The barriers to Panama have been cleared, and churches are desperately sounding the alarm. The city burst into flames, accompanied by violent explosions. The Spaniards placed more than 200 barrels of gunpowder throughout the city, and the governor of Salinas, after giving the order to burn the pirates' jade, rushed to the pirates' array.

The governor was hit by seven or eight bullets, and the gorgeous three-quarters armor turned into a pile of twisted scrap metal.

"Gather Salinas, and bury it well." Chen Shouxu was a little melancholy.

Nearly a thousand corpses covered the entire battlefield, both Spanish and pirated.

There were a few thunders, and rain began to fall in the sky, washing the earth.

The rain washed the ground, and the red liquid flowed beneath his feet. Ascend to the hill of the decisive battle, and in the distance there is a vast mist. Commander of the Marine Corps Half Battalion Karl Brown. Langemann and the soldiers lined up in a neat line.

The flagbearer held the flagpole and stood straight. The flag of the Marine Corps was wet by the rain and no longer waved in the wind. Chen Shouxu walked closer and gently pulled up the corner of the military flag, and the traces left by the gunsmoke were mottled after being wet by the rain. He took off his captain's hat and kissed the flag affectionately.

The music of "Victory Belongs to Us" sounded.

I don't know who started it, "Hooray!" The soldiers cheered towards Chen Shouxu, and the shouts resounded over the city.

Heavy rain extinguished the city's flames. The city was originally inhabited by more than 1,000 whites and mulattoes, and more than 3,000 slaves. With the exception of a few who volunteered to stay, the others followed the retreating Spanish army to the Caribbean coast. Along the way, they will encounter retribution from the Indians, and not many will make it to Portovello alive.

Provincial capitals, churches, monasteries and residences, Panama lacks stone, the buildings are all wooden, and now only half of the city remains.

Soldiers search the ruins for precious metals melted by the fire.

Chen Shouxu summoned his army commander to review the campaign, and he wanted to figure out a few questions.

"Why did the Spaniards send only cavalry and not infantry when we pounced on the knoll?"

Walter replied, "I have interrogated the prisoners, and after the First World War yesterday, the provincial governor could not trust his infantry, and he felt that cavalry was the only force on which he could rely in Panama. ”

Chen Shouxu continued to ask Holren, "Why did you join the reserve team when the battle situation was not clear?" ”

Holren's expression was solemn, "We don't have an advantage in our forces, so we use an oblique array that focuses on one flank. If the Spaniards take the initiative to attack, then we shrink on the left flank and I will strengthen the reserves to the right flank and sweep behind them. But the Spaniards didn't attack, so we had to take the initiative to create a diagonal position. Karl seized the fleeting opportunity and shortened our time to victory. ”

Chen Shouxu asked urgently, "Why are you so sure that it was a fighter at that time?" ”

"Fighting a war is a game of playing to each other's strengths, and the Spaniards have many people, but they are not very mobile and their individual combat effectiveness is relatively weak." We have fewer troops, but we have an advantage in mobility. As long as they make contact with the Spanish phalanx, they will not have a chance to adjust again, but we do. So we had to move the battlefield, but try to avoid hitting them directly. The hillock in the middle of the battlefield is our chance, and there are usually such key locations on the battlefield. An experienced commander who understands the weaponry of his unit will be able to determine how powerful the firepower will be in those locations and what the impact will be on the outcome of the battle. ”

Chen Shouxu held his chin and thought thoughtfully, "You said that it is more advantageous to tactically adopt a defensive posture than to attack. So our aim is to force the enemy to charge at us through offensive movements. ”

It was Westheim's turn to answer this question, "If war is divided into three levels: strategy, engagement, and tactics, the most advantageous position is to force the enemy to attack us at a lower level through a higher-level attack. ”

Holren nodded, "In principle, this is true, but there are often complex changes on the battlefield, and the timing of attack and defense is sometimes a matter of feeling between the generals and the front line. ”

Chen Shouxu was a little confused, but he knew that Holren's talking about talent was a matter of talent. Some people can directly grasp the fighter plane and grasp the key points of the battlefield through the fog of war. So in the pre-Napoleonic era, the talent of the generals was very important. And with the establishment of the General Staff in Prussia, the war became a cold mathematical calculation by turning it into the volume of railway traffic, the mortality rate of horses, the capacity of the roads, and the number of casualties caused by the amount of shells delivered on different grounds. The generals no longer have geniuses, only craftsmen remain.

