Chapter 328

"This is San Carlos fortress..."

Sailing from the camp, the green dewdrop went up 13 kilometers along the river bank and soon saw the destination of his trip, Fort San Carlos, on the North Bank of the San Juan River.

Unlike the fortresses in the mature development areas of Europe and the Caribbean, San Carlos looks more like a militarized settlement.

It is built at the land angle between the North Bank of San Juan River and the East Bank of Lake Nicaragua. It is an irregular fan, covering an area of about two to three square kilometers.

The fortress is surrounded by a strong wall of seven or eight meters high, made of thick logs, with a maximum width of 10 meters. There is a towering thatched observation platform on the wall, scattered with a limited number of soldiers and more than ten guns.

Artillery and soldiers are mainly arranged on the north and East walls facing the river. Obviously, the Spanish also know that the main threat to the fort of San Carlos can only come from the San Juan River.

San Carlos is also a trade hub connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Panama Canal in this era is still a dream. Adventurers will bypass the vast South America and travel between the two oceans with ships from the Magellan Strait or Drake Strait.

A larger number of regular businessmen will only choose a safe channel. That is, it landed in Managua on the Pacific coast for 15 kilometers, then boarded the ship in Granada, crossed Lake Nicaragua, entered the San Juan River from San carlolin, and entered the Caribbean Sea along the water flow.

This is the most convenient two ocean passage in the world today.

San Carlos naturally takes into account the function of tax card.

It has a suspension bridge type water gate at the San Juan estuary. All businessmen entering and leaving the Nicaraguan Lake must register with the fortress port authority and pay taxes. According to the benchmark price and tax table provided by Spain, compare the category and nationality, and pay 1.5 to 5 points of the goods.

To be fair, this tax rate can be regarded as a conscience compared with the current 10-15 point trade tax, but setting up a tax card is an act of obstructing commerce and trade, which has long been despised by all maritime powers.

Spain still regards this as a treasure. Except for the well-known fact that Spaniards are smarter than people on earth, the only reason is probably that only great Spain has its own national conditions here.

There are two Wharfs in San Carlos. The lakeside wharf is in the city and is the main wharf of the fortress. The riverside wharf is one kilometer away from the city wall. There are only three symbolic 20 meter plank roads. The breakwater is also compacted with soil, without even basic paving and leveling.

The Cangqing dewdrop slowly moored into the No. 2 plank road on the Bank of the river. Feeling the light tremor of the bow touching the bank, Lorraine stretched his waist lazily.

"Let's go and see the pride of the Iberian road bandits."

……

Operation San Carlos.

As a compromise to reconcile the contradictions between Nelson and Spencer, Lorraine has not had a clear goal.

Take a stroll around the city and stay for a while to investigate the number and firepower of the garrison. If possible, carry out some destructive actions within your power. From breaking the city, cooperating inside and outside to assassinating officers, it basically depends on his interest.

So Lorraine paid more attention to obedience and ability when selecting his entourage.

The crew of the blue dew was twenty-three. In addition to Haina, LEV, Daniel, freemani and Barto, there were eight indigenous sailors in charge of pretending to be slaves. Led by a strong young drogo Cao, ten Drake stormtroopers of all nationalities, except the British, equipped with short guns, swords and daggers without sailor knives.

The purpose of not taking sailor's knife is to cover up the sailor's identity. Similarly, Lorraine's main weapon was changed from double knives to umbrella sword.

However, Spanish gentlemen did not go out with an umbrella, and the umbrella sword could only be carried by freemani, an incarnation attendant. Lorraine's waist also has a thin sword inlaid with gemstones, which is the booty of Spencer's battle.

Different from the stabbing sword, it is a gorgeous swift sword. The thin body sword is more similar to the officer sword. Its style is simple and can stab and split. It is deeply loved by the masculine Holy Roman and Prussian nobles. It is also a common accessory for Spanish gentlemen.

The ship stops steadily and the planks are lowered.

Leaving the aboriginal sailors to clean up the mess of the deck, Lorraine, who changed into a tuxedo, took his entourage and stepped on the shore of the wharf, which was not a solid embankment.

Ding

An octagonal gold coin landed firmly in the pilot's arms, shaking the pilot's eyes.

"Generous young master!"

"Beautiful semaphore, sir." Lorraine spoke skilled and accurate Spanish. "I heard that San Carlos is a paradise in the rainforest, but I didn't expect that heaven would be so cold..."

"You must have neglected the rainy season." the pilot showed his white teeth. "It will rain heavily here next month. The water volume of the San Juan River can double. In the next six months, San Carlos is a prosperous paradise."

"I'm early?"

"I'm afraid so."

Along with the general principles of other places, the pilots at the wharf are often the most lax and lowest priced intelligence traffickers.

They are the know it all in the city. They know many things that you will know sooner or later as long as you inquire. Through their mouth, they are the easiest way to know a place.

Lorraine soon learned that San Carlos was an army city.

There are only a small number of civilians in the city. The main body of the garrison is the Nicaraguan colonial army of two companies, equipped with grenadiers, and the permanent civil army of one battalion (fifth company), equipped with lines. In addition, there is a brigantine frigate named San Carlos, with 120 sailors, which is parked in the only water tank at the lakeside wharf.

There are eight 12 pound medium-sized shore defense guns on the wall, which are old-fashioned cannons. Four of them are arranged on the south wall of the river, and the remaining four are arranged on the East and west walls, facing the rainforest and Lake Nicaragua.

The commander of the garrison in the city is Antonio de torresias, Baron and Colonel. He is also the commander of the local militia camp. He has his own manor and slaves on the zapatra island in Lake Nicaragua and is the only "master" in the city.

But his authority could not command the army of the whole city. Both the San Carlos and the grenadiers from Grenada were his collaborators rather than his subordinates.

Major Francisco de Mara, the captain of the Carlos, is the nephew of maratidu of the Grenada garrison formation, and major Gonzalo de ovier, the commander of the Grenadier regiment, is the wife and brother of major general Hawthorne, the governor of Nicaragua. In terms of background and contacts, torresias can't easily handle it.

In addition to the family history of these big men, Lorraine also knows that the best risotto in the fortress is the lake fresh risotto in titiari restaurant. The only hotel in the fortress is aunt potuyani's [new Cadiz hotel]. Her daughter potuyani is the chief flower of the fortress. She is romantic and enthusiastic. She needs to pay an octagonal gold coin to sleep one night, but it's definitely worth it

At the time of the pilot's wordy words, Bator completed the entry registration, freemani rented a carriage, and Leff volunteered to be the coachman. Lorraine timely interrupted the pilot, smiled and nodded and drove to the fortress.

Looking at the smoke of the carriage drifting farther and farther, the Registrar of the port authority came to the pilot.

"This season, such rich and powerful masters don't come much, let alone from the river..."

The pilot blew octagonal gold coins with a shout and listened quietly in his ear.

"Don't worry about him! I'll change my post in three days. Miss botuyani, I'm here!"