Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1333 Promoting peace by fighting (fourteen)

It was raining all the time, and the atmosphere was very chilling.

"Puff! Puff!" There were repeated sounds. These were two unlucky patrol soldiers. They bumped into the east bank army charging in with bright bayonets, and they were stabbed to the ground before they even had time to make a sound.The silent east bank officers and soldiers continued to advance. They carried bayonet-mounted rifles, wore raincoats, and buried their faces deeply under the brim of the big cap to avoid being blocked by the rain.Since the city of Diu did not expect this deadly attack at all, and with the help of the leading party, their killing efficiency was extremely high, and they penetrated into many streets of Diu city in a short while, at least Hundreds of people died under their bayonets, and their own casualties were: zero.

The dog barked crazily, and many residents were awakened by the screams before death. Some Portuguese patrol soldiers with matchlock guns gathered at the gate of the barracks, looking at the other half of the city with uneasy and suspicious eyes. The sound waves gradually became noisy, could there be another riot in the city of Diu?This is another good opportunity to make a fortune!

"Bang!" The first gunshot of the night finally sounded under the night, but the gunman probably has no chance to fire a second shot, because he will soon be nailed to death with bayonets by the mechanically advancing East Coast soldiers. on the wall.Some Indian residents were walking up and down the street in a panic, trying to stay away from the murderous soldiers from the East Bank, but unfortunately, they were quickly stopped by the officers and soldiers of the [-]th Mixed Battalion who came from another street. , With no way out, they desperately slapped on the door panels of houses on both sides of the street, trying to find a shelter to avoid the killing, but who would risk opening the door at this time?Soon, the continuous sound of bayonets piercing flesh ended their screams, and the street was once again silent.

The wriggling bayonet jungle quickly approached the patrol barracks, and quite a few sleepy-eyed soldiers had already gathered at the door, some of them were fully armed, some were empty-handed, and some were scurrying around until The arrival of several noble officers ended all this, and then everyone was ordered to take muskets, halberds, put on leather armor and helmets, and prepare for battle.

The sudden order made the Portuguese a little uneasy. They have been pampered for too long. They are not showing off their power in the city, eating naka, seducing married women everywhere, or helping big shots in smuggling as essential work. They haven't been in touch for too long.When was the last time a riot in the city was suppressed?It's been too long, so long that the memory is a little fuzzy. Besides, fighting is something that the standing army and mercenaries (Indians) do. What has it to do with their patrols?

But the soldiers on the east coast who will come along the wall will not distinguish whether they are soldiers or policemen. They will only regard all those who try to resist as obstacles.Therefore, after 10 minutes, the two sides naturally fought each other, and the result of the battle is self-evident-except for the initial musket shooting that caused more than ten casualties on the east bank, they almost Without causing any serious trouble, the officers and soldiers of the rapidly advancing Seventh Mixed Battalion defeated their ridiculous resistance with a single bayonet charge, and then drove a hundred rout soldiers forward like sheep until they occupied a Another block.

The battle ended shortly after dawn. Thousands of officers and soldiers of the Seventh Mixed Battalion, with the cooperation of the leading party, carried out a night attack on the city of Diu, which had been peaceful for a long time and whose defenses were lax.The results of the night attack were naturally very gratifying. They only paid 80 or [-] minor casualties, and killed, wounded and captured more than [-] Diu patrol soldiers. In addition, there were many customs officers, noble guards and other resistance. The elements were killed. Generally speaking, this is a brilliant victory. Thanks to Jiang Yaohui's bold decision-making and Yang Liang's calm command, the first and second achievements are none other than these two.

At nine o'clock in the morning, many facilities including the Governor's Mansion (actually officials appointed by the Governor of Goa), customs, barracks, material warehouses, docks, and large markets were controlled one after another, and the number of captured Portuguese and Indian soldiers As many as 1000 people (a large number of ignorant patrol boat sailors and soldiers were captured during the raid on the pier), which stunned Han Dezhi who had just interrupted his recuperation and went down to Diu Island. More than [-] officers and soldiers from the battalion captured here. I am afraid that there is no small difficulty. At worst, they will have to pay a relatively heavy price of casualties-the Portuguese standing army has been transferred to the Cochin Fortress, and the mercenaries have just been disbanded. The sudden night attack, this victory should be enough to be rewarded by the Joint Staff Headquarters, especially when so many were captured.

