Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1279 Another Battlefield ([-])

The mid-winter of 1661 was exceptionally cold.

"The bitter cold wind, the sun that can be described as 'reddish, weak', and the general hunger caused by the trade blockade have caused the residents of the city of Macau to fall into great weakness, because in this In a seaport city that used to be very warm, many people actually feel the cold..." Mr. Sekela, who returned from another failed mission, was sitting in his room, writing a diary lightly—maybe it will become a suicide note in a month?

"Across the river is the countryside of Xinhui County in the Ming Dynasty. Many women are sitting at the door of the house, waving wooden mallets and pounding the grains for dinner endlessly. I recalled the incident that swept across Macau more than ten years ago. *****, I was chatting with Baron Banega's father in the shade of the wooden house, talking about the rare rainfall, talking about the abnormal climate, talking about the years of food scarcity in Lisbon's history, and the abundance of grain. What a terrible year it was. There was little rain in the whole of Guangdong, and the countryside was extremely hot in spring and summer. Huge clouds gathered on the horizon in the afternoon. The anxious peasant women eagerly looked forward to the long-awaited rain..."

"Finally it rained, and the air was filled with the smell of damp earth. People hurriedly planted their seeds and hoped for more rain. However, they often waited a long time for the second rain, and by then the crops in the fields had already grown. Withered. People who ate up all the surplus food in early summer are doomed to starvation. It threatens people like a shadow, and never stays away from people. It makes people deeply understand the ruthlessness of it—— Today's Macau City It is also being shrouded in the shadow of hunger, just like back then..."

There was a burst of fierce quarreling and cursing outside the window. Mr. Sekela, who was interrupted from thinking, put down his pen, frowned and looked at the street downstairs outside the window. It turned out that a group of residents were complaining about the increase in food prices!These people may not have been poor people before—in fact, among the whites of Macau and their descendants of mixed race, there were certainly some who were poor. Very rich—but today, after two months of siege and blockade, the limited food in Macao is no longer sufficient. Other by-products such as wine, cheese, butter, fruits, vegetables, seafood, cattle and sheep, poultry eggs, etc. The food is even less visible. Mr. Sekella had only a few small pieces of bacon in the broth for lunch today, only the last few pieces of white bread, and only a small glass of rum with the meal. Days are indeed "difficult".

The quarrel over the price of food was quickly dispersed by the guards who arrived, and the hungry residents-many of them even gentlemen from the country-were drained of the last few silver coins in their pockets, and then hugged a small bag Chen Mi returned home in a daze.In fact, some old rice is good to eat, don’t you see that most people can’t even eat this, unless you are a ruling class like Mr. Sequela, there are often some precious flour and wine in their cellars to eat. enjoy.

"The siege must be resolved as soon as possible, but it will be very difficult." Mr. Sekela sighed softly.In fact, yesterday morning, he had once again gone out of the city on behalf of the Governor of Macau to negotiate with the people on the east coast, in order to resolve this matter.At that time, he tried to persuade the people on the east bank to give up the siege of Macau by referring to the phenomenon that the two countries went to war in the past but the colony maintained peace. — refused.This man who betrayed his belief firmly stated that his army will continue to block the city of Macau until the Portuguese surrender. If the Portuguese want to break the blockade, they are welcome to fight.

Of course it is impossible to fight!It is said that since the defeat of the battle on December 12th, under the huge food pressure, the Senate and the Governor organized another army of more than 13 people at the end of the month to fight against the people on the east coast outside the city of Macau, but the battle was not good. Returned to Macau again, with more than 4000 casualties.So far, the possibility of breaking the siege from the military has become smaller and smaller, and with the gradual decline in the morale of the Macau army, this possibility will eventually approach zero.In other words, the residents of Macau at this time, to paraphrase a Ming Dynasty saying, are "beasts trapped in a cage", and they can only wait to die if they cannot explode.

