Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1257 Southwest Africa ([-])

The troubles of the navy will never be understood by the army.

While Second Lieutenant Moreel was thinking about how to contribute to this war next, on the morning of August 1660, 8, taking advantage of the morning fog, the east coast army quickly advanced to the outskirts of Luanda. Under the command, first the cannons were used to approach the bombardment, then the army soldiers fired in salvo, and finally more than 1 Black Eight Banners warriors launched a hand-to-hand charge and rushed into this small port city in one fell swoop.The whole battle took only a day or two, which shows the weakness of the Portuguese here.

There are only more than 400 white people in the city, and they are generally mercenaries, businessmen, slave traders and colonial officials.There are also many black servants, the total number exceeds a thousand, but they seem to have no combat effectiveness, at least not as powerful as the South African Eight Banners New Army.

After interrogating the captives, it was learned that Luanda and Benguela, the two slave trading ports, were attacked by the fleet of the Dutch West India Company many times between 1640 and 1648, and they have not calmed down so far.In fact, these two "big" port cities are not bad. Many small strongholds and trading posts of the Portuguese along the Congo and Angola were uprooted by the Dutch, and many of them have not yet been restored. This shows that the two The country’s decades of fierce struggles—the strongholds on the Gold Coast, the Gulf of Guinea, the Congo, and the coastline of Angola were captured by you for a while, and then I recaptured them for a while. , the colonial power in West Africa has been greatly weakened, and in disguise, the local black tribes or kingdoms can struggle to survive-well, it is just a little bit longer.

The fall of the two historic colonial strongholds of Benguela and Luanda marked the ruin of the Portuguese efforts in Angola for many years. Even if the land is returned to the country in the future, they will spend great efforts to rebuild it. The colonial system, which included both building cities and sending troops to bring back the local black powers to their knees, supplying them with slaves, ivory, gold, and timber—which they had to do, because otherwise, all who returned to Lisbon from Asia Ships must stop at Salvador Bay in Brazil and then return to the mainland, which is strictly prohibited by the King of Portugal, because in this way, the sailors who return from Goa to the ship will have a lot of Indian goods (pepper, textiles, etc.) , raw silk, etc.) to sell in Brazil, and then try to find a way to fill it with sugar at the Brazilian port and transport it back to Lisbon for sale.

In this process, the interests of the king were greatly damaged, so that the central government of the Kingdom of Portugal has long been working hard to maintain a direct trade route from Goa to Lisbon, so as to prevent those unconscious captains, sailors and colonial officials from profiting from it. ——Believe it or not, even slaves in Brazil are now wearing cheap Indian roving clothes—and if this trade route called the Cape of Good Hope is to be unimpeded, then the ports of Benguela and Luanda in Southwest Africa The status of the port is very important, because only the existence of these ports can prevent those greedy captains or sailors from going to San Salvador, Brazil.

"Commander Xie, the house here in Luanda will be handed over to your ministry. The nationally famous No. [-] Mixed Battalion is stationed here. I don't think the Portuguese can do anything else. Their strength is really pitiful, unless they come from Brazil Mobilize heavy troops, but how is this possible, haha." In the wharf of Luanda Port, Second Lieutenant Morie Eel adjusted his sky blue navy uniform, looked at the cloudless sea and sky, and said slowly: "The fight with the Portuguese It seems that the war will not end in a year or two. This is a decisive battle that concerns the future of the country. Not only your army is fighting, but our navy has to pay sacrifices for it. In fact, it is quite embarrassing to say that this war has been fought until now It troubles me that we have never been able to capture the Portuguese fleet, so that our merchant ships are constantly being attacked by the enemy."

What Second Lieutenant Morie Eel said actually meant something. After the army captured the city of Luanda, they learned from the interrogation of the captives that nearly twenty sailors from the east coast had just been executed in this port.They were all crew members of a flute-shaped transport ship (belonging to the East African Transport Company, loaded with sisal, cotton, coconut, dried fruit, cocoa, coffee and other Xinhua specialties) captured by the Portuguese Navy. In the Inquisition, he was burned to death-this is the usual method of the Iberians against heretics.

