Jiexuan's fleet arrived in Vancouver, an important town in western Canada, in early June, which was Zhang Tianbao's largest stronghold.
The nearby area, that is, Washington State, has not been lost, but it is already facing a situation of being besieged by the Spanish army.
"Second uncle!"
When Zhang Tianbao saw Li Dingguo, he immediately burst into tears and fell to his knees.
He was born in Dongdi and has never seen Li Dingguo in person. He has only seen the photos left to him by his father Zhang Xianzhong.
But now, whether it is showing true feelings or making a show on the spot, we have to continue acting unremittingly.
Because before that, the fourth uncle Zhang Qineng died in battle first, and the third uncle Zhang Wenxiu died of illness with regret.
Among Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons, the one who still lives in Dongdi is Zhang Kewang, the eldest uncle who rebelled and surrendered to the enemy.
In order to draw a clear line, after the rebellion, this guy restored his original surname and became Sun Kewang.
Because he took an elite unit with him when he rebelled, after so many years of hard work, Zhang Tianbao's territory not only failed to be defended, but also shrunk year after year.
The only good news Zhang Tianbao got in these years was that Carlos II died and his son Carlos III succeeded to the throne!
That’s right, not the throne, but the throne!
After Carlos II won the Northern Expedition, he happily announced that he had become the Lord of North America and should be the Emperor of North America!
Ascending himself to the throne and proclaiming himself emperor!
Even more shameless than Louis XIV, who at least sought Emperor Hao Jing’s opinion...
In the land of North America, perhaps the title of emperor is not worth much.
Zhang Tianbao, opposite the American Emperor Carlos II, was also the Emperor of the Dadong Empire!
"How good is Tianbao?"
Seeing that his adoptive father's son had grown up and was still kneeling in front of him, Li Dingguo burst into tears and hurriedly bent down to help him up.
After crying for a while, the two of them temporarily calmed down their grief. Later, Zhang Tianbao hosted a banquet in honor of the expeditionary force.
Having discussed it with Jiexuan in advance, Li Dingguo did not conceal the purpose of his trip from Zhang Tianbao.
This time they not only wanted to penetrate deep into the hinterland from the east coast to take over the territory of French North America, but also went south to attack the lands occupied by the Spanish.
Zhang Tianbao's biggest concern, which was to divide the territory after the war, also got an answer.
He could get Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, plus Alta California north of the Bay Area, and the original Alaska, Yukon Territory, and British Columbia.
In other words, Zhang Tianbao's sphere of influence was limited to the northwest region of North America.
But this was the biggest bottom line for Emperor Haojing. If he pushed further, Li Dingguo would be in trouble.
In view of the current enemy and the heavy losses of his own troops, he had no strength to counteroffer, so he immediately agreed.
Recovering a large area of lost territory was a blessing among misfortunes. Even if the imperial court's influence entered North America, he would have no choice but to let it go in a short period of time.
The task of Li Dingguo's command was to join forces with Zhang Tianbao's troops to drive the Spanish army southward and at the same time march eastward to take over parts of nearby French North America.
Those places were also obtained by Confucius through clever means. Louis XIV signed an agreement with Emperor Hao Jing before, and they should be taken back now.
If the other party is still unwilling to hand over, then don't blame the Ming Dynasty King's artillery fire...
Jiexuan's 5,000 marines and 20,000 Japanese troops would not follow them south, but would land directly from the port of Acapulco de Juarez, and then advance all the way north to New Madrid, which is Mexico City.
Stirring a hornet's nest is Jiexuan's favorite thing to do!
A few years ago, Zheng Chenggong led his troops to besiege Madrid, and now it was finally his turn to show off his talents.
In addition, the Panamanian garrison can also dispatch 5,000 troops to help. They have been in a full-line defense posture before.
Finally, the expeditionary force came again, and now the Spanish dog thieves must be given a taste of their power.
According to the previous agreement, the south of Mexico, all the way to Colombia, is the direct sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty.
Due to the limited number of troops delivered before, the Ming army's vanguard could only stick to the Panama Fortress, nothing more.
Due to limited troop strength, the defenders were unable to expand their control area even if they defeated the Western Army's attacks several times.
There are now 10,000 permanent troops stationed in the Panama Fortress and surrounding strongholds, and other places have to rely on indigenous armed forces close to the Ming Dynasty to maintain them.
