It was just over a week after Bai Nan returned to Los Angeles that the Spanish frigate Favorita slowly sailed to Los Angeles Bay. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info Of course, this bay was not called that on another plane, but now it has been changed to this name by the Travelers. Just like Los Angeles, although it follows the translated name in another plane, but in this plane, the original name of "City of Angels" has not yet appeared, and Los Angeles is three Chinese Chinese characters, and the Spanish translate into Spanish in Chinese, it is absolutely impossible to be the original meaning of "City of Angels".

This time, the Spaniards were no longer the first to encounter a fishing boat, but a Qi Jiguang-class frigate. This frigate is the third ship of the Qi Jiguang class, and the ship name is Yuan Chonghuan. Due to the conversion of the small treasure ship into the Qi Jiguang-class frigate, the workload is actually not particularly large, especially after the experience of the first two frigates, the third one only took a week to complete the refit.

The shipyard brought the steam engine aboard, then built the power compartment with a ready-made compartment, while a hole was carved in the stern to accommodate the propellers, and the transmission system was installed. In the end, it was loaded with ten 92 infantry guns, and a frigate was converted like this.

Therefore, what really limits the scale of the navy's development now is the problem of manpower, and the three-year development plan set by the navy will enable the navy to have three Yangwei-class cruisers and ten Qi Jiguang-class frigates. As for the Yongle-class battleships originally planned by Deng Xiyi, they did not pass the deliberation of the cabinet at all. But even so, with the addition of the 13 converted ships and the original Qilianshan and White Shark, the number of personnel in the navy will exceed 2,000, even exceeding the number of the current army establishment.

On the contrary, these ships will add some other improvements on the original basis, such as replacing more powerful guns, adding armor layers, etc., and the combat effectiveness will be greatly improved.

The frigate Yuan Chonghuan had a displacement of more than 2,000 tons, the size of a third-class battleship in the navies of the European powers, and the Favorita, a sailing ship of several hundred tons, looked weak when it boarded in front of Yuan Chonghuan. However, the Spaniards on the ship had seen Qi Jiguang-class before, and with their abilities, they couldn't tell which one it was, and they only thought it was the Yu Dayou they had seen before.

At this time, Pérez said to Captain Heseta: "The battleship of the Datang Navy has appeared, which means that we have reached the waters of Datang. ”

Herseta frowned and said to Pérez: "Pay attention to your wording, Lieutenant Colonel Pérez, this is Alta California, which is clearly our Spanish land. ”

Pérez did not argue with this colleague who liked to quarrel for the advantage of words, and he smiled bitterly in his heart: "Of course I also hope that this place belongs to Spain, but from the day the Tang people build a colony here, it is impossible for Spain to reoccupy this place in a short time." ”

Hesetta immediately sent a sampan to approach the frigate, but the sampan quickly returned, and the sailors on it replied to Heseta in astonishment: "Captain, there are no Spanish-speaking people on the other side, but they seem to have English-speaking officers. ”

Heseta was even more shocked, "An English-speaking Tang officer? ”

It is no wonder that Herseta was suspicious, Spain and Britain were in competition for many years, and the two sides even broke out in the battle of the Armada in 1588 such a war that shocked the world, and during the Seven Years' War, the two countries were direct rivals, England grabbed huge benefits, while Spain lost all European enclaves except for its own territory. It can be said that the Spaniards hated nothing more than the British.

In this day and age, English was not yet an international language. In Europe, French is probably the most popular language, while in the Americas, Spanish is also more common, but English is more concentrated in the British colonies. Alternatively, there was a part of the aristocracy that could converse in Latin, but apparently Latin was a language that was nearly extinct in the modern era. Now, knowing that the Tang officers do not speak Spanish but can speak English, this makes Heseta not only wonder if there is anything to do between the two countries, but also whether there is a conspiracy against Spain.

However, suspicion is suspicion, and Heseta still has to complete the entrustment of Governor Baccarelli, so he has to pinch his nose and send an officer who also speaks English to board the Yuan Chonghuan on a sampan.

