"Concentrated escort is inevitable soon." On September 3, 1660, in the Port of St. Vicente, Navy Minister Li Yi held a local order and said: "This time, the South China Sea Transport Company and Air Canada have as many as 30 transport ships that need to be escorted. They have been waiting in China for a long time and cannot wait any longer. Even if they do not have escort, they will risk going to Europe for trade. After all, this is related to the overall domestic economic situation. Our navy has worked in the coastal areas of Brazil for nearly three months, and many people have made a fuss. This time, we must divide a part of the fleet to escort."

After Li Yi finished speaking, the office suddenly became silent. A group of naval staff members lowered their heads, as if they had done something wrong, and the atmosphere was silent and indifferent.

"The domestic transport ships, including a few hitchhiking ships, Dutch merchant ships have a total transportation tonnage of more than 20,000 tons, and there is also a large amount of cargo on the ship, so there is no need to lose money." Li Yi said to himself, "So, I decided to draw 3 battleships, 10 guard gunboats, 1 water supply ship, 1 ammunition supply ship, and 1 coal ship to form an escort fleet to escort these merchant ships to Europe for trade."

After hearing this, the staff members calculated silently that the total tonnage of the entire escort formation exceeded 30,000 tons, which was extremely large. As for the goods, it concentratedly reflected the industrial and agricultural level of the East Coast Republic of China - weapons, steel bars, hardware products, whale products, sea animal skins, dyed leather goods, textiles, medicines, chemicals (including soda ash, etc.), refined flour, soybean oil, sucrose, coffee, sisal, spirits, machinery and equipment and other dozens of commodities, which are also very important to the overall situation of the future economic development of the country. Therefore, this escort task has to be released, and it must be released! Unless the East Coast people are willing to take the initiative to give up the market that has been worked hard for thirty years, allow domestic industry and agriculture to shrink significantly, and sit back and see the industrialization turn back, the European market cannot be given up!

After so many warships were drawn to escort, only 4 battleships, 8 guard gunboats, 1 water supply ship, 1 ammunition supply ship, 1 repair ship, 1 medical ship and 1 quick contact ship. The power was greatly weakened, and the blockade of the Brazilian coast would be forced to be reduced. This may give some foreign merchants who want to make money in war, but it is not a big problem.

However, the matter is obviously far from over! Minister Li Yi continued: "According to the news I just received, a squadron of the Portuguese went to Mozambique, intercepted and killed our ships, causing huge losses to our Indian Ocean trade. In view of this, I decided to draw 3 battleships, 4 guard gunboats and some auxiliary ships to go to New China Island, and together with the Second Fleet, severely damaged and even eliminated the Portuguese naval squadron, adding an important weight to the victory of the war. In addition, considering that the local coastline is long and we cannot have a defenseless sea, the remaining 3 guard gunboats and 1 armed transport ship of the Third Fleet will cross the Strait of Magellan from the time of receiving the order and enter the Eastern Port of the capital. Well, as for which ships escort and which ships will follow me to the Indian Ocean, there will be a conclusion in the afternoon."

The order from Minister of Navy Li Yi was so straightforward and decisive that everyone was a little speechless for a while. After the two squadrons were drawn away, only one battleship, seven guard gunboats, one armed transport ship and a few auxiliary ships with little combat effectiveness were left. The strength was extremely reduced, and it was very difficult to defend the local area, and it was even more powerless to block Brazil. Fortunately, there were no enemies in the local area this time, and the pirates had been extinct for many years. The main task of these 9 warships was probably to escort various transport ships to and from the local area and Brazil to maintain the material consumption of the East Coast army in Saint Vicente, Rio de Janeiro, Saint Espiritu and other places, and should still be competent.

