Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 483 Hekou Town

"Dear Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask you to restrain your troops from entering my land. They hunt buffaloes and African gazelles on my land, break the traditional quiet life on this land, and even harass my daughter. Sophia, all this is an intolerable offense."

   Juan Carlos looked red because of his anger. He can speak fluent English and there is no barrier to communication between the two sides.

Behind Juan Carlos, Sofia, a girl in a cycling uniform, and her companion Walesa, these two beautiful white Portuguese girls stared at Li Shuanzhu in the uniform of the lieutenant colonel. Extremely dissatisfied.

Li Shuanzhu rode on the horse and stared coldly at the group of three people. After Juan Carlos finished speaking, he raised his hand to a military salute and replied; "It's a pity that I cannot accept your request. The troops in this area are conducting military operations. All personnel must cooperate unconditionally."

   "God, this is my land and farm. You can't do that."

"On the contrary, I can..." Li Shuanzhu matured quickly during his years of military service and replied calmly; "There is no need to excite Mr. Juan Carlos. I can understand your feelings, but the rights you claim are international Shanghai has not been universally recognized. It involves international disputes. Before all the dust falls, I suggest that you restrain yourself from running around, including the two beautiful young ladies behind you."

"Since my great-grandfather, the Carlos family has lived on this vast land. The mountains, the water, and the forests here are all imprinted with the Carlos family's imprint. I myself am appointed by His Majesty the King." "I have unquestionable rights to here..."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Juan Carlos, do not repeat these issues that have been discussed countless times. The King of Portugal did appoint the regional governor and the so-called "Balazzo", but they did not act without international recognition. Uncountable, we came here to also shoulder the mission of conquering, so that everyone can calm down and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

At this time, Sophia suddenly interjected with an angry look; “Don’t argue, you are a group of shameless robbers who came here to act recklessly. I don’t care whether you are running dogs of British or Queenslanders, please get out of the Carlos family’s land immediately. ."

   "Oh, God!" Juan Carlos couldn't help screaming when he stopped his daughter from being too late.

  He has had many dealings with the young officer in front of him, knowing that he is an iron-blooded soldier with a fortitude, who can tolerate a certain limit of negotiations, but never offends.

  "Grab this woman and smash her fangs with a riding whip."

  Sure enough, Li Shuanzhu's face changed suddenly, and he coldly gave orders without any pity for Xiangxiyu.

  He cannot allow any offense to the Lord Earl of Queensland. That is Li Shuanzhu’s idol of respecting gods, like a father like a brother, a **** who plays the redeemer of overseas Chinese, and a leader like the Bodhisattva of Salvation and Suffering.

  Amid the screams of the Portuguese girl, the soldiers had rudely knocked it to the ground and tied it up with hands and feet.

  "Dear Lieutenant Colonel, I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Sophia is still an ignorant and ignorant child. She is only 15 years old." Juan Carlos hurriedly rolled over and got off his horse when he saw it, and knelt down on one knee.

A dangerous light flashed in Li Shuanzhu's eyes, and the moment passed, his tone returned coldly and said; "Anyone must be responsible for their words and deeds, whether she is an old man or a child, she is clever or ignorant, a beautiful face cannot relieve Sophia. It seems that our policy is still too conservative, and we should teach you how to reverence."

  Sophia paled with extreme fear, and cried out; "Oh...no, God, you can't do this to me, father...help me!"

   "Your Excellency Lieutenant Colonel, I ask for your forgiveness, and I am willing to use money to atone for the crime." Juan Carlos saw his daughter Sophia tied up, and was immediately anxious when he was preparing to take it away.

  If it was a whip, Sophia’s pretty face would become a pile of rotten meat.

  According to the rules prevailing in Europe, money has the supreme magic power. You can buy atonement in the church, and you can pay the ransom in exchange for the captured knight on the battlefield. It can turn the devil into an angel, almost omnipotent.

   "A ransom of 1,000 pounds and one month of hard labor." Li Shuanzhu said the final judgment in a cold voice, turned his horse's head and left.

"My lord colonel, I am willing to pay more ransom to avoid one month of hard labor." Juan Carlos couldn't imagine that in the town of Hekou where soldiers and slaves gathered, the beautiful daughter Sophia would change after a month of hard labor. What is it like?

"There are limits to kindness and forgiveness. Those who dare to offend will be punished, and prepare for the ransom as soon as possible." Li Shuanzhu didn't say much, and took a crowd of people to wait for the horse to leave, leaving only the dumbfounded Juan Carlos and The girl Walesa, the two looked at each other and could not speak.

  Hekou Town

Queensland has a mature process for the construction of new towns. In the rainfall-rich Zambezi River basin, it is necessary to build a canal and culvert with masonry, which greatly increases the cost of urban construction. The infrastructure is almost The zero southeast Africa is really the only scorpion shit.

  Except for Pretoria, the capital of South Africa ruled by the British, it is really difficult to find towns with well-equipped sewers in Southeast Africa.

Li Shuanzhu led the cavalry to the outskirts of Hekou Town. There are two masonry blockhouses. Each blockhouse is stationed with more than 20 soldiers, equipped with a heavy machine gun. The blockhouses are surrounded by barbed wire nailed to large wooden stakes to take charge of the surrounding area. Area defense.

  Barbed wire and bunker are the standard equipment for the Queensland army to set up strongholds. It can resist wild beasts and local indigenous armed forces. It has proved to be a very reliable defense measure.

