The cold winter has gradually passed, and the sky without any air pollution is shining straight down, even if the spring sun is warm, it looks somewhat fierce. The sailors who had toiled on the deck www.biquge.info grumbled as they left the harbor and headed their way to a barren land under the captain's guidance, unknown difficulties awaited them, perhaps that meant death.

It was a Spanish sail frigate, named "Santiago", with a tonnage of only five or six hundred tons, carrying a total of 86 crew members, led by Captain Pérez, and was ordered to explore the northwest of North America along the west coast of North America.

From the end of the fifteenth century, Spain established its occupation of the west coast of America through papal decrees and the treaties of Tordés Rias and Zaragoza. However, since all the above legal documents only contain the two early colonial hegemons of Spain and Portugal, and the newly rising powers of Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands, it is difficult to benefit from them, so after the two countries have seriously implemented the above documents for a hundred years, they have already existed in name only.

The Russians came to Alaska from Siberia through the Bering Strait, and the British came all the way from Canada to the West Coast, and British and Russian fur traders bought furs from local Indians, challenging the Spanish claim to the land.

There is an unwritten rule in Europe that whoever discovers, explores, and occupies is owned. Feeling challenged to their position, the Spaniards began a series of expeditions to the northwest coast of North America to protect their "sovereignty".

In 1774, Pérez's Santiago set out from the west coast of Mexico to the north with such a mission, claiming its territory.

In Pérez's hand is a manuscript that records the exploration of the west coast of North America by the first Spanish explorers of the 16th century. At that time, the Spaniards did not carefully and comprehensively explore the entire west coast of North America, nor did they carry out maps and coastline mapping, only a few words that did not distinguish between the real and the false.

Manuel, the first mate on the Pérez ship, complained: "Captain, we are not in a very good situation, and we are not very well prepared for this voyage, but we have been ordered to sail to Alaska, with all due respect, it is almost an impossible task for the Santiago." ”

Pérez nodded quietly, "Of course I know that we are unlikely to reach Alaska, but that doesn't mean that our voyage will be fruitless." A series of voyages and surveying operations were planned, and it would take ten or twenty years for the Kingdom of Spain to take possession of the entire west coast of North America. This is the second time since 1513 that a Spaniard has come to this shore. We need to understand the general situation so that we can prepare for the next planning process. ”

Manuel asked: "Captain, do you think that the Russians have established their stronghold on the west coast?" Or, there are still the British here? ”

This era is not a later generation, there is no Google Maps, there is no Beidou satellite, and any change in every piece of land on the earth can be controlled. The lack of information dissemination, as well as the contradictions and hostilities of the European countries themselves, made it impossible for Pérez to know what was going on in the land they were exploring.

"Maybe, but even if there are Russians or British, they won't be strong enough to pose any threat to us, all we need to do is to meet them and report back to Mexico City and Madrid, and naturally there will be those big guys thinking about how to deal with the Russians and Britons." Pérez was very clear about his position on this voyage, he was a pathfinder, an intelligence gatherer, and he would not do anything superfluous.

At this moment, the lookout on the mast of the Santiago suddenly shouted: "Captain, I see a ship ahead, it doesn't have any flags, and it doesn't look like a European ship!" ”

"What?!" Taken aback, Pérez hurried to the bow of the ship, and took out his telescopic monoculars, and at the end of the sea were two modest ships, bloated by slender European galleons with soft sails, and with a hard scorched yellow sail hanging from each mast.

Pérez had not served in the East, and his knowledge of the mysterious and wealthy China was limited to hearsay, so he could not tell from the shape of the sails that it was a Chinese stiff sail, and then deduced that the two ships, which were smaller in tonnage than the Santiago, were of Chinese origin.

The lookout reported again: "There are no gun emplacements on board, it is not an armed ship, it seems that there is a fishing net dragged between these two ships, it is a fishing boat!" ”

Pérez instinctively sensed bad, "How can there be fishing boats in this place?" ”

Many Nordic fishing boats traveled hundreds of nautical miles to fish in the North Atlantic, and some say that the Europeans who arrived in North America before Columbus were Vikings and fishermen. However, the vast majority of fishing vessels operate in the offshore waters, and the presence of fishing vessels here indicates that there may be human habitat in the offshore waters.

