Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 283 War Machine ([-])

On April 1641, 4, it was sunny and the southeast wind was force six.The Second Fleet, which had been waiting in Xinhua Bay for more than a month, finally received the long-awaited trade wind. After bidding farewell to Fort Xinhua, the battleship "Common Market" and "Super Brave" filled with supplies The No. 20 high-speed cruiser left Xinhua Bay and headed north. They will start another great voyage of the Republic Navy on the east coast of China to explore the eastern route.

Ten days before Wang Tiechui and others left, the armed transport ship "Galicia Flying Fish" and the two merchant ships of the South China Sea Transportation Company had already left the wharf of Xinhua Castle with a full load of people, timber, coconuts, hump cattle and other materials and livestock, heading towards the South African River. China and Hong Kong sailed.

After they left, starting on April 4, the newly appointed New China Regional Security Commander and Lieutenant Xu Gang, the commander of the Army's 20st Company, also began to conquer and plunder the Bezimisaraka people in the south.They will take the many canoes seized last time, head south along the coast, attack the indigenous villages along the way, plunder the population and supplies, and enrich the new Chinese colony.

While various operations in the New China region were in full swing, the South African River Fort was also making intensive pre-war preparations.Since the Red and Green Banners advanced to the Gouda area for more than half a year, several battles broke out between them and the Xhosa herdsmen on the other side of the mountain. The battle at the end of last year was the most intense. The well-equipped Eight Banners warriors unexpectedly Dozens of people were also killed or injured.Of course, their opponents were even more unbearable. After the war, there were more than two hundred corpses abandoned on the scene.Although the tension between the two sides has subsided since that battle, the tense atmosphere has not dissipated. On the contrary, with the people from the east coast pressing closer, the smell of gunpowder between the two sides is unprecedentedly strong.At this time, even a stupid black man can tell that this is the rhythm of a big battle between the two sides.

Since January of this year, a large number of construction materials have been transported to Hezhong Fort in horse-drawn carts and boats one after another, and some architectural designers have come with them.They selected an excellent site about three miles north of the lake they named South Lake, and began to design and build the fort.This fortress is located on the south bank of the Beige River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the terrain is dangerous. It completely controls the passage from the Dongshan Mountains to the Shanxi Great Plains.

It can be said that if the Xhosa people let this fortress be built, not only will the South Lake area with rich water and grass be far away from them, but the people on the east coast will also be able to use this as a forward base, entering the eastern river valley to attack the Xhosa Human tribes, capturing slaves, this is unacceptable for the Xhosa.

Therefore, since the first batch of supplies arrived in January, and the Red and Black Banners mobilized bannermen and slaves to build fortresses, the Xhosa's backlash has gradually become more intense.First, some small tribes surviving nearby spontaneously joined forces to attack the Bannermen's fortification, but they were easily repelled by the Eight Banners warriors due to insufficient strength.

After mid-February, maybe the large black tribe on the other side of the mountain gradually began to free up some hands. Some black fighters who were obviously experienced and experienced appeared on both sides of the show that would be staged almost every few days. In the game of confrontation.The Eight Banners warriors were a little careless at first, and they were caught off guard by these people. However, they were not good at it after several years of collective training. Soon, with their excellent equipment and good cooperation, these black fighters were expelled to Shanna again. side, effectively guaranteeing the construction of the castle site.

Mo Ming, who noticed that the situation is gradually heating up, has mixed feelings. He is happy that the fire in South Africa has finally started under his deliberate deliberation and intentional connivance, but it seems that the fire is still a bit big.The fighting will of the Xhosa blacks was much stronger than expected, which made him a little wary.For this reason, on February 2, under his order, the 15th Company of the Army was mobilized again for concentrated training; The expansion has reached the scale of more than a hundred riders.

At the same time, in order to have a decisive battle with the Xhosa people more confidently, Mo Ming then returned to the mainland on a ship transporting sorghum and wheat to Dongfang Port, and began to visit old relations everywhere, lobbying the Executive Committee to strongly support his South African mission. action.

Although some members of the Executive Committee were a little annoyed at Mo Ming's "provocative frontier" behavior, they believed that he ignored the overall situation and interrupted the country's "Golden Ten Years" plan centered on economic construction, and threatened to destroy the country. Mo Ming was dismissed and transferred back to the mainland, but Captain Mo, who had the support of the military forces, ignored these remarks of the civil servant faction at all.