The underground culvert facilities in Hekou Town are under repair. The section of the road into and out of the town has been repaired. In other places, due to insufficient masonry production, a deep trench has been dug in the ground, and the underground culvert has not been built with masonry and cement, which is messy. .

  Li Shuanzhu strangled the horse's reins, then turned over to dismount, handed the mount's reins to the guards to lead away, and walked to the edge of the construction site.

  The armed soldiers on duty immediately saluted with guns; "Report to the chief that the third battalion, one company, and two platoons are performing their duties."

  "Have a rest, have you noticed anything unusual?" Li Shuanzhu replied the military salute and asked casually.

   "Report to the sir, everything is normal."

  "Continue to stay alert to prevent the Portuguese from engaging in moths."

   "Yes, sir, keep on guard."

Li Shuanzhu walked forward with his hand and came to the side of the deep ditch to inspect the progress of the project. A technician ran over with a trot and carefully reported back; "Reporter, the Xiashui ditch culvert project in Hekou Town is under construction, what you see This is the culvert in the eastern part of the town. After leaving the town, it turns into an open channel, leading to the Zambezi River."

   "Well, how is the progress of the project?"

"The report chief, at present, the excavation of the basic ditches and culverts in the town has been completed. Except for the construction of the roads entering and exiting the town, the rest are being constructed. It has been more than a week late compared to the plan, mainly due to the output of the brick factory. Insufficient, other construction projects also require a lot of masonry, so it was delayed."

  "Has the wood drying cellar been built?"

  "Two drying kilns have been built, and black slaves are being organized to harvest trees. Due to the lack of a large number of mechanical aids, many of the felled trees cannot be transported back, and there is a lack of qualified woodworkers, and the construction progress is relatively slow."

   "If you don’t have machinery, you can use manpower to carry it on your shoulders. Is there not enough slave labor?"

   "Reporting chief, there may be reasons for this. There are currently more than 1,700 slave workers in the town, and half of the dock construction team has been used, and the construction manpower in other areas is relatively tight."

   "Well, I see."

Li Shuanzhu nodded. The cavalry battalion spotted several large-scale black tribes in the southwest, living in a wide valley about 80 kilometers away. Among them, the largest black indigenous tribe has about 10,000 people, and the smaller ones have thousands. people.

  Catch some black slaves to come over, which can greatly increase the speed of construction.

  Because the Mozambique region is too far away, the immigration plan has not yet been activated, so the main force of construction can only be black slaves, which is also the normal state of African colonization.

  The problem is that if the distance of more than 80 kilometers is overwhelmed by thorns and thorns, it will take at least a week, and a round trip will take at least half a month.

  Because there are no roads at all, it is full of forests, swamps, meadows, and barren mountains and ridges. Simply overcoming the pristine natural environment takes a lot of time and makes people exhausted.

But don’t forget that this is in the wide Zambezi River basin, and the black indigenous tribes living in the valley are not far from the river. If you have some convenient “mosquito” patrol boats, you can make up for the number of black slave laborers at any time. .

The   "mosquito" patrol boat has a small displacement and a shallow draft, only a little more than one meter. It is very suitable for Mozambique's water network area with a blank infrastructure. It can reach the river with a single sprint, and it can go ashore in a few steps.

  In contrast, freighters with large displacement and deep draft are not adapted to the area.

This is because the hydrology and geology of the Zambezi River Basin is completely blank. The Zambezi River is wide. The channel in the mouth of the sea is as wide as 4.8~8 kilometers away. From a distance, there is a lot of water, and there are some sandbars and highlands. distributed.

  Although the river is very wide, the navigation conditions are extremely bad.

  The Zambezi River is curved and fast, and the area along the river is covered with swamp forests. The water flows through the canyons and floodplains. The water flow changes rapidly according to the width of the river, and the hydrogeological conditions are extremely complicated.

Below   Cabrabassa is the lower reaches, which flows through plains and mountains. The river widens to 4.8-8 kilometers, forming a huge estuary delta where it enters the sea. The river is densely covered with an area of ​​more than 7000 square kilometers. Hekou Town is located here.

  Hekou Town has excellent port conditions. It is located on a hilly highland just tens of kilometers away from the Mozambique Strait. The main channel of the river is more than 10 meters, and it can pass tens of thousands of tons of freighters. It is an important area that connects the river to the sea.

  Establishing a logistical support base here is a deliberate consideration.

The advance team of the African Expeditionary Force arrived here at a high price. Standing on the heights of Hekou Town, overlooking the wide Zambezi River, in addition to the scattered green sandbars and highlands in the river, two 5000-ton ships can be seen. The class-class freighter was swept away by the rapids, and its hull was skewed and deformed across a shoal in the middle of the river.

  This is the severe sailing conditions of the Zambezi River. Its main channel is not wide. It is hidden in a wide white water area. A slight mistake will deviate from the channel and run aground. The result is disastrous.

This is because the speed of the Zambezi River is relatively fast, and its estuary can reach 7000 cubic meters per second. The water inflow is slightly higher than the annual runoff of the Yangtze River. It is different from the Yangtze River’s mature waterway for thousands of years. The flood is overflowing, and there is a lot of water everywhere, and the embryonic form of the main channel can be seen roughly in the dry season, and the hydrogeology is quite complicated.

   Therefore, the “mosquito” class patrol boat with small displacement and shallow draft is very suitable for the area.

  It is a pity...Li Shuanzhu does not have a "mosquito" class patrol boat.

  (End of this chapter)