Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1777 Countermeasures

The servant brought the dinner lightly.

It was a plate of golden-colored bread spread with honey, enough for several people on the table.On the table, there are several other foods, including anchovies with Spanish oregano, beef tongue grilled just right, spiced whale jerky imported from the east coast, and some such as purslane, spinach, onion, etc. The deli leafy vegetables, accompanied by tequila imported from New Spain, looked hearty.

This is life in high society in Buenos Aires.Even though many horse bandits on the east coast suddenly appeared in the wild overnight, and the supply of supplies to the city has decreased, there will be no shortage of expenses that the big shots should have, just like this ordinary dinner today, Constance General Din de Obando and Father Ramos didn't even bother to look at the food.

"This is the advantage in the New World. The prices are cheap. Beef, mutton, fish, honey, butter, cheese, bread, and wine are almost inexhaustible and inexhaustible. Even those damn Catalans who are disloyal to the king People in Romania can easily enjoy these foods. Of course, in Andalusia, Granada, Catalonia or Galicia, people can also buy these things, but the cost is much higher. "O General Wan Duo said while happily enjoying the current food.

"Yes, the cost is very high, and I heard that there is still a famine in the past few years, and they have imported wheat from Egypt and Syria. If this is the case, the life of the Castilians may not even immigrate to Catalonia. It’s ironic to think about the good life of the Neabians, the Southern Netherlanders or the Neapolitans.” Father Ramos wiped his mouth with a snow-white napkin, and echoed General Ovando, saying: “ As you said, wars were frequent in the old continent, and famines were close to each other year after year. Now, the number of people immigrating to the new continent has risen by more than one-third every year. Of course, this data may not be accurate, because no one has done it Such a statistic, but as far as my correspondence with other people touches on this aspect, it is very likely to be true."

In fact, in the 16th and 17th centuries in history, the average number of Spaniards who immigrated to the New World every year should be 5000-6000, no more, no less.It could have been higher, but like the Portuguese, the King of Spain only allowed people within his own territory to immigrate to the New World, and they could only be Catholics.

However, in this time and space of people on the east coast, because the development of trade between Peru and New Spain surpassed the same period in history, resulting in a large amount of capital, population and technology needs, the number of subjects of the Kingdom of Spain who immigrated to the New World has increased, and it should have reached 7000- The appearance of 8000 people, including some Catholics from relatives (that is, the Austrian Habsburg dynasty), increased the number of peninsulas in the Viceroyalty of Peru and New Spain.But similar to history, most of these [-] to [-] immigrants were bachelors, and not many families immigrated. It is a pity to say that, at least at this time, General Obando and Father Ramos were both I think so, after all, the Mestizo people are naturally inferior in blood in their opinion.

"So we should not give up the Pampa, should we? My priest. We have many towns here, including Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, Resistencia, etc. , There are also small towns such as Franco, Mar del Plata, and San Lorenzo. After years of war, disease, and pioneering, the population is still at the scale of tens of thousands. Can we retreat?" Obando The general also put down the knife and fork in his hand, as if he suddenly lost interest in the food on the table, shook his head and said: "But the cruel reality is also in front of us. There are millions of pagans on the east coast, with powerful force and greater determination. It is firm, but what about us? The Governor of Lima was afraid of taking responsibility, and forgot what the title of "Governor Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary" on his head meant, so he dumped the blame on the court in Madrid. But I would like to ask, in At such a tense moment, is King Carlos free to take care of the affairs of the New World?"

"Your worry is very correct, Your Excellency General. Over the years, the close business ties with people on the east bank have made Lima rotten from top to bottom. Too many people have interests in the east bank. Can you imagine, East In the port of Callao, merchants from the coast can carry out their own religious activities without any punishment. I heard that the governor has granted immunity. This is simply shameless! Sometimes, I wish to form a pure Knights Templar , Throw these people into hell for trial. But I know I can't do it, and neither can you, General, no one can stand against the general trend." Father Ramos said in a somewhat sad tone: "Mar del Plata is now It has basically fallen, and the people on the east coast live together with us. Their number is increasing, their behavior is becoming more and more powerful, and they have almost no longer concealed their ambitions for this land. This is simply a disaster for us. But what can we do? Fight them? That would be unwise, and would make our strength more severely damaged, and less able to restrain the East Coasters in the future."