What a nuisance these civil servants are!Stubborn!Can't you see how much support the military has in public opinion today?Can't you see that the most basic positions such as the director of the village army and the minister of the township armed forces have been occupied by a large number of veterans?Can't you see that the preaching system, which has been heavily infiltrated by military forces, has begun to promote Communist Party and Songun political arguments among the people?Damn these civil servants for obstructing Lao Tzu's achievements!If it were in South Africa, who would dare to contradict Lao Tzu, he would have planted his mother's lotus long ago.

But no matter how tired Mo Ming is of these crooked civil servants, the existing system still has to be followed.Therefore, before the executive committee finally makes a decision, he still has to move around to try to get more members to support him.Of course, even if the decision to send troops to South Africa was not passed at the final meeting of the executive committee, he still has backhands—that is, the army, which has been somewhat marginalized in recent years, clearly stated to him that even if the executive committee disagrees, the army will Send the most elite first company to South Africa for "field training".If the situation in South Africa is tight, it will not hesitate to mobilize and form the 102nd and 103rd companies.But then again, once the situation in South Africa is really urgent, the East Coast Republic will have to mobilize the whole country, and the army's four standing companies and four reserve companies will go into battle.

After some emergency activities, and the fact that the local demand for South African laborers has become stronger and stronger, some members of the Executive Committee who originally held a neutral and swaying attitude began to accept the opinions of South Africa.At this stage, there are more than [-] South African laborers active in several brick kiln factories, lime mines, iron mines, farms, logging camps, and construction teams in the East China Republic. It is estimated that with the gradual development of domestic industries, various industries The demand for South African laborers in various industries will continue to expand, and it is conservatively estimated that thousands of people will need to be added to the current basis within three years.

But the problem is that in the second half of this year, the first batch of more than 1000 South African laborers who came to the east coast to work (the original 2000 people died in three years) will return to South Africa.Before that year, the executive committee promised them that they would be pardoned as slaves after three years of service, and they would be sent back to South Africa for proper resettlement. The executive committee did not intend to break their promise.That is to say, starting from next year (1642), the local demand gap for foreign labor will further expand, which has already affected the overall development of the country's industry and agriculture. The degree of addiction is getting deeper and deeper, and it is already difficult to extricate myself.

On the afternoon of March 1641, 3, after a heated debate, the executive committee finally passed the resolution to increase troops to South Africa with a large advantage of 30:7.On the night when the resolution was passed, the 4st Company of the Army stationed in the North City Barracks of Dongfang Port, the only quick-response force of the East China Republic, was urgently mobilized, and together with a large number of combat supplies, it began to secretly assemble in the Dongfang Port Military Wharf. Boat.

A few days later, Ping'an County, which received the news, also began to recruit veterans on a large scale, and began to formally form the 103rd Company of the Reserve Army. The formation of the 103rd company was much slower. First, the county government notified the township armed ministers, and then the township armed ministers checked the roster one by one and issued a call-up letter.Even if this process is rushed, it will take several days. After all, it will take a lot of time to distribute the recruitment letters to everyone scattered in each village.Then they have to assemble, carry out ideological mobilization, and then receive clothing, weapons, ammunition and other equipment. This process cannot be completed in ten or so days.They are not like the quick-response troops like the 1st company, who are ready for battle at any time and have all kinds of materials.These demobilized veterans who either work as home farmers, as workers in brick kiln factories, or as coolies at the dock still need a period of adaptation and restorative training before they can go on the battlefield again.

The 1st company and the 103rd company of the above-mentioned army are the troops that are scheduled to be transferred to South Africa to participate in the war. After they are transferred, the defense of the homeland will rely on the 3rd company, the 4th company, the cavalry company and the internal affairs force. At worst, they can also be mobilized The 102nd company and a large number of militiamen are guarding, so there is actually no need to worry too much about security.

At the same time as the army was mobilized, a large amount of materials were also transferred from the combat readiness warehouse one by one, and then packed into ships by category.In fact, this is also a rare training opportunity for various departments involved, such as the Ministry of Materials, the Logistics Bureau of the Ministry of Army, the Ministry of the Navy, the Port Authority of the Ministry of Communications, and the South China Sea Transportation Company.It tests the planning, overall planning, and coordination capabilities of the entire system. Whether these are done well, to a certain extent, also determines the country's war potential and battlefield projection capabilities.Everyone and every department performed their duties, step by step, and the whole country was like a sophisticated war machine slowly running, and began to devour all enemies in front of it.

(End of this chapter)