Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 246 Development Plan of Falkland Island ([-])

The end of February 1640 ushered in a tumultuous time at Castle in the River.The arrival of a new batch of 2 local immigrants and more than 200 family members of naval officers and soldiers has greatly increased the popularity of the local area. The new village has already been arranged, and now they are waiting for them to move in.

At the same time, a large amount of textiles, munitions, and leather goods were also stored in the material warehouses in the city. In the future, there will be more and more stocks here, and Hezhong Port will eventually become the leading material distribution center in southern Africa.

Recently, the British in the Cape Town area south of the Fort in the River have almost completely shrunk in the Fort of Good Hope, and even the activities of going out to cut firewood have been greatly reduced.According to the reports of a few British immigrants who escaped one after another, people in Fort Good Hope have been in a state of panic for several months. The British East India Company wanted to resell the Cape Town colony to the Dutch, and the officers could not stop it.At the beginning of this month, Knight Heywood, the supreme officer of the Cape Colony, returned to the country on a British merchant ship temporarily docked here, which further stimulated the concerns of local British immigrants.

Today, there is already chaos there, and it is difficult to even provide normal supplies to passing British ships, let alone pose any substantial threat to the people on the neighboring east coast.Many local militiamen in the Fort in the River even clamored to take advantage of the tense domestic situation of the British to simply send troops to capture Fort Good Hope and completely snatch the Cape Town colony of the British, lest the British would sell it to others in the future. East coast people.

However, considering the complicated international situation and the weak national power on the east coast, Mo Ming rationally suppressed this call.Because he knows that it is easy to start a war, but it is not up to him to end the war. He cannot drag the country into the abyss of war because of his irrational behavior.

"So, the Executive Committee has formally decided to establish a supply base on Madoka?" Mo Ming asked as he walked.The weather is good today, and the temperature in South Africa in late summer is not too high, only 26 to [-] degrees, which is cool and pleasant.Mo Ming, Liu Ang, and Wang Tiechui walked along the bank of the Beige River, chatting while walking.

"The big policy has been determined, but the specific location is still to be determined. At present, the Antsiranana area is temporarily leading." Wang Tiehammer said, "After all, this espionage incident that has caused a lot of noise has irritated many people. Now Domestic technology manufacturers not only strictly guard against death, but even began to investigate the three generations of ancestors of the new recruits. Moreover, some imperial Han elements also took the opportunity to promote the introduction of more oriental immigrants. Many people in the Executive Committee and the Government Administration Council could not say that they listened to them opinion, but it is certain that it has been more or less affected. In this way, the restart of the development plan of the Falkland Islands will be a success, because whether it is going north or east around Africa, the Falkland Islands are a must. Now all It has not been determined, but it may be where to establish a supply base on the Falkland Islands.”

"Where else can it be built? Isn't it the Antsiranana area? The naval exploration fleet has also inspected there." Liu Ang was startled, and then quickly asked with some doubts.

"Hey." Wang Tiehammer laughed dryly, and said, "I'm the navy. From the perspective of defense, I don't think there's any place like Madagascar's long coastline that can compare with Antsiranana. The calm in the bay , the water depth is more than 20 meters, and the estuary is extremely narrow, which is very convenient for defense. It is a natural naval base. No wonder the French in the 18th century would like this place. It is really a good location. However, the last time Lao Guo visited After I came back, I said that the forest is densely covered, the climate is hot and humid, and the environment is harsh, so it is not suitable for building a port. Actually, I heard that this kid has never been to the shore at all. He left after looking at the sea for a while, hehe .”

"I've heard about this too, but what happened afterwards?" Liu Ang asked quickly.

"The matter became serious later on." Wang Tiehammer said as a matter of course, "When a group of people from the Executive Committee and the Government Affairs Council heard that mosquitoes were raging on the island and the climate was hot and humid, they immediately knelt down, especially since we don't have enough antimalarial drugs yet. Under the circumstances, I guess no one would want to go to this place to die. However, after this espionage incident, the domestic discussion of restarting the Falkland Islands development plan has heated up again. Two signed articles were published in the "Pravda", vigorously advocating the nonsense significance of establishing a port on the Falkland Islands, echoing the gang of the Huanghan faction, and the momentum was the same for a while."

"Don't interrupt me, Lao Wang." Liu Ang asked anxiously, "I'm asking, was it because everyone was afraid of the high death rate that everyone was reluctant to build a port on the Mado Island? Why did you suddenly make up your mind now? The local people can Sufficient medicines provided?"