This incident aroused great indignation from the people on the east coast. They arrested all the religious figures who participated in the execution and executed them publicly. Isle of labor.But this alone cannot dispel the anger of the people on the east coast. The navy officers and soldiers headed by Captain Moreel said that they will go to the port of Benguela, and together with the battleship "Control East", they will patrol the vast sea between the river and Benguela. Intercept all Portuguese merchant ships that may be encountered in order to weaken the enemy's trade as much as possible-since the Portuguese have let go of the merchant ships, why should the people on the east coast not do so?In this era, there are as many as a dozen ships returning to Lisbon from Macau and Goa every year, with a gross tonnage of several thousand tons and loaded with all kinds of valuable cargo.

"Go, go." Xie Hansan waved his hands and said with a smile: "I will take the children to guard this port city. Our No. [-] Mixed Battalion is enough here. The Black Eight Banners New Army and the Courland Fire Take all the gunmen to the port of Benguela, where more manpower is needed. Judging from the current battle situation, I estimate optimistically, unless the Portuguese mobilize the army from Lisbon-this is possible. Historically, Mombasa in East Africa was When the Omanis besieged, Lisbon called up the fleet and army to the rescue, though the city fell before the reinforcements could reach it—otherwise I don't think anyone could have driven them from here, except disease! "

"Moreover, there is no shortage of supplies here, and the Portuguese also have quite a few manors here." Xie Hansan pointed to the stretch of land in the suburbs, and said, "Most of them are dry farming."

In fact, the farming techniques of the manors on the outskirts of Luanda are still extremely primitive, and the Portuguese don't even bother to manage them too much.In these places, it is usually black women who plow the ground, often leaving small trees in the ground to smash and level the sticky mushroom-shaped anthills.

The soil is generally relatively soft, so there is no need to turn the whole thing over, and even in some places, the locals only need to dig a few times in the ground with a machete.Of course, some natives who were well taught by the Portuguese would use a handmade short-handled shallow plow, but the efficiency is very low, and it will be scrapped and unusable after plowing for less than 20 kilometers. It is completely incompatible with those produced on the east coast. Compared with the plowshare, let alone the steam plow, which these people have never heard of - that kind of machinery is simply an incomprehensible fetish to these backward black people.

The Negroes on the estates (perhaps better called farms) also knew about crop rotation, growing crops brought from afar by the Portuguese.The first crop of the crop rotation is usually peanuts, which are sown on demand in small holes dug with knives; then cassava (a kind of bitter cassava that needs to be soaked before eating), and the pruned branches are randomly inserted obliquely in the ground, so that some plants can grow , forming sparse clumps; in the corners of the fields, Angola natives also plant some crops such as taro, corn, yam, sweet potato, pumpkin, Angola peas, and bananas. The agricultural production form is very backward. But it is strikingly similar to the area around the port of Rabaul, New Guinea.

It is worth mentioning that due to the mediocre texture of the soil on the outskirts of Luanda, and the fact that the natives do not know how to fertilize or maintain the farmland, after harvesting cassava (this crop is extremely land-consuming), the land has to Abandoned.According to people on the east coast, some people have heard some surprising conditions, and many abandoned lands must be left fallow for ten years before they can be used again. Otherwise, the soil may lack sufficient organic matter, which sounds extremely distressing.

Of course, the land under the Portuguese rule also has some animal husbandry or fishery, but both the output and technology are extremely substandard in the eyes of the people on the east coast: eggs are still a luxury in the port of Luanda, and the natives don’t know how to raise them at all. Chickens, hens run everywhere and their eggs are scattered in the field, often preempted by small carnivores; goats and a local black pig are half domesticated and live in woods or meadows Looking for food, and sometimes running to the city's garbage dumps to rummage for food.Their common feature is that they are all very thin, and the female goats are rarely bigger than some big dogs on the east coast, and the locals never milk the cows, unless the Portuguese lords tell them otherwise, they will not do it at all.

There are also many fish ponds in the local area, all of which were dug or cleared under the guidance of the Portuguese. The black Angolan people use cassava leaves to feed the fish, and the effect is said to be very good.But Xie Hansan didn't want to get close to those fish ponds at all, because in his opinion, the fish ponds where mosquitoes bred were a death talisman, and he didn't want himself and his soldiers to be infected with malaria.

All in all, the port of Luanda looks like a very bad place. All industries, including agriculture, are extremely sluggish and lifeless, except for the thriving slave trade industry.

"This kind of rotten place can be handed over to Portugal as a bargaining chip in the post-war negotiations in exchange for the benefits of other places. If it doesn't work, you can also ask the people of Courland what they think. Anyway, we are filling a large area of ​​vacant land in Sao Paulo. Dissatisfied, how can I have the time and energy to fight malaria in Angola." Before leaving, Xie Hansan said to Morie Eel again: "But until the place comes back, I will guard this place carefully, I hope I don't have eyes Let the Portuguese merchant ships come into port, and they will send us money."

