Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1290 Promoting Peace by Fighting ([-])

The port of Ilheus has been established for a long time, and its main economic activity has been forest logging.In the 100 years since its establishment, the development of this city can be said to be lacklustre, and the population is not very large. There are only a thousand civilized people in the area, and it has been struggling between prosperity and depression. Everyone who wants to narrate the history here People can always finish a sentence in a few sentences.

However, after the yellow-skinned pagans successfully established their country on the eastern prairie, they began to frequently import timber from San Vicente, Victoria, Seguro, Ilheus and other places, which made the city The population of China began to increase greatly, and the number of white people reached more than 2000 at the time. It is amazing the magic brought by the export of timber.

As one of the best timber export ports in General Seguro District, there are too many timbers produced near Ilheus: from light wood to hardwood, from precious mahogany to common pine, from naval ship materials to construction materials, all kinds There is everything you can expect from wood, and there are huge reserves and high quality, which are far better than the trees planted by the people on the prairie on the east coast. Therefore, it has greatly promoted the development of the city's economy. More than one large merchant ship loaded with boards and even logs sailed to the east coast, and then brought back a large number of industrial products, construction materials, grains, salted fish, cured meat, spirits, cloth, and even weapons and ammunition. General Espirito and even General San Vicente have benefited from this trade.

However, with the official outbreak of the Middle East-Portuguese War in 1660, this once-prosperous bilateral trade came to an abrupt end, and the lives of a large number of forest farmers and timber workshop owners fell into difficulties.Especially after the famous Port of Seguro was also captured by the East Coasters, the logging and processing activities of the entire Ilheus had basically stopped. Colonial officials, local feudal lords, and big businessmen worked together to mobilize most of the manpower. Get up for training, intending to resolutely resist the aggression of the people on the east coast, but it is hard to say how effective it will be.

At six o'clock in the morning on June 1661, 6, it was time to test the training results of these people!On the slightly turbulent sea, a large number of ships from the east coast from the south are moored at this time-as long as anyone with a normal IQ can judge this-a considerable part of these ships have already anchored, and the rest are in the sea. Cruising slowly, guarding the outside of the fleet.

Sharp-eyed people on land can already see that most of the anchored ships are transport ships. At this time, the sailors on these ships are hanging small boats from the deck.They shouted the chant carefully and worked together to lower the boat little by little through the pulley boom on the shaky deck.

The weight of the boat is not heavy. If the materials used to make it are not bad, they should be balsa wood and Goshio jibe wood imported from Seguro and Espiritu Santo. Known as "one of the lightest woods in the world", the small boats or rafts produced are extremely light in weight and have great buoyancy. It is most suitable for making small boats carried by large ships, such as the one in front of you.Of course, people on the east coast don’t just use this kind of wood to build boats. In fact, this kind of wood has many other uses, such as very good insulation against heat and electricity, and also good shock resistance. Therefore, The insulation layer of the refrigerated ships on the east coast likes to use this kind of wood. In addition, bottle stoppers, lifesaving belts and tea boxes are also made of these two kinds of wood most of the time-this kind of wood is even a good raw material for making activated carbon in later generations. one.

After the small boat was put on the sea surface, some sailors who had climbed down the rope net jumped on board immediately, and then reached out to catch the cables thrown from the deck of the big ship, and fixed the small boat with it, while carefully Control the distance and prevent the small boat from being pushed by the waves to bump into the big ship—although this kind of small boat made of Wuxiong Jibei wood has excellent shock resistance, there is no need for everyone to make trouble for themselves, right?

Following the sailors were empty-handed army soldiers. They took the platoon as a unit, and under the leadership of the non-commissioned officer, they carefully followed the rope net and slowly descended to the small boat under the interference of the constantly shaking hull.Every time some unlucky guy accidentally fell into the sea, there would be a burst of laughter from the sailors, and then they would take out the net and throw it into the sea to catch the unlucky guy, provided he was not drowned.

After the people, there are large and small bags of supplies, including firearms and ammunition, medicines and military supplies, and even some canned food, shredded tobacco and wine. I really don’t know how the brains of the logistics guys grow. I'm about to land and fight, you are such a bastard for giving me such a burden!

