Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 295 Blood River ([-])

At noon on May 1641, 5, the reinforcements led by Mo Ming, who had just experienced bloody battles, finally arrived in the Gundam Fort area.They were discovered by the South African cavalry company cruising around outside a few kilometers away from the city, and they were quickly brought into the Gundam Fort, which had just laid its foundation and had only a small section of the city wall.

Zhu Liang, the commander of the South African Garrison, rushed over to report to Mo Ming the movements of the barbarians these days.

"The barbarians have not moved, not even decent harassment." Zhu Lianghui reported, "I sent the South African cavalry company out to investigate before, and found that there was only a small barbarian camp behind the mountain pass. They settled there. There are about a thousand soldiers, but the firepower is good, there are a lot of muskets and infantry bows, and the cavalry can't get close to attack. And I'm also worried that this is a trick of the barbarians to lure snakes out of their holes, so I didn't dare to send troops out of the city to suppress them. Now listen The brothers talked about being ambushed by a barbarian army on the road, and then I realized that these barbarians were going to attack our supply line, but they managed to run into our large army."

"They suffered two or three thousand casualties, so of course they won't take any more drastic actions." Mo Ming boarded the watchtower in the city and observed the situation inside and outside the city.The area of ​​the planned Gundam Fort is not large, and the circumference of the city is only about 3000 meters. Except for cement and lime, the building materials used are transported from the local area, and all the bricks are fired near the Fort in the River.After Gundam Fort was completed, the vast plains to the west of the Dongshan Mountains had a foothold for people from the East Coast.Moreover, the Nanhu area with lush water and grass will also be in the bag. If it is well developed, it will be the next food and animal husbandry base.

Of course, in the eyes of the members of the local executive committee, the biggest role of Fort Gundam is not as an agricultural base, but as a base for advancing eastward into Xhosa settlements.To put it bluntly, this is a stronghold to provide logistical supplies and rest for the slave hunting team.Now that the East Coast natives are increasingly hungry for slaves, the importance of Gundam Fort will surely increase in the future.

The city wall has only been sparsely built to a length of 300 meters, and the buildings in the city are even more pitiful.The only public bathhouses, canteens, and residences are temporary wooden houses built with third-class wood shipped from Xinhua.The so-called third-class wood is actually wood that is not suitable for shipbuilding.At present, the mainland divides the timber harvested in the New China area into three grades for the time being. Among them, those that can be used to build warships are the first grade, those that can be used to build merchant ships are the second grade, and others that cannot be used to build ships can only be used to make temporary Wooden houses, cheap furniture and other items are naturally the third class.

The construction of Gundam Fort is progressing slowly, and Mo Ming also understands it.It is deep in the front line, more than 200 kilometers away from the Fort in the River, and the materials needed for construction must be pulled from the Fort in the River by transport boat.It is difficult for outsiders to imagine the hardships involved. Although the lower reaches of the Berg River are abundant in water, it is suitable for navigation, but the water in the upper reaches is not so abundant. In many places, the rivers are even silted up, and they need to be dredged by manpower before they can pass.Not only that, due to the countercurrent throughout the journey, each ship needs to be equipped with a large number of sailors to row the boat, and sometimes has to be equipped with fiber trackers on the shore, so as to transport all kinds of materials that are urgently needed here.

Although the river near Gundam Castle is commonly called the Berg River, in the latest map book published by the Ministry of Education, this section of the river is named "Gundam River".The reason why it is called the Gundam River is because the river flowing through the northeast of Gundam Castle is just a tributary of the Berg River, and it is quite inaccurate to call it the Berg River.The water surface of the Gundam River is wide, and it is not a big problem to pass inland flat-bottomed boats under [-] tons. If some river channels are dredged to completely connect it with the downstream river fort, and then transported back and forth by local small steamers, then one-way trips will not be too difficult. to two days.But this can only be thought about. It is absolutely impossible for the mainland to equip the colonies with such an epoch-making transportation weapon as small steamers.

The Gaoda River meanders out of the continuous green and black mountains in the east, nourishing the lives of countless plants, animals and even humans on both sides of the river.There are a large number of rhinos, hippos, antelopes, hyenas and even crocodiles here. There are abundant water and grass here, and groups of bison and wild elephants roam here. It is a seemingly inexhaustible treasure house of animals.From the perspective of Mo Ming who has been in power in South Africa for many years, this place is backed by green mountains and rivers, and faces the Great Lakes in the south. The agricultural potential is quite large.Moreover, the geographical location is extremely important to communicate with the traffic on both sides of the Dongshan Mountains. If the population is sufficient and cleaned up properly, this place should become a thoroughfare hub no less than the Fort in the River.

