Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 286 War Machine ([-])

Kama stood quietly in front of her "king's palace", watching several solemn elder priests dancing around a slaughtered animal.It is said to be a royal palace, but it is just a few decent wooden houses.But these wooden houses are already the only ones in the Kama tribe with thatched shacks everywhere. After all, it is not easy to find some wood in this place in South Africa.

In front of him was a little calf whining softly. Its limbs were bound and its neck was pierced with a small blood hole by a sharp knife.Blood was gurgling out of the blood hole, filling the inner bucket within a few meters with a pungent smell of blood.This cow was to be sacrificed to the "gods". According to the priests, the conflict with the people on the west coast was caused because the Kama tribe's actions in the past year offended the gods.The wrath of the gods must be extinguished with sacrifices, and the sins of mortals also need certain sacrifices-outside the palace, a dozen prisoners of war have been tied to the ground, and beside them are Kama tribe warriors holding sharp knives , these prisoners of war will be publicly killed and sacrificed to the gods to wash away the sins of the Kama tribe.

In recent days, the people on the east bank in the west have become more and more restless, and they have become less and less concealed about their greed for land and their malice towards the Kama tribe.First, the Eight Banners tribe, who had defected to the people on the east bank, suddenly moved eastward, seized a piece of land with lush water and grass in the west of the mountain, and began to arrest any Xhosa or Khoisan people grazing on this grassland for no reason.Some Xhosa tribes tried to resist, but all failed without suspense.There are also some tribes who think they are incompetent frequently send people to their "royal court" to ask the powerful Kama tribe to send troops to expel this group of evil and cruel Eight Banners tribe.

Karma still knows a little about the Eight Banners tribe, thanks to the many spies he arranged in these tribes.As the name suggests, there are eight tribes in total, and each tribe has a flag awarded to them by people from the east coast.The strength of these tribes varies from big to small.Among them, the strong ones have a population of more than two thousand, among which the strong men are several hundred; the weak ones have only a thousand people, and the strong men only have a pitiful two or three hundred people.The backbone fighters of the Eight Banners Tribe are called "Warriors". These are half-time soldiers, just like the elite guards led by Kama himself.

The total number of Eight Banners warriors is about 3000, and every five days they will practice collectively for one day.Spears are the main weapons they use. Eight Banners warriors hold spears and form a square formation, advancing to meet the enemy like hedgehogs; the spear formation is supplemented by a small number of archers as long-range output power.

People on the east coast still value the warriors of the Eight Banners.It is said that they will gather the warriors of the Eight Banners together for a joint training every month, which is called "meeting exercise" by the people on the east coast.In the parade, not only the military formation of a single tribe, but also the joint military formation of multiple tribes is considered, as well as the individual skills of the warriors.During the parade, the tribe that captured No.1 will be rewarded with a large amount of property, and correspondingly, the last one will be fined and confiscated with a large amount of property.Similarly, in the individual martial arts examination school, the top ten of each tribe will be rewarded, and the best among them will have the opportunity to become an officer in the warrior class; the last ten will be warned for the first time, fined for the second time, The third time is to deprive the samurai status and become a free citizen, and will lose all kinds of privileges in the future.

Such a strict and almost strict system has guaranteed the spirit of the Eight Banners warriors to forge ahead, and it is also the secret of the rapid improvement of the Eight Banners' armed combat effectiveness in the past few years.To be honest, as a ruler and manager, Kama still appreciates these systems established by the people on the east coast, and he is also planning to implement appropriate improvements among them in the Kama tribe.But from another point of view, the better the people on the east coast perform, the greater the pressure on the Kama tribe will be.

"God said that the people on the east coast are destined to be the enemies of the Kama tribe!" The calf had already stared wide-eyed and died of excessive blood loss. A respected priest smeared the blood on his face, then closed his eyes and said: "They They plundered our people to serve as slaves, robbed our cattle, sheep and food, and even corrupted the will of our soldiers with strong wine. Destroy them! This is the will of God! The people on the east coast must be destroyed!"

Kama remained motionless, standing in front of the priest numbly, as if he was listening to the will of God.And at a place less than 200 meters away from the palace, next to the two pointed cabins, several men with European faces looked at the place from a distance, while chatting solemnly.

"Second Lieutenant Potter, in terms of the situation where you fought against the people on the east coast, what is their combat effectiveness?" A blond man with a big beard asked.