……

While Molie Eel, Xie Hansan and others were talking and laughing in Southwest Africa, a fierce and sudden naval battle was coming to an end in the Mozambique Channel on the east coast of the African continent.The two warring parties are the Royal Portuguese Navy Fleet and the Second Fleet of the East Coast Republic of China. The Portuguese fleet is huge, with nearly thirty ships, while the East Coast Second Fleet has only one battleship ("Free Trade" No. [-]), two escort gunboats, two fast cruisers, one armed transport ship, and two armed merchant ships, the strength of the troops can be described as disparate.

At this point in the battle, the outcome has almost been decided. Although the main warships of the Second Fleet rushed left and right, they still couldn't break the closure of the enemy's large fleet. In the nearest lobster port of Isle of Be, relying on the cover of the fort on the coastal headland, waiting for the Portuguese to disperse on their own.

However, in this sudden encounter at sea—the Second Fleet carried the army to attack Mozambique with full confidence, but encountered the enemy fleet halfway—the Second Fleet still lost a fast cruiser and an armed transport ship. , an armed merchant ship, and two Japanese merchant ships loaded with sucrose were also unfortunately involved in the battle and were detained by the Portuguese Navy. The loss can be described as not light.As their opponents, the Portuguese, who had an absolute advantage in military strength, were also sunk a professional warship, two armed merchant ships, and an old-fashioned Arabian sailing ship loaded with food and supplies. In addition, four ships were seriously damaged. It is urgent to return to Mozambique Island for overhaul. It seems that it will not be able to fight within half a year. This also shows the combat effectiveness of the Second Fleet from one aspect - mainly because Major Guo Zili has a good command. His ship "Free Trade" has given The enemy takes the most casualties and is extremely impressive.

However, perhaps the people on the east coast of this maritime battle did not lose tactically, but from a strategic point of view, due to the support of the Portuguese fleet from Brazil, they will control the sea in the western Indian Ocean in a short period of time until the people on the east coast Also send a large fleet to come here and defeat the Portuguese, but this is obviously unlikely.

At the moment when the war initiated by the people on the east coast has only lasted for just two months, the battle between the two sides has continued from the Americas to Africa. The Portuguese sank many merchant ships and warships on the east coast. The people conquered a large piece of fertile land in Portuguese Brazil, and plundered countless money, materials and slaves. The diocese of Sao Paulo, which is fertile in land, mild in climate, and called the land of abundance, was captured, which was almost the biggest gain of the East Coast people in this battle. In addition, Luanda and Benguela, the slave export ports that the Portuguese have been operating in West Africa for many years, also fell under the combined attacks of the East Bank and Courland. This is also a huge loss for the Portuguese, not to mention their Cape of Good Hope. The trade line has also been threatened by ships on the east coast, and merchant ships are at risk of being captured or sunk at any time.

Generally speaking, since the war has been going on, both sides have lost each other, but what the people on the east coast have lost is floating wealth, and what they have gained is fertile soil that can be passed on to future generations. In fact, they still take advantage of it. Of course, this is also correct. It reflects the comparison of national power between the two sides.Of course, the Portuguese used correct strategies and tactics under the disadvantage, which caused a lot of personnel and material losses to the people on the east coast, which was also a lot of pressure on the navy and army on the east coast.

Now, it depends on who is more persistent on both sides. Anyway, fighting in this era is limited by communication efficiency and the pace of work. The process is often time-consuming and dramatic)——it may last longer, who can say for sure!

During this two-year war period (let’s make this prediction first), the financial pressure on the people on the east coast will be extremely huge, and the sea trade lines will also be crazily destroyed by the enemy. It is conceivable that domestic industrial and agricultural production will inevitably shrink sharply. Encountering great difficulties, there will be a certain degree of social turmoil; as their opponent Portugal, it is estimated that life will be even more difficult, and the lucrative Brazilian sugar is completely hopeless, and then even from Macau, Goa Ships returning to Lisbon will be threatened. It is conceivable that the king's money bag will quickly shrink, which will undoubtedly greatly shake their determination to fight.

Well, the analysis here is actually back to the original point, which is to see who consumes more energy!The one who can't persist first will always pay a higher price. This is a natural truth, and both parties understand it.

(End of this chapter)