At the end of February 1640, the Fort of the River ushered in a noisy time. The arrival of a new group of 500 native immigrants and more than 200 families of naval officers and sailors has greatly boosted the popularity of the local area, and the new village has been arranged for them to move in.

At the same time, large quantities of textiles, munitions, and leather goods were stored in the city's warehouses, and in the future, there will be more and more stocks here, and the port of Hezhong will eventually become the premier distribution center in southern Africa.

Recently, the British in the Cape Town, south of Fort River, have been almost completely confined to Fort Good Hope, and even the movement of going out to chop wood has been greatly reduced. According to a handful of British immigrants who fled one after another, there had been a lot of panic in Fort Good Hope for months, and the British East India Company was trying to resell the Cape Town colony to the Dutch, and the officers could not stop it. Earlier this month, Knight Heywood, the top governor of the Cape Town colony, returned home on a British merchant ship that had docked there, further fueling the fears of the local British settlers.

It was now a chaotic place, and it was difficult to even provide normal supplies to passing British ships, let alone pose any real threat to the people of the neighboring East Coast. Many of the local militia at Fort River, who were clamoring to take advantage of the tense situation in the British country, simply send troops to capture Fort Good Hope, and completely rob the British of the Cape Town colony, so as not to sell it to others in the future to disgust the people on the east coast.

However, considering the current complex international situation and the weak national strength on the east coast, Mo Ming still rationally suppressed this voice. Because he knows that it is easy to provoke a war. But it is up to you to end the war. We must not drag our country into the abyss of war because of our own irrational behavior.

"Say so. Has the Executive Committee officially decided to establish a supply base on the Falklands? Mo Ming asked as she walked. Today's weather is good, and the temperature in South Africa at the end of summer is not high, just 267 degrees, cool and pleasant. Mo Ming, Liu Ang, and Wang Tiehammer walked on the bank of the Berg River, chatting as they walked.

"The general policy has been decided, but the specific location is still to be determined, and at present, the Antsiranana region is temporarily ahead." Wang Tiehammer said, "After all, this uproar of espionage has stimulated many people. Nowadays, the domestic technology manufacturers are not only strictly guarded. Even began to check the ancestors of the new recruits for three generations. Moreover, some imperial and Han elements also took the opportunity to create a momentum to advocate the introduction of more immigrants from the East, and many people in the Executive Committee and the Government Council could not say that they had listened to their opinions, but it was certain that they were more or less affected. In this way, the resumption of the Falklands development plan will be a smooth chapter, because the Falklands are a necessary place to pass through whether they are going north or eastward around Africa. What is not certain now may be where to establish a supply base on the Falklands. ”

"Where else can it be built? Isn't that the Antsiraana region? The Naval Exploration Fleet has also inspected it. Liu Ang was stunned for a moment, and then quickly asked with some confusion.

"Hey, hey." Wang Tiehammer laughed twice and said, "I'm the navy. From a defense point of view, the island of Madagascar has such a long coastline. I don't think there's anything like Antsiranana. The wind and waves in the bay are calm, the water depth is more than 20 meters, and the estuary is extremely narrow, which is very conducive to defense, and it is a natural naval base. It's no wonder that the French fell in love with this place in the 18th century, because the location is so good. However, Lao Guo said after returning from his last inspection that the forest is dense, the climate is humid and hot, and the environment is harsh, so it is not suitable to build a port. Actually, I've heard that this kid hasn't been ashore at all, and he watched from afar at sea for a while and then left, hehe. ”

"I've heard about it, too, but what about then?" Liu Ang hurriedly asked.

"Then it turned yellow." Wang Tiezhu said as a matter of course, "When the members of the Executive Committee and the Government Council heard that the mosquitoes were raging on the island and the climate was humid and hot, they immediately knelt down, especially when we don't have enough anti-malarial drugs at present, and I guess no one wants to go to this place to die." However, after this espionage incident, the argument of restarting the Falklands development plan in China heated up again, and Bai Siwen's disgusting guy didn't know what path Lu Dao had taken, and even published two signed articles in Pravda in succession, vigorously advocating the significance of building a port on the Falklands, echoing the gang of the Huanghan faction, and the momentum was unmatched for a while. ”

"Don't interrupt, Wang." Liu Ang asked anxiously, "Didn't I ask before, because everyone was afraid of the high mortality rate, so everyone was reluctant to go to the Falklands to build a port?" Why did you suddenly make up your mind now? Is there enough medicine available locally? ”

