Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 953

With a crisp sound of "bang", a huge monster with a wingspan of 2.5 meters fell from the sky.Mo Ming handed over the well-crafted musket decorated with gemstones, ivory and other accessories to his followers, and then went to check his prey with great interest.

This is a huge Andean vulture with a wingspan of 2.5 meters and a length of 1.2 meters from beak to tail. It usually feeds on guanacos that died naturally, and sometimes eats the leftover carcasses of cattle and sheep left by pumas.The one Mo Ming shot and killed was when he and some young officers of the road guard team were traveling—by the way, killing a puma that often attacked the residents’ cattle and sheep—then they encountered this puma that was eating the dead black The vulture of the cow was shot dead by Mo Ming.

It is worth mentioning that Mo Ming shot the vulture at a relatively long distance, not because of his marksmanship or good luck, but because he used a local tyrant-level toy—a well-made toy. Rifled guns, even their dedicated metal bullets are purely hand-polished, and their high precision fully reflects the exquisite craftsmanship of the craftsmen.

This kind of gun has been handed down among European nobles for more than 100 years. Louis XIV's father used this rifled gun when he used to hunt. Rich craftsmen use machines to draw, and the cost-mainly the cost of bullets-is extremely high, so it is only popular among nobles (you can show your "smart marksmanship" when hunting).

As for the cheap, second-class rifled guns, such as rifles using Minie bullets, they were banned because of the strong opposition of the Army.At present, only a dozen or so sticks have been secretly manufactured by the Northern Arsenal, plus some ammunition, which will be personally escorted and transported to Sakhalin Island by military police officers, and handed over to carefully selected "hunters" for secret use to evaluate performance.Every gun and every bullet is numbered, and the gendarmerie supervises the whole process to strictly prevent any bullet from spreading to the outside world, because once this technology that is extremely easy to imitate is leaked (in fact, Europeans can buy it as long as they pick up a bullet) Guess it is almost inseparable from [-]) Going out will be a disaster for the East Coast Army, which currently uses artillery as its main combat method.

Because at that time, rifles will surpass artillery in terms of accuracy and range, and soldiers will no longer have to form a dense formation to suffer from the ravages of artillery. Revolutionary changes have taken place in combat methods. For the East Coast Army, which is dominated by range and light artillery, it is undoubtedly difficult to accept.Therefore, after three years of arguing with the Academy of Natural Sciences and two military enterprises, they finally agreed to manufacture some in small batches and send them to the Far East battlefield to evaluate their performance.

"Xiao Xu, the prey is also for you, ha ha." Mo Ming lost interest after only one glance at the vulture, and then said to Xu Xiangdong who was following closely behind her.

Xu Xiangdong was wearing a dark blue army uniform, with a saber hanging from his waist and a short-barreled carbine in his hand. Hearing this, he thanked him again and again, and happily went to carry his prey.Several soldiers of the road protection team also followed behind, ready to fight. The father of this 21-year-old young man is Major Xu Yu, one of the founders of the cavalry. He has graduated from the cavalry department of Dingyuan Military Academy. He has trained militiamen in Sandcastle for three years, and was just appointed by Mo Ming as a squadron leader of the South Railway Company's road protection team last month. It can be said that he has a bright future, and he can be regarded as a rising star in the second generation.

And his father Xu Yu is also a good dancer with long sleeves. The eldest son Xu Xiangdong was sent to serve in a paramilitary organization such as the road guard team of the Southern Railway Company, and the youngest son was sent to study in Bingtuanbao; One was going to marry a young officer he liked in the cavalry system, and the other was married to the son of Julien, the deputy director of the academic affairs office of the nautical school and the first naval talent who had defected to the people on the east coast. Lived, and further extended the relationship to the navy.

It is said that everyone has traveled through a full 22 years and three months, and most of the children have grown up, so the marriage problems of the children have gradually emerged in front of everyone.In this matter, the actions of officers across the army and navy systems tend to be surprisingly consistent. They marry a large number of talents from this time and space. It is not uncommon for sons to marry the daughters of old subordinates, and daughters to marry new young officers. It seems to reflect a certain value orientation of them; compared with the civil servants who travel through time, they are much more conservative, and they mostly intermarry among themselves. a stark contrast.

"President, it's getting late. If you don't leave before sunset, you won't have time to reach Midway Fort." Liu Jianguo glanced at Xu Xiangdong enviously, and then said to Mo Ming in a questioning tone.Liu Jianguo is currently a technician in the engineering department of the Southern Railway Company. As the eldest son of the South African pioneer Liu Ang, he just got married a while ago. His wife is the daughter of the South African cavalry company commander Leonid—a beautiful woman of Ukrainian descent. .

