Chapter 729

The battle of portosi in St. Louis only slightly hindered the East Route of the bear Stormers. Only 12 unfortunate bear Stormers were injured by stray bullets while attacking, and the rest of the bear Stormers were intact.

Well, the only thing that consumes a little is the ammunition of the two division artillery regiments.

However, it doesn't matter. As the stormbear army continued to go south, the 22 armed merchant ships that had led the five regiments of the first division of the stormbear army to the West Indies had returned to New Orleans, where they had replenished a large amount of supplies and set sail again, from New Orleans in the north of the Gulf of Mexico to the west of the Gulf.

Now the fleet has arrived in the port city of Tampico on the east coast of the new Spanish viceroy. The three regiments of the fifth division of the bear army who came with the ship have already defeated the port city.

Now the three regiments of the fifth division are escorting a large supply convoy to St. Louis portosi. Therefore, the East Route Army led by Kuaima was not worried about the supply at all.

At this point, I have to mention the seven Cherokee class warships attacking the West Indies and the five regiments of the first division of the bear army.

The fleet and the five regiments of the first division also set out in New Orleans. After sailing 1000 kilometers, they landed on Cuba, the largest island in the West Indies. The specific landing site was Havana, the largest city on the island

Columbus was discovered as early as 1492 when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The Spanish began their expedition to the island of Cuba in 1510 and established Santiago, the first town of the island, in early 1514. Santiago was once the capital of Cuba.

Later in the same year, the Spaniards established Havana, the second town on the island of Cuba, on the territory of the local Indian chief, havaguanex. However, the town of Havana was built in a swamp, where the climate was hot and humid, mosquitoes were rampant, and diseases were spreading, so it was not suitable for human life.

So in 1517, the town of Havana moved to the banks of the Almendares River on the northern coast. Later, it expanded eastward to the Gulf of Havana.

Havana Bay is one of the largest natural harbors in the world in the era of great navigation, which can hold more than 1000 sailboats.

The unique location of this port and the Atlantic wind make it an ideal gathering place for Spanish galleons. These galleons set out from the east coast of Mexico and Peru, carrying gold and silver mined from America and goods transported from Asia back to the native port of Cadiz. A lot of wealth will transit in this port, so they have been attacked by British and French pirates for many times in history.

So the Spanish government firmly believed that the defense of this place should be strengthened. Even in the 18th century, Havana was one of the few towns in the whole Caribbean that completely put the urban area within the protection of the city wall.

Yes, now Havana is a super huge fortress city. The whole city is surrounded by tall walls.

Moreover, in the Gulf of Havana, the kingdom of Spain even deployed a "headwind team" permanently stationed here to protect the security of Havana.

Havana is so important to Spain that it's no more important than Mexico.

Despite the prevalence of tropical diseases, the fertile soil and suitable climate make Cuba an important producer of tobacco and sugar, especially tobacco profits.

According to statistics, from 1740 to 1760, tobacco could bring 7 million to 10 million pesos of profits to the Spanish government at that time, of which 6 million to 9 million were the profits of the royal family, accounting for more than a quarter of Spain's fiscal revenue. This is enough to pay for the defense of Cuba or the operation of the entire Spanish Navy, equivalent to one-fifth of the value of silver mines in Peru or Mexico.

Moreover, Cuba island can not only produce huge tobacco profits, but also Cuba cedar is a better shipbuilding material than European oak. In 1735, the Spanish government built the Royal astrillo shipyard in Havana. Of the 227 windsurfing battleships built in Spain in the 18th century, about one third of the battleships were launched from the berth of the shipyard

Moreover, Havana is also the base of the Spanish privateer fleet and the famous coast guard, guarding the throat of the entire Caribbean region.

Later, in the seven-year war, the British occupied the island of Cuba. But after the end of the seven-year war, for the sake of the island of Cuba, the Spaniards spared no expense on the whole of Florida and used Florida to exchange the island of Cuba from the British

The importance of Cuba, or Havana, to the kingdom of Spain can be seen.

Now that the Empire wanted to capture the Caribbean, Havana was the first to be defeated.

Whether it's the Spanish upwind fleet, the privateer fleet or the coast guard, if you kill these warships, Spain will become a toothless tiger.

Of course, for the imperial fleet, the main opponent is the long-term headwind fleet stationed in Havana Bay.

This fleet has a heavyweight first class windsurfing battleship, four second class battleships, 22 first class battleships and three class battleships. With cruisers and other auxiliary ships, this upwind fleet has a total of 74 battleships.

Compared with such a large number of warships in the headwind fleet, the Dahua imperial fleet with only seven warships is hardly on the table.

But the naval battle off the northern coast of Havana surprised all the Spaniards who paid attention to it.

The upwind fleet is definitely the trump fleet of the Royal Navy of the whole kingdom of Spain. If you include the privateers and the warships of the coast guard, the number of Spanish warships participating in this naval battle is more than 120.

However, these 120 windsurfing warships were still beaten to pieces in the face of only seven naval fleets of the Great China empire.

What is the gap between windsurfing warships and steel warships? Just look at the gap between the naval guns on the windsurfing battleships and the 122mm dual main guns on the Cherokee class of the Chinese Empire.

"The truth only exists in the range of naval gun", Shi Xiong forgot who said it, but there is no doubt that this sentence really embodies its meaning incisively and vividly in this era.

The effective range of Cherokee class's 122mm dual main gun is as high as 12km, and the maximum speed is 15 knots. The number of warships in the Spanish Royal Fleet is large, but it's useless!

A hundred ants can never beat an ant eater

Well, that's what it means. If the fleet of the Royal Spanish Navy is compared to ants, then the fleet of the great Chinese empire is an ant eate