"Die, dare to resist, shoot me! Fire! On the foredeck of the escort gunboat "Gu Yu", Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu looked at a three-masted sailing ship that had fled away, and said with some annoyance.

Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu was originally the commander of the South China Sea Detachment of the First Fleet of the Navy, but during the large-scale transfer of the naval system some time ago, he was moved from his comfort nest on the mainland to the hot and humid Caribbean Sea to serve as the commander of the Caribbean Detachment of the First Fleet. In his place was Lieutenant Colonel Liu Fubo, former commander of the Okhotsk Naval Detachment of the Third Fleet, who had served in the Far East for many years, starting as the captain of a shallow gunboat on inland rivers.

Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, former commander of the Caribbean Fleet of the First Fleet, went to Cape Verde to serve as commander of the Cape Verde Fleet. Lieutenant Commander Cai Anguo, commander of the Cape Verde detachment, went to the Far East and joined the Third Fleet. Oh, by the way, the commanders of the three fleets have also been transferred to each other, Colonel Li Zemin is now the commander of the Second Fleet, Colonel Mo Liege is the commander of the Third Fleet, and Colonel Jiang Yaohui, who has been in charge of the Third Fleet for many years, went to the First Fleet as he wished, and took charge of the most powerful maritime force in the East Coast Republic of China.

To be sure, Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu was reluctant to come to the Caribbean, a place where he felt uncomfortable. The heat, humidity, disease, currents, winds, and weather conditions are uncommon, making it difficult for anyone to get used to it and taking a long time to adapt – or many die before they can adapt – compared to the mild, prosperous and relatively calm climate.

Well, I know that envy to be the commander of the South China Sea Squadron is premature, many people say that it is too comfortable. Anyone who is a little self-motivated in their career prefers to take on one challenge after another and have the courage to work where they can best demonstrate their abilities, but the environment in the Caribbean is too harsh, although it is very important for the country.

"Commander, that ship is designed for smuggling, and it is very fast, and it will be difficult for us to catch up for a while." The captain of the "Gu Yu" put down the binoculars on his chest, shook his head helplessly, and said: "Moreover, they are very determined to break their wrists." As soon as they realized that something was wrong, they began to throw away the low-value but relatively tonnage cargo in the hold, and in this way, they soon did not lose speed and we probably never caught up again. ”

In fact, the "Trotto" class frigate gunboats, which have gradually become the backbone of the navy on the east coast, are not slow, but they are only compared to the heavy professional warships of other countries, and they are still quite inferior to those light sailing ships designed for smuggling and trade. After all, this is not a "Star" class light cruiser designed for anti-smuggling, but a frigate gunboat designed to go on the battle line to confront the enemy, so the smuggling ship of unknown nationality in front of them will definitely not be able to catch up.

"They are sailing to the shallow water, our ship has a deep draft, and I am afraid that it will be dangerous if we go." The navigator, who had also been observing the enemy situation in front of him, also spoke up at this time, which made Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu even more upset, but he was also a reasonable person, and after looking at the smuggling ship a few more times, he finally gave the order to turn the rudder.

This order made everyone secretly relieved, knowing that the new commander was not the kind of unreasonable battle maniac, and he was not so keen on helping Air Canada to fight the fire, which was good. You know, the Admiralty has never given their Caribbean detachment any hard anti-smuggling tasks, and they have never received a penny at customs, so helping to fight smuggling is a sentiment, not to help is the job, not to mention that even if it is to help with smuggling, it is best to send those fast light cruisers out, their relatively heavy combat is simply far away from this kind of chase, and it is better to focus on training and deterrence.

And the so-called deterrence, in fact, is very simple, that is, from time to time to go around the British islands, French islands, and Dutch islands, go to other people's routes to swing around, declare their existence, let everyone know you, know you, fear you, and the right to speak and influence is like this little by little.

In recent years, the strength of the Caribbean Detachment of the First Fleet has grown rapidly, and it now has two "Tsurotto"-class frigates, four "Star"-class light cruisers, and one fresh water supply ship, a total of seven ships, and its strength is already relatively outstanding in the Caribbean. After all, these are all professional warships, not military and civilian ships that are improvised by other countries, cruising along fixed routes on weekdays, cracking down on smuggling and declaring force at the same time, and the results achieved are quite good. At the very least, the Spaniards were relatively honest in this assertion of force, as evidenced by the fact that several ports along the Caribbean coast had for many years continued to be controlled by the East Coasters.

The "Gu Yu" then sailed at sea for several days, until the afternoon of February 18, 1683, when it quietly sailed into the port of Veracruz, on the western side of the Caribbean Sea.

This city was an important port of the Kingdom of Spain in the New World, and the treasure fleet must pass through, and every year the taxes, specialties, gold and silver bars of the central and northern parts of New Spain are concentrated in this port, and then handed over to the treasure fleet full of goods from the Old World to bring back to Europe. Therefore, the trade here was very prosperous, and even the customs set up here by the people of the East were making a lot of money, bringing a large amount of tax revenue to the Kingdom of Spain - which was difficult to do before the people of the East Coast came, and the corrupt colonial officials colluded with foreign smugglers to let the large import and export duties that belonged to the king go to waste, and it was better to leave them to the people of the East Coast, although they would take the opportunity to exclude the merchants of other countries, but at least they would bring a lot of customs revenue to the king, wouldn't it?

Of course, many years after the East Coast people took control of the customs, those discontent forces in the past have long been out of the climate, and the division and disintegration of the East Coast people have long ceased to be a trouble. Moreover, many Spanish port officials have long been bribed and corrupted by the East Coast, and even the active warships on the East Coast can dock in an important port city like Veracruz, so what else is there to say?

