Horayshaun was effective in the attack on Fort Santiago. The two sides negotiated briefly and reached an agreement. The people in the castle and the clergy who were captured as slaves must leave safely for Santiago, and all the property, even the rings on the Spanish, belonged to the pirates.

However, Major Sival, who guarded the Santiago Fort, opposed these agreements, but no one obeyed the fire order he issued. In this case, Sival proposed another condition. If this condition is met, he would no longer object to compromise with the pirates. This condition is very simple. Sival demanded an open and fair duel with the pirate captain Horeshaun.

Horayshaun directly agreed to this condition, and in the bonfire under the turret, the two sides fought with knives. As a result, Horayshaun won, and he pierced Major Sival's heart at the cost of one ear being cut off.

Horayshaun's duel sparked cheers from all the pirates, and he showed a gentlemanly side, ordered Major Sival's body to be placed in a barrel filled with rum, cleaned up his weapons and personal belongings, and escorted to Santiago City by the surrenders.

After the fort was resolved, Valparaiso had opened the door. Li Su arranged for the fleet to enter the port and landed on the shore before it was completely dark. However, the Marines did not settle in Valparaiso, but instead took advantage of the night to enter the mountains and forests. Li Su's plan was to make the battle look like a pirate attack.

If the Spaniards believed that this was a pirate attack, then the governor of Santiago City would send troops to aid and the Marines could ambush them. However, the Marines would never show up easily. Even naval warships left in the early morning after the unloading was completed, and went south to meet with Zhao Longcheng.

"Old Huo, you are so awesome! Come on, I'll toast you." In the town hall, Li Junwei toasted Horayshaun happily, and Horayshaun was obviously flattered. He took the wine and finished drinking, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, if you don't have your generosity, I would not have had the harvest today."

Li Junwei said, "You are a true leader, both in ability and courage. I admire people like you very much. At least, I will not duel with that Sival. There is neither the courage nor the need. And Li Su is also very satisfied with you. Your courage has helped him ambush the reinforcements of Santiago. Although he always targets you, this time, he asks me to reward you.

But what can I reward you?"

Li Junwei thought for a while and said, "You are the richest among us now. When the fleet leaves, I don't have the money to reward you. And you are not a subject of the imperial court, and I can't give you a title or official position. So, the Alvaro cruise ship being repaired on the beach is a new ship launched three years ago. It has thirty artillery pieces, so I will reward you."

Horayshaun's eyes widened and looked at Li Junwei in disbelief. He thought for a while and said, "Great Your Highness, can you satisfy my small request?"

"Please say it." Li Junwei said.

Horayshaun hesitated and said, "You have an invincible fleet and will soon join the powerful army. I hope that after you conquer Santiago City, you will reward me with the silver equivalent of Alvaro. Is it OK? No, I only have half of the value of Alvaro!"

A cruise ship like the Alvaro, plus the various cannons equipped on it, its value will definitely not be less than 25,000 taels of silver, but Li Junwei didn't understand that Horayshaun only had money, not ships.

After raising this question, Horayshaun drank a glass of red wine and said, "Great Your Highness, you respect us pirates very much, but you still lack some understanding. The ship is too big to use it. With my identity and strength, I am not worthy of such a cruise ship."

The pirates always like schooners and spinnakers. The speed and agility far exceed firepower. The pirates never faced the head-on with the regular navy, nor did they have the need to rob Spanish treasure ships. They only plunder some merchant ships. The number of artillery is not important to them. Most of the operations are solved by platoon combat. After all, merchant ships consider the cost and will not be equipped with much firepower, and sailors are as few as possible.

Of course, there are also some pirates with ships like Alvaro, such as Henry Morgan at that time, but this type of warship-level ship is more of a symbol of identity, used to stabilize the position of the pirate leader. In fact, it will not be used for a long time. The reason is that the places where pirates are active are mostly tropical areas and the maintenance frequency is relatively high. Pirates of the level of Horeshaun cannot afford such ships.

"Old Huo, you won't be an ordinary pirate forever. Don't you want to be Henry Morgan? Henry Morgan of the Empire." Li Junwei asked bluntly.

Becoming Henry Morgan, you can get more wealth, shelter and power, and be more secure in the future, but you will also lose a lot of freedom. However, Horayshaun does not want to give up such an opportunity. He thought for a while and said, "Great Your Highness, this is a matter of the future and destiny of all brothers. We need crew meetings to discuss and vote, so I cannot agree to you for the time being. It is expected that some people will refuse to participate, so I need to recruit people here to increase the staff."

"So, you personally agreed." Li Junwei asked.

"Yes, the turn of my life is related to the Empire. My father was once a wealthy Genoese merchant. The merchant ships he invested in came and went between the New World and Genoa, buying and selling tobacco and sugarcane. But with the rise of the Empire, tobacco and sugarcane from the East poured in, prices plummeted, and my father went bankrupt, so I became a pirate.

Because of participating in the American Company's operations, I was promoted from an ordinary pirate to a captain. Now you have given me a new opportunity, and I don't think I can refuse." Horayshaun said seriously.

Li Junwei nodded: "Yes, you can recruit any staff."

Horayshaun asked: "Can you tell me what is my goal if I join you?"

"This is in the confidentiality stage, you haven't noticed it. Did Thomas always want to know?" said Li Junwei.

"You can tell me, and I swear by my life, not tell anyone else, I just want to know what path to go in the future," said Horayshaun.

Li Junwei thought for a while and said, "Okay, your battlefield will be the Caribbean Sea and the East Coast of North America."

