Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2462 of Chapter [-] "Occupied Area" ([-])

Light rain in the port of Palermo, Sicily, November 1702, 11.

The winter in southern Europe is like this. The Mediterranean gives ample water vapor to the earth without hesitation, bringing a lot of rain and snow.But in the sunny summer, it is stingy at giving alms to the plants that are in urgent need of rain, and the whole land is dry.Therefore, to live and work in southern Europe, the most important thing is to develop qualified farmland water conservancy facilities to irrigate water-deficient crops in dry summer.

If this cannot be done, such as Spain, then the food production of the entire country will be affected, the people will starve, and they will have to sell their precious resources abroad in exchange for the food they need to survive-to say the least Well, Spain's current agriculture is not as good as it was during the Moorish rule, at least when they built an astonishing number of reservoirs.And if you do well, like Italy, then not only can the grain output be guaranteed, but you can even take advantage of the relatively warm climate and sufficient Yangon to produce high-quality fruits, oil crops, pastures, etc., making the people more prosperous.In a word, it all depends on the efforts of your people and whether the government is effective.

Are Italians lazy?To be honest, later generations are a bit lazy, or the whole of southern Europe is lazy, with a slow pace of life.But are people born this way?Actually not.Before the country joined the Eurozone and the economy collapsed, they were relatively industrious and worked fairly hard.But when the economy of the whole country goes down, the ports are acquired by the Nordics in large numbers and left to run down, a large number of merchant ships go to Rotterdam, Hamburg and other places to unload, and domestic enterprises have also gone bankrupt. People have no jobs, and the unemployment rate remains high. When Welfare raised them, this person would have to be lazy.

In the 18th century, people were even less qualified to be as lazy as later generations.Didn’t you see that the Southern Europeans who immigrated to South America at that time lacked livestock such as cattle and horses, and even directly pulled the plow to cultivate the land?The Italians are a model of industriousness in the Mediterranean. The people produce a large amount of fruits, cheese, bacon, olives, wine and other commodities, and export them to Northern Europe for profit.Italian businessmen are like hardworking bees, doing business everywhere, and they can be seen in large numbers all over Europe and even North Africa. At one time, one-third of the people in Amsterdam had foreign blood, and the "foreign" among them, most of the time Refers to Italy.

Sicily is actually a typical large Italian countryside.The two major cities of Palermo and Messina, one east and one west, are like the two gateways of Sicily.In the middle of the portal, there are large wheat fields, citrus groves, olive groves and even sugar cane fields. The farms are dotted among them, forming a leisurely pastoral scenery.

But as good as the countryside is, you might not want to live there.Because agriculture without industrial protection and feedback is destined to be at the bottom of the value chain.Coupled with the backwardness of production relations and the exploitation of the distribution mechanism, the life of the peasants in Sicily is actually the same.It is rich in products and can not die of hunger, but there is a serious shortage of living materials, and various modern services (such as medical care, clean water, education, etc.) are extremely scarce.Otherwise, wealthy farm owners would not choose to live in villas in towns.

In fact, this is also good.The rich are concentrated in the cities, and it is more convenient to raise military expenses when the Northern Italian army comes over.Although some fled to the surrounding countryside, the vast majority chose to stay.The Genoese's infiltration of Sicily for hundreds of years was not in vain. In fact, they had a very good foundation here, and many nobles had friendship with them, so they would not regard them as foreign invaders as demons.

It took only six hours for the "Po River Division" of the Northern Italian Allied Forces to attack Palermo.The only resistance in the city was the Spanish governor leading hundreds of soldiers to line up and shoot. However, under the bombardment of more than 20 artillery pieces from the "Po River Division", they quickly collapsed and surrendered.

The "Po River Division" is a post-formation division with a large number of recruits, and its combat capabilities are limited.However, with sophisticated equipment and as many as 7500 people, it is still invincible in Palermo and its surrounding areas.They left an infantry regiment stationed here, and the other two infantry regiments, a cavalry regiment and the troops directly under the division were all taken out by the division commander to mop up.They have to let the residents of various small towns and villages know that Sicily has now changed owners, the era of the Spaniards has passed, and the era of the Northern Italian Federation has arrived.Of course, the most important thing is to go to the countryside to collect some supplies, and let the brothers make a small fortune by the way.Come out to fight, isn't that what you plan to do?Those few liras are worthless, not enough to spend a few times in the city's taverns.

"Commander Bai, the 'Po River Division' you commanded made a big scene." Sheng Dehong, who had just disembarked at the dock of Palermo Port, looked at the column of smoke rising into the sky in the distance, and said with displeasure: "They're all Italians. As for practicing like this? Is this the military discipline of the army you helped to train?"