After a short time, the Spanish officer returned, and then said to Hesetta with a strange face: "Captain, the English of the Tang people is very strange, and it is very different from that of the Britons. ”

Not surprised, Hesetta said: "Spaniards speak English differently than Britons." ”

The officer shook his head and said: "It's different, it has nothing to do with the accent, in terms of words and sentences, the language used by this Datang captain can be heard to be English, but it is very different from normal English, and I haven't heard anyone anywhere use English like this." So our communication was difficult, and it took me a long time to understand what he meant. ”

Heseta was about to have a black line on his head, and he said, "Then you should hurry up and say what these Orientals who have stolen our land are going to say to us." ”

"Oh, Captain. The captain meant that the Favorita was not allowed to dock at their port, and the visiting members were required to board their ship and return to their capital, Los Angeles. ”

Heseta was immediately upset, "These Orientals who have no manners! ”

Pérez couldn't help coughing beside him, and then said, "We also didn't let the warships of the Don people dock at our port of Alpulco. ”

Heseta said anxiously, "But if we don't let us dock in their harbor, will we let the Favorita drift at sea?" ”

At this point, one of the visiting missions, a Franciscan priest, Juniperoserra, came out and said, "It doesn't matter, the delegation can board the opposing warship and go to Los Angeles, the Favorita can sail to San Diego, where there is our mission and fort, and we can ask the Dons to take us to San Diego when we return, or we can get to San Diego by land, which is not a long distance." ”

This Fr. Serra is the Franciscan hero who established Monterrey, San Diego and other missions, Spain is a Catholic country, the power of the Church is very strong, in colonial activities, sometimes the clergy are more powerful than ordinary colonial officials. Serra was also an experienced and capable priest, so he was trusted by Governor Baccarelli to arrange him for the mission, and he played a decisive role.

Herseta had to consider Serra's opinion, and in the end he decided to board the Don ship on a sampan for a nineteen-member visiting mission, including Lieutenant Commander Pedro, who had previously been in Los Angeles, Rivera, who was supposed to be sent as Governor of Alta California, the Franciscan priest Serra, Herseta himself, and the Favorita was given to his deputy, Bodegayquadra.

Hesetta, Serra and others actually had the intention of spying on the intelligence of the Tang Dynasty, to say that the British and French warships in Europe, the Spaniards had seen a lot, and even captured them, and the Spaniards even had spies in Plymouth, specifically staring at the British man-made ships. And Datang's ship-building technology is obviously ingenious, and it is different from the European powers in all aspects. Heseta had noticed that the Datang warship was very fast, and if he could board the Datang warship and take a closer look, he would also have a lot of gains.

However, although the two groups of Spaniards had just boarded the Yuan Chonghuan on a sampan, when the members of the delegation came again, the Yuan Chonghuan refused to lower the gangway for the Spaniards. However, after a while, a small steamer sailed from the port of Long Beach, with a small tonnage, only more than 200 tons, which carried Hesetta and others.

Even if it did not board the warship of the Tang people, this small steamer also surprised the Spanish delegation. The interior of this small steamer is by no means exquisite, but it is much more decent than an ordinary wooden sailing boat. Rows of seats, apparently the ship's purpose is to carry out short passenger journeys.

"Is it possible to sail without sails? Did the Tang people adopt new seafaring techniques? Serra was shocked.

Pérez said to the priest: "Father, you have not seen any of the Tang merchant ships that visited Alpulco, each of which was several times the size of this small ship, and which also did not need sails to sail, and I speculate that the Tang people used the steam engine as the power of the ship, thus directly avoiding the problem of sailing by the wind and the direction of the wind." ”

Heseta sat there and didn't speak, he was naturally not stupid, this small steamer ran faster than the warship of the Tang Dynasty, a full sixteen knots, if such a speed can be reflected in the warship, then it is a major advantage for the navy of any country. The fact that there is no need to wait for the monsoon is also a very important benefit for the average merchant ship, especially in areas such as windless zones, where such steamships can travel freely, unfettered, and of immeasurable value.

It didn't take long for the little liner to sail into the harbor of Long Beach, and at this point Perez stood up, pointed out the window, and said, "Look, this is the port of Los Angeles." ”

Pérez has mentioned to everyone more than once that the harbor of Los Angeles is full of sails and almost countless ships, and these ships are not small in tonnage, and there are even huge ships of steel. Many people think that Pérez is talking nonsense, after all, there is not a single ship made entirely of steel in the most powerful countries in Europe, and it is unlikely that there are five or six hundred ships moored at the same time in ports like Serbia, Antwerp, London, Toulon, etc. And how can a little-known colonial country, or an unrecognized colonial country, have such a huge shipping power.

However, when all the members of the delegation looked out of the window, they could not help but be shocked. Especially Hesetta, who resolutely did not believe in Pérez, and everywhere he looked, there were all boats. There are wooden sailboats, iron boats of various sizes, and some fishing boats are operating in and out of the port. Further away, the incredibly large ship sits there like a hill.

"What kind of strength does it have to build so many huge ships?!" Heseta has short-circuited his brain.