In Grand Bay, there is a free port controlled by the Spanish. Outside the port, two scarred-looking ironclad ships are transferring supplies from a Portuguese ocean-going merchant ship.
After all, the Portuguese did not want to offend those powerful European countries, so the two sides could only hand over goods overseas.
Naturally, the speed of replenishment cannot be fast.
But there is nothing that can be done about it. The fleet has been moving south very slowly in the past two days, and the Donghua Fleet has to repair the fleet while rushing on the road.
The technicians hung themselves with safety ropes and carefully searched for the armor that had been loosened by the shelling on the sides of the battleship.
When setting off from Prussia, because of the long journey home, the fleet brought a lot of spare parts to deal with possible accidents on the way.
Now these spare parts come in handy.
During the subsequent voyage, the Donghua Fleet encountered no resistance.
Even when they reached the Strait of Magellan, which was controlled by the Chili people, no one came to trouble them.
The Strait of Magellan is an important passage connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Nie Dahua still remembered that Dong Shuheng told them about several important sea lanes in the world.
The Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, controlling it controls the maritime communication line connecting the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. There is now Cape Town, a colony of the Great Empire.
The Strait of Malacca is an important passage connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and it is also now under the control of the Great Empire.
The Strait of Magellan seems to be the most inconspicuous of these sea passages.
However, as a senior member of the original Renaissance Army Navy, Nie Dahua knew Dong Shuheng's Pacific strategy.
If the Renaissance Army wants to dominate the Pacific in the future, then what the Donghua Navy must do is to guard the Strait of Magellan, the eastern gate of the Pacific.
"Commander, this strait is really an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack place. The waterway here is narrow and very long." Liu Zhongyun stood beside Nie Dahua, who was also holding a telescope.
The cold wind howled, flapping their military caps. The flags on the watchtower were blown loudly.
"Yeah, but it's not easy to build defense facilities here. Look at the climate here, where is the place for people to stay," Nie Dahua said.
It was also his first time to visit the Strait of Magellan, and he had only seen introductions in information before.
The coastlines on both sides of the Strait of Magellan are twists and turns, and the strait is divided into east and west sections by Cape Froed in the middle.
The western section runs northwest-southeast, the middle section runs north-south, and the eastern section turns from southwest to northeast, turning a right angle from west to east.
The coast in the middle and western sections is also very tortuous. There are steep cliffs on both sides of the coast, and there are densely populated promontories and islands.
When the fleet first sailed in the eastern section, the water there was open and shallow. The shallowest part of the main channel was only 20 meters. There were undulating grasslands on both sides. However, it is winter in the southern hemisphere and the grasslands are covered with snow.
This place is located in the westerly belt of more than 50 degrees south latitude. The strong and water vapor-filled westerly wind not only brings low temperatures, rain and dense fog to the Strait area, but also causes strong winds and rapid waves.
The Donghua Fleet also encountered such horrible weather. It was not that they were unlucky, but that it was like this most of the time.
After entering the western half of the strait, the channel here is narrow, and some places look like rivers.
The scenery on both sides of the river has also turned into cliffs. It feels a bit like the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.
No wonder the Chili people built a small port city here - Punta Arenas only a dozen years ago.
When the Donghua Fleet passed this small town, the city was always on high alert. However, the fort at the port did not fire a single shot. At this time, the Donghua Fleet was clearly within their range.
Nie Dahua deliberately patrolled outside the port, frightening the officials in the city and quickly sent a small boat over for negotiations.
It seems that the news of Zhang Li's navy's defeat has reached here.
This city is more than 3,000 kilometers away from Chili's capital, and is now considered an enclave of Chili.
So here we are basically in a state of autonomy.
The residents here mainly make money by reselling the leather and wool produced by the surrounding Yintian people, and by providing supply services for passing ships.
The town representatives were very humble as soon as they boarded the ship.
The man was not angry at all because the Donghua Fleet destroyed the Zhangli Navy.
On the contrary, the Chili man's eyes were full of fear.
The countries established by these white immigrants in the Americas lacked the necessary internal cohesion.
They don't have a consistent culture like China.
Their culture is religious culture, and what Europa's religious culture fosters is refined egoism.
What they pursue is the realization of self-worth. Chinese culture has always put the interests of the family as the core group at the forefront.
