Ten days after the capture of Pensacola, another Tang fleet from the west coast arrived at the beginning of the first prototype of Pensacola's new fortifications. In addition to transporting all kinds of necessary materials, this fleet also carried more than 600 Datang militiamen stationed in Florida in the first batch. The arrival of this group of left-behind militia liberated Liu Fangwu's expeditionary force, which was not very strong in itself, and then there was the battle to capture St. Augustine, and the northward participation in the War of Independence, and it was impossible to divide the troops to stay in any of the occupied cities.

This task was handed over to the newly arrived Datang militia, all of whom had a certain degree of military literacy and had an overwhelming advantage over any enemy of this era in terms of equipment. The S1 Springfield rifle was equipped with every soldier, and their squads were also equipped with Thompson and Remington, and the platoon firepower also included heavy machine guns, as well as small-caliber heavy firepower such as grenadiers and 60mm mortars. Of course, to defend the town, they also had some 105mm howitzers with fixed batteries against the enemy who came from the sea.

It can be said that the field combat capability of the Datang militia does not need to be counted on much, and it is completely unnecessary, because they mainly guard the fixed strongholds, and they can rely on their geographical advantages and firepower.

In addition, the Datang militia is not out of production, and more than 300 militiamen will remain in Pensacola, roughly the size of a battalion. On the one hand, they will follow the schedule and carry out the work of combat readiness and guarding. On the other hand, when they are not on duty, the Datang militia will also participate in some daily production, such as farming, handicrafts, commerce and so on. Cotton seeds, imported from the southern United States, will also be grown locally.

The thousands of captured British soldiers, hundreds of local residents, will also be arranged to work, Datang will develop the local area according to its own plan, all residents are not requisitioned, they will all receive a certain amount of payment, and it will definitely be better than their previous income. The pound sterling will not continue to be used, and the official currency Tang Yuan naturally circulates in the land of Datang, but the local residents seem to prefer to use Huayang trading. And it is not very acceptable to accept the original Tang Yuan banknotes like colorful pieces of paper.

Although Huayang is also a type of Datang currency, its currency status is low. In the new colony, the calculation of labor and management was still based on the Tang Yuan as the basic standard, and the Tang Yuan banknotes were issued to the local residents. This also sparked panic and resentment among the local residents, who believed that the Tang were going to exploit their labor in this way. However, they were later told that they could exchange paper money for peony silver dollars at local financial institutions. And some people did try to exchange silver coins, and slowly people accepted Datang banknotes. After all, banknotes are easy to carry and easy to trade. However, the locals do not have much money, and even the purchasing power of one Tang Yuan banknote is not small, so they usually use metal coins.

The colonial government's requirement to hand over all non-Tang Yuan currencies and exchange them for the currency of their own country, and that only Tang Yuan be used in domestic transactions, was of course not fully fulfilled, but it also promoted the popularization of the use of Tang Yuan by the locals.

After the left-behind militia took over the work of the expeditionary force, Liu Fangwu did not stay long. He quickly assembled the men and horses of the expeditionary force, boarded the ship again, left Pensacola, bypassed the Florida peninsula, and entered the Atlantic, preparing to capture St. Augustine.

The British army was now somewhat overstretched, compared to the previous Pensacola. The British troops stationed at St. Augustine consisted of only two or three hundred men. The city's location was not good, and its position was rapidly weakened in later generations, and the function of the regional center was replaced by Jacksonville in the north.

St. Augustine is a standard harbor city, and although the coastline around it is relatively straight, it is not unsheltered from the elements, just like the topography of Pensacola. St. Augustine is also surrounded by sheltered land, not an island, but a body of water called the Matanzas, which stretches for thirty-seven kilometers from St. Augustine and is part of the famous inshore inner waterway, not a freshwater river, but a saltwater river.

The Don fleet marched unhindered from the mouth of the Matanzas River. Placing the battleship directly in the middle of the river and using artillery to bombard the fort on the shore, the governor of the British East Florida colony, Patrick. Seeing such a scene, Tonion knew that with the strength of St. Augustine, he could not resist it at all, and sent personnel to negotiate with the Don Army under a white flag.

The governor had a good hand and agreed to hand over St. Augustine to the Don army, but the Don army had to ensure that the British could withdraw from the area without any pursuit or any other form of aggression.

Liu Zhenlong couldn't help but ask: "It's daydreaming, let's raze this place in minutes, Pensacola has learned from the past, what reason is there to let them go?" ”

This form of negotiation is actually a common occurrence among the European powers, whose armies have limited discipline, and they often demand that they withdraw when they can't fight, and you can occupy the cities as you please. However, this situation occurs more often when there is a stalemate, and at this moment, Tang Jun has the absolute initiative, so naturally he will not let them go like this.

Liu Fangwu, commander of the expeditionary force, replied: "There are only two roads in front of you, one is to surrender unconditionally to us, and the second is to be unconditionally eliminated by us. ”

After the news was sent back, Liu Fangwu did not have the slightest consciousness that the two sides were negotiating and could not lightly start the war, and ordered the navy to bombard the fortress on the shore. The Governor of East Florida, Tonion, immediately relented and ordered all British troops to lay down their arms and surrender to the Don Army.

In this way, the expeditionary force took the capital of East Florida without bloodshed, but there were not even a thousand soldiers as residents, which shows the extent of the wilderness. There was also a colony in the south of East Florida, called New Smyrna, which was also relatively small, and the Tang army used to declare its dominion over the area, and then left it alone. The British strongholds in East Florida were also uprooted in turn, and Liu Fangwu formed a captive building to help the Tang soldiers work in the militia.

With regard to the development of East Florida, the Cabinet did not believe that there was any special development potential in St. Augustine, and that the residential area could be preserved, but the military installation might as well be destroyed. The Don Army's target was the city of Johnsonville along the St. John's River, which later served as a naval base for the U.S. Army, and the land was vast and fertile, making it more suitable for development.

So, pulling a group of British prisoners, the Don army came to the place where Johnsonville was, which had not yet been developed at the moment, and it was impossible to say that British prisoners would be used to do these things. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for the recommendation ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. )