Chapter 962: The Wandering Invincible Fleet (Please Subscribe)

Victory at last.

The early morning of the third day of the eighth month, in the ninth year of Hongxing.

When Admiral García, commander of the Spanish Eastern Invincible Fleet, led his twenty-five galleon-type sailing ships out from the Great and Small Millstone Islands, there was not the slightest joy of a victor in his heart — only dejection, exhaustion, and a spreading gloom.

Though he was plainly the victor, Admiral García's mood was the same as when he had first commanded warships charging out of the Downs anchorage — even more dejected.

For when the Battle of the Downs ended, the Thirty Years' War was still undecided, and Spain was still a nation favored by God. So García, still young then, did not know he would witness Spain topple from its altar!

And now, apart from that not-quite-lucid King Philip IV (the curse of inbreeding), who did not know that the glorious age of the Spanish Empire had already passed?

The Battle of the Downs marked the loss of Spain's maritime hegemony! The Battle of Rocroi marked the loss of Spain's land hegemony!

And the victory of the Spanish Eastern Invincible Fleet in the Battle of Dinghai Anchorage meant that Spain's hegemony over the Pacific was already tottering!

This affair truly left Admiral García with nowhere to weep — he had clearly won, and won rather handsomely, at the cost of four armed galleons damaged or destroyed, smashing roughly half of the galleon-type warships of the Eastern Ocean Fleet, the main strength of the Great Ming navy! That is to say, every Ming warship lying in Dinghai Anchorage had been destroyed!

This was plainly a textbook victory of a first-rate Western power over the old empire of the East!

After such a victory, the old Eastern empire ought to be weeping as it ceded territory, paid indemnities, and signed unequal treaties.

But the problem now was that even if the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Cilang wanted to sign an unequal treaty, he could not find García the victor for the time being.

Because Admiral García had already decided to lead his Invincible Fleet "away from home" — he dared not return to Manila!

After winning the battle and destroying twelve Ming armed galleons at the cost of four of his own armed galleons, the Spanish Eastern Invincible Fleet actually did not dare go home!

How could he dare go back? Although his fleet had burned twelve Ming armed galleons in one stroke at Dinghai Anchorage, the Ming coastal batteries had used a mere twelve 24-pounder guns firing explosive shells to destroy two galleons of the Spanish navy and damage three others — two of which were so badly damaged that they could not withdraw with the main fleet and had to be abandoned.

In other words, the Ming army had used a mere twelve 24-pounder guns firing two or three hundred explosive shells to cost the Spanish four armed galleons, with yet another suffering moderate damage!

If a mere twelve guns could do that, then the warships in the Ming Eastern Ocean and Southern Ocean Fleets capable of mounting 24-pounder or 12-pounder cannon could not number fewer than two hundred, could they?

Even if each warship carried only five 24-pounders, that would be a thousand 24-pounders — how was the Spanish Eastern Invincible Fleet supposed to fight that?

Use solid shot against explosive shells? A several-hundred-ton armed galleon could take dozens or even a hundred solid shot — iron balls, that is — and still not necessarily sink. But switch to 24-pounder explosive shells, and two or three hits would be unbearable! A wooden ship, even if it did not sink, would be blasted to ruin!

Heavenly Father! How was this war to be fought?

As García was praying to the Heavenly Father in his cabin, Captain Barbosa of the New Spain had already knocked on the cabin door.

"Admiral, the losses have been tallied!"

"Come in!" Admiral García's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Barbosa pushed open the door and walked in, his expression grave, clearly weighed down with cares.

García glanced at him and asked, "How many men did we lose?"

He did not care about the loss of ships now, because after the Battle of Dinghai Anchorage, the Spanish Eastern Invincible Fleet would for a long time have to sail around the main fleet of the Great Ming navy, and could no longer attack the important ports defended by Ming land and sea forces.

In fact, the Eastern Invincible Fleet had already been reduced to a commerce-raiding fleet rather than a fleet contending for supremacy!

