Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 39 The Aftermath Meeting

56 Spanish prisoners caused a sensation in Dingyuan Fort.Xiao Bailang and Lin Youde stared at these dejected Spaniards dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

On the wall of Dingyuan Fort, Lan Guo, the deputy head of the second whistle, who was on duty at the third whistle in rotation, led a group of people whistling and booing. Wait for the banter to sound.

Chang Kaisheng spat, ignored these heartless hooligans Qiu Ba, and walked straight into the castle.

"What's going on? Did you rob the Spaniards?" As soon as he entered the city gate, Xiao Bailang rushed over with agility, grabbed Chang Kaisheng's hand and asked.Lin Youde next to him also looked puzzled and nervous.

"Bah! It was the Spaniard who was robbing the Portuguese. I ran into him and served justice." Chang Kaisheng joked nonchalantly, while glancing at the two from the corner of his eye.

In the past two days, Chang Kaisheng also figured it out. After everything is done, he can still make use of himself. He can't tie someone from Chang and send him to Buenos Aires to ask the Spanish gentlemen to calm down. .Besides, this time, I was really unlucky enough to bump into the Spaniards who were cracking down on smuggling, and I didn't even have time to dodge if I wanted to.In addition, he didn't shoot first, so there is nothing wrong with saying that he broke the sky.

However, having said that, Chang Kaisheng was still a little apprehensive.He peeked at the facial expressions of the two of Xiao Bailang, and found nothing special, so he was relieved.

The news spread to Tatan Port on the night Chang Kaisheng came back.

The conference room on the third floor of the administration building was gloomy.What kind of impact and variables this unexpected armed conflict will bring to your career is what will be discussed at the emergency meeting of the Executive Committee today.

"Yesterday, I inquired. According to some Portuguese smugglers who came to trade, the Spaniards in Buenos Aires have recently begun to attack the smuggling trade in the area near the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. Many unlucky Portuguese smugglers Even native white people in La Plata were arrested. Of course, this arrest process will not be peaceful. Just like what we encountered, the Spaniards used force to arrest them. Many of the smugglers caught were sentenced Hanging, and the rest are punishments such as exile and hard labor." Gao Mo reported some of the situation he knew.

"The Portuguese have been engaged in smuggling in the La Plata area for a year or two. I estimate that they have no less than [-] secret trading stations in the East Coast area alone. I have never seen those Spaniards fight so hard before. What happened last time? I took the wrong medicine, so I worked so hard?!" Tang Yuan, the financial committee member, said angrily. The Ministry of Commerce and Trade under his jurisdiction can profit thousands of yuan from the smuggling trade every month, and there may be more in the future. It would be a pity to give up such a source of income for nothing.

"It is said that it is because of the chief inspector from the mainland." Gao Mo explained, "This chief inspector seems to be quite responsible. He can't tolerate these smugglers breaking the laws made by the kingdom. Uh, maybe he can't tolerate others breaking the law." His purse. This Inspector General was supposed to have been in Lima some time ago, where he may have exercised his powers of governor, and instructed La Plata to fight the smuggling trade."

"The question is how determined are they to combat the smuggling trade? It is obvious that they are no longer limited to sea patrols, but have begun to use the army to go ashore to clear up secret trading stations. This is a dangerous signal, and they are sure Knowing our existence, what is their attitude towards us? Do they also want to use force to eliminate them?" Xiao Bailang asked.This time, the matter was of great importance, so he temporarily put aside his work at Dingyuan Fort and rushed back to the meeting.

"It's hard to say." Gao Mo thought for a long time, and only gave an ambiguous answer. "The roots of those Portuguese smugglers are in Brazil. Although Portugal is now under the joint rule of Spain, judging from the Portuguese's consistent indifference towards the Spaniards, it is difficult to directly cut off their roots from the upper echelon; but directly using force It’s inappropriate, after all, it’s also our own territory in name. We’re different, we’re outsiders, we’re weak, and it’s hard to say whether they will have any bad thoughts about us.”

"Is the military strength in the La Plata area strong?" Peng Zhicheng is a soldier, and he only cares about the strength of the opponent he has to face.Before Chang Kaisheng arrived at Dingyuan Fort at noon today, his subordinate Jiang Zhiqing rode back to Tatan Port to meet Peng Zhicheng privately.Chang Kaisheng's honest deputy explained the matter to Peng Zhi in detail, but said that Peng Zhicheng was the first among the executive committee members to know the details of the matter.He thought about it, and there was nothing wrong with Chang Kaisheng in this matter, so he asked Jiang Zhiqing to go back and tell Chang Kaisheng to wait at ease.

"It shouldn't be very strong." Gao Mo said, "Based on the information we have received and some historical records, the regular army strength near Buenos Aires should not exceed 600; there will be more in Asuncion, There might be 1000, and with some intervening towns, the total Spanish force at La Plata would probably be less than 2000."

"2000 people..." Peng Zhicheng pondered, "that is to say, if they want to send out the army to deal with us, we only need to face 3-4 companies at most, that is, 900-1200 people, and maybe some volunteer teams and the like. The militiamen will not exceed 1500 at full strength."

"1500 is already a lot." Wang Qinian rolled his eyes at Peng Zhicheng and said, "Can your army handle 1500? I heard that the Spanish colonial army had a high proportion of musketeers, and many troops were equipped with flintlocks." Where's the gun?"

