The fleet sailed into the Gulf of Acapulco, surrounded by a headland, with an entrance channel of 1.8 nautical miles. The Gulf of Acapulco is 3.5 nautical miles long from east to west and 2 nautical miles wide from north to south. The headland on the western side of the bay turns at the edge of the main channel and retracts inward, forming a smaller bay with the land. More than 1 mile from the coastline is a ring of mountains. A winding post road leads to Mexico City, leading to Veracruz.

The port of Acapulco is a deep water, with its headlands and mountains sheltering from the wind and waves, and is the best anchorage for sailing

The port and city were built on land to the west of the bay. Fort San Diego faces the adducted headland side, which is only half a nautical mile above sea surface. Fort Santiago is a five-pointed star-shaped bastion with five sharp corners: Fort San Jose, Fort San Antonio, Fort St. Louis, Fort Santa Barbara, and Fort of Origin, each with a towering tower.

Chen Shouxu raised his binoculars and looked at the dense heavy artillery barrels on the fortress, and could only shake his head and sigh. Although the galleon trade was interrupted for two years, and Acapulco's defenses were inadequate, the fortress of Santiago was still beyond the reach of pirates.

Harris put down his binoculars, "The Dutch plundered Acapulco in 1615, and they did so well that they forced the Doge of New Spain to spend so much money to build such a powerful fortress. ”

Four clouds of black smoke rose from the fortress, which was alerted to the rear and at sea to discover a powerful pirate fleet. New Spain, unlike Central America, Acapulco could receive rear reinforcements from land.

The heavy artillery of the bastion fired at the sea, the range completely covered the fairway, and the Spanish soldiers were ready for battle.

The fleet anchored in the bay, three cruisers blocked the channel, and the rest of the ships confronted the Spaniards out of range of heavy artillery.

Chen Shouxu pointed to the tip of the cape, "Let the marines land on the cape, we will block the Spaniards inside the city wall." ”

The headland of Acapulco is steep in most places, with the exception of the tip of the headland and a few places near it that are slightly gentle, and the terrain does not expect to carry artillery, and the marines and sailors carry only small arms and wooden ladders to board the longboats.

The town is built along the undulating terrain between the coast and the mountains. After seeing more neatly planned Spanish colonial cities, the scattered city of Acapulco in front of you has a unique flavor. In addition to the fort and nearby towns, the bay is surrounded by lush forests that stretch from the headland to the hills behind the town. The view is really nice.

The Marines carefully leaned the longboat toward the shore, surrounded by reefs that had been smoothed by the waves. The first echelons of the landing included sappers, who made a simple arrangement of the terrain near the landing site to make the subsequent echelon landing more aspect.

The entire landing operation was in good order, and the soldiers assembled on the shore without hurrying or slowing. When the number of people who landed reached 500, Holren led them into the forest and drove towards the city along a path that had been trodden by men.

The march route is about 5 kilometers, and the terrain is very rugged and forested, and it can take two or three hours to reach it.

Chen Shouxu did not summon, and Acapulco would not receive substantial reinforcements for at least a few days.

The sloops cruising slowly around the fleet, providing alert on the perimeter. Seeing that there would be no major movements, Chen Shouxu left the deck and returned to the cabin, he had other work to do.

Chen Shouxu spread out the charts and his own map, and the Manila galleon would sail south to between 12 and 14 degrees north latitude after setting sail from Acapulco, sailing west to Guam on the trade winds and the warm equatorial currents of the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Marshall Islands on the way. After a brief stop on Guam to replenish the defenders of the base, they sailed to Cabo Espírito Santo, later the island of Samar. It then crosses the Strait of Espírito Santo (later known as the San Bernardino Strait in World War II) into the inland sea of the Philippine archipelago, passes through the Mindoro Strait into the South China Sea, and then sails to Cavite in Manila. The voyage takes about three months, and the merchant ships sail out of Acapulco at the beginning of the year to catch the southwest monsoon when they arrive in Asia.

