Chapter 734 (1/2)
Seven warships control the entire northern Caribbean, which is a bit strange to say, but it is true.
After the great Chinese Empire took control of the northern part of the West Indies, all the main routes to the Gulf of Mexico were controlled. As for the Caribbean to the south of the Gulf of Mexico, the great Chinese Empire could control more than half of it.
When Cuba, Haiti, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other major islands are controlled, the Florida strait between Florida and Cuba, the windward strait between Cuba and Haiti, or the Mona strait between Haiti and Puerto Rico are basically controlled by the navy of the Chinese Empire.
Although the widest Florida Strait is 480 kilometers wide, don't forget that to the east of the Florida Strait is the Bahamas. That chain of islands is enough to block Florida. As for the windward channel and the Mona channel, they are only about 100 kilometers wide, so it is very easy to control them.
Although it did not recover the Lesser Antilles, which made the Empire temporarily unable to control the Caribbean Sea in the south, compared with the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea was obviously less important to the Empire.
Besides, the stone bear doesn't want to completely tear his face with Spain, so he has to leave some territory for Spain in the Caribbean.
Of course, if the stone bear thinks it's time to take back the Caribbean in the future, it's only a matter of minutes in terms of the military strength of the Empire to take back the Lesser Antilles.
When count Paul Fernando returned to Spain by boat, he got the news of the death of Carlos III as soon as he got ashore.
At this time, the kingdom of Spain was in power by Carlos IV, who was universally acknowledged as a short-sighted and trusting courtier.
What kind of person Carlos IV was, in the era before the stone bear crossing, almost historians all over the world made a judgment on him, which could not be changed even if he lifted the lid of the coffin.
This guy is a real mediocre. Although his father Carlos III, his grandfather Fernando VI, and his grandfather Philip V, all the hidden dangers, contradictions, and evil consequences in the whole 18th century broke out after Carlos IV came to power, in addition to these factors, his own lethargy is also the main cause of the Spanish Kingdom falling into the second class countries in Europe.
This guy is a person with soft ears. To put it bluntly, he is a person without any opinions. When such a person is the supreme head of a country, we can imagine how much suffering the country will suffer.
To have no opinion is to have no judgment and listen to others in everything. This is not the quality a head of state should have. But Carlos IV is such a person.
The famous battle of Trafalgar broke out in the era of Carlos IV in power.
Later, because of this famous naval battle, I'm afraid everyone knows what Spain has become.
Therefore, when Paul Fernando returned to Madrid and met with the new King Carlos IV, he completely said what the stone bear said. At the same time, count Fernando also expressed his views on the Great China empire.