Under such circumstances, whether there were twenty-nine ships or twenty-five made little difference. But the numbers and morale of the crew and sailors mattered enormously — a long, drawn-out war at sea would consume the lives of the crew through scurvy, and excessive casualties and sickness would in turn cause desertions!

"Four hundred and two lost. Of those, all 175 aboard the Manila are missing, and all 125 aboard the San Diego — the three-hundred-ton galleon that went to the Manila's aid — are also missing. The Pacific Star lost 33, of whom 11 are seriously wounded. The San Miguel lost 41, of whom 15 are seriously wounded. The Acapulco — a five-hundred-ton galleon — lost 28, with 8 seriously wounded."

Admiral García gave a long sigh. "I trust those who have fallen into Chinese hands will be treated humanely?"

Captain Barbosa shook his head. "I do not know."

Admiral García sighed again. "Where do we go now?"

Barbosa said, "Admiral, according to the original plan, we should attack the Ryukyu Kingdom. Ryukyu's defenses are relatively lax, so we would certainly win again!"

"And after that?" Admiral García asked.

"After that... should we not return to Manila?"

"Return to Manila?" Admiral García shook his head. "Colonel, do you think they will not put explosive shells aboard their warships?"

"That..." Barbosa thought for a moment. "Would putting explosive shells aboard ship not be too dangerous?"

Spain also had explosive shells, but without wooden sabots and wooden-tube fuses, the shells would tumble inside the bore when fired, were prone to premature detonation — with a certain probability of exploding directly inside the barrel — and lacked accuracy. The wooden sabot, though no match for shell fins, was of great use in stabilizing the trajectory and improving accuracy. So putting the things aboard ship was more dangerous to oneself than to the enemy — once an accident occurred, the entire gun deck would become a fiery hell.

That was why no Western navy of this era dared put explosive shells aboard warships, for fear that before killing the enemy in battle, they would blow themselves up first! But once wooden sabots and wooden-tube fuses appeared, explosive shells going aboard ship was only a matter of time.

And once explosive shells went aboard ship, naval warfare would enter a wholly new era, and ships of the line like the New Spain, armed with dozens of cannon, would become utterly worthless.

For no one would dare outfit so many guns entirely with explosive shells — who could imagine two or three gun decks piled full of explosive shells awaiting firing? One sympathetic detonation and the whole ship would be blown to fragments!

By comparison, the Ming ten-thousand-dan great bird ships were far better suited to mounting a small number of 24-pounder heavy guns capable of firing explosive shells. Because the great bird ships required fewer sailors to operate, and their construction cost was also relatively low, they were best suited for mass deployment in swarm tactics. Build two hundred of them, mount five 24-pounders on each, a thousand guns firing explosive shells in total — terrifying even to imagine!

"That possibility cannot be ruled out!" García drew a breath. "At least until the danger is eliminated, the main fleet cannot return to Manila. Is there anywhere else we can go?"

"Either to Guam," Barbosa said, "or to the coast of Japan."

García thought for a moment, then said, "First to Ryukyu. Once in Ryukyu, do not touch the Japanese — only seize Chinese officials and merchants, and use them as hostages to exchange for our people."

"Also, send a ship to Japan at once to contact Caballero. Inform him of the result of the Battle of Dinghai Anchorage, and ask his opinion."

"As you command, Admiral!"

García's decision to lead the Eastern Invincible Fleet away from home and into wandering was undoubtedly correct, because at that very moment, Admiral Zheng Jiangong of the Great Ming expeditionary fleet was on his way to Manila with thirty great bird ships, three eight-hundred-ton galleon warships, and a thousand flintlock musketeers.

Had García returned with his fleet now, he would have run straight into Zheng Jiangong's fleet — and aboard those thirty great bird ships were 120 short-barreled 24-pounder guns capable of firing explosive shells!

Although the accuracy of naval guns could not compare with that of shore batteries, if those 120 24-pounders merely matched the performance of the twelve 24-pounders at the Battle of Dinghai, the Spanish Eastern Invincible Fleet would likely be weeping all the way home!

(End of Chapter)