In order to avoid the Dutch fleet, the galleons would first sail south, sail through the Philippine Inland Sea against the route of the Americas, exit the Strait of Espiritu Santo, take the southwest monsoon north until near 42 degrees north latitude, find the Japanese warm current and take the westerly wind belt eastward, until they reach Cape Mendoza and then go south along the coast of California to Acapulco. The route was later moved a little south after changing the turn landmark to Guadalupe Island. Although the westerly wind belt in the northern hemisphere is said to be smaller than the wind and waves in the southern hemisphere, it is also very limited. Coupled with the fact that there are many headwinds and currents in the voyage, the voyage from Asia to the Americas is much more arduous, taking six months.

Originally, galleons from Asia to the Americas would also dock in Japan for supplies and do a little business along the way. Later, Japan directly seized a galleon, and the Dutch United East India Company monopolized the Japanese route, and the route to Japan was too dangerous, and the Manila galleon no longer approached Japan.

In fact, this is just the ideal situation for the Manila galleon route. If there is pirate or bad weather during the voyage, or if the time of the goods trading in the port is not right, the entire voyage plan will be disrupted, and it will often take longer.

Leaving aside trade and the monsoon after arrival in Asia, the Spaniards had been sailing from Acapulco to Asia for a hundred years. The route itself is very mature, and sailing along the trade wind belt is also considered the most comfortable transoceanic route, much safer than those that use the westerly wind belt.

The sailing boat's route is still relatively empty, and there are few islands that pass by, so that the sailboat can run at night without worrying about undiscovered reefs. Although Chen was able to use longitude and later maps, it was impossible for him to be familiar with the distribution of reefs in the Pacific Ocean, the pattern of tidal weather and wind direction, and the possibility of sudden sea conditions. If he was leading an expedition, then he wouldn't mind trying a new route, but now he was leading an armed fleet, so it was safest for him to run along the route of a Manila galleon, mature and effective.

Chen Shouxu needs to consider where to choose as a temporary anchorage on the road, although the sailing ship may not be able to find the planned island when sailing on the sea, or it may find it but cannot berth due to the wind direction and weather, but it is prepared. According to the experience of the Dutch, even if all preparations were made, sailors would fall ill in the third month after sailing, and in the fourth month there would be deaths, and if the fourth month happened to be in the tropics, then congratulations, there would be a mass death of the crew.

Therefore, Chen Shouxu considered finding an island where he could rest in the second half of the voyage. If the crew's body can't sustain the three-month voyage, finding an anchorage for the crew to go ashore to rest will greatly reduce the crew's mortality rate.

There will be no islands for a long time in the initial leg of this route. Until the Central Pacific section, the conditions of the Hawaiian Islands were very good, but Hawaii was located between the north-south routes of Manila galleons, and the Spaniards had been running in the Pacific Ocean for many years, and had never heard of any connection between them and the Hawaiian Islands.

In the Polynesian archipelago of the Lane Islands, the northernmost Kingman Reef is too small and has no fresh water. The island of Terlayina has the only freshwater lake in the archipelago, and the conditions are very good, but it is too far off course south of the 10th parallel. Moreover, the location is close to the equatorial windless zone, so Tailaina Island is only a plan for Chen Shouxuan in case of a large-scale outbreak of disease in the fleet.

Then there is the Marshall Islands, where some atolls at the northern tip of the island are located north of the 10th parallel, next to the shipping route. The Biki Atoll and Kwajalein Atoll in the archipelago are all thunderous names, and for Chen, the location of the Marshall Islands is slightly westerly, but close to the shipping route, which is his preferred stopover.

After passing through the Marshall Islands, it is Guam. The Mariana Islands are now under Spanish rule, and Guam has a Spanish base. The fiefdoms that Philip II gave to the Filipino conquistador Legazpi were the two islands in the Mariana Islands, but apart from Guam, Spain had no actual control over the Mariana Islands, and was more of a verbal claim.

Seeing the location of Saipan, Chen Shouxu sighed a little, and in his earliest plan with Maiden, Saipan was a possible base option. Saipan was large enough to accommodate his soldiers and the people who fed his army, but it was too far from a trading center and had no good haven from the threat of typhoons, so it could be of little use. Later, Saipan became just a backhand in their plans.

