Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 250 The new owner of Fort Good Hope

For more than a thousand soldiers of Xie Han's three detachments, the night of March 1640, 3 was eerily quiet in their impression—if you ignore the barking of the military dogs one after another.There was no night attack as expected, not even harassment, only a strange night of peace.

When the mist dissipated in the morning sun and the soldiers were able to see things in the wild, they found that there were many messy footprints on the ground hundreds of meters outside the barbed wire, which looked like they had been stepped on by many people.

"There were people who came last night, and there were quite a few of them, but I don't know why they didn't attack us." After observing carefully, Xiao Baitu said, "No wonder the military dogs barked all night last night. These Xhosa people must think that They were discovered by us, and their numbers were not sufficient, because they did not dare to attack."

"That's our luck, and it's also their luck." Xiehan Sanba said, from the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to start a muddle-headed war with these Xhosa people. benefit.

"Let's get ready to eat, assemble the troops after breakfast, and then... withdraw!" Xie Hansan said firmly after taking a few breaths of fresh morning air.

Xiao Baitu saluted, then went down to make arrangements.

The journey of withdrawing troops was peaceful, and the Xhosa didn't seem to want to provoke a powerful enemy at the critical moment when their main force went to the south to fight. The two sides disengaged from each other with a tacit understanding.

On March 3, Xie Han's three detachments returned to Hezhong Fort, and just after returning, he heard a slightly shocking news.

"The Fort of Good Hope in the south has changed hands, more precisely, the entire Cape Town colony has changed hands. The British sold it!" Sitting in Mo Ming's office, Xie Hansan heard it before he could speak. Such a news.

"What?" Xie Hansan was taken aback, but he wasn't too surprised, because this matter had been hyped up for nearly a year before, "Who will take over? The Dutch? Probably only the Dutch! They are now and The British have a good relationship, and the two sides don’t have too much direct interest. The Cape Town colony is a hot potato, and only they with deep pockets can take it with confidence.”

"Yes, the Dutch East India Company took over the entire Cape Colony. The British East India Company transferred all the castles, farmland, supplies, and [-] indentured slaves to the Dutch East India Company, but they retained the Cape Colony. London has the right to berth and supply freely, and the Dutch have also confirmed this right of the British." Mo Ming continued to introduce the details of the transaction to him.

Xie Hansan nodded: "I see."

Then he asked with some doubts: "How do you know the details so clearly? Neither the British nor the Dutch need to tell you the details of this transaction, right?"

"Hehe." Mo Ming smiled, picked up the kettle and poured a cup of tea for himself and Xie Hansan, and then said: "I know it so well because two days before you came back, some Dutchmen came to our river Fort."

"Oh?" Xie Hansan raised his eyebrows and asked, "What are they here for? They can't come to ask us if we want to sell the Hezhong Fort, haha!"

"This joke is not funny at all." Sitting behind a large pine desk, Mo Ming gently sniffed the fragrance of tea, and then said: "They are here to discuss with us the demarcation issue between the two colonies, by the way... Do some business by the way."

"Business? What kind of business?" Xie Hansan was a little surprised, "They want to buy something from us?"

"They want to buy some grain from us." Mo Ming looked into Xie Hansan's eyes and said.

"Hahaha!" Xie Hansan and Mo Ming laughed together, they all remembered the embarrassment of those British guys who were robbed of harvesting wheat last year.

Since the Fort in the River mobilized the soldiers of the Eight Banners to snatch the wheat planted by the British outside the city last year, the British in Fort Good Hope have learned how to behave. They began to plant a small amount of corn and sorghum that are resistant to barrenness and drought near the city wall. To meet the small food consumption in the city.After the Dutch take over, they are bound to bring some farmers from the mainland. After all, the hundreds of British residents in the Cape Town area are not "our own people".After transporting people, there must be some daily necessities such as food and cloth, and it is obviously not as cost-effective to buy from the people on the nearby east coast if they are transported from the mainland.

"Of course I didn't sell them any grain." Mo Ming finished laughing and said, "Not only grain, but also cattle, sheep, cloth, experiments and other commodities are prohibited from being sold to the Dutch. Don't forget, our government is currently trying to They are sanctioning the Dutch for the espionage incident."

"Well, that's how it should be." Xie Hansan echoed, "These Dutch people are really short-sighted. They didn't see how the British in Fort Good Hope were squeezed by us, and they dared to take over such a thing. Hot potato. Are they overconfident in their own strength, or are their brains really broken? Hey, by the way, what did you say about the demarcation?"

