Chapter 2239 - 1602: Golden Ship! The Naval Chase! (Part 2)
Afterward, the gathered food supplies were used to feed the entire expeditionary fleet. The goods plundered and collected were distributed according to a certain ratio. As for the strong men and women requested, the men were typically used as "guarded workers," and the women were given to soldiers and sailors as their spoils of war. The Priest would also select a few docile converts to expand the Almighty’s flock...
The colonizers’ greed is boundless, and the Taino tribes on the entire Puerto Rico Island now face the threat of death! This death may arrive sooner or later. Or perhaps, they can only abandon their villages and retreat into the mountains at the island’s center, barely surviving.
"Ha! It’s almost time! Time to set sail again and demand this month’s tribute from these native tribes! Pay tribute once a month, or face death!..."
Thinking of the upcoming tribute collection, Captain Vicente’s lips curled up. This wonderful cycle of collecting tribute, rotated between different captains leading their teams, now finally fell to him! He took one last look at the port on the shore before forcefully waving his hand forward, shouting loudly.
"The Almighty bless! Full sails ahead! Westward! To the native tribes for tribute collection!"
"The Almighty bless! Westward! To get rich and enjoy life!"
Three medium Caravel ships sailed out of the fjord, with sailors and soldiers loudly praying, wearing cruel smiles on their faces. They had left Queen Isabella’s Castle, out of the Priest’s sight, able to do whatever they wanted with no one to restrain them.
And on each medium Caravel ship, there were twenty sailors, twenty fully armed mercenary soldiers. A total of 120 men among the three ships, even a village of a thousand natives couldn’t resist. Moreover, each ship was equipped with two 6-pound cannons at the front and rear, and four 4-pound side cannons. Once these cannons fired, the natives would be terrorized beyond belief, like bowing fearfully as if worshiping the Divine Spirit!
"Haha! Speed up westward! Find the village we visited last time! I want to sleep with a few more young women..."
"Ah ha! We want to too! Everyone should!"
"Yes! Grab some strong men to take back for labor..."
"Force them to hand over cotton yarn balls and pearls! And that smoky, ’fragrant grass’!"
"Nice! That’s good! Get more of it! If they don’t give it, cut off their hands!..."
Captain Vicente revealed a cruel expression, laughing savagely and vulgarly with his fellow scoundrel sailors and soldiers. The sailors shouted while skillfully adjusting the sails. Today’s main wind direction was east to west, carrying them swiftly forward.
The sea breeze howled, with clouds drifting across the clear sky. And when the tribute fleet of three Caravel ships had sailed for a day, suddenly lookout Paulo on the flagship shouted loudly, ringing the emergency bell!
"Ding ding ding!"
"Ship sighted! A large ship! Right on the west side, heading towards us! Huh? That ship’s flag? That flag?!..."
"Damn it! What’s going on?!"
Upon hearing the alarm bell, Captain Vicente drew his sword and rushed out from the captain’s cabin. He looked around but saw nothing threatening nearby.
"Paulo! What did you see?"
"Boss! On the west side, there’s a large ship! It seems to be...no, it must be a Caravel ship! That ship has a red and white flag...I suspect it’s a Portuguese ship!"
"What?! West side, a Portuguese ship?!"
Captain Vicente was suddenly startled, quickly gazing toward the western horizon. Unfortunately, he wasn’t standing high enough, and his vision was limited, only seeing a faintly visible ship with a vaguely visible flag.
"Approach it! Signal the other three ships with flags! Have them scatter north and south, and approach it together to take a look!"
Captain Vicente decisively ordered, and the fleet quickly spread out. This opened-up formation presented an obvious encircling posture, clearly not well-intentioned. And as two quarters passed, when the three ships closed to within a few li, Captain Vicente was finally shaken to his core, along with other Castilla captains, all exclaiming with surprise.
"Haha! It’s a Portuguese exploration ship! Just one! Portuguese! King Fernando has issued secret orders...this is the enemy of the Kingdom of Castile!"
The captains’ laughter was clearly ill-intentioned. They had three ships, fully loaded with soldiers and sailors. The opposing Portuguese exploration ship seemed isolated, with its flag appearing dirty and tattered, looking extremely pitiful. Could it be adrift after a storm? Where exactly was the Portuguese base?...
"Boss! Their sails have clearly been patched, filthy and messy, with flags that are tattered and worn! The paint layer on their hull is peeling, very mottled, seemingly battered by waves. The hull appears to have some repair marks...they probably encountered a storm, just a single ship adrift and lost!..."
"You don’t need to tell me, I saw it too! Signal the other two ships, full sails closer! Get a bit closer! Let’s see how this Portuguese ship reacts...to know if it’s really adrift, truly a lone sheep left behind!..."
Three Castilla ships raised their sails fully, accelerating toward the Portuguese ship. These were medium-sized Caravel ships capable of combat, larger than the small exploration-type Caravel ship opposite. Seeing the approaching three Castilla ships, from several li away, the Portuguese ship was already in panic. They frantically adjusted their ship’s course, reshaped their sails, discarding barrels into the sea to lighten the ship’s load as much as possible.