open sea

Chapter 1207 Hot Land
Throughout Chile, there are [-] saltpeter mines and [-] copper mines under the bid of the former warlord of the Eastern Army. There are nearly [-] miners and nearly [-] people who make a living around mining.

The miners work hard, mining 350 catties of saltpeter a month, but all power, including manpower, is so unreliable in the desert. There are no good roads and fixed water sources to boil the saltpeter on a large scale, even if it is boiled and transported out of the desert The nitrate in China is still limited, and only [-] to [-] jin of finished nitrate can be transported to the port of Copiapo in the south every month.

From the perspective of the Oriental Army, Chile's annual transport of nitrate has jumped from 20 jin to 60 jin. This is undoubtedly a huge technological advancement.

But in fact, how much nitrate Chile can produce is only related to metaphysics, or luck.

The saltpeter industry in Daming is mature, and the technology of leaching, filtering, evaporation and recrystallization is also impeccable. The saltpeter mine in Chile is not special to Daming people.

There are water sources, but the distance is far away and the transportation cost is extremely high. In other words, the real limitation of production is the transportation capacity.

Shao Tingda, the former military governor, issued rewards to various tribes when he left the desert, hoping that the aborigines could lead the Banner Army to find a suitable water source. Only by finding a water source can the Banner Army and miners survive, and the scale will be expanded and there will be more Nitrogen.

There are not only saltpeter mines in the desert, but also silver mines and copper mines, but these mines can only be ignored at present, and this feeling is very uncomfortable.

It's like why no one hunts and eats during the famine?Because the physical strength and calories consumed by hunting have far exceeded the energy replenished by successful hunting, people who are about to starve to death will not hunt even if the prey is running around in front of them.

Lying quietly, dying slowly.

But Shao Tingda is working hard. They are busy repairing the road into the desert. When the road is flat, they can transport the wooden rails from the port to the mountain pass into the desert, repair the wooden rails for carriages, and transport more people and tools into the desert.

There are pros and cons, at least in the desert, no matter whether it is a wooden track or a railway track, there is no need to worry about man-made theft, and it can also be less worrying when building roads; but the bad thing is that the flag army in the desert will repair wooden tracks even if they want No, because they may not even find a tree after walking for several days.

Even near the oasis, dry thorn grass grows everywhere, and it is difficult to find decent wood.

However, in the process of searching for water sources, the Banner Army discovered several open-pit copper mines one after another, and one of them seemed to be of a large scale. It was not far to the north of the No. 17 nitrate mine factory, which was almost next to the Peruvian border.

But at this time, Shao Tingda was not in the NO.17 nitrate mine, not even in the nearest Copiapo. He went to a place farther south than San Diego in the past and now Lier City, at the bottom of the valley on the south bank of the Biobio River. Tribe of the Mapuche people.

There is a Ming army camp called Lautaro Camp. The guerrilla general Lin Xiao is the commander of the camp, and he has trained hundreds of Mapuche warriors to become excellent fighters.

When Shao Tingda's strong black war horse stood in front of the gate of the Lautaro camp, he was satisfied with the soldiers in the camp who were devoting themselves to training.

Unlike the thin and strong indigenous people who live in deserts, mountains, lakes and volcanoes in northern Chile, the Mapuche people born in the valley look stronger and taller, which makes them look taller after wearing cotton military uniforms. The dark skin caused by the wind and the sun has been removed, and there is no difference from the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

Soldiers wore brown military uniforms specially woven by Changsheng. The cotton short robes and mid-pants had canvas patches on the shoulders, knees, and elbows, which were easy to wear and tear. , with hair scarves wrapped around their heads, each standing like a pine.

But Shao Tingda could tell at a glance who was the Ming army and who was the Mapuche.

They wear a feather or two in their turbans, and some wear a western-style sleeveless alpaca leather waistcoat over their short robes. Skin with sticky feathers.

"General, the guerrillas of the Lautaro Battalion are ready to go to the battlefield. Without support, they are proficient in using knives, spears, sticks, bows and crossbows, or skirmishing. When supported, they are good at using bird guns, laying mines, and handling artillery. And quickly make wooden cannons and put them on the battlefield."

Lin Xiao had long received the news of Shao Tingda's arrival at Lautaro Camp from Kuaimatong, which made him feel a sudden twitch for no reason, and his first reaction was that something had happened.

The battle in Colombia was not bad. Lautaro drove the guerrilla army to ambush all the necessary roads for a year, assassinated and attacked, which severely weakened the strength of the Western Army in northern Colombia. Attack the stronghold.

The long-term raid and siege have brought the war to the last step, the removal.

At this time, even if Lautaro and the Western Army fight in a majestic formation, let alone who has higher combat skills, but only in terms of armaments, Lautaro may be better than the Western Army.

Compared with the huge number of local people it mobilized, the military armaments given to Lautaro by the Oriental Army were not much, but they captured a lot of weapons and armor. The equipment of a soldier of the Western Kingdom Army was enough for Lautaro to arm five or six soldiers.

The above is everything Lin Xiao knows about the situation in Colombia.

In Chile, it is also entering a critical moment. Nineteen saltpeter mines have opened kilns, three silver mines, six copper mines, and traces of super large copper mines and small iron ore deposits have recently been discovered in the north.

The Spaniards were keen on gold and silver mining, while the Ming Dynasty at this stage was just the opposite.

At the official level, they are about to lose interest in silver. With high-quality goods, the military government can earn more than half of the output of the Potosi Silver Mine from Spain every year. A small amount of inflation was brought about in the country. From the emperor, Chen Mu, Yin Zhengmao, and Chen Lin from top to bottom, the imperial court and military government paid more attention to coal, iron, copper, and nitrate.

They are the future.

Makino is the future, and so is Chile.

It was approaching the time when Chang Sheng handed over the nitrate to Chang Sheng in the early days of the year. Shao Tingda, who was supposed to receive nitrate from various places in Lier City, transport it to the military government, and report on his duties, appeared in the Lautaro camp in the south at this moment.

Lin Xiao naturally had an ominous premonition in his heart. He was worried that it was his uncle Lin Manjue who was a guerrilla, but this was not Shao Tingda's intention to come.

"General Lin, Shao came to convey the bad news to the Lautaro camp. 20 days ago, General Lautaro led his army to attack Cali, the big city in western Colombia. They fought against the Western army on the banks of the Cali River. Unfortunately, they became the target of artillery and were killed by a He was hit by the Fran machine gun that fired scattered shots, and his injuries continued to deteriorate and he was unable to command the army."

"Because the general's son is still serving His Majesty at the Imperial College of the Imperial Academy, General Lautaro requests the military government, hoping that you can take over his unfinished business in the name of Lautaro - expelling Xiyi from the hot land of South Asia."

Lin Xiao was confused.

(End of this chapter)