Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2346 March of Suffering ([-])

June 1698, 6, Zhaoyi City, sunny.

In winter, the Zimbabwe plateau is actually a bit cold. The temperature at noon during the day is only about ten degrees, but at night it will approach zero degrees, which makes the thinly clad foreigners shiver.

Zhaoyi City is a small city that has not been established for more than a year. It was established by the Mestizo people who marched northward.It was a marching immigrant team called the "Fourth Column" in the internal documents of the East Bank government, with a total of more than [-] people.More than a year ago, this team, which had experienced major setbacks and reorganized, entered the Zimbabwe plateau and fought several consecutive battles with local blacks, resulting in many casualties.Later, they encountered a catastrophic loss and the ensuing attack of the epidemic. The number of this team dropped sharply. Finally, the angry East Coast people ordered the cancellation of the designation, and all the personnel were dispersed and organized into the other four columns.

Once strong and strong with more than 1 people and established the fourth column of Zhaoyi City, it disappeared like this, and at the same time, Jorge Martinez, Jose Moreno, Sloppy, and Yang Zhongzhi are still struggling. The leader of the stubborn column, Tusihu, is sad, worried that one day he will end up like the poor fourth column, and eventually have nothing, becoming a pile of bones on the vast land of southern Africa.

Of these four columns, the sloppy fifth column is probably having the best time at the moment.This gentleman now has three cities and [-] soldiers and civilians. He has a very good momentum and has withstood the attacks of the local black tribes several times.Although there was no further expansion of the land, the foothold became more and more stable, and the grain was harvested twice. For this reason, it was praised by the East Coast National Intelligence Agency. The honorary title of King Wei makes him the only ruler of the Lake District.

In addition to the fifth column, the first and second columns have crossed the Zambezi River, and established several reclamation areas on the north bank of the river, and began to plant and rest.According to the documents sent back by the National Intelligence Agency, they arrived in the area in the first half of 1697, but the weather was bad, they could not grow food, and they were unable to move forward, so they could only stop and rest.Before that, they spent a whole year plowing and fighting on the plateau of Zimbabwe. With intermittent food supply and extremely scarce ammunition, they fought dozens of arduous battles, and finally completely defeated the Matapa Kingdom. The remnants of forces crossed the entire Zimbabwe plateau.

The rapid advance of the first and second columns made the officials of the State Intelligence Agency feel miraculous, and the Yicheng District Administrative Office in the rear was even more "surprised".In the end, after the three parties discussed together, the two columns finally stopped along the Zambezi River. On the one hand, they hurriedly burned wasteland to plant land to supplement food. The malnutrition rate in the columns has risen to a high rate, especially women. All of them were sallow and emaciated, and the elderly and children died in large numbers - on the other hand, they were waiting for the transportation of supplies from the rear.They walked so fast, like nomads, that the pocket merchants couldn't keep up with them, and the masters conscripted by the Yicheng area couldn't catch up with transporting grain and grass.

As for the third column led by Yang Zhongzhi, it is still staying at the Tiande City Military Reclamation.Their team is quite special, because the main body is the Eight Banners of the island, so the proportion of old, young, women and children is relatively high, and the marching speed can never be fast.After research, the General Administration of State Intelligence simply asked them to slow down and settle down to cultivate and graze cattle and sheep.After all, even if there is some harvest in the first year of burning wasteland and farming, there is always a big shortage. If you can persevere beyond this and continue planting for a few years, the grain output will increase by leaps and bounds, which will be of great help to the future. Expansion north has great benefits.

In addition, although the number of blacks in the Zimbabwe plateau is not large, the absolute value is not small.Moreover, there was a powerful Matapa Kingdom in history, which has evolved to an iron civilization. Although it has declined and collapsed for more than 100 years, it still has a lot of power left.If you don't take the time to clean it properly, it will always be a hidden danger in the future.Of course, the most important thing is that the rear can no longer be supported. The front is moving too fast, the supply line is getting longer and longer, and the newly established cities such as Guanghui, Lugo, and Gijon are still small in population and cannot provide much supplies. The cost of relying on long-distance transportation in Yicheng area is really high-according to incomplete statistics, the administrative office of Yicheng area once mobilized at most [-] men and women to deliver food to them, which caused great harm to the industrial and agricultural production in the area. Immeasurably huge damage, they really don't want to continue like this.

The National Intelligence Agency, the National Development and Development Administration, the Immigration Department, the Army Department, the Ue Seng Regional Administration and other directly related units have now deeply realized how unrealistic and ridiculous the plan of the five groups of people going hand in hand is.In fact, this is not a matter of money. The main reason is that the transportation capacity is seriously insufficient, and it is impossible to achieve the goal in the short term.Now the cattle, sheep, wild animals, and melons and fruits on the plateau of Zimbabwe have all been hunted, but the two teams at the forefront still cannot get enough food supply, coupled with the lack of other living materials, weapons and ammunition, the It was a critical moment when I had to stop and rest.