The meaning of Father Ramos is already very obvious.Being too tough is actually not a good strategy for the people on the east bank to press on every step, because once a conflict occurs, the people on the east coast will definitely not suffer, and it will further worsen the already unbearable situation.It should be clear to the Buenos Aires Prosecutor’s Court District that, without Madrid and Lima making up their minds, relying on Buenos Aires alone will only lead to shameful failure.Then, before there is a clear statement from above, the only thing I should do is to put aside this old face, continue to cool down the tension between the East Bank and them, and ask them to restrain the troops and stop harming the Spaniards. Then draw it slowly.

In a word, the purpose is, when the ambition of the people on the Pampa Plain cannot be dispelled, how to use the existing resources and the situation, and operate through various means, to delay the occupation of this land by the people on the east bank as much as possible, and weaken the Their control over this land is in limbo.

In fact, this is also the strategy that General Owando has been implementing a while ago, that is, sending representatives to continue protesting with the ambassador to the East Coast, Earl Sebastian, to put pressure on the people on the East Coast, and at the same time, handle such incidents as low-key as possible. , It was defined as a public security incident attacked by bandits, lest the people on the east bank seize the opportunity to make a big fuss and push the matter into an uncontrollable abyss.As for the question about the operation of the area east of the Yanbu Railway that people on the east bank repeatedly asked, they kept pushing and pushing, but they didn't give a positive answer, and they planned to delay the matter beyond this incident.

Now the people on the east coast seem to be a little impatient with their endless delay. After a group of horse bandits raided the town of Franco, this month on the Chaco Plain, another group of bandits from different origins also brazenly attacked Lei Many colonial manors or small Indian villages around the city of Sistencia caused great damage.The guy who has been faintly called "Chaco Wolf" has temporarily disappeared, but you would be too naive to think that he has gone.The biggest possibility is that this person did not know where to hide to rest and go for supplies. Maybe it won't be long before those fierce gangsters under his command will appear again. It depends on whether the local kingdom garrison can capture them and eliminated it.

Of course, if the matter is only to the extent it is today, he may still be able to cope with it, isn't it just to appease the local area and send troops to wipe out the horse bandits.But if the people on the east coast continue to increase their capital, continue to invest and create new incidents, it may be beyond the capacity of their small Buenos Aires prosecutorial court district.After all, they are far from being able to compare with the East Coast pagans with a population of 400 million in terms of population and economy. Once the conflict between the two sides escalates, the East Coast people will definitely not be the first to collapse. There is no doubt about this.

Father Ramos was clearly aware of his concerns, but he really didn't have a good solution, not to mention that he also opposed escalating conflicts with people from the east coast or even turning their faces directly, because that would be too stupid!This time he tried to find a way to come to Buenos Aires. In addition to asking General Obando for an escort force for the town of Mar del Plata, he also had the idea of ​​warning the general to proceed with caution.Now it seems that the two of them have the same thinking, that is, although they hate the aggressive behavior of the heretics on the east coast, they both feel that it is not appropriate to turn their faces directly. The best way is to wait for changes and wait for a change what happens.Otherwise, once the matter is escalated and the people on the east coast have an excuse to fully intervene, it will be hard to say what the situation will be. They can't afford this risk.

After General Obando had dinner with Old Father Moss, the two sides discussed the situation in Mar del Plata. In the end, Obando expressed his heartache that he would dispatch a hundred cavalry to guard the surrounding farmland and manor. , the safety of orchards and pastures, and of course, the East Coasters who are wary of the new town next door.