"Then let's go." Mo Ming nodded, then gave a few instructions to the secretary, and took the lead to set off.There are still more than ten kilometers from here to Fort Midway, and we can arrive almost before sunset.The Fort Midway mentioned by Liu Jianguo is a newly established settlement with a population of only 800 people. It developed from a storage place for railway equipment and building materials. It is located near the small village of El Zurdo, west of Bella Vista in later generations. , just in the middle of Sand Castle and Qingniwa Fort, hence the name Midway Fort.

Mo Ming and others arrived here at five or six o'clock in the afternoon. At that time, the workers on the railway construction site outside the city had not yet returned. Inside the wall made of logs and rammed earth, one or two hundred Qing army prisoners who stayed behind were Cook and clean up.At this moment, seeing Mo Ming, the president of the Southern Railway Company, and others arriving, a former Qing army leader scrambled out of the gate, and then looked at everyone with flattering eyes.

Mo Ming ignored him, and after handing the whip to the secretary behind him, he said casually: "Your engineering department has to hurry up, there are still more than [-] kilometers of railway between Midway Castle and Zixin Castle intermittently. The repair has greatly affected the transportation efficiency of the Southern Cone Railway. It seems that after I go back, I will hold a meeting with relevant people. Last time, Minister Qian of your engineering department told me that it will not be completed before the end of this year, and it will be delayed until next year. Last year. Hehe, it’s been four years and five months since the Southern Cone Railway was built, and it’s outrageous that I’ll have to wait another year.”

Liu Jianguo smiled embarrassingly when he heard the words, not knowing what to say.Minister Qian is his immediate boss, and he usually takes good care of him, but unexpectedly, the company president is dissatisfied with him because of the slow progress of road construction. It seems that if there is a chance, he should have a good chat with the minister, and let him think again The solution is to complete the whole line of this railway within this year, otherwise President Mo will get angry and be afraid that the black yarn will be lost. Who can we turn to for reasoning?

Midway Fort is located at the confluence of the Xingnan River and its tributaries. It is a rare oasis in southern Patagonia with lush water and grass and lush trees.The South Railway Company set up a settlement here, of course, for the purpose of making it convenient for trains to stop, add water, coal, and maintain it, but they are also attracted by the relatively good agricultural conditions here. Therefore, under the combined effect of two factors, This finally led to the establishment of this settlement.

The railway station outside the city has been built, but the expected railway bridge across the tributaries of the Xingnan River has just begun, and it is urgently waiting for the engineering team sent by the local Ministry of Transport to assist in the construction - currently only they have mastered the construction of the railway bridge Technology.Next to the train station is a huge storage area, which stores a large amount of rails, building materials, coal and other things; and to the west of the warehouse, next to the river, there is an artificial reservoir under construction. It is the future life of the settlement and the source of agricultural irrigation water. The workers who repair the reservoir here are still fighting, and it seems that they will not return to eat and rest until after dark.

There is also a small telegraph office in the railway station.The cable telegraph has been experimented on the land attached to the Southern Railway for a long time. It can be said that it has achieved complete success. The next step is to officially put it into commercial operation.According to the report from the staff of the newly established Communications Department of the Southern Railway Company to Mo Ming, the erection of the wired telegraph will be completed in the first half of this year (1653), and all the equipment will be in place and debugged within two months. The training is also in full swing. It is expected that before the end of August in the second half of the year, the wired telegraph system along the Southern Cone Railway will be officially put into commercial operation.And once the cable telegraph is successfully put into commercial operation in the Southern Cone region, it will be followed by a full-scale operation in the local area. This is extremely critical to improving the communication efficiency of the entire country on the east coast, and the social rhythm will also be greatly accelerated. The significance cannot be underestimated.

"The Xingnan Highway is open, the cable and telegraph will be completed soon, and the railway will sooner or later..." Mo Ming looked at the last sunset glow on the distant horizon, and murmured: "The development of the South Railway, from now on, will surely go by a thousand miles a day. Two modern wharves at Xingnan Port and Araucan Port, the second phase project of the Beech Fort logging base, the establishment of a wool textile factory, the establishment of the Shanhoubao Seal Oil Refinery, the preparation of the Pacific Shipyard, the expansion of the Montenegro coal mine, and the salmon The advancement of the archipelago fishery and breeding plan, the exploration of the coal mine on Lesko Island and the establishment of the island pasture, as well as the construction of a mechanical flour mill in Xingnan Port, and the order for eight 8-horsepower industrial windmills have also been placed... Hey, with the Pacific route More and more people are sent here. Give me another five years, and the appearance of the South Railway subsidiary will become unrecognizable to you. Such a large land, such a large population, such a large industry, such a rich Resources, the foundation of 50-6 counties has been laid! Hehe, if it is replaced by someone else, he can reach my level?"

(End of this chapter)