On March 1, 1699, deep in the Pampa Plain, an elderly man in the sky blue lieutenant general's costume surrounded the crowd and arrived at a military base.

The base is located in the mountains dozens of kilometers west of Jilu Township, Anshan County, and has always been rare. However, under the leadership of government investment in recent years, due to the needs of project construction, there are two main projects: one is the highway system opposite the Andes, and the other is the mountain water diversion project that is roughly parallel to the highway.

The starting point of the highway is Dingnan Town, a second-class national highway. It has been built about one-third of the time. In the future, it will cross the Andes west of Jilu Township and enter the Chilean side. The highway is a water-land transport system, that is, some road transport and some water transport, so some docks need to be built to transport back and forth with shallow draft 72-ton inland steamer. Like most mountain-crossing roads, this road will be suspended in winter, not only because the lake will freeze, but also because the mountains are blocked due to heavy snow, and there is no way to go.

The snow in the Andes is violent in winter. Most of the precipitation of 3,000-4,000 mm in the mountainous area is in the form of snow in winter. Therefore, every late spring when the snow begins to melt, the numerous lakes in the mountainous area will be filled with melt water and then overflow to both sides.

Due to the terrain, most of the high-water melt water flows into the Chilean side and eventually injects into the Pacific Ocean. However, people on the east coast are not very happy to see this happen. They obviously hope that the melt water flows into the east coast, that is, the southern cone area. There is no doubt that the soil texture here is actually good. The dense rivers in the Chubut River, Ludang River and Baoxing River are formed into oasis, which is a clear evidence that the local sunshine is sufficient, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and the fruit produced is sold everywhere, which is a very large industry.

Now, with the increasing scale of the east coast economy and increasing population As of mid-1698, the total population of the East Coast Republic of China had reached 10,000, 68.9% were born in the East Coast, 20.6% were immigrants from China, 9.8% were immigrants from other places (mainly Europe). In addition, more than 300,000 non-national labor workers have also become increasingly demanding for high-quality fruits, so it has become a trend to capture land in the southern cone plaza. In order to encourage this industry, the East Coast government has also allocated a large amount of funds from the water cone lottery and began to build a high-altitude water diversion project, that is, using the latest technology to transform the mountain lakes and rivers, so that more water can flow to the east coast, and replenish the thirsty platform.

These projects invest hundreds of thousands of yuan a year, which is not stressful, but the key is to persevere. If you invest for decades, the local environment will definitely change drastically, which is very clear. In addition, the East Coast government will definitely not be able to directly recover the cost, because even if the investment of hundreds of thousands of yuan a year is added, it is impossible to recover through tax collection. Of course, the government does not value these. What they value more is that after the local environment changes, it may attract many people to settle down, and eventually form large villages and towns. When these villages and towns are formed, it will provide great convenience for building transportation facilities to Chile.

Profit. Overall, the government believes that the cost can be recovered in the end, but this cycle is calculated in fifty or one hundred years, including taxes (direct income), land value-added income, local social development income (for example, society has developed, education has improved, and people who have achieved success in learning have created greater value for the country), national defense income (communicating with the Chile region, promoting cultural exchanges, reducing local centrifugal force, and reducing stability maintenance costs), etc. If these indirect or invisible income is included, it can even be said that the return rate of this investment is very high, because most of its returns are destined to be unreflected on the books.

By the way, Anshan County was established in June last year (1698). It has a total of six settlements, including Anshan Town, Luguo Township, Heguaizi Township, Kenmu Township, Jilu Township and Shanquan Township. It is the 193rd county-level administrative unit in the country and currently has more than 10,000 settled populations. With it, there are Guanglu County (194th County), which is under the jurisdiction of Guanglu Town, Woye Township, Anche Township, Bumin Township and Shisai Township. There are a total of five settlements, with a population of about 8,000.

These two counties are located in the eastern foot of the Andes, which was Chile in the past. It is unknown why it was established. Not only these two counties, but also people from the east coast also set up a series of settlements along the foothills, namely: Ayshan Township (located near the village of Elsos Neado in later generations), Liangcheng Town (formerly Spanish colonial city San Raphael), Xiaxiang Township (located in later generations El Niville el) and Xiaxiang Township (located in later generations El Niville el)

Near the village of nihuil), Zhupei Township (near the town of Pareditas in later generations), Chahe Township (near the town of Tunuyang in later generations), Xilo Township (near the town of Uspayat in later generations), Shunhe Township (near the town of Media Agua in later generations), Huangtai Township (near the town of Bareal in later generations), Fengshan Township (near the town of Rodeo in later generations), Changyuan Township (near the town of Guandakore in later generations), a total of ten settlements were approved at the end of last year. The first batch of fiat currency invested a total of one million yuan and moved more than 10,000 residents to settle down.

