Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 205 The wolf is here

The operation of collecting public grain lasted for several days. Dozens of clerks and hundreds of staff were almost paralyzed from exhaustion. Only then did they collect about 300 tons of sorghum into the newly built grain depot.As the saying goes, if you have food in your hand, you don't panic in your heart. Mo Ming thinks this sentence is really true.With this batch of grain as a base, what else can defeat them in this wild land?

Now the River Fort has a highly organized population of more than 1000, with a large amount of food, advanced weapons, and never-ending ambition. As long as the local support is strong enough, they are confident that the River Fort will be built into an African city. Pearl City.

In the hearts of Mo Ming and Liu Ang, the Fort in the River is where their heart and soul lies.Therefore, how to further develop the Fort in the River has been a question that has been lingering in the minds of the two of them.South Africa is a vast wild land, and there are many indigenous tribes around it. Unlike South America, you may not meet an Indian tribe for a few days.Faced with such a situation, according to Mo Ming, they should capture as many indigenous people as possible, and then force them to farm and graze for the people on the east bank. In this way, the agriculture and animal husbandry in Hezhong Castle should be able to develop soon .

After these developments, Hezhong Fort can adapt to local conditions and vigorously develop industries such as leather processing, wine making, and oil extraction (with peanuts and sesame as raw materials). There will be small success within a few years, and a large number of semi-finished leather products, sorghum liquor, etc. will be exported to the local area. Oil, wool, ivory and other products to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

When making plans, Mo Ming and Liu Ang often worked overtime until late at night, discussing and arguing repeatedly about the details of the development of each Hezhong Fort, and then forming a plan.Both of them had an infinite passion for their careers, and this emotion even infected the people around them, making everyone's spirits rise a lot.

In the past two years since the development of Hezhong Fort, everything has slowly been on the right track.The only thing to worry about now is how strong the local support for the Fort in the River will be.If the Executive Committee still only regards the Fort in the River as a supply station for exploring the routes to Ottoman and the East, then it is conceivable that the support will not be very strong, and even the current scale of the Fort in the River is the limit that the Executive Committee can tolerate up.Further up, there will be suspicions of putting the cart before the horse, which the Executive Committee at this stage cannot tolerate.

If things look good (unlikely), and the Executive Committee gives Hezhong Fort a lot of support, including unconditional supply of money, goods, and per capita, then Hezhong Fort will develop rapidly.In time, it would be just a matter of time to become a big town like Ping'an Town and Zhenhaibao.

But this kind of thing can only be thought about. Given the urgency of the people in the executive committee, maybe supplies and so on will continue to support Hezhong Fort.It would be interesting enough to set up a South African Garrison Command for you, and then send a full-staffed company to town for you.

In their minds, the Fort in the River is a supply station and a safe haven.Ships departing from the Eastern Port will replenish supplies, repair ships, accommodate the wounded and sick in the river, and then continue southeast across the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean; after arriving in the Indian Ocean, the ships will anchor in the Antsiranana area at the northern tip of Madagascar, and Resupply; after the resupply, the ship continued northward until it entered Djibouti on the Red Sea coast. After a short rest and resupply, the ship continued northward until it reached the Ottoman Port of Suez on the Red Sea.

This African route plan was drafted by Mo Ming himself, and he knew every detail clearly.He knew that the executive committee has no plans to expand in South Africa in the short term, and the focus of the next stage of expansion of the executive committee should be the Yi River Basin and the rivers on the west bank of Duck Lake.Therefore, the South African River Fort is only a small intermediate supply port, nothing more.

But Mo Ming is the captain of the South African pioneering team at the moment, and he is in charge of the work of Hezhong Fort in an all-round way, and he has about a thousand people under him.The so-called butt determines the head, and now that his butt is sitting on the side of the river castle, he naturally has to consider the interests of the river castle.Of course, this is also for his own benefit. Making a career in Hezhong Fort will definitely be of great help to his future career.

On July 1638, 7, the naval transport ship "Galicia Flying Fish", the transport ship "Yingzhou" and "Abbot" of the South China Sea Transport Company, under the escort of naval warships, arrived at Hezhongbao Wharf smoothly.The arrival of a large number of production and living supplies, as well as the arrival of 10 officers and soldiers from the fourth company of the South African Garrison Army, aroused huge cheers in the Fort in the River.

The red bricks, cement, and lime brought in mean that they can say goodbye to the wooden houses and thatched huts that they have lived in for more than half a year; the heavy long-barreled cannons mean that their fort will be more stable; the potatoes, corn, and horses brought in , farm tools, which means that their farming and animal husbandry will be improved to a higher level.Not to mention the 180 officers and soldiers of the fourth company who will be stationed here for a long time, their arrival is definitely a pinnacle level for Hezhong Fort.

