Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2192 March of Suffering ([-])

There has just been a heavy rain in the northeastern part of South Africa.From the shallow beaches along the coast to the high mountains in the inland, everything is shrouded in this curtain of rain. The swamps are full of rainwater, the rivers are rejuvenated, the animals are running happily on the grasslands, and the entire eastern coastal area has ushered in a new era. The happiest time of the year.

As the dark thread of the State Intelligence Bureau of the East Coast Republic of China, Jose Moreno, who used to be a small military officer, wiped the rain from his face and smiled with relief.He owns a large patch of roughly cleared land in the area north of Shining City filled with wheat, alfalfa, and other crops.The coming of this heavy rain can allow the products in the fields under his name to be harvested normally, which is enough.

He needs money badly now, and these agricultural products are one of the few commodities that can be exchanged for money from representatives of the East Coast National Grain Reserve.Don't think that gold and silver are useless among these "refugees". In fact, because the logistics of the people on the east coast are relatively good, they can purchase various commodities from daily necessities to guns and ammunition by ordering.Sufficient commodities and materials are one of the most important means for Jose Moreno to maintain his status among the "vagrants" group (the other means is the recognition of people on the east coast).

Jose Moreno now manages more than 5000 people, all Indians and mestizos from La Plata and Chile.He has a large team under him, about 200 people, basically soldiers, magistrates (police) or grassroots officials from the Spanish colonies in the past.In principle, every member of this management team has to go through the investigation and screening of the East Coast intelligence department to ensure that there will be no one with strong hostility towards the East Coast.You must know that when the country is established in the future, these people are likely to be the ruling class of the new country.The people on the east bank would not be so brainless that an anti-eastist would be in a high position, even if he was forced by the situation, it would be impossible for this person to make any big waves.

It can also be seen from this that although the people on the east coast promised that these people could go to the yellow-black dividing line to establish a country, they have never loosened their control over these people.They will ensure that the politics and economy of these countries are controlled by the east coast, and their culture is closer to the east coast. Only in this way can they be worthy of the huge expenditure paid by the east coast government to relocate them.

Jose Moreno is one such immigration leader controlled by the East Coast.He had been secretly trained by intelligence officers on the East Coast to know how to manage large groups of people, who would obey him, who might oppose him, and who would be indifferent.In addition, he also learned a set of rough economic theory, which helped him to broaden his horizons and not mess around when giving various orders.Although there are other managers in his team who are secretly trained by people from the east coast and understand the economy, as a leader and commander-in-chief of a column, when he issued a wrong order but was questioned by his subordinates and had to correct it, he had no respect for authority. Always a detriment, something to be avoided as much as possible.

Speaking of this so-called column, it was actually something that Xiao Jingzong, the commissioner of the Yicheng District Administrative Office, fiddled with.He organized a large number of Indians and Mestizos (more than 1.6 people in total) who stayed in the area into three columns, the first, second, and third columns, and the number of each column was roughly In the appearance of 6000 people, each of them spread out tens of kilometers when they went north, marched together, and then converged at a place designated by the people on the east coast.

The communication between the three columns relies on a large number of riders. Sometimes when encountering a powerful black tribe, they even fight together to exert collective strength to destroy the enemy.

Black people are always very powerless when they encounter these groups.Although the total number of them is quite large, they are scattered in various places in the form of tribes, and they may even have enemies with each other, and they can't urinate in a pot at all.Therefore, when encountering "big tribes" with thousands or even tens of thousands of people backed by modern armed forces, they are not enough to look at, and they are often beaten to the ground.The property was seized by others and became the spoils of war of others, and the personnel were captured by others, and after being sold at a low price, they became slave labor on the marching railway construction site, contributing to the construction of the Great East Bank.

In addition to the Indians and Mestizos, there are also a large number of Island Eight Banners from Xinhua Island.Because these people have lived and fought together for a long time, they are familiar with each other and the system is relatively sound. Therefore, the people in the Yicheng District Administration did not intend to change their original social structure, but let them continue to march northward in the form of the Eight Banners. Black people fight.

It has to be said that the Eight Banners of the Island have been trained by the people on the east coast for decades, and their combat effectiveness is still good, not much worse than those of the Mestizos.Especially those Sakaravas, who used to be able to beat other tribes to cry with the weapons they bought from the English and Portuguese. They once expanded their power to the entire west coast, and even tentatively entered the central plateau. , defeated the Melina people several times, and their combat effectiveness can be described as powerful.I believe that if the people from the east coast were not born out of nowhere and defeated the Sakarava kingdom that was split into two parts through years of war, God knows how much territory they would have laid down.

To some extent, these black people living on the east coast of South Africa are actually quite pitiful.Their level of civilization is low, and their power is extremely scattered. Although they are still savage and brave to fight, they are still unable to resist the tens of thousands of external colonists who are rolling in. After being defeated by each of them, they become miserable slaves. .The staff officers of the East Coast Army had carefully studied and judged, and finally agreed that as long as they continue to march northward, do not give these black people a chance to breathe, and do not allow them to be unified as a whole, then their threat will not be serious, and they can only be completely eliminated in the end. wipe out.

In history, the Zulu people in eastern South Africa were so difficult that the British colonists suffered several losses. The main reason was that they got foreign muskets, and the British moved too slowly, giving them too much integration time.In addition, they had a hero who unified most of the Zulu tribes, so that they could use powerful forces to fight the British.These three conditions can be said to be indispensable.Obviously, the people on the east coast will not give them this opportunity now, and they will not make the mistakes of the British, so it seems that it is not too difficult to wipe out these black forces.

