Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1308 Dowry ([-])

The French in Fort Doufan have indeed had a hard time recently.

The first was the invasion from the indigenous Bala people in the west. The Bala, Antondrois, and Mahafari all participated in the attack. Tribe of Mananzano.The tribal chief was in his prime, and within two years he unified many surrounding tribes and controlled a rather vast piece of land, making the tribe's total population reach 3 to [-]—this is not a small number. On the Khafali Plateau, this means a crushing advantage over other surrounding tribes.

In fact, it was similar. In the past two years, Chief Mananzano followed the advice given to him by Peng Yuanzhi, and started the process of conquering the surrounding tribes by using weapons that were half-sold and half-given by the people on the east coast.After accumulating a little bit of strength, Chief Mananzano, who never forgot to restore the old place of Ambuwenbe, began to actively use troops against the French. Matchlock guns, sawing with the French colonists in the area of ​​​​New Caen (ie Ambuwenbe).

Although the French are strong, their population is limited, and they have experienced two consecutive major epidemics. There are only a few hundred men who can be pulled out to fight. Therefore, they are always timid when fighting, for fear that their precious troops will be consumed. .However, their performance undoubtedly boosted the arrogance of the natives of New China Island. They were trained by officers on the east coast with high morale and became more courageous in the Vietnam War. In the first half of 1661, they recaptured New Caen and killed More than 200 French colonists were wounded and a major victory was achieved.

After seeing the brilliant results achieved by Chief Mananzano, the Antemoro, Antasaka, and Antanoji, who had a deep hatred with the French, joined forces to fight on the east bank of Daze Township. Under the secret training and funding of the colonists, they launched a counterattack from the mountains to the French colonists in Fort Doufan and Saint-Louis.The scale of this kind of counterattack is not large, but the victory is long-lasting and frequent. The French were a little unable to support this continuous bloodletting attack. More than [-] people were killed and injured, and many outlying strongholds were abandoned. A core town, the situation was once precarious.

In fact, when the conflict happened to this point, even if the Antemoro and other aboriginal tribes did not drive out the French colonists through war as they did in history, their enemies, under the attack from the west and north, had already There were signs of excessive blood loss.I believe that in another year or two, it will be inevitable for the French to be kicked out of Xinhua Island with people from the east coast who are full of bad things behind the scenes. In fact, they themselves feel this way, unless they are just married His Majesty Louis XIV is willing to help their little overseas colony.

It is said that the Parisian court now has an initiative to integrate many colonial enterprises including the Oriental Company, and then follow the example of the United Provinces and England to establish a French East India Company.Once this company is established, there is no doubt that it will fully dominate all French trade, colonization, and foreign affairs in the Indian Ocean and China's coastal waters. At that time, the status of the strongholds such as Fort Doufan, Saint-Louis Town, and New Caen on New China Island will also be re-examined. consider.

But what worries the military and political officials of the French colonies in New China is that Paris will probably not give them more support.They prefer to establish a colony off the coast of South Africa for the future use of French ships. This may be influenced by the United Provinces, England, and people on the east coast. Everyone was at a loss as to what to do in the future, and at the same time, the morale, which was already extremely low, dropped to another level, and the enthusiasm that surrounded their property and homes disappeared without a trace when facing the successive attacks of the natives.

And what gave the French a heavy blow to Fort Dofan was at the end of September 1661. Two merchant ships loaded with weapons, ammunition and supplies were encountered by the East Coast Navy in the southwest waters of Fort Dofan. The leader of the team, Lieutenant Colonel Guo Zili, directly ordered to open fire. , Then quietly pulled the captured French merchant ship back to Xinhua Port for a makeover, and prepared to sell it to domestic merchants at a low price for transportation.What?What about the weapons and sailors on board, you ask?Needless to say, the weapons I don’t like, it’s better to sell them slowly and cheaply to the natives, so that they can fight the French more vigorously; as for the sailors, they are naturally thrown into the sea. Have you ever seen pirates? Do you want to stay alive?

The failure of the supply ship was fatal to the French, because they could not produce their own weapons and ammunition, and even repairs would face the problem of insufficient parts. One can imagine how difficult it will be, but it may not be apparent for the time being.

However, no matter what the French do, the will of the people on the east coast to monopolize the entire New China Island cannot be violated. In early October 1661, a 10-ton flute-shaped transport ship sailed along the Mozambique warm current to the sea off Daze Township. While delivering a batch of supplies, it also released nearly a thousand immigrants from the Ming Dynasty—— They were all collected by the army from the east bank in various counties of Guangzhou Prefecture at the end of last year. They have lived in hot and humid areas for a long time, and they are obviously more adapted to the climate here. Get ready to take over the Doufan Castle area.Once the French were beaten away by the natives, the people on the east coast did not intend to give up the cool and livable land. It must be directly controlled by themselves, but how to negotiate with the natives is also a very realistic problem. Maybe there will be armed conflicts, but that's for another story, so let's not mention it for now.

