Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1260 Digestion of the Occupied Area

"Chief of the General Staff, according to the news sent back by Commander Zhu two days ago, the former enemy headquarters has moved to the banks of the Iguazu River. We have gone to the north. The situation of our army can be described as good. This is entirely the result of years of training and heroic fighting by the soldiers of the army, and it is also the blessing of Tianzun, guiding us to obtain more living space under the sun." The gendarmerie officer in charge of intelligence Immediately stepped forward to report, "However, as the front line is getting longer and longer, the current marching speed of our army has been greatly slowed down. Commander Zhu suggested that we should rest for a period of time in the north bank of the Iguazu River and wait for the supplies from the rear to arrive at the front line. Go north again."

"Have you investigated the hydrological conditions nearby? Can the supply be transported by ship?" Mo Ming asked, "If shipping is feasible, we can recruit a large number of 72-ton steamers from inland water transport companies in China, and even the navy The inland river shallow water gunboats can also be put into use, as long as they can carry cargo and maintain a large army."

"Chief of the General Staff, I am afraid that the small steamer will not work. According to my rough survey with the technicians of the Ministry of Geology, there are many shoals in the upper reaches of the Paraná River. Without manpower dredging and deep digging, the river is very shallow Shallow, only more than one meter deep in many places. Our 72-ton inland river small steamer is enough for empty-load passage, but if it is heavy-laden, it will be too choking, and it may run aground. From this point of view, it is also the Navy's Shallow water gunboats in inland rivers are more reliable, but that is normal. If it is fully loaded with cargo, I estimate that the draft will exceed 1 meter, and it may approach 1.2 meters. There is also a risk of running aground, although it is not great." The gendarmerie officer immediately He replied that obviously a lot of preparatory work had been done in advance.

Upon hearing this, Mo Ming beckoned for the staff to bring the map, and then looked at it carefully.This is a large-scale hand-drawn map of the Paraná River Basin, from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to the vicinity of the Iguazu Falls. The content is very detailed, even the maps in the hands of the Spaniards and Portuguese are not so detailed.After all, this is what the people of the east coast spent nearly ten years and sent many expeditions to explore. Naturally, it is not comparable to the crap in hand of others.

After looking at the map, Mo Ming said: "Go up from the mouth of the La Plata River, go north along the main road of the Paraná River, pass through Santa Fe, Corrientes, Posadas and other places to Iguazu Hekou, is this route okay?"

"No problem." After looking at the picture, the gendarmerie officer said, "Although there are some shoals, if you are careful or the boat is empty, there will be no problem. You should be able to sail to the mouth of the Iguazu River."

"Where are the shoals mainly concentrated?" Mo Ming continued to ask.

"The shoals are mainly concentrated in the area from Puerto Corrientes to the Ibera Swamp. In addition, there are some rapids and dangerous shoals between Puerto Posadas northward and the mouth of the Iguazu River, and sometimes some shallow silts are encountered, but the inland river It shouldn’t be a big problem for shallow-water gunboats to pass through. In short, only small boats can pass here, and large ships can sail as far as the Santa Fe Port area at most.” The military police officer replied dutifully.

"Then ship it by boat. Although the distance is longer, it is much more efficient than mules and horses." After hearing this, Mo Ming waved his hand and said in an unquestionable tone: "I will write to the Ministry of the Navy and let them try their best to The shallow-water gunboats in the inland river were dispatched to Jingjiang Port. Although these gunboats are not professional transport ships, it is not difficult to transport [-] tons of people or things in one ship, and the draft is shallow, even if the cargo is transported, it is only about one meter. Of course, this is just my guess. During the voyage, you can increase or decrease the transport tonnage according to the actual draft to ensure that the ship can reach the mouth of the Iguazu River smoothly. This must be done, you know, the army on the front line is waiting for your supplies Send it up, or the year of the monkey will occupy the vast area between the Iguazu River and the Paranapanema River."

"Yes, sir." The gendarmerie officer responded immediately.