Of course, some people may think that the northward movement driven by the people on the east coast was too lethal and too cruel to the blacks.But if you consider that these blacks have not been in South Africa for many years, and they have also brutally wiped out the original Khoisan red race in South Africa, then you can look at this series of colonization with a relatively relaxed mind It's war—you have to pay back when you come out to mess around, that's all!

"Bring my wine." Jose Moreno, who was sitting on a rough wooden bench, asked his servant to bring a bottle of wine bought in Yicheng County, planning to enjoy it on this rainy day.

The servant is also a Mestizo, who became a slave because of a debt, and was bought by Moreno, who promised to be free after following him for five years, so this servant worked very hard.After a short while, he dug out the bottle of wine from the box, brought it to Moreno, and poured him a glass.

Moreno's wealth, to be honest, is quite a lot.He has a wooden villa on the outskirts of Guanghui City, and there is a large warehouse behind the villa for temporary storage of various supplies and food.Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were guarding the big warehouse. They were all Moreno’s henchmen and lived on the money and spoils given by Moreno. They were always hated by other ordinary people.But there is no way, Jose Moreno is the commander-in-chief of the column recognized by the people on the east coast. If they want to overthrow Moreno's rule and elect a new person to power, they first need to obtain the understanding of the people on the east coast.But under the current circumstances, it seems difficult for the East Coast people to allow them to engage in such infighting, unless Moreno's rule is so bad that he has to be replaced.

It was raining heavily outside the wooden house. While enjoying red wine and fried steak, Moreno worried whether the heavy rain would affect the actions of the caravan on the east coast.The mules, horses and carts of these caravans are full of all kinds of supplies they need. If they can't arrive in time, they will have a hard time, and some people may even die due to lack of medical treatment. .This is not unfounded worry. Many children born today are malnourished and suffering from various diseases. If they cannot get timely help from the medical supplies sponsored by the East Coast government, many children may die in the middle of the journey. This is undoubtedly would weaken the legitimacy of Moreno's rule.

"Speaking of which, it was really a march of suffering." Moreno took a bite of the steak, while pretending to worry about the lives of the people under his rule.But if you let him open his own warehouse and distribute money to the people, he will not be too happy. Those things are the property he saved after exploiting for a long time. For ordinary people, Moreno is really heartbroken, and it will not be the case unless it is a last resort.

Similar to him is his so-called management team.Although these people are not rich by the standards of the east coast, they are much richer than other Mestizo people. Not only do they have a lot of money in their pockets, but they also have a lot of property. Every now and then, several large carts are needed to store things, which is really enviable.

The problem of the gap between the rich and the poor, even in this group that is in a state of marching and fighting, exists nakedly, and it is really difficult for the East Coast intelligence officials and army officers who often go to them to investigate.These former Spanish colonial soldiers and officials were very greedy when they did not migrate, but they all arrived in Africa, and they are still stubborn. Don't go out and help wipe your butt.

It's not that the people on the east coast have persuaded Moreno and others not to be too greedy and stingy, but the effect is not very good.Moreno's consistent mantra is "If you want to eat meat, go hunting on the grassland by yourself", but the problem is that tens of thousands of people flock to a small grassland at the same time, there are still black men there, and how many wild animals can ordinary people hunt Woolen cloth?Only some people with excellent hunting skills and good luck can hunt some wild animals, and then sell their furs to people on the east coast in exchange for some luxury goods such as tobacco, sugar, biscuits, wine, etc. It is very difficult to make ends meet by relying on the ineffective land reclamation harvest and the limited assistance of the people on the east coast.

After Moreno ate his lunch in two mouthfuls, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then walked to the door, looking at the continuous rain outside, feeling quite satisfied.More precipitation means that the harvest in the field is guaranteed, which is more important than anything else.And I heard that the climate of their destination thousands of miles away is even better, where the summer is not hot, the winter is not cold, the precipitation is moderate, and the land is very fertile, which is enough for all of them to live a comfortable life there. All help is provided.

Moreno's commitment to the people on the east coast is quite reassuring.They have always had a good reputation and are relatively reasonable, much better than the bunch of bullshit officials in Lima.The only thing that made everyone feel uncomfortable was that some Taoist priests wearing Taoist robes were mixed into their column. Small help, but - it's disgusting that they preach openly or semi-publicly!As a devout Catholic, Jose Moreno disliked this very much, but he didn't dare to treat those religious people on the east coast.Not to mention their great role, but their background, Moreno didn't dare to do anything, otherwise he reckoned that he might lose his position, which is almost a certainty!

I hope everyone can keep their faith.They came all the way from La Plata and Chile to this southern Africa, and they have already lost a lot of things. Now if they throw away their beliefs and give their souls to the devil, it will be too tragic. Mo Renault couldn't imagine a life like that.

However, relying on themselves alone, even if the people on the east coast do not force them, can they really keep their faith forever?The dozen or so priests in their current team were trained by the people on the east coast themselves.Whether their belief in the Lord is strong or not should really be a question mark, especially when facing the encroachment of Taoism on the east coast, they are even more at a loss, and they have not taken sufficient measures to prevent people from converting to paganism. Especially incompetent.

Moreno estimates that among the more than 5000 people under his rule, there may be hundreds of people who have converted to East Coast Taoism.Because these hateful Taoist priests seem to have sufficient funds, and they often help people treat diseases for free. Some families with more children and not enough food will occasionally receive relief from them, which is of great help to their missionary work.

In such a situation, the relatively poor priests seemed completely unable to compete with them.Maybe when they reach their final destination, the East Coast Taoist Church will gradually become an important belief among them. What should we do?Moreno was in pain.

(End of this chapter)