Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 725 Business experience

The speed of the wind crossing the mountain is very fast. In just half a day, an armed team of hundreds of people has been assembled. In addition to his 64 brothers, it has also brought in two small-scale mercenary teams. A newly retired veteran who joined the line in 2015.

  One is Cao Ruhai, a retired sergeant of the Dragoon Division, nicknamed "Brother Hai". He is 35 years old and has participated in dozens of battles. He is a natural adventurous master. He has a 22-man mercenary team.

   One is Zheng Dongfu, a retired veteran of the Second Division of Kalimantan. He is also known as the "Hot Hand East". He is 27 years old and an adventurous guy in Africa with 17 brothers.

  The whole team of 101 people, Guoshanfeng took out two Makkimi heavy machine guns hidden in the bottom of the pressure box, and "Brother Hai" also took out a heavy machine gun to form a fire strike team. They are the killer at the bottom of the pressure box.

  A group of more than a hundred heavily armed mercenaries, a total of more than 230 mules and horses, carrying a large amount of ammunition, grain, grass and supplies, passed the Humen Pass in the early morning of the second day and headed towards the territory of the African chieftain.

  Out of Humen Pass to the northwest, about 400 kilometers ahead to reach the border, a team of horses marching with heavy loads, it takes about 4 days to travel, mainly considering the long-distance march and combat, and horsepower must be cherished.

  No words all the way

  Day 4, Qiliying

  Three o'clock in the afternoon

  The cavalry and horses rushed all the way to see the steeple buildings in the town from a distance, and could not help but burst into cheers.

The joy of the mercenaries is understandable. When you arrive in town, you can eat hot and delicious food, have a drink in a tavern, sleep on a soft bed, and ask two girls to accompany you to relax the exhaustion of the day-to-day journey. .

  Horse riding for a long time is not an easy task, so tired and sore all over, the horses should also be fed with some concentrate to facilitate the next battle.

The mercenaries are very experienced veterans, they do not need to be mobilized, they will adjust themselves before the war. They wear traditional Australian-style wide brimmed military hats on their heads, and many of them wear cavalry made of dark gray denim. In the combat uniform, the belt around the waist was filled with shiny revolver bullets, and it was matched with a revolver inserted in the leather belt.

The main weapon is the Mauser modified continuous-fire rifle inserted in the front horse pocket of the right knee. This gun has a straight and accurate ballistic and powerful continuous firing. Compared with other types of continuous-fire rifles, it has a longer range and is widely accepted. The favorite weapon of mercenaries.

  At the pack horse around, mercenaries are also used to carrying a secondary weapon to ensure continuous firepower in combat.

  Zheng Dongfu observed the surrounding areas along the way, and saw some black slave laborers working in the plantation, and some local people riding horses looking at them from a distance, and did not take the initiative to come forward to say hello, appearing full of vigilance.

  In these lands outside the customs, there are often dozens of miles without people.

  Only close to towns or military fortresses will there be large plantations and pastures, which is completely different from Guannei.

  In this boundless land, people are very insecure.

He squinted the horse's belly lightly with his feet, the seated horse ran lightly, and came to a position parallel to Haige. He reined the horse's rein and said; "Haige, we are almost on the ground. Do you have any plans for the next step in this work?"

   Haige glanced at him, the corners of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to vomit something, and then he swallowed it back, but asked dryly; "La Shoudong, what regulations do you have?"

"I just want to see if it is possible to open up a trade route this time. The so-called horses without night and grass are not fat. Brother Hai, you have rich experience and have been in Humen for more than three years. If possible, we will join hands to make a vote. "

   "Think too much, hot hand, can this kind of good thing still be our turn?"

   "Aboriginal kingdoms the size of Ethiopia, there is always a chance."

"Then don't dream. The poor mice here are sad to see. The indigenous chiefs can command the tribe with a piece of animal skin. Soldiers can't even deserve Mozambican cotton robes. Apart from getting some ivory, other valuable things. No children. If you want to make a lot of money, you have to go to the Arabian Peninsula."

   "Brother Hai, what you said is too mysterious, right?"

   "Hehehe..." Haige laughed twice, without saying a word.

