Following the fourth expedition to the Americas (April 1668-September 1669), Zheng Guangying led the fleet to launch the fifth expedition to the Americas in the twenty-eighth year of Haojing, that is, March 1671 AD.
Although the journey was very long, and each round trip was equivalent to a circumnavigation around the world, Zheng Guangying couldn't stop because the profits were so huge, and Emperor Haojing gave the Zheng family the right to monopolize this route.
The coach for the first three expeditions to America was Jiexuan, and the coach for the fourth and fifth expeditions was the original deputy coach Zheng Guangying.
Adhering to Jiexuan's combat philosophy, Zheng Guangying also achieved a complete victory in his fourth combat expedition to the Americas.
Thirty-seven Spanish ships were sunk and destroyed, fifty-two were captured, more than 3,000 Spanish sailors were captured, and valuables worth more than 200,000 taels of silver were seized.
As for ship-borne weapons and ammunition, any weapons and ammunition that were not needed by our own side were sold to Zhang Xianzhong at super low prices in exchange for American furs.
After visiting Trinity City (Port of Buenos Aires) many times, which is good at raising livestock, the local wealthy gentry also reached an agreement with Zheng Guangying.
As long as the fleet comes, there is no need to pay, and it is enough to provide beef and mutton of high quality and quantity. Zheng Guangying can ensure that the fleet does not harm the local environment, otherwise it will adopt a scorched earth strategy.
After the news was brought back to the mainland, soldiers in the Zheng Group who wanted to eat beef would actively sign up to participate in the expedition to America.
Going to America again this time, the fleet carried two thousand prisoners who had been released from prison and their families, as well as weapons and ammunition for Zhang Xianzhong, as well as goodies to support the Panamanian defenders and old friend Poirot.
Emperor Haojing has already sent a brigade of royal troops to seize Panama, which is the only land passage connecting North and South America. Canals can also be built in the future to collect tolls.
According to the agreement with its two allies, France and the Netherlands, the Ming Empire could legitimately own northwestern South America, namely Colombia and Ecuador.
In this way, they can border the new Inca Empire in Peru and support each other, thereby expanding the strategic depth of the alliance.
The new Inca Empire was naturally established by Polo's troops who defeated the Spanish garrison in the Viceroyalty of Peru. It was an important symbol of the victory and re-emergence of the local indigenous people.
In 1666, after the expedition fleet returned and realized that there was no threat from the sea, the Spanish army launched several fierce attacks on the city of Lima.
But without exception, they were all defeated by Poirot's army and the advisory group stationed by Emperor Haojing.
Although the advisory team is small in size, it has strong firepower.
Jiexuan left behind him 200 steam tanks, 72 new bronze cannons, 10,000 flintlock muskets, 1,500 revolvers or blunderbuss, 20,000 hand grenades, as well as ten airships and two Hundreds of "whaling harpoons".
Especially steam tanks, which were the absolute main force against Spanish cavalry in field battles.
The actual situation is also the same. Fifty steam tanks combined with a certain number of infantry and artillery are enough to withstand the crazy charge of three to four thousand Spanish cavalry.
In three operations to defend Lima, the coalition composed of the advisory group and Poirot's troops killed and captured more than 5,000 Western and local puppet soldiers.
The Spanish army in the Viceroyalty of Peru was severely weakened and completely lost the possibility of recapturing Lima, and had to ask for help from the mainland and the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
In the summer of 1667, Carlos II arrived in Mexico City and after mastering the actual situation of the two viceroyalties, he formulated corresponding strategies.
Since the mainland has been lost and is unlikely to be recovered in a short period of time, the two major viceroyalties in America can only be operated as the mainland in the near future.
Then we can't let the yellow-skinned monkeys invade our territory arbitrarily. We must take a strong counterattack to frighten the enemy!
Carlos II divided the two viceroyalties into six, which could also directly divide the two ministers who held great power.
The area including California and the entire west coast is the "Pacific Governorate", and the area west of the Governorate and north of Mexico is the "Texas Governorate".
Mexico is a Crown Territory with no governor.
South of Mexico and north of Quito is the "Caribbean Viceroyalty".
The new Viceroyalty of Peru only included the Pacific coast area west of Cape Horn. Beyond Cape Horn, to the east was the "Governorship of La Plata".
Since the governors in the two major viceroyalties had suffered a lot of defeats before, this gave Carlos II sufficient reason to integrate the two territories.
Head north to retake the California coast and drive the yellow-skinned monkeys back to the extremely desolate Oregon.