Seeing the other party's humility, Nie Dahua was not polite and asked for some living supplies that the fleet needed.
Then they move on.
However, Nie Dahua had already made up his mind at this time. After arriving in Donghua, he must persuade Donghua to use troops against Zhang in the south.
The navy must be used to capture Chili. After capturing Chili, the Kingdom of Donghua is bound to become the maritime overlord in the Southeast Pacific region.
At that time, Donghua will have to develop a navy.
After Nie Dahua took control of Chili, he must build a naval fortress in the Strait of Magellan to completely control the strait.
At that time, the entrance between the eastern and western parts of the strait will be controlled.
The fleet coming from the Atlantic can be easily intercepted by the Donghua Navy even if it detours from Cape Horn, where the navigation environment is even worse.
Although the Strait of Magellan plays a much lower role than the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Malacca.
But this will play a huge role in the future.
Nie Dahua still considers the problem based on the overall strategy of the Renaissance Army.
They say it is the Donghua Fleet, but in fact it can only be regarded as the Donghua Fleet of the Renaissance Army Navy.
They will be integrated with the Renaissance Army and Navy for a long time to come.
When Nie Dahua's fleet passed through the Strait of Magellan.
Dong Shuheng has completed his inspection of the Mekong Province and set off for Chenla.
Because he received the news that the French Far East Fleet had passed Malacca, Dong Shuheng also deliberately accelerated his trip.
He has already considered that if France really invades Annan, even if the Renaissance Army wants to intervene, it cannot be too early.
To be honest, Annan people still lack respect for the Celestial Empire.
Especially since Dong Shuheng had forcibly accepted Beiqi.
This incident has always made a large number of Annan people resentful.
Annan's senior leaders now appear to be submissive because they fear the power of the Renaissance Army.
Many knowledgeable people in Annan still regard the Renaissance Army as their enemy, and these people can influence the public opinion at the bottom of Annan and represent Annan's public opinion to a large extent.
If the Renaissance Army intervened in the French invasion prematurely, Annan would have nothing to lose in the end.
Ordinary people in Annan may not only not be grateful to the Renaissance Army in the end, but may even hate the Renaissance Army even more.
There are many ungrateful people in every small country. There have been many such white-eyed wolf vassal states in history.
Annan also did something like this.
It is better to let the French in first and let them feel whether the French are their saviors.
However, sufficient preparations must be made.
Dong Shuheng came to Phnom Penh Province to temporarily stay here.
Waiting for the arrival of the staff, there are also three army divisions prepared by Peng Yulin.
So his trip had to be interrupted.
While in Mekong Province, Dong Shuheng also met with the King of Siam.
The King of Siam was already in his fifties, but he was still very humble when he saw Dong Shuheng.
After seeing Dong Shuheng, he knelt down and worshiped.
The Kingdom of Siam has always been like this, a wallflower. As long as you are strong enough, he will always fall to you.
"Zheng Ming, your Siamese family is also a branch of the Dai ethnic group, and its relationship with China is not far away. Why can't you learn Chinese culture and etiquette?" Dong Shuheng said, pretending to be angry.
Zheng Ming is the Chinese name of Rama IV.
But among the people, Siam has always been very repulsive to Chinese culture.
If the Chinese want to improve their status in Siam, they must marry Siamese women and change their surnames to Siamese.
Dong Shuheng naturally knew why Siam did this.
Han people began to develop in Siam a long time ago.
Those who did well eventually became the king of Siam.
Therefore, Siam is very afraid of being Chineseized.
The entire northern part of Siam was also ruled by the Central Plains Dynasty during the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty once established the Eight Hundred Dadian Xuanwei Division here.
Like the Kingdom of Burma, Siam also had some fears about the Central Plains Dynasty.
"Replying to the President, this is all Xiao Wang's fault. Please ask the President to send a Chinese scholar to Siam to teach Chinese culture."
Dong Shuheng made several requests to Rama IV in succession, and the other party agreed without hesitation.
Dong Shuheng is now very relieved about Siam.
Siam is now surrounded by the Renaissance Army on both sides.
Under such a strategic situation, Siam cannot take any chances.
After arriving in Phnom Penh Province, Dong Shuheng discovered that the situation here was much more severe than he imagined.
The remaining ships of the Lancang River Navy divided into small groups to patrol along the river.
