October 22, 1647, sunny, southeast wind force 5.

The large East Coast Fleet slowly left the shoreline, and after a short period of wandering over the sea, lowered most of its sails, then turned south, and used steam power to move slowly at a low speed of two knots. In the course of the voyage, the "Sea Engineer" repair ship sent more than a dozen technicians to climb the battleship "East Coast" in small boats, and began to repair some of the ship's damaged parts with the assistance of sailors.

The battleship "East Coast" suffered some minor damage when it was bombarded with the Spanish naval batteries in the port of Callao, but it was the brave actions of the captain of the ship, Captain Huang Yang, that the people on the east coast finally figured out the reality of the Spanish fleet in the port: The Spanish-Peruvian fleet anchored in the port of Callao now has a total of five warships, the largest of which is a four-masted battleship that is obviously its flagship "San Lorenzo", and as for the rest of the warships, it can only be guessed. According to the information available to the people on the east coast, two of the four ships should be the "Countess Alfonso" and the "Conqueror of Araucan", and the other two ships are not clear, only that they are two-masted Galen ships, and the number of guns should be about 30 by sight - of course, the caliber and the ratio of diameter cannot be compared with the naval guns on the battleships on the east coast.

"It seems that the Spaniards have also built two new ships and launched them in the past ten years, which is really surprising." In the captain's room of the battleship "10 August," the captains of the three main battleships and the chief and deputy commanders of the army were all present to listen to the instructions of Vice Admiral Lu Ming, commander-in-chief of the task force.

At this time, Lu Ming poured himself a glass of wine, and after pondering for a while, he said: "But the strength of the Spanish and Peruvian fleets is like this, there are more than ten warships at its peak. Now only half of the strength is left. Ladies and gentlemen. The ships of the Spanish-Peruvian fleet, although there are more than ours. But with the exception of the flagship, which still has a fight, the remaining four ships are no match for us. Our first task now is to lure the Spanish Navy out of port for a decisive battle with our forces, so as to achieve a successful battle and eliminate the greatest threat in the South Pacific waters. ”

"Commander, we all understand what you say, but the problem is that the Spaniards don't fight." Huang Yang, the captain of the battleship "East Coastism", said depressedly, with a piece of gauze wrapped around his forehead. When he was forcibly storming the harbor just now, a shell from a Spanish coastal defense gun hit the bridge of the ship, and the broken wood chips hit him right on the forehead, and the blood covered his eyes at that time. Fortunately, it was not a wound, so bandaging it did not prevent Huang Yang from continuing to perform his duties as captain.

"The Spaniards also know their own pounds and taels, and they are now cowering in the port of Callao, relying on a large number of coastal defense batteries to deal with us. We can't force our way to the port, that would be too much of a loss, but it's not a problem to be blocked outside. And I think their land defense fortresses are also very well repaired, and there must be a lot of land forces in places like Lima and Callao, and I heard that the headquarters of the Lima Colonial Corps is here. Although the number and equipment of these thousands of men on our hands must have exceeded the Spanish defenders in the city of Lima, we have to say that we have to take the city. I don't think it's very likely. Huang Yang continued, "Now I think I have to wait for one chance to get these old Spanish tortoises out. ”

Huang Yang said that this opportunity is understood by everyone here, that is, when the annual Gajaanes fleet docks at the port of Cartagena (now Cartagena, Venezuela) on the Spanish mainland (that is, the South American mainland) via Santo Domingo, the Peruvian governor, who receives the news of the arrival of the fleet, will order a large number of ships loaded with South American specialties (cotton, tobacco, cocoa, sugar, leather, dyes, etc., but more importantly, gold, silver and precious metals) to go to the port of Panama offshore.

When this mixed fleet of warships and transports arrived in Panama, the Gajaanes fleet had almost finished its mission in Cartagena (trading, collecting specialities) and had anchored in Puerto Bello (now Portobello). At this time, the two sides transported and exchanged goods by guò mule and horse, industrial goods and daily consumer goods from the Old World arrived in Panama through guò mule gangs, and goods from the New World also arrived in Puerto Bello on the other side of the isthmus through guò pack animals.

At this time of year, Puerto Bello is at its busiest time of the year. With the arrival of the fleet and the gathering of merchants from Peru, Mexico, Texas, Florida and other places, the 40-day market will begin, where a large number of merchants and civilians will trade, and business will flourish.