Horayshaun nodded: "Great Your Highness, I will protect your secrets with my life."

The next morning, when all the pirates sobered up, Horayshaun held a crew meeting. This time, everyone was qualified to participate. He announced the proposal to follow His Highness Yu of the Empire and voted. If more than half of the people agreed, he would agree to this matter and allow those who disagree to leave.

As a result, most people agreed. Li Junwei was generous and maintained enough respect for the pirates, which had been shown in the Cologne Islands, and at that time, the pirates who were unwilling to cooperate with the empire had already withdrawn. Fourteen of Horayshaun's subordinates did not agree.

The reasons for these people were mainly religious, and they were worried that the Empire would ask them to give up their faith, and although they were not religious, it did not delay them from sticking to their faith. Horayshaun eventually agreed to their departure, giving the best sloop, and drawing a third of the public funds from the pirate ship to these people.

After the new resolution was formed, Horayshaun sent pirates to sweep the surrounding villages and towns according to Li Junwei's request. They targeted all the officials, the rich and the white people on the peninsula, and then sent the seized war horses and other urgently needed items to Li Su. Li Su had a cavalry team under him, with only people but no horses, which solved his urgent need.

Casablanca.

It was less than sixty miles away from Valparaiso. When the Marines were enduring mosquito bites in the woods, Spanish reinforcements from Santiago arrived at the town. The commander did not order the speed of the journey, but instead asked to rest in the town and then move forward the next day.

Due to the pirate attack, the residents of the town were almost running away. The army did not find a chef, so they could only continue to use military meals, but they found a clean dining table in the city hall instead of in the tent.

The commander who led this army of more than 2,700 people was Chilean governor Antonio. He was a thirty-one-year-old adult male. At this time, he was sitting at the top of the dining table, with an old Beijing-style copper hotpot in front of him. The ignited charcoal made the meat and vegetables roll in it. Antonio was using chopsticks to debug various seasonings, bean paste, sesame oil, chopped green onions, and peanuts. He enjoyed it with satisfaction.

This caused a sneer from a young man who sat on Antonio's left hand, twenty-four-year-old Francisco, son-in-law and nephew of the governor of Peru, and commander of the Chilean infantry regiment.

In fact, ten years ago, there was no such organization as infantry regiments in the American colonies, but times changed. As China explored North America and continued wars with the Spanish colonies, Spain continued to invest its domestic regular legions in the defense of the colonies, especially after the empire occupied the Nangang area.

Ten years ago, the 1,250 soldiers of the Spanish platoon in Santiago City were the only regular army of the Spanish in the Americas, because there were the unconquered Mapuches here, but now it is different. Regular corps appeared in the main cities. Santiago City has an infantry regiment, including three columns (a Spanish platoon with a scale of 1,000 people). The addition of these troops was done by the Chilean governor Antonio.

"Cunning Antonio..." Francisco whispered.

When Antonio heard it, he pretended not to hear it. Antonio's cunning was not only against the enemy, but also against his own people. He came to the Governor of Peru five years ago. At first, he worked in the port of Cayao in Lima, and later, the empire captured Buenos Aires and other cities. Antonio immediately applied for transfer to Santiago, so Spain established the Governor of Chile and allowed Antonio to serve as the Governor.

Antonio, who was in office, kept sending messages to Lima, saying that he wanted to fight the Andes and recover the colonies occupied by China, but he just said that no matter how much troops and military expenditure Peru gave, he said that he was not enough. It is precisely because of this that Santiago has such a strong force.

The Peruvian general realized something was wrong and sent a confidant. This person was Francesco, who was the governor's nephew. This is the Spanish tradition. When he went overseas or to explore the country, he would not take his own son, but would find a single nephew from a poor relative and marry his daughter to him as his assistant. This is the case with Francesco.

Francisco came to Santiago to urge Antonio to attack. If not, he would control the army and prevent Antonio from doing treason. Because the Governor only learned last year that Antonio had such a background in the local West India Affairs Committee, but his background was too special. His father was a guy called a Chinese businessman.

"Great Governor, I have never seen such a strange pot as I have grown up, and I have to use branches." The mayor of Casablanca said in a flattering manner.

"These are all from China, our hostile country, abominable pagan country." Francisco said maliciously.

Antonio smiled, knocked the copper pot with chopsticks, and said, "This is a peerless fine product. There were two great people sitting in front and behind it. One was my father, who is now a consultant to the king, a member of the West Indian Affairs Committee, and the other was the father of the Chinese emperor, their founding emperor. A man who has oversees most of the world. Of course, its biggest function is that when others can only eat dry and hard food when they are hard to swallow, I can enjoy delicious hot pot.

I can tell you that this is the greatest invention in China, which makes people like me willing to join the army. This is much better than gunpowder compass or something. Without gunpowder and compass, I can still command the army. If there is no hot pot, I would not have taken a boat to this ghost place."

Antonio just likes to say such things Francisco doesn't like to listen, but the other party can't do anything about him. He likes this rogue feeling.

"Mr. Governor, our cavalry led a group of people who escaped from Wacheng, including the clergy of the church and some defenders..." A strong man walked in and reported to Antonio.

Francisco said coldly: "Creoles, can you come in this restaurant? Get out!"

Antonio looked at the cavalry major under his command being insulted by Francesco and immediately said, "Diago, go and interrogate the civilians among the fugitives. As for the nobles and peninsula people, let our General Francesco go and inquire."
Chapter completed!