Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 1012 Zhongfei Passage
Less than a month after the establishment of the East African Kingdom, another large fleet came to the Cape Verde Islands.

There are not many warships in this fleet, only armed merchant ships and Spike warships, and there are more armed merchant ships, more than 2000 ships, but only a thousand Spike warships.

Taichang was taken aback when he saw the scale. He knew that this was the tree-cutting machine from America.

The problem is that there are only two hundred machines for cutting trees, and one hundred armed merchant ships can fit them. What are the remaining two thousand armed merchant ships loaded with?
He also knows that several bridges may be built this time, but the Congo River is not as wide as the Amazon River, and they are not building bridges in the lower reaches of the Congo River, but in the middle reaches of the Congo River.

He sent people to investigate. The middle reaches of the Congo River are not wide, and the widest channel is only about two miles.

Moreover, there are mounds or sandbars in the middle of the river in many places, and in some places there are several mounds and sandbars in a row.

That is to say, when they build the bridge, they just find a place with many mounds and sandbars, dig the footings on it, and pour the concrete columns.

In addition, the bridge built this time is a bridge for passing men and horses and wooden chariots, not a railway bridge. It does not require too many materials at all, and the materials for dozens of boats at most are enough.

How did these guys bring so many materials here?

Seeing the excited faces of Du Linzheng, Aluka and Asipa through the telescope, Taichang couldn't help crying and laughing.

He was stunned for a while, but he got off the boat to meet him himself.

The monarch and his ministers were quite excited when they met each other. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Taichang couldn't help asking: "Bo Gong, what are you pulling here? How did you mobilize so many armed merchant ships?"

Du Linzheng quickly explained: "Your Majesty, what I have pulled is only cement and steel bars, and there are also 25 soldiers and some horses."

My God, more than 2000 ships of cement and steel, and so many people!
Taichang couldn't help being surprised and said: "This ship can hold a million catties, why are you bringing so much cement and steel bars here?

Also, there are millions of people in the Kingdom of West Africa and the Kingdom of East Africa. Why did you bring so many troops from the Amazon Tribal Alliance over here? The barracks in Xinma City have been emptied by more than half of you, right? "

He didn't know what Aluka and Asipa were doing here.

Now he understood that he brought half of the Amazon Tribal Alliance to help.

He didn't order Asuzu to send someone over to help, what are these guys doing, are you afraid that there is no one here?
It seems that the emperor doesn't know yet.

Du Linzheng quickly explained in detail: "Your Majesty, it is very troublesome to build roads in this tropical rainforest.

If you build dirt roads or gravel roads, you can only pass people and horses, and you can't pass chariots and grain carts at all.

Because there is too much rain in the rainforest, once the rainy season comes, the dirt roads and gravel roads will turn into mud, and it’s okay for people and horses to step on them.

If a chariot pulling artillery and ammunition or a grain cart full of grain ran over it, many places would turn into a muddy quagmire, and the horses would not be able to pull out of the wheels.

Moreover, it is not enough to pave the road with cement mortar.

Because the cement mortar is not exposed to the sun, once it is exposed to the hot sun for a period of time, it will crack, and the chariots and grain trucks will run over it, and the road surface will be destroyed in a short time.

Therefore, if the road in the tropical rainforest is to be repaired, it must be paved with thick reinforced concrete.

As for why Weichen brought so many soldiers from the Amazon Tribal Alliance over, it was mainly because they had experience in building this kind of road.

Moreover, they are all used to staying in the tropical rainforest, and they basically don't get sick in that environment, and they know how to deal with danger.

If the inexperienced soldiers of the Black God Army were allowed to go in and build the road, I am afraid that the minister would fall ill and even suffer casualties. "

Well, it's still considered thoughtful by professionals.

Taichang nodded slightly and said: "Well, I really didn't think so much, Bo Gong, it's lucky to have you here this time, otherwise I'm afraid there will be a big problem."

Du Linzheng hurriedly said modestly: "Your Majesty, this humble minister has done a lot, practice makes perfect."

With professionals in charge, it seems that there is no problem in building roads and bridges. However, Taichang is still going to go and have a look.

Not to mention anything else, he must take at least fifty Flying Dragon battleships and fifty Aegis ships to seal the mouth of the Congo River and prevent other ships from entering.

Otherwise, if people who are against the Habsburg Alliance run in and find someone building roads inside, they will definitely try to destroy it.

These people didn't come to fight, but came to work. They probably didn't bring many guns, let alone artillery.

At that time, if they really encounter the regular army of the anti-Habsburg alliance, they will definitely suffer a big loss.

Taichang asked Aluka and Asipa to replenish enough fresh water and food for the fleet, and after resting for most of the day, he took them off early the next morning.

This time he even took the flagship with him. Anyway, the main body and armor of the dragon battleship are basically made of aluminum alloy, which is very light.

The Congo River is only more than [-] miles away from the Cape Verde Islands. After sailing for eight days, the fleet entered the mouth of the Congo River.

At this moment, almost all the warships of the French were wiped out, and half of the warships of the Dutch were also wiped out. I don’t know if the other half made a detour back to Cape Town. There are not many ships in the anti-Habsburg alliance. The ship dared to venture into the waters south of the Kingdom of West Africa.

However, Taichang still ordered fifty flying dragon warships to patrol near the mouth of the river, keeping an eye out for passing ships, while fifty aegis ships followed them into the river mouth.

Although the channel of the Congo River is not very wide, there is a natural harbor with a radius of about fifty miles near the mouth of the river. If a port city can be built here, it will be quite a good springboard for the navy to enter Angola.