"Well, I still have a lot to learn about land warfare." Chen Shouxu decided to think about these questions slowly in the future, and he said, "Carl. Langemann, I think he's very good at taking advantage of the fighter, he's not a shareholder yet, right? ”

Maiden was a little regretful, "Not yet. He was a mercenary captured by us on the island of Eleuthera and is currently only a company commander. During the battle, he temporarily commanded the right flank half battalion. He didn't have enough qualifications and didn't have a good chance to perform before. ”

Chen Shouxu took the matter over, "Leave this matter to me." I led the way and found someone to jointly recommend it to the council. "This matter had to be resolved, and the council of the fleet successively recognized the shareholders of 200 people, others with preferred shares and a share of the profits, but without the right to vote on decisions. Shareholders were constantly dying in voyages and battles, and now there are more than 160 votes, the vast majority of whom are sailors of the fleet. There were almost no marines formed later, and even the voting rights of the Holrens were only settled in Arica City.

"Also," Chen Shouxu glanced at Maiden, "the fleet will stay in Panama for a while, and I will hold a plenary meeting." ”

It's part of their plan.

During the stationing of the fleet, some Mesoamerican Indians and local mestizos defected to the pirates. After the fall of Panama, the rule of the Peruvian Viceroyalty on the Pacific side of the isthmus collapsed.

No matter where you are, there are always people who are not willing to be oppressed.

Chen Shouxu gathered more than 1,400 people from the whole fleet, and held the first meeting after entering the Pacific Ocean on the hillock of the battle. Chen Shouxu announced to everyone his proposed next goal, which was to sail to the East Indies. Because the stakes are so high, except for all shareholders, the rest of the people are present.

At this time, the number of shareholders has recovered to 200, with senior ones sitting in the front row and new ones sitting in the back row. The pirates in attendance were located around the hillock.

Chen Shouxu looked around, he was no longer as nervous as he was at the first conference. Through this period of operation, he estimates that he can influence 120 of them, but this is not enough, and it is better to get more than two-thirds.

The result of the vote was better than Chen Shouxu expected, with more than 160 people agreeing and only 30 people opposing or abstaining.

In addition to the shareholders, there were more than 140 pirates among the rest who were reluctant to go to the East Indies.

Then, according to the charter established at the beginning of the establishment, Chen Shouxuan, who was reluctant to go to the East Indies, gave them two choices.

"A warship, you can go around South America and sail back to the Caribbean." Chen Shouxu's eyes looked to the east of Panama, "You can also walk back, along the Silver Post Road, and walk dozens of miles to the Caribbean coast." I'll reach out to the local Indians to help you. I believe that with your ability, it will be easy to go over there and grab some more boats. ”

The pirates who were willing to leave deliberated for a while, and they chose to return by land. It was so close, and the pirates were familiar with the terrain and plundered the Caribbean coast of the Isthmus several times.

This is exactly what Chen Shouxuan meant, because they chose the land route and gave up the battleship, then on the basis of the existing profits, they will give them more money.

Through open voting and exchanging opinions, Chen Shouxu cleared the biggest destabilizing factor in the ranks. Politely sent off his former comrades-in-arms, and many of them regretted it when they were about to leave. For those who want to rejoin, Chen Shouxu's attitude is very resolute and refuses them all.

Panama's ports were in poor condition, and cruisers could not enter the port and therefore could not repair ships. After collecting the melted and unmelted precious metals, Chen Shouxu commanded the fleet to quickly leave.

Panama was a breakdown of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the pirate fleet went north into the territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

The entire Viceroyalty of New Spain was Central America, with its capital in Santiago, Guatemala. San Diego is a beautiful city set in a fertile canyon with a mild climate surrounded by volcanoes.

Chen had no interest in Guatemala, which was deep inland, and the land connections throughout Central America were very poor. The roads are rough and the city is very closed. It was an adventure to travel overland for inter-provincial exchanges. The King of Spain had ordered the Guatemalan Metropolitan to conduct a census of the population of the jurisdiction, but the Metropolitan did not hesitate to refuse. Because walking on those roads on horseback has a very high mortality rate.

The lack of road connections in the colonial cities meant that in the event of a pirate attack from the sea, it would be impossible for these weakly defended cities to receive support from neighboring provinces. The Gulf of Fonseca in the province of Honduras and the Nicoya Peninsula in the province of Costa Rica both have good natural deep-water ports, but they lack the necessary infrastructure.

Chen Shouxu chose the port of Riolejo in Nicaragua. Nicaragua's capital, León, also had only 1,000 Spaniards, and was unable to defend itself against the threat of pirates, and was unable to support the captured port.

The presence of Lake Nicaragua allows for significant savings in land transportation costs, so goods can also reach the Caribbean coast from the port of Riolejo via the León-Lake Nicaragua port of Granada and the San Juan River.

