On November 11, 1651, the island of New China had entered the "preparatory period" of the rainy season. In Xinhua Port, Tacheng Port, Naturalization Port, Lobster Port and other places, the sky seems to have collapsed into a hole, constantly "leaking". Many rivers that used to be docile during the dry season (cool season) now have a sudden and hideous taste: the clear water is gradually becoming muddy, and the water level has risen rapidly in a few days, which seems to indicate that the rainy season on New Huaxia Island is about to arrive.

However, the diversity of its climate has long been known to the majority of foreign colonists on the strange new Huaxia Island. No, in the south-west and south of the island, the rain brought from the Indian Ocean is largely left in the highlands and its eastern flank, as the humid southeast monsoon is blocked by the central highlands. To the west of the Highlands, unless you're lucky, there are occasional moist clouds that resist the pressure from the northwest and bring a hint of precipitation to the arid steppe areas, but this is of little use compared to the intense evaporation here, so this vast expanse of land has been in drought for thousands of years - but fortunately there are rivers rushing down from the Central Highlands, aren't they?

The vicinity of Mianhe Port is such a lucky place! Backed by the Cotton River, the water source is abundant, the soil has been greatly composted, and the conditions for the development of agriculture can be said to be quite good. When the army of the Manab Kingdom came to the city some time ago, they only had time to destroy some of the cotton fields set up outside the city by the people on the east bank, but they did not destroy the canals, reservoirs and other facilities - or they did not know what to do at all. The water conservancy facilities outside the city, except for a few waterwheels that were used to carry water, were destroyed, and the rest were preserved to the greatest extent. This was a blessing for the people on the East Coast who resumed production after the war.

Some people may ask, now that you are busy resuming production outside the port of Cotton River, are you not afraid that the Sakarava people will come back and destroy your altars and jars? Hehe, maybe there used to be this kind of worry, but now there is no need to! Why? Please open your eyes and look at the brave soldiers of the Great East Coast who are pouring out of some of the big ships on the docks! In order to punish the natives for their attack, the Executive Committee decided to approve the request of the New China Pioneer Team. Mobilize South African forces to assist in the suppression of New China in order to restore order on the ground - an order dominated by the people on the east coast.

South African Infantry Company (formerly the 5th Company of the Army before disarmament. Company commander Sun Shengjun, born as a "thief of the West"), the South African Artillery Company, the South African Cavalry Company, the New China Infantry Company, the New China Artillery Company, and hundreds of Polish and German prisoners of war who had recently arrived at Xinhua Port from Suez. These losers of the Ukrainian War of Independence will join their compatriots who had already fought in the port of Cotton River earlier. The "Cotton River Garrison" was organized into a unified group, and the number of personnel was tentatively set at 800. The New China Pioneer Corps promised them that they would be given land and houses as soon as they finished the battle, and that they would be given the official status of colonists -- as for those who were unwilling to share their houses and only wanted to be free to return to their hometowns, sorry, they did not have the opportunity to come to the war at all, and the many plantations on New China Island were the places where they should go.

In addition, Shi Qinjie, the captain of the New China Pioneer Team, intercepted more Ming immigrants than ever before, and took them along with some Polish prisoners of war who had been granted amnesty. Assigned to settle near the Cotton River and receive military training, they would be the basis for future rule on the east bank, as well as a source of militia and reserves. This group of immigrants who were left behind. With the addition of the amnesty of Polish prisoners of war, the total number would probably be more than 4,000, most of who, with the exception of some who had emigrated to the port of the Cotton River, would have moved to new settlements at the mouth of the Mulundava River and in the area of the Mangoki River Delta when the war was over, and to develop agricultural production, mainly sugar cane, cotton, peanuts, and tobacco.

Two improvised wooden trestles are lined with East African transport company vessels. The wharf workers unloaded a large number of military materials onto the wharf with primitive pulley sets; In front of them, hundreds of servicemen were following the rope nets on both sides of the ship's side. Carrying a rifle on his back, he crawled to the dock with ease, and occasionally one or two sergeants fell into the sea by mistake, which immediately caused the laughter of a crowd. Then the sailors would laugh and sip their pipes and catch the unfortunate ones with their nets.

The commander of the Xinhuaxia Infantry Company (the former deputy commander of the 101st Company, a combat hero, was recruited by the Xinhuaxia Pioneer Team to serve as the commander of the newly formed infantry company in the area after the company was dismissed by the white shirts) wore an earthy short-sleeved military uniform, a military sickle hat, and leather boots on the freight yard by the dock, and went through the delivery procedures with the material administrators sent by Ma Wanpeng.

