Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2398 Central Valley (29)

February 1700, 2, Valparaiso Harbor, light rain.

Valparaíso, which was built in the last century, has a history of more than 160 years.The entire port faces Valparaíso Bay, backed by mountains, and exists as the outer port of Santiago.

Of course, although Valparaiso faces the sea, it is not a good place for spring flowers to bloom.The port is built on the flat coastal land and has a long and narrow semicircle as a whole.Because of the small area of ​​the plain, the area of ​​the entire port is not large. It is more like a small town than a city.There is no farmland, no pastures, no orchards, and there are only various buildings scattered around the coastline. The residents of the entire city actually make a living from commerce.

In fact, Valparaíso is also the epitome of Chile's coastal zone.That is, the existence of coastal mountains makes high-quality ports very scarce in Chile's offshore waters. Liucheng Port, which is under the control of the people on the east coast, is considered a good port-nonsense, can it become the home port of the Third Fleet if the conditions are not good-under the cover of deep islands , the wind and waves are naturally more than one level smaller than that of the open sea. In addition, it is surrounded by rich agricultural and animal husbandry areas and has a large population. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the best port in Chile.

Green Fir Harbor at the mouth of the Wa River is another good port.It is backed by a big river, and there is no serious siltation at the estuary, which means that it can radiate far inland, allowing more people and goods to trade here.In terms of port hard indicators, Green Fir Port is also very good.The terrain weakens the power of the sea layer by layer, and finally makes the waves that can enter the harbor very "gentle", which is undoubtedly very beneficial for ships to anchor and shelter from the wind.

Compared with these two ports, although the Spanish-controlled Chilean coastline is long, the conditions are really much worse.The best condition they have is actually Concepcion.There is a long and narrow peninsula extending outward, blocking the violent winds and waves of the ocean.The only thing that makes people feel a little regretful is that the U-shaped harbor entrance does not have enough islands to weaken the power of the waves, and the harbor opening is too large.The direct result is that when there are strong winds and waves, the anchored ships in the harbor will shake more violently, which is a bit of a fly in the ointment.

Conditions in Valparaiso are much worse than in Concepcion.The harbor here is unobstructed, and the whole is a huge semicircle facing the north, foolishly welcoming the rushing sea water.If it weren't for the general flow of sea water here to the north, Valparaíso would not be able to become a qualified port at all.

But as we mentioned earlier, to become a port, in addition to hard indicators in terms of geology, topography, and water level, whether the inland area it can influence and radiate is vast is also an important factor.Even, in many cases, historical tradition is also one of the important factors.People lived here in the early days and got used to it. They would rather pay the price to maintain the port every year than move to a natural good port, because the price paid in the short term may be even greater.

Valparaíso was in such a situation.The Spaniards colonized Chile from the interior. They first established colonial towns in the interior, and then developed to the coastal areas. After all, sea transportation is cheaper and faster than land transportation.As the core capital of Spanish Chile, Santiago naturally needed an outer port, and Valparaíso came into being in this way.After more than 100 years of development, even if people find a better harbor than Valparaíso elsewhere, they will not go there because the cost and tradition will not allow it.

Today's Valparaiso Port welcomes a two-hundred-ton brigantine.Anyone who is familiar with the ship in the port knows that it is the ship of the Cardoso family from Lima.Mr. Cardoso's family came to Lima from Seville to do business 100 years ago. It has been several generations. Although it is not the top family in Lima, its status should not be underestimated.

There were strong trade ties between the Cardoso family and the East Coast.The merchant ship that just docked in front of me returned from Maolin Port, an important commercial city in the south, and was full of metal products, cloth, dyes, and medicines purchased from there.Of course, according to the old rules, this cargo ship will also carry some guests to Valparaiso. The guests do not need to buy tickets, and they cannot buy tickets. They rely purely on personal connections.

Fernando was one of the guests who came to Valparaiso from Puerto Maurin by boat.He is less than 30 years old this year, but he has served in the Army for nearly ten years.He served in the field army for the first five years, and was later picked up by the intelligence department and joined the Gendarmerie Command.After several years of struggle, he is now a captain of the gendarmerie with a promising future.Fernando's parents are both Caucasian from Castile, so he also has a serious Iberian appearance, so it is not appropriate to be sent to Valparaíso to perform tasks.

After getting off the deck of the ship, Fernando waited on the pier for less than 5 minutes before an old carriage drove over in a low-key way.After answering the password that made outsiders confused, Fernando got into the car with his luggage and went straight to a farm in the south of the city.

Fernando was silent all the way and didn't speak to anyone.It wasn't until the carriage stopped in front of a farm full of sunflowers that he got off the carriage greeted by several Spaniards, and then entered the manor.