The conditions in the port of Rearejo were not bad, the fleet blocked several merchant ships in the harbor. Robert abandoned the Adventure in favour of a sturdy dhow. Together with the weapons removed from the Adventure, Robert's seat ship had 8 guns.

The fleet stayed in Realejo for half a month, and the warships were repaired. Ballast stones and gravel were all replaced, and the bilge was thoroughly cleaned.

All the battleships put up shelves on the ships and planted bell peppers. Goats were tethered to the deck, the longboat was covered with canvas, and hens were kept inside. Beer, grain, rum, lemons, carrots, turnips, and all kinds of food are crammed into the cabin as much as possible.

……

After setting sail from the port of Reyalejo, the fleet continued along the coast of the Americas until the beginning of the Pacific route, Acapulco.

Like the trading ports of Portovelo and Veracruz, Acapulco has only a few thousand inhabitants. In the days when there was no trade, Acapulco was an idyllic port. But once the Manila galleons arrived, merchants from all over New Spain would gather there, turning Acapulco into a grand bazaar.

Indian caricut cotton, Persian carpets, wax ivory, Sumatran pepper, and Ceylon gems made their way to New Spain via Acapulco, and a large part of them were transshipped overland to Veracruz to Seville.

Of course, the most important of all these trade goods is Chinese raw silk. Silver from Mexico's Zacatecas silver mines continues to flow into China via this transpacific route.

If we start from Europe, the purchasing power of silver becomes stronger the further Asia goes. Even if a merchant who traded across the ocean did not buy anything, he could double the profit of exchanging silver for gold in Asia and shipping it back to Europe.

For Europe, Chinese goods are simply too cheap. Chinese silk products are shipped to Europe at a third cheaper than local prices. In the Americas, the price of Chinese silk fabrics is one-third that of European products. This price, which could be called dumping, seriously damaged the export of goods from mainland Spain to the American colonies. Silver went to China, not Spain. Andalusian merchants in Seville had been advising the Indies and the King to ban the Manila galleon trade.

On the other hand, successive vice-kings of New Spain, regardless of his position before coming to Mexico City, would oppose Seville's proposal whenever he set foot on Mexican soil. Because the profits of galleon routes are so high, in Manila, the price of a load of raw silk is 200 pesos, Canton silk is 5 pesos, brocade is 4 pesos, and velvet is 0.5 pesos. The prices of the four commodities mentioned above in Lima are 1,950 pesos, 50 pesos, 40 pesos and 4 pesos.

In this battle, which lasted for hundreds of years, the king generally favored Seville. The Manila galleon trade was suspended several times by the king's order, and after it was reopened, it was limited to two ships of goods for one year. The deadweight of ships is limited to 300 tons, and the price of goods is also capped.

Blocking people's wealth is like killing parents, and the king limits the death of two ships, which has no way. But when it came to the deadweight of the ships and the price of the cargo, the Filipino governors and merchants of Manila sacrificed the traditional practice of the Spanish colonies, official smuggling. The galleons grew bigger and bigger, and while the East India Companies were still using merchant ships of several hundred tons, the Manila galleons broke through 1,000 tons early and became the largest merchant ship in the world.

The vice-king of New Spain was very happy to see this, and even deeply involved in it, and everyone came together to earn the king's silver. The King of Spain was forced to introduce a system of final censorship in the Philippines, in which the successor governor was audited and the former governor was put in prison. The king also raised the status of the court, which was originally subordinate to the Supreme Court of Mexico. The King changed it to the Supreme Court of Manila, which had the final jurisdiction and could report directly to the King.

But it didn't work. The bureaucracy stacks up the bed and the result is that more people are dragged into the water. Corruption and smuggling intensified, and judges even took their entire family members to Manila to embezzle, and silver flowed more and more into China.

So in 1638, the first year of Chen's arrival, the King of Spain banned the Manila galleon trade. After teaching Manila merchants a hard lesson, the king only allowed trade to resume in 1640, and now two Manila galleons are crawling along the coast of Japan towards the westerly wind belt of the northern hemisphere, not yet before they arrive.

Acapulco is now in a depression, and Chen Shouxu is not here for silver.

————————————— Dividing Line—————————————

Historically, pirates who have penetrated deep into the Pacific have held plenary meetings on several occasions. Generally speaking, there are three options: go ashore in Panama and arrive in the Caribbean by land, and then grab a boat and leave; around the Strait of Magellan back to the South Atlantic; Go to the East Indies. There are still a lot of people who want to go to Asia to grab a hand.