Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 206 The British in the South ([-])

News of the arrival of the British spread rapidly throughout the Fort in the River area.The new immigrants from the Far East may not feel much about the British. Their only impression of the British is the days when they were blocked because of the war when they first arrived; It is an existence that makes people gnash their teeth!In the government's anti-British and anti-British propaganda for many years, the British have long been portrayed as demons and scum, and even the more than 100 immigrants from England in the country are somewhat disgraced and shameless.

Mo Ming was also extremely shocked after hearing the news.People who travel through time know that the general trend of history is a golden finger against the sky, but sometimes it may cause people to think in a fixed way.For example, this time, if the British colonial fleet was not discovered by the people on the east coast when they were replenishing in San Vicente, then maybe the people on the east coast would have been confused for a long time before they knew the arrival of the British.

In fact, the arrival of the British was both accidental and inevitable.They were all beaten up by you near the Cape of Good Hope, and you expect them to do nothing and be indifferent?This is too naive.In other words, the large-scale colonization of Cape Town by the British East India Company was both unexpected and reasonable for people on the east coast.

Something has to be done!This was Mo Ming's first reaction.Soon, under his command, ten heavily armed cavalry rushed out of the south gate of the Fort in the River, crossed the Berg River, and galloped towards the endless wilderness in the south. They were going to investigate and confirm the situation near Cape Town. .

At the same time, Mo Ming also summoned some Khoisan and Xhosa tribes who were dependent on the people living on the east coast that night, and carefully asked them whether they had received some news from the south these days.But unfortunately, many Khoisan (Hottentots are also a Khoisan) tribes south of the Beg River were devastated by the "food requisition team" on the east bank at the turn of spring and summer this year.At present, in the vast wilderness of tens of thousands of square kilometers from Cape Town to the north to the Berg River, few indigenous tribes survive, and it is said that they have fled to the other side of the Cape Mountains.

This made Mo Ming scratch his head, but it was not a big problem, and now he was waiting for the cavalry to send back the information obtained from the investigation.During this period, Mo Ming, Liu Ang, Xie Hansan, Li Yi and other top officials in the Hezhongbao area gathered together and began to discuss the complicated situation they are facing today.

"According to the information publicly circulated on the market inquired by the San Vicente Station of the General Intelligence Bureau, the British colonial fleet has a total of twelve ships, almost all of which are large transport ships, carrying a large number of people and supplies. They arrived in late May Arrived at the Port of San Vicente on the 22nd, and then purchased a considerable amount of grain, livestock, agricultural tools and construction materials. What is hilarious is that the red bricks, cement, lime, agricultural tools and other materials purchased by the British were sold to us. The Brazilians have now been resold to them, and this is what happened.” Lieutenant Li Yi said about the information he inquired, “The number of their immigrants is estimated to exceed 1000, or even more, basically from England. According to rumors, the East India Company gave these immigrants considerable preferential measures to encourage them to take root in the local area and strive to open up the situation as soon as possible.”

"There are more than 1000 people..." Liu Ang smacked his lips, and then said: "The population is no less than ours. But there is a question, is the food they bring enough to feed so many people? You know, the first year The harvest in the field will not be very good, and whether they can support themselves is still a problem. The East India Company is not like us, they will not prepare sufficient rations and bright houses for each immigrant for free. They usually only Willing to pay a small part of the rations, and the rest will be raised by the immigrants on the spot. In other words, these poor poor British immigrants who are penniless may not have enough food to survive the autumn harvest the next day. Now It's cold winter, and the British can't grow food. They can only take advantage of the winter to reclaim the wasteland, repair the river canals, and wait until next spring to start spring sowing. Therefore, they will have ten months until the autumn harvest in May next year Time has been in a state of tight food supply. If it is not done well, people will die, and I think maybe we can find a way from here."

"A good idea." Mo Ming praised, and then said: "How about this, Company Commander Xie, the troops have rested for the past two days, and it's time to pull them out to practice. Tomorrow, I will ask Hezhong Fort to mobilize some militiamen, and at the same time Hundreds of strong natives were conscripted from several vassal tribes, and then the fourth company was the main force to march south and east to clean up the indigenous tribes in the vast area between the Berg River and Cape Town. Whether it is the Xhosa The people are still Khoisan, cattle, sheep, and food are all confiscated, and the personnel are driven eastward to keep them away from the control zone of the British, so that the British can't find a partner for trading, trap them and starve them to death! "

"Okay, I'm under your control, you can give the order." Xie Hansan didn't refuse, and agreed without hesitation.This time they brought a small number of horses, and together with the original dozen or so military horses in Hezhong Fort, it was enough to form a small cavalry reconnaissance unit.With these highly mobile cavalry, the indigenous tribes on the plains could not escape the pursuit of the people on the east coast.These natives were grazing there well, and the people on the east coast didn't bother to care about them, but who made the British come now?Then I have no choice but to take you under the knife, so as not to leave the British as enemies in the future.

