After the last supplies were brought ashore, the ships of the East Coast Naval Fleet, under the watchful eye of Patagoni's hired men on the docks of Magellan's intelligence station, slowly increased the pressure of the steam boilers, pulled anchor in turn, and left the harbor and headed for the open sea.

Beginning with the flagship of the Pacific Temporary Task Force, the 10 August, followed by the new battleship "East Coast," which had not been in service for a long time, and the former Spanish fleet of La Plata, the landing ship "Cádiz Rock," which had undergone steam technology. These three are the main warships, and they are also the only three warships in this western Pacific combat operation, although the number is small, but the tonnage, firepower, and fast speed, those small ships of the Spanish and Peruvian fleets are really not enough to see in front of them.

In addition to these three combat ships, the entire Pacific Temporary Task Force also has six large ships, namely 2 ammunition supply ships, 1 fresh water supply ship, 1 troop transport ship, 1 coal carrier, and 1 repair ship. The ships were loaded with all kinds of supplies and personnel - all prepared for landing operations, and it is worth mentioning that all nine ships of the Pacific Interim Task Force were sail hybrids, but far superior to the Spanish ships in terms of maneuverability.

Especially in the Strait of Magellan, where the wind direction and ocean currents are changeable, the probability of accidents on traditional sailboats is not low, especially when going against the wind from east to west, it is even more difficult, and if you are not careful, you will run aground or sink for various reasons. However, ships with steam power assistance are different, they can lower their sails and sail at low speed purely by steam power during dangerous sections, and it is also very convenient to turn to avoid it, and the probability of shipwreck is greatly reduced.

Therefore, the Pacific Interim Task Force took great pains in selecting ships. Not only are most of them new. And it's all sail hybrid. It is much more luxurious than the fleet that will sail from mainland China to Europe for trade in a few days (3 battleships + 10 frigates + 22 flute ships, commanded by Captain Guo Zili). The firepower, speed, and maneuverability were expected to make the small, old ships of the Spanish-Peruvian fleet cry without tears.

There were also quite a few army units that fought with nine naval vessels, including 5 infantry companies, 2 artillery companies, 2 county militia brigades, all 35 regiments of the cadet regiment (500 people), and more than 1,000 Klandi volunteers (including some gauchos), totaling about 5,000 people. All the units were replenished with personnel and equipment before departure, so these troops were fully equipped at the moment, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

After the departure of these troops, two infantry companies, two artillery companies, four cavalry companies, the 36th Regiment of the Cadet Regiment and the 37th Regiment of the graduating regiment, four county militia brigades, more than 1,000 Eastern European mercenaries, and the nearly 2,000 Crandic Volunteers numbered nearly 2,000 men. Both the quantity and quality are considerable, and it is basically easy to deal with the Spaniards and withdraw a large number of troops to the mainland to take turns.

On 15 September, the Pacific Task Force of the First Fleet of the Republic of the East Coast Navy crossed the western section of the Strait of Magellan and entered the relatively calm Pacific Ocean, and then found a sufficiently spacious sheltered anchor in the group of islands north of Contreras Island. At the same time, they dispatched the Grocery Store 2 supply ship to Ciudad Araucan (Puerto Natales) along a concealed route surveyed by Magellan's intelligence station over the course of a year, while the rest of the ships remained on standby in the sheltered bay for the return of the Grocery Store 2.

It is said that the city of Araucan has also been established for several years, and now it has become the stronghold of the rebels in Araucan, Chile. Thousands of Araukan live here and in the vast area of the suburbs, who grow rye, oats and potatoes under the guidance of the people of the East Coast. At the same time, goats were grazing to provide a solid material basis for the guerrillas to go north to fight the Spaniards. As for the equipment, ammunition, medicine, and clothing needed by the guerrillas for fighting all year round, most of them were provided free of charge by the Magellan intelligence station on the east coast, and a small part were exchanged for food, wool, and leather by the Araucans, who had only such a pitiful amount of money.

The Araukan guerrillas numbered about five or six hundred people, and their official name was still the East Coast people's gang, the "Araukan Liberation Army." To be honest, this organization is still a little advanced, and its leader, Vicente Jr., is the son of the founder of the first Araucan guerrilla force, Vicente Sr., who had studied for a period of time in the Magellan intelligence station on the east coast, and who knew Spanish, Chinese, and Araucan, and he proposed a program of action for the guerrillas, that is, to defeat the Spaniards and establish their own kingdom, which was similar to the "expulsion of the Tartars and the restoration of China" proposed by the revolutionaries in the late Qing Dynasty.