It was almost time for the Gaiaanes fleet to arrive, as they usually depart from Cadiz in the middle of summer and arrive at the port of Cartagena for more than two months, where they will stay for a month and then move to Port Bello at the end of the year. In other words, on this day in late October, it was almost time for the arrival of the Gajaanes fleet, and at this time, if the Peruvian governor received the news, he should order the Peruvian fleet to escort the convoy to Panama.

"The Spanish transports were anchored in the port of Callao, some of them apparently full of cargo and with a deep draft. The Spaniards usually ship the year's goods and taxes to Lima in advance, and then escort them to Panama by sea at the end of the year. "Our only chance is here, and that's to wait for the Spanish-Peruvian fleet to leave the port, and then seize the opportunity to destroy their fleet in one fell swoop, and even capture a few ships full of cargo, so that we can make a lot of money." ”

"But don't the Spaniards know how to transport by land?" Army Commander Xie Hansan, who was sitting on the side, spoke, only to hear him say: "The Spaniards are not that stupid, are they? Knowing that now that we are guarding outside, will they still force themselves out of the port? It doesn't feel likely! I don't know much about their traffic, but I think they might be able to transport them by land, right? I mean to transport these valuable goods to the port of Panama by land. ”

"According to what we know, how crazy would it take for the Spaniards to do such a thing if they wanted to transport a huge amount of supplies - perhaps two or three thousand tons - through four or five thousand kilometers of rugged mountain roads across the four courts of inquisition in Lima, Quito, Santa Fe and Bogotá and Panama to the port of Panama? Moreover, these places are well-established routes for the Spaniards, who have not invested heavily in the repair of land transportation for many years, so the possibility of transportation by land is very small, and the volume is by no means large. As soon as Huang Yang heard Xie Hansan's words, he immediately began to retort: "At present, the Spaniards have perfect land transportation facilities in the Peruvian Viceroyalty, and basically only the Lima Prosecutor's Court District, and some areas of the two major Prosecutor's Court Districts of Chalcas and Chile have good land transportation facilities, but the rest of the areas are a mess. ”

Hearing Huang Yang talking endlessly, Xie Hansan sneered twice and didn't speak again.

Huang Yang glanced at him, an army man, and continued to say proudly: "The Lima Inquisition District is the most densely populated, the most prosperous, and the best industrial base (simple primary industry, mining) in the entire Peruvian Viceroyalty. Among them, the supplies of Huancavelica (mercury), Cusco (consumer goods and tools), and Cochabamba (wheat) are indispensable for the Potosí mine, and once the road to Potosí in these three areas is cut off, then the Potosí silver mine can be discontinued. So for more than a hundred years, the Spaniards have been spending huge manpower and material resources to improve the roads between these provinces to ensure that the transportation of silver is not affected in any way. But beyond these areas, the journey from Lima north to the Panamanian Prosecutor's Court, the northernmost part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, is transported by sea, and the land transport is in such disrepair that it is completely inaccessible to large convoys. ”

"So, we just need to hold off the Spaniards' fleet outside Lima." Lu Ming stood up at this time, walked to the window, glanced outside at Lima City, which was gradually moving away, and then said in a deep voice: "Then we will wait, anyway, there is no hurry, it is the Spaniards who are in a hurry!" Ladies and gentlemen, please remember that the purpose of our entry into the Pacific was not to conquer cities or loot supplies, but to strike at the Spanish war potential and will to fight. ”

"The silver mines of the Viceroyalty of Peru (mainly Potosí, but also seven or eight small silver mines in Chile and Lima, such as Puno and Vilalica), were of great importance to the Kingdom of Spain, and all the silver was shipped from the port of Callao in Lima to Panama, so as long as we blockaded Callao, then this silver and a large number of other precious goods could not reach Panama, and the industrial goods brought by the Spaniards from the Old Continent, Nor can weapons, ammunition and consumer goods be distributed to the vast inland towns of Lima (most of the more than 300 towns in Peru are inland). After a long time, the Spaniards will inevitably lose their breath, and things will change at that time. ”

"So ......" Speaking of this, Lu Ming walked back to his seat, slapped his right hand on the table, and raised his voice: "Six auxiliary ships will immediately carry the main force of the army to Pisco in the south, capture that town, and try to obtain key supplies." This town was not established for a long time, and the Spaniards did not have any garrison there, and the specialty of that place was only wheat, and it was very poor, so after the army occupied it, all the grain and livestock were looted as a supply for our next siege of the port of Callao, and this operation was under the unified command of Captain Xie Hansan. In addition, I personally led three main warships cruising the waters off the coast of Callao, closely monitoring the movements of the Spaniards. I've made up my mind, so I'll do it! Let's go and prepare for departure now, don't waste time! (To be continued......)