There are more than a dozen people in the manor who have been waiting for a long time.As soon as they saw Captain Fernando carrying the luggage, they greeted him enthusiastically.Captain Fernando didn't say much, he smiled reservedly, and said to these people: "It's a few days later than expected, I'm very sorry for keeping everyone waiting."

"In the face of life and death, no matter how long the wait is, it is meaningful." The owner of the manor, Fiore, stepped forward and said.

The Fiore family has also run the business in Chile for generations.At first in Santiago, and later moved to Valparaiso, but because they have never had a title of nobility and not enough connections, the development of their family has always been suppressed.Just like Valparaíso, the flat land at the foot of the mountain was basically occupied by others, and the Fiore family was also forced to sell a considerable amount of coastal land and turn to operate on the mountain. Life was quite unsatisfactory.

The others are basically small and medium-sized manor owners, middle- and lower-level officials, and small and medium-sized businessmen in Valparaíso. They basically have various reasons, either out of revenge, or out of desire for wealth and power. It prompted them to make a decision to join the people on the east coast and secretly overthrow the Spanish rule.

"Mr. Fiore, Mr. Murillo, Mr. Sanchez, Mr. Lazoa, Mr. Reina..." Fernando shook hands with these people one by one, then sat down, and opened the luggage he had been carrying , took out a number of letters of appointment issued by the East Coast government, and said: "This is a letter of appointment issued by the Government Affairs Council of our country, authorizing you to form a stability maintenance committee during the war and the transitional period after the war, and at the same time serve as officials of various departments to maintain the city. internal and external order."

All the people present got a certificate of commission, and they took the one with their names written on it one by one, their faces couldn't help but smile.With this talisman, they could fight back during the war and take control of Valparaíso with the help of the East Coasters.At this time, those big figures who have oppressed and offended them in the past will be in trouble. To put it lightly, they will lose money and eliminate disasters, and if it is more serious, their families may be destroyed.

This is a gluttonous feast!The materials in the city's public treasury were not dared to be moved, they were dedicated to the people on the east bank as military supplies.But then the names of people from the east bank levied taxes in and out of the city, and framed a few big businessmen for crimes, which was enough to make these people here earn a lot of money.

Fernando looked at these people with a slight sarcasm on the corner of his mouth.Valparaíso is the bridgehead for the attack on Santiago, and there is no room for loss.The regular troops of the East Coast Army will also go ashore here. It is so cool to have these people help raise supplies and military expenses without having to bear all the infamy.

In fact, there are many people like Fiore.When attacking Chile in the future, the people on the east coast will adopt a center-blooming strategy, which is to give priority to occupying large cities and cut off the traffic between the north and the south - because of Chile's long and narrow terrain, this trick is particularly effective - allowing the colonial towns from south to north to end Can't take care of each other.In the south, the prisons set up by the East Coasters have basically surrounded the Spaniards.As long as the guns are fired, several large cities (such as Villarrica, Temuco, etc.) are more than [-]% sure that they will be captured within a few days, and the famous port city of Concepcion will riot on the same day to welcome the northward. Armed prisoners from the east coast entered the city.

In central Chile, the focus is on Santiago.This would be taken care of personally by a mixed regiment of field troops, assisted by local defected white Spanish soldiers.As long as Santiago is captured, the central region of Chile will basically be settled. The next step is to directly arrange for troops to go to various places to collect taxes and grain, so as to lay a solid foundation for supporting war with war.

As for northern Chile, to be honest, people on the east coast didn't pay much attention to it.Although I heard that there are many copper mines, gold mines, lead mines, and saltpeter mines there, and the reserves are particularly huge, but this matter can be left behind.After all, mines don't have long legs, and they won't run away if they are placed there.People on the east coast are more focused on the Chalkas Prosecutorial Court District between Lima and Santiago.Potosi has accumulated a huge amount of wealth, which must be landed and occupied in the shortest possible time (this way is coordinated with the troops going north from Jujuy to flank), and then transformed into nutrients for the conquest of Spanish America.

Of course, the East Coast people also have arrangements in Potosí.A special commissioner will also carry a large number of commissions to the north from Jujuy. It is foreseeable that many white people in the area will be bought by the East Coast people.It's just that Chalkas and Paraguay are the places with the largest number of Indians and the thickest ancestry, and the acquisition is not very smooth.

But it doesn't matter, in the face of the general situation, all Spanish resistance will eventually prove to be futile.Captain Fernando stood up quietly and walked to the window.Here, you can easily see the sea in the distance.On the sea, there are several ships going north together at this time.Captain Fernando knew one of the sailing ships named "Hawthorn". If nothing else, they were going to the Turtle Islands in the north.There is a huge material reserve there, which should be full by now.

(End of this chapter)