It's just that in this era, the idea of nationalism has not yet germinated, and everyone does not care much about whether the ruler is a foreign race or not. You only have to look at Austria, Ottoman, Moscow, Sweden, Poland, Persia and other countries, some of them live in multi-ethnic groups in their own countries, and some of the ruling ethnic groups do not account for the majority (Ottoman, Swedish, Persian, etc.), but as long as the upper class aristocracy is not particularly fiercely oppressed, basically everyone can be at peace and accept the reality of being obedient to foreign races.

Of course, the Spaniards in Chile were clearly not good rulers at this time, and the existence of the guardianship system made it a de facto serfdom. White Spaniards were nominally the guardians of the Araucans and the leaders who led them to civilization, but in reality they were all out-and-out slave owners. They trafficked people, brutally exploited and oppressed the natives, especially in the mines, where the conditions were harsh, the food was poor, the work was heavy, and a large number of Araucan miners were tortured to death, and the rest rebelled, but they were often greeted by the brutal repression of the Spaniards.

The Spaniards stationed a large number of Indian soldiers from Peru in various settlements and communication arteries in north-central Chile, and these people were accomplices of the Spanish rule in South America.

Like the Guarani people in Paraguay, they were the lambs of missionary groups such as the Society of Jesus and St. Franciscans, and they were the pioneers and good doglegs of the Spaniards to open up the American continent. Later, as the Araucan population became more and more scarce, the resistance became weaker, and over time there was no longer the power to overthrow the Spanish rule.

And now in the middle of the 17th century, both the Araucans of Chile and the Crondí of La Plata (which had not yet experienced the brutal repression of the great uprising of the fifties) were still quite large. Especially in Chile, there are still hundreds of thousands of Araucans, so the "Araucan Liberation Army" of Vicente Jr. is thinking of uniting the majority of the brutally enslaved Araucans to rise up and overthrow the Spanish rule, and then follow the system of the country on the east coast to establish the Araucans themselves, so that the Araucan nation can stand tall among the nations of the world.

The Magellan's intelligence station, set up by the East Coasters, has long insisted on providing assistance to Vicente Jr.'s team, and this is the biggest reason why they have been able to hold out until now in the face of disadvantage. However, the people of the East Coast are not a fortune boy, and you have to be obedient if you give you assistance, otherwise there will be no way to ask for any more assistance in the future.

The Araukans had no bargaining power over the demands of the East Coasters. For example, in April, they received orders from Bilas, the commander of Magellan's intelligence station, to coordinate the offensive of the East Coast Army in La Plata in central Chile, and attacked 11 Spanish military posts in a short period of time. Morality. Sosa was furious, and the 1,000 servant troops who had been scheduled to be transferred to Córdoba were temporarily canceled and turned south to suppress the Araucan uprising.

This time, the East Coasters again demanded that a large number of capable guerrillas who were well acquainted with Chile be sent to lead the way for the East Coast Army, so that they could more effectively attack the Spanish settlements, material storage sites, and important mine ports. In addition to leading the way, the Araucan Liberation Army will of course send a certain number of capable fighters to accompany it to the north to participate in the attack on the Spanish settlements, and by the way, to free the enslaved Araucans.

At present, the "Grocery Store No. 2" water supply ship is there to pick up people, and at the same time to give a batch of supplies to the local Araukan people. Vicente the Younger was a man of understanding, and he knew that the Araucans alone could not overthrow the Spanish rule, and that they had to cling to the thighs of the East Coast to have the slightest possibility. He was therefore pleased to send a total of about 400 men, led by him, aboard the ships of the East Coasters, and on 23 September returned to the anchorage of the Pacific Temporary Task Force.

The commander-in-chief of the operation, Lieutenant Commander of the East Coast Task Force, Lieutenant Commander Lu Ming, took the time to meet with Vicente Jr., and talked with him about his father's encounter on the island of Chiloe, expressed regret for the death of Vicente the Elder in Puerto Barrios (Puerto Montt), and encouraged him to work hard and work with the people on the East Coast to overthrow the Spanish rule.

After joining up with the Araucan Belt and Road Party, the Temporary Pacific Task Force of the Eastern Republic was no longer delayed, and the nine ships set sail again, then turned due north towards the island of Chiloé, the first target, the core mission of the Jesuits in south-central Chile. (To be continued......)