Father Ramos was pleased with this and hurried away the next day.This old clergyman has been thinking about the situation of Mar del Plata for a long time, and even risked his life by riding across the prairie to Buenos Aires to ask for help. His spirit is very commendable.And this is actually the most direct reason why General Owando is willing to squeeze out a part of his limited force to take away with him. He likes to cooperate with people who are determined to resist - of course this is also related to another thing, that That is, the Lima side has officially issued a letter of appointment, that is, the appointment of Father Ramos as the deacon of the entire Buenos Aires diocese, and he will become the highest religious leader in the entire region from now on. On the way, General Owando knew about it in advance through some channels, which was obviously an important factor for him to express his goodwill to Father Ramos.

After Father Ramos left, General Obando pushed back the meeting requests of several officials from the East Coast Ministry of Foreign Affairs (obviously they were discussing the issue of the Pampa Plain), and brought a group of guard cavalry , directly left the city of Buenos Aires at lightning speed, followed the Parana River all the way to the north, inspected the colonial towns of Zarate, Rosario, San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, etc., and communicated with Local officials conducted some consultations on security issues.

Since the so-called vicious security incidents occurred successively in Franco Town and Resistencia and other places, cities such as Santa Fe and Rosario have also become tense recently. Local officials have continuously sent cavalry to gallop around to check the situation , Consolidate law and order.Especially these colonial cities across the river from the counties in the river area under the East Coast Republic are even more nervous. Like the city of Santa Fe, with the consent of General Obando, it has been Sending envoys westward to Cordoba, an important city in the west, to ask the locals to send some troops to the east to help them consolidate their security and defense, there is no one.

However, Owando is very satisfied with this. This countermeasure is indeed more in line with his wishes, that is, it not only strengthens his own strength, but also increases the cost of attacks by the people on the east coast, and at the same time, it does not deteriorate the situation to the point where it is difficult to deal with it. The point is indeed the coping strategy that Owando has always advocated, so he praised it.He believes that the people on the east coast are not hard-hitting. After strengthening their deployment and targeted measures on their own side, their horse bandits might be beaten hard a few times.At that time, will they still dare to think that they are so unscrupulous now?I'm afraid not at all.

And just after Constantin de Obando ran to the north to inspect the Paraná River Basin in order to avoid the people on the east bank, something unexpected happened on the Pampa Plain in the south. matter--

On August 1678, 8, Father Ramos, who had just finished his inspection tour of a small church outside the city, was on his way back to the old city of Mar del Plata with some entourages. The East Coasters clashed.Perhaps it was because of long-term patience and a lot of anger that a Spanish cavalry officer who was guarding Father Ramos stepped forward to reason with the people on the east coast, and even yelled, but was dragged off by an east coast rider After getting off the horse, he was immediately trampled by the hooves of two other riders from the east bank who rushed over.

This kind of behavior of the people on the east coast naturally aroused great indignation from the Spaniards, so almost everyone got involved in this battle either actively or passively, leaving the respected priest Ramos alone .The priest himself was a little helpless, and even more worried. He was afraid that there would be some problem with the timing of the sudden fight, which would lead to the fact that the excuse would fall into the hands of the Orientals and further aggravate the situation. Therefore, he instinctively wanted to persuade everyone not to fight any more.

However, the priest himself was so worried about the future of the Spaniards in the Pampa Plains that he ignored his own safety.I saw an east coast rider slowly retreating from the crowd, and then rushed to Father Ramos who was dressed in black, took out a pistol with good ammunition from his arms, and pointed it at the priest He whispered to the priest with a ferocious expression on his chest, "Commander Zhou of the Gendarmerie sends his greetings to you!"

After finishing speaking, he slammed the trigger, and a mass of blood bloomed on Father Ramos' chest. Before he could say anything, he fell off the horse.The rider who finished the assassination threw the pistol away, pinched the horse's belly with both legs, and ran away in a hurry, leaving behind a messy scene.

(End of this chapter)