Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1719 Belonging of Cape Town ([-])

April 1676, 4, Port Orient.As many ships docked at the port one after another, more than 3 officers and soldiers of the First Mixed Battalion and the Third Mixed Battalion, who have been on the expedition for nearly three years, stepped on the pier with rifles on their backs, with heavy steps on their faces.

On the pier at this moment, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the breeze is blowing.However, apart from a few small staff officers from the Ministry of the Army, there were no big figures to receive them. This disappointed Yang Liang and Lan Fei who had just disembarked. They looked at each other, and then smiled wryly at the same time. This is really the treatment of a stepmother.

A total of more than 2000 soldiers lined up on the wharf cargo yard as quickly as possible amidst the officer's command.Yang Liang and Lan Fei stared at the faces, filled with emotion in their hearts: Compared with when they set off, the faces here have almost changed by nearly half, too many people have died in foreign lands, and now only They were able to bring their ashes back with the ship and hand them over to their families for comfort.

Among the more than 1300 officers and soldiers who died in foreign lands, only 400 died in frontal battles from French guns (including those who died from injuries).Most of the remaining 900 people died of various diseases. After all, the living environment and living conditions of soldiers are always the worst. They are too susceptible to various epidemic diseases because they roll in the yellow mud pond all day long.And the people on the east coast were also unlucky. The outbreaks of typhoid, cholera and other diseases in the Dutch army almost caught up, which led to a large number of disease attrition, which in turn affected the combat effectiveness.Of course, many people died of various accidents, such as what happened in front of the gate of Gwangenport Prison, those who were attacked by assassins while helping congressmen to look after their homes, and those who were attacked by local Dutch soldiers and civilians (because For a while, the Dutch cut off the supplies, and the people on the east bank had to figure out their own way, which led to a bad relationship between the local Dutch and the troops on the east bank), in short, all kinds of people, and the number added up to close to 200 people.

The two mixed battalions are short of so many people, so it is naturally impossible to wait for the mainland to send reinforcements all the way (of course, they have not received a single replacement in three years), so with the tacit consent of the local, they are all resolved on the spot. Troop vacancies: Of course, the main supplementary targets are the Swiss, Southern Netherland and German mercenaries who fought with them, especially the bitter Swiss. Almost one-third of the 1000 people were recruited by the East Coast mercenaries. Recruited and became a member of the first mixed battalion and the third mixed battalion.Among them, there are even some who are doing well and have become platoon leaders, which is also miraculous.

According to the original agreement between the East Coast people and them, these people will go through the formalities immediately after arriving in the mainland and become citizens of the East Coast Republic of China.As for whether to continue to serve as a soldier and eat food or to be disarmed and return to the fields in the future, it is all up to you.Regarding the above, the local government also agreed, and the bureaucrats of the Ministry of War will take them to handle it.

At the same time as they arrived at the pier, there was also a special figure, that is, Major Zhou Yafu, the commander of the Marine Battalion.Since this person "defected" from the army and joined the navy system, his reputation in the military circle suddenly became a bit bad.Especially in the army circles, because this person established the marine battalion, when the navy goes out to "grass the valley", sometimes the army will not be brought along, but the marine battalion (with a staff of about 1000 people) is responsible for landing operations , This has greatly reduced the army's income, and naturally there have been more complaints.

However, Zhou Yafu's relationship with Yang Liang and Lan Fei is still good. After all, he grew up in the same yard, so he is different from others.And at levels like Yang Liang and Lan Fei, you don't have to worry too much about being treated differently if you get close to the navy. After all, it's too late for many people to flatter them on weekdays, so how can they chew their tongues.

"Old Zhou, come back from Huaiyuan Island to report on your work?" Seeing Zhou Yafu standing on the side from a distance, Lan Fei smiled and said hello: "I haven't seen you for several years, the last time I went to Free State to help Suppressing the bandits, you are still fighting the natives in the central mountains of Huaiyuan Island. Because of time constraints and no boats, I didn’t go to you. How is it? The sun is really not so poisonous."