After distributing the supplies on the small boat, the veteran sailor non-commissioned officer blew the copper whistle hanging around his neck, and then everyone shouted and rowed forward vigorously.Their rhythm is just right, neither too much pursuit of speed makes the back end forceful, nor is it slow like a tortoise, because the officers have already said that although Ilheus has no land defense turrets to interfere with the landing, everyone must use it Treat it as a real offensive and defensive drill, don't be lazy and sloppy.

Soon, the first batch of more than 10 small boats landed one after another without any interference. The officers leading the team kept gathering their subordinates through copper whistles, passwords, and flags. The whole process lasted for nearly [-] minutes.At this time, if the Brazilians can select the elite and launch an assault with a desperate intention, I believe that even if they cannot drive the half battalion of the East Coast Army officers and soldiers into the sea, they will definitely be able to severely injure them.It's a pity that the woodcutters of Ilheus were discouraged. They didn't have such determination and courage at all. They could only watch the people on the east bank land on the pier, form a team, consolidate the beachhead, and receive more people and supplies ashore. .

The third mixed battalion of Major Lan Guo was the first to complete the landing, followed by the second mixed battalion of Major Xiao Xi, and then the second battalion of the Volunteer Army of Captain Yang Liang... The landing operation lasted for a long time. At that time, when the last batch of combat supplies was sent ashore by the small boat, Major Xiao Xi ordered all the troops to line up and fight towards the city of Ilheus—they didn't land all the troops, perhaps because they felt it was unnecessary Bar.

The Portuguese generally have no defensive facilities in the towns of Seguro and General Espiritu Santo, so this will not stop the pace of the people on the east coast. During the march, when all the officers and soldiers approached at the same pace, the gunmen they recruited were still chaotically crowded behind a simple fortification.

"Second Battalion and One Company, all of them, half turn to the left! The front left quickly stepped forward to fire the gun, one-two-one, one-two-one, stand still! The gun is lowered to the shoulder, charge, reload, raise the gun, aim, and prepare—— put!"

"First Battalion, all are there, let's go! One-two-one, one-two-one, fast-step forward and shoot the gun, put the gun on the shoulder, charge the ammunition, load the bullet, run and walk, one-two-one, one-two-one, stand still! Raise gun, aim, ready—fire!"

Following the crisp passwords of the officers, large puffs of black smoke rose into the air above the position, and the infantry on the east bank, who had been drilled to the point of conditioned reflex, kept switching formations, while skillfully reloading and shooting, densely packed The fast projectiles hit the enemy on the opposite side unable to lift their heads, but after a few rounds of salvos, they were forced to abandon the fortifications outside the city and retreat into the city, planning to start a street battle with the people on the east bank relying on the houses.

"Fight you to paralyze street fighting!" Captain Yang Liang, holding a command knife, looked at the corpses of Brazilians all over the floor—they were dressed in various clothes and of different ages, and they didn't look like regular soldiers. The artillerymen had a good time playing with you, at worst, they demolished the house of Ilheus one by one, how long can you hide? I am not afraid of putting myself in danger to play with you, but is it necessary!"

The words of Captain Yang Liang, the acting captain of the second brigade of the Volunteer Army, were exactly what the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, Major Xiao Xi, thought. The 16 field light artillery pieces of the two artillery companies had been dragged over one after another, and then, under the escort of the army soldiers, slowly Advance towards the city.The enemy also had several cannons placed in the city, and the projectiles that flew out fell into the formation of the people on the east bank from time to time, often taking away a lot of casualties, which made them spread out slightly, but they had no intention of retreating at all. meaning.

"Boom! Boom!" The artillerymen first stared at the enemy's artillery and counterattacked. Both sides fired directly at close range within sight. The rate of fire, accuracy and quantity of the artillery determined the outcome of this brutal battle.Obviously, the artillery of the people on the east coast was surrounded by four guns, and they had certain advantages in terms of caliber, rate of fire, and accuracy, so they quickly destroyed two enemy guns, and the other two were placed on the masonry. Inside the masonry house, it cannot be destroyed for a while, and the infantry can only step forward to solve it.

