Chapter 329 Falling into a trap
After nearly a day of replenishment, the fleet embarked on the journey again, but this time it was favored by the goddess of luck and encountered the Indian Ocean monsoon.
Friedrich received assurances from Benny Urbin that Bagamoyo had sufficient coal and supplies to provide for his side.
So he was overjoyed and ordered the fleet to set off; with the help of a hybrid steam engine and sail, it reached its destination in less than six days at a super-high speed of 20 knots.
Bagamoyo is the oldest city in Tanzania, but this slave fortress, whose architectural styles can be described as diverse, may be more appropriately called a town in the eyes of Europeans at this time.
Looking around, there are ancient European-style buildings, indigenous-style thatched huts, simple-style houses made directly from mud, and even halal-style and some unusual temples.
But overall it can be summed up in three words: old, old and broken.
The local European businessmen can be said to be miserable to the naked eye. These people wear Rococo or Regency-style clothes that are completely isolated from the world.
The men's exaggerated and complicated clothes, leather high-heeled shoes and wigs make them look like they have traveled through time from the 18th century.
The women's clothing is also very artificial, but it is similar to the mainstream European style in 1842, but it is still far behind the fashionable Vienna.
And their bodies seemed to carry a strange smell, which Franz and his team could smell even if they were several meters away from the group.
Oshio Shanyin looked at the European women walking nearby in surprise. After all, her classmates in Vienna even wanted to soak in the water all day long and use various petals and spices to stew the smell from top to bottom. .
But from the appearance of these women in front of us, we can easily conclude that they don't even want to wash their heads. What surprised her even more was that the sweat stains, tear stains, bird droppings, and all kinds of strange stains on their clothes were clearly visible; the "intoxicating" smell exuding from their bodies could put off a pregnant teenager.
The port is surrounded by people of colorful colors, and they obviously welcome the arrival of the Austrian ocean-going fleet; due to the rise of Mombasa Port, Bagamoyo's business is getting worse day by day. There is no doubt that this port is dying.
Franz and his entourage also discovered a strange phenomenon, that is, there seemed to be a lot of Arabs on the dock, and there were even slave ships leaving the port carrying entire ships of slaves.
When Benny Erbin and his men walked out of the subsequent transport ship, the white people on the dock let out huge cheers. At the same time, the Arabs next to them immediately began to be on guard, and some merchant ships even sailed directly. Leaving the port.
Franz and Friedrich both knew that those people's actions must be out of fear of reprisal from the whites, so they took the initiative to inform their masters.
However, this has no impact on our own schedule. After all, the fleet is just here to replenish supplies and will leave this place of right and wrong in two days at most.
So they didn't think it would bring them any trouble, but the two began to plan the future of this port.
Franz felt that Bagamoyo would inevitably become an important fulcrum of the empire in East Africa, especially its importance would further increase after the opening of the Suez Canal.
Of course in his dream, if all goes well, the ultimate goal is to connect it with the Congolese colony to form a super colony across Central Africa.
"Pragmatist" Friedrich believed that Bagamoyo met the necessary conditions as a military port; natural barriers and good depth would bring more trouble to the attackers.
But its limitations are also obvious, that is, it is not big enough; if a huge fleet is stationed here for a long time, it will appear small, and once the number of ships on the offensive side is doubled, the advantages and disadvantages of offense and defense will be completely reversed. .
Compared with Bagamoyo, Friedrich was more optimistic about Dares Salaam, which was still a small fishing village at this time. The water there was deeper, and it had more space and more ideal depth.
But at this time, Dares Salaam is still a poor and unknown village. It may take 3-5 years to completely turn it into a fully functional port, and when people realize its superiority Sex may still take up to 10 years.
Dares Salaam, located at the mouth of the Rufu River, was the capital of Tanzania in later generations, but at this time it had not yet shown the advantages of a deep-water port; and building a port from scratch has never been easy. matter.
While the two were still immersed in thinking, boxes of weapons and black powder were moved to the shore, and batches of supplies and coal were sent to the ship.
However, in order to prevent accidents, Friedrich ordered all officers and soldiers not to stay on the shore or go deep inland.
Everyone is hoping that nothing will go wrong, affecting the plan to leave the city early tomorrow morning after supplies are completed. After all, the next trip will face the most difficult pass on the voyage - the Cape of Good Hope.
Until this moment, Franz and his party had not realized that they had been deceived. Everyone was anxiously looking forward to the arrival of dawn and the start of the next day's journey.
The sun also rises as usual. Luca Maceninha is a lookout on the Venetia, the flagship of the Austrian Empire's Mediterranean Fleet. He gets up on time at four-thirty in the morning as usual, preparing to take over at five o'clock. Companion's work.
The first ray of sunlight in the morning was particularly dazzling. Luca Macheninha, who had very good eyesight, soon saw that there seemed to be some small black spots approaching where the sun rose.
This is a very unusual situation, because there are so many black spots, like a mighty fleet. As a lookout with a keen mind, he realized that this was a precursor to a conflict at sea, but he was unable to confirm this fact.
(Lying or misreporting military information is a very serious crime in the military.)
"Marceno! Come here and see what is that dark patch in the distance?"
Luca Macheninha called to his companions on the watchtower, but received no response. According to common sense, this sleepy guy must be lazy. After all, our ships are anchored in the harbor and it is almost time for the changing of the guard.
But just at the moment when he decided to take a few bites of bread in the shadow of the watchtower to replenish energy before changing guard, a drop of unknown liquid fell on his head.
Luca Macheninha touched it casually. Based on his many years of experience, he judged that the sticky and warm feeling should be a pile of fresh bird droppings.
"Fortunately, it didn't fall on the bread." Luca Marcheninha secretly rejoiced. Just as he was about to wipe the bird poop on his pants, he found a trace of red liquid dripping down.
"The people above are dead?" He looked at the watchtower in disbelief, but the people above him didn't move at all. Thinking of the large number of black spots ahead that he had detected, he immediately shouted, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" Attack! Enemy ships are attacking!"
Luca Macheninha shouted as he climbed towards the watchtower.
"Marceno! Rosa is still waiting for you to go back and marry her! Damn it! You still owe me 20 florins for wine money."
How he wished it was just a prank by his stupid friend, but the reality was cruel. A crossbow arrow shot through Macheno's eye and nailed him to the mast. Luca Macheninha picked up the telescope and saw an entire fleet of sailing ships approaching them.
"Northeast, 20 nautical miles, enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Based on experience, he judged that the opponent was less than 20 nautical miles away from his side (some book friends must think that 20 nautical miles is too far, and there must be no problem in discovering the enemy's situation so early).
But in fact, the steam battleships of this era often took 2-3 hours just to start up, not to mention other tasks such as anchoring.