Well, how much was seized?Let's put it this way, cash alone is no less than 15 cruzados!A thousand horses have to pay an import tax of about 40 cruzados each, and the Mughal Empire merchants who came to buy the horses also paid an export tax of about 20-30 cruzados, which adds up to six or seven In addition to the seizure of the Governor's Mansion, the material warehouse and other places, as well as the import duties on various other goods, the total sum is over 15, which is really a windfall.

As for the ownership of the 100 Arabian horses, although the Indian businessman has already paid the money to the Chinese businessman, the Diu officials have not had time to hand over the horses to the Indians to take away. Under the control of the East Coast people.The people on the east coast wanted to buy this horse, but considering the unfavorable conditions of long-distance transportation, they asked the officers and soldiers of the cavalry company to choose two horses each, and then extorted the Indian businessman for a fee of [-] cruzados. The rest of the horses were returned to them, which made the Indians almost vomit blood. This is equivalent to an increase of more than [-] cruzas in the cost of buying a horse, which is a big loss.

The cash of 15 cruzados was originally used to pay military salaries and official salaries (the annual salary of the governor of Goa is 2.04 cruzados, and about 6000 cruzados should be paid to the governor’s followers This is the case in Goa. Although the officials in Diu are lower, they are not much lower), the purchase of food, quilts and other materials, as well as municipal construction, but this huge sum of money that will be used in the second half of the year will be used. The people on the east coast are ready, and the only thing the Portuguese can count on is that the merchant ships returning from trade in Southeast Asia will bring them back money next year, otherwise Diu will go bankrupt immediately, unless they can find a loan.

Of course, a mere 25 cruzado cannot satisfy the appetite of people on the east coast!No, Han Dezhi, who has taken over all the powers, has already ordered that according to the old rules of the people on the east coast, taxes will be collected in the occupied area, and the target will be all residents of Diu Island. After all, some merchants in the city are quite rich.

In addition, businessmen from various countries who are blocked in the wharf and unable to leave are also taxed, but they are treated differently. Among them, businessmen from the so-called "friendly countries" on the east coast, such as Muscat, Ottomans and Persia, only pay a total of The [-] cruzado was let go, which is equivalent to collecting the export duties on the goods that should be paid when they leave the port in the second half of the year in advance. As for whether the Portuguese will ask them to re-levy the export duties at that time, the people on the east coast will care. Those Indian businessmen from the Mughal Empire and some southern Indian states were heavily taxed, and they were ordered to pay a total of [-] cruzados before they were let go. Crying without tears but helpless, who let themselves be blocked, if they were as vigilant as those patrol boats or merchant ships that managed to escape at night, they should also be able to escape this disaster.

In addition to cash, there are also a large number of date palms, camels, cattle and sheep, bay pearls, exquisite blankets, Persian silk, rose water, opium, saltpetre, leather, indigo, cotton cloth and other commodities in the port of Diu. 20 Cruzado, if you consider that people on the east coast are planning to use various excuses to steal the homes of several wealthy Portuguese businessmen, it is hard to say how much money they will get in the end, but Han Dezhi estimates that it is more than 70 Cruzado Zado is no problem.After all, he has heard about the riches of these businessmen. The Governor of Goa often borrows temporarily from these wealthy businessmen when they are in financial difficulties. Therefore, it should not be a big problem to scrape more than [-] Cruzado from them. Anyway, the East Bank People don't plan to occupy this place for a long time, so there is no need to pay too much attention to reputation. If you eat ugly, you should be ugly, afraid of hair?

"It was really a good battle, tsk tsk, the decision was so bold, the result was so perfect, and the captures were so many, I really can't find any faults. Xiao Jiang, Xiao Yang, well done, ours Career, who will succeed you!" Han Dezhi, who has not fully recovered from his illness, walked slowly on the streets of Diu City, and while looking at the architectural style on both sides of the street, which is very different from that on the east bank, he asked casually: "What do you plan to do with the captives? There must be a thousand or several hundred?"