Spain's light industry was far inferior to that of the Ming Empire, so it was very easy to bribe indigenous chiefs with light industry products.
Especially after seeing the huge airship appearing in the sky above their heads like a mountain, the chiefs immediately regarded the Ming army as heavenly soldiers.
Especially after obtaining an artifact like a refrigerator and using it with a generator, the chiefs were even more impressed by the Ming Dynasty King.
As a result, there are currently only 10,000 Ming troops in the area, while the number of pro-Ming indigenous armed forces is as high as 50,000 or more.
However, without the support of the Ming army, these indigenous armed forces cannot be expected to defeat the Spanish troops with their numerical superiority.
It was actually easy to drive the Spanish out of the area quickly, but it was difficult to control the area with the existing troops.
Based on the Yucatan Peninsula, Spanish troops often used ships and even used the cover of the rainforest to land from various places on the east coast, constantly harassing the Ming army and attacking tribal armed forces everywhere.
After fighting against the Ming Dynasty for many years, the Spaniards not only suffered a lot of defeats, but also learned the essence of the landing battle...
This made the Ming Dynasty defenders exhausted, and their energy and military strength were greatly affected.
Fortunately, the Panama Canal will be available for use this year, which can fundamentally change this situation.
The fleet stationed in Panama has ten ironclads, including two Yoshinos, two Laiyuan, and six Zhiyuan.
The scale is not large, but it has an absolute strength advantage when facing the wooden Spanish galleon.
So far, the fleet has sunk fifteen enemy ships that attempted to go north to support the Western counterattack, destroyed seven, and captured eight, for a total of thirty ships.
It may not seem like much, but in fact, according to the prisoners' accounts, the results achieved by the Ming army's squadron were close to half of the total number of enemy ships' northern reinforcements.
Only in bad weather and when the fog was thick, Spanish ships that took the opportunity to escape could successfully reach the coastal areas of California.
With the arrival of Jiexuan and the opening of the Panama Canal, the good days of the Spaniards in the Gulf of Mexico are over!
Originally, Jiexuan planned to attack New Madrid in person, but after hearing about the performance of Wang Yong's troops, he decided to give this opportunity to this young man.
It was somewhat inappropriate for the commander of the expeditionary force to leave the fleet alone and lead the marines and Japanese troops to attack the enemy's capital.
Since the Panamanian defenders had endured hardships before, they should now let them reap the biggest fruits.
What's more, it's easier for the Navy and Marines to attack targets along the Gulf Coast...
Jiexuan also had no reservations and placed 20,000 Japanese troops, a large number of heavy weapons, and some pilots under Wang Yong's command.
As long as they can stir up a hornet's nest, the Japanese army is always happy because they can make a lot of money!
Jiexuan led his fleet, with the assistance of the adjutant appointed by Wang Yong, through the canal into the Caribbean Sea, and then went all the way north to conduct a sweep!
The Panamanian squadron was still stationed locally for support, and Jiexuan led the entire expedition fleet into the Caribbean.
In the expeditionary fleet, there were forty-four ironclad ships used for combat, thirty auxiliary ironclad ships, and fifty-two steam merchant ships, for a total of one hundred and twenty-six ships.
They may not seem to be many in quantity, but their quality is very high. Since both logistics ships and merchant ships are equipped with artillery, they can also be used as ironclad ships in combat when necessary.
But Jiexuan believed that the more than forty ironclad ships on hand would be enough to sweep across the entire west coast of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
With the triple advantages of the firepower, defense power, and speed of our own warships, the Spanish fleet that can stop the Ming Expedition Fleet will never appear in this life, or even in the next life!
The expedition fleet entered the Caribbean Sea on June 29th, and then brought a huge surprise to the Spanish ships in the nearby waters!
In view of his own strong strength, in addition to supporting ships, Jiexuan ordered forty-four ironclad ships to line up in a row, one nautical mile apart on the sea, and conduct net-like operations!
This is equivalent to a giant net more than 40 nautical miles wide appearing out of thin air in the western Caribbean.
As that was not enough, Jiexuan also ordered the water reconnaissance aircraft carried by each ship to take off and conduct an aerial search.
Although the sailboat does not emit smoke, it can be easily spotted by pilots due to its huge sail.
After adopting a dragnet formation and investing in high-tech weapons, the expeditionary fleet easily captured no less than fifty unsuspecting Spanish ships.
Everyone in the fleet believed that they had traveled thousands of miles to come here just to catch these "big fish"!