The Renaissance Army's own farms and immigrant villages were built along the river.
There are militias on farms or villages, and some basic defense facilities are built.
The number of each group of thugs who came from Nanqi was small. After the tentative attack on Han Chinese farms and villages, they suffered heavy losses.
They no longer dared to touch Han farms and villages. So these people turned to the local Khmers of their own ethnic group.
The methods they used were somewhat like those of rogue bandits.
They first used force to loot the local villages, killing all those who dared to resist, and then led the remaining people to kill the next village.
The locals who were kidnapped killed people, and after seeing the blood, they had no choice but to follow these thugs.
"Ning Zuoqing, Ma Zheng, how do you manage Phnom Penh, and why do you let these thieves become bigger? There are so many provinces in our Renaissance Army, but none of them is as chaotic as yours." After Dong Shuheng arrived in Phnom Penh, he first
The first thing to do is to invite the local chief executive and garrison commander to come and hold them accountable.
Yes, it is accountability.
The chief executive, Ning Zuoqing, was always conciliatory and intervened in the local garrison's suppression of bandits.
Village management of local people is too loose.
The local garrison commander Ma Zheng was indecisive and did not dare to take the initiative, so the thugs became more and more bold.
Dong Shuheng had already figured out what these two people were doing on the road.
According to the usual practice of the Renaissance Army, it is impossible for such a riot to last for such a long time.
Because he owned a vast territory, when Dong Shuheng encountered such a situation, he usually sent the rebels into exile.
Let them live on remote islands or send them to the vast Far East and Xianbelia regions.
But what is Phnom Penh Province doing? They are still using suppression and the same tactics.
"Ning Zuoqing, Ning Zuoqing, are your thoughts still stuck in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties?"
Ning Zuoqing lowered his head, beads of sweat flowing down from his forehead and down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry, President, my subordinates are wrong. I originally thought that the local population was seriously insufficient, and I wanted to keep those Khmer people for my own selfish reasons." Ning Zuoqing explained that the local population
The increase or decrease is an important indicator when considering the performance of officials, especially in newly occupied areas like Phnom Penh.
After listening to Ning Zuoqing's explanation, Dong Shuheng instantly understood that it turned out that it was his political performance that was to blame.
Dong Shuheng didn't want to ask any more questions next.
"We have big things to do during this period. I hope you will calm down the situation in the next month or two, kill the culprits, and lock up the locals who are thieves first, and then transport them to... by ship...
Let’s go to Papua.”
After hearing Dong Shuheng's words, Ning Zuoqing took a breath of air.
Ning Zuoqing knows a little bit about Papua Island.
Some people call that island "Death Island". Legend has it that the indigenous people on the island are cannibals.
Even Xiyi, who had discovered this place long ago, was unwilling to develop it.
There is now a company with official background, Westpac, developing the eastern half of the island.
It is said that the mortality rate of the first batch of Korean and Fuso workers sent there was more than 50%.
A domestic scholar went to that island and then went back and wrote a shocking article.
Suddenly the island became famous.
The timid ones gave up the idea of going there to pan for gold, while the bold ones thought of taking risks.
It was so exciting there, always wandering between life and death.
And those criminals who want to be exiled would rather go to Xianbelia and be frozen into popsicles than go to Papua.
The main reason is that the legends of cannibals are so scary that they will even let you watch yourself being slowly eaten.
Now Dong Shuheng actually wants to send these people to Papua.
But think about it, these Khmer people may be more adapted to the climate and environment there.
"Yes, President, I promise to complete the mission." The two men responded in unison.
Although he has left a bad impression in the president's mind.
But since Dong Shuheng gave them the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, it means that Dong Shuheng still cherishes his old feelings.
How many of the senior officials currently in charge of the local area are not people from Dong Shuheng's side?
Dong Shuheng was really angry just now and almost sent these two guys to Papua as officials.
Let them try to "suppress and appease" those cannibals.
Dong Shuheng didn't have time to accompany Ning Zuoqing and the others in Phnom Penh to suppress the bandits.
Although he did not have time to conduct on-site inspections in the Nanyang Chinese vassal states, he still wanted to convene the various vassal states to Phnom Penh to hold a conference.
ps: I am shamelessly asking for votes. I have really not been lazy recently. I just allocated some time to new books. Everyone understands!