"The statistics have been completed. There are a total of 1402 people, including 198 Portuguese and 845 Indians. To be honest, I can't tell if the rest are Indians or Portuguese. They may be Indian-Portuguese." Lieutenant Commander Jiang Yaohui followed suit. Following behind the old senior Han Dezhi, while holding an umbrella for him, he replied in a low voice: "In addition, I estimate that after the tax collection operation starts, a large number of Diu residents who cannot pay the tax will be arrested by us. The total number is very large." It may be more than [-], or even [-], we haven't made up our minds about how to deal with these people, how about you give me instructions, Commander?"

"What can I say, haha." Han Dezhi laughed lightly when he heard the words, but then he finally made a decision: "Let's put them all on board and take them away. The four motor sailing boats should be able to get even if they squeeze together." These two 3000 people, taking advantage of the fact that there is no sign of peace negotiations at this meeting, and the exchange of prisoners has not yet started, these two 3000 people are all sent to the Heishui area of ​​​​the Far East. Well, send Buddha to the West Let them go to the snow-covered Amur River Basin. Even if they are exiled, they will fend for themselves. It is their luck to survive, and they will be our obedient citizens in the future; Not good, early death and early rebirth, this world is so cruel."

"The Ministry of Staff understands!" Jiang Yaohui nodded slightly, and said, "The Amur River Basin is colder, but going there may not mean that there is no way out. I heard that the products there are very rich. Although these Indians and Portuguese It may not be suitable for the climate, but it's better than being precarious here. Ah, right, forget that these people are not those Indian mercenaries, they don't have to beg for food on the street, and they have a good life. Then, Your Excellency Commander , Shall we recruit some Indian mercenaries here? I heard that they have just been disbanded by the Portuguese to save money during the rainy season. Some of them will go to the countryside, some will go to Gujarat to make a living, some People are still begging in the city, they actually still have a lot of combat experience, and their integrity is not that strong, so they won't be loyal to anyone for a long time, so can we also try to hire them?"

"It's not very interesting." Han Dezhi waved his hand and said, "The combat effectiveness of these people should be very average, and they are not worth fighting. They are not Sikhs, so they are not worthy of our attention. But if you recruit on a small scale There are 200 people, but it doesn’t matter. They can be used in the Haizhu Island commercial station in the future. In those places, these Indian mercenaries are more reliable, more reliable than Ming people. After all, they can only obey us because they don’t understand the language. Leave it to your subordinates, don’t worry about it. At this moment, we’d better figure out what to do next, anyway, Diu Island can’t stay for long, not because we can’t beat the Portuguese, but because we don’t have the time.”

Jiang Yaohui was a little silent when he heard the words. The occupation of Diu Port brought him great excitement. He really wanted to continue to "make contributions" nearby, because these Portuguese and Indians seemed to be more "bullyable" and richer. .However, Commander-in-Chief Han is right. Their purpose is to send the [-]th Mixed Battalion to the Far East for rotation. By the way, they announced that the central government will readjust the administrative division of the Heishui area. Going to Portuguese India to play the autumn wind is just a side trip, and it cannot be done here. Stay for a long time, and the central government has no instructions to occupy Indian land for a long time, so it is better to leave earlier.Otherwise, once the typhoon-prone season comes in July and August, they will have to cross the Strait of Malacca to reach Ningbo Dinghai Port.

On May 5, the people on the east coast who had rested for two or three days in the port of Diu packed all kinds of supplies, cash and captives into the ship, and the whole fleet made up for water, and slowly left Diu Island, headed for Campa Bay sails away.

On May 5, the fleet arrived at Dammam Port opposite Kampa Bay. The people on the east coast once again sent the seventh mixed battalion to try to land and fight, but the Portuguese army was waiting in full force—about 24 people. In addition, they also gathered Thousands of Indian soldiers, it seems that the scale is not small-blocked.After Han Dezhi observed the Portuguese army formation with a telescope, he ordered to abandon the landing operation, and then the whole fleet lowered most of the sails and sailed along the ocean current towards the coast of Malabar.

(End of this chapter)