"Drugs are definitely not enough." Wang Tiechui said, "As far as the existing antimalarial drugs are concerned, they can only guarantee the treatment of a small number of people, and most people can only be left to fend for themselves when they get sick. So, the Executive Committee I also thought of a trick, that is, to send only a small number of our people to the Falklands, and most of the construction personnel still rely on the indigenous slaves provided from South Africa. Our professional and technical personnel will come to carry out the post-construction after the packing is almost done, understand?"

Both Liu Ang and Mo Ming nodded silently.They are not good men and women, and they have no psychological barriers at all to using the lives of South African native slaves to fill pits.You know, the murders and arson they did in South Africa are too numerous to describe in literary terms.Their only concern is that the Falkland Island will take away the resources and population that should have been allocated to the Fort in the River.

After all, the focus of the Executive Committee's development is still in South America, and the resources and population it can provide to overseas territories are extremely limited.Now a new port is to be built on Falkland Island, which will obviously divide the resources that South Africa can get.From a certain point of view, South Africa and the Falkland Islands are actually in a state of competition.

"Then this matter is settled?" Liu Ang asked uncertainly.

"It's settled." Wang Tiehammer nodded vigorously, "Now the local side has given three alternatives, namely Antsiranana, Toliara and Tamatave, all of which are located along the coast. Port. Among them, Antsiranana is very familiar to us. This place is suitable for building a military port, and it is not far from the famous gold mining area of ​​Malaysia in later generations. Many people are inclined to this place, and even plans have been made; Toliara is located on the southwestern coast of the Falkland Islands, on the south bank of the Fehranana River, only more than 100 kilometers away from the famous Sakoa coalfield in the south of the Falkland Islands. There is also a small and medium-sized coal field nearby, and the coal produced The quality is very good, almost all of which are hard coal, which is very suitable for the needs of our domestic market. And it is cooler here, which is more beneficial; and the place of Tamatave, which seems to be called Toamasina in later generations, seems to be the country of Malaysia The largest port in China. The port is located in the northeast corner of the Falkland Islands, not far from the Antsiranana area. There is also a small-scale coal field not far from the port, which also produces high-quality bituminous coal. These three places have their own advantages and disadvantages. The executive committee has not yet finalized where the port will be built, but I guess it will be soon."

Mo Ming silently looked at the sparkling Beige River, did not speak, seemed to be thinking about something.

Only Liu Ang sighed, and said: "His grandma is a bear, this time it's over, it seems that the executive committee is very determined. But we should have thought of this day, after all, the purpose of building the Fort in the River is to expand eastward. , Now that the executive committee has finally taken this step, it is also a reasonable thing. Alas, in the future, Hezhong Fort will be raised by the stepmother. It is to fully guarantee the construction of the Falkland Islands.”

"Hey, you have to contribute to this matter." Wang Tiehammer laughed even more unkindly at this time: "At that time, a large number of indigenous slaves will have to be selected from you to develop it. Of course, some management personnel may also have to I will be transferred from you. I guess you are also mentally prepared for this, hehe, it seems that the executive committee sent you to South Africa to expand land, but now it seems that it is a wise decision, at least from now on, there will be no shortage of slave sources. "

"Grass!" Mo Ming and Liu Ang cursed almost at the same time.Then Mo Ming also sighed and said: "The pigs are fattened, so they must be killed. Now that this is the case, it is better for us to look at this matter with a more positive attitude. At least we are closer to the East. The population of Daming is closer. In the future, the total population will increase, and everyone will benefit.”

"Indeed, it is only reasonable to make the cake bigger." Liu Ang also echoed, "At present, the whole country has only a few tens of thousands of people, and we are fighting here and there for only a few hundred people. It is really useless. Wait until The conditions for the voyage to the east are really ripe. By then, tens of thousands of people will be transported here a year, and then the country will truly enter a stage of rapid development. And our Hezhong Fort will also be able to gain some light and enter a rapid development stage. Period. After all, the whole country is a game of chess, and we can understand this. Lao Mo, let’s count the accounts of the Eight Banners when we go back, and see how many properties we have in our hands. If we don’t have enough people, we need to make plans in advance.”

"The population must be insufficient." Mo Ming waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about this problem. I will issue a new order after the autumn harvest is busy. Wasn't last year's sweeping operation very good, so let's do it this year Let’s do it again! This time we will sweep eastward, cross the Eastern Mountain, and wipe out all the Xhosa tribes on the other side of the mountain!”

(End of this chapter)