Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1087 Fresh Blood ([-])

April 1655, 12, sunny.

Physically speaking, Patagonia is one of the most interesting regions in the world.It is vast and varied in its environments, with terraced mesas, mountains, river valleys suitable for oases and, of course, dry valleys.The whole region is generally dry, cold and windy, but the climate varies greatly from north to south and from east to west. If it is roughly divided according to certain standards, it can generally be divided into the Andes region and the Patagonia region. The area around the mouth of the lower reaches of the Chubut River, which is being developed by the people, is a typical valley oasis in the Taiwan area, and the agricultural conditions are quite good.

All the rivers of Patagonia originate from or pass through Andean mountain lakes, which regulate the volume of the rivers.Almost all the rivers are transit rivers. After leaving the Andes mountains with dense water networks, the rivers rarely get replenished by tributaries. The riverbeds passing through the platform area are narrow, the valleys are deep and wide, and finally flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

There is no doubt that the largest river in the whole of Patagonia is the Rio Negro (unfortunately, it is not in the hands of the people on the east coast), and the Chubut River is inferior both in terms of flow and the agricultural potential of the valley. Negro River.This river originated from the branch on the east side of the Andes, because most of the water in this section of the Andes passes through the mountains westward and flows into the Pacific Ocean on the Chilean side, so there are not many rivers that make up the water source of the upper river network of the Chubut River , there are even fewer tributaries crossing the mesa, and the Chico River, the only supplementary water source, has less than one-fiftieth of the water volume of the other Senger River that rises in the mountains (upstream Lakes La Plata and Fontana Lakes Wait for the water source to flow into Lake Mustels through the Senger River, and the excess water will leak into the Chico River), and it is often dry and exposed. The river bed is wide and deep, and the Castillo Heights and Salamanca Heights block it. It goes east to the San Jorge Bay depression, so it can only flow into the Chubut River, which is a blessing in misfortune—a dam was built not far downstream of the confluence of the two rivers in later generations (Florentino Ame Shino Dam), used to generate electricity, although it seems a little farther away for the east coast.

At this time, it is the early summer of Patagonia, and this semi-arid and semi-humid land also ushered in the driest season of the year (the annual precipitation of less than 300 mm is mostly concentrated in winter). Most of the time it is shrouded by westerly winds, sometimes from the southwest, sometimes from the northwest, and sometimes from the west.These winds are generated by high-pressure cyclones in the Pacific Ocean. They were originally moist air masses carrying a large amount of water vapor, but they were blocked by the Andes Mountains. The humid westerly winds had to rise above the Andes Mountains to reach the Patagonia region. But at this time It is no longer suitable for precipitation (a large amount of water is left in the Andes Mountains, and the annual precipitation in the area of ​​​​Kilian Lake is as high as 4500 mm, which is much more than that in the tropical rainforest area of ​​Xinhua Island), and this is why Patago The main cause of drought in the Niatai region.

"The last time the Ministry of Agriculture expert said that our hinterland is hundreds of kilometers deep. Even if there is a gap in the Andes Mountains for the westerly wind to come in, the rainwater will not reach us, and it will stay in the western mountains. Damn it, it's really bad luck. Why is this poor land drier than Gansu?" A militiaman in a sheepskin jacket led a horse with one hand and carried a rifle shoulder strap with the other, complaining.

"Old Li, you gangster savage who knows how to play ball!" Another middle-aged man in a black police uniform with a saber on his waist scolded: "If you didn't have this stinking mouth, you would be able to get along with the same township no matter what. The cadre has become a cadre, so why has it been seven or eight years now, and he is still a bloody village soldier director. Shangfeng arranged for us to come to the Chubut River to cultivate, of course there is a reason for Shangfeng, some land distribution is good, Although it is still a family of [-] acres of land, but look, the surrounding pastures are so big, even if each family raises thousands of sheep, it is no problem, but Jin Fang, how much profit is this? Hmph, the range of pastures will be divided soon Now, don’t be petty, if the Mongolian and Shandan Tartars take over the good pastures, just wait and cry, your daughter-in-law Rose can beat you to death with a rolling pin!”

It is said that since the people on the east bank obtained the pledged vast land south of 42 degrees south latitude, they began to gradually formulate a development plan for this place.Of course, regardless of the original intention of the executive committee, the development of the local area has not yet been completed, so how can there be extra people here to eat sand?But the problem is that these lands have already been taken, and it is not decent if they are not developed at all. Besides, the fishery resources along the coast are extremely rich, and there are quite a lot of sea animals. The oasis was circled first—of course, the number of people in reclamation will not be too many.