After fifteen or six years of development, the mercenaries in Somalia have formed certain rules. Big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimps. Heroes are judged by strength. The oily maritime smuggling routes are all occupied by big mercenaries. , Unlike in the beginning, buying a boat can go to sea to do business, and now others simply can’t get involved.

  Some daring latecomers set up a boat to go to sea, but as a result, even the capital of the corpse could not be seen, and they disappeared cleanly.

  Little mercenary teams such as "Hai Ge" and "La Shou Dong", apart from participating in some tribal conflict businesses in the Arabian Peninsula, other maritime smuggling businesses are basically impossible.

  There are no smuggling routes on land. There is only a deadly poor Ethiopian kingdom in the neighbourhood. Apart from the population and some livestock, there is nothing else really smooth and clean.

  The black race is now worthless. Nowadays, neither Citizens, Arabs, nor Ocean Kingdoms. After the French occupy half of the Kingdom of Madagascar, they have abundant human resources and are no longer interested in the slave trade.

  There are also two Italian-controlled towns in the coastal area of ​​Eritrea. Each town has more than 1,000 soldiers and nearly 10,000 immigrants. It is a traditional Italian stronghold and has been in business for more than 20 years.

  After withdrawing their troops, the Italians abandoned more than 10 new towns in the coastal area, their power shrank sharply, and almost all of their occupied Ethiopian land was lost.

  However, the two traditional Italian towns along the Red Sea have not been abandoned. Instead, their defensive forces have been strengthened to a certain extent. The Italian Navy is stationed here with a small fleet led by light cruisers, which can provide sea artillery support at any time.

  Generally speaking

  The materials needed by these two Italian towns can be purchased publicly in Humen or Xi'an, and it is basically not the turn of the small mercenary team to intervene.

  Last year, the Kingdom of Ethiopia assembled an army of more than 30,000 men to besiege an Italian town. Because there was no siege artillery, it took more than 40 days to froze but did not shoot. Instead, 7,000 or 8,000 people were injured or killed.

  Since then, the two sides have formed a tacit understanding of taking a step back.

  Based on the current trade situation in Northeast Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Suez Canal area of ​​Egypt, Italians or ordinary people in European trade can’t get involved, because the water is deep inside.

  This is the reason why "Brother Hai" is not interested in the proposal of "Hot Hand Dong".

   Seeing that it was about to enter the town of Qiliying, five or six armed mounted police and some armed militia appeared at the entrance of the town. The "cross-mountain wind" in front led a brief talk and was released.

  In Somalia, the face of a Chinese mercenary is the best pass. Others can't pretend to be. On the contrary, white mercenaries will attract high attention and will be repeatedly questioned. As for blacks, it is impossible.

  There is not a single black mercenary in Humen and Xi'an, let alone black armed forces, so don’t even think about it.

  The Royal Mounted Police yelled a few words at the mercenary team, which was nothing more than a cliché reminder that illegal use of force is not allowed in the town, guns are not allowed, and it is strictly forbidden to drink and make troubles.

  In the words of the Royal Mounted Police, there was a strange cry from the mercenary team. They rode into the town happily and made a lot of noise, attracting many people in the local town to watch.

  Qiliying was originally a town built by Italians. Except for a few stone buildings such as churches and town halls, most of the towns are civil buildings. There are about 3,000 surrounding residents, less than half of the town.

  A team of more than one hundred mercenaries arrived here, making the town suddenly lively.

The mayor is a middle-aged man who is nearly 40 years old. His name is Yu Agen. He was originally a retired sergeant of the African Expeditionary Team. He owned a large ranch in the countryside. He was white and fat and very rich. He was dressed in a well-designed thin suit. , The gold chain of the pocket watch was hanging diagonally on the upper pocket, and several squires from the town greeted him.

  The two sides sat down in the teahouse in the small town and talked about the current situation.

  According to the mayor Yu Agen's description;

The harassment is indeed the Duke of Enfield’s subordinates. It may be a scattered tribe of about 1,400 or 500 people. They moved to a valley more than 30 kilometers away to engage in activities such as grazing and picking bananas and wild fruits. Tribal cavalry often harassed at the border and came back after being driven away.

  It is difficult to say whether they did the plantation tragedy, and there is no way to investigate this thing.

