for such a large-scale military operation will take at least two or three months to complete. The key is to mobilize a large number of horses, vehicles, accompanying soldiers and civilians, and military supplies. Of course, the navy can act in advance and transport an infantry regiment there first.

, to ensure that Monterey does not lose.

If Lu Qi knew that the Spaniards were launching such a large-scale battle, he would definitely ask Zhao Xin for help. But right now, he is taking a platoon and several Miwoks to search for the legendary gold mining holy land...

...

According to records related to another time and space, gold in California was first discovered in a river in the Coloma area. It is located north of the Golden Gate Fortress, with a straight-line distance of about 180 kilometers, and only more than 70 kilometers away from Sacramento.

But it is a pity that Sacramento has not been discovered by the Spaniards in these years, so the first thing Rucci and his team have to do is explore. They have to find the Sacramento River and then go upstream, and finally reach what the Spaniards call the "air statue."

The fertile valley of Champagne.

Based on inquiries from Miwok villagers who had been doing business before, Rucci finally found out that the Sacramento River in those days was called "Bohema Mem" by the Miwok people. He quickly figured out that "Mem" means water.

, and I have no idea what "Bohema" means.

On a sunny morning in early January 1794, Lu Qi and his party of more than 30 people set off from the Golden Gate Fortress in four rubber speedboats and followed the coastline along the strait to the north and then east, taking a day to travel.

After more than 80 kilometers, we finally arrived at the mouth of a large river. After repeatedly comparing the surrounding terrain with a drone and the data in hand, Rucci determined that this should be the "Sacramento River."

The Miwok people accompanying them were shouting excitedly along the way. If the soldiers on the same boat weren't watching, they almost fell into the water several times. They had never been on such a fast boat, and it would have taken at least three days of paddling to get here.

can only be reached by boat.

Lu Qi and his soldiers climbed to the north bank of the river, found a large smooth and flat rock, and then took out the white paint and brushes they carried to give the river a Chinese name.

What's it called?

Luchi River? No, no! He had checked in advance and found out that "Luchi" in English means bread, and it specifically refers to the deep-fried stuff filled with green juice that Indians eat.

Jin Guanghe? This is too vulgar!

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qi painted the two characters "Lushui" on the rock wall, and then painted a big arrow underneath.


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