Some veterans who were fortunate enough to have participated in the last expedition even directly recalled the turbulent years in their minds...
Now that happy time is back, of course it will make everyone feel extremely happy and excited.
With the speed advantage of the ironclad ship, as long as the target dares to escape, it will be sunk on the spot.
On the contrary, the sailors or sailors above will be sent to the Panama Fortress for custody first.
Surrendering will not necessarily lead to death, but running away will definitely lead to death!
These are the rules set by the Ming Navy. Anyone who is unwilling to abide by them can resist!
The harder the prey struggles, the more excited the Ming expedition fleet becomes!
Even Jiexuan believes that only by firing frequently at real targets can the main fleet maintain a high combat effectiveness.
The "real target" does not refer to the target ship, but to the enemy ship!
The prerequisite for having the opportunity to attack enemy ships is that the emperor approves the navy's overseas operations, but this involves the expenditure of huge debts.
Another important reason for the failure to obtain approval before is that it has not yet reached an agreement with many allies, especially France and the Netherlands.
Now that everything is settled, the expedition fleet can "have sex" in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico...
After the Spanish royal family fled to North America, they made this place the focus and only territory of their future operations.
Jiexuan estimates that there may be as many as a thousand or even two thousand Spanish ships in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the most optimistic estimate, each ironclad ship under his command can produce an average of about fifty battle results or captures!
For this reason, before the fleet left the mainland, the emperor gave the fleet a domineering name - the Nation-Destroying Fleet!
The object to be eliminated is the Spanish Empire, which is still lingering in North America to this day!
The size of the country-destroying fleet is far from huge, and is much inferior to the number of Spain's invincible fleet.
Fortunately, we have now entered the era of ironclad ships, facing the Ming Empire's expedition fleet's lineup of all-ironclad ships.
Even if Carlos III could organize another armada, it would not change his final fate.
Emperor Haojing gave Jiexuan absolute command authority, and he only had one sentence when it came to specific operations - find the target and destroy it!
There is no need to talk nonsense with the Spaniards who have carried out a massacre in Luzon. It is a waste of time to reason. Just open fire when you see them.
To sum it up in one sentence, I have come all the way here just to fuck you!
Spanish captains have already had relevant experience. When they see black smoke appearing on the skyline, they will automatically increase their vigilance.
When you see a battleship flying the Shen flag in the telescope, you will immediately order everyone to speed up and flee.
However, when the speed is at a disadvantage, even if the enemy is discovered at a long distance, it will be caught up by the opponent up to fifteen hours later.
The advantage of an ironclad ship over a sailing ship is that as long as there is enough coal, the captain does not need to worry about whether he is in the wind or against the wind. In low sea conditions, he can use the ironclad ship to wreak havoc everywhere.
Jiexuan has been prepared, and the first phase is to sweep across the west coast of the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast.
During this period, Spanish ships would seek refuge on Caribbean islands and even run to British ports.
It doesn't matter, we will start the second phase of the operation and conduct a dragnet search of the Caribbean island.
According to the agreement signed with Ming Dynasty, France can still retain all its own Caribbean islands.
But no Spanish or British ships can be sheltered, otherwise it will be a violation.
Using the intelligence provided by the French, Jiexuan can easily find the prey he is looking forward to...
How to get the French to provide intelligence obediently?
It's very simple, just send arms!
If necessary, proceed to the third phase of operations.
That is to join hands with Zheng Chenggong's fleet to eliminate the remaining power of the British Navy.
Before that, Jiexuan will fish out all the "big fish" in his two fish ponds!
Looking at the prey destroyed by the "Harpoon" anti-ship missile, everyone in the fleet felt very optimistic about taking on the first comer.
However, after watching the stars at night, Jiexuan became cautious because Emperor Haojing had said that storms often visited the Caribbean.
There will be one almost every month or two, which is exactly the same as when the Zheng army besieged the Castle of Relanze.
Jiexuan must always be on guard against this situation to prevent the fleet from being hit by storms when operating in deep sea.
In the first phase of sweeping coastal areas, this difficulty was relatively easy to overcome.
The fleet could anchor offshore at any time, take shelter from the storm, and then take action.
Due to the relatively high humidity in the war zone, Jiexuan decided to let the fleet use anti-ship missiles to attack the target first.
Just keep a small part to prevent the expensive "harpoon" from becoming inoperable after getting wet.