"25 boxes of canned yellow peaches (24 cans in a box), 25 boxes of canned oranges, 12 boxes of canned applesauce - this is a new product, 50 boxes of canned vegetables (carrots, ginger, green onions, etc.), well, and 12 large bags of fish oil, which is enough for you to supplement all kinds of nutrients and vitamins." The material manager handed the list to a purchasing manager of the New Huaxia Security Headquarters, and after the purchasing manager looked at it and felt that there was no problem to sign, he handed the list to Shou Daoist.

Shou Daoist waved his hand, and more than ten soldiers came up behind him, only to see them sample and check some boxes, and after finding that there was no problem, Shou Daoist also signed this material handover list.

According to the "Military Rations Regulations of 1647", which was perfected in the Second East-West War, they still have many supplies to receive, such as canned spiced whale meat, canned soybean beef, canned cod and spinach, canned boiled smooth fish, canned sea bream mushroom sauce, cheese, biscuits, sugar, and so on. In addition, the baggage team composed of the Eight Banners of the Island (more than 1,000 newly transferred personnel, about 2,000 after merging with the previous remnants) will also carry a large amount of soybean cakes, dried alfalfa and other fodder to feed some of the cows carried by the army, so as to provide some fresh milk supply to the wounded and sick of the troops.

After receiving the food stipulated in the military ration regulations (generally a week's to half a month's amount at a time), there are some other bits and pieces below, such as bandages, medicines, etc., and even a stack of straw paper for wiping the buttocks, which can be described as a luxury.

When receiving these materials, Shou Daoist was also very staggered, and at the same time, he also had a deeper understanding of the modernization process of the East Coast army. What does combat power come from? In many cases, it often comes from these seemingly inconspicuous logistical supports. Of course, sufficient logistical support often means huge expenditures, and the East Coast army is fighting a war, and now it is money!

After receiving the supplies, Shou Daoist asked the soldiers to go back and call the secretary and ask them to bring some camels by the way. These livestock, imported from the Ottoman Empire, were well adapted to the arid western steppes of New China, and were perfect for transporting supplies.

There were still supplies being unloaded on the wharf, and some ships at sea were impatient to wait, so they simply lowered many small boats, and then organized soldiers to carry supplies ashore by themselves, so as not to queue up there to enter the port. Dozens of men in gendarmerie uniforms sweated profusely on the docks to maintain order, but it was useless, and there was a chaotic landing scene everywhere, with noises such as coaxing, shouting, scolding, neighing of mules and horses, collisions of vehicles, and the sound of ship whistles turning the entire dock into a vegetable market.

"Any landing operation is a complete tragedy." Ma Wanpeng, who came from the village of Mianhe Port to inspect the scene, saw the chaos on the wharf, and immediately sighed, and said to the left and right: "I hope that these proud soldiers and fierce generals from South Africa can do something at their best, with five hundred people as small, complete in infantry, cavalry, and artillery, well-equipped, well-trained, and rich in combat experience. In this war, the Polish and German mercenaries were the main vanguard, and our side had a total of more than 3,600 soldiers and auxiliaries, which were used to fight an indigenous kingdom with a total strength of only more than 5,000 people, and they were already very worthy of them. The lion fights the rabbit with all his might, and he is talking about this kind of thing for us, and you must also keep in mind that you must not be careless to underestimate the enemy! ”

"I'll keep that in mind." The officers of the original Mianhe garrison such as Hyotaro and Zhai Xiaoshan immediately expressed their stance one after another, and this time the mercenary system was led by the two of them, with Hyotaro as the main and Zhai Xiaoshan as the deputy; The South African army was led by Xiao Baitu, a former militarist and activist of the National Power Alliance, who had regained after many years of dormancy. As for the overall command of the whole army after the merger of the two armies, it is natural that the oldest officer will be in charge, and in this comparison, the overall command of the whole army has also fallen into the hands of Xiao Baitu. This guy has gone from a cold bench reserve officer who once "made mistakes" to a senior commander commanding more than 3,000 officers and soldiers. I don't know how much effort he and the supporters behind him have made in order to make him recover.

In any case, Xiao Baitu's recovery was unstoppable, and the conquest of the Sakarava people by the people on the east coast had entered the final stage of preparation. On November 19, 1651, with the return of the reconnaissance cavalry, Ma Wanpeng, commander-in-chief of the theater of operations, signed an order to go out. With the signing of this order, Xiao Baitu, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, also took 3,600 soldiers and a large number of ox carts and camels with great ambition to embark on the road of forgery and punishment of the Manabel Kingdom.

After the army set off, Ma Wanpeng took the more than 1,000 militia (the servant officers and soldiers who were laid off from Shandong) who stayed behind, and while tending to the cotton fields, he stepped up patrols to prevent surprise attacks by enemy troops. (To be continued)