This was originally a competition and grievance between the people on the east coast and the British, but now that the two sides are at peace, it is naturally not easy to start clearly, so they have to use some small means.These Khoisan tribes were caught in the middle and suffered a disaster, so they can only blame themselves for their lack of strength and bad luck.

"By the way, Lao Liu, you can bring some militiamen to the east together tomorrow." Mo Ming continued to order, "Go and make deals with the Xhosa people there. There are also a few Xhosa tribes who came over there sporadically. They are Farming tribes, there should be some surplus food. Don’t they like our Daqu in the river? Go and trade with them! We used to not have enough to drink for ourselves, so we didn’t bother to care about them. This time is different. We have brought enough wine. In wooden barrels, exchange their surplus food, cattle and sheep. They also exchange fur, tallow, ivory, dog's head gold, etc. in their hands. If there is not enough wine, exchange salt and metal farm tools with them. These things They like it the most. Loot all the surplus food and property in their hands through this kind of unequal transaction, so that the british guys can't get anything. Don't be afraid of our shortage of supplies, what are you afraid of, let the transport ship continue from the mainland It’s luck. The Brits are under their noses, and the Executive Committee will strongly support us!”

This move by the British to colonize Cape Town is a very uncomfortable thing for the East Coast Republic of China.Because this means that the tentacles of the British have extended to southern Africa, and the people on the east coast can no longer enjoy the geographical advantage here.If the British vigorously manage Cape Town and build port facilities and coastal defense fortresses, then the threat to the people on the east coast will be even greater.

In particular, the African routes that the executive committee is now vigorously developing have become a joke.That's right, as long as the British fleet is stationed in the port of Cape Town, it will always threaten the safety of the east coast transportation line.Moreover, this Cape Town port is only more than a month away from the mainland on the east coast. If it is replaced by a clipper ship, it will not even take a month. The threat to the mainland on the east coast is not ordinary.

Cape Town is like a sharp knife on the soft belly of the East Coast Republic, which is extremely uncomfortable.Therefore, the first reaction of Mo Ming, Liu Ang and others was to kill these British people!It's a pity that the east bank and the British had just reached a peace agreement a few months ago, and Mo Ming and others couldn't bear the responsibility of the two sides going to war again.But if you can't do it clearly, it's not a big problem to use some dirty tricks secretly.For example, the British who came to colonize could not find a partner for trading, or frequently attacked and harassed the British through some vassal black or red tribes.

These measures do not seek to annihilate the British who came to colonize (in fact, it is unlikely), as long as they can increase their costs or delay their colonial process, thank God.As for driving away the British, it is still a bit difficult to do so openly.The only way to make the British feel unprofitable or unable to persist through proxy wars and trade blockades is to withdraw by themselves. Of course, this does not seem very likely.In short, no matter what, the Fort in the River is now going to take full action to contain the British from all aspects.

Five days later, on July 7, the cavalry headed south returned.The reconnaissance unit led by cavalry corporal Sun Shengjun brought back accurate information: the British had already entered Cape Town and started large-scale construction.There are twelve British sailing ships moored on the sea, and they are continuously transporting supplies to the shore.Perhaps these British people lack enough manpower, and their construction progress is relatively slow. At present, only some wooden trestles, houses, fences and walls have been repaired, and other facilities such as city walls and forts have not yet been seen.And according to their secret observations during those two days, there were obviously more than 15 British people working on land, not counting those who were helping the sailors unload supplies on the deck of the ship.

After receiving accurate information, on July 7, Hezhong Fort mobilized quietly.More than 16 militiamen were mobilized into the army, 150 of them carried four army field artillery as gunners to operate with the fourth company of the South African Garrison, and the remaining 50 people followed Liu Ang to escort supplies to the east to make deals with the Xhosa.

At the same time, the six small tribes affiliated to the people on the east bank also received a conscription order: each tribe drew one out of five adult males, gathered more than 200 people to report to the officers on the east bank, and each of these people was assigned A spear, as the first cannon fodder for the East Coasters.

After everything was ready, the troops crossed the Beg River and headed south that afternoon, aiming at some remaining Khoisan tribes in the southern wilderness.

(End of this chapter)