Major Junior’s words have been said to such an extent that Mr. Sequela feels that some of the conditions discussed by the Senate before are really unacceptable. For example, they plan to pay up to 50 pesos for the redemption of the city to the people on the east coast. In exchange for them lifting the siege of Macau-this condition, under the current situation, obviously has no possibility of impressing the people on the east coast. They have firmly trapped Macau from both sea and land, and have used a lot of Ships and troops, how can a mere 50 pesos be dispatched?Gentlemen of the Senate, it is too optimistic!

On February 1661, 2, Mr. Sequeira participated in another senate.This meeting was held at a critical moment when Macau was facing a severe famine and the situation in the city was in turmoil. The gentlemen of the council were already a little pragmatic at this time. Some of them recalled the long-lasting famine more than ten years ago: Before the famine broke out, there were more than 20 people in Macau (about half of them were whites and their descendants). After the outbreak, the population of the city was reduced by half in a short period of time. Of course, not all died of starvation. Many people went to Timor, Bangladesh and Guo A and other places, but there are still not a few people who starve to death (although most of them are Chinese, Malays and blacks, but there are also many whites). This cannot but impress the Portuguese. They were really frightened by the famine .

With this concern, it is much more efficient for gentlemen to discuss issues.Baron Banega, who was veteran of the military, was the first to declare that his troops lacked sufficient and rigorous training, and their combat power was slightly inferior to those of the people on the east coast. These thousands of troops, but the premise is that the council gives him greater authority to recruit more soldiers in the city, but the problem is that he doesn't think it is necessary for them to do so.

Your Excellency the Governor thanked Baron Banega for his efforts to defend Macau. He also believed that he should actively negotiate with the people on the east coast instead of engaging in a war of death and destruction. This is not in his own interest, and I believe it is not very in line with the East the interests of shore people.However, in order to reach an agreement with the people on the east coast, how to set the conditions is indeed very difficult to think about. Mr. Angulo, a big businessman, pointed out that the unconditional surrender demanded by the people on the east coast is absolutely unacceptable, but they accept conditional surrender. safeguard their own interests.

Mr. Sekela sat in the conference room without saying a word. Finally, the Governor asked him, and he reluctantly said: "Your Excellency, I think the only possibility of successful negotiation lies in one point, that is, to preserve one's own property. , safety and liberty, and renounce the final military action with the East Coasters, I think their commanders will accept this condition for the sake of saving troops from heavy casualties. But if we still have delusional surrender of honor (i.e. recognition of the East Coast Occupy Macau, and obey all reasonable instructions from the East Coast during the war, provide taxes, provided that they continue to maintain their previous commercial rights, and at the same time keep their arms), then it will never be possible to reach an agreement, and the East Coast people will I have no doubts about that, even if we try our best to completely surround us to death."

Mr. Sekella's words made the gentlemen feel a little uncomfortable, because many of them really had this idea.In other words, they could temporarily serve the people of the East Coast—the majesty of King Alfonso pales in comparison to money—submit to their temporary rule, and wait for the status of Macau to be determined after the war.But before that, the people on the east coast must protect their various rights, or they will have to continue the war.

However, is it possible to mobilize tens of thousands of horses to the east coast people near Xiangshan County?

In the end the meeting came to nothing, as some gentlemen still harbored illusions about continuing to retain the privileges of Macau, which was undoubtedly the greatest obstacle to ending the war.

On February 2, a large-scale riot broke out in the city of Macau. Thousands of people suffering from hunger rushed to the streets and demanded to surrender to the people on the east coast.His Excellency the governor personally tried to persuade them, but it was ineffective. In the end, the army could only be sent to suppress them. The prison was overcrowded for a while, and the morale of the soldiers who suppressed them became even lower in the process.

On March 3, the Portuguese army fought for the third time out of desperation.In this battle, Baron Banega was killed, and the whole army returned to the starting point after nearly 1 casualties.But their relatively heroic battles also caused heavy casualties among the people on the east coast. The fourth and fifth brigades of the elite stand-up brigades have each lost more than one-third of their personnel in the past few months, and many veterans who have been fighting for many years have also died in battle. Confucianism Major Niort was extremely depressed by this, and had to seriously consider the suggestion of the Portuguese to surrender.