……

While the situation in the southeast of Xinhua Island was steadily advancing under the manipulation of the people on the east coast, in the northwest of the island, the war of conquest, which had been stagnant for a period of time due to various reasons, started again.Xiao Baitu, who was recently promoted to major—to tell the truth, if he hadn’t made mistakes in the past, he would have done it as a lieutenant colonel according to his achievements—began to gather troops and plan to launch a campaign against Boyla Kingdom, which occupies the northwest of the island. While weakening their strength, the new military strikes are also preparing to occupy more land, providing new land for investors who are constantly pouring in from the mainland.

On November 1661, 11, taking advantage of the last southeast wind, a large number of ships escorted the East Coast Army, mainly the New China Infantry Battalion, to land along the coast of the later city of Maintilanu.Major Xiao Baitu, who had just been promoted, said to the staff officer Peng Yuanzhi who was escorting a batch of supplies and soldiers from the Eight Banners of the island: "Actually, it's time to take care of that guy Qi Maladong. The Arabs in Renjia have mastered a lot of wealth, and they are very happy to be the emperor of the land. If the war with Portugal had not broken out this time, our army would have been able to pacify his bird kingdom in the second half of 15. The land is completely in our hands."

"Mr. Xiao, what you said is absolutely correct. Now that our army has conquered Mozambique Island, it is not suitable to go to the interior of Mozambique for the time being. Then it is time to draw out troops to solve the problem of Xinhua Island. The native Boyla Kingdom, Manabo This is the case in the kingdom, and so is the French in the southeast. They must be resolved first, so as not to be inserted by foreign forces and complicate the situation." Peng Yuanzhi, the lieutenant of the army who followed Ma Wanpeng's will, said: "Captain Ma a few days ago A county-wide grassroots cadre meeting was convened in Xinhua Port the other day. I also attended the meeting. Captain Ma said that since we severely damaged the Portuguese squadron in the Western Indian Ocean and sunk and destroyed a total of 27 ships, South Africa and Xinhua Island have The British, the Dutch, the French, and even the Spaniards, all saw the benefits of having a solid Indian Ocean base, as well as the Portuguese after losing Indian Ocean bases, such as Mozambique Island. This will more or less alert them to adjust their policies and intervene more in the affairs of South Africa, Mozambique and Xinhuaxia Island. Therefore, Captain Ma is very worried. Eliminate the influence of the French on the island as soon as possible, and at the same time speed up the steps to destroy the two kingdoms of the Sakarava people. For this reason, he will apply to the mainland for more supplies, and at the same time, the newly established Xinhua County Security Team will next month The training can be completed, and will be dispatched to cooperate with your department in combat, and strive to solve the problem as soon as possible."

"Captain Ma should have done this a long time ago." Xiao Baitu chuckled when he heard the words, and said, "At the beginning I said that I wanted to chase after Boyla Kingdom's ass, but Captain Ma said that he wanted to build a plantation, and he refused to use it. I am in a hurry to assign a batch of Polish prisoners of war to me, hehe. But fortunately, it is not too late, and there is still a chance to make up for it. Let me pacify this city first. There are many Sakarava troops here, just right Let the sons practice their hands first, and wait until the Xinhua County security team arrives next month, and then board the boat to Marenga to have fun. But in this way, the strategy of driving tigers and wolfs can no longer be played, which is a pity. In fact, the Sakarawa people are really good scavengers, with them, we will have much less resistance when cleaning up places in the future.”

The so-called strategy of "driving tigers and devouring wolves" that Xiao Baitu mentioned just now is actually the old policy of the people on the east bank, and it has been set since the beginning of the attack on the Sakarawa Kingdom in the Daqing Basin.Otherwise, do you think the two sons of the old king can each lead a large number of subjects and troops to flee north and establish a country?How could it be so simple!In the final analysis, this is the result of the connivance of the people on the east bank, expecting them to go north to conflict with the local natives or outsiders (such as the Arabs in Mahajanga), so as to reduce the resistance for the people on the east bank to occupy these places in the future, otherwise they will rely on Their level is a ghost if they can escape north smoothly.