"The medicine is definitely not enough." "With the existing antimalarial drugs, only a few people can be treated, and most people can only be left to fend for themselves when they get sick." Therefore, the Executive Committee also came up with a trick, that is, only a small number of our men were sent to the Falklands, and most of the construction personnel still relied on indigenous slaves provided from South Africa. To put it bluntly, it is to let these slaves take their lives to fill in first, and when they use their lives to clean up these places, our professional technicians will come over to carry out the later construction, understand? ”

Liu Ang and Mo Ming both nodded silently. They are not good men and women, and they have no psychological barriers to using the lives of indigenous slaves in South Africa to fill the pits. You must know that the murder and arson they did in South Africa can be said to be inexhaustible even if they are bamboos in the South Mountain. Their only concern was that the Falklands would rob the Falklands of the resources and population that should have been allocated to Fort River.

After all, the focus of the Executive Committee's development is still on South America itself, and the resources and population that can be provided to overseas territories are extremely limited. The fact that a new port is now to be built on the Falklands will clearly dilute the resources available to South Africa. In a way, South Africa and the Falklands are now in a state of competition.

"So this is settled?" Liu Ang asked uncertainly.

"It's settled." Wang Tiehammer nodded vigorously, "Now the local side has given three alternatives, namely Antsiranana, Tuliara and Tamatave, all of which are coastal ports. Among them, we are all familiar with Antsiranana, which is suitable for building a military port, and it is not far from the famous gold mining area of Malaysia in later generations. A lot of people are inclined to this, and even the plan has been made; Tuliara is located on the southwest coast of the Falklands, on the south bank of the Fihranana River, just over 100 kilometers from the famous Sakoa coalfield in the southern part of the Falklands. There is also a small and medium-sized coal field nearby, and the coal produced is of very good quality, almost all hard coal, which is very suitable for the needs of our domestic market today. And it's cooler, which is more advantageous; And the place of Tamatave, which seems to be called Tuamasina in later generations, seems to be the largest port in Equestria. The port is located in the northeastern corner of the Falklands, not far from the Antsiranana region, and not far from the port there is also a small coal field that also produces high-quality bituminous coal. Each of these three places has its own merits, and the Executive Committee has not yet finalized where the supply port will be built, but I guess it will be soon. ”

Mo Ming looked at the sparkling Berg River in silence, did not speak, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Only Liu Ang sighed and said: "His grandmother is a bear, this time it is over, it seems that the determination of the executive committee is very great." However, we should have thought of this day a long time ago, after all, the Fort in the River was built to expand eastward, and now that the Executive Committee has finally taken this step, it is also a reasonable thing. Alas, in the future, the castle in the river was raised by the stepmother. In the past, the local people could still leak a melon or two dates to us every once in a while, and it is estimated that in the future, we will make every effort to ensure the construction of the Falklands. ”

"Hehe, I have to help you in this matter." Wang Tiehammer laughed even more unkindly at this time: "At that time, we will have to send a large number of indigenous slaves from you to develop them, and of course, some managers will probably have to be drawn from you." I guess you yourself are mentally prepared for this, hehe, it seems that it is a wise decision for the Executive Committee to send you to South Africa to expand the land, at least from now on, there will be no shortage of slaves. ”

"Grass!" Mo Ming and Liu Ang scolded almost at the same time. Then Mo Ming also sighed and said: "The pig is fattened, so it is naturally going to be killed." Since this is already the case, it is better for us to look at this matter with a more positive attitude, at least we are closer to the east and closer to the population of the Ming Dynasty. In the future, the total population will go up, and everyone will benefit. ”

"Indeed, it is only right to make the cake bigger." Liu Ang also echoed and said, "At present, there are only tens of thousands of people in the country, and we are fighting for so many hundreds of people here, which is really not on the table." When the conditions for sailing to the East are really ripe, and tens of thousands of people will be transported over a year, then the country will really enter the stage of rapid development. And our Hezhong Fort will also be able to get some light at that time and enter a period of rapid development. After all, the whole country is a game of chess, and we can still understand this. Lao Mo, let's go back and count the Eight Banners account, see how many belongings we have, if there are not enough people, we have to plan in advance. ”

"The population is definitely insufficient." Mo Ming waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about this problem. When this autumn harvest is over, I will issue a new order. Wasn't last year's sweep great, so let's do it again this year! This time we swept deeper to the east, crossed the eastern mountains, and wiped out the Xhosa tribes on the other side of the mountain! (To be continued......)