After the    tragedy, the town was ordered to send personnel to the Duke of Enfield’s residence to issue a serious protest note, threatening to resolve it by force. The other party promised to thoroughly investigate the matter, but there was no sign of any movement.

  African black uncles can’t count on their work efficiency at all. Basically, if they verbally agree, they are done. Maybe they forget it when they lose their face. You can’t see the following at all.

  Guoshanfeng is a mercenary leader, not a policeman. He does not need investigation, let alone evidence, but directly tells the other party by force;

  In this land of Northeast Africa, it is a cruel fact that the weak provoke the strong to pay a heavy price.

The mayor Yu Agen exchanged his eyes with several gentry in the town, and then said to Guo Shanfeng; “Brother Feng, we know that you are a buddy sent by Sir Alex. A plantation owner discussed it and prepared to spend a sum of money to ask you to drive away these indigenous African tribes. The farther you go, the better."

  "The farther the better? This meaning is too vague, 30 kilometers, 50 kilometers or how much?"

  "At least fifty or sixty kilometers away."

  "How much money can you give out?" Guoshanfeng asked with interest. He didn't mind making another money by the way.

  Mercenaries, that’s what they do. .

   "Twenty thousand yuan, we made up twenty thousand oceans, what do you think?" Mayor Yu Agen replied.

  20,000 oceans is 20,000 silver oceans. A piece of silver ocean in the Ocean Kingdom is worth one Deutsche mark, and 20,000 silver oceans is worth 1,000 pounds, which is not a lot of money.

After hearing this, he frowned, looked at Haige and Rashoudong calmly, and then replied: "Although the mosquito legs are still meat, you are too thin. I am a hundred people. The mercenary team is going to die, so let’s go out with 40,000 yuan, and I will take this job."

  40,000?

The mayor Yu Agen looked at the squire next to him with a look of embarrassment. He thought about it and said, "Do you think this will work? We try to collect 40,000 for you, but you must bring us at least 200 strong black captives. We pay 60 yuan per person for the extra..."

   "100 yuan."

   "70, no more, native slave labor is worthless."

   "80, too little is not enough money for my brothers' horses. It is not worth the expense. It will let us make some money."

   "Okay, then it's settled."

  The two negotiated the business, and the atmosphere became harmonious. This is just an episode in the wild Guanwai area, and everyone is accustomed to it.

  Ocean Kingdom’s three decrees and five applications do not allow the use of slaves. This has been implemented very well in Australia, Shangri-La and Borneo. It cannot be said to be completely eliminated, at least on the surface.

  But in Africa, the enforcement of this ban is not satisfactory.

  The use of indigenous slave labor in pastures is still relatively small, but in plantations and various projects, the use of indigenous slave labor is still very common, but it is hidden in the name of hired labor, and implementation efforts in various regions are lacking.

It has been more than ten years since the colonization of Africa. The black population in Somalia has dropped sharply from more than 300,000 to less than 80,000. The black indigenous population in Mozambique has increased from more than one million to 350,000 today. The population has shown a steep decline. trend.

In addition to the export of foreign labor services and high-intensity forced labor, it also lies in the separation system of the local indigenous population between men and women. Without a family, there will be no offspring, and there is an obvious generation. There are very few local aboriginal youths, and most of the local aboriginals are 30 or 40 years old. Getting older.

Nowadays

  The life expectancy of indigenous people in Africa is generally about 30 to 40 years old. After experiencing natural aging, the population will be greatly reduced in the next few years.

  This has caused a shortage of labor in local plantations. A large number of Chinese immigrants must be introduced in the Guannei area to supplement, and the import of indigenous black slave labor is never allowed, at least not at Humen Pass.

  Existing indigenous slave labor, the state government can turn one eye and close one eye, but it will never allow the introduction of new indigenous slave labor. This will crowd out the job opportunities of Chinese immigrants, so they will be fined and bankrupt.

  The foreign policy is much looser, and the supervision is not in place. The mayor Yu Agen and the squires are all earning a lot of money. They are playing the edge of the policy, using cheap indigenous slave labor to cultivate and plant land, and make high profits.

  Without such convenience, how can they stay in dangerous areas outside the customs?

  But it’s not about the mountain wind. As long as the planter needs it, he can get enough native slave labor.

  For mercenaries, this is just a business.

  (End of this chapter)