gnovel Chapter 1891 1364: Cuba's Strategic Town—New Ships and Firearms in Iron Bay Town!
Chapter 1891 1364: Cuba's Strategic Town—New Ships and Firearms in Iron Bay Town!
Sailing from the Gabie Tribe to Iron Bay Town, the sea route spans over a thousand li, requiring ten days for the oar-sail ships, but only four days for the light sailing ships at full speed. After ten days, the supporting oar-sail fleet arrived at Iron Bay Town, and the two light sailing ships, having already resupplied, set out again to patrol Haiti Island.Of course, these two patrolling light sailing ships have another task, which is to escort the tribe chiefs of Haiti Island to Iron Bay Town to attend the New Year festival at the end of January, participating in the grand celebrations of the gathering of various tribes. Unbeknownst, the warm January winds had blown in, heralding a new year!
Upon the fleet's arrival at Iron Bay Town, Chief Priest Tomate held a welcoming ceremony to soothe the hearts of the arriving Samurais. The Kingdom Priests and Samurais of the entire Iron Bay Town were all greatly encouraged by the complete opening of the Maya-Cuba route!
The three hundred Samurais brought by Kepili have been arranged, with one hundred stationed along the northern coast of Cuba Main Island, and another hundred remaining in Iron Bay Town for defense to further strengthen the military power of this key stronghold. The remaining hundred will be gradually transported to the Southern Coast of Cuba Main Island after the New Year festival, distributed among the Taino Tribes to cooperate with local priests to accelerate the conversion of various tribes.
Currently, Cuba Main Island is rapidly undergoing the Kingdom's missionary work and assimilation. A new order based on the Chief Divine is being established with almost no obstacles. As long as Priest Tomate receives one or two more supports and is given one or two more years, Cuba will become the most solid faith fortress for the Chief Divine in the Eastern Sea!
Once this fortress is solidified, the Kingdom's power can further radiate to Haiti Island, Jamaica Main Island, Bahamas Islands, Brave Island (Puerto Rico), and further east to the Eastern Frontier Island Chain (Lesser Antilles)…
"Under Chief Divine's protection! The Kingdom's operations in Cuba, centered on Iron Bay Town and West Mountain Tribe, are extending two missionary zones towards each other, soon to completely connect! The Kingdom dispatches priests, stations Samurais, converts tribes, and the whole set of processes can effectively mobilize the manpower and resources of the core areas, roughly one thousand li along the eastern coast of Cuba, six to seven hundred li along the western coast. And the thousand li along central Cuba's coastline has already been assigned priests, who will soon also be supplemented with Samurais!"
"As for the vast inland of Cuba, we'll have to wait a bit longer, wait for more manpower support to truly start assimilation! However, all tribes have nominally submitted to the Kingdom's decision, participating in trade at Iron Bay Town, within the trade circle established by the Kingdom…"
The Chief Divine Temple at Iron Bay Town exudes a special red, having used a lot of local nickel soil and ironstone during construction. Chief Priest Tomate gazes at the statue of the Chief Divine, hand unfolding a roughly drawn new Eastern Sea map. And this hard-won map is, during this era, the most accurate sea chart of the entire Caribbean Sea!
"Four circles… The core circle where the Kingdom has already established dominance is about half of Cuba. The sphere of missionary and arbitration influence covers the three thousand li of Cuba Main Island. The expansion circle of trade exchange includes Haiti Island, Bahamas Islands, Jamaica Island. Finally, the exploration and dissemination sphere of the Evil Demon Prophecy extends east over Haiti, reaching Brave Island, with some Eastern Frontier islands…"
"Hmm, the northern situation has been explored, a deserted peninsula of vast swamps and dense forests, plus a piece of Bahamas Islands… And further north should be the Eastern Coast of the Northern Continent! There has been a prophecy from Your Majesty about frequent divine disasters there, cold snaps occasionally moving south, winter freezing water droplet… Local tribes struggle to survive, Evil Demons can't stand there, there's no urgent need to go…"
"And the only unclear is the Southern Coast… According to prophecy, it should be winding and long, connected with the Southern Continent!… However, direct sailing from Cuba to the Southern Coast seems very far, two to three thousand li? The Kingdom's oar-sail ships struggle back and forth, only the light sailing ships can make another trip!…"
Chief Priest Tomate extends his finger, mapping circles on the broad Eastern Sea map. The Eastern Sea map could be explored so quickly, thanks to the captured two Evil Demon Fast Ships. These ships require no oarsmen, though sail operation is complex, but wind usage is highly efficient, agile like Flying Birds!