To the south, Lima must be recaptured, which is a major tax center in South America, otherwise the Viceroyalty of Peru will exist in name only.
In the autumn of 1667, the Western army regarded the siege of Lima as the "second reconquest."
Last time, this is how our ancestors recovered most of the Iberian Peninsula and finally established the Kingdom of Spain!
Now, they must uphold the legacy of their ancestors and completely eliminate the hateful yellow-skinned monkeys.
The number of Western troops participating in the operation reached 10,000, half of which were cavalry, and the remainder were infantry and artillery.
Realizing that the previous master was about to make a comeback, the armed forces of the local indigenous tribes who took refuge with Governor Saida reached as many as 20,000 people.
With 30,000 troops in hand, hundreds of heavy artillery, and 25 armed merchant ships assisting in the battle at sea, Saida did not believe that Lima City could not be recaptured this time.
In particular, the attack time is chosen during the dry season to minimize the possibility of rainfall affecting the operation.
Although we were at a disadvantage, under the leadership of Wulin, the leader of the advisory group, and supplemented by Poirot's 30,000 native troops, the defenders still fought tenaciously.
As Jiexuan's fleet had withdrawn and there was no support from its own warships at sea, Wulin chose to avoid fighting and let the other side fight as they pleased.
When the Spanish warships thought that the defenders were unable to fight back, they arrived at the dock and prepared to fire at close range.
Wulin then asked his men to use the "Harpoon" anti-ship missile to give him a fatal blow, hitting seventeen enemy ships at once.
When other Spanish warships saw this, they fled one after another and never dared to approach the port again.
As for the enemy troops coming from the land direction, they are relatively easy to deal with.
Whether fighting in the field or in the streets, including guerrilla warfare and night raids, the officers and soldiers of the advisory group who came from the Ming Dynasty King's Division are their ancestors!
But because the city of Lima was relatively strong, the defenders did not have to abandon the city and chose to go out to fight.
Bronze cannons have a much higher rate of fire than the opponent's heavy cannons. The total number of firings of seventy-two guns per unit time is equivalent to seven hundred old-fashioned heavy cannons.
As a result, after an artillery battle, Xiyi's artillery suppression strategy went bankrupt, and they also lost most of their heavy artillery.
In desperation, they could only choose to launch a strong attack and let the infantry troops attack the city directly.
Because a large amount of saltpeter was previously stored and enough grenades were produced.
It was perfectly fine for Poirot's soldiers to crouch behind the walls and throw grenades down.
This technical move is not difficult at all. As long as you don't fall at your feet after lighting it, it will be considered a success.
After fighting for a day, Saida's troops were bombarded by tens of thousands of grenades.
Although the troops invested were mainly servants and the Western Army only had one thousand, it was still a huge loss.
Not willing to fail, Saida decided to continue the attack. As a result, he attacked for three days in a row. Apart from losing half of his infantry, he gained nothing...
Major General Gonzalez suggested an immediate retreat, because with such heavy casualties, even if our own side could capture the city of Lima.
If the yellow-skinned monkey's fleet arrives in the short term, they will not be able to hold on and will be forced to abandon this strategic town.
Of course Seda would not agree to this stupid suggestion. If he still could not regain Lima this time, then he would no longer be the governor of Peru.
This is not like before, when Carlos II was far away in Madrid, but now he is in Mexico City, and the news of the defeat will soon reach the ears of His Majesty the King.
The local nobles have long been eyeing the position of the governor, otherwise His Majesty the King would not have divided the two governor-general areas. He knew the purpose of doing so.
But Saida also knew that what Gonzalez said made sense. According to the current situation, even if all the troops were exhausted, they might not be able to capture the city of Lima.
So they agreed to adopt the strategy of retreat to advance, try to attract the yellow-skinned monkeys in the city, and annihilate them using field battles.
The reconquering army that besieged Lima quickly retreated, much to the delight of the city's defenders.
Poirot asks what Wulin should do, and the latter is not surprised.
It doesn't matter whether the other party is playing it real or fake.
Before the native fleet made another expedition to the Americas, he adopted the turtle tactics.
Seeing that the opponent did not take the bait, Saida could only order the entire army to besiege Lima City again.
At the same time, they launched an operation to persuade them to surrender, promising that as long as the defenders surrendered, they would receive a very considerable settlement fee.
The commander can get one hundred thousand silver coins at a time and arrange a ship to take him to any place in the world.
The advisory team couldn't help but laugh at this. How could he be so easily deceived when he thought he was a three-year-old child?
Since the Xiyi were so kind, they would not have destroyed the Inca Empire in the first place!
