The Protectorate did not need to capture every treasure fleet for the strategy to pay. Concentrating Spanish protection around bullion convoys opened commercial space elsewhere; dispersing protection risked both the convoys and those routes. Trying to defend everything could spread Spain's finite fleet thin enough to lose treasure and trade. Naval pressure could produce useful outcomes whichever defensive choice Spain made.
Notable Point · 7:01-9:26
The treasure fleet as a strategic dilemma
Threatening Spanish bullion either wins prize money or pulls Spanish warships away from other trade routes.