It seems that Minister Li has been under great pressure recently, and the naval officers couldn't help but feel this idea in their hearts. That's right, even the little staff members went out and felt that others looked at them in the wrong way, especially those merchants or sailors' families, who had no good faces. Not to mention that the army of Kaige has been traveling in various parts of Brazil, and these hateful horse manures are almost ridiculed and ridiculed their navy. They have a gun and stick in their words, which makes people angry. Let's ask, in such an unfavorable social and public opinion environment, how can their navy sit still? They must come up with some real results as soon as possible, otherwise they will be afraid that they will not be ashamed to compete with the army for military expenses in the future!

The navy said that it would take action. In the afternoon of the same day, Li Yi personally took a quick contact ship to the Zhenhaigang Naval Base and reported the detailed escort and combat plan to Mo Ming, Chief of Staff of the Military Headquarters. In fact, before, Mo and Li, the two figures of the Military Headquarters, had already communicated, and Mo Ming basically agreed to this idea. However, when Li Yi mentioned this matter again, Mo Ming was still a little hesitant. This was a big deal! Once these two fleets were released, the blockade of the Brazilian coast will definitely be greatly weakened, and the local sea defense loopholes will be infinitely amplified. Once something happens, Mo and Li will inevitably be criticized by the Executive Committee and even the people of the whole country. Who can bear the blame?

However, escort is a hard task and must be carried out; and sending a squadron to the Indian Ocean to severely damage the Portuguese squadron was also an unforgettable temptation. Therefore, Mo Ming finally agreed to the plan of Li Yi and others and completely pressed the treasure on the Indian Ocean.

The Navy began material preparation and personnel mobilization the next day. As the head of the Joint Staff, Chief of Staff Mo finally left the telegraph room in Zhenhai County. Under the escort of his entourage, he took a boat to Ping'an County, an important industrial city in the north.

On September 5, Mo Ming took dozens of entourages on a "Laprata Star" train. After several hours of flat and fast travel, he easily arrived at the Shahu Township Railway Station more than 150 kilometers away - this is temporarily the terminal of the Northern Railway. But don't worry too much. Starting from the second half of 1659 when the war broke out, under the order of Lan Fei, the director of the Military Control Commission of Shengxing Township, at that time, Nanjiro, the director of the Military Control Office of Shengxing Township, ordered the disbandment of the construction of the Farm of the State, and then "hardworking."

The main work of the Fengshi Team turned to supervising the leveling of the foundations of some sections of the northern railway (Shahu Township-Shengxing Township, about 58 kilometers). In the first half of this year, the Liuding Line was opened to traffic, and a large number of railway construction workers moved to the following sections, and the construction progress began to accelerate greatly. According to the director of the Military Control Administration, Minamijiro, optimistically predicted that this section of railway may still be opened to traffic before the end of 1660. Inappropriately, the entire section will definitely be completed in early 1661.

At this time, Mr. Mo brought people to the area of ​​Shahu Fort, naturally to check the construction of the most important Northern Railway. The land war has been going on for nearly three months, and all kinds of materials stored in the military station are consumed quite a bit. In addition, the various departments are very fast in advance, and the supply lines have been greatly extended. The civil servants who transport and transport materials have been levied more than 50,000, which is a huge burden on the country. Therefore, if a section of the railway is built, a large part of the consumption can be reduced (not only the consumption of food and allowances for civil servants, but also a large expense for the forage of mules and horses). If they are built to the south bank of the Wujiang River, a large number of troops can be stationed in Santa Catalina, Brazil in later generations!

Although the people on the east coast rushed to rush to death to squeeze slaves from all directions - such as Congolese, Swahili, Indians, Malays, Italians, Slavs, etc. - the railway still only reached the railway station, which was a little far from Shengxing Township, the next town of living, not to mention Shenglong Township, Shengyun Township, Xing'an Township (later Eresin City, established after the war broke out) and even some other settlements to be established in the future. Therefore, the construction of the railway still needs to continue to accelerate, which is the consensus conclusion of the military headquarters, and as one of the biggest factors restricting the construction of the railway (another major

The factor is transportation), and there is a solution at present: there are a large number of Indians in the areas captured by the army soldiers, a considerable number of them have been forced to be taken here. The State Railway Administration has signed a contract with them and promised to build a complete line and send it to South Africa or New China for resettlement. In addition, the Ministry of Trade has also increased the order for Congolese slaves and asked New Kurland to increase the number of slaves. The navy also said that there are a large number of existing slaves in Angola, which can be transported back to the country to rescue emergency services first. In short, all parties are really worried about the construction of this strategic-level railway.