"In addition, I will ask the inland water transport company to transfer some small steamers to go up the river. Don't worry, I will let them go there empty-loaded. Many places in the upper reaches of the Parana River need these means of transport. As long as they cross these shallows, then Where the river is deep, these boats can play a big role. Well, it’s better to bring some railway equipment over and build a simple track from the mouth of the Iguazu River to the east bank of the Paraná River above the waterfall, so that in Iguazu The materials collected and distributed around the mouth of the Su River can easily bypass the Iguazu Falls, and then be shipped there to the Tiet River further north. Whether it is transporting soldiers, pioneers or materials to the Sao Paulo area, it has become possible. This is how it works. Well, just because of this, it becomes necessary to set up many transshipment ports and even settlements in places such as the mouth of the Iguazu River. Transportation is not very difficult. Then, it seems that this matter can be settled like this. From the Paraná River, there are three major tributaries that are partially navigable, which is still very important for our army to control these newly acquired territories. It’s just that in the future, a large number of dredgers will be dispatched regularly to clear the shoals and silts. The main road of the Paraná River should be carefully maintained. Before the Northern Railway is built, this can be called a lifeline.” Mo Ming Looking at the map, he said to himself, but at this time the others wisely shut up, for fear of disturbing Chief of Staff Mo's thinking.

"Then it's settled!" Mo Ming slapped the table after thinking, and said: "The Navy immediately negotiated with the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District in Spain to request the right to navigate the Paraná River. Some material compensation can be appropriately given to the Spaniards."

As soon as Mo Ming's voice fell, the two naval officers in the entourage immediately responded loudly, and they were going to cooperate with the Ministry of the Navy immediately after they were going back to handle the matter.And neither Mo Ming nor the two junior navy officers had considered the possible response of the Spaniards at all, because they were not worried that the Spaniards would dare to refuse at all, otherwise, it would really be the end of the East Coast Army that is currently besieging Brazil. After the war over there, wouldn't they turn their guns and shoot you?With the arrogance that the people on the east coast have always shown, the Spaniards dare not take this risk. They can only hold their noses and agree to let the boats of the people on the east bank use the Paraná River to carry out the war. Shipping, that's almost a sure thing.

After confirming this matter, Mo Ming stayed in Anyuan Township (near Concordia City later) and Anping Township (near Chapeco City later) for several days.These two places were originally named Fort Batista and San Jose Town, and they were the first two Portuguese towns captured by the people on the east bank after crossing the river. Among them, Fort Batista became famous because of the "exuberant style" of the children of the capital of the Dongfang County Security Corps. reduced, only more than 40 women and children remained—the director of the local military management office has planned to move these people to live in towns along the Heihe River in the hinterland of the South—because San Jose Township fell in one go, most of the original residents survived At that time, there were more than 350 people left, most of whom were whites and their mixed-race descendants.

Don't think, though, that the surviving colonists have nothing to do now.In fact, as the first batch of areas to strictly implement the laws on the east coast, the current situation in Anping Township is very interesting: the Catalan colonists who put down their arms and surrendered never imagined that the land they worked so hard to develop Manors, pastures, and forest farms are going to be bought by people from the east coast, and the payment for the land purchase is only some worthless waste paper military tickets. How can this make them not angry!

As a result, some colonists who were dazzled by anger took out the hidden matchlock guns from the corner and had friction with the east bank personnel who came to purchase the land, and then the guns misfired and caused casualties.When this kind of thing happened, the militiamen on the east bank who were still stationed there must not be able to sit idly by. They assembled their men and began to conquer these manors that refused to sell their land one by one. Naturally, the large number of casualties caused during the process needless to say, anyway, Anping Township More than half of Catalans died in the ensuing so-called "land buy riots".

Although the remaining people survived because of the timely sale of land, their economic base was completely lost (only the [-] mu of land per capita allowed by the law on the east bank was left), and the Indian slaves in the original manor were also sold to the east bank. All people were released and given freedom (laws on the east coast do not allow slavery), not to mention the plummet of living standards, and the living conditions changed from a high-ranking lord to an ordinary farmer, which made them extremely unbearable.

