Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1364 Preparation in Advance (11) (Today's No.[-] Update)

"Then, let's stop the military operations on the coast of Brazil." On the day that the East Coast Gas Company began to install gas lighting systems for major domestic enterprises, in the telegraph room of Zhenhai County, Mo Ming, the chief of staff of the National Armed Forces, was smoking a cigarette. Yan, said to Major General Li Yi, the Minister of the Navy who came to ask for instructions: "Anyway, that side is about to be robbed, and there is nothing to rob. If you mobilize [-] sea and army soldiers to go there, it is really a loss. It is better to send the militia The troops are disbanded and let them go back to work. Now that the situation in Britain and the Netherlands is so tense, the outbreak of war is a high probability event, and one more person can produce more materials and then export more to make money."

"That's the reason. Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceara, Marañon and other places have been plowed several times, and there is really no oil and water. The recent tasks of the navy are relatively heavy, and the Caribbean side has already mentioned Several times, after Han Dezhi came back, he had to appoint a competent general to sit in charge. At the same time, he had to send more ships to help Caribbean Shipping Company stabilize its position. After all, their current strength was still too weak. "Minister Li Yi said that this is a great opportunity for the navy to show its face and fight for benefits, and he has no reason not to pay attention to it.

It is said that Air Canada has also been developing in the Caribbean Sea for several years. Although the profits of monopolized trade are extremely rich, who will make people bear a heavy burden?Especially in the initial stage of scrambling for layout, in addition to a fixed amount of the five major customs—Cartagena, Havana, St. It is equal to the nature of tax packages), they have to order ships, expand plantations, maintain part of the military expenditure of the Army in the Caribbean Sea, transport Black Eight Banners personnel to the Free State, manage Spanish nobles and businessmen everywhere, eliminate pirates, combat smuggling, etc. For a big stall, the expenses are naturally extremely huge.

Even, in last year (1663) Ding Yiyu, the president of Air Canada, clearly mentioned that the annual net profit was only 23 yuan, which was a little lower than that of the Bank of Taiwan in the Far East. People were surprised.Among the three major colonial trading companies of the East Coast Republic of China—Southern Cone Railway Company, Caribbean Shipping Company, and Bank of Taiwan—probably this one has the worst profitability. Years.

In order to get out of this predicament, the Caribbean Shipping Company had to seek help from the Ministry of the Navy of its natal family, hoping that they could instigate some domestic policy or economic assistance to help them reduce their burden.At the same time, the company also proposed some plans to cut expenses. For example, they requested that the fourth mixed battalion headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico be transferred back to the country. Housing, subsidies plus expenses, the profit of 20 yuan will be gone, and it is really unbearable to support them. Supplemented with lower-cost militias or mercenaries, they estimate that expenses can be reduced by more than 10 yuan a year.

In addition, they also strongly demanded that the annual transportation quota for Black Banners officers and soldiers and their families be cut in half, because this seriously affects their trade efficiency (the ships departing from the mainland to the Caribbean cannot carry a large amount of cargo), and it is conservatively estimated that this item can increase income in one year More than 20 yuan; Finally, they also hope that the Ministry of the Navy can communicate with the three major domestic shipyards to see if they can help them design a patrol ship with a faster speed (for this reason, a little firepower can be sacrificed appropriately) to help them Increase the anti-smuggling efforts. They predict that if the anti-smuggling fleet composed of fast patrol ships forms a certain scale, it will not be a big problem for Air Canada to increase its annual revenue by 50 million yuan, because the current smuggling is too serious up.

To be honest, the several major requests of Air Canada made the Ministry of the Navy a little nervous. Just like the Southern Railway is to the Ministry of War, Air Canada is also extremely important to the Navy and cannot be abandoned.Therefore, the entire Ministry of the Navy, from Minister Li Yi down, is almost no one who is not studying how to reduce the burden on Air Canada and increase its strength at the same time.And their reason is actually high-sounding, that is, a fierce war may break out under England and the United Provinces - let's call it the Second Anglo-Dutch War - they are bound to mobilize forces from all over the world to return to the North Sea to fight, In this way, the control of these two naval powers over the Caribbean Sea will inevitably drop by an order of magnitude, so isn't this a good time for people from the east coast to intervene strongly in this fertile sea area?If it is an eyesore for the regular navy to blatantly intervene, then it is absolutely possible to support and arm the Caribbean shipping company. What companies do in the Caribbean is much more flexible than the government's shirtless end.