On March 3, after losing their last battle, the hungry Portuguese finally succumbed to reality and headed out of the city with a white flag.After agreeing with Major Junior not to kill at will and to force conversions, the Portuguese army finally marched out, and then handed in their weapons one by one in exchange for some food to live on.

In the morning of the next day, more than 11 members of the No.[-] Division, which had recruited a group of recruits in Xiangshan County, entered the city under the leadership of the division commander Bogdan, announcing the change of ownership of this commercial port-the Portuguese painstakingly The foothold in China, which has been in business for many years, did not fall into the hands of the Dutch, nor was it taken away by the British, but was broken by the people on the east coast.

After entering the city, the East Bank army abided by the previous agreement and did not launch revenge actions such as massacring the city. It was only small-scale robbery and rape, but they could not be avoided.Fortunately, the gendarmerie was quite strong. Captain Tian would step forward and arrest a few people when he saw the riots going too far, and then send them outside the city to work as coolies with the soldiers for a month or two as a punishment.

The Governor's Mansion, warehouses, ship repair yards, large shops, banks (called money changers at the time) and other facilities in the core of Macau were occupied by a team led by Major Junior. They drove all the Portuguese soldiers out of the city and let them They built the prisoner-of-war camps themselves, and then they were guarded by Sun Shouzheng, the Tenth Division of the New Army.

As one of the benefits of the surrender, a food delivery team organized by Hao Yaotong entered the city of Macau, relieving the urgent needs of more than 20 residents. By the way, it also allowed Hao Yaotong and these people to make a small fortune. After all, they did not make any contribution during the war. There is also hard work.Of course, not everyone in Macau can afford to buy food. The three-month siege has drained most of the bottom people's savings, so these people can only hope for food at this time.But this does not mean that they can despair. In fact, Major Junior gave them a chance to go to Haizhu Island to build a trading post for the people on the east coast—well, a trading post equipped with more than [-] cannons —Wharves, roads, and other ancillary buildings, where there is a shortage of labor.Of course, the East Coasters would kindly allow them to eat for a few days before embarking on a ship to do coolies.

By the way, during these three months, the people on the east coast were not only fighting.In fact, the negotiation team headed by Shao Shuguang frequently traveled between Guangzhou and Xiangshan, and as the war progressed, they finally obtained the right to build a trading station on Haizhu Island.This trading station will directly face the city of Guangzhou, import raw silk, tea, brocade, porcelain, sugar and other commodities, and at the same time resell sandalwood, spices, lead, tin, dyes from Nanyang, and ironware produced on the east coast , textiles, black pearls, leather, soap, etc., should be extremely profitable.It is reported that this business will be monopolized by the Bank of Taiwan in the future, provided that the bank accepts a new round of capital injection and equity adjustment from the government.

On March 3, the spoils seized in this battle were almost finally counted: there were still gold and silver coins, silver bars, and silver ingots worth more than 8 Ming treasury flat silver in the treasury of the Governor’s Mansion, all of which were confiscated; churches, shops , Various goods and cash of more than 60 taels were seized in the bank (including two merchant ships captured in the wharf), and these will also be confiscated; more than 70 residents in the city were also confiscated at one time. Nearly 2 taels of silver If you can’t pay the tax, you can ask someone to pay it—such as the rich—if you really can’t pay it and no one pays for him, sorry, you will probably be arrested and sent to a labor camp elsewhere. This is not a good place to go!

People from the east coast also found that the Portuguese ship repair yard in Macau was not small, and the craftsmen were also very skilled, fully capable of repairing and maintaining all kinds of large ships, which is also a valuable asset.At least, the naval ships that have been sailing abroad for several months can find a place to overhaul them.

On March 3, as the first batch of Macao residents were forcibly sent to the construction station on Haizhu Island, the people on the east coast also gradually began to withdraw their troops-mainly to withdraw the two battalions that had suffered serious battle damage to the north, and then returned to the north. Call the first and second teams to change defenses, and wait for the possible actions of the Portuguese after the monsoon changes at the end of April.And until the end of April, they will have a rare and comfortable time to enjoy.

(End of this chapter)