With sufficient funds, technology and manpower, these settlements will take about three years to be initially built, and will provide food, fruits, meat and some daily necessities steadily to reduce the logistics costs of passing troops. From the setting of these settlements, we can also see that the East Coast people now have great strategic initiative. They can choose places at will and enter the Chilean valley through the low passes in the middle of the Andes. Due to the narrow and long terrain of Chile and the inconvenience of communication from the beginning to the end, it is easy to be cut off by the East Coast people, which eventually leads to a complete defeat.

At present, the Spaniards have not yet known the big moves of the East Coast people here (both settlements, reservoirs, roads, etc.). This is due to the large-scale migration policy for the residents of the former Spanish colonial towns, which makes it difficult for them to deliver messages. However, those in Shanxi should also know that there are so many passes in the Andes, and it would be incredible if the East Coast people do not use it. In fact, there is no need to worry about anything. Life will be as usual if they have not been called, and they will surrender directly after they have been called. At worst, they will be plundered for some wealth. What a big deal!

However, the "cruel policies" of the East Coast people towards the Mestiso people over the years have also caused a certain degree of panic. What is the backbone of South American society? They are neither Indians nor native whites or peninsulas, but Mestiso people, that is, the mixed-race descendants of the Spanish and Indians. These people generally serve as officers, soldiers, small and medium-sized merchants, middle and lower-level officials, small manor owners, handicraftsmen, enterprise management, etc. They are the tentacles of pure-blooded white people ruling the vast majority of Indians, the operators of society, and the foundation of white rule. They originally had fantasies about the East Coast, but after watching coldly for so many years, they have already understood that the East Coast people have no place in their plan, just like there is no place for Indians, and their final fate will be exiled, which is very miserable.

Therefore, the Mestiso people had sufficient reasons to resist the invasion and rule of the East Coast people. The staff of the East Coast Military Department also had a deep understanding of this. However, these conceited soldiers did not take their potential resistance seriously. In their opinion, resistance may not be a bad thing, just killing! They also gave them an additional opportunity to earn military merit, which was simply too beautiful.

At present, a considerable number of the East Coast Army have already traveled to several bases on the eastern foot of the Andes Mountains. Well, there are really not many people, mainly the newly formed Seventh and Eighth two strait regiments. One of these two regiments is stationed in Jilu Township, Anshan County and the other is stationed in Changyuan Township further north. While replenishing troops and equipment, they carry out hard training in order to play their due role after the outbreak of future wars.

Today, the newly elected General General Ding Zhencheng, the General Staff of the National Armed Forces, came to inspect, so the entire Seventh Mixed Regiment basically pulled out and a small military parade was held on the playground. There were two special troops participating in the parade, one of which was composed of more than 3,000 Mestiso people. They were all selected from the officers and soldiers of the former Spanish colonial army. The equipment and uniforms were typical Spanish-style, used to serve as accompanying the East Coast Army.

Practice to get familiar with the opponent's situation in advance. The other army has a size of only more than 2,000 people, and is basically French Huguenots who have been exiled to the east coast. They are also trained, equipment, banners, and clothing. They are also required to try not to speak Chinese when they are talking, and they eat French food. Even the barracks they live in are typical French-style buildings. In order to familiarize themselves with the situation in advance, the Army Department is really worried!

Jilu Military Base is located in the mountainous area, which is also specially selected. One is close to Chile, which is convenient for sending troops, and the other is to simulate the geographical environment of northern Italy. It belongs to the Alps, with terrain and altitude that is not much different from that of the military base. In the future, the supplementary soldiers sent to Europe in China must be trained at Jilu Military Base for more than half a year. After they are familiar with the mountain environment and have a certain understanding of the skills of mountain combat, they will be loaded into the ship and sent to Europe to supplement the soldiers on the Eagle Nest Fortress.

Ding Zhen was not very fond of such serious training in the Army. However, considering that the Navy was also training near Tierra Tierra to adapt to the North Atlantic environment in advance, he didn't say anything more. To put it bluntly, the East Coast has been in peace for decades. Although the daily training of the army has always been high standards, strict requirements, equipment and equipment, no one knows what it will be like. When fighting, it depends on people! It is not a bad thing to adapt in advance and do the preparations to the extreme.
Chapter completed!