Chen Shouxu and Maiden's plans were constantly refined during the voyage to South America. In fact, if we look at the route, after setting sail from the port of Rearejo, he can go directly to the route near 10 degrees north latitude, as long as he finds the warm current of the north equator, he can sail to Asia, not to Acapulco.

It's just that for pirates, Veracruz, Portovello, Cartanach and Acapulco, Callao in Lima, Panama, these names are as fatal as Jerusalem is to Christians. On the Atlantic side, Veracruz and Cartanach are hard to go again, so how can Acapulco, which is so close, miss it.

"I'm here for a pilgrimage," Chen Shouxu muttered to himself, "Drake, Henry Morgan, these names are about to leave my life......

He was about to leave the Americas after two years of fighting, and he didn't know when he would come back, and his mood was a little melancholy.

Chen Shouxu put down the sailing compass and walked to the porthole. At sunset, the majestic figure of Fort Santiago stands on the shore, and the Grand Burgundian flag flutters over the castle. A strong fortress can defend the territory, he must have his own fortress, he must have his own territory, he must have his own people. And all this can only be obtained in Asia.

"Commander," Tickie's voice came in.

"What's the matter?"

"Commander Holren sent a communications officer, and he said he had discovered something that might be of interest to you."

Everyone in the fleet knew that because of the existence of the fortress of Santiago, the plundering of Acapulk would not have much to gain. In addition to taking advantage of the mentality of not robbing and not robbing in the city, Chen Shouxu's main purpose was to try to obtain some manpower in the city. Acapulco has settled in some of the old sailors of the Manila galleon route, and it would be advantageous to recruit some of them for the rest of the voyage.

Could it be that Hallren has made a discovery?

Chen Shouxu walked out of the cabin, and the Marine Corps herald saluted upright, to be honest, under the training of several Germans, the Marine Corps' military style and military appearance were indeed much stronger than those of the sailors.

"Report to Commander, Chief Holren asked me to report to you. We found the target in the city, but there was something unusual about it that he couldn't tell. The Marines will then bring the guests onto the boat for you to screen. ”

Chen Shouxu is surprised, now that he has found the target, what will be special about getting a few people on the boat?

"What are you sirs doing?"

"Chief Holren said he wouldn't interfere with the commander's train of thought with unascertainable circumstances."

Chen Shouxu was also helpless, "Okay, okay, then I'll wait on the flagship." ”

At this time, when it was dark, two whale oil signal lights were lit at the stern of the flagship Changshui, and one was lit by the other warships for night identification.

Chen Shouxu continued the day's unfinished work, and it was not until Holren took the guests on board that he walked out of the cabin again.

Guests, or rather prisoners, numbering dozens, were gathering near the daytime landing site.

Holren took three of them to the flagship.

There were clouds obscuring the moon, and there were only a few lights on the battleship, and the light was dim.

Chen Shouxu had a playful expression, "What special circumstances have made our army generals spend so long and still can't figure out the situation?" ”

Hallren smiled widely, "Commander, you can see how difficult the road is after we land. The march from the headland to the town took too long, and the Spaniards had already set foot on the post road with their treasures, or had entered the fortress. There were only a few servants and slaves left in the town. The poor could not get on their horses and run away like the rich, so they had to hide in the forest. Through the captured servants, we managed to find some inhabitants in the forest. ”

What Holrenne said was obvious, and Chen Shouxu certainly understood.

"Then you sent a herald to report to me in advance so early in the afternoon?"

"Because among our first captives, we found an Oriental, but I can't tell which nationality it is."

Chen Shouxu took a step forward, "What did you say?" ”

Hallren stepped aside slightly, motioning for the man behind him to step over to the light.

Only then did Chen Shouxu see the appearance of the person who came. Yellow face, black eyes, soft facial features. This is the outline of Chen Shouxu's face that is unusually familiar, because he sees it every time he looks in the mirror.

Chen Shouxuan was shocked, "Are you Chinese?" ”