"Special Envoy Sheng, this is the Italian army, not our East Coast King's Division. They are at this level, and their salaries are low. If the soldiers don't make some extra money, I'm afraid it will be difficult to maintain morale." Bai Chuanping laughed when he heard the words, and said: "Let's talk Now, what about the Italians? The Austrian army is all German, but they burned, killed, and looted Bavaria. How have they ever been soft? The moral level of Europeans is like this, not much better than barbarians. The army in Northern Italy has already It can be regarded as restraint, if the water is clear, there will be no fish, just like this, and we will slowly rectify it in the future.”

Sheng Dehong glared at this rebellious military leader, and jumped away from the topic: "Have you received the information that the British and Dutch navy defeated the French fleet in the Bay of Biscay?"

"Received. The French are really useless. There are so many large warships, but they can't beat the British and the Dutch. They are rubbish. The Spaniards are too. The super battleships transferred from Cuba are useless. They were beaten up. One of them was scarred and had to go back to his old nest and lie on his stomach. Within a year and a half, they probably won't be able to regain control of the sea." Bai Chuanping said nonchalantly.

"The British and the Dutch are so fierce, and they don't know whether our navy can stand up to it. This ship is a dead thing after all, and talents are the decisive factor. What's the use of spending so much money on shipbuilding? Why don't we train more naval personnel? Bravery and devotion are fundamental. Young master Bing, it will never work." At the end, Bai Chuanping's words were already quite sour.The navy takes away most of the military expenditure every year, which is the eternal pain in the army's heart and the source of conflict between the two sides.Think about it, the navy drinks fine red wine every day, the most expensive food, and the military pay is generally [-]-[-]% higher than that of the army. In addition, the country invests huge sums of money every year to build ships.

Sheng Dehong couldn't say anything about the conflict between the sea and the land. It was all about money and honor, and he didn't plan to intervene in mediation.However, he does not allow the navy and the army to affect the big strategic policy because of other signs, this is the bottom line.

Therefore, after thinking for a while, he said, "The Kingdom of Spain has officially declared war on the Northern Italian Federation. I just received an inquiry letter from Madrid asking whether we are on the side of the Northern Italian Federation. What do you think of this?"

It was the first time for Bai Chuanping to hear the news. He frowned and said, "What? Spain still wants to declare war on us?"

"Our government has a series of security cooperation treaties with the Federation of Northern Italy. Spain's inquiry is just to clarify our position. I guess, if we invoke the treaty and declare to protect Northern Italy from being attacked by the enemy, they may not have that. Have the courage to declare war on us. But this matter is too big, although the local government has given me some authorization, but I still can't make up my mind, so I want to ask for your opinions." Sheng Dehong said patiently.

"I mean, the Italians told me in a panic a while ago that some Spanish troops crossed the Pyrenees and entered France, but they didn't go north, and seemed to have the intention of going east. I didn't think so at the time, but now that I think about it, Philip V may indeed be unable to swallow this breath, and wants to directly attack the northern Italian mainland." Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping frowned and thought: "They are currently parked in southern France, the number is unknown, they may be waiting for supplies, or they may It’s hesitating, I haven’t made a final decision yet.”

"I think so too." Sheng Dehong nodded, and said: "The Spaniards wanted to save face, but they were afraid that we would be involved in the war and let him suffer a catastrophe, so they hesitated. Their domestic opinions, according to my opinion The information obtained is not very uniform. Especially the important ministers of the aristocratic regency group before Philip V ascended the throne, as a whole, they do not support the land invasion of the Northern Italian Federation."

"They may do something to test our bottom line." Bai Chuanping said.

"I won't give them this chance." Sheng Dehong said decisively: "The navy's 'Bianliang' ironclad warship is almost up. I have decided to let the small fleet, mainly this warship, visit Sicily one by one. Island, Naples (currently at war), Sardinia, Corsica and Genoa*, put a little pressure on the Spaniards. But I will not express whether I support the Northern Italian Federation, let the Spaniards Be suspicious yourself, this will also leave room for us to maneuver diplomatically in the future."

"When it comes to yin people, your white shirts are better." Hearing that the navy's cutting-edge warships are coming to the Mediterranean to show off their might, Bai Chuanping felt as disgusted as if he had eaten a toad.

"Hmph, are you unhappy? I haven't settled the account with you last time." After all, he is a person from a powerful department. His style of speaking and doing things is different from that of the people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He only listens to Sheng Dehong. Said: "I don't want to see you make any small moves again, and then let me wipe your ass after creating a fait accompli. Whether it's your army or navy, it won't work! I understand your eagerness to fight, but it depends on whether the timing is right! In short, all actions are subject to command, and you are not allowed to act recklessly. I don’t want to pursue the messy things in the past, but from now on, be honest with me, and I don’t want to passively come to us every time to deal with the aftermath.”

Bai Chuanping glanced at the angry Sheng Dehong, said nothing, and walked away with his saber in his hand.Behind him was a group of young staff officers, all of them were proud and aggressive like big roosters, and they walked away behind the officer without saying anything.

Can the National Football Team make me cry tonight?

(End of this chapter)