January 30, 1632. Sean Raffarin was a little irritable.

St. Christopher's business is getting worse day by day. The Spanish attack, the harassment of pirates, and the splices of the British made it difficult to sustain the small island full of tobacco leaves, and there were not many original immigrants left, but more and more British.

It may not be long before Lord Richelieu is replaced by a more powerful company that runs the French territories of Saint-Christophe and Saint-Domingo. In that case, you will have to roll up your bed and return to your fishy hometown in Montpellier, and your future will be bleak.

However, it is too difficult to save the company's precarious finances without local support, and it may be necessary to rob the Spanish silver ship to bring the company back to life. But this kind of thing Sean can only be obsessed with in his mind, and the few remaining wrecked ships of the St. Christopher Company in the Caribbean are probably much more shabby than pirates.

Desperate, Sean stumbled upon the startling news in Santo Domingue: a group of Tatars had taken over a port on the east bank of the Uruguay River and had begun to sell fine Chinese porcelain in large quantities. And this porcelain is specially made in the religious style, and it is sold for sky-high prices in the Netherlands and Germany. The news spread with astonishing speed among pirates and merchants, and even sailors who had been to the "port of Tatan" boasted that the Tatars had tens of thousands of sets of porcelain in their hands, each worth more than 1,000 francs......

10 million francs? Sean smiled, of course it was impossible. But even if the Tatars had only 1,000 sets of porcelain on hand, that would be a huge fortune worth 1,000,000 francs!

It's enough wealth to make even kings mad! This is enough wealth to bring St. Christopher back to life and achieve great development!

Unable to rest on his laurels, Sean immediately returned to St. Christopher's Island, and made great efforts to convince the company's top brass that there was a fascinating wealth in Tartan Harbour, and that this wealth was of unparalleled significance in saving the company.

Sean, who had the support of the company's top management, immediately took action. The two sail galen ships anchored in the harbor of Santo Domingue were refurbished in a very short time, and the long-lost sailors were regrouped; Artillery, ammunition, and firearms were all replenished, and nearly 200 soldiers were recruited for the landing operation.

After hearing that the Tatars might have "dozen" cannons and "hundreds" of arquebuses, Sean finally decided to invite an English ship and a Dutch ship to join the operation after some painful struggles to increase his chances of victory.

There are a lot of people staring at Sean's movements. After the fleet had resupplied from Tortuga and headed south, many pirate or smuggling ships set sail and followed from a distance.

Sean's irritability at this time comes from the followers who are following behind the fleet. However, for these shameless people, Sean has no way to do it, so he can only let it go.

Sean's fleet consisted of 4 ships. Among them, the "Resolve" and "St. Christopher" are the only two Galen ships in good condition of the company: the "St. Christopher" has a displacement of 600 tons, has a good firepower of 38 guns, and is the flagship of Sean Raffarin's trip; In addition, the "Resolve" is also a cutting-edge warship that has not been in service for a long time, with more than 20 large and small guns.

The English ship "Good Old Man" has a displacement of 350 tons and more than 20 guns; The Dutch ship "Raven" was a flute-shaped ship with 150 soldiers on board.

The fleet set sail from the island of Tortuga at the end of December, stopping at Recife, Pernambuco, to replenish some supplies, and then sailed along the coast, and today it has sailed off the coast to the sea off the coast.

The lookout on the mast suddenly conveyed to the boatswain the signal that the target had been found. Sean Raffarin's irritability suddenly disappeared, replaced by a slightly agitated mood. After receiving the report, he immediately walked up to the stern bridge, took out a monocular from his bosom, and carefully observed the coastline.

Nearby, there is a rocky coast, and there is no trace of man-made on the coast, as if it is a barren. Sean slowly turned his vision south, then stopped, and a blurry gray object appeared in the telescope. The object is long and flat, like a mountain and like a city wall.

"Come closer, I'm going to watch the coastline over there." Sean commanded the first mate behind him.

……

"Report! A formation of four sailing ships appeared in the waters to the northeast. ”

Wang Qinian, who was inspecting the No. 1 battery, suddenly came to his senses when he heard this: "Which country's ship is it?" Can you see clearly? ”

"No flags or markings have been flown up."