"You don't need to worry about the army. You should still worry about the Spanish fleet. Not to mention the Peruvian fleet that may be reinforced, even the few ships they have in the La Plata area are not something you can deal with? Don't go there. At that time, people advanced by land and water, and our army won the battle but was suffocated to death at home because your navy didn't have a sampan, that would be called injustice." Peng Zhicheng retorted.He is really tired of Wang Qinian now, since the two had a bad relationship in the last disarmament incident, they have been unable to see each other recently.

"Speaking of the blockade, I think we should increase the import of some strategic materials recently?" material committee member Shao Shude reminded, "such as medicine, flax, cotton cloth, gunpowder, copper, pig iron, lead, coal and even livestock, etc. We must be prepared for a long-term blockade, in which there is not much shortage of gunpowder, copper, iron and lead, relatively short of coal, and very short of medicine, linen, cotton cloth and livestock."

"It's true to increase imports, but it will take at least half a year for the goods to be delivered. Is it too late?" Xiao Mingli asked.

"Don't overestimate the efficiency of the Spaniards." Gao Mo said: "If the Spaniards really have our idea, they have to investigate intelligence, prepare supplies, and assemble troops. The more people there are, the longer the delay will be. Coupled with the inconvenience of transportation , The huge amount of time it takes to transmit messages and orders, this battle will really not be fought in a year or so."

Ma Ganzu had been watching the discussion before and didn't interrupt.At this time, seeing that the discussion was almost over, he felt that the time was right, so he came out and said: "Comrades, whether the Spaniards will come to attack us or not, we must be prepared with both hands. In terms of military affairs, we have always insisted on Militia training cannot be stopped, and must be strictly trained. Once a war breaks out and the army expands, these militias must be able to quickly replenish and form combat effectiveness. As for the navy, this year's navigation school enrollment will start two months in advance, and the number of places will be expanded appropriately. Only 90 people will be recruited. Both study and training are correct, and these people will be the seeds of the navy in the future.”

Ma Ganzu talked for a while, drank a few sips of water, took the opportunity to observe the expressions of the other people, and then continued: "In terms of civil affairs, I have summarized the following points. First, from now on we must speed up the stockpiling of supplies, especially It is an urgently needed material that we cannot produce in the short term. Starting today, we will place an order with every ship that comes to trade. The price is negotiable. Whoever ships more and faster will have a higher price. 6200. The speed of immigration should be accelerated. Now including slaves, our total population is less than 400. Although a city with a population of several thousand is not small in South America, the Kingdom of Spain we are facing has a population of 15 million. There are tens of thousands of people in the Plata colony, and we are still far behind. Third, the stalls in the Dingyuanbao colonization area are not small now, and there are [-] of them in the production team alone. When the war comes, these will be scattered around The villages outside may be used by the enemy, that’s not okay! Old Xiao, tell me, if there is a war, can the personnel from the villages and factories retreat to the fort and be accommodated?”

"Definitely not!" Xiao Bailang replied: "There are 15 villages outside, 2 brick kiln factories, 1 cement factory, and 1 livestock farm. There are more than 2000 people alone, and there are hundreds of livestock. Dingyuanbaocheng It is only 600 meters away, and there is still a factory and a school in it. There must be no place to resettle. Even if it is barely resettled, the infrastructure cannot keep up. The existing housing, sanitation, drinking water and other facilities are all based on The standard of 300 residents was established, which is too far away.”

"Then expand!" Ma Ganzu turned his head and said to Shao Shude: "Is the task of the construction team heavy in the near future?"

Shao Shude flipped through his notebook, and then said: "At present, the construction team has more than 600 people, and the projects under construction include the residential housing project of the 14th and 15th production teams of the Hope Brigade in the Dingyuanbao Reclamation Area, the No. 1 highway (Datan Port-Dingyuan Fort ) project, the capital city wall expansion project, and the port No. [-] fort construction project, the manpower is still relatively tight."

"There are priorities." Ma Ganzu waved his hand and said, "A quarter of the 14th and 15th production teams are left for the housing project, so it doesn't matter if the project is completed later; there is no rush on Highway 1, and construction will be suspended first; The manpower saved by the two projects will be transferred to Dingyuan Fort to build the city. If there is not enough manpower, we will find a way. The European prisoners of war in the mining area, as well as the Charuya captured this year, can be transferred to build the city. Every time I come, I will send a batch to you to ensure that you have enough manpower. You can’t give me a sloppy eye. This time the enemy is not as weak as the St. Christopher’s company last time. If the city cannot be built in time , when something happens, I only ask you!"

"There is one last point, I almost forgot." Ma Ganzu added, "At present, most of our grain is stored in the reserve grain depots built by each production team. At that time, it was built for the convenience of the nearby, so I didn't think too much about it. It is very dangerous to think about it now. When the capital and Dingyuan Fort are expanded, several large grain storage depots will be built. In the future, except for a small part of the grain harvested in the farmland, the rest will be sent to the nearest city."

Ma Ganzu's various suggestions are relatively pertinent, so everyone has no opinion, and the next step is to implement these resolutions.The current system of crossing the public is relatively efficient. Once the decision-makers make a decision, the whole machine will run at a very high speed.

①The chief inspector is sent by the royal family from time to time. After arriving in the colony, he can immediately exercise the power of the governor and interrogate officials at will.

(End of this chapter)