At this time, the second battalion of the Volunteer Army came into play. Hundreds of Indians armed with short spears and sabers, under the watchful eyes of the army officers and soldiers on the east bank, rushed towards the Portuguese houses like moths to the flame, preparing to pass through Fighting to capture the artillery.The surviving Portuguese musketeers stood up and fired, and the gunners were also in a hurry to reload grape shells. The Indians were swept away like wheat, but the rest of them were still charging with red eyes. If you die, you might as well try your luck.

After the Indian Volunteer Army charged, the East Coast Artillery took the opportunity to move the artillery forward, and then concentrated its firepower to bombard the two houses where the enemy placed the artillery with solid projectiles. At the same time, some musketeers were sent to suppress the Portuguese gunmen with intensive volley fire. , to cover the continuous onslaught of the Indians-this will already be on the second wave.

"Clatter!" Under the continuous bombardment, half of a house finally collapsed, blocking the firing range of the enemy's artillery. Several Portuguese gunners got out of the house in a panic, and were immediately attacked by Indians holding sabers. The soldiers slashed and killed, and died on the spot; another house was breached under the continuous impact of Indian soldiers, and several gunners were also stabbed to death by short spears, and their bodies were thrown out of the gate.

The Portuguese artillery was destroyed, and there was no suspense for the next battle.At the moment when the sun was setting, after clearing out several stubborn strongholds with artillery, Major Xiao Xi ordered the soldiers to mount bayonets, launched the bayonet charge which is the favorite of officers and soldiers on the east bank, and wiped out the last resistance force in the town square. The battle is now all over—from beginning to end, but in just a few hours, Ilheus, a timber export port larger than Segrulu, fell like this.

The Navy sent personnel ashore as soon as the battle ended, and then seized a large wood drying yard and log storage area behind the town. There are a large amount of wood that can be used for shipbuilding, barrel making, and construction. The value is absolutely inestimable.

"Striped camphor, small flower mixed flower bean, and red toon bean are suitable for shipbuilding. The people in the inland water transport company have long muttered that they can no longer use Podocarpus pine to make small steamers. The lifespan is too short and the quality is too bad. Now you can find There are a lot of substitutes, and there are three kinds of them. Of course, this kind of tree can also be used to make furniture, but it’s not a high-end product.”

"This is the wood named Red and Green Heart Camphor by the Ministry of Agriculture. It is not low in value, and it is the most suitable barrel material for barrel making. Our navy needs this. Civilian barrels will continue to use Podocarpus pine, Parana pine and Araucaria, haha. Hey, there are so many light and soft woods such as balsa, Wuxiong jibei, and balsa wood, and the navy has also requisitioned them, which is really lucky.”

"What is this? I looked at the wood illustration, alas, disappointed, it is red shield seed wood, double ginseng wood, giant cashew wood and South American oleander, the value is a little lower, and it can only be used as furniture. Packing boxes, paper making, of course, it is also good to use as cheap consumables on small construction sites, but it is not what our navy needs..."

"This pile of wood is interesting. Brazilian stripe paint is the best for making train carriages, carriage carriages, doors and windows, beams, and rafters. Now some wealthy citizens in China like to import Brazilian stripes when they renovate their houses. Lacquer, hehe, it’s expensive, but it’s not the goal of our navy, it’s cheaper than the Dayuhe Timber Processing Factory.”

"My Lord, is this Brazilian ebony wood? This is one of the most expensive furniture materials in this country, but the most important use is to make pianos. All kinds of musical instruments produced by Haidiao Musical Instrument Factory-especially It’s a piano frame—it’s really—what a stroke of luck to use this precious wood extensively!”

"Oh, the surprises are not over yet! Purple core hematoxylin and ant wood, these are also the precious woods that our country buys in large quantities! Corrosion-resistant, extremely hard, not afraid of insects, can be used to make chemical barrels, knife handles, tools Handles, sleepers, industrial floors and heavy structural parts, our country imports more than 5 yuan of such wood every year, and it is still increasing at a very large rate every year. This is another big fortune. Unfortunately, they are The resistance of marine borers is relatively weak, which is a pity."

Of course, if the above wood can only surprise and envy the navy, then the large pieces of Brazilian somat wood piled up in the distance make them feel crazy-this is the wealth that the navy needs!

(End of this chapter)