Furthermore, according to the laws of the east coast, the churches in these occupied areas will all be closed, and the original clergy will either be expelled from the country, or ordered to join the church under the jurisdiction of the Religious Affairs Office of the East Coast Republic of China, and will be separated from the Holy See ever since.This kind of religious oppression has disappointed a large number of colonists with firm beliefs, and they have the intention to leave, planning to leave this land that oppresses them from both the world and the soul.

Of course, this kind of thing may not be what the East Coast government wants to see. They have plans to reshuffle the forces on this land—the Indians will arrange some short-term labor activities on the spot in exchange for their The food needed for daily life will all be moved to South Africa, New China, and even the Australian colonies after labor to settle down; the Mamelucos, who are white and Indian mixed, are the key guardians and will also move to the colonies in the future.

However, people on the east coast did not give them a chance to choose. Except for the vast number of former slave Indians, whether they were Mameluco or white colonists, the east coast government gave them a chance to choose their nationality. After the end of the Second East-West War, the East Coast government allowed Hispanic residents living in Qingdao, Shangcheng, Yongjing, and Yongan to freely choose their nationality. They were willing to be Brazilians and gave them rations and a little travel expenses (well, this time it is not a military ticket. It’s a real silver dollar), and those who are willing to be East Coasters must obey the arrangement—whites can stay in the local area, and mixed-race Mamelucos are not allowed to stay in the New World because they contain Indian blood, so they all have to move to the New World. Live in overseas colonies.

Once such a policy comes out, I believe that as long as these people have no problem with their heads, most of them will return to Brazil. After all, no one wants to stay in such a sad place full of depressive atmosphere on the East Coast.As for the manors, land and livestock they left behind, they can only be laughed at by the people on the east coast, and this is exactly what the executive committee is currently doing. The one-year lease term has attracted some investors.In addition, a total of more than 30 mu of farmland has also been registered for sale. Most of the buyers are families with little savings in the local area. It is also human nature to settle down and live.

As for whether the new immigrants from Huai'an Prefecture can buy these lands, the answer is naturally yes.Most of these new immigrants came from Qingjiangpu Town, most of them were citizens, and they had certain private property.When the army on the east bank broke through Qingjiangpu, most of their looting targets were Chaoguan, shipyards, yamen, and the residences of the generals of the Qing Dynasty. These people have some money saved in their pockets, which can be used at this critical moment-according to the nature of the Chinese, seven yuan per mu of cultivated land, although the soil texture is not as good as the red humus soil in the northern St. Paul Parish, it is not bad (in Daming can at least be regarded as Zhongtian), so why hesitate?Buy it first!As for whether I should farm for a living or make a living by handicrafts in the future, I will talk about it at that time, and I will talk about grabbing these cheap fields now!

Mo Ming is quite satisfied with the work of "immigration and border consolidation" in Anyuan Township and Anping Township, because only when there are immigrants, the army and government agencies on this newly occupied land, can they confidently say that this is their own land .Laying down a piece of land is just the beginning. Immigrants and counties are the key to digestion in the later stage. These things are intricate and complicated, and they must be handled from now on.What's more, with the arrival of these native immigrants (many of whom are second-generation nationals from the mainland), the East Coast people's control over the place has been greatly strengthened, and a large number of militiamen have been liberated and transferred to other places for garrison.

You must know that the later state of Santa Catarina, which has few Portuguese colonists, is fortunate to say that in the relatively densely populated Sao Paulo parish, the people on the east coast suffer from insufficient troops, and they are currently quite passive.The local white manor owners and their mixed descendants, the rebellious St. Paul's flag team, and a large number of naturalized Indian servants pose a great threat to the occupying forces on the east bank——from the Port of San Vicente to the town of Sao Paulo. The transportation supply line has been repeatedly attacked by unidentified armed men, causing considerable casualties and material losses. The local public security situation is bad, which can be seen. Therefore, the people on the east coast urgently need to transfer troops from the southern battlefield to the north to stabilize the St. Paul Parish order. A headache situation.

(End of this chapter)