Saida's siege of Lima for more than half a year was ineffective. The only "good news" was that Zheng Guangying's fleet was waiting!
In the late autumn of 1668, the Ming fleet carrying out the fourth expedition arrived in Lima.
When the Western troops outside the city saw a powerful fleet composed of hundreds of ships, they were all unwilling to fight and directly chose to retreat.
The six Spanish armed merchant ships that were slow to respond were sacrificed to the Dragon King of the West Sea by Zheng Guangying's armored ships before they could escape...
In addition to a large number of weapons, ammunition and various equipment given to the advisory group and Poirot, Zheng Guangying also brought a reserve force of 2,000 people from the advisory group to replace the sick and wounded.
The Wang Division, which had previously delivered a brigade to Panama, will be stationed there for a long time in the future to block the land route for the Western Army to enter South America.
In order to cooperate with the brigade, Zheng Guangying sent Zheng Ju to lead six ironclad ships and fifty wooden warships to garrison Panama to assist the defenders in defending the area.
Poirot was naturally very grateful to Zheng Guangying. Without the great help of the Ming Empire, his new Inca Empire would have been destroyed by the Spanish savages in minutes.
It is not for nothing that he has taken advantage of this. In the mining area in the south, whether it is copper ore or saltpeter, the God-given army can take it at will.
It’s best to fill every boat to the brim so that you can express your sincerity to the maximum extent possible.
Zheng Shao once asked Zheng Guangying why his Majesty did not directly send troops to seize the Viceroyalty of Peru, especially the resource-rich mining areas, but was only willing to occupy a small piece of land in Panama and northern South America.
Zheng Guangying’s answer is simple, because except for the northernmost part of South America, most of the east coast of the Pacific Ocean is not suitable for human habitation!
Your Majesty pays more attention to the "Trinity City" side, but because it is beyond our reach, we can't take action yet.
Poirot's new Inca Empire was far less powerful than the Ottoman Empire, which also had abundant natural resources.
This means that for a long time in the future, even within hundreds of years, they will have to rely on selling ore to maintain the operation of the empire.
The Ming Empire is probably the only country in the world that is subjectively unwilling to destroy them and is willing to help them resist foreign invasion.
Therefore, for Poirot and his successors, there is almost no choice but to cooperate with Ming Dynasty. This is the only way out.
The other party has ores, and the Ming Dynasty has weapons and commodities. The two sides conduct barter trade and are mutually beneficial. Why not?
Since Xiyi was very sensible and didn't come here to seek death, Zheng Guangying didn't mind letting him live a little longer.
Anyway, if the other party really wants to retake Lima City, they will definitely come here again.
The remaining matters will be left to the advisory group and Poirot's troops. As long as the fleet stays in Lima for one day, Xiyi will definitely not launch an attack in advance.
But now, the advisory group, which has been supplemented with troops and weapons, will not let the Western Yi take any advantage unless they make serious mistakes.
Unless the other party develops a weapon that can easily destroy the city wall, this is almost impossible. Ming's military technology leads the world.
What to do with the rest of the time?
Of course, go to Trinity City to eat beef!
If possible, I will go back to Brazil to scrape the land, and when I return, I will go to the west coast of Mexico to scrape again.
Zheng Guangying thought so and did so.
Finally, we returned with a bunch of loot, and started our fifth expedition a year and a half later!
Because Zheng Chenggong's troops fought smoothly, they even brought Carlos II to the Americas.
After the southern shipowners realized that there was not much oil and water in the European route, they chose to join Zheng Guangying's fleet and participate in the expedition to the Americas.
Because there are rumors that the king of Xiyi ran away to America with gold, silver and jewelry worth tens of millions.
If Master Wang could capture him, he would be able to make a fortune just from the shipping fee. Wouldn't it be distributed by then?
Zheng Guangying could only laugh at this. If Carlos II was so easy to catch, he would have become the prince's prisoner long ago.
But there is one thing. After that guy goes to the Americas, it will inevitably intensify the competition for the Americas, especially North America.
In order to defend his territory, Zhang Xianzhong will definitely ask for more weapons and equipment produced by Ming Dynasty.
This means that the trade volume between the two parties will further increase, and the fleet will also benefit greatly from this.
The main mission of the expeditionary fleet is not to fight, but to support Zhang Xianzhong and Poirot, thereby weakening Spain's strength.
In the words of Emperor Haojing, this is a proxy war.
As long as the Ming Dynasty's agents in America are not defeated by the Western Yi, they can always be hired to work for themselves!