Two Spanish warships were also moored in the harbor. The tonnage of the warship is not large, the oak hull, it looks a little old, but the firepower is okay, there are a total of 18 guns of various types, and it can also be ranked in the Caribbean. There is no doubt that this should be the main warship of the Spaniards' windward fleet, and an important part of the Spaniards' military presence in the Caribbean.

However, I heard that the Spaniards were planning to obtain a loan from the east coast to order new ships, which would cost about 220,000 pesos, mainly the lighter "Star" class light cruisers, a total of six, plus two "throttle" class frigates (both without steam propulsion systems), plus some spare parts and personnel training costs. Some of these warships will be added to the Lima fleet, and some will be added to the Windward fleet, or the latter is the main one, because the Pacific side does not need too strong sea power.

With the addition of these ships, the strength of the Windward Fleet will be significantly enhanced, and it will be very important for controlling Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola (the entire island is now part of Spain), and other outlying islands that are more important to the Spanish Kingdom. At least, if France and England did not mobilize warships on a large scale from their homeland, it would be difficult to suppress the Spaniards in terms of strength, and it could even be said that their strength was inferior to that of the Spaniards, and they were suppressed by the Windward Fleet.

And if we count the Caribbean detachment of the Spaniards' quasi-allies on the east coast, the warships of the two countries will not be a problem in the Caribbean Sea, not to mention controlling the entire sea, keeping their respective islands, and maintaining the tranquility of the sea frontier, and no one will be able to challenge the strength of the Wind Fleet and the Caribbean Detachment on the surface.

"I heard that the Spaniards want to continue to mortgage the customs in exchange for our country's loans to them to buy ordnance and order ships, and this Xiangfeng fleet should be able to catch the melons and dates this time." After the ship anchored, the captain of the "Gu Yu" smiled at Lieutenant Commander Zhou Yu and said: "The customs Spaniards in Veracruz, Havana and other places can actually be recovered a long time ago, but they are not stupid, they know that the customs are just a decoration in their hands, and they can't collect a few dollars at all, so it is better to continue to hand it over to Air Canada." However, it is also a good idea to mortgage the customs revenue, and to obtain a large number of loans at once, which is very important for Spain, which lacks renewal of armaments. ”

The words of the captain of the "Gu Yu" were not untargeted, but were said by a local big-mouthed colonial official when he docked in Puerto Bello. Combined with the analysis of the current situation, he thinks that it is still very possible, but it is unlikely to simply mortgage the customs, and it is estimated that the East Coast will have to take advantage of some territory - this point, even the Spaniards in Puerto Bello are very clear, indicating that the East Coast people can confidently and boldly expand in areas such as the Pampa Plain, the Chaco Plain, and the central and southern regions of Chile, and the Spaniards are not expected to give much reaction, and in the end, most of them will get some money from the East Coasters.

"Appropriately improving the strength of the Spaniards is in line with our long-term national policy." Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu is worthy of being a long-time student of the central documents, and he has a very good grasp of the spirit, so he continued: "Strengthening the strength of the Spanish army can improve their ability to protect themselves, so that they will not be beaten so badly that they will quickly collapse. The same was true for the Spaniards' naval strength, especially in the Caribbean Windward Fleet, which was crucial for the two sides to join forces to control the situation on the ground. In fact, for so many years of existence, the Windward Fleet has been said to be the fleet of the Spaniards, but if you really want to look into it, it has actually been helping us indirectly. After all, the stability of the situation in the Caribbean is our greatest interest, and we have little territorial claim to the Caribbean Sea, as long as we have a foothold, but commercial interests must not be left to others. The Americas are the Americas of the Americans, and our Republic of the East Coast of China is the most outstanding representative of the Americans, so this America is also the America of our East Coast people, and it is better for the merchants from the Old World to get out of the way. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu's words made everyone chuckle. Yes, the Windward Fleet and the Caribbean Detachment can join forces and gain the upper hand in the Caribbean. In the future, after coordinating their respective interests, they can even join forces to expel the colonial forces of other countries and recapture some islands that have been invaded by Britain, France, and the Netherlands one by one (French Santo Domingo returned to the embrace of the Kingdom of Spain, which gave them a lot of confidence). And after the expulsion of the colonial power of other countries, the market is almost unified by the people on the east coast, and what a huge benefit.

Of course, there are so many interest groups involved in this kind of thing that the Spaniards may not have the courage to do so. In any case, it is okay to strengthen them at this stage, which will give the old country on the decline path a little bit of self-preservation - they will not allow anyone else to take advantage of the beautiful and delicious cake of "Spain" on the east coast.

"When we get ashore, talk to the Air Canada people and see if they have any problems that we can help us solve. It's no wonder it's not easy for them to manage customs here. Well, you should focus on the recent movements of the Sumo gang, they haven't made any trouble for a long time, and they are a little too quiet, which is not in line with their usual style. This matter should be asked in secret, try to find the customs director, no one else is reliable. Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu looked at the bustling commercial street in Veracruz City in the distance, and whispered to the captain.

The Sumo pirate gang in Texas is undoubtedly inextricably linked to the East Coast military and Air Canada, and sometimes it is not even an exaggeration to say that it is subordinate, and Su Mo and others have been serving the interests of the East Coast Republic for many years. According to the arrangement of the General Directorate of National Intelligence, the customs of Port Veracruz is an important channel for the exchange of intelligence and information between the two sides, so this is what Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yu said just now.

The captain is also an old man, and it is not the first time he has experienced this, so he nodded silently, and planned to ask the commissioner secretly as soon as he went ashore, to see what "achievements" the bastards who have settled in Texas have done recently, and what assistance they need, and then he will report it, and if it can be solved on the spot, it will naturally be solved on the spot, and arrangements will be made later if it can't. After all, Su Mo's gang is still a relatively important chess piece, and they will not be easily abandoned.