However, the rhetoric of the navy is at best to fool the ignorant people and lower-level officials. It is completely unqualified for the old and cunning members of the executive committee and the army who have been trying to grab their pigtails to compete for military expenses. up.What the Executive Committee thinks about is how to spend a small amount of money (or even no money) to accomplish big things. What the Army thinks about is how to overwhelm the Navy in the allocation of domestic military budgets. Now your Navy is bluntly saying that it will send warships to the Caribbean Sea to strengthen its military presence. What are you talking about?

Therefore, Mo Ming immediately said: "It is not impossible to send warships to the Caribbean Sea, but now you are going to blockade the coast of Brazil and escort domestic merchant ships, and you will also send a squadron to the Cape Verde Islands to attack Portugal." People, you have to think about local defense. Under such a situation, you still have to send warships to intervene in the Caribbean Sea. Do you have three heads and six arms? How did the Portuguese collapse? Isn’t it because their forces are too scattered, and our large fleet goes up one by one Destroyed! Lao Li, I’m telling the truth, I really don’t want your navy to stumble. The power is too scattered, not good!”

Li Yi was at a loss for words when he heard what Mo Ming said. He didn't know what to say. After all, what he said was the truth.Well, it had to come down to ending the war with Portugal.Only by ending the war with the Kingdom of Portugal first, can a considerable part of the navy be freed from complicated escort, blockade and combat tasks, and then run for the benefit of the navy.But before that, the east coast and Portugal were still in a state of war, and the east coast navy still couldn't get away and couldn't do anything. This matter is so painful.

Thinking of this, Li Yi couldn't help but find depressedly that the Navy still didn't agree to quickly end the war with the Kingdom of Portugal before, but now it seems that the sooner this matter ends, the better.Now that Britain and the Netherlands are at war, it is an excellent opportunity for the people on the east coast to intervene in the Caribbean Sea. After passing this village, there may not be that shop. After the war, the two countries will turn their attention to the Caribbean Sea again. There are fewer opportunities for wind and rain here.Therefore, after Li Yi decided to end the meeting with Mo Ming, he took the time to go back to the capital and discuss with the members of the executive committee. They have always supported the navy, and the east coast navy's strong advance into the Caribbean Sea is also in the national interest. If they take care of it, then the future of Air Canada should not be bad.

With this in mind, Li Yi does not intend to make a breakthrough in Mo Ming. Anyway, the navy and the army are naturally in a competitive relationship, and they have never been able to get along. It is purely a daydream to expect them to help the navy expand its power and influence, unless there are enough Interest moves them.Now that I think about it, the position of the Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Headquarters has been dominated by the Army, which really makes people angry. It is not easy to do anything. In the next general election, we must move around more and grab this key position to the Navy. .

Therefore, you will hear Mo Ming accuse the navy of being too scattered, and he doesn't make excuses. He just rambles about for a while, and finally mentions that the Fourth Mixed Battalion has been stationed in Puerto Rico for a long time, and many soldiers have been reduced due to acclimatization. , coupled with the growing feeling of homesickness that has not returned for many years, can the department be transferred back to the mainland to rest, and at the same time recruit combat-experienced personnel from the country to form a second-line force and station it in the Caribbean.

Li Yi said so at this time, but he was actually marking some officers and soldiers of the First Division of the New Army who had just been transferred back from the Far East.This time, the troops returning from the Indian Ocean with the navy fleet also just arrived on the east coast a few days ago. If the family members are not counted, there are actually only a thousand soldiers who are serious and capable of fighting. Xinhuaxia Island was almost fooled by people in Yicheng area with great benefits), not a lot.But if we can recruit three to 400 people from these experienced servants, and then get some from Ross laborers and non-national prisoners of war, we can make up 800 people and give them to a National Defense Army or something like that. The cannon fodder troops can be organized, and then transported to the Caribbean islands to be stationed in a unified manner, which is almost enough.In this way, Air Canada can save money, a lot of money!