"They probably got a rough map from the British, and then demanded that the southernmost boundary of our River Castle Colony should be set at five leagues south of the Beg River, and further south is the scope of the Cape Town Colony. " Mo Ming said while spreading out an accurate hand-drawn large-scale map of the Berg River Basin to the Cape Town area, "I ignored their request. Then I pointed out to them that the scope of the Cape Town Colony should be limited to Confined to the peninsula they are on, these arrogant Dutch people of course refused. Hehe, the border issue may still have to be discussed in the future, and maybe some conflicts will break out-if these Dutch people continue to Such aggressive words, but who cares? Let them know who's in charge here!"

"Would it be inappropriate for us to have such a deadlock with the Dutch?" Xie Hansan was a little doubtful at this time, "We have completely failed in this sweeping operation, and the army has lost more than [-] people. Good luck on the way back, A Xhosa tribe that was migrating to the east was taken away, and hundreds of people were captured, but such a good thing may never happen again in the future. A powerful chieftain has risen among the Xhosa people in the east, and the country's The organization is highly militarized, and is currently annexing the surrounding tribes to strengthen their strength. I predict that sooner or later they will become the enemy of the river castle. At that time, if this Xhosa tribe decides to cross the Dongshan Mountains and move westward, they may have to fight with We clash; and if the Dutch get in the way at this moment, it will be difficult for us to be on the front foot."

"This is our miscalculation." Speaking of this, Mo Ming also had some headaches, "Why did this Xhosa tribe suddenly appear? Why is there no record in history that a powerful Xhosa kingdom once appeared here? ? When the Netherlands and the United Kingdom colonized South Africa successively, the Xhosa people have always had a bad reputation, which is far worse than the reputation of their close relatives, the Zulu people. But after thinking about it, I feel relieved. How can there be so many good things in this world? Waiting for you, it may be difficult to catch slaves in the future."

"Then will the development plan of Madagascar be affected?" Xie Hansan asked, "Last time, Wang Tiehammer meant that at least 2000 people should be provided for the first phase of the Fort in the River, and the number of people who need to be provided in the long run may exceed Ten thousand. Such a large number has even exceeded the total number of people in the Eight Banners in our hands."

"The Eight Banners is already reluctant to provide more than 2000 people." Mo Ming said slowly, "You can't squeeze them too hard, otherwise this group of people will rebound. In the past two years, more than 6000 people have been allocated in the form of labor dispatch. Eight Banners slaves have gone to work in the mainland, and now they have allocated another two thousand people, which is almost at their limit. After all, the total population of the Eight Banners has just exceeded [-], and taking away two thousand slaves is already a strain. As for The population needed for the second and third phases of the Falkland Islands development, I think we have to find another way, and we can’t help it. I think the executive committee should understand that the human resources in South Africa are not enough. Endless."

"That's the only way to go first." Xie Hansan took a sip of tea and said, "Anyway, let's get together 2000 people to deal with the first phase of construction. As for the population needed for the follow-up construction, we will slowly figure out a way. My It means that either the executive committee will send more forces here, preferably two reorganized companies, and then we can go further into some places that have not been explored before. There should be some scattered indigenous tribes there. Capture; or the Executive Committee simply buys some slaves from the Portuguese nearby in East Africa to develop the Falklands base, and the Falklands is separated from the Portuguese ruled area by the Mozambique Channel, so the price of slaves should be very cheap."

"I'm afraid that the executive committee won't be able to turn this corner." Mo Ming sighed and said, "The free slaves are so fun to use, and suddenly someone told him that they are out of stock, and he can only buy them in the future. No one is happy to change them. .Hey, let’s take a step at a time. The rise of the Xhosa blacks is a big event for both us and the Dutch. I’m afraid the situation in this land will be much more complicated in the future.”

"The situation will definitely change." Xie Hansan said, "But there is no need to worry too much in a short time. What are you afraid of? We have a solid city wall with a circumference of more than 2000 meters, a complete fort fortress, and one or two thousand The musketeers who can be mobilized, supplemented by a certain number of indigenous Eight Banners soldiers, I am not arrogant. These Xhosa people fighting guerrillas in the mountains may cause us a headache, but come to the endless plains on the side of the Fort in the River The siege of a strong city is the rhythm of looking for death. Back then, Kang Mazi led tens of thousands of people to besiege Yaksa Castle, which was only defended by [-] musketeers. What was the result? Haha, don’t worry."

"Well, yes." Mo Ming nodded and said: "I know everything about the mountains, Lao Xie, you did the right thing this time, this army is the only force on our side, and you can't take risks at will , Otherwise, it is very likely to usher in a catastrophe. How about this, the troops will have a good rest in the past two days, and I will go to the indigenous banners to pick up slaves to prepare for the next stage of development of the Falkland Islands."

(End of this chapter)