Ten days after the capture of Pensacola, another Tang fleet arrived from the west coast when the new fortifications in Pensacola were taking shape. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 In addition to transporting all kinds of necessary materials, this fleet also carried more than 600 Datang militiamen stationed in Florida in the first batch. The arrival of this group of left-behind militia liberated Liu Fangwu's expeditionary force, which was not very strong in itself, and then there was the battle to capture St. Augustine, and the northward participation in the War of Independence, and it was impossible to divide the troops to stay in any of the occupied cities.

This task was handed over to the newly arrived Datang militia, all of whom had a certain degree of military literacy and had an overwhelming advantage over any enemy of this era in terms of equipment. The S1 Springfield rifle was equipped with every soldier, and their squads were also armed with Thompson and Remington, and the platoon firepower also included heavy machine guns, as well as small-caliber heavy firepower such as grenadiers and 60mm mortars. Of course, to defend the town, they also had some 105mm howitzers with fixed batteries against the enemy who came from the sea.

It can be said that the field combat capability of the Datang militia does not need to be counted on much, and it is completely unnecessary, because they mainly guard the fixed strongholds, and they can rely on their geographical advantages and firepower.

In addition, the Datang militia is not out of production, and more than 300 militiamen will remain in Pensacola, roughly the size of a battalion. On the one hand, they will follow the schedule and carry out the work of combat readiness and guarding. On the other hand, when they are not on duty, the Tang militia will also participate in some daily production, such as farming, handicrafts, commerce, and so on. Cotton seeds, imported from the southern United States, will also be grown locally.

Thousands of British soldiers were captured, and hundreds of local residents were already there. They will also be assigned to work. Datang should develop the local area according to its own plan. All residents are not expropriated, they will be paid a certain amount, and it will certainly be better than their previous income. The pound will not continue to be used, and the official currency Tang Yuan naturally circulates in the land of the Tang Dynasty, but the local residents seem to prefer to use Huayang transactions and are less able to accept genuine Tang Yuan banknotes like flowers and green pieces of paper.

Although Huayang is also a type of Datang currency, its currency status is low. Labor calculations in the new colonies were still based on the Tang and Yuan dynasties. Tang Yuan banknotes were distributed to local residents. This also sparked panic and resentment among the local residents, who believed that the Tang were going to exploit their labor in this way. However, then they were told that they could exchange paper money for peony silver dollars at local financial institutions, and some people did try to exchange silver coins, and slowly people accepted Datang paper money, after all, paper money is easy to carry and easy to trade. However, the locals do not have much money, and even the purchasing power of one Tang Yuan banknote is not small, so they usually use metal coins.

The colonial government demanded the surrender of all non-Tang Yuan currencies. The currency of the country can be exchanged, and the domestic transaction can only be done in Tang Yuan. Of course, this order will not be fully fulfilled, but it has also promoted the popularization of the use of Tang Yuan by the locals.

After the militia left behind took over the work of the expeditionary force, Liu Fangwu did not stay long, he quickly gathered the men and horses of the expeditionary force, boarded the ship again, left Pensacola, bypassed the Florida peninsula, entered the Atlantic, and prepared to capture St. Augustine.

The British army was now somewhat overstretched, and compared with the previous Pensacola, the British army stationed in St. Augustine was only two or three hundred men. The city's location was not good, and its position was rapidly weakened in later generations, and the function of the regional center was replaced by Jacksonville in the north.

St. Augustine is a standard harbor city, although the surrounding coastline is relatively straight, but it is not unsheltered, just like the topography of Pensacola, St. Augustine is also surrounded by sheltered land, not an island, the water body called the Matanzas River, which stretches for 37 kilometers from St. Augustine, is part of the famous inshore inner waterway, not a freshwater river, but saltwater.

The Don fleet marched unhindered from the mouth of the Matanzas River, placed the battleships directly in the middle of the river, and used artillery to bombard the forts on the shore. Seeing such a scene, Tonion knew that with the strength of St. Augustine, he could not resist it at all, and sent personnel to negotiate with the Don Army under a white flag.

The governor had a good hand and agreed to hand over St. Augustine to the Don army, but the Don army had to ensure that the British could withdraw from the area without any pursuit or any other form of aggression.

Liu Zhenlong couldn't help but ask: "It's daydreaming, let's raze this place in minutes, Pensacola has learned from the past, what reason is there to let them go?" ”

This form of negotiation is actually a common occurrence among the European powers, whose armies have limited discipline, and they often demand that they withdraw when they can't fight, and you can occupy the cities as you please. However, this situation occurs more often when there is a stalemate, and at this moment, Tang Jun has the absolute initiative, so naturally he will not let them go like this.

Liu Fangwu, commander of the expeditionary force, replied: "There are only two roads in front of you, one is to surrender unconditionally to us, and the second is to be unconditionally eliminated by us. ”

After the news was sent back, Liu Fangwu did not have the slightest consciousness that the two sides were negotiating and could not lightly start the war, and ordered the navy to bombard the fortress on the shore. The Governor of East Florida, Tonion, immediately relented and ordered all British troops to lay down their arms and surrender to the Don Army.

In this way, the expeditionary force took the capital of East Florida without bloodshed, but there were not even a thousand soldiers as residents, which shows the extent of the wilderness. There was also a colony in the south of East Florida, called New Smyrna, which was also relatively small, and the Tang army used to declare its dominion over the area, and then left it alone. The British strongholds in East Florida were also uprooted in turn, and Liu Fangwu formed a captive building to help the Tang soldiers work under the guard of the militia who remained there.

With regard to the development of East Florida, the Cabinet did not believe that there was any special development potential in St. Augustine, and that the residential area could be preserved, but the military installation might as well be destroyed. The Don Army's target was the city of Johnsonville along the St. John's River, which later served as a naval base for the U.S. Army, and the land was vast and fertile, making it more suitable for development.

So, pulling a group of British prisoners, the Don army came to the place where Johnsonville was, which had not yet been developed at the moment, and it was impossible to say that British prisoners would be used to do these things. (To be continued.) )