"I don't want to look at the number of labor deaths. I just want the Northern Railway to be opened as soon as possible." In the stationmaster of the Shahu Township Railway Station, Chief of Staff Mo said to the officials who were full of stations: "The road from the coast of Brazil to the inland is too difficult and cannot effectively assume the heavy responsibility of the window of foreign exchange. I think many of you have never been to the Port of St. Vicente, which has been conquered by our army. To be honest, the conditions at that port are very good. The harbor is calm, the water depth is enough, and the climate is suitable. If it is not too difficult to communicate with the inland, it is a great commercial port.

Unfortunately, from the Port of St. Vicente to the mainland, even mules and horses have to be careful. Many times, local Portuguese merchants rely on Indians to carry supplies, and they cannot assume the important task of serving as a port for export to the vast hinterland such as the Parish of Sao Paulo. Such bad port conditions are large areas along the coast of Brazil, which leads to the large isolation of the vast and rich inland areas from coastal ports. Therefore, we now need to find another way to build such a strategic railway as soon as possible, which will be of great benefit to the development of rich areas like Sao Paulo.”

In fact, Mo Ming had another meaning and did not make it clear to everyone present that no one could guarantee that the war with the Portuguese would not be long-term. Once the war was long-term, if the navy could not effectively maintain the maritime transportation line, just like this time, exposing it to the enemy's possible attacks at any time, then this land transportation line would be very important, because it could transport a large amount of materials to the newly occupied area at a lower cost and faster speed, maintaining the local rule of the East Coast people. What's more, Ba

It is indeed difficult to communicate with the inland areas of the western coast. Take the Parish of St. Paul as an example. It is widely spread with red humus soil, with high fertility and a suitable climate. It is a good agricultural area and will definitely be a densely populated core province in the future. But it is too difficult to communicate with the coast here. There are not many roads that can be taken by mules and horses. This shows the difficulties of mountain roads. It is still necessary to connect to the rich Yazi Lake basin, otherwise it may be difficult to develop in a short period of time.

After the inspection in Shahu Township and other places, Mo Ming took a large group of followers to the later Santa Catarina State, which was temporarily named Jiangbei region, intending to listen to the first-hand reports of the frontline commanders, and at the same time take a look at the implementation of East Coast laws in these areas, which is more critical for the Executive Committee to formulate further policies in the future.

On September 11, a group of people arrived at the south bank of the Wujiang River. A county security group originally stationed here had already gone north, and the camp left behind was full of piles of goods. Thousands of civilians recruited from the Beiyazi Lake Basin were constantly loading and unloading goods here. Several 72-ton inland steamer ships were already working on the river surface, which was extremely critical to improving the efficiency of material transfer.

Mo Ming and others crossed the river that afternoon. Then, with the support of a small army that rushed over, they successfully settled in the newly renovated Batista Castle - now renamed Anyuan Township, and moved the first batch of more than 300 immigrants from Huai'an Prefecture to settle down. They were more than acquainted and were able to farm on the familiar land left by the Portuguese and Indians, so everyone looked very good.

"His Excellency Chief of Staff, we have arranged and implemented the resettlement, land cleaning and bidding work assigned by the Military Affairs Department last time. At present, a total of 375 immigrants from Huai'an Prefecture have been resettled in Anyuan Township, most of which are based on families. The spring sowing work is about to begin soon. Although there are a slight shortage of seeds, agricultural tools, and livestock, our Military Control Office will definitely find ways to overcome it..." The new director of the Military Control Office of Anyuan Township is a young man who has graduated from a Corps Fort for a few years. He seems to be a little nervous. He has to repeat every sentence when reporting to Mo Ming.
Chapter completed!