In fact, the Sakarawa people are more "obedient".Qi Maradona and Qi Malong Garriford established the Boyla Kingdom, and the other inherited the Manab Kingdom. At the same time, they fought fiercely with the natives in the northern part of Xinhuaxia Island. Among them, the Boyla Kingdom conquered Ma Renjia, made it the new capital, and at the same time stabilized the boundaries of the new country; while the Manabo Kingdom moved eastward along the forest and rivers, across the entire northern part of Xinhuaxia Island and the forest people Bezanozano, The Tanara people (currently these two parts have been conquered by the army of the Manabo Kingdom, and the forces have basically been incorporated) fought continuously, and later tried to open the road to the sea to the east, so they have the same relationship with occupying the eastern coastal area as in history. There was a fierce battle between the Bezimi Saraka people, and the two sides suffered mutual injuries. The war is not over yet, but the Sakarava people have a clear upper hand.

The situation of the natives killing each other is naturally what the people on the east coast are happy to see, and it is also what they look forward to.I believe that if we wait a few more years, when the Sakarawas and the Bezimisarakas bleed almost to each other, it would be the most suitable and costly for the people on the east bank to intervene in the war and wipe them out in one fell swoop. the smallest.However, as Peng Yuanzhi said just now, the so-called plan cannot keep up with the changes. Now that the people on the east coast have made a big splash in the Mozambique naval battle and beat the Portuguese on the ground, then the role of Xinhua Island will definitely attract more attention from Europe. people's attention, which in turn caused some subtle changes in things that were not under the control of the people on the east coast.

And because of this, Ma Wanpeng sent someone to order Xiao Baitu to "close the net in advance", that is, to occupy the northwest and southeast of the island as soon as possible, and before the enemy makes any moves—it is only possible—to further expand The sphere of influence of the East Coasters on the island made it impossible for European colonists to find them.

On November 1661, 11, more than 16 troops from the east coast (including the servants of the Eight Banners of the island) landed in the coastal waters. Since the natives had no navy at all, and the nearby Portuguese maritime forces had been wiped out, the people on the east coast recklessly Landing anywhere along the coast, officers use it more as a training and exercise.

The intensity of the ensuing battle was mediocre, as a junior officer later interviewed by a reporter from the Xinhua branch of Pravda said: "After the troops landed in the Shaba area off the coast, we went straight to the city, and fierce fighting broke out that day. We urged Soldiers of the Eight Banners of the island organized death squads to launch a desperate assault on the fortifications held by the enemy, and our soldiers followed up. The Sakarawa people had many arquebus guns and even four bronze cannons. We attacked desperately, and my right The wrist was pierced by a feathered arrow, and the blood stained the saber, but I still waved the saber and directed the soldiers to step up the attack. The soldiers of the Eight Banners of the island fell one by one, with more than [-] casualties before and after, and dozens of us also appeared casualties. The battle lasted from early morning to evening, and the enemy’s corpses piled up into hills. Tell me, is this a fierce battle..."

A Japanese immigrant officer led dozens of ronin in a hand-to-hand attack, and was the first to occupy the enemy's vault. He said frankly that the battle was fierce: "It's incredible! The enemy and us fought hand-to-hand in front of the vault. Their The will to resist is very firm, alas, the warriors I brought from Southern Kyushu killed or injured more than ten people, Sakarava people, so dirty..."

After conquering the city of Maintilanu, the people on the east bank took a rough inventory of the seized materials. They counted more than 4000 cattle and sheep, three baskets of gold sand, [-] pieces of wood, bananas, cassava, peanuts, sesame and other agricultural products. is very poor.However, in the eyes of people on the east coast, isn't the greatest wealth in the city of Maintilanu the captured more than [-] Sakarawa slaves?Whether it is the cotton plantation in the south, the sugarcane plantation in the north, or the construction site of the Daqing Railway in the middle, a large amount of labor is needed. These people just used it to fill the pit, which greatly alleviated the shortage of labor.

People from the east coast didn't plan to stay here for long. On November 11, after a short rest for half a day, Major Xiaobaitu ordered to leave a small number of the island's Eight Banners native soldiers to defend here, while the large force boarded the fleet again, taking advantage of the last southerly wind before it disappeared, sailing all the way north Arrived at Lobster Harbour, Isle of Be.According to the pre-arranged plan, they will stand by at this port and wait for the 18 officers and soldiers of the Xinhua County Security Regiment to come and meet after they are ready. The northwestern part of Xinhuaxia Island was formally brought under the control of the East Coast Republic of China—by the way, the newly captured city of Maintilanu now also has a name, and Major Xiao Baitu named it "Zhongwu Township" (taken from the soldiers They are loyal and brave), and formally reported to Ma Wanpeng, asking him to approve the establishment of this new settlement.

(End of this chapter)