"I came back to report on my work." Zhou Yafu stepped forward and shook hands with Lan Fei and Yang Liang, and said, "Huaiyuan Island is basically cleaned up now, and all the aborigines in the mountains have been wiped out. For this matter, we also paid a huge price Ah, you know, in the tropical forests, there are too many snakes, insects, mosquitoes and flies, and the number of soldiers attrition due to illness is really not easy. Ah, by the way, the money I got back has been controlled by the Dutch for several years The island of Tobago has just been occupied by the French. They seem to have sent a small fleet from the mainland with hundreds of army soldiers. After landing, they took control of the island without much fighting. Now there is gold Lily Citigroup."

"Poor Dutchman." Lan Fei and Yang Liang subconsciously said in unison.

They just left Spain more than half a year ago, and they are also very familiar with some situations in the European battlefield.Generally speaking, the French now have the complete upper hand. Prince Condé on the northern front has just defeated the combined forces of Prince Orange and Montecuccoli. Although he suffered a lot of casualties, he completely organized these At the same time, they also controlled the Spanish Southern Netherland and won a strategic victory; the Viscount Turenne on the Eastern Front even operated against the sky, breaking the three-way German The armies were defeated one by one, and the famous Frederick the Great in history was beaten to the brim and almost wiped out; the French army on the southern front also held firm in the Pyrenees, and the Spanish offensive failed. Sicily has not yet landed a French army, and the Spanish army guarding the island has been defeated and is on the verge of surrender.

It seems that Spain is more miserable, and the Germans have suffered more casualties, but their losses are nothing compared to the United Provinces, which has almost turned into a muddy land.The main economic crop production areas such as the tobacco production area in Groningen Province, the indigo production area in Zeeland Province, and the hemp production area in Gelderland Province were all destroyed. Flooded, houses collapsed, and collapsed are even more common. In short, the Dutch are now in a state of desperation.Otherwise, do you think Prince William III of Orange, an extreme antifa, would not raise troops to fight Prince Condé again?The domestic situation is really bad, so I have to take it easy!Otherwise, the political advantage gained with great difficulty will be reduced a lot due to accusations from the public opinion.

The Netherlands has suffered such a big loss, and now its overseas colonies are also suffering bad luck. This is undoubtedly very uncomfortable for its economy.You must know that since the Spaniards repaid the loan of more than 300 million yuan in principal and interest borrowed in the East Coast market as scheduled, the Caribbean Shipping Company of the East Coasters could no longer monopolize the foreign trade of the Spanish colonies. Therefore, the Dutch, British, The French, Portuguese, and even Italians rushed up at every turn. Although Air Canada still occupies the largest market share and controls multiple trading ports, it is inevitable that part of the market will be taken away by others.

Among these foreign competitors, the Dutch West India Company, which has been rejuvenated by trade with the East, is probably the most powerful one.And Tobago Island is the distribution center for their smuggling trade with the mainland. There is a huge amount of goods and money flowing here every year. Even Air Canada drools on weekdays. This time it suddenly fell into the hands of the French. The West India Company should lose Not small, and for their domestic suppliers in the United Provinces, they will undoubtedly lose a profitable market, unless the Dutch immediately order battleships and soldiers to retake Tobago Island.

Several people chatted casually on the pier for a while, and then Zhou Yafu suggested to find a high-end restaurant in the city to get together. ...) and felt very uncomfortable, and immediately agreed when he heard the words, while Lan Fei could only regret to say goodbye because he was going to report to the Joint Staff Headquarters.

At twelve o'clock at noon, Lan Fei, who arrived at the Joint Staff Headquarters on a horse-drawn railcar from the Oriental Streetcar Company, met Major Jiang Yaohui, commander of the Navy's Third Fleet, who had just concluded negotiations with Dutch Ambassador Van Beverninghe.Jiang Yaohui's background is not high, but he is well-rounded and has a wide range of friends. Even some people in the army can often talk and laugh.No, after seeing Lan Fei, a young and promising army major entering the yard, he immediately greeted him with an exaggerated smile.

