Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 506 "Visit" ([-])

For so many years, the ships of the East Coast people have secretly gone to this hidden intelligence station almost every six months to a year.Since a flute-shaped ship hit a rock and sank in the strait last time, this task has basically been completed by passing steamers or even whaling ships, because they can lower their sails and sail at low speed, which reduces the risk by at least half.

Three huge battleships sailed slowly in the Strait of Magellan at a low speed of 3 knots. The navigator carefully paid attention to the flow of the sea water to prevent the ships from deviating from the course.As for the frightening wind in the age of sails, it is no longer an insurmountable mountain for people on the east coast.What can bother them in the Strait of Magellan now is the changeable sea flow and severe weather (heavy snow, fog, icebergs).

Fortunately, the weather is good now, the ice floes that are common in the strait in winter are gone, and the number of foggy days has also been greatly reduced.In addition to the strong wind that has been blowing, the swell has been greatly reduced due to the tortuous terrain here. Generally speaking, sailing in the Strait of Magellan this season—especially when you are still driving a steamboat It is not a problem for the navigator.As long as they are careful enough, they can safely pass through this hundreds of kilometers of waterway and enter the Pacific Ocean.

But the people on the east coast obviously did not intend to enter the Pacific Ocean. After sailing to the west of the middle of the strait, they plunged into the narrow waterway between Lesko Island and the Brunswick Peninsula, and sailed cautiously among the mountains. After half a week, I finally entered the open but calm Otway Bay.

Due to the barriers of terrain and mountains, the sea in Otway Bay is relatively calm. Compared with the western section of the Strait of Magellan, where the westerly wind is howling and the turbid waves are emptying, it is a world of two.At the same time, this is also a lonely world, a corner forgotten by the world. There is no trace of civilization on the shore. Wild geese, jackals, foxes, llamas, otters, and seals are the "residents" who occupy the vast majority of the population here.If you are lucky enough, you can occasionally see some Arakalus and Patagonians who are generally more than two meters tall on the shore.Other than that, there is nothing but desolation here.

After entering Otway Bay, the three ships crossed the second narrow channel between Lesco Island and the Brunswick Peninsula in turn, entered another piece of calmer waters, and then docked on the right side of the waters Near the east coast intelligence station in the Leo Verde area of ​​later generations, it was already March 3th.

There are few shoals on the coast, and they are basically deep water areas, so ships can dock very close to the shore, which is convenient for transporting materials and personnel.A simple trestle bridge was built with thick logs on the coast, which can moor two ships at the same time.Some men in black uniforms of the secret police of the Ministry of the Interior ran over from the shore, with pistols on their waists, and a few Patagonians who were more than two meters tall followed behind them.

While waving to the sailors standing on the deck, they skillfully tied the cables thrown from the ship to the stakes on the shore, and then waited for the unloading to begin.There have been no ships from the mainland for 8 months, and this intelligence station is in urgent need of supplies: food, weapons, ammunition, spirits, tobacco, sugar, and all other commodities from the mainland.The Araucan guerrillas have come here twice in the past year, taking away a large amount of weapons and ammunition, hemostatic bandages, field food, warm clothes and other supplies.Of course, these Araucans didn’t give things for nothing. They also sent a large amount of high-quality furs, captured Spanish gold and silver coins, various jewelry artworks that were not easy to sell, and some horses and other things to the people on the east coast. to offset the payment.

Lu Ming, wearing navy spring and autumn uniform, boarded the weed-covered shore.A senior agent of the State Intelligence Bureau who was in charge of the intelligence station immediately stepped forward to salute, jokingly, there is only one officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel on the east coast today, and that is Lu Ming, the second number in the navy and the commander of the First Fleet.Such a big man came to this clandestine secret intelligence station, which made Bilas, the local person in charge, feel unreal for a while.

"Second Lieutenant Bilas, thank you for your contributions to the country." Lu Ming shook the hand of the head of the intelligence station, and said solemnly: "You have been stationed in this lonely and desolate place for more than three years. Dangerous, cold, and lonely as companions, although your contributions to the country cannot be made public for various reasons, but one day, the people will understand your perseverance and sacrifice, and will understand your dedication, thank you.”

Bilas was the first French-Swiss Calvinist immigrant to come to the east coast. He first mixed in the army and was later recruited into the National Intelligence Service. He served in the Bordeaux station for many years. He was transferred back to the mainland in 42. After a short-term study, he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant. Then he came to the Magellan Intelligence Station as the supervisor, replacing another senior agent Lu Qi who had served here for many years. Swiss immigrants won the trust of their superiors.