Taichang ordered the fleet to stop directly in the harbor, turned the binoculars and scanned the surroundings, and then asked: "Bo Gong, why don't we build a dozen or so large docks here first, so that it will be convenient for Aegis The warship and the dragon battleship docked.

After we have transported the supplies to the middle reaches of the Congo River, let the armed merchant ships go back and bring over [-] Black God Army soldiers to expand the port and build the city here. What do you think? "

This is simple.

Du Linzheng nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem, anyway, we have a lot of materials, and this time I also brought hundreds of Spike warships to build the temporary dock.

We only need to leave one hundred Spike warships and one hundred armed merchant ships, and it shouldn't take long to build ten large docks. "

Taichang nodded slightly, and then ordered someone to deliver the decree.

After a while, a hundred Spike warships and a hundred armed merchant ships left the fleet and scattered to both sides.

They are looking for a suitable place to build a port terminal.

The soldiers of the Amazon Tribal Alliance may not be very good at fighting, but they have a lot of experience in building ports and wharves, so they don't need to worry about this at all.

With a wave of Taichang's hand, the fleet continued to sail upstream.

The Congo River is really different from the Amazon River. After entering from the mouth of the river, less than a hundred miles away, the river began to narrow sharply, and soon became about four or five miles wide, and in some places it was even only three miles wide.

However, the current in the upper reaches of the Congo River is much more turbulent than that in the upper reaches of the Amazon River. The ripples of the flowing water can be seen with the naked eye, and the speed of the fleet is obviously much slower due to the thrust of the water.

The fleet marched for a long time, and they only traveled about five hundred miles. At this time, the sun was almost setting, and Taichang couldn't help but slightly frowned.

This fast-flowing river might not be able to stop even if it breaks down. What should we do at night?

It was such a coincidence that he was frowning secretly when the river in front of him suddenly widened, and the width could not be seen through the telescope!
What is going on here?
It didn't take long for the fleet to enter this surprisingly wide river, and they soon discovered that this was actually a very large lake, and there was a large island in the middle of the lake.

The water flow here has become calmer, and it is not a problem for the fleet to anchor here to rest.

Seeing this, Taichang couldn't help but secretly sighed.

He should have sent Jin Yiwei to investigate. The scouts of the West African Kingdom are not very good at drawing maps, and they can't describe the situation of the river.

Fortunately, the Congo River is not as complicated as the Amazon River, otherwise they would have lost their way.

There was nothing to say all night, and the fleet continued to set off the next day.

After they bypassed this large lake with a width of more than [-] miles, the river became like a braid. The reason for this description is that there are too many mounds and sandbars in the middle of the river, and the whole river looks really Same as braids.

This kind of river course is quite suitable for bridge construction, and Du Linzheng couldn't help showing a little joy when he saw this.

He originally thought that the bridge here would be difficult to repair. After all, there is no way to repair the bridge in the upper and middle reaches of the Amazon River. Seeing this kind of river, he finally felt relieved.

They just walked forward in the braided river for about three days. On the morning of the fourth day, Taichang finally gave an order: "Okay, it's almost here, Bo Gong, send someone to look for it in the nearby river." , Find a place suitable for bridge repair.

Then build piers on both sides, put down the logging machines and the soldiers of the Amazon Tribal Alliance, and prepare to open the way. "

There is no way, there are no satellites at the moment, and it is impossible for him to determine where the chariot soldiers led by Lin Chaojie will gather in the north.

All he knew was that his house was about three thousand miles away from the west coastline.

And they have been sailing in the river for almost four days. If the slope and the distance of the winding river are subtracted, they should be about three thousand miles away from the coastline at this moment.

Anyway, there is a prairie to the north, so it's okay for them to drive a few hundred miles off the road. Since they feel that it's almost done, they're ready to start work. There's nothing to hesitate about.

Du Linzheng quickly found a row of mounds and sandbars in a series of river channels. The overall width of the river channel is only two or three miles, and the widest part of the water flow is only a hundred feet. Building a bridge with such a small span is very important for the current situation. For Daming, it should not be too simple.

Immediately afterwards, he ordered the Spike warship to detect the water depth nearby, and found a place suitable for building a pier on the north and south sides of the river.

This pier needs to accommodate large machinery, and ordinary wooden structures will definitely not work. Fortunately, he has thought of this a long time ago, and he even ordered a lot of huge iron frames to be prepared.

A dozen or so armed merchant ships hoisted the iron frames into the water where the wharves were built on both sides, and the soldiers of the Amazon Tribal Alliance went there in a Spike to connect the iron frames with screws and steel plates. The pier is taking shape at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing this, Taichang couldn't help admiring: "Bo Gong, this trick is second, the pier should be built like this."

Uh, this.

Du Linzheng said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the investment in building the wharf is too high. I have drawn the blueprints for several days, and ordered hundreds of people to process them for ten days. They were assembled and tested in the Amazon River." After a lot of work and several days of improvement, the iron frames of the two piers were completed.

It’s nothing more than time-consuming and labor-intensive. The key is the cost of steel. A wharf channel steel, angle steel, thick steel plate, etc. add up to consume more than [-] catties of steel! "

How much is more than [-] catties of steel?

Although steel is relatively expensive at the moment, it costs about ten taels for a thousand catties, 100 taels for 1000 catties, and only [-] taels for [-] catties.

Taichang made some calculations, and then smiled slightly: "This money is nothing. After the China-Africa passage is repaired, you go back and prepare hundreds of sets. We may need them when we attack Europe."

Well, this little money is really nothing to the emperor.

Du Linzheng hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)