"This is a good place. Next, I will take care of the Fort in the River and even the mainland, fully support the construction of Fort Gundam, and try to set up a local army in Fort Gundam. If not, at least we must solve the establishment of a security regiment." Mo Ming looked around a few times and found that there was nothing more to look at, so she turned her head and said to Zhu Liang who was following behind her.After he finished speaking, he smiled self-consciously and said: "I forgot that you are not from South Africa. In a year or so, you will pack up and go back to your homeland. Forget it, I will personally supervise the construction here." .”

"Hehe, I have made great contributions to the party and the country, and I have shed blood for South Africa. You can't do this." Zhu Liang also laughed, and said: "After the construction of Gundam Fort, this action of going east to capture Xhosa slaves will be impossible. Then there is the Expedition of Teachers. We can start from here and enter the east of the mountain through the valley of the Gaoda River, and then it is no longer difficult to go south, north or continue east. We can calmly sweep this area and conquer the people who do not obey the king. Tribes, absorb and annex the tribes that came to join us, and strengthen our strength step by step. I believe that the news of breaking the main force of the Kama tribe will soon spread throughout this area, and Gundam Castle may be very busy in the next period of time. Some small tribes struggling to survive among several major tribes should be more than happy to join us. Especially with the example of the Eight Banners tribes, those poor natives who can't get enough to eat can't help but be tempted. "

Mo Ming smiled and said nothing.It became clear that the battle on the night of the 25th probably hurt the Kama tribe. The loss of [-] young and middle-aged men was definitely a heavy blow to an indigenous tribe with a population of only tens of thousands.Even if most of the casualties were servants or slave soldiers, it would be equivalent to the loss of [-] strong laborers, and the production and life of the tribe would be greatly affected in the future.Not to mention that after this battle, most of the tribes in the valley on the east side of the mountain that had been plundered by them will no longer obey their orders, unless they make great efforts to reorganize the order there, but obviously the people on the east bank Will not give them this time.

"Report, the troops have already changed their defenses. Your Excellency, Commander, please give an order." A combat staff officer stepped up the wooden stairs and reported loudly.

Mo Ming looked at his watch, it was already twelve o'clock at noon, and then asked, "Have the soldiers finished their meal?"

"I've finished eating, and I'm already forming a team, waiting to go." The combat staff replied affirmatively.

"Well, let's go!" General Mo Ming buttoned up his coat, tightened the command saber around his waist, and then strode towards the bottom of the watchtower.

On the small school field in the city, the army's 1st and 2nd companies, which took a half-hour rest after lunch, have completed their formation.The defeated army of the Kama tribe had already passed through the valley of the Gundam River and entered the east of the mountain this morning. They drove a large herd of cattle and sheep, and there were still about 6000 to [-] people, and their morale seemed extremely low.Mo Ming, who got the investigation information, didn't have any idea of ​​returning the tiger to the mountain. He remembered very clearly the classic scene of how Dorgon chased Li Chuang and beat Li Chuang's ass. Nor would they be given time to integrate the Xhosa tribes in the valleys to the east.These tribes are already the food of the people on the east coast, how can Mo Ming let the Kama tribe take food again.

Therefore, as soon as he arrived at Fort Gundam, Mo Ming immediately ordered the Army's 2nd Company and the South African Cavalry Company to prepare for battle, replacing the Army's 103rd and 104th Companies, which were somewhat damaged in the previous battle, and the elite Army's 1st Company. act together.As for the cumbersome artillery unit, he decisively abandoned it in Fort Gundam. The pursuit of the defeated Kama tribe this time required speed, and the artillery was too slow.

After everything was ready, Mo Ming, who worked tirelessly, entrusted the defense of Gundam Fort to Xiao Baitu, the company commander of the 104th company. 1 Eight Banners warriors, supplemented by some officers and soldiers of the engineering battalion, each carrying three days of food and water, led by the South African cavalry company, marched towards the east along the valley of the Gundam River.

That afternoon they attached a force of barbarians to stop them.This army has about 500 people. It used dense spears and bows to stop the most aggressive South African cavalry company. It failed to hold back the musket salvo of the people on the east bank.After defeating this group of enemies, the South African cavalry company continued to pursue along the flat river valley while it was still dark, and in the evening, they intercepted another barbarian force of about 200 people.

This group of savages was driving about seven or eight hundred cattle and sheep, and they seemed extremely panicked. They seemed to be a logistics force.After seeing being surrounded by people from the east coast, except for a small number of people who resisted fearlessly, most people still surrendered silently.And the cattle and sheep they drove naturally became the spoils of war for the people on the east bank.

(End of this chapter)