Mo Ming also knew what Li Yi's intentions were, but he would not embarrass the navy in this matter, it was not worth it, and it was unnecessary, so he didn't say anything, it was a tacit consent, and the navy was left to toss.When Li Yi said this, he felt that there was nothing to say, so the two sides bid farewell in a hurry. Minister Li boarded a fast liaison ship that day and returned to the capital Dongfang Port all the way.

On May 1664, 5, Rear Admiral Li Yi, who made up his mind to seek help from the government, was received in the office of Qiang Quansheng, Chairman of the Executive Committee.As soon as Li Yi came up, he talked about how the Anglo-Dutch war was going on, as if the two countries had officially declared war. He gets to the point, stop rambling.

"Hey, Chairman Qiang, the matter is actually very simple. Now that the Anglo-Dutch war is imminent, the Executive Committee also issued a document requiring export companies to adjust their production plans to prepare for the official outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch war. And we As for the Navy, I have always thought that this is a golden opportunity to enter the Caribbean Sea. After all, the two countries will loosen their control over this vast and rich Caribbean Sea. It is a good opportunity for us to wedge in and seize the territory. After the Netherlands and the Netherlands ceased the war and divided their respective spheres of influence, we will have to pay several times more effort if we want to go in." Li Yi said with a smile on his face as he watched the army win.

"So, how does this benefit our country and people?" Qiang Quansheng asked rhetorically.

"Chairman, there are many benefits. After our navy enters the Caribbean Sea, we can not only escort the ships passing through the place, keeping them away from the threat of pirates, but also seize a small island as a I will join the base camp of this place in the future. After all, the existing San Juan Port is the territory of the Spaniards, and they invited us to come over to fight pirates (in fact, the original intention was to let the East Coast and the United Kingdom die). In the past two years, they have not Already urging us to leave as soon as possible? Well, let's go, let's go there and stay in another place." Li Yi replied solemnly: "And the place we chose is Trinidad, Chairman Qiang Haven’t you always been obsessed with the asphalt resources there? Now the opportunity has come, the Spaniards are going to drive us out of San Juan Port, so we have to find another place for us. This request is not too much. And we chose Trini Da Dao, in the Spanish colonial territory, is actually inconspicuous at all, with a very small population and a very poor economy. More importantly, it is far away from the densely populated and extremely rich Cuba and Mexico. People have no reason to refuse, so I think it is reliable, appropriate and necessary to set our foothold in the Caribbean in Trinidad."

When Li Yi said this, it actually meant that he wanted to be strong and win everything.Because many people on the east bank know that Chairman Qiang has been obsessed with the huge natural asphalt lake on Trinidad since he inspected several sections of the poor road conditions in the east coast, and called it a gift from the gods to the east. Shore's best gift.Moreover, as he gets older and his job is about to leave office, his obsession with this asphalt lake becomes stronger. Therefore, Li Yi will use this reason to impress Qiang Quansheng, and it has indeed played a much better role than usual. Effect.

Of course, this alone is not enough.However, what Li Yi said inside and outside the words clearly pointed out that once the East Coast Navy completely manages Trinidad Island as its own territory (the Spaniard's opinion has been ruthlessly ignored), it will use this as a base to fight against pirates for a long time. In the case of smuggling ships (smuggling ships from the UK and the Netherlands rushed to the streets...), the short-term benefits will be several times that of the current ones.After all, all kinds of goods imported by Air Canada are from the mainland, and this is undoubtedly inseparable from the vast number of white shirts.

Li Yi's above remarks undoubtedly had a great effect on Qiang Quansheng, and after thinking for a while, he nodded unconsciously, and then asked suddenly: "But your navy can still Can you draw enough strength? Shouldn't you end the war with the Kingdom of Portugal first?"

"Of course, the war with the Kingdom of Portugal must be ended first." Major General Li Yi said with a smile, and then he added: "I think, under the current international situation, this should not be very difficult, right? It’s just a shabby household that is on the verge of death, if they are sensible, they will reach an agreement with us earlier, if they don’t, God knows what will happen later, I don’t think they should be so unwise.”

(End of this chapter)