Lan Fei's face was a little twitching, but he still shook hands with him and exchanged a few casual greetings.However, after learning that he had just participated in the negotiations with the Dutch on the status of Dutch South Africa, he asked a few questions with great interest, considering that this is not a confidential matter, and he is also qualified with the rank of Lan Fei After consulting these materials, I briefly talked to him.

"The Dutch ambassador, Van Beveninghe, saw that he could not take back the Dutch South Africa, so he asked for control of Cape Town Port, which was also rejected by us. The attitude of Commissioner Zheng is very clear, the entire Dutch South African colony will be controlled In the hands of our government, we do not accept any discussion of its sovereignty, not even one of the port cities. Van Beveninghe was so angry that he almost left the meeting, but was persuaded When he came back, he said that he would go back and think about it. Hehe, he probably didn’t complete the hard task set by the Prince of Orange, so he had to communicate with Amsterdam. But in order to appease them, we also said that we would rent two depots The merchant ship of the Principality of Ireland transported some weapons and ammunition to Amsterdam for delivery. After all, the Dutch paid the deposit for a long time, and the weapons we used before were embezzled and sold to the Turks. Hehe, now send them two ships. There are four more The ship’s military resources will be released later depending on the situation. They also deceived us in the woolen trade agreement. This matter is not resolved. According to Commissioner Zheng’s words, the relationship between the two countries cannot turn a new page. Chapter." Jiang Yaohui explained.

Lan Fei nodded slightly when he heard the words.Speaking of the fact that the woolen trade agreement was torn up, they are actually very clear. After all, they are fighting in the Netherlands. They have communicated with Li Qing, the special envoy to Europe, and know a lot of things. The direct trigger of this was the order of the Prince of Orange to terminate the package trade agreement signed with the people on the east coast, including the contract value of more than 700 million yuan.After that, the East Coasters, who had been coveting Dutch South Africa for a long time, immediately took out the battle plan that had been drawn up for a long time from the drawer, captured the entire Dutch South Africa in one fell swoop, and drove the last foreign colonial power out of this country. The country of the rainbow has since then monopolized this land with an extremely critical geographical location.

From this point of view, there is indeed no possibility for the people on the east bank to return to the Dutch South Africa, even if the Prince of Orange signs a trade agreement with the east bank again, it is impossible!The Dutch probably also expected this kind of situation, so they decided to occupy a Cape Town port and plan to have a foothold, but they didn't expect that the East Coast Republic didn't even plan to agree to this condition. Van Beverninghe can't get off the stage anymore, it's really deceiving people too much!

Of course, the people on the east coast should have thought about being so tough on the United Provinces.They are certain that the Dutch are unwilling to turn their faces for South Africa and the East Coast, because then they will face great risks in trade, and the government's fiscal revenue will also drop sharply, so they should not turn their faces unless it is a last resort.Moreover, the people on the east coast are also using this method to test where the bottom line of the Dutch is. They want to see if they have the courage to sacrifice the East India trade and turn their faces on the east coast. I believe this is also a very interesting thing.

Lan Fei reckoned that Van Beverninghe in the back should come back to negotiate with the east bank.After seeing and wrangling back and forth, the two sides should finally make a concession. It is estimated that the east bank will allow Dutch merchant ships to freely enter and leave Cape Town Port without paying any management fees, customs duties and other fees. The tax-free quota or even complete tax exemption, to put it bluntly, is to set Cape Town as a *** only for the Dutch.

In this way, it not only achieves the purpose of allowing Dutch merchant ships and warships to have a place to stay, but also gives them some economic benefits, which will play a more or less positive role in easing the relationship between the two countries.As for the arms and other urgent supplies that are in arrears to the Netherlands, they should also step up production and sell them to them, but it should be a hammer sale.

In fact, this is also good. People on the east bank lost a large amount of orders and fell into financial difficulties, but they obtained land that can be passed on to future generations, which is not a blessing.After all, the Dutch have obtained a country where they can supply, trade, and maintain ships, and the East India trade can continue, or even better.I just don't know if the Prince of Orange, who is far away in Amsterdam, can accept this idea. This man is a young and energetic master!

(End of this chapter)