Shimazu Mitsuhisa's guess was correct. The Spanish army had already arrived in California!
In the southern part of the arid Central Valley (Satsuma Valley), a large army is rolling forward along the nearly dry riverbed. This is a combined army composed of musketeers, pikemen, cavalry, baggage soldiers and a small amount of artillery. There are as many as 15,000 people. Due to the poor roads in the Central Valley, this Spanish army did not carry many artillery, only six 6-pound cannons. The reason why we need to pull them is to deal with the strong Satsuma Castle and Honsonji Temple!
Don Juan Jose, Duke of Florida, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of New Spain, was also among this army. Riding an extremely majestic Iberian horse, wearing a large-brimmed hat to protect the sun, and a suit of black plate armor, he looked majestic.
After learning the news that the "King of United States" from the Ming Dynasty had arrived in America, he led his troops to leave Mexico City, first went to Acapulco to board a ship, and then took the sea route to San Francisco.
The reason why it is so troublesome is because if you want to take the land road from Mexico City to San Francisco, you have to walk more than 3,000 kilometers!
At a marching speed of 25 kilometers per day, it would take more than four months...
And what's worse is that the infrastructure of the New Kingdom of Spain is very poor. The country is too big, the population is too small, and the Spaniards don't like infrastructure construction very much.
Therefore, there are not many decent roads between Mexico City and San Francisco, there are not many towns, and there are no military stations along the way that can provide supplies for the troops. Therefore, it is simply unthinkable to march that far by land... No army can carry four months' worth of food on the road, right?
So taking the sea route is the only way!
Fortunately, the Chinese navy can only dominate near the Gulf of America and has no way to run wild along the coasts of Mexico and California. Because they have no ports south of the Gulf of America - since the wind direction on the east coast of the Pacific mostly blows southward, it is easier for the Ming fleet to go south than to go north after leaving the Gulf of America. If they attack rashly, they may have to go around to return to the Gulf of America. Halfway across the Pacific Ocean.
Once the large fleet stationed in the American Gulf goes far away, there will be loopholes in the defense of the American Gulf. Therefore, the main force of the Ming Dynasty fleet in the American Gulf has never moved south in a large scale. In this way, Don Juan Jose could transport a large number of troops to San Francisco by sea. In the 17th century, most sailing ships could sail against the wind, and the west coast of North America did not have seas blowing northward. It just took a while.
For the Ming fleet that had no harbor to use, this kind of waiting was very dangerous - many famous naval battles in history occurred between the fleet that was anchored in the wind and the fleet that came to sneak attack.
And the side that makes a sneak attack has a very high winning rate!
The Spanish fleet is not afraid of waiting. They can wait slowly in the port protected by forts and fortresses.
But Don Juan Jose knew that his advantage of being able to transport troops by sea would not last long. Because the Spanish Empire was unable to update its fleet, the Ming Dynasty Navy would quickly complete the update!
In the face of new battleships armed with large-caliber bombardment guns, the old multi-layered gun deck battleships are probably vulnerable and outdated...
Once the Ming Dynasty's fleet is updated, the Presidio Fortress of San Francesco may not be able to stop their large-caliber bombardment!
A burst of rapid horse hoofbeats interrupted Don Juan Jose's thoughts. He looked up and saw several rangers carrying news rushing over. The one riding first was a Germanic man with blond hair, who should be a German mercenary - he got it from Don Juan Jose. Under the temptation of being offered a knighthood and a manor in the Kingdom of New Spain, many mercenaries with little future in Europe have come to the Kingdom of New Spain in recent years.
"Your Majesty the Duke! Letter from Governor de Velasco." The German mercenary gave Don Juan Jose a military salute, and then handed over a letter rolled up and sealed with wax.
Don Juan Jose took the letter, tore off the wax seal, unfolded it, looked at it, and then smiled.
"Duke," Garcia, who was riding beside him, asked with a smile, "has the King of the United States been deceived?"
This Garcia is the commander of the Eastern Armada who lost the battle of Kagoshima Bay. Although he was not arrested by King Philip and sent to prison, he had no way to return to the navy, so he followed Don Juan Jose to the New World and served as Don Juan Jose's staff officer.
"The King of the United States did not come..." Don Juan Jose said with a smile, "it was his uncle, the younger brother of the Emperor of China, who came."
"The younger brother of the Chinese Emperor?" Garcia frowned, "Is he the Daiwang or the King of Ninan?"
When he was in the East, he had heard that Zhu Cixiang had two very powerful brothers, namely King Zhu Cijiong and King Zhu Cizhao of Rinan County.
"It's not them," Don Juan Jose said, "it's... King Chongqing. It is said that he is a fool."
"That seems to be the fifth brother of the Chinese emperor. He is indeed not as smart as his three brothers," Garcia paused. "But if he applies our Spanish standards, he must not be considered a fool..."
Ming Dynasty legally prohibited same-surname marriage and cousin marriage. The former blocked the possibility of cousin marriage, while the latter did not even allow marriage between cousins. Of course, there are still some private cousin marriages. But there is no such thing inside the palace, so the probability of a fool being born among the princes of the Ming Dynasty is relatively low.
Even a son like Zhu Cihuan would be moved to tears if King Philip got it.
Don Juan Jose sighed: "I really can't imagine what Spain would be like under Carlos' rule..."
The Carlos he was talking about was the future Carlos II. The previous idiot crown prince, Philip Prosper, died of illness two years ago. But on the fifth day after Philip Prosper's death, Prince Carlos, who looked even stupider, was born!
Although this prince is more stupid, his epilepsy symptoms are less severe than Philip Prosper's, and his body is not that weak. He is likely to grow up and inherit the throne of Philip IV.
"Duke," said Garcia, "thankfully New Spain will be under the rule of a very wise monarch!"
Don Juan Jose glanced at Garcia and said nothing. He just urged the horse under his crotch to continue moving forward.
...
Zhu Cihuan had already entered Honxun Temple at this time. He did not enter with great fanfare, but mixed in with the pioneer warriors and entered Honxun Temple.
The reason for this arrangement was because he was worried about being ambushed on the way into Honxon Temple - in Hoshina Masaki's view, as long as he entered Honxon Temple, there was nothing to worry about.
With the strength of Honxun Temple and the number of muskets and ammunition carried by Zhu Cihuan's guarding warriors, it was impossible for the Shimazu family to break through it - even if only seven or eight hundred people entered, it would be enough to protect themselves.
So he divided the 2,000-strong guard into three teams, and led the front team to protect Zhu Cihuan and enter Benxun Temple first.
The middle and rear teams were stationed in the flood valley under the yellow dragon flag, waiting for the front team to send a signal and then come in turn.
In the eyes of the Shimadzu family, the front team is of little value. If they really want to attack Zhu Cihuan, they should ambush the middle and back teams.
If the middle and last two teams also enter Honsunji Temple safely, then you can rest assured... The Shimadzu family is not pretending to surrender, but truly surrendering.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you have seen the squadron's yellow dragon flag!"
A warrior rushed into a side hall where Zhu Cihuan was resting and loudly reported what the lookout post had discovered.
Zhu Cihuan smiled and said, "You can rest assured now!"
Masaki Hoshina also breathed a sigh of relief: "There should be no problem... Now we just have to wait for Shimazu Mitsuhisa to come to visit and hand over the hostages!"
"Hostages?" Zhu Cihuan asked, "Aren't all his family members in Tokyo (Edo)? Who else can serve as a hostage?"
"It's one of his daughters, named Shimazu Nokichi...a very beautiful woman!"
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