For example, the Hai'an Port near the estuary of the lower reaches of the Chubut River, the State Development Bureau has set up a branch here, and then coordinated with the Immigration Department, and has sent many immigrants here in batches, including 149 Italian non-citizens and Lithuanian non-citizens. 160 people, 81 free Livonian immigrants, amnesty Polish prisoners of war (generally working for more than 4 years but less than 5 years, and were granted nationality in advance due to good performance) 99 people, 838 newly arrived Ming people In addition, there are immigrants specially selected to adapt to the local environment, such as Buryat Mongols and Daurs (mostly Shandan tribes who originally obeyed Bogd Khan) , who were forced to relocate after being conquered by the East Coast people, generally with better riding skills) 311 people.

It can be seen that these immigrants come from all over the world, with extremely complex races, ethnicities, and religions, and it is quite difficult to manage them. Fortunately, there is no need to worry about people making troubles, which also reduces a lot of trouble for the local township government.A total of 1638 pioneers are now settled in a small area along the river near Rosenport in later generations. It is located in a river valley with sufficient water sources, and the land is not like the coarse gravel in other places, but mainly fertile impact soil. , which provides the basis for agricultural planting.According to the current arrangement, more than 700 adults with the status of free citizens are allocated a piece of land of about 30 mu for farming (as for whether the Buryat Mongols will be able to farm, it is beyond the government’s control); and more than 300 Non-citizens began to transplant poplar saplings in the river valley under the organization of the government. These are windbreak forests built for the future. They are very common along the Chubut River in later generations, and can protect orchards and farmland from wind and sand.

In order to increase the income of the pioneers, with the special approval of the Government Council, residents of the first batch of settlements in Hai'an Port and Lvgang can be assigned an additional large area of ​​pasture for grazing on a household basis (this is a temporary nature, After the population increases in the future, the range of pastures of each household will be re-divided).Although Patagonia is known as the largest gravel terrain area in the world-almost the entire surface is sparsely covered with a layer of large and small gravel, mainly granite, shaped like a walnut-but the wild is full of hard rocks. Grasses and low cushion-like shrubs, these plants almost grow close to the ground to adapt to the strong wind blowing (most of the plants grow on the ground, with short, hard and thorny stems, and unique shapes, which may not be eaten by cattle. But that's not a problem for sheep that can nibble on the shoots at the bottom of plants).

And in some criss-crossing deep ditches, there are many grasslands formed by clusters of gramineous plants.These deep ditches are generally ancient river beds, and there is often a backflow aquifer at the bottom, which is very humid. Plants grow here densely, and they are generally soft grasses. Forest".On the boundless green marlin, silver-white pampas grass is lined up in rows, and green moisture-loving plants grow everywhere. This kind of land with abundant water and grass is also very common on the Patagonian platform. In the future, it will inevitably It is the focus of contention between the pioneers on the east coast and the indigenous Tehuelche people. After all, everyone wants to occupy a better pasture.

Of course, at this time, the people on the east coast don’t need to fight the Tehuelche people to death. Except for several fierce conflicts with a certain tribe when they first landed, they basically didn’t expand outwards. Expansion has been focused on building fortresses near the estuary, leveling wasteland, planting saplings, and planning grasslands. Everything is laying the foundation for the future-in fact, think about it, just over 1600 young and old, how much land can it occupy?Is it worth going to fight those barbaric natives?No need!Besides, the executive committee dispatched an army to the south a few days ago, with about 1500 people, 500 of them (with hundreds of horses) stationed in Greenport on the Valdez Peninsula, and another 1000 (with horses) More than 1500 horses) were stationed in the camp under construction on the outskirts of Hai'an Port.More than half of the 200 people were Ukrainian Cossacks, and there were about 500 Russian prisoners of war and [-] Ottoman Ganishari soldiers.

The soldiers of the Ganishari Legion came to the east bank earlier than these people and belonged to the "cooked clan". Many of them have already converted for the third time in their lives (they were Christians in the early years, later Christians, and now believe in Taoism). In the eyes of the Ministry of War, it is more reliable; and the 200 Russian prisoners of war also have deep conflicts with the 800 Cossacks, they do not deal with each other, and because of their weakness, they are faintly close to the Ottomans, forming a delicate balance in the army.

These 1500 conflicted fighters, together with hundreds of militiamen in Haian Port, constitute the entire armed force of this settlement—to be honest, they are very strong. The East Coasters, with their many horses and well-armed equipment, would probably keep them all.Thinking about the hundreds of Spanish colonists who were slaughtered by the natives on the Valdez Peninsula, it is incredible. The weak farmers are really not suitable for living in this tough and barren land of Patagonia. The world of men.

(End of this chapter)