"Hey, there's a problem." Wang Qinian smacked his lips, "Inform the Army and the Executive Committee of this news." Also, keep a close eye on that fleet. If the other party has an attempt to forcibly dock in Hong Kong, fire a warning gun first. ”

……

"It's amazing!" The first mate of the "St. Christopher" sighed as he observed, "The 'mountains' we thought were actually the walls built by the Tatars, and they were really majestic walls, which surrounded the whole harbor. ”

Sean Raffarin was also watching with a telescope: "There are several boats moored on the docks. God, what kind of ship is that?! The hull is so large, but the deck is an unreasonable high-rise building. What's that vertical cylindrical tube? Is it a chimney? I didn't see where the artillery was mounted either. ”

"Yes, the amidships are not equipped with a single gun. I guess the ship can't sail, it looks like it's been moored here for a long time. "Besides, I seem to have spotted their casemates. ”

As if to confirm what he said, the fort built on the alluvial island at the mouth of the Big Fish River was disguished and the muzzle of the black hole was aimed in the direction of the offshore fleet.

"Captain, if we go any further, they're probably going to open fire." The first mate is in a gang of reminders.

Sean didn't speak, but looked at it carefully for a while, and asked, "Yu Lian, do you see any other forts in them?" ”

Hearing this, the first mate Yu Lian observed again, and said after a long time: "There is also a fort, in front of us on the right, across the sea from the fort on the island in front. The semi-enclosed casemate, with the front and lower protective strips seemingly made of stones, was well concealed. But I suspect that the Tatars must have built a fort on the high ground in the bay, and that fort is probably the main fort. ”

"How many artillery pieces do the Tatars have?" Sean Raffarin chuckled and turned around and patted the first mate on the shoulder: "Let the Determination fire at the battery on the island on the left and test their firepower." ”

"Captain......" "The first mate hesitated, "it's not wise for us to confront their batteries here for anything. In fact, we can land near the port and crush the will of the Tatars to resist with our army. ”

"Their walls are so strong that it would be difficult for them to be conquered by the army alone." Sean was silent, then explained, "In fact we may have underestimated the strength of the Tatars, who had strong walls and forts. In short, this time things may be harder than expected... Execute the order. ”

The first mate saluted and walked briskly out of the bridge. Soon, a transport boat was dropped on board the "St. Christopher", and the first mate of Yu Lian boarded the transport boat to the "Determination" Galen, which was closely behind.

……

"What are they doing?" Lu Ming asked while holding the binoculars and looking at them.

"Who knows? Anyway, the authorities have already given permission to say, if they don't follow the rules and put the boat in front of the shore to make contact, they will hit when they are in range. Chen Tumu also looked at it with a telescope.

These two were the chief and deputy heads of the No. 3 battery. At present, 8 gun emplacements have been built in Fort 3, 4 12-pounder iron cannons, 2 18-pounder copper cannons and 2 18-pounder steel cannons have been installed, with a total of more than 60 gunners. Each emplacement was semi-enclosed, protected by thick brick walls and sandbags in front of the cannon, with a wooden roof built on top of the emplacement, and a semi-enclosed ammunition depot underneath the emplacement. In addition, there is a depot on the island to store small quantities of fresh water and food.

"They're moving!" Chen Tumu's voice suddenly raised a line, "There is a ship approaching us. ”

"Is it in range?" Lu Ming, who had already taken off the telescope, observed again.

"It's coming." Chen Tumu looked at the buoy marking the distance in the sea and said, "They have no intention of stopping. Or... Fire a warning, right? ”

"Fire!" Lu Ming hesitated slightly, and then ordered.

They were in Gun Position 1, where an 18-pounder steel cannon was mounted. After hearing the command, the gunner immediately began to measure the range, estimate the opponent's speed, and then check the firing table.

"5-pound kit, 18-pound pellet, ready to load."

"Understood! The 5-pound kit and 18-pound pellet have been reloaded! ”

"The elevation angle of the barrel decreased by 1 degree."

"Understood! The barrel elevation angle dropped by 1 degree to complete. ”

"Ready-to-go!"

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the 18-pounder long-barreled cannon at gun position No. 1 roared and fired the first shot of the day.