"Chief Divine! If more such light sailing ships were available, the vast regions of Eastern Sea could swiftly communicate and quickly link as one!… Alas! Alas! The Kingdom hasn't captured the Evil Demon's Senior Shipwright, these current craftsmen at most can only build some weird little boats… Uhm, but they are agile and useful!…"
Chief Priest Tomate wishes to replicate the captured Caravel Reedship, but the captured white-skinned craftsmen keep shaking their heads. Even with corn and big sticks, their lack of large shipbuilding skills makes it impossible to create them.
However, Carpenter Antonio cracked his mind, under collaboration with two senior boatswains and Columbus's younger brother-in-law Alana, through group effort, created a common, handy small boat seen in the Mediterranean called "Arab-style single-masted triangular sailboat".
As the name suggests, this type of boat has only one central mast, a long triangular sail, low gunwales, and can be equipped with emergency oars. The boat length ranges approximately between two to six meters, water draft is half a meter, load capacity one to several tons, depending on specific design.
The great advantage of this single-masted triangular sailboat is its simple construction and agile navigation. Assembling the existing Kingdom's canoe, erecting a mast, hanging a triangular sail, it becomes convenient for near-shore sailing! With suitable wind power and sail adjustment, its speed is far faster than oar-sail ships and canoes, sometimes up to twice maximum limit!
Of course, such near-shore civilian small boat doesn't need to consider combat matters, as it virtually has no combat capabilities. Encountering enemies, scattering and fleeing solves it.
"The mystery of Evil Demon ships seems most important about those masts, ropes, and sails! Even the original oar-sail ships, with this extended triangular sail, improve speed significantly… Uhm, Iron Bay Town has already established a new small shipyard, mainly manufacturing sails and masts, then modifying existing large and small boats… And cotton threads collected from Cuba's tribes are having key uses!…"
Chief Priest Tomate steps out of the temple door, glancing toward the northern seashore, sees over ten small boats with white sails. These small boats are fishing along the coast, and with the sail's power, they can head further into the sea.
And these local Taino Fishermen originally had no experience in sail operation. They only barely managed after a few days of training by the white-skinned sailors. However, with a talent for sailing and fishing, these Taino Fishermen grasped more than half the sail operation in just two months. Correspondingly, the Taino Gunpowder Militia being trained by the Kingdom have practiced three or four months, despite having real firearm shooting exercises every few days, still not nearly as proficient as the experienced white-skinned sailors…
"Hmm... counting original captures and newly made ones, Iron Bay Town has thirty matchlock guns, can form a small firearms team… This weapon's armor-piercing strength is remarkably powerful, surpassing bows and arrows! But its drawback is poor accuracy over a distance, hitting relies on quantity, or Chief Divine's blessing… Once picked up, firearms prevent wielding shields or long weapons, mostly only a dagger can be carried… These musketeers actually have no melee abilities, and don't need melee abilities!…"
"The Kingdom's regular Samurais are limited, all experts in melee fighting, must be equipped with heavy armor and long weapons as much as possible! The new firearms team is made of selected Taino Militia, slightly blooded, bravery acceptable… Shooting from a distance doesn't require as much courage and morale as melee fighting. Using this so-called 'Matchlock Gun' is not as difficult as archery, requiring training for many years…"
"Chief Divine witness, lower selection standards, train more reserve firearms militia! Though firearm quantity is limited, if firearm militia falls, and weapons remain, can be replaced immediately… Given the Taino Tribes' population, even trading three Taino militia for one Evil Demon Warrior's life is worthwhile! These Taino Tribes don't excel in close combat, on battlefield, under Samurais' cover, firearm shooting seems the best method!…"
Thinking of this, Chief Priest Tomate slightly bows his head, seemingly hearing the sound of firearm training shooting nearby. Of course, in the entire Iron Bay Town, the most common sound is the "ding-ding-dang-dang" of blacksmithing. The ironware produced here, especially the cheap logging iron axes, supplies practically the entire East Sea Islands. And practical and durable ironware is attracting many Taino Tribes from thousands of li, even from Eastern Haiti row the boat here to trade with Iron Bay Town!
"Time, the Kingdom's operations and development in the Eastern Sea, still need more time! This East Sea is so vast, stretching five to six thousand li from Cuba Side to Eastern Frontier Islands! And the farther North-South Continent, seemingly limitless… In such vast regions, have the white-skinned Demons arrived? And where will their fleets appear again?…"