"Mr. Hagel, it is difficult for me to give a definite answer to your question. In fact, the people on the east coast never had a direct conflict with us. It was always the so-called Eight Banners tribe with weak combat power who came here. Harass us." Lieutenant Porter said after thinking for a while, "But I can tell you clearly that the regular army of the East Coast people is definitely stronger than the mercenaries under your brother. You understand, what I said Not fighting skills, but fighting will."

Lieutenant Porter wore a white woolen blouse, a boat cap on his head, and was unshaven, looking like some down-and-out officer.In fact, his current situation is also very desolate. After the Dutch took over the Cape Town colony, Heywood Knight recommended Lieutenant Porter to the new Governor De Young before withdrawing.Governor De Young may be out of face, or maybe he really needs a capable officer who understands the situation in South Africa, so he continued to hire Lieutenant Porter to command the English militia in Fort Good Hope to assist the Dutch in guarding the colony.

However, after the Dutch brought in a large number of immigrants from the mainland and hired the mercenaries of the Hagel Brothers who enjoyed a certain reputation, Second Lieutenant Potter found himself gradually marginalized in embarrassment.First of all, the new German mercenaries took the lead in defense, and they pushed aside the "hillies" under Lieutenant Porter.The next step was that the Dutch West India Company reorganized the local militia and took over the command of the militia, so that Second Lieutenant Porter became a dispensable person.In the end, Governor De Young finally remembered that there was someone like him. No, with the conclusion of a series of cooperation agreements with the Kama tribe, Second Lieutenant Porter was kicked here to teach the barbarians how to Use muskets.

Little Hagel turned his head with some displeasure, and quickly changed the subject, saying to another middle-aged man in a priest's uniform beside him, "Pastor Strom, is this a barbarian's religious ceremony? Really? A group of utterly stupid people, may they find their way back as soon as possible and return to the embrace of the Lord."

"The Almighty and Omniscient Lord is the only destination for their souls." Pastor Systrom held the cross in his hand and murmured in a low voice: "In recent months, some lost lambs have converted to the embrace of the Lord. Their piety Undoubtedly." Speaking of this, Pastor Systrom subconsciously glanced at the precious furs, meat fat, and food piled up in the room—these were gifts from believers.

"However, the temptation of the devil is everywhere, and more lambs of the Lord are still under the temptation of the devil and do not return." Pastor Systrom narrowed his eyes and looked at the priests in the distance, "Of course, the East Bank Those heathens are a group of completely degenerated devils. Too many devout people of the Lord can only pray to the Lord silently at night under their coercion, and they should be wiped out completely."

Having said that, the three present prayed to the Lord in a low voice.

"So, Second Lieutenant Porter." After praying, Little Hagel turned to Second Lieutenant Porter again and asked, "Do you think these barbarians are already proficient in using muskets?"

"No, only a small part of them can use muskets proficiently." Second Lieutenant Porter shook his head without hesitation, and said, "The time is too short. These barbarians spend most of their time fighting outside. They practiced using muskets together. It's not long. Only a few of them have mastered how to charge, reload, and fire. As for the formation and tactics of using muskets, they don't know anything about it. But I have to remind you honestly here, These savages are not an unorganized and disciplined mob. On the contrary, their military discipline is very strict - you can even say harsh, and they are not afraid of death, very brave, and have mastered certain tactics in long-term wars, so they cannot be ignored. Look down."

"What do you think of this impending war between the barbarians and the East Coasters?" Hagel Jr. asked a question of his concern, which is also a concern of Governor De Young, because it concerns Cape Town Is the colony worth continuing to invest in this tribe.

"I'm not very optimistic." Lieutenant Porter shook his head. "First of all, these barbarians have hostile tribes in other directions, so they can't use all their troops on the people on the east coast. Secondly, their equipment is very simple, most of them They are spears, short spears, and iron knives. There are not many bows and arrows. There are almost no armors. What they believe in is to smash the enemy with the most courageous impact. It will be a great tragedy. In the end, their supplies are also very poor. A big reason why they have been fighting for years is that the existing land and pastures cannot support too many people, and the new born in the tribe The population has reached an unprecedented peak, so outward expansion has become inevitable. But also, their supplies are extremely poor, and soldiers need to loot the enemy to get enough rations, but the people on the east coast are obviously not a very good object of robbery."

"Then why are they still insisting on this damn war, whose timing is not ripe at all?" Hagel was a little hard to understand.

(End of this chapter)