Therefore, Yang Zhongzhi, the third column, was in Tiande City for military reclamation, and the newly formed third column, Mauro Gonzalez, was farming and grazing in Zhaoyi City.Tiande City is located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and Zhaoyi City is located in Harare, both of which are treasure lands with abundant water and grass.Moreover, the local climate and soil are very good, and these two cities were taken from the blacks. There are many stone palaces and houses, and there are also reclaimed land, which is very suitable for military reclamation.

The third column currently has more than 8000 people. They have been cultivating wasteland in Tiande City for a year and a half, and have harvested grain three times. They are now able to support themselves—the grain harvested here will be purchased by the East Bank government in principle, and then Transported to the station of the first and second columns, they consume the grain transported from the rear.There are more than 3000 people in the fourth column, and they have harvested grain twice, which is just enough to be self-sufficient, which greatly comforts the rear.Later Zimbabwe is called the bread basket of Africa, and it really deserves its reputation. The quality of this land is really nothing to say!

And when it comes to the fourth column, one cannot fail to mention the lucky guy Mauro Gonzalez.This gentleman arrived in Yicheng Port at the end of 1695. At that time, there were more than 1696 managers under him. The scale was not small, but he was really not outstanding among the group of captains. Throughout [-], this poor guy had to lead his troops to plant and graze on the state-owned farms in Chenggao County. Stisos and Indians.

In 1697, he brought 8000 people and a large amount of grain, drove almost the same number of cattle and sheep northward, and finally stopped in Guanghui City to continue farming and grazing.During this period, according to the instructions of the people on the east bank, he merged thousands of women and children from the original fourth column who were stranded there. At the same time, he also sold cattle and sheep to the front, and bought a large number of daily necessities, weapons and ammunition with the money returned. significantly enhanced.

In the second half of 1697, after a harvest of grain, the Ministry continued to go north, and chose a route that other columns had not taken before, walking and fighting along the way, causing a lot of casualties.However, Mauro Gonzalez also took the opportunity to temper the team, and the system became stable.During this period, the fourth column formed for the second time failed in Zimbabwe, and most of the personnel were killed or injured, and most of them were dispersed. Yu Mingyuan's fourth column was strong and strong, and at the same time, he was ordered to cultivate and graze here to accumulate strength.

The current Mauro Gonzalez has received a certificate of appointment from the people on the east coast, and has officially assumed the post of the fourth column captain formed for the third time. It is from behind.This is of course inseparable from his skill and ability, but at the same time, it should be seen that his luck is really good, so he has to admit it.

Within tens of kilometers around Zhaoyi City, it is already difficult to see black people.Because of the lack of food, the marching immigrant team basically does nothing when they encounter black people, and they no longer try to capture them and sell them to the rear (the railway department needs a lot of cannon fodder labor).Mauro Gonzalez is not a money-grubbing type, and he will not allocate the few rations of the people below in order to increase his wealth. Therefore, the surrounding area of ​​Zhaoyi City is really a "pure land". If people come to accept it, it will save a lot of trouble.

Today, Zhaoyi City welcomed a group of special guests, that is, a team belonging to the National Intelligence Agency rushed over from the south.This team was led by Tang Chengzhi, a special agent who once served as a consultant in Malawi, with a total of more than [-] riders. At the same time, they also drove thousands of cattle and sheep, all of which were purchased in the middle of the river to relieve the food supply on the plateau of Zimbabwe. The dilemma of insufficiency - the cattle and sheep are not for Zhaoyi City, but for them to be fattened before being sent to the front.

Mauro Gonzalez was notified two days in advance, and he waited several miles outside the city early in the morning, and did not welcome the old men from Shangguo into the city until noon.Tang Chengzhi didn't talk nonsense with Mauro Gonzalez. After handing over a batch of valuable medicines, he continued to go north, intending to visit the first and second column stations.Before, people on the east bank paid a lot of money to hire a group of Portuguese to carry food westward, and let them try to go up the Zambezi River to help the first and second columns stranded there. Tang Chengzhi was not very relieved, and planned to go and see Take a look.Now that he is the deputy director, he has begun to take full charge of the logistical supply matters of several marching immigration teams in Zimbabwe.

Of course, before leaving, Deputy Director Tang also encouraged Mauro Gonzalez and asked him to farm the land well, and someone will naturally arrange his future.Now the production of food is the most important task, and everything else has to stand aside.The rear does not intend to continue to send personnel over for the time being (in principle, they will temporarily stay in the state-owned farms in the Yicheng area to farm), unless the four columns on the Zimbabwe plateau have a certain amount of grain reserves on hand, otherwise let it be.

After Tang Chengzhi left, Mauro Gonzalez also breathed a sigh of relief.In fact, he felt that there was nothing wrong with staying in Zhaoyi City. The climate here is cool, the land is fertile, and the black forces have been beaten and disabled. If he was canonized here, it would be really beautiful.But that's all I can think about. With the character of the people on the east coast, it is impossible to leave such a good land to marginalized people like them.My final destination is still in the far north, among the mountains and valleys, in the hands of black people!The only thing he can do is to accumulate strength step by step with the help of the people from the east coast, and when the time is ripe, he will lead his troops to the north and lay a foundation that can be passed on to future generations.

In this step, you can only win but not lose!

(End of this chapter)