"Thank you, Chief Lu, for your concern. The brothers are quite used to it here, and the salary subsidy has been paid to the family members on time. Everyone has nothing to worry about. The aborigines around, Mrs. Alakalu and the Patagonians, are pretty friendly. We have also established a certain degree of trade ties with them to strengthen the relationship. Currently, the intelligence station employs ten Patagonians as handymen. They are mainly responsible for moving goods and raising livestock. These people plus our people , the entire intelligence station has a total of 28 members, all of whom are here." Bilas carefully reported to Lu Ming.

"En." Lu Ming nodded, then walked towards the intelligence station which was only 20 meters away from the pier.The houses in the intelligence station are all made of local wood. Lu Ming looked at it and found that the house is very simple, basically made of logs, and the bark on some of the wood has not even been removed.The roof of the house is covered with a thick layer of thatch, and there are two layers of raincloth on top of the thatch to prevent moisture.Sure enough, the conditions here look tough.

Ten Patagonians stood on the pier and stared blankly at the tall ships moored by the trestle bridge and the densely packed gun ports on them.They have lived with the people on the east coast for a long time, so they naturally know the power of the artillery in those gun windows, so they were all dumbfounded when they saw three of these war behemoths coming at once.Over the years, the artillery they sold to the Araucan guerrillas was only five or six, and they were all small-caliber artillery. Compared with the nearly [-] heavy artillery on the three ships in the port, they were nothing.

"Tall and strong people." Lu Ming said approvingly, "The Patagonians are indeed very tall. In the future, they can be used as heavy infantry or grenadiers. When they go to the battlefield, they can be used as equals. His height of more than two meters doesn't scare people to death."

The Patagonians, the Arakalus, and some Ona people living on both sides of the Strait of Magellan are astonishingly tall.Especially those Patagonians, generally more than two meters. In 1615, some Europeans measured the skeleton of a dead Patagonian and came to the conclusion that its height was 3 meters. In 1790, Falconer met a tribal chief who was 2.15 meters tall.

The European navigator who first saw the Patagonians described: "They have well-developed chests and forearms, and they can run faster than horses. They can eat a basket of black bread at a time and drink half a bucket of water in one breath."

As a close relative of the Patagonians, the Ona people, according to records, are generally taller than 1.75 meters for men and 1.7 meters for women, far exceeding Europeans and Asians at this time.

Lu Ming didn't believe it before, but now he really believed it after seeing it. These aborigines living on both sides of the Strait of Magellan and in southern Patagonia are so tall and muscular. It's incredible. .It's a pity that after the Europeans invaded these people's homes in later generations, their population declined rapidly due to massacres, looting (Europeans robbed their sheep) and disease, and the entire nation eventually melted away.

"The least one of these people has been employed for two years, and he can be regarded as a relatively reliable helper for us." Bilas explained from the side.Following his words, the ten Patagonians skillfully unloaded boxes of supplies on the pier. Judging from their tall stature and knotted muscles, it seemed that these heavy objects were not a burden to them. What a burden.

Lu Ming nodded slowly while listening, and then he suddenly seemed to remember something, and asked Bilas: "Are there any Araucan people here?"

"No, they usually come to us once a year in late December, and other times are not fixed. It's hard to say when they will come. Maybe you have to ask the Spaniards, because the Spaniards are fighting them, not us."

"How is their combat level? Can they win the battle with the Spaniards?"

"Their level is uneven. Some old guerrillas from the old Vicente era are very good, but those young people who have been recruited in the past two years are far behind. Their strength is not enough to support them and Spain. Our people have been there several times to help them repair artillery and train recruits. But their guerrilla main force Generally not in the city of Araucan, but in the series of broken islands south of Chiloe Island and the adjacent land, there are many fugitive slaves who could not endure the slavery of the Spaniards farming and grazing there. The source of soldiers. And it is more convenient to attack the Spanish stronghold there, so the city of Araucan is just a stronghold for them to resettle their families.” Bilas has been deeply involved in many things of the Araucan guerrillas, so he is very familiar with it various inside stories.

"Very good. Second Lieutenant Bilas, now the country entrusts you with an important task, which is to send people to the city of Araucan, try to get in touch with the guerrillas, and then ask them to increase the frequency and strength of their attacks, trying to eliminate more Spaniards. To this end, we will give them more updated weapons, such as flintlock rifles, large-caliber field artillery, armor, etc., which we have brought this time. This is related to the strategic layout of the country, you Are you sure you can do it?" Lu Ming looked at Bilas' weather-beaten face and said slowly.

Bilas was silent for a long time, and then said affirmatively: "They rely heavily on us, so they shouldn't be too resistant to this matter. Besides, I have a way to get them to agree, don't worry, Chief Lu."

(End of this chapter)