"A good news, a bad news, which one to listen to first?" Lieutenant Xie Hansan, who led the team, stood on the pier and joked to Liu Ang who came to greet him.

Liu Ang and Xie Hansan were also very familiar, so he stepped forward and punched Xie Hansan hard in the chest, and said in a vicious voice, "Don't pretend to be compared to me, speak quickly if you have something to say, and let go of farts if you have to, I know you have no good intentions."

"When did I become this kind of person in your eyes?" Xie Hansan said with a wry smile, "Okay, I won't tease you, let's just say it. The good news is that the executive committee has decided to increase support for you. Don’t get too excited, the people with limited strength can have a population of at most a few hundred, and there won’t be any more.”

"It's really good news!" Liu Ang slapped his thigh excitedly, and said loudly, "What about the bad news? Tell me, tell me while I'm in a good mood, I don't blame you!"

"Don't you ask why?" Xie Hansan said helplessly: "There is obviously a reason for the executive committee's sudden increase in support for you. Well, the reason is that the British will soon land near Cape Town. gone."

"British? Cape Town? Landing?" Liu Ang was a little puzzled, "The British don't have a port near Cape Town. In fact, Cape Town is still an unoccupied land. If the Hottentots are not counted." People's words..."

"In fact, the British had already made the decision to colonize Cape Town before reaching a peace treaty with us." Xie Hansan looked at Liu Ang with pity, and then said slowly: "Don't you understand? Our naval fleet Attacked the fleet of the British East India Company in the northwest of the Cape of Good Hope and sank four of their ships. In fact, not only that, the navy sunk a total of 8 ships in the ocean near the Cape of Good Hope (including the slave trader off Luanda Ships). Even the blunt British know that the Cape of Good Hope is the only place for their fleets to and from the East. If the enemy is allowed to control this area of ​​​​the sea, their trade routes will be completely exposed to the enemy."

"so……"

"So they are here." Naval Lieutenant Li Yi rushed up from behind, and said succinctly: "A month ago we sent back news from the commercial station (and intelligence station) in San Vicente that a group of twelve ships The British fleet docked at the port of San Vicente for a brief supply. Twelve British ships carried more than 1000 English and Irish immigrants, as well as livestock, food, seeds, agricultural tools, weapons, building materials, etc. All necessary for settling down According to inquiring information, they are a colonial fleet organized by the East India Company, and their final destination is Cape Town—yes, it is Cape Town, one or two hundred kilometers southeast of the Fort in the River. London, probably they've got there by now and started building."

"This news is really..." Liu Ang didn't know how to describe it.In his and Mo Ming's plan, after gaining a firm foothold in the River Fort area, they will gradually advance to the Cape Town area, and eventually occupy the entire area in the southwest corner of South Africa.However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. The British East India Company, which was hurt by the East Coaster fleet, realized that after the East Coasters rose to the new continent, their Far East trade routes were no longer safe.Therefore, they spent a lot of money and made great efforts to organize a group of immigrants to settle in the Cape Town area, hoping to completely integrate this place into the colony of the East India Company, and provide a supply of food and repair ships for the East India Company and even British ships going back and forth. , A place to avoid the wind and waves.

Of course, this port can also station a considerable number of British fleets to provide escort for passing British merchant ships during the war. In this way, the British Eastern trade route will be much safer.

Liu Ang was a little depressed. Could this be the butterfly effect they brought?Although Cape Town's location is extremely important, it was not until 1652 in history that the Dutch took a fancy to this land and sent some people to grow vegetables here to supply passing Dutch East India Company ships.Since then, Cape Town has gradually developed.

But now it's only 1638, and the British came to Cape Town to colonize, and it seems that their determination is not small. What's the matter with the Dutch behind them?Is this history finally about to change?Liu Ang was a little dizzy, and at the same time a little scared. This is no longer the well-known history.Everyone has been tossing for so long, has this history finally started to go astray?

The future of the Fort in the River seems to be full of twists and turns.Damn British guy, he really lingers everywhere!Liu Ang cursed fiercely, the domestic situation has become so tense, and you still have the leisure to come to South Africa to colonize, it's really a pain in the ass!Well, you are newcomers and you are competitors, so please accept our gift for you.

Those blacks and reds have been attached to the tribe for so long, it's time to let them move.The Brits have just arrived, so it’s good to try their reality, hehe, Brits, you are miserable, we people from the east coast will let you know who is the boss in South Africa!

(End of this chapter)