"Could it be an Indian fishing boat?" Pérez was skeptical, but he quickly disproved the idea, having seen too many Indians and he did not think that the Indians were capable of building ships with a displacement of hundreds of tons, which must be the technology of the civilized world.

Manuel suggested: "Do you want to board the two fishing boats and let us interrogate them?" ”

Pérez was still very hesitant, after all, the Santiago was a ship, and if the force to which the fishing boat belonged had a considerable navy, it might cause some conflict, after all, no country could accept that its fishing boat would be boarded and interrogated by warships of other countries.

Manuel encouraged again: "Captain, the shape of these ships is not suitable for fast sailing, and our Santiago will definitely be able to sail a lot faster than them, and even if something really happens, we can leave quickly." After all, we are here to gather intelligence, and there is clearly an unknown country moving here, so what could be more effective than if we were to capture some prisoners and interrogate us? ”

Pérez was still moved by Manuel's words, he drew the handcuff on his waist, and ordered: "Right rudder 25, go in the direction of those two fishing boats, all soldiers are ready for battle, long live Spain!" ”

"Long live Spain!"

After a long period of boring sailing, the group of sailors became more excited when they saw that there was a battle to be fought. Although Pérez did not say it explicitly, after they did "board" the two fishing boats, they would definitely be able to carry out some robbery. Ordinary expeditions were very profitable for sailors, but many merchant ships and warships of the Age of Discovery would make cameos as pirates when necessary, and it would be satisfying to be able to snatch some goods from these fishing boats.

At the same time, on the fishing boat ahead, the sailors who were fishing also spotted the traces of the Spaniards.

"Gan Teniang, I actually met a pirate." The captain of a fishing boat was visibly alarmed. "Quick, cut the nets, prop up the sails and retreat to the shore at full speed!"

It's not far from the Port of Long Beach, and with a little luck, the captain can return there with the fishing boat, which has hundreds of ships, many of which are capable of fighting. He was a Ming dynasty scholar who, having seen the powerful warships of the modern times, believed that the colony's naval strength was sufficient to defeat any enemy at sea.

"Ship boss, that microphone box, microphone box! We can use the microphone box for help! A sailor hurriedly shouted.

The boat boss patted his head and said, "Why did you forget this thing!" ”

He hurriedly retrieved from the cabin the thing they were riding in the microphone, which was actually a military radio station, not all fishing boats had this thing, even if they collected all the radio equipment of the Republic of China, this kind of thing was scarce in the entire colony. Only the crews of fishing boats that go out will have a radio station and a special radio communicator.

The correspondent on the fishing boat was a member of the original national army, and after training, he was sent to the fishing boat, and there was nothing to do on weekdays, but today it came in handy. The correspondent urgently sent a distress signal to the Port of Long Beach.

"Home port, home port, we have been attacked, unknown warships are approaching us at high speed, request support, request support, repeat, we have encountered the tracking of unknown warships, request support!"

In an era where there is little radio clutter pollution, the range of these fixed-power stations can reach even farther. In fact, this sea area is not more than 50 nautical miles from the port of Long Beach, so the signal is very clear. The Port of Long Beach Office also has a dedicated radio liaison officer, and as soon as the news arrived, it was immediately reported to the decision-making committee.

On the Santiago, Manuel said to Captain Perez mockingly: "Captain, these ignorant fellows are actually trying to escape, I think we should fire a few shots to deter them, let them stop the ship honestly, and let us go up." ”

This kind of action is not uncommon, after all, it is still a chaotic era, unlike the 21st century, when a country's warship fired at another country's fishermen, which can become international news, and this kind of action is actually the practice of this era. The firing of the warship can even be seen as a kind of greeting.

"Bow gun, loading, warning fire at the target!" Pérez made the decision to open fire, and when he began the pursuit of the fishing boat, he had no